Politics has been described as the contest of ideas. It is also the art of manipulation. This was evident during the 13 hour debate on the Prime Minister’s Statement that began on Parliament’s first sitting day for the new year. We examine the PM’s address, National’s response, and some dangerous ideas promoted by the Greens.
The Prime Minister believes that at the last election, the majority of New Zealanders voted for radical change. “We as a Government had two options: to follow what the last Government did… and to govern; or to lead, to look for new solutions, to tackle what’s in front of us, not just in the next three years but in the next 30 years. That does mean doing things differently. It does mean taking risks, but if that benefits more New Zealanders… those are risks worth taking.”
She claimed the country’s economic “fundamentals” are strong: “Unemployment is at the second-lowest rate in a decade. Our growth rates remain strong at around 3 percent. Inflation is tracking at 1.9 percent. We are running surpluses. We are on track with our management of net Crown debt.”
And she confirmed “Our Budget Responsibility Rules remain absolutely in place”.
For the record, those five rules, which were agreed jointly by Labour and the Greens in 2017 to improve their economic credibility, are to run an operating surplus, to reduce Net Core Crown Debt to 20 percent of GDP within five years, to address the country’s long-term financial and sustainability challenges, to maintain expenditure to within 30 percent of GDP, and to ensure a progressive taxation system that is fair, balanced, and promotes long-term sustainability and productivity.
In comparison, the Green Party, which is keen to increase Government spending, is now reviewing whether to continue supporting those rules.
The Prime Minister said that going forward, “The first priority is around growing and sharing more fairly New Zealand’s prosperity. We cancelled the last Government’s tax cuts, and instead put that spending into the Families Package. This year, we’ll continue to see the roll-out of that package, the winter energy payment will run for longer, Best Start payments will be extended…”
The Best Start package is essentially a baby bonus of $60 a week, or $3,120 per year, for the first three years. While it’s really too early to tell whether the payments are incentivising families to have more children, the early indications are that it has reversed a downward trend, especially amongst Maori, where births are now at their highest level since 2012.
In her speech, the Prime Minister acknowledged New Zealand First’s commitment to increase the minimum wage to $20 an hour by 2021. She explained it will rise from $16.50 an hour to $17.70 in April – the biggest minimum wage increase in our history. With our median hourly wage at $25 an hour, this new rate will take our minimum wage to 70 percent of the median wage. This is by far the highest in the OECD and compares with the next highest, France on 62 percent, followed by Australia on 55 percent, and the UK on 54 percent. The US is on 34 percent.
Any leader with an ounce of common sense and a genuine concern for the underprivileged would realise that fast-tracking the minimum wage to such disproportionately high levels in a country that struggles with low productivity, will lock tens of thousands of low skilled and vulnerable New Zealanders out of the workforce because their output is simply not worth $20 an hour.
This harmful policy, which is creating a strong incentive for automation, is already forcing small businesses to cut hours, to stop hiring workers, and to increase prices to consumers to cover costs.
The Prime Minister also praised New Zealand First’s Provincial Growth Fund – even though in reality it’s a $3 billion slush fund that’s being used by the Party to build support in the regions and bolster their 2020 bid for the Northland electorate.
In her speech, the PM highlighted the Government’s Well-being Budget. Based on Treasury’s Living Standards Framework, it will involve a radical overhaul of the State Sector. This experimental concept, which aims to measure government success not only in terms of economic indicators but also factors such as happiness, well-being, and life fulfilment, will no doubt provide the PM with yet another opportunity to stand on the global stage and claim more world ‘firsts’ for New Zealand.
Jacinda Ardern says that making radical change “is what you do when you lead, not just govern”. But she appears to have learnt nothing from the disastrous blowouts of council spending and debt that followed Helen Clark’s introduction of the ‘wellbeing’ concept into local government in 2002.
With regards to climate change, the Prime Minister explained, “if we are going to act responsibly – not only according to our international obligations but to the people of New Zealand – we need to transition our economy to a clean, green, carbon-neutral economy. We will progress our climate change bill this year… with the strong support of the Green Party.”
The PM will be well aware that in France, when their President started implementing his climate change transition programme, the ‘yellow vests’ protested against the rising prices. How Kiwis will express their dissatisfaction when costs start escalating and the economy stalls remains to be seen.
The Government is also planning fundamental reforms of the health sector, and the whole of education – from tertiary and early childhood, to primary and secondary schools through the Tomorrow’s Schools review.
Labour remains committed to Kiwibuild, in spite of the Reserve Bank warning that it is crowding out the private sector – for every ten Kiwibuild houses built, up to seven and a half fewer private sector houses are constructed – and they intend strengthening Te Arawhiti, the new Crown agency set up to progress Maori rights to ‘partnership’ and co-governance.
In response to the Prime Minister’s Statement, National’s leader Simon Bridges refuted the economics: “Growth at the end of last year: 0.3 percent—the worst in quite a number of years. House sales have stalled, unemployment is up by 10,000, and there are 26,000 more young New Zealanders who are not in employment, training, or education. Job growth under us: 10,000 more people were in jobs every single month for the last two years. What’s it under them? Six hundred…
“Look in the mirror, Prime Minister, and you will see your anti-growth agenda, your anti-business agenda, staring right back at you. A country can’t re-unionise the workforce, it can’t change all the overseas investment rules to stop foreign investment, it can’t pile on more taxes all the time, and it can’t say no to new oil and gas exploration and expect it is going to be all beer and roses.
“Talking about well-being in Davos is OK, Prime Minister, but your Government is delivering less of it here in New Zealand: the facts don’t lie – we are seeing more food parcels than ever before in this country’s history. We are seeing more hardship grants – 64,000 – and we were seeing rent increases of $30 more each and every week last year…
“The economy: getting worse. Housing: getting worse. Transport, is getting worse. Health: getting worse. Deficits in literally every district health board around the country are going up. We have had health targets cancelled under this Government for the same reason that they cancelled the KiwiBuild targets: they know they ain’t going to meet them. Don’t take my word for it; that’s what the cancer experts around the country have said about this. They have made it really clear that there are people now dying because without national standards there is nothing to drive those waiting times and those accountabilities.
