The media have their back. On 30 July, Audrey Young, in an article, accused the National Party of trying to bully the media over the amount of coverage given to the Opportunity Party. To see if her accusation stacks up, a glance at her own paper’s coverage might give a clue. During August the Herald published articles on the Opportunity party on the following dates – 2, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13 (3), 14 (2), 15, 16 (3), 17, 20 (2), 23, 25, 26 and 29 (2). A number of these articles are to do with polls but the Herald has published 22 articles in August relating to the Opportunity Party. On the other hand National was referred to in 56 articles. On a purely numbers basis, Audrey could have a beef with National.
My beef is coverage should be proportional to the party being spoken about. National is the lead party in a coalition government, while Opportunity is, despite the poll numbers, a fringe party who, on November 7, will most likely find themselves back where they started. Realistically, their chances of being part of any government are pretty slim as they have yet to release their major policies, but, from what we have seen so far, there is a definite lean to the left. Christopher Luxon has ruled out working with them but there’s an old phrase ‘if needs must’ that means his phone on election day or shortly thereafter will not be far away.
The media continually refer to Opportunity’s chances of replacing NZ First as the kingmaker. This is nonsense as Winston is not interested in playing that game this election. While he wouldn’t admit it, he learnt a big lesson in 2020 when his party was thrown out after having cozied up to Labour in 2017. This election he, like everyone else, knows on which side his bread is buttered. The left treated him like the useful enemy they saw him as. He might have been foreign minister but achieved nothing in terms of policy gains.
Opportunity are already trying to wield the big stick. Qiulae Wong says she will talk to National but will only agree to coalesce if bottom lines are met. This shows the political naivety of the lady. Agreeing to bottom lines is easy. The likelihood of them being enacted is another story entirely. My pick is she’ll get the same treatment as Winston got, without the ministerial hat to wear. Even before their major policies have been released their cost assessments are being ridiculed. Like most parties on the left, mathematics is not their strong point. One plus three often only make two. In other words, most of their costings fall short of reality.
To get back to my point, the media coverage for a party not even in parliament is patently ridiculous. The Weekend Herald’s virtual perambulation covered the party’s backers, the boss, your budget and Qiulae Wong eyeing the balance of power role. I don’t need to read the Herald to find out what will happen to my budget. The two-and-a-half page spread told us everything we needed to know, bar the last time Wong visited the bathroom.
The media have hitched their wagon to this horse as they see it as the best chance of a win for the left. I think, as in 2023, they will be disappointed as their ‘charger’ will more than likely pull up lame. The media will have shown once again how their intended bias puts them at serious odds with public opinion.
JC is a right-wing crusader. Reached an age that embodies the dictum only the good die young. This article was first published HERE
My beef is coverage should be proportional to the party being spoken about. National is the lead party in a coalition government, while Opportunity is, despite the poll numbers, a fringe party who, on November 7, will most likely find themselves back where they started. Realistically, their chances of being part of any government are pretty slim as they have yet to release their major policies, but, from what we have seen so far, there is a definite lean to the left. Christopher Luxon has ruled out working with them but there’s an old phrase ‘if needs must’ that means his phone on election day or shortly thereafter will not be far away.
The media continually refer to Opportunity’s chances of replacing NZ First as the kingmaker. This is nonsense as Winston is not interested in playing that game this election. While he wouldn’t admit it, he learnt a big lesson in 2020 when his party was thrown out after having cozied up to Labour in 2017. This election he, like everyone else, knows on which side his bread is buttered. The left treated him like the useful enemy they saw him as. He might have been foreign minister but achieved nothing in terms of policy gains.
Opportunity are already trying to wield the big stick. Qiulae Wong says she will talk to National but will only agree to coalesce if bottom lines are met. This shows the political naivety of the lady. Agreeing to bottom lines is easy. The likelihood of them being enacted is another story entirely. My pick is she’ll get the same treatment as Winston got, without the ministerial hat to wear. Even before their major policies have been released their cost assessments are being ridiculed. Like most parties on the left, mathematics is not their strong point. One plus three often only make two. In other words, most of their costings fall short of reality.
