The Government of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is shaping up to be one of the most controlling in New Zealand’s history.
Like all socialist regimes that aim to impose the will of a few onto the many, they will eventually fail because most people by their very nature do not want to be controlled. Socialists refuse to understand that simple truth of the human spirit.
The attraction of socialism is that it sounds so good, especially to those who feel they would benefit from the taxing of others.
Winston Churchill described it well when he said, “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy”. While he then went on to say, “Its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery”, he was not quite right. There are some who don’t have to share in the misery of socialism – namely the ruling elite.
The reality is that throughout history, socialism – which can be characterised as excessive government control – has led to widespread hardship and oppression. But rather than being persuaded by past failure that socialism doesn’t work, the socialists’ response is to increase Government control.
The relentless expansion of the State is most certainly Jacinda Ardern’s agenda.
After taking office in 2017, her ruling coalition wasted no time in ordering all businesses with workers on the minimum wage to increase their hourly rate by 27 percent from $15.75 to $20 an hour by 2021.
As a result of those directives and a raft of draconian industrial relations law changes – designed to satisfy the demands of the unions – business confidence has now fallen to its lowest level since the Global Financial Crisis.
The Coalition even took a punitive approach to reducing plastic waste. To be seen to be ‘doing something’, instead of supporting businesses who were phasing out single use plastic bags, the Government banned them, imposing fines of up to $100,000 for anyone breaching the prohibition.
New licenses for offshore oil and gas exploration were also outlawed – a whole industry undermined without warning.
Now the Government is in the throes of legislating to penalise emissions of man-made greenhouse gases. This includes an initial 10 percent reduction in the methane produced by cows and sheep eating grass, eventually increasing to 47 percent – threatening the viability of many farmers.
These regulations that are being introduced in the name of climate change – a mania now being led by a 16 year old Swedish child, Greta Thunberg – represent a significant expansion of Government control of the economy. If Labour’s zero carbon legislation is supported by New Zealand First or National, it is expected to be passed by Christmas. Families will then begin to feel the financial pressure, as more of their household budget will be needed to cover the rising cost of power, fuel, and food.
More Government control over freshwater has also been proposed, with farmers again being unreasonably targeted with punitive and costly regulations.
Then there are the attacks on civil liberties, including yet more firearms regulations, and the PM’s call for restrictions on the freedom of expression.
These changes arose in response to the Christchurch tragedy. But instead of waiting until the Royal Commission of Inquiry reports back, to determine exactly what law changes are needed, public outrage and grief created an opportunity for Labour to impose heavy-handed restrictions that, under normal circumstances, would have been rejected by freedom loving Kiwis.
In her haste to be seen to be legislating faster than Australia after their Port Arthur massacre, Jacinda Ardern trampled on democracy and rushed into law blanket bans on guns and parts, undermining the long-established rights of Kiwi firearm owners to enjoy their sport.
Now the next phase of Labour’s attack on gun owners, the Arms Amendment Bill, is being fast-tracked through Parliament, with submissions due on October 23rd – see HERE for details.
The main purpose of the new law is to introduce a firearms register. In addition, it tightens gun licensing requirements by reducing the licensed period from 10 years to 5 years, imposes new regulations and costs on shooting clubs, establishes a new firearms advisory bureaucracy, requires doctors to share medical concerns with Police, and it substantially increases fees and penalties.
Through more controls and restrictions, especially the registration of firearms, Labour is further punishing law-abiding New Zealand gun owners, since criminals and extremists who are responsible for most of the country’s gun crimes are highly unlikely to register their firearms! That was certainly the case in Australia, where 90 percent of firearms used in criminal offences are unregistered.
The gun registration scheme proposed in the Bill is likely to fail. Registration was first introduced in New Zealand in the 1920s but was eventually revoked through the 1983 Arms Act because it was inaccurate and too costly to maintain.
The new approach that was introduced was based on the common sense concept that it is the user, not the weapon, that poses a danger to society. The focus therefore changed to gun owners to ensure they were “fit and proper” and that their firearms were securely stored.
Based on our own experience, the firearm registration scheme being proposed by Labour, will not only become an expensive bureaucratic behemoth costing taxpayers far more than our politicians care to admit, but it will not prevent future tragedies. The only gain will be political – it will be regarded as a ‘win’ by those Labour supporters who would like to see all guns in New Zealand banned.
The Police Minister Stuart Nash has estimated the cost of firearms registration will be up to $53 million over 10 years. But Canada’s experience should provide a warning.
When Canada’s gun registry was introduced in 1995, it was estimated to cost C$2 million. But the price blew out exponentially – to C$3 billion! The government finally abandoned trying to register shotguns and rifles and now just tracks restricted weapons including handguns and semi-automatics.
The problem was that the Canadian Government introduced gun registration in the wake of a mass shooting in Montreal. But firearm registration was not the first legislative crackdown on legal gun ownership – it was the second.
As a result, law abiding Canadian gun owners felt they were being unfairly targeted by their Government. Many protested by refusing to register their firearms. Some actively obstructed the process, by registering other items like soldering guns instead!