“In education, eighteen working groups. There are strikes literally every other day. It is a sector that is in absolute disarray. And all the while, free fees – so there isn’t money for those teachers, those schools, for polytechs.”
Simon Bridges then committed National to “repeal a capital gains tax, repeal needless restrictions around foreign investment, repeal the terrible industrial law changes aimed at re-unionising the workforce, repeal the oil and gas ban. We would reform the Resource Management Act; we would reintroduce health targets, we would reinstate charter schools. We would repeal the regional fuel tax… and, Winston Peters, we would pull out of the United Nations migration pact.
“We’d reinstate Better Public Services targets. We would strengthen sanctions to ensure beneficiaries meet reasonable obligations and don’t languish on the dole queue. And we would have tax indexation to ensure New Zealanders keep on top of their costs and are not going behind…”
In his opening address, Green Party leader James Shaw reiterated the PM’s claim that New Zealanders voted for radical change. “This Government was elected on the basis of… fundamental reform. So when the commentators pontificate about whether this Government can politically afford to do what no other Government before it has done, I ask, Can we afford not to?”
The Green Party is committed to a capital gains tax: “We need to tax income from capital the same way that we tax income from work. The very last question that we should be asking ourselves is: can we be re-elected if we do this? The only question we really ought to be asking ourselves is: do we deserve to be re-elected if we don’t?”
The Greens are even more unwavering when it comes to climate change: “We were elected to make climate-change history.”
James Shaw appears to be have been captivated by a Green New Deal proposal from the US: “In the United States, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez is making headlines, calling for a Green New Deal that offers everyone a good future.” Since he is considering implementing similar policies here, we thought we’d better look into what it entails.
According to this week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, Justin Haskins, a research fellow at the Heartland Institute, the Green New Deal is a far-left proposal that would create widespread economic chaos and fundamentally transition an economy towards socialism:
“Not only is Ocasio-Cortez proposing to eliminate the hundreds of thousands of jobs in the fossil fuel industry in the United States, she’s demanding this transition occur in just 10 years, from 2020 to 2030. This mandate would be virtually impossible to achieve because wind and solar energy sources still rely on back-up generation from fossil-fuel-powered energy when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining…
“Ocasio-Cortez’s draft resolution also proposes ‘eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacturing, agricultural and other industries’, as well as ‘eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from transportation’. It’s not clear whether this would eventually mean the elimination of all gasoline-powered cars, but even if we assume private ownership of these vehicles would be permitted, the removal of affordable fossil fuels, including natural gas, from all industry would increase the cost of developing, manufacturing, and delivering all goods and services in the country. It would force companies to spend hundreds of billions of additional dollars – expenses that would be passed along to consumers.”
In his speech, James Shaw explained, “Last year our Government said that fossil fuels are not our future. This year… we will pass the zero carbon bill. Finally, we will have legally binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“Our Government is busy; we make no apology for it. These few changes… won’t result in the truly transformative outcomes that New Zealanders elected this Government to shepherd in. We know there is so much more to do, but we are just getting warmed up… we must be bold.”
So there you have it, radical “transformation” is now underway right across the economy. The ride to the next election is about to become very bumpy indeed!
THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
Do you agree with Labour and the Greens that the 2017 election result showed a majority of New Zealanders voted for radical change?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| I am becoming fed up with all the bowing & scraping when we are supposed to be one country and one people. The Green’s have a lot to answer for and not in a good way. Too much pandering to the minority and being precious over comments made, where is open discussion we all should be able to have an opinion. without the racist word used for all things unpalatable. | Patricia |
| This lot of fruit loops do not understand what makes for a stable economy and are steering this country into financial ruin and you watch a mass exodus of businesses disappear and the young and the smart leave N Z .C G T will drive investment of shore and employment will skye rocket and automation will take over.God help New Zealand. | Ken |
| Not this radical. | Fraser |
| No, people voted National. | Kate |
| They certainly did not vote for the anarchy and ‘sinful’ social engineering engendered by incompetent Labour, crazy Greens, and feral Peters | Jack |
| My vote was hijacked by that pontificating A hole, soon to be gone! | Colin |
| I am greatly concerned with the level of arrogance in the comments from Jacinda Ardern winston peters and now James Shaw they were not voted into government by New Zealanders. they are there by default –because of winston peters and his apparent vendetta towards the National Party. | Jenny |
| When you start offering “everything for free” you also have to ask, “Who pays?” | David |
| Lots of readers blaming Winston for enabling Labor and the Green Marxists to get their hands on the treasury purse strings, perhaps people are finally starting to understand the damage socialism has done to NZ.as Labor and the Nats have tried to out socialise each other by buying votes with gifts and promises. The country has been in gradual financial decline since 1974 and it is going to take a Nigel Farage or Donald Trump to change our direction, but the establishment is not going to allow that to happen! | Rex |
| Rubbish | Wally |
| Not sure where this loony left idea came from? Without Winston the left would still be reading Animal Farm for policy ideas. Oh no, we will set up a committee to read it for us and advise what Napoleon saying. Maybe then Squealer (aka Taxinder) can announce to the world her wonderful discovery of socialism. | Chris |
| A. Ocasio-Cortez has an economics degree. It turns out her economic knowledge would fit in a thimble, Of course James Shaw would be captivated by Green New Deal; although he appears as a colourless robot, he and the Green party are deeply-red socialists. Shaw never appears in polls as preferred PM because he is no leader and the whole Green party needs to be voted out of Parliament quickly with their dangerous policies. | Monica |
