Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Last Words

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  • thegirlstefan,

    also, what's with Key's diction in this piece? I know he struggles with Maori pronunciation, but in this broadcast he is channeling an elderly in-law of mine after he's had a few rums and his dentures start slipping.

    Sacha,did you have to endure the Feelers in the radio format?

    Aotearoa • Since Oct 2011 • 42 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Sacha,

    . . . bursts of the Feelers . . .

    Rock snot.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to thegirlstefan,

    endure was the operative word, yes. every couple of minutes to break up the smugtalk.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to ,

    To be fair, his government has hugely reduced that practice - at the expense of unimportant things like homecare for the elderly.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Isabel Hitchings,

    Party vote: Green in hope that they will pull whoever is in government leftwards.

    Electorate vote: Burns. Chch central was very close last go around and there's no one better who has a shit show.

    Referendum: keep MMP. My first voting experience was in Ilam in 1993. 'nuff said

    Referendum #2: STV I'm all about proportionality.

    Christchurch • Since Jul 2007 • 719 posts Report Reply

  • Ian MacKay,

    On TV1 John Keys dreadfully filmed monologue singlehandedly won the worst video of the year award. Appalling. What are they playing at! 1/10
    Labour production values wonderful, range of speakers, clear past successes and future intentions. Credible persuasive and watchable. 9/10

    Bleheim • Since Nov 2006 • 498 posts Report Reply

  • James Littlewood*,

    Key's so-called presidential leadership style doesn't bug me so much. And what Labour voter didn't feel the same way when Helen sailed in to power in 1999? Voters love strong leaders.

    But, golly, I despise his tendency for suppressing fundamental & relevant information, passing his selfish agenda under urgency, and crashing over the top of his interviewers with condescending, bombastic, non-answers.

    Talk about Muldoon style soft-fascism.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 410 posts Report Reply

  • Yamis,

    Remember people. Don't Vote Drunk.

    Since Nov 2006 • 903 posts Report Reply

  • thegirlstefan, in reply to Ian MacKay,

    If I remember the same approaches were used in the Opening Addresses. Any were equally criticsed/praised. Any thoughts as to why it didn't affect poll results?

    Aotearoa • Since Oct 2011 • 42 posts Report Reply

  • James Littlewood*,

    Last Wednesday night. Simultaneously feeding self, kids and working. Phone rings. Fuck me, it's the Prime Minister, in his best radio, Branson-interviewing, shock-jock voice:

    "Hi! It's John Key here just calling to remind you to vote on Satur ..."

    John Key on automatic voice message. No *almost* about it. I gagged on my pasta.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 410 posts Report Reply

  • Stewart,

    A big vote ... of appreciation for some wonderful prose in the early afternoon by the likes of JamesW, Kracklite, DeepRed and some of Craig's perceptive and often non-partisan insights.

    I want some of what you lot had for lunch!

    Voting tomorrow, after golf, for:
    Greens
    Sue Bradford *
    MMP
    STV
    subject to change


    * It is my belief that she would be one of the most approachable and committed electorate MPs when it comes to representing her constituents interests.

    Te Ika A Maui - Whakatane… • Since Oct 2008 • 577 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to thegirlstefan,

    If I remember the same approaches were used in the Opening Addresses. Any were equally criticsed/praised. Any thoughts as to why it didn't affect poll results?

    National's one is calculated to have that home-made, down-home party-of-the-people look rather than the big-city-big-cash-and-big-cameras look. ie: "don't be scared of us little people we won't hurt you" (vulpine grin).

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Pete Sime,

    Ok here's how I'm voting tomorrow (given my massive eighty comments or so makes me such an opinion leader on this site).
    David Clark - Dunedin North is blessed in being a safe Labour seat, and with Pete Hodgson's retirement at least there will be some new blood.
    Labour - I had thought about voting for New Zealand First as a spoiler against National, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.
    MMP - we don't have an upper chamber, supreme legislation or a head of state who can veto, so proportional representation is the only way to temper the excesses of parliament.
    STV - I was going to vote for FPP, thinking it would lose a second referendum, but I don't want to give it any legitimacy. STV is the pick of a poor bunch.

    Anyway, enjoy your democratic rights tomorrow. It is still a wondrous thing to freely select our government in this fashion when so many in the world can't enjoy the same thing.

    Dunedin • Since Apr 2008 • 171 posts Report Reply

  • James Littlewood*,

    Any thoughts as to why it didn’t affect poll results?

    Some of his supporters are rich, so act out of pure self interest. Although, plenty of Labour voters also vote from the wallet, rather than the head or the heart.

