Labour / NZ First Government

[iceman]

Unemployment rate is only part of the statistics, held down by wage subsidies and some other statistics. Here are some seriously worrying numbers from the Stats NZ figures:

Hours worked were down by over 10% – another record.
The number of people classified as "not in the labour force" rose 37,000
And the number of employed people fell 11,000.
The employment rate fell to 66.9% from 67.5%.
The labour force participation rate fell to 69.7% from a revised 70.5%.

[iceman]

John Key has just told the conference in Auckland that about a quarter of ANZ's customers have had 20% or more reduction in their incomes and 10% have had their income reduced to zero. Scary numbers.

[moka]

It's now official from the Auditor General that the PGF is nothing but a political slush fund. In most countries this would be called corruption:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/pol...a-fund-to-task

The Auditor General did not say it was a slush fund.
The article said “This has led political opponents of the fund to label it a “slush fund” designed to buy NZ First votes in the regions.”

It is not working as a slush fund to buy NZ First votes judging by the polls, so the NZ public are not as gullible as some make out. Lots of good small projects in the provinces have been supported by the PGF rather than the usual spending focused on the large cities and smaller centres miss out.

[fungus pudding]

The Auditor General did not say it was a slush fund.
The article said “This has led political opponents of the fund to label it a “slush fund” designed to buy NZ First votes in the regions.”

It is not working as a slush fund to buy NZ First votes judging by the polls, so the NZ public are not as gullible as some make out. Lots of good small projects in the provinces have been supported by the PGF rather than the usual spending focused on the large cities and smaller centres miss out.

He certainly did without using that precise term. It's ridiculous that this fund is under the control of one party of a coalition.

[iceman]

He certainly did without using that precise term. It's ridiculous that this fund is under the control of one party of a coalition.

moka is normally quite sensible with his/her comments so I'm not sure whats happening here with the silly defense of the slush fund and the related corruption . surprised !

[moka]

Very good speech from Clare Curran, not easy being an MP. Iceman please note that she thanked Trevor Mallard and said he could do better with practicing kindness and consistency.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/pol...litical-system
Outgoing Labour MP Clare Curran described the political system as “sick” in her final speech to Parliament, and directly criticised the media.
The former broadcasting minister said politicians deserved to be held to account but not treated as “prey” by reporters who acted as if they were unaccountable themselves.
“You are not unaccountable though you act like you are. You are neither judge nor jury. To be credible you must turn the mirror on yourself.”
She said that at one point during her fall from power in 2018 she felt suicidal, but instead sought mental health support.
Curran’s speech acknowledged that she had made some mistakes over her 12 years in Parliament, which had seen her “demoted and promoted too many times to count.”
”Mine has not been an easy ride...I made mistakes, I paid a price, I was targeted.”
Curran said the wider political system was “sick” and suggested the news media had a large role to play in this.
Our political system is sick, and we all know it,” Curran said.
”Politicians and the news media focus on conflict. The objective is to catch people out and take them down.”

[Blue Skies]

Very good speech from Clare Curran, not easy being an MP. Iceman please note that she thanked Trevor Mallard and said he could do better with practicing kindness and consistency.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/pol...litical-system
Outgoing Labour MP Clare Curran described the political system as “sick” in her final speech to Parliament, and directly criticised the media.
The former broadcasting minister said politicians deserved to be held to account but not treated as “prey” by reporters who acted as if they were unaccountable themselves.
“You are not unaccountable though you act like you are. You are neither judge nor jury. To be credible you must turn the mirror on yourself.”
She said that at one point during her fall from power in 2018 she felt suicidal, but instead sought mental health support.
Curran’s speech acknowledged that she had made some mistakes over her 12 years in Parliament, which had seen her “demoted and promoted too many times to count.”
”Mine has not been an easy ride...I made mistakes, I paid a price, I was targeted.”
Curran said the wider political system was “sick” and suggested the news media had a large role to play in this.
Our political system is sick, and we all know it,” Curran said.
”Politicians and the news media focus on conflict. The objective is to catch people out and take them down.”

Yes the ghastly way she was targeted & treated by the opposition & in particular Melissa Lee was despicable.
As JLR said, they set out to destroy her personally (not her policies or arguments ) & when everyone could see she was down & in an extremely fragile state & vulnerable, instead of easing up Melissa Lee kept right on putting the boot in.
It was awful to watch & I think a man would not have been treated with the same level of nastiness, certainly Todd Muller wasn't thank goodness.
I could never have any respect for Melissa Lee after that.

There was also the National MP who had the affair with JLR, who was treated appallingly by the media.

[iceman]

I think Parliament and all political parties, the media and the public, should really take a good hard look at ourselves. There has been a common thread in many of the valedictory speeches about a bullying and unforgiving culture. It has clearly taken a terrible toll personally on many of those MPs and their families.
Clearly the system needs a change and the media in my view has a lot to answer for.

[Balance]

Yes the ghastly way she was targeted & treated by the opposition & in particular Sandra Lee was despicable.
As JLR said, they set out to destroy her personally (not her policies or arguments ) & when everyone could see she was down & in an extremely fragile state & vulnerable, instead of easing up Sandra Lee kept right on putting the boot in.
It was awful to watch & I think a man would not have been treated with the same level of nastiness, certainly Todd Muller wasn't thank goodness.
I could never have any respect for Sandra Lee after that.

There was also the National MP who had the affair with JLR, who was treated appallingly by the media.

JLR? Hypocrisy & deceit on a grand scale for this predator to express any kind of concern for anyone. And a proven pathological liar & manipulator.

And get your facts right - who is Sandra Lee?

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/questions-left-unanswered-curran-no-show

Question - why was Clare Curran sacked from cabinet?

[Balance]

Labour’s plan is to win the election at all costs by politicising the border and keeping New Zealanders in a state of fear.

It’s putting politics above people by locking the border and wrecking the economy and ramping up Covid-19 propaganda to keep New Zealanders in a state of fear until September 19.

Meanwhile, two former Prime Ministers have backed ACT’s plan to safely reconnect with the world.

John Key and Helen Clark have called on the Government to allow students and skilled workers into the country, expand managed isolation and quarantine facilities by setting clear rules for the private sector, and establish travel bubbles with Covid-free countries.

Clark acknowledged the reason why we’re not having an honest conversation about the border: it’s election year and politicians are paralysed.

Key and Clark are no longer trying to get elected, so they’re saying what only ACT has had the courage to say in the political arena: the current strategy may be comfortable, but it is not sustainable. We can’t continue to hose money at businesses while we slowly go broke.

The Government wants New Zealanders believe that there are only two options: dead or dead broke. But there are more options than locking down the border and slowly going broke, or open slather and people dying. We must find the intelligent space in between.

Now that we’ve worked out how to separate passengers coming from different countries at the airport, there’s no reason why we can’t establish travel bubbles with Covid-free countries.

If we can safely quarantine New Zealand citizens, why not students and skilled workers?

A smart, innovative government would set up a regulatory framework for the private provision of managed isolation.

The world has changed, but the Government has failed to change with it. We risk wrecking the economy unless the Government begins safely reconnecting with the world.