There were expensive court battles, and during its entire 17 year existence, Canada’s gun register was said to have recorded no more than a third of the guns otherwise legally owned in the country.
The point was made that registering guns is not like registering cars and boats, which are used on public roads and can be monitored by the police. Instead, most guns are privately owned and used, making enforcement difficult and expensive.
Through her ill-advised law changes just after the shooting, Jacinda Ardern has already alienated gun owners – repeating Canada’s mistakes. As a result, the outcome of gun registration in this country is almost certain to be an expensive disaster.
Not content with gun control in the aftermath of Christchurch, our Prime Minister also set her sights on restricting the freedom of expression.
In an unprecedented move, the Chief Censor was called upon to ban both the gunman’s video of the shooting and his manifesto. By classifying them as objectionable, anyone knowingly possessing or sharing them could be fined up to $10,000 or be sentenced to a prison term of up to 14 years.
Radio New Zealand reported that by August there had been 35 charges relating to possession of the video, leading to 14 prosecutions, 10 referrals to the Youth Court, one written warning and eight verbal warnings. One man is known to have been sentenced to two years in jail.
Hundreds of people are also on a Police ‘watchlist’ for the crime of free expression. The Police turn up at homes asking about opinions on a range of matters including immigration, colonisation, and politics. One person reported being accused by the Police of calling the Prime Minister “a socialist”. It is very troubling indeed when Police come knocking because someone is accusing the PM – a former president of the International Union of Socialist Youth – of being a socialist!
Under Labour, our free society is no longer free. But it’s going to get worse.
Not satisfied with just banning the video of the Mosque shooting in New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern wanted it prohibited world-wide. She began working with the French President Emmanuel Macron on the “Christchurch Call”, an initiative to suppress terrorist content on the Internet.
Strong concerns were expressed that this could lead to the wholesale censorship of the Internet. Indeed, that is what now seems to be occurring.
This week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator Dr Bronwyn Howell, a programme director at Victoria University and an adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, has been closely following these developments and is now concerned that the Christchurch Call is leading to widespread social engineering:
“Facebook’s September 17 announcement that it has updated its definition of dangerous individuals and organizations, and would be extending its initiative to use algorithms to redirect individuals using terms associated with searches for white supremacy to resources focused on helping people leave behind hate groups to include Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand, constitutes a significant development.
“Since March, US search queries on Facebook using terms algorithmically determined to be associated with white supremacy have been redirected to Life After Hate, an organization founded by former violent extremists that provides crisis intervention, education, support groups and outreach.
“While there may be considerable popular support for Facebook’s use of algorithms in this manner, there are equally as many questions raised about the legitimacy of attempts to use platforms to ‘socially re-engineer’ or ‘reprogram’ individuals.”
Dr Howell asks where is the mandate to override an individual’s internet request, to deliver a pre-selected search result. She believes such an intervention would normally only be possible following a transparent and accountable process agreed by the community of users collectively.
However, the reality is that Jacinda Ardern’s Christchurch Call appears to have encouraged Facebook and other Internet players into a greater use of censorship. It is highly likely they are responding to political pressure that if they do not do so voluntarily, a regulatory regime will be imposed on them.
The changes already made are significant. Try posting information on Facebook denying man-made global warming and you are likely to receive a notice telling you it has been categorised as “fake news” by their “fact checkers” and banned. You may also be told that if you persist in posting such content then your page or group will be downgraded so it does not feature in search rankings.
That Facebook’s ‘fact checkers’ claim the earth is now warmer than during the Medieval and Roman warm periods, raises concerns that they are conforming to crowd hysteria, and have become puppets of political control rather than the bastions of free expression and the truth.
It’s the same story with material supporting the role of colonisation. A meme for example, stating that poor social statistics for Maori were caused by such things as poor parenting, substance abuse, violence, and welfare dependency, rather than colonisation, was labelled as hate speech by Facebook and banned.
Whether such developments are the direct result of Jacinda Ardern’s closed-door talks with social media organisations is impossible to tell, but they certainly raise concerns that this new state of censorship is a taste of what’s to come in New Zealand if Labour delivers on their promise to introduce hate speech laws.
So while the mainstream media discourse is occupied with daily news, the bigger and more important story is the theft of personal freedoms as New Zealand heads down a path to state control.
No democracy can survive without free speech and open public discourse. The suppression of controversial ideas – whether genuinely offensive or just contrary to the views of the liberal elites – is a worrying step toward tyranny.
THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
Do you think state control in New Zealand is excessive?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| Total control of the people is what Agenda 21 or Agenda 2030 is all about. This radical controlling change will be forced upon all our lives and is supposed to be completed by 2030. Hence, the huge push with Climate Change madness, protests & emergencies because that will be used to control us so they can impose their new carbon taxes quicker with less push back from the people, in the name of saving us all from our terrible earth killing selves. Aren’t we sooo lucky! Not! This all leads to the UN’s One World Government. Im guessing Helen Clark and Taxcinda Ardern will have a seat at that exclusive table as a reward for ruining this once great country? | Maree |
| It is dangerous but it is like the story of the frog doesn’t realise it is cooking because the heat is turned up so gradually | Bev |
| Absolutely. As a Naturopathic researcher dealing with food issues we are being stopped or restricted from informing the wider community of the dangers of industrial food and medicine. | Max |
| A big yes and it will get worse. State control is a country controlled by a small group of people who think they know more than the rest ,and want to impose their ideals on everybody else. Socialism slowly undermines a country by dressing a topic up to make it sound good until it’s too late, they have control, by making everyone dependent on the government. | Peter |
| Rapidly getting that way. Under the current Socialists it can only get worse. | Graeme |
| And as sure as God made little apples it will get worse. | Peter |
| Not yet | Ken |
| What has happened to our freedoms and democracy that Kiwi’s have enjoyed in the past? | Martin |
| Disgusting. | Jon |
| Rampant Socialism is being promoted by the current Labour coalition Govt. It’s ALL Winston Peter’s fault because after the last election by far the majority of NZ First voters wanted the coalition ti be with the Nats etc. I cannot understand HOW one man can dictate to a Nation on who should govern ! The system is flawed and MUST be changed for the future !! The current Govt. are FAR to left wing to be healthy and if they keep going we will soon all be Communists. | Andrew |
| New Zealand is been driven off the cliff by socialism. ..into a helpless freefall… | Delwyn |
| Absolutely, as Doreen said, “I am 80, and the way this Government is going I am not going to see 90” I am the same age and of the same opinion. Having said that, I’m not sure I actually want to hang around to witness the results. | Ray |
| Anyone trying to get ahead gets their fingers stood on | Greg |
| This government is stomping on democracy | Justin |
| Where are Facebook redirecting those individuals looking up ” brown supremacists?” | Monica |
| Labor are bringing in more and more regulations. This undermines our freedom to live as we choose. | Lew |
| You have a warped definition of socialism. You have described oligarchy not socialism which is democratic. “From each according to his ability; to each according to his needs.” | Don |
| We need to start fighting back.. NOW! | Brooke |
| We are well down the track of seeing the UN’s vision of globalism being implemented. We should be following the lead of President Trump. Watch his recent speech at the UN. some magnificent truth and straight talking! | Elizabeth |
| I can’t even send a few dollars to my god daughter and nieces oversea’s without filling out a form due to this govt being socialistic in a manner worse than the old cccp and thats only one mater that i can write about, the sooner ardern is deposed the sooner we may be better of unless national carry on the same way which unfortunately could be possible. | Richard |
| I applaud Muriel for her excellent article “State Control.” | Ian |
| Yes! The core function of government in a free society is, police, defence and law courts. The percentage of government intrusion into our lives, outside of these legitimate functions, determines how much we have allowed ourselves to become enslaved! | Don |
| Increasing alarmingly | David |
| The Prime Minister needs to understand that Capitalism has provided her and many others with the very best that ‘Capitalism has to offer’. The historical path of Socialism/Communism idealism has never succeeded. | Maureen |
| Yes and getting worse under Labour | David |
| Vote Labour – get excessive state control. Obvious! It’s not just NZ, it’s world-wide and applies to every socialist government there has ever been, and every one yet to come. This insidious creed is difficult to remove from power as they use their ‘social policies’ to purchase the votes of the welfare-dependent underclass. Always have; always will.. | TOBY |
| Media pushed every squeak from a protester to sell news and sucks in the government who oil the squeak and pollute our laws. | George |
| Whilst state control is not overly excessive at present, dependant on what one uses as a base line, there exists an undeniable trend to more control which should be resisted and reversed. There is a chasm between being a socialist and having a social conscience. On a related note, a supplier has increased their basic wage for unskilled workers commencing in their company to nearly $22.000 per hour. The effect has been a price increase exceeding 30%. Unsurprisingly, certain products will therefore be discontinued. | Peter |
| Becoming more racially and politically orientated as more get on the bandwagon to express their ideology and cult. | Ian |
| excessive and growing by the day | Wayne |
| And getting worse | Gareth |
| time for a revolution in thinking? | Chris |
| In some ways yes, in other ways it is just right. | Tim |
| Socialism and Communism go hand in hand, God help us. I sincerely hope this Government will be out of office next Election. | Ross |
| If the state controls what you feel and cannot say it. Then leave the country, and go to a free speaking, democratic country that will appreciate, what you will do for it, and leave the country you have loved for life, to the vermin. | Norm |
| Socialism never works. When and at what cost will they learn? | Michael |