| Absolutely not, and I don’t want my country to slide backwards into a communist set up where everything is shared and there is no initiative to do anything! | Eric |
| Nutters running us towards oblivion on steroids | Barry |
| Keep up the good work NZCPR The “New World Socialist Order” must be stopped. | Michael |
| The majority of New Zealanders voted for the National party! | Terry |
| If it wasn’t for the vile turncoat Peters they would be relegated to history. Hopefully New Zealanders see sense come next election & don’t sell their vote for $20 tax cut or another year “free” education. There is not a shred of evidence this government has a mandate, none. | Tracy |
| This one occasion when I’m on Trump,side! | John |
| They were not elected, they are in government by default. Perfect example to get rid of MMP. Wake up Sheeples! | Rick |
| Definitely NOT! The only radical change we need for New Zealand is to see a vote of no confidence in this government and have an early election. There must be a better government somewhere – a government who will truly care about the people and equality between all. | CM |
| Shaw is a Dreamer | Chris |
| The majority of New Zealanders voted for the National Party which supported a completely different mandate | Ursula |
| Absolutely not! What damn nonsense! | Ron |
| Bloody Rubbish | Lloyd |
| The Greens,Labour and NZ First are delusional if they think that NZers voted for this coalition. This is what MMP created a dog’s breakfast!! | Robert |
| The majority did not vote for radical change but 1984 appears to be just around the corner | Steve |
| Like hell I did. I was looking to having another $1000 in my hand each year not being wasted by the clowns who are now undoing a lot of the good work the national party did while they were in office. Likewise my wife could better spend $1000 a year that Jacinda and her stupid Government | Colin |
| No, it is all ridiculous. | Marty |
| No, I certainly didn’t agree!! | Frank |
| we didn’t vote for such radical change | Claire |
| Just read the numbers. The previous National government got the most votes | Douglas |
| Thanks to Winston Peters we have Labour and the Greens deluding | John |
| I think they very grand ideas about what they want to do. But they will bring this country down as it is not what N Z needs. | Melva |
| A few lefties probably did | Jan |
| Labour did not win, National lost. | Gary |
| PUNISHED NATIONAL BECAUSE OF THE POOR LINE UP, AND INEXPERIENCE. | Robert |
| Many Aucklanders did because National continued to spend excessive monies on the Roads of Nat Significance to the detriment of the City environment instead of actively promoting Auckland’s public transport. The Natioanal Party just does not understand how ‘cities’ work. Motorways everywhere are not the answer. | Warren |
| Actual growth is headline rate less inflation so really about 1% and falling, just another example of Glitter Tits verbal deception. | Mike |
| Change yes , but not radical. | Stan |
| NZ is currently being controlled by a political manipulation not by a democratic elected majority. Greens James Shaw will lead NZ to economic disaster , with Jacinda running a close second. | Pierre |
| The excesses of the last Govt needed to be reined in, but this Govt has turned it into an art form, progressing socialism by stealth. god help our children. | rod |
| It was the result of a country that has grown comfortable and unappreciative of the advances in our the majority of our citizens standard of living and for some reason sexism trumped realism , the same policies that would never have got Andrew little in the big seat , were forgotten as the leftist media fell over themselves to promote a young woman that speaks words with no meaning , Frustrating , NZ in reverse gear with accelerator hard to the floor | Dennis |
| Absolutely, we now have a government for the workers and low to middle income families and not the rich buddies of National. | Suzanne |
| Never in a million years | Richard |
| No. At worst many were just tired of National with it’s cowtowing to the maori elite. A case of ‘out of the frying pan, into the fire’! | Alan |
| I just don’t understand how such idiots have made their way into such a position of power. Madness. | Dave |
| Mr Shaw’s Statement that the Country voted for radical change is about as truthful as his and his departments claim that Global warming/Climate Change is all because of anthroprogenic causes. 44.9% voted for a continuance of the then resident Government policies, 7.2 % voted to solve the problem of anachronistic Maori Seats in Parliament, and stop the hijacking of the Treaty of Waitangi to the view that the document provides for co-governance and racial privilege.. None of the three parties making up 52.1% of the voters, had radical transformation of the Nation into a high tax, wealth redistribution, commitment to international government through the UN, and the unscientific imposition of puerile and unjustified laws to attempt to control climate by the reduction of CO2 and NH4 emsissions, as part of their manifesto. If our Government thinks that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez “Gren New Deal” is worthy of closer examination, simply shows how crazy the “Green Agenda” is and the calibre of our ministers, charged with safeguarding the well-being of our nation. If they really believe they have a mandate to take the country into a state of declining GDP for the next 80 years or more, then they should have no fear of calling a new election or at least conduct a binding referendum on their radicalism, in particular Climate Change and the hijacking of the Treaty of Waitangi using Te Arawhiti, the new Crown agency set up to progress Maori rights to %u2018partnership%u2019 and co-governance. Both actions however should permit balanced arguments to be presented to the electorate,, and not just follow the line “the science is settled” as they did when they invited citizens to “Have their say” providing you only discussed it accepting there was no need to discuss the science! I really do believe even Hitler and Himmler would be impressed in the manner that the party that attracted 6.3% of the voters is able to drive such draconian and expensive legislation which will have so minimal effect on what the claim to be influencing. | Michael |
| That is crazy assumption | Pete |
| The Winstone First Party decided the Government. Under the German MMP system the party with the largest vote forms the Government or decides on a new election. NZers have been short changed (again). | Martin |
| They weren’t a majority. | Pam |
| We as New Zealanders are doomed by the idiotic views of the labour and greens stupidity.it would appear that they lack basic intelligence. Maybe govt should insist that politicians pass basis level four at primary school. | Allan |
| I believe that people voted for a better social deal for New Zealand. i.e. Health, Education, Clean water. Fair access to fore shore Etc | Richard |
