The Breaking Views blog is administered by the New Zealand Centre for Political Research at NZCPR.com. The views expressed are those of the author alone.
Chris Luxon’s election as leader last week obviously led to his being catapulted from number 29 to number one. Nicola Willis, his deputy, jumped from 16 to two, while Simon Bridges was up from seven to three, two places below where he was this time two years ago.
And former leader Judith Collins?
Based on the poll, Labour would