| Yes it is excessive. The trouble is where is substantial opposition to this? A wishy washy leader of the opposition and his cohorts gnashing at their bits to bring in Trumplike dictatorship. Much and all as the nanny state is taking over there is no viable political alternative showing strength | Peter |
| It is very divisive and goes against everything we have known…very worrying trend that needs stopping | Rosalind |
| Unfortunately the general public regularly fail to realise that socialists are by nature control freaks and our present government is no exception. There will always be those who vote to get something for nothing and the socialists will take advantage. However in this case we need to blame the Winston First party for betraying their own electorate. I have noted that there are many who will not vote for him again because of this betrayal. Hopefully he will miss out entirely again next time although Shane Jones is doing all he can to buy the votes he needs up north. We will see if the electorate sees through this. The sooner the socialist in charge at present is gone the better | Robin |
| And until at least some time after the 2020 elections, it will become worse. | Vernon |
| Expanding state control is the default setting in NZ. | Stan |
| Agenda 21 on track. Helen’s seat warming in readiness for the next NZ Royalty. | Zoran |
| New Zealand has what it voted for under a flawed undemocratic MMP system, suppression of free speech, racial division in favour of a minority, indoctrination of children and hysteria bordering on madness while this red government tightens control of every facet of our lives. National certainly will not help, Simon is the male version of JA. too bad for us. | Sam |
| Excessive | Martin |
| we are not children, we can make our own decisions about ourselves. We do not need a government telling us what to do all the time | Raewyn |
| The gall of this “caring and nurturing” PM, the champion of Government “openness and transparency” claiming she did not know there were accusations of sexual assault until she read it, who then invokes an internal enquiry rather than passing the matter to the Police for investigation. She is truly living the International Union of Socialist Youth dream. So much for her myriad of ad hoc Investigative committees that, because “they know best”, determine what freedoms she will have the serfs of NZ give up next. Secretary General Guterres will be loving her efforts to drive our country into a world marxist/socialist government, but I am certainly not. This Government and the UN have both passed their Use-By Date! | Michael |
| And rapidly becoming more so | Helen |
| Wake up New Zealand. We are being subtly hypnotised under this Jacinda kindness and humanity mantra. Under the influence of her broad brush feel-good but deceptive promises we are being herded to a point of no return. Our loss of freedom of expression and ability to determine our way of life is under threat. It is up to us to starve this socialist idealogy of oxygen. | Robert |
| And censorship by all forms of media is frightening. | Fiona |
| Overwhelmingly | Helen |
| It’s all part of the UN plan for world domination. Our treCherous PM is following instructions – how to change to the New World Order – disarm the public (guns confiscation) reprogrammed the kids with lies (climate change, NZ sanitised history, lies ). Get more population on welfare = control, divide the nation, bring in more refugees, control, control etc. backed by that socialist Helen Clark and the stupid Greens and the hypocrite Winston Peters who only cares for what he can get for his own ego. God help NZ. | Carolyn |
| And getting worse by the day. I will say it again folks………if we don’t get binding referenda as the law of the country for both National and Local politics after the very next election then it is game over. What Comrade Cindy and Co are doing is no accident. It is the UN play book in action. It leads to One World Government with a few elite in control and the surviving remainder of us plebs serving them. Check out the Georgia Guide Stones. They advocate a world population of 500,000 total. This is what we are facing and the sooner the majority of us wake up the better. | Ronmac |
| We have had too much state control for many years. Once imposed it is interwoven into society and is almost impossible to retract . We don’t like being told what to do, think and say and threatened with all sorts of heavy handed retribution if we err from the straight and narrow | Mike |
| this govt needs to be stopped | Neil |
| How about the closing of oil exploration with out consultation.the take over of the Technical Scholls to name but a few. This is a Socialist Government and must be voted out at the next election.. | John |
| And the degree of control this left wing coalition enforces upon NZ will continue to get worse unless the voting public reject this current government and elects political parties that think and act like rational adults. | John |
| Yes it definitely is! | Jan |
| Freedom of speech is paramount to the survival of Democracy. Our forefathers fought bitter wars & sacrificed their lives to uphold this principle & now the Government says it was for nothing as it does not suit their Global agenda. | Nick |
| ABSOLUTELY | Chris |
| It is time the Parliamentary Opposition AND the Press became publicly aware of what is happening and publicise and fight for freedoms already lost. Think about it, any Govt that wants to legislate against animals expelling wind is certainly unfit to manage the Country and its remaining freedoms of expression . | Peter |
| The evidence is clearly there. | David |
| It’s becoming more repressive…particularly regarding freedom of speech and the controversial issue of climate change. | Tony |
| Yes, it is too much | Jo |
| It is all about Nanny knows best. These Coalition MP,s are Economic and Socialistic terrorists on the New Zealand way of life | Frank |
| This grand standing little Princess Ardern and her rabble of a Government scare the hell out of me . The ChCh massacre really helped oil her wheels. So now we have another tragedy our loss of freedom. | Norm |