| Labour got to govern by chance: the whim of Winston Peters was all it took. There was no public mood for radical change, and Labour were as surprised as anyone to find themselves sitting on the treasury benches. Now, with distorted hindsight, they have convinced themselves that this was what the country wanted all along. What nonsense! Already, we are seeing the destructive force of their radicalism: the economy about to stall, unemployment rising, the housing and mental health crises worsening, and racial tension rapidly deepening because of preferential treatment of Maori. This is socialism in the raw. Beware, for there are some very bad times ahead. | Graham |
| No way. | Clark |
| Just more spin. The speech writers must have a great laugh every Friday afternoon as they take their long lunch with a few beers. “What did you manager to dream up this week?” | John |
| This shows just how much they are behind the times and oblivious of what is the real situation , economically is for NZ,…we were financially ok by 2017 , thanks to John Key , as we and the rest of the world were just emerging from the 2008 GFC, global financial crash . | Roy |
| Absolutely NOT! | Anne |
| More votes for National than Labour it was only Peters who tipped balance | Colin |
| only by manipulating the figures can either greens or labor sway the results the way in which they are attempting | Rob |
| Hardly when National had the single largest party vote. | Carl |
| I think there was a lot of apathy out there and sometimes we get what we don’t want because of it! | Liz |
| Absolute political spin. Once Labour and their shady political partners got their feet under the table they showed their true intentions. They won’t last after the next election. | Robert |
| Nobody in New Zealand voted for the specifics of the Labour-Greens-etc decisions such as shutting down oil/gas exploration. And as for the “green new deal” espoused by the Green Party let us bace the fact that this is total out-and-out communism and you have seen how successful that has been in the no-longer existent USSR. Tell Comrade Shaw to get lost. | Ron |
| Not for a minute! | Mark |
| Winnie is the reason that we have such a such useless people put into running our country, | William |
| Absolutely Not If you add the Nats plus Winston First party votes that was by far the majority This Radical agenda is being driven by the Communist Green party so once again the tail is wagging the dog | Robin |
| We had it before with Roger Douglas and how long did it take the country to crawl out from under – HELP | Wayne |
| Absolutely not. Without the chicanery of W Peters labour/greens would still be languishing where they should be………on the margins. Talk about lipstick on a pig. Everything that Comrade Cindy stands for is straight from the Globalist Hand Book. In order that we can all be “saved” by the Elites first all Western Society economies must be totally wrecked. Cindy and her troops are well on the way towards bringing this demolition about. As for Winston………what can you say except that he has become a total sellout for reasons that are beyond understanding but appear to be insane. | Ronmac |
| Definitely not! This government only got into power because of Winston Peters – who then let us all down! | Janet |
| I believe most NZers voted for no significant change. | Cyril |
| Definitely not. The party that got the most votes was a vote for continuation, albeit maybe slightly tweaked. Tweaked to address housing “shortage issues” and I suspect issues over exporting of bottled water. There was no way the majority of NZ wanted a “communist inspired govt.” | Robin |
| Absolute poppycock A un-elected slimy person tipped the scales | Brianb |
| It seems Labour and the Greens are suffering short term memory loss. They did not get voted in – Winston put them there and as such he has a lot to answer for. | Ian |
| What’s the difference between the green party and a developer ? The developer wants to build a house in the bush. The green party already have houses in the bush. | Grant |
| They will destroy this country | Brianb |
| The problem really is that there are too many of us…humans I mean. This in fact means we have to devise financial systems that are not dependent on growth. NOW. | Peter |
| We are heading for disaster. | Roger |
| Nonsense – we didn’t vote for a coalition govt! | Bernard |
| I think many people voted NZ First with the promise of removing ‘race based’ parliament seats. There was the hope that this would signal true equality for New Zealanders! | Penina |
| Radical change is a political manipulation that will backfire. | Robbie |
| We didn’t vote for Jacinda. | Jill |
| No, didn’t really want anything too radical. | Garth |
| Definitely not | Mark |
| Absolute rubbish. All the parties in the coalition need to go back and read the policies that they promoted to get elected. No where do I see the word RADICAL. This a government making up policy in a knee jerk fashion aimed at securing the vote of folk happy to bite the carrot at the end of the string | Barry |
| Personally, I believe Winston’s NZ First got in on his pro Israel stance, following Murray McCully selling NZ’s soul at the UN. | Jenny |
| NO, Everybody thought that that two timing Peters would go with National, but oh no, he wanted the lime light as he new it would be his last chance, so he put his wants before the rest of New Zealand, and now we have the stupid Greens and Taxcinder with all her one worlders completely stuffing up the country. | Athol |
| MMP result is now showing up as the disaster of all time. When one person from NZ 1st with 7% of the vote can decide which party runs NZ, this is not a Democracy . | Ross |
| Winston has a lot to answer for! | Laurie |
| From where I’m sitting (Spain, at the moment…) sounds like your in for it. More socialist dogma and “green” insanity. Guess who’ll be paying?. | John |
| I did not vote for National or Act. What I wanted was a gentle correction and something done about child poverty. New Zealanders by and large are not the kind of people who want radical change. | Richard |
| National had the most votes. Labour and the Greens are only there appointed by Winston Peter’s. | Chris |
| National needs to take note. Their politicians are too encrusted and lacking innovation. While the current coalition is not working for the good of the country; National is not showing any initiative. Time for them to wake up, get rid of their stodgy image and provide life for their party. Get rid of MacSimon and his three witches – Amy Judith and Paula. | Peter |
| The election result was about whet was best for Winston Peters. Effectively National said “lets negotiate a deal” and Labour said “where do we sign” | John |
| The government is a coalition of parties that had a lot fewer votes and certainly no one cohesive strategy that was voted for | Bryan |
