Labour / NZ First Government

[tim23]

SO where does the National base desert to JT. I can't see many going to the COL. Only leaves ACT. Not too many will go there. So tell us where they will go since you appear so well informed.

Latest opinion poll suggests they are going to Labour...

[elZorro]

Well, looks like Nationals strategy works out. I guess while Bridges and Bennett are clearly not the best National has to offer, they are still orders of magnitude better than the straw man which Labour used as leader for the better part of the last term. Feel free to use up all your poison against them .... the real National leader and next PM will be appointed six weeks prior to the next elections ;p - always good to learn from the opposition.

Do you really think National will get back in after the next election? The coalition would have to be pretty inept compared to the National team (they're not), and you'd need a big swing away from Labour too. The swing is strongly to Labour at the moment. It'll take a while for KiwiBuild and other policies to start working, and I think the NZ voters will wait a few years to see what happens. Most of them aren't too worried either way. The Labour coalition is in power, they are pulling the levers, they get to set the tone in the media for once. It'll be very hard for National to make some headway, or even to keep their current ranking.

The way Climate Change issues are forefront in the news, I'm a bit happier we have at least a chance of making some progress on carbon neutrality with the new team.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/inside-t...-across-europe

[Blakie]

Well, looks like Nationals strategy works out. I guess while Bridges and Bennett are clearly not the best National has to offer, they are still orders of magnitude better than the straw man which Labour used as leader for the better part of the last term. Feel free to use up all your poison against them .... the real National leader and next PM will be appointed six weeks prior to the next elections ;p - always good to learn from the opposition.

I know it's a hard pill to swallow BP but I believe Bridge & Ben are the best National have to offer. The sheeple are in love with Jacinda now JK's jumped ship. Their numbers are rising and will need to make some dire mistakes to not get two terms.

[blackcap]

I know it's a hard pill to swallow BP but I believe Bridge & Ben are the best National have to offer. The sheeple are in love with Jacinda now JK's jumped ship. Their numbers are rising and will need to make some dire mistakes to not get two terms.

Remember though Jacinda is pregnant and once she has the baby and takes maternity leave all sorts of things can happen and the 6 weeks can extend to 6 months or even longer. Hormonal changes can upset the best of intentions. Once Peters becomes leader of the COL then I think it will be a different scenario and National will take over again. That said I do not think Bridges and Bennet will be the 2 come election 2020.

[iceman]

Remember though Jacinda is pregnant and once she has the baby and takes maternity leave all sorts of things can happen and the 6 weeks can extend to 6 months or even longer. Hormonal changes can upset the best of intentions. Once Peters becomes leader of the COL then I think it will be a different scenario and National will take over again. That said I do not think Bridges and Bennet will be the 2 come election 2020.

I think the supporters on here are getting a little bit ahead of themselves. I give it to Jacinda that her smiles have been great and she has captivated the media and some of the public. But that is not what people will vote on come next election.
So far this Government hasn't actually done much except sign the TPP that they all spoke against before the election and also made a whole lot of announcements, mainly about new inquiries or committees.

Shane Jones seems to be running ahead with money for Winston's desired Northland electorate and his own wanted Whangarei electorate. Oh yes and don't forget his decision to give money to an energy project down the West Coast run by someone already under investigation by the SFO. How many more issues will we see like this when a politician is given $ 1 Billion per year to hand out to his pet projects. Add to that the billion trees he said he is going to plant, just forgot to mention most of them are already being planted by private enterprises and will continue to be done by them.

Mike Hosking has got his finger on the pulse in this article http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=12003652

It won't be Bridges winning the next election, it will be this incoherent lot losing it.

[Joshuatree]

Mike hosings is on the same level as judith collins mate in Whale Oil, finger is somewhere else than on imo.
The money has been stopped as i understand it while checks are being done.
Simon bridges was the guy who gave $50,000 away to that entity in 2017 lol, not recoverable
Get your seeing eye dog to have alook at what labour are doing and the things that have happened in the first 100 days plus.
The coalition is strong and the latest polls show where the real bleeding is.

[iceman]

Sir Owen Glenn pulls his funding of $4.5 million for the Waikato rural medical school project due to frustrations with the new Government and political indecisions and interference from them. Surely its not Winnie holding a grudge and delivering a personal payback. NO
It will be a real shame if this 3rd medical school in the country doesn't go ahead with its focus on primary and rural health care. It is much needed.

[westerly]

Sir Owen Glenn pulls his funding of $4.5 million for the Waikato rural medical school project due to frustrations with the new Government and political indecisions and interference from them. Surely its not Winnie holding a grudge and delivering a personal payback. NO
It will be a real shame if this 3rd medical school in the country doesn't go ahead with its focus on primary and rural health care. It is much needed.

"the university relies heavily on Waikato Hospital for student placements and Fraser, the dean of the medical and health science faculty, called the proposal "an ill-considered and expensive folly" in a media statement.

"The addition of up to 200 new medical students into the system would put severe pressure on the national training pipeline," Fraser said.

Glenn playing politics because doubts have been expressed about the ability to cope with 200 extra students. No mention of Peters but never miss an opportunity?
Seems like the Govt. has every reason to be cautious about the proposal.

westerly

[BlackPeter]

"the university relies heavily on Waikato Hospital for student placements and Fraser, the dean of the medical and health science faculty, called the proposal "an ill-considered and expensive folly" in a media statement.

"The addition of up to 200 new medical students into the system would put severe pressure on the national training pipeline," Fraser said.

Glenn playing politics because doubts have been expressed about the ability to cope with 200 extra students. No mention of Peters but never miss an opportunity?
Seems like the Govt. has every reason to be cautious about the proposal.

westerly

Sure - lets make the doctor shortages worse than they already are - or hire more doctors form overseas instead of training our own people!
But oops - we want to curb immigration as well - don't we?

Thanks Labour for your ideological blindness!

[iceman]

Silly comment westerly that we can not cope with 200 extra students. We are in desperate need of much more medical doctors and as BP points out, we'er currently importing a whole lot of them. Auckland and Otago Universities have lodged a competitive bid so the debate is hardly about whether there is need for the students or not.
The Waikato DHB, the University, Owen Glenn, Waikato politicians (Labour and National) and many others agree with this proposal.