| This government is frightening in its steady and obvious progress towards state control and is pushing us towards full on socialism / communism / dictatorship. We need these incompetent dreamers out of office next year or we will loose our democracy. | Roy |
| Give an inch and she will take a mile. | Robbie |
| It needs toning down | Laurel |
| Everything is done under emergency status so that people do not get an opportunity to have a vote. There is no emergency. It’s called dictatorship. | Bruce C |
| There has been much talk of deregulation by successive governments. There has been less regulation of corporations and other powerful entities but much more regulation and control of the ordinary people. There is definitely an intention to take away personal freedom and control everything that people do. It seems like a part of the plan for a New A World Order and totalitarian One World Government controlled by the elite members of the Globalist deep state. Welcome to the Brave New World of slogans and , mind control and slavery. | Charlie |
| Have Labour worked out if it wants to – lock up more people or less ? It is all turning to !!!!! | maurice |
| our country is suffering a death by a thousand cuts. The first step to control is to remove critical thinking. the next is to create an accepted herd behviour. There will be more Gretas as this low resolution thinking become pervasive. | Peter |
| This group of Socialists Marxists and whatever you want to call Peters lot wont be happy until they can tell you what you can have for breakfast !! | Mike |
| Is a proven disastrous system Socialism does not work and will soon be replaced | Alan |
| This so called engineering of the media appears to be in favour around the world. It has been more prominent in NZ under the current administration. It is intolerant the lengths they (govt) will go to suffocate its citizens. | Chris |
| Excessive is putting it mildly. We are dealing with a bunch of compulsive control freaks here. But when you look closer , one can find drastic similarities in overseas examples like the Green Party of Germany ,The ( so called ) Democrats in the US The Swedish socialist Govt, the English Labour Party and so on and so forth. There is a system in this international madness and it all can be traced back to this organisation called the UN. This utter decay has infiltrated our country and comrade Jacinda and her cronies are hard at work doing what they are told to bring this country down. At this pace NZ will be a but a shadow of its former self in a decade. | Michael |
| It is also happening in the medical sector, a tragedy for the population of this country | Tom |
| I think it is and will only get a lot worse, they seem to think they are the ones that know what’s right for us they never listen to the other side you are either a climate change denier, or a racist these days, no sense no debate, they say what it is and that’s it, I don’t think we want to many terms of a labour government | Rodger |
| Very definitely getting that way. | Dick |
| A horror story | Peter |
| It will not stop until another government is voted in. | Dennis |
| They try to reinvent the wheel. | Ian |
| Jacinda Ardern was brought up in a Mormon Church home life, which is a very controlling type of family up bringing, it has intern proven to create also not good citizens. | Don |
| What do you expect with Comrade Jacinda at the helm? | Mark |
| This communist govt was not voted in. | Mark |
| State control catapulted in through the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 based on the English Treaty which states Done at Waitangi on 06-02-1840 but was not written until April and signed in the Waikato during April of 1840, an illegal document. Even the Maori Treaty was condemned a ” simple nullity” in NZ’s Supreme Court in 1877 by Chief Justice James Prendergast | George |
| And getting worse, I am very worried for the future of New Zealand, especially if this government remains in power. Thank you NZCPR for all your work! | Valerie |
| Absolutely | Russell |
| Lists like Muriel’s really are scary. Jacinda is following her own agenda and stuff the consequences. She knows nothing about farming and that her rules and regulation re global warming will just be too much for many to deal with. She hasn’t considered that farming is still the backbone of this country for our people and export. A country full of pine trees will just contribute to the downward slide of our once prosperous country. How easily and quickly it can happen. Heaven help us if Labour gets in again next year. Imagine the crowing! | Juliet |
| This government has lost its way, if follows the whims of the few out spoken and forgets those that keep NZ going. | mark |
| Horribly, and totally unnecessarily so. | Jim |
| absolutely | Tony |
| What happened to free speech in NZ? Once, not long ago, we could teach our children our own beliefs. And we could influence what they were taught in school. Try to do that now and see what happens to you. | Paloma |
| obviously | Peter |
| Until we get the LOONY party off the Government bench’s the country will head down hill | John |
| It is a case of “Robin Hood”. Why work when you can just go down to WINZ and get what you want. The dummy’s that are working and pay taxes will fund the your needs. This government just doesn’t what business is about, and the distinction between and government, and the functions of each. | Peter |
| This is absolutely demoralizing and SCARY. If we don’t vote out of office these misguided, left-wing zealots, our Democracy is doomed. | Joyce |
| George Orwell was prescient. Big data and algorithms are antithetical to freedom of choice. In this environment Nudge theory is dangerous. We see the media nudging audiences every night of the week now. It’s no longer nudging it’s now shoving. | Graeme |
| Most definitely. | Pam |
| Will only get worse with this socialist government! | Laurie |
| The movement to protect free speech in the short term will need to go underground as it has done other times in history. This time it will be easier because of alternative internet sites such as Bitchute. Facebook is for oldies and Twitter and You Tube are increasingly becoming irrelevant as censorship increases. State control is only a short term nuisance in the Internet age. Anything banned on Twitter, You Tube and Facebook goes viral on the alternative sites. | Mervyn |
