In March, Willow Jean Prime took over the Labour Party education portfolio from Jan Tonetti, and her National Party counterpart, Erika Stanford, sent her a text to say congrats and I need to get you up to speed with the NCEA change process. It would be good if we could meet first and I can run you through where we're at. There is a policy advisory group of principals who are working on the details. You can have access to them as well as my officials and also NZQA.
Willow Jean does not bother to reply.
Two months later in May, Erica's office sends an email saying, basically, haven't heard from Willow Jean, would like to ensure cross-party engagement can continue. Can we set up a meeting?
Willow Jean doesn't bother to reply.
A month later in mid-Junne, Erica personally writes again, Willow Jean, yeah, you know, doesn't bother to reply. Next month, July, Erica then goes up a level and writes to Chippy. He doesn't reply either, but then the next day Willow Jean finally does reply, and she says she declines your invitation.
Fast forward now to the 25th of July and suddenly Willow Jean writes to Erica wanting to meet because she's read in the Herald that the NCEA changes are coming soon. Erica writes back, basically says to her, mate, you missed your chance, we have already made the decisions.
Chippy, meanwhile, complains publicly that the government, AKA Erika Stanford, hasn't been consulting with him and Willow Jean on the NCEA changes.
So, tell me now, having heard that, what do you think is worse? That Willow Jean can't be bothered doing her job properly, or that Chippy has an amazing ability to lie with a smile?
Now, here are the key learnings from this incident.
Willow Jean is not a serious, hardworking, or clever person, and it is not ready to be a minister. Chris Hipkins is not as honest as his lovely smiling face would make you think. Labour is thin on the ground for talent if Willow Jean Prime is #8 in their party, and don't mess with Erica because she will pull a beautiful hit job on you, which is exactly what's happened here.
But also, Labour are just rude and unprofessional. It doesn't kill you to reply to a message.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show HERE - where this article was sourced.
9 comments:
"Willow Jean Prime is a lazy, disinterested waste of space " thank you for that accurate description. Prime consistently gets 10,000 votes or more each election cycle. The only reason for her popularity is she is tangata whenua and cruising on her family name.
Good on the Herald for reporting this but we aren't seeing Labour being put under pressure by journalists. Such is the left leaning media bias now it has reached a level of absurdity.
The other learning is that irrespective of whether we voted for them, we're most certainly paying for them. In any other job, such laziness and incompetence would have you sacked. Those mentioned deserve it and, if you vote for them, you're just as bad for condoning it.
I think this sums up what another Labour government in 2026 would be like and that is enough to know not to vote for them. You may not like the incumbents but you now have two choices between them and lazy incompetence and lies......yes, all politicians lie but it seems Hipkins is the grand master of that clown show.
Ms Prime is an activist - albeit a lazy one.
I have, from a past of long ago, heard, that Wellington is a "windy place"? If this is so, then can one 'state' that some of our current politicians have a space "between the ears" that allows that wind to pass cleanly between them (the ears that is) - thus removing all sense and sensibility, thus also removing the requirement to read all emails & respond, but not the use of your cell phone and the constant need to be " on line ".
Here, I do a historical review, that is - " If Sir Robert Jones was alive and he heard about this, one ponders what his response would have been"??
NCEA was started by Lockwood Smith then carried on by Wyatt Creech in the 1990's. Mallard got it over the line BUT it was a National Party reform.This useless qualification managed to screw up two of my children's lives. The difference between their lives and their older siblings in terms of career is stark indeed. National is equally responsible for the destruction of our education standards. No you CAN"T blame Labour!!!!
Yes, NCEA was started by National but introduced by Labour. When introduced it came in on the back of one of the most bitter pay rounds with PPTA. Consequently most of the proposals put forward by the teachers who were part of the working group to implement the changes as we were told we weren’t helping but just being obstructive. Teacher's involved had recognised the change was happening and got involved to try and make them work for students. In 2005 many of the changes we asked for were introduced- the least surprising was the introduction of grades. National destroyed any credibility by introducing targets for numbers of school leavers getting level 2 NCEA. This led to gaming the system while students who did rigorous courses for the same number of credits had their efforts devalued(just listen to how everyone is now talking about NCEA) Both parties are to blame
She's perfectly suited for the lefts education minister. A left lazy loser. Complete fail. Labour have chosen perfectly.
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