| Yes – they voted for radical change – yet I polled as a NO because the change wanted was more aligned with NZ 1st promises to get rid of Maori wards, race based maori privilege, dump the treaty etc. Not comply with the U.N doctrines in their promotion of the communistic ideals and the suppression of colonial influences on NZ (and the rest of the world for that matter). | Bruce C |
| No, they voted for business as usual! | Bob |
| They did not win the electoral vote full stop., and they have no mandate for their extremist policies. They are totally dangerous delude fools and the silent majority can be silent no longer or within three years, the NZ economy will be destroyed,, and the consequences will be a country torn apart. | James |
| They voted labour as they believed jacindas promises which haven’t come. Housing,unemployment,welfare has ALL INCREASED under labour. | Cindy |
| They are living in a fantasy world, and creating their own fake news! | Kaye |
| The election results showed just the opposite. It was Winston Peters who put the current lot in power. Beware the Greens at all and any level. | Ray |
| we want change to some things. But radical. Like the labour party did under Rodger _______. The Labour party could kill New Zealand if they do a radical changes. | Robert |
| I don’t recall any such position being mentioned in the run-up to the election. | Terry |
| The public didn’t even vote this government in…. | Maurice |
| nO IT IS bULL sHIT !!!!! No it is bull shit !!!! | Jim |
| Perhaps they are working on the Goebbels principle – “Tell a big enough lie often enough and people will finally believe it” | Graeme |
| This is a minority Government – can’t they count? | Howard |
| Rubbish! | Donald |
| The current Government is in power more by good luck than good policies. It was Peters call to put these people in power, and at pre election time radical change wasn’t on the agenda. | Murray |
| Most voters thought Winston Peters would go with National Where he came from. But Winnie runs with the hares and hunts with the hounds! | Roger |
| Looking at the campaigned on directions, the majority of New Zealanders voted for something very close to the previous 9 years. | Lionel |
| The majority voted for a national govt.This govt is the result of the dwarfs duplicity, and his need for a Knighthood to fool himself that he is a credible success in life. Devalues the the recognition of those whose personal efforts actually justified the award of a Knighthood. | Bob |
| The first we heard about it was on election night. No mandate for it. | Kevin |
| The biggest bloc of NZers actually voted for National. That this party found itself on opposition is due to our twisted electoral system AND an egomaniac who had his rort of the benefit system exposed. | Mike |
| National won the most votes of any party. | Jill |
| They live in a dream world | Ian |
| No to capital gains tax, again they show no sense | George |
| FOR CHANGE BUT NOT RADICAL. a FEMALE pm WAS CHANGE. | DAVID |
| This site NZCFPR all we do is moan and groan on here but it never goes further than that ! | Shane |
| Definitely not we all know Peters put the in power.The left wing press in America worship AOC the same as our PM they are both extreme left wing activists and socialists we should all be really concerned,The press wont help us. | Norm |
| who asked that question, and who replied, what a load of rubbish | Arthur |
| This is just rubbish. I am very worried about the way NZ is heading under a left wing and loony green regime. We would like to go to Queensland to live but it’s just a bit late in the day for us. | Alan |
| Labour is propped up by the flakey left in the Greens and the indecisive Winnie party which wants glory before practical governance.God help us. | Peter |
| Certainly not. The type of changes the Greens are trying to force on the coalition & the NZ public will cause massive economic cost for very little gain as NZ does not pollute very much on massive scale that many other countries do & who are not shutting down their fossil fuel industries. The Greens will cripple this country with their mad,mad ideas. | Graeme |
| Yes, it did, but not the changes they are talking about implementing!!! And we need to remind them that neither Labour, nor the Greens were voted in! They only got in because Winston and NZ First chose them to govern with. That is not the same thing as being voted in at all! | Brenda |
| No – they mostly wanted the status quo and most DID NOT vote for Labour. Unfortunately our pathetic MMP system failed us – and Winston Peters chose to betray his loyal voters. | Suzanne |
| The poor debate and decision making by labour was illustrated in its lust for power that saw then needlessly concede point to the minor parties who in their desire to govern and disdain of the right would have surrendered many so called dearly held values just to get their snouts on the power trough. Now we have policy by the minority of minorities. | Ian |
| Considering how the combined vote of Labour and the Greens was less than National’s, Adern and Shaw are speaking through holes in their backsides. | Lee |
| Certainly not the type they propose. | Keith |
| Words fail me! | Erin |
| How can he say that, when the party that got the most support was actually national, and it was only because Winston Peters saw an opportunity to become deputy PM and sided with Labour, that the Greens are actually in Parliament? | Ted |
| Or merely change – idiots. Now they are getting what they asked for! | Juliet |
| More political fake news – as politicians ‘work the system’ through various minority groups, but worst of all , UNELECTED representatives are driving their personal private agendas. BEWARE NZ! | Stuart |
| There was nothing even remotely akin to a mandate. Labour’s elevation occurred solely as a result of the elemental failings in MMP and the self-serving treachery of Winston Peters. | Jim |
| New Zealanders wanted change alright. This hopefully would be provided by a National/ NZ First alliance which would run an egalitarian society. Unfortunately this did not happen and we ended with what we have got now. Just another pickle. | Dennis |
| N Z<s future looks appalling. | Jim |
| The majority of New Zealanders were too thick to realise what they were all voting for. A Comrade, Commies and a Conman. | Geoff |
| Absolutely Not | Bruce |
| This is sheer supposition used to suit their Agenda. | Colleen |
| The majority of New Zealanders voted for status quo- a National government. How does a minority party get to govern with a coalition of its choosing, something wrong with the system | Colleen |
| They were not even voted into power. Just another misplaced claim and our left leaning media promote it. | Lew |
| What a disastrous government this – such governance in so many areas | Hylton |
| What political claptrap!! They polled less than National and only by Peters’ whim did they become a governing coalition. | Tony |
| The Labour Govt has bitten off more than it can chew and their Ministers are not up to their jobs ie Phil the house man, what a mess he has made. Maori situation we have had enough of that nonsense, we are or should be as one. | Barbara |