| And dangerous! | Sarah |
| The increasing state and local govt. control and involvement in our lives is increasingly oppressive and what happens when you elect a bunch of people, who have only just stopped being College prefects, to run the country | Ken |
| It’s a socialist state. That is what they do. Control for the benefit of the ruling junta. | Bruce |
| State and Council control is Out of Control not one of them will admit to a mistake. They take forever to decide what one may or may not do to justify their exorbitant wage decided by themselves. I hope we do not have another revolution like Hong Kong | Roydon |
| I think it is very important to object to the amount of state control that we have now, & in some areas, more is to come. This is not healthy for our nation | Mary |
| RUSSIA WENT AWAY FROM THIS | ALLAN |
| Absolutely! The underlying agenda is an insidious expansion of state intrusion into our lives. This is the only aspect of their muddled governance where they seem to be succeeding. | Lee |
| I am not surprised. She is a pure neo-marxist. Your nzcpr news letters will get shut down soon | Trevor |
| Margaret Thatcher’s layman description will prove true as it has done with every socialist regime; “The trouble with Socialism is that sooner or later you run out of spending other people’s Money!” Watch out for the Minister of Finance when he discloses the need for $15 Billion dollars of new loans to continue the ‘visions’ of the government in hard times! The price of democracy is eternal vigilance. The power of the Vote can defeat socialism. Sad to say that if incompatible races are immigrated to any country the result will be a violent challenge if such races refuse to integrate. Muslims do not integrate. You will notice that countries like Turkey and Egypt do not immigrate Christians because they are incompatible to their Religion. Immigration must be based on economics not politics! It is the immaturity of Socialism that believes in a doctrine of universal relationship with the State through law and bureaucracy. As stated, such a socialist regime cannot pay for the growing tentacles of the public sector and the Voter will respond by removing them from office. Hopefully, next election, next year. | Frederick |
| Not excessive! it’s killing our country. | Michael |
| I’m on that list of people visited by the police for what I watched on You Tube ! | Mitchell |
| Taxcinda is an angel from hell, by the time she has finished NZ will be run down and bankrupted undoing all the hard work that us oldies put into this beautiful country, the reality sad part is what the next generation are being taught at school namely NO future, it%u2019s no wonder some kids choose to opt out of this life. | Athol |
| Becoming more Orwellian by the day. | Richard |
| For God’s sake Winston do us all a favour & retire & don’t stand & win your party a seat in Northland.. Get Cindy out of our lives and free her to permanently bask in glory with her Nobel prize in New York. | David |
| With a left wing Government aligned with the loony Greens we will get more control and hopefully at next election we get rid of both of them. | Alan |
| It is really quite frightening how sneakily it has happened in the years since World War II: (1) newspapers now publish hardly any real news, being largely filled by vipid opinion pieces by writers apparently ill equipped to offer worthwhile opinions; (2) those same newspapers selectively reject all statements, even in letters to the editor, that do not comply with the state views on subjects such as (man-made) climate change or the mass poisoning policies of the so-called Department of Conservation; our prime minister dictatorially imposes sweeping bans on private ownership of firearms without any public outcry at her lack of even a pretence of democratic authorisation. There is much more. | Rob |
| the sooner we have a change of Govt the better | Helen |
| YES ITS CERTAINLY YES. WHY are weak people standing by & letting her DESTROY N.Z. If I had money I’d SUE her for UNDEMOCRATIC giving iwi MORE say over other N.Zealanders & for her climate laws WITHOUT asking us after all she can only do this as it’s OUR TAX MONEY that supports MP’S that SHOULD by law ASK OUR OPINIONS. Jacinda is OUT OF TOUCH & ALOT of MP’S are ALSO.We vote them in yet we never hear from most of them till 3 years later. Jacinda NEEDS STOPPING. | Cindy |
| Jacinda needs to face reality of whats she is doing & where NZ will end up if she carries on with her stupidity | Tony |
| I am not a happy kiwi with the things this Govt is doing to our country. Roll on next year so we can get shot of a coalition Govt so there are not so many Chiefs calling the shots and nothing gets done. | Barbara |
| I never thought I would see the day where a buck tooth actress with no political nous would fool so many people. Thank you very much Winston, you bloody liar.I will never vote for you again.What a shame you recovered from your infection. | Ross |
| Getting worse by the day. | Margaret |
| We are certainly heading down that track. | Gail |
| Totally over the top | Jeff |
| There seems to be no end to Jacinda’s bright ideas | Judith |
| This government – like other liberal left socialist governments – does not like discussion on their ‘projects as they consider those opposed to them as ‘bad people.’ and racists – just as in America …….. Yes, state control in NZ is very subtly encroaching deep into our society. | Stuart |
| Unless the next election sees a change in govt, things are certainly going to go from bad to worse – very much worse | Maurice |
| It is counter to the generally held ideal of democratic government. What we vote for is not evidenced by what we get | Harvey |
| Nanny State is interfering in almost every aspect of our lives and goes well beyond its mandate to govern. Most of the current group of ministers have little or no experience in life outside parliament let alone business experience | Kevin |
| Most certainly. Out! Out! Out! With this pathetic coalition govt., Their policies are very damaging to NZ. Prices of power, food and fuel will all greatly increase due to these ill thought out policies. And who will be most affected? Those who voted for them. | Graeme |