To get back to my point, the media coverage for a party not even in parliament is patently ridiculous. The Weekend Herald’s virtual perambulation covered the party’s backers, the boss, your budget and Qiulae Wong eyeing the balance of power role. I don’t need to read the Herald to find out what will happen to my budget. The two-and-a-half page spread told us everything we needed to know, bar the last time Wong visited the bathroom.
The media have hitched their wagon to this horse as they see it as the best chance of a win for the left. I think, as in 2023, they will be disappointed as their ‘charger’ will more than likely pull up lame. The media will have shown once again how their intended bias puts them at serious odds with public opinion.
JC is a right-wing crusader. Reached an age that embodies the dictum only the good die young. This article was first published HERE
9 comments:
The NZ govt has no one but themselves to blame as they continue to spend approximately $300 million per annum funding the corrupt MSM who are hell bent on shaping public opinion with their flagrant left wing bias.
So, who is this major donor, AJ Bertenshaw aka Alan Wilderland?
What's up?
They are going up in polls pulling in the resentful, the self perceived victims, the envious and the young as an up you vote to all older folks who wrecked society and hid the loot in housing ...thats how they see it. My prediction well over 5pc
TOP’s leader has admitted their Land Tax is a non starter. Without a land tax there are no funds for the Universal -free money - Basic Income.
Without those two policies TOP has no more to offer than the 66 other ‘minor’ (euphemism for ‘no-hope’) parties that have come and gone since MMP started (possibly on a par with The McGillicuddy Serious party, or The Bill and Ben Party - remember them?)
Without Land Tax and UBI what’s to vote for with TOP?
Anon 9am... So, just a disrupter party?
A disrupter offshoot of Labour to garner votes that were drifting from Labour and attract first -time resentful voters . TOP does not have to DO anything when in Parliament, indeed it can't do much as a minor player, but it can back the Labour-led bloc. Its whole reason for being.
The Herald article was actually very comprehensive and informative, albeit still portraying the Opportunity Party as Centrist. But of course most of the voters who will be attracted to Opportunity (and by that I mean the vacuous swing voters) don't read beyond the first few paragraphs of each article glamourising Qiulae and co. She has an impressive pedigree but you get a sense of her leanings from the focus of her career to date - advising on sustainability and climate transition strategies, matching fashion professionals with ethical suppliers, promoting sustainable business certification, working in human rights and ethical business focusing on disability inclusion, and working in climate and environmental policy, advocating for policies that address sustainability and environmental restoration. Not exactly the sort of practical managerial expertise required to run a country. I get a sense now that Opportunity will mop up the swing voters that National is so desperate to retain. So we'll get a far-left government unless enough of the lower socio-economic demographic get so incensed at the idolisation of Maori that they swallow a dead rat and vote for NZ First or ACT.
K 8.09am has joined the dots to make a remarkable discovery. While our corrupt MSM have been openly promoting this new communist party by fawning over Wong as they did with comrade Ardern. K has uncovered the major party donor AJ Bertenshaw aka Alan Wilderland who is not a kiwi and believe he has deep and direct connections with Ardern. Oh to have investigative journalism in NZ and not slanted opinion.
It's bog standard marketing practice for a manufacturer to offer two or three variations of their core product to widen their market appeal and avoid the loss of sales to a competitor.
Labour knows that traditionally, elections are won in the centre, but that niche votes further out to the left can be very useful if MMP is gamed to harvest them.
So, lo and behold, the Opportunity Party is hijacked and repurposed. A new leader is recruited as eye-candy and a carefully curated and recognisably Marxist manifesto is issued as bait for the far left. That is tempered by lots of giveaways to attract the politically unstable swing votes needed to push total numbers over the magic 5%. And for good measure, tack a couple of Maori activists onto your list to mop up the fallout from the disintegration of the Maori Party.
If TOP wins a few list seats by breaking the threshhold, Labour can then enter into a supply and confidence agreement ensuring TOP's policies will never see the inside of the Cabinet Room while locking in a ensuring a vote for TOP as a vote for Labour.
So think of TOP as nothing more than a cynical marketing ploy by Labour that will allow them to claim a mandate for implementing their own agenda.
It's a toxic recipe that could change the face of politics in this country for a generation, not because of TOP's irrelevant policies, but because of those Labour policies they are currently refusing to discuss. And we all know what they are!
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