| They are not indigenous after all they terminated previous people who occupied N.Z. | Ralph |
| This government has a very dark green agenda based on being the first Lemming over the cliff?????? | Brian |
| Can’t wait to get rid of this bunch of losers at the next election | Jack |
| Labour had to grovel to NZ First to become Government. I think there was a lot of fake news propagated by Labour, Greens, & NZ First against National. | Russell |
| I welcome most of the initiatives that our current Labour administration is undertaking. | Peter |
| It is a fact that the Labour plus the Greens plus NZ First votes totalled more than 50% but I don’t think each campaigned on “radical change”. I think National did not listen to what NZers were saying that some were hurting financially and needed more assistance financially and housing wise. National was too focused on short term financial results and as the economy was performing relatively well, could have lengthened their financial goals timewise. | Keith |
| NZ did not vote for what we are getting sadly we do not have a leader at the moment so we need the next election to get a leader again Jame Shaw has to go before he does any more damage what a circus we have at present | Russell |
| Nope. We voted for National! | Jane |
| Definitely not! Has James Shaw forgotten that they wouldn’t be in government except for Winston Peters. | Christine |
| Of course the majority didn’t vote for these fruit loops. They are on a different planet | Laurie |
| the numbers voting for National outdid all parties – so why would the voter vote for a radical change – in what? | Beth |
| The only reason we have a TERRIFYING Labour-Green government, is because National refused to work with Winston Peters. Now, of course, National are pretending to be the GOOD GUYS, when in reality. like the last time they took over from Labour, nothing will be repealed, & we will be three steps closer to losing our democracy forever. Have you not yet heard of the N.W.O. | A.G.R. |
| No, I think most were reasonably happy with how things were ticking along. | Rich |
| We have a coalition of the losers | Cliff |
| No, if one means radical socialism. The word “radical” means nothing without asking radical for what? This is what I call radical…… Defence of private property rights. Defence of boundaries and national sovereignty. Defence of One Law For All. Defence of selective immigration based on merit for what the country’s industry needs. Defence of free market capitalism. Defence of police and law courts that dispense justice. A military defence system. | Don |
| About 60% didn’t vote for a change of Government. | Allan |
| We certainly did not – nor were these people voted in – if it hadn’t been for WP letting his voters down this group would be in charge of the country now | Marie |
| Said in ‘hope’ rather than based on fact !! | Michael |
| Anyone who votes yes to this is surely an intellectual pygmie | Phil |
| Labour and the Greens are arrogant to suggest New Zealand voted for a radical change as he would describe it. Funding of their change is based on bribery and corruption. Ans the tax payers input. Thank you Tax Payer for being such a willing donator! This government looks for much more of it from you. | Neil |
| The single party with the most votes was National. Labour was just lucky to link up with the Greens and NZ First. Radical change was never a referendum. | Sarah |
| Not only is that not accurate … it’s a lie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Labour are the party SELECT not the party ELECT! They are only in power because of a selfish, self serving Meglamaniac! | Andy |
| That is racist and ridiculous . Stop pondering to them. We are sick of it. | Waimauku Landscape Garden Centre |
| Greens policy ideas will bring economic Disaster to NZ . Most of their ideas and views are Radical and completely unsustainable and unworkable. Nd | Robyn |
| The Teeth Fairy is only running this left wing circus because a minor party (thanks to MMP) chose to run with her bunch of fur-brained closet Marxists.(easier to manipulate a bunch of flat-earthers than the other bunch who can argue with logic) If Winston dosen’t pull the plug on these garden elves NZ First will be looking for a new support base. Lets not hold back! | Rex |
| Of the electoral votes there were 40 for National, 17 for Labour , 0 for the Greens and 0 for NZ First and so its easy to see that the great majority did NOT in fact vote for radical change and in fact the COL have no mandate to made such changes! | Roger |
| National won the election with the most single party votes. | Dave |
| Look at the actual votes and the answer is clear No we did not Still a government of tax and more tax | Kevin |
| There have been several radical thinkers in the last few years and none of them were politicians. Radical thinking in technology and science creates benefits without adverse effects on others. Politicians do it to be re-elected by those who don’t know that there are consequences. Gradual change is more acceptable to most people | Mike |
| The majority voted for National it was only the goodwill of NZ First that has led to this destruction | Ann |
| That comment is rubbish. | Valerie |
| NO we did NOT in fact we did NOT VOTE for this MISS MATCH of parties which were NOT elected BUT THANKS Winston Peters we GOT a Government that was NOT elected BUT crow barded in BY Winston. In Fact is you read to Party Votes National got the majority of the Votes. | Carl |
| Change- maybe, but not in the radical terms stated here. Most people are taken in by clever words and phrases, unaware of the total lack of substance and true cost! | Laura |
| The country didn’t elect them, that egotistical traitor Winston Peters did. One man..not the country. some ‘democracy’. | Rod |
| They are using weasel words as the party that got the most votes was neither Labour or the Greens. | Peter |
| Change yes, not radical change | Murray |
| Definitely NOT | Catherine |
| I can only speak for myself and many personal friends, but none of us sought or seek ‘radical’ change!! We are appalled that these extreme left-wing ‘marxist (using the name ‘Greens”) have managed to weasel their way into such an influential political position. | John |
| Absolutely NOT. They were not even voted in!! | Val |
| Political subterfuge which is to be expected from those with no understanding of how to ‘govern’ as opposed to ‘lead’ (us up the garden path). | Fred |
| I was in Australia and the headlines were THE LOSERS TAKE OFFICE. Only Winston’s vendetta got this govt in. | Dick |
| A load of rubbish.. a nuclear fall out moment. | Jeff |
| absolutely not, they are a bunch of deluded airheads who do not belong in government. | Chris |
| Voting stats do not support this assertion. Just more silly rhetoric. | Lee |