| This labour lead Government is driving democracy underground and us Kiwis freedom is under threat so I would advise all New Zealanders to be very careful as you will have Police dressed in casual clothes knocking on your door. Get shot of this Labour lead A S A P. | Ken |
| No surprise tho, after finding out Jacinda was the ex president of the Socialist Party | George |
| This government would have to be the worst in my lifetime I am 78 They want to control everything Gun Control Except for the gangs who wont take any notice of any new law. Help the Maori Iwi gain more control of anything they decide they need to and control the farm cows by charging the farms for what they allegedly fart . Most of it is the name of so called climate change. Jacinda should do the country a favour and stay overseas the next time she goes somewhere . Antarctica would be a good place to be the first choice as it might freeze some sense into her. | Colin |
| And police are writing the laws that they enforce! | Julian |
| Time to call a day on this government and amend MMP to facilitate a scheme as close as possible to a majority democracy. Where are the checks and balances? | MAX |
| I can not believe in such a short period of time how far we have come down the track of being told, what we can eat, what we can drink, what we must believe, how all cultures are equal, there are no bad cultures, only different ones, what we should drive, what we must respect, like 31 genders and if not that then “OTHER'” Even official medical forms have this on now. How sick are we becoming as a Nation, when we have people in leadership who want to register children without gender and let them decide what they are when they grow. Islam is a religion of Peace our Prime Minister says. Yet Islam involved in every theater of war around the world. Slaughtering each other in the name of what they believe and waging war and hate on the West. Why? because the moral base to their laws are Christian, which we are fast rejecting in favour of this the great global society. The latest open slather for immigration from middle east and Africa. Then of course we have signed the global pact on immigration. Read it. It gives them more rights than the average NZ citizen. This Government has got to go. Having said that National were not a lot better. NZ. First have gone back on almost every foundational family value they stood for, before the election and the Greens and Labour opposed. How could Mr. Peters go into coalition with them? Spite over national, releasing to media his welfare over payments.. Wake up people of NZ, you are being deceived daily as a Nation. | Dene |
| the death of free speech is already here | John |
| It is a combination of appalling ignorance, arrogance, stupidity, and a form of bullying. | Jack |
| Yes – and it is becoming more so. This collection of Socialist sock puppets need to be voted out of office ASAP before NZ becomes a full-fledged Communist dystopia. They are not us! | Scott |
| We have an overtly Socialist government, and the whole point of Socialism is to take control of people’s lives: individualism and personal freedom are anathema to them. The paradigm is the political system in China and, given free rein, our Socialists in Labour and the Greens would have us go down the same track (all for our own good, you understand). | Graham |
| It is the way of that beast. | Peter |
| I am 80, and the way this Government is going I am not going to see 90. | Doreen |
| I think the UN has control over our Sovereignty. Jacinda is the puppet of Helen Clark a prodigy of the UN and a spreader of untruths. It is a known fact that when a lie is told many times it becomes the truth in peoples minds. The UN s the master of this. | David |
| This is the WORST government NZ has EVER had. | Helen |
| nz has got big problems coming under this Govt | Graeme |
| It is showing this prime minister’s communistic background and way past time for a national call of no confidence in this government. She over rules good legislation brought forward by coalition partners. We need an early election before things get too bad. | Cecelia |
| Yes and this rotten government is on a frightening roll | Mike |
| Agree with your comments. I am extremely worried that this govt could get a second term. | Peter |
| I’m even afraid to put on here what I really think. | Graeme |
| Socialism is a straitjacket we are all being cynically forced into. | Richard |
| I am scared to say! | Howard |
| Very much so. With regard to one, the freedom of speech, instead of banning the uttering of criticism, people should be educated on who to address such criticism. What is happening now is we are raising a nation of whimps who need to be protected from everything (except Jacinda Ardern’s dictatorship.) It is almost getting to the point where we need our own Hong Kong here and soon. | Tony |
| But I think guns need to be controlled and removed from society unless required for work. | David |
| And as stated in the News Letter, going to get much worse.. It’s a wonder that this News/ Feedback has not been ‘Blocked’. If the Nation Party follows this Global warming hysteria, then they are ‘goneburgers’ as well. It is high time we had the Adults back in charge in this Country, not Socialist Puppets !! | Geoff |
| Helen started it Jacinda has taken the baton and is in sprint mode. | Trevor |
| Returning to NZ from a lengthy stay in Europe a few years ago this country felt like a police state then. It%u2019s a lot worse now. | Alan |
| I think some people have over reacted but it%u2019s not excessive. Yet. | Hugh |
| Cannot, as a 5th generation kiwi, believe what labour is doing to democracy, and freedoms. | Norman |
| More control, more regulations that just increase costs, ‘traffic improvement’ debacles turning twin lanes into single lanes at intersections only creating more congestion. The aim to get us out of cars onto public transport or cycle. | Margaret |
| Smacks of Stalinism or even Nazism. | Graeme |
| Most Certainly | Jim |
| From the example of bicycle tracks built into busy car and other vehicle roads to the frustrations that the farming part of the economy are being pushed into we see it ever day in all kinds of ways. | Ray |