    Green voters tend to be more mindful of society as a single system. If they are self interested, it is more out of a sense of shared well being, than individual well being.

    I also met one woman in the supermarket queue who flat denied that Key would sell assets. Which suggests either ignorance or lack of trusted alternatives. I think Key finds support amongst a very conservative social set: people who don't like generation gaps, social or sexual deviance, etc.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 410 posts Report Reply

  • Islander, in reply to Pete Sime,

    +1 (except I vote in Te Tai Toka & will vote party-wise, Green.

    Voting system? MMP all the way-)

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Richard Grevers, in reply to James Millar,

    …unless it’s for uneconomical white elephant motorway projects that are counterproductive to NZ’s long-term economic development and expose our economy to future oil shocks. Those are fine to spend money on.

    Even without building another single metre of road, we have greater exposure to imported oil than any other developed economy. National are in absolute denial over this. Labour aren't much better, but at least they have an ingrained philosophical belief in public transport and railways. There's a good chance (50%?) the real oil shock will come in the next government's term - and by real I mean one that will shrink GDP by 20%, give us a 15%+ inflation hit and sink much of our capability for trade. The Greens are the only party that have grasped such concepts, but they've had to play it softly for fear of scaring off potential voters by appearing to be nutty doom merchants. Right - 5 pages of comments still to catch up!

    New Plymouth • Since Jul 2011 • 143 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Stewart,

    Sue Bradford *

    Aren't you in one of the few tactical voting electorates? How are Bradford's numbers comparing with Sepuloni and Bennett?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • JLM,

    Just back from taking down a PVG sign and an MMP sign - last ones left on our public site.

    Greens.
    David Clark in Dunedin North. Kyle thinks he's run a poor campaign, but I've seen him round a bit. Mostly voting for him because Metiria likes and respects him - he was their marriage celebrant.
    MMP
    STV

    Biggest fear of the campaign - National getting an absolute majority of seats in the house
    Biggest disappointment - that no-one, including the Greens, talked about climate change much
    Biggest side issue - public broadcasting
    Biggest surprise - that no-one pointed out that the tragedy at Pike River seems to have been created in a toxic brew of the things the Nats love most - light regulation; cost-cutting in the public service and relying on privatisation and the profit motive to drive efficiency

    Judy Martin's southern sl… • Since Apr 2007 • 241 posts Report Reply

  • Richard Grevers, in reply to Richard C,

    More than a little glum about all this. Perhaps naively, I thought Joyce’s bullying disregard for public transport would have more of an impact on the party vote up here, but seems not.

    I seldom have truck with conspiracy theories, but the thought does come to mind that the World Cup opening night served to change the minds of many who had started to believe "public transport good, motorways bad". Was it national party activists pushing those emergency stop buttons?

    New Plymouth • Since Jul 2011 • 143 posts Report Reply

  • Yamis,

    @Steven, I received a text telling me I won 400,000 pounds from the UK lottery today. All I have to do is email somebody to get it.

    I'm so stoked. I've already bought a Ferrari and a kilogram of cocaine.

    Since Nov 2006 • 903 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to JLM,

    no-one pointed out that the tragedy at Pike River seems to have been created in a toxic brew of the things the Nats love most – light regulation; cost-cutting in the public service and relying on privatisation and the profit motive to drive efficiency

    Like I have said many times, these people are dangerous.
    Already voted...
    Electorate,Labour, Phil Goff.
    Party, Mana, because I think the Greens have opened themselves up to the possibility of backing National on confidence and supply, however much they say it would be "highly unlikely", it's like saying "it's highly unlikely I would shag my Mum"

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Yamis,

    party at yours, Bueller :)

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite, in reply to Stewart,

    Sue Bradford *

    I have a lot of respect for her, I have to say. I don't always agree on some (or many) specifics, but I certainly respect her and would vote for her unreservedly if she was my electorate candidate.

    One of the differences - and a critical one, I think - is that MMP in intention and in practice turns power over to parliament rather than cabinet, where they are bound by collective responsibility and which too often takes on a coercive quality.

    In classical terms, I'll take a Hydra over a Cyclops.

    That leads me both to regret the fact that Geoffrey Palmer was Prime Minister at the wrong time, when the phone was already off the hook, and to celebrate the fact that he was in such a position at all.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Kracklite,

    would vote for her unreservedly if she was my electorate candidate

    unless your (FPP) electorate vote helped put a candidate you really disliked in front

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • DexterX,

    IMHO - The best outcome for the future and from the choices available would be a National Maori Party Coalition - with No Asset Sales.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1224 posts Report Reply

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