| No – MMP brought about radical change – not the voting majority! We have now been lumbered with a coalition of losers, who barely managed to scrape up enough seats between them, to defeat National. The overriding tragedy that resulted in this maundering gaggle of misfits gaining access to the levers of power, was the Greens crossing the 5% threshold by a narrow margin. We are going to pay a heavy price for this! MMP needs to go – it is a flawed electoral system, sold to the voting public on a false premise. Otherwise, look forward to more of the same in the years to come. | Scott |
| The Radical Party calling the shots got just 6.3% of the vote so definitely not. | Paul |
| They are in power only because W. Peters put them there. | Graeme |
| This has only come about because of non voted parties ie The Greens and NZ first mainly Winston Peters. | Mary |
| No they didn’t, nobody new what dramatic changes Labour an the greens were going to push for and with the political sharlaton that is running the NZF party New Zealand is likely to go into a serious recession | Les |
| The people actually voted National in, it was Winston Peters that put these people where they are. No democracy in this Country. | Chris |
| I believe that most of us didn’t realize what we were getting with the party mix we have ended up with. | Ron |
| They rule by default. | Ross |
| They read any thing they like and put a spin on it | Colin |
| Mr Peters turned his back on his voters for what appeared to be the opportunity to vent his dislike of Bill English and National to support the minority parties enabling them to form a Coalition Govt. | Sonia |
| Jacinda’s Poisonality is fading through lack of support ??? | David |
| The majority of New Zealanders did not vote for this government. We have this very sick minded government simply because of the treachery of Winston Peters. Thank God he,ll be gone next election. We will need a government that will halt the Maori gravy train, make those who are on the dole work for their weekly allowance and turn our prisons into REAL prisons, that the are not a place that the low lifes who constantly commit crime are quite happy to return to. As an X Corrections Officer, I know this to be the fact. We need a our Police to have the powers and the means to eliminate all gangs for good…. and thats only a start. Thats what radical change means. | Des |
| More people voted for National than before and that not a vote for radical change. Winston was the only radical element involved! | Roger |
| Absolute rubbish – The COL wasn’t elected -period. The only radical change they are talking about is their own twisted Marxist ideology. God help us because no-one else will | Carolyn |
| They are already in radical change mode by borrowing 17B dollars for 4 years – that will likely last about 2 years as debt spending is providing the growth figures. Around 50% of it is being pumped into the public services sector. How long can such a policy last? As has been said before, the economic fundamentals have been abused in NZ for a very long time and the price is a hold over the country by China. The PM (Gretal) and no doubt (Hansell) Winston Peters are going to continue follow the biscuit trail to Beijing. For the first time in history intelligence agencies have gone public and warned the political system to face the realities about China and start severing the tentacles of the dictatorship to prevent any further expansionism. The state of the NZ economy is indeed not in good shape – it is precarious and in a dangerous position from a political point of view. | Frederick |
| They are dreaming, will be gone next election. | Bill |
| They were not elected, but put there by Winston Peters. So even in that sort of thinking they are incorrect as much as they are in all of their weird utterances. They must be stopped. | Murray |
| They didn’t even win | Andi |
| more people voted for National than Labour. There is no way Labour would be in government now without the support of Greens & more significantly, Winnie Peters, that political dinosaur. | Annis |
| If those who voted for the left could have seen that communistic ideals would be introduced I doubt if Labour and the Greens would received as many votes. | Brian |
| Not true seeing as the biggest party % went to the party in power–the Nats | Mike |
| Can’t possibly say this when the votes didn’t put them in. Winston did. | Martyn |
| This is. blatant lie. | Alan |
| The majority of voters wanted a National Government. Get rid of this undemocratic MMP where we have so many unelected people all with their own agendas. | Laraine |
| This Government is ruining the country | Peter |
| The majority of New Zealanders didn’t even vote for these socialists/communists. They are only there because of the traitor Winston and they sure as hell don’t represent me. The majority of NZ voted for a Conservative government, and that is what we should have. She is a disaster! | Carole |
| Absolute rubbish!! National had the majority of votes. Very few voted for NZ First (Mainly the racing industry with a vested interest) and the Greens were a minority also. | Mary |
| Absolutely not. In fact we didn’t vote for Jacinda and James…it was Winston Peters who gave us these two, and Winston is the only one who knows why he did that. | Mike |
| Like a lot of people, my vote in the election was based on the erroneous assumption that Winston Peters would favour working with National. | Steve |
| Indane conclusion | Bruce |
| N.Z.is now a multi cultural society we cannot give special treatment to one race over another else we head for trouble! | Chris |
| They weren’t even voted in they have not mandate for any of the shit they are foisting upon us | Greg |
| Some Politicians still live in a Fantasy World. It’s almost like, what they TALK about amazingly transpires into actual Deeds without actually doing anything. And, most of them DO NOT have good Memories for what they’ve said in the past. | Geoff |
| It was Winston Peters that voted for this mess by choosing to join Labour and the Greens and form a coalition government | Albert |
| what rubbish, the composition of parliament was decided AFTER we voted not before… god labor and greens are so up themselves. | Norm |
| no no no… | Norman |
| they got in by default thanks winston, But national is lost who will shake labour out? | Michael |
| “We were elected to make climate-change history,” say Greens. A lie! They weren’t elected but foisted upon us by MMP. | Jenny |
| Dreamers | David |
| The majority of voters would not have votes for all the radical changes that Labour have made without even consultation. | Frank |
| No way do sensible minded Kiwis want radicle change,.Carefully planned change in key areas yes providing a majority back that change.What we have is the most incompetent embarrassing PM in our history trying to lead an unbelievable number of inept ministers ,all influenced by unionist ideals and radicalism.Interestingly,polls show substantial support for Ardern .Obviously this Country harbours one hellava lot of dopes who deserve what they get. | Don |