| Roll on to next elections and rid ourselves of this rubbish govt. | William |
| George Orwell’s ‘1984’ is alive and well and has now moved to New Zealand. Next on the list will be a Ministry for Rewriting History- oh, hang on, it’s already being done. | Alan |
| To call this woman a socialist is painting her pink. She’s a rabid communist. | Jenny |
| Absolutely terrifying the hysteria being promulgated around the world and now we have a political environment creating the same petrie dish here | Sharon |
| A control freak | Lew |
| I recently posted comments on Facebook with regard to the control and registration of firearms A friend tried to reply only to find that my rhetoric had been removed from the system. If this is the intention of the current Government, then we better prepare ourselves for the next election when the likes of the incarcerated will be given the vote just to gain political points. How can the PM criticize China for their state control when she is taking NZ down the same path | Barry |
| I’m afraid we might even be beyond the point of no return. It is very worrying and I dread to think what will happen to our once lovely little country if this lot get back at the next election. The damage they are currently doing is huge. | Helen |
| Creeping socialism is becoming galloping socialism! | Rod |
| It is and getting worse. Shame is that National is little better! | Roger |
| NZ 1st has a lot to answer for | Hugh |
| Excessive state control under a socialist labour govt? nah, you cannot be serious, Doh! this is what Labour gov’t is about, it’s in their DNA. | Bart |
| It’s out of control and will inevitably lead to violent responses. | Terry |
| State control and interference has and continues to be excessive from both sides of the house. | Glen |
| ” Take what you can carry ….turn off the lights and close the door…. Goodbye to the “Prison of New Zealand….” | ChrisH |
| Excessive, OTT, Frightening | Tony |
| Thank you Ms Arden for being the worst and most destructive Prime minster this country has ever seen. You are systematically destroying our way of life in this beautiful country. | Kevin |
| The best way any Govt can help is by helping less | Kelvin |
| YES. | Clark |
| I am in favour of imposing a gun registration and support our prime minister’s efforts to control these weapons. | Peter |
| The simple answer is get rid of the Labour government as soon as possible how they ever managed to get in just amazes me | Peter |
| Totally excessive. Unlike Muldoon’s economic handcuffing, Labour, and supported by National ever since, instituted a programme of social engineering brainwashing as early as the 1970. | Graeme |
| We are rapidly turning into a socialist state ans most folks? they actually don’t either think it will happen [it IS..] and don’t damned well care – and it will be far far too late! | Naine |
| what can we do about it! | Bill |
| We are no longer free. We are being rapidly manipulated with the media complicit. | Mike |
| Political correctness has morphed into political control | John |
| The spectra of the hammer and sickle hangs over NZ’s future. | Bob |
| Also District Councils. Look at New Plymouths plan to restrict private property Airbnb availability days to 90/year. | David |
| But you forgot to mention control of our coastline | John |
| Socialism and State Control are always bed-fellows | Graeme |
| It’s time for Ardern, Peters and Shaw to go. You wouldn’t find a more dispicable group of people in the country. Nobodies trying to be somebodies. | Merryl |
| I’m afraid to express how I feel about the Maori endoctrination of history and language. I fear that I will be prosecuted or attacked by Maori. | Andrew |
| It was known from day one that Ardern is a Socialist in the extreme.The only thing she ever led was a junior socialist organisation.Add the rabble she has around her.most of whom would not get a job in private life and we are in deep trouble. | Don |
| She is on route to one world Govt | Colin |
| Firearm law rush was undemocratic. Three days to read 12,000 submissions. NZ First could’ve stalled rush and resulted in a democratic select committee | Tony |
| Time to get rid of comrade Ardern as Prime Minister she’s all show and no substance anyway. | Terry |
| Can’t say. I might get arrested for crimes against socialism. | Mark |
| Get out of F/book and into Gab for your social media & comment. You can safely air your views and NOT be censored or REMOVED. | Coral |
| Our Freedoms are disappearing fast | Mike |
| I fear for this country under this UN Socialist puppet. You only need to look at the 5 major leaders in the UN to see the Globalist agenda and the demise of a small country like NZ that can be used solely for experimentation of their draconian laws | Rod |
| need I say more, it’s obvious. | Graeme |
| Disgusting caused by undemocratic MMP AND the GUTLESS National Party | Cutty |
| Ardern isn’t smart enough to make this stuff up on her own. She is a puppet of the elite. | Rick |
| Of course Jacinda is making her wish on the people being a socialist she needs to go and live in China her ideas are not for NZers I know as have been banned in different places which stinks | Russell |
| Thoughts of a programmed minority forced on the majority, underpinned by the minorities lack of knowledge. | Collin |
| The labour “Govt” is out of control. | John |
| Excessive to the point of fear | Frank |
| The media need to wake up and question the status quo. | Willy |
| It is dreadful now that Labour are in power. Our carefree society is no more. This government has undermined the Kiwi way. I’m not sure that it can be reversed either. | Brian |
| Yes, society is becoming fearful. That is a symptom of state domination. People are afraid of speaking their mind in case they are attacked. It is a dreadful situation we are now in. | Simon |
| This is a vindictive government and they have empowered radical forces. The sooner they are voted out the better. | Peter |
| Everyone is afraid to speak their mind, otherwise the Police might turn up knocking on your door. Thank goodness for the NZCPR – long may you continue to be a voice of reason. | Jen |
| New Zealand is no longer a free society. | David |