| The numbers spoke for themself at the last election.. This arrogant price idiot Shaw has nothing better to do than spout fake facts into the atmosphere. And no surprise that he finds this New Green Deal of this demented stare congress woman so appealing . Maniacs like Shaw and her are living in the same parallel universe anyway. Good on S Bridges arguments in regards to Govt policy and the already dismal side effects taking place but no sensible reasoning will come across to make that bunch of lunatic Marxists ideologists even consider to think about cause and effect. We are again at the crossroads not only to having to endure another 18 months or so of this catastrophic coalition, but also we will see in the near future the money draining side effects of increased government sponsored influx of so called refugees and the negative side effects to increase the development of parallel societies in NZ unwilling to integrate or contribute to NZ society on a whole. We are in for a bumpy ride indeed and I myself wonder what and how much it will take to wake up the average NZ citizen. Just look to Europe to see where this all leads to. | Michael |
| It was Winston’s hate of National that allowed the Greens and Labour to govern within a coalition. | Graeme |
| No not radical change but many were sick and tired of National not listening, of burying their heads on issues and not making decisive decisions. Too much conservatism, lets hope the Nats have learnt their lesson and will listen to the voters next time. More polling among your members. | Tee |
| Since it took 3 parties to form the coalition, no party had a majority. | Mark |
| The majority of votes went to National. Winstone Peters put Labour into power because National refused to give him all his demands. Time to go back to the First Past The Post system. This country is too small to sustain a multiple party system. | Colin |
| Absolutely not. That is a self serving political lie. | John |
| Absolutely not. Most voted for a “pretty lady” without any thought to the “Green” agenda that would follow. Anyway, National got more vote but Winny tipped that over when he went with the Socialist/Commo brigade. | Graeme |
| Of course not. Jacinda Ardern is not even an economic “wet”, but an aquatic deluge. In my view, a capital gains tax will lead to a significant loss of confidence in New Zealand as a desirable place to invest, a massive outflow of capital, greatly increased unemployment and a long lasting depressed state in our economy. The current government will lead us down a disastrous path that would have the likes of Savage shouting “NO” | Peter |
| Voted for radical change against the Maori pandering and BS, yes. but otherwise no. | Donald |
| Labour and the greens were not elected! They bought Winston Peters by apparently paying him the biggest bribe. The government is a coalition of Losers and boy are they that. | Richard |
| They voted to show that they had about enough of Nationals arrogance and dishonesty. | Terry |
| Somewhere around 30% of total voters voted for labour no first greens – very much a minority. They voted to handicap all the parties. The mps were claiming ‘mandates’ when they had none. Also the three party deal cobbled together after the election does not deliver on key party promises | Terry |
| There was only a very slender Majority | Don |
| No because without Winnie’s conniving they wouldn’t be in power. National would only have needed the greens or Winnie to be in power. Labour need both | Trevor |
| They are purely because Dicton sucked the sav over being caught out with his slush sorry pension money and made the Nats pay the price for pimping. She is PM by default | Allan |
| Maybe 5%voted for radical change, most others voted on tribal affiliations. | Willy |
| Absolute rubbish. Winston decided the Government. BSed on what was in it for him | Ray |
| Who are they trying to brainwash? | Jill |
| “garbage in garbage out…..” corruption of the crap MMP voting system…. NZ the New Third World has arrived. Back to the Future with the FPP. | CHowes |
| How can the coalition even say this? They were a minority! Just shows their arithmetic skills are abysmal! | Rayward |
| Change the Govt. let Winnie withdraw… | Ian |
| Faced with climate concerns, left-leaning parties everywhere eschew solutions based on nuclear power or GMOs or “transformations” to a future neo-marxist utopia. | Barry |
| we voted to get rid of graft and corruption and we ended up with Helen behind the curtain! | Collin |
| Absolutely NOT ! We voted against arrogance. | Alan |
| Emphatically NO! It was only the cynical, underhanded manoeuvrings by Peters that put them in government. I have yet to meet anyone who believes Peters has a place in front line politics. He has no thought for what is good for the nation, just what may be good for W.P. and the remnants of his political party. | TOBY |
| They only got in because of deals with minor parties, it’s worrying to think that there is consideration of lowering the 5% threshold to allow yet more minor parties in. | Sue |
| Most New Zealanders did not want radical change unless they are on benefits then they agreed they would like radical change with more benefits. | Liz |
| NZ voted for a stable, rational government that delivers basic public services for the entire community – not just for self-interest groups, or specific regions in an effort to garner votes at the next election. Has this government done this – no – in spades! It is a hydra of a disaster and should go now before it cause yet more economic and community damage. | Andrew |
| The result was close. Remember National was the party that had the most votes ! It all came down to Winston. This was certainly not a mandate for radical change | Brett |
| Not even close | jason |
| Rubbish | Graeme |
| The end result is solely attributable to Winston Peter’s irresponsible “wheelie dealing” and his hidden agenda to ignore NZ First members wishes if they do not match his. | Vernon |
| No, the country voted for what it did not get. Nats got most votes of any party. (I am not a Nat). The country was on a knife edge for weeks and the Nats have kept up in the polls ever since the election. Only the leadership is in question. | Ray |
| no this green and brown govt only wants change to benefit a minority tribal group of greedy no hopers on the gravy train. | James |
| Absolutely not! Most voted for National to keep us on the path we were on to lower taxes, and higher living standards, and most of those who voted for NZ First thought he would support National. What a disaster this is under MMP. | Simon |
| No way New Zealanders want radical change. Most Labour voters would agree. It’s only the communists in the unions and Green Party who want radical change. | Rosalyn |
| This business of making NZ a social experiment is ridiculous. Jacinda Ardern is treating us like a side show asking world leaders to gawp at us. She is despicable. | Brian |
| I don’t agree with their analysis one little bit. Some voters undeniably wanted change, but most people are pretty conservative. The truth is that it is the radicals that have their hands on the levers of power. God help New Zealand! | Colin |
| No – most NZers are far from radicals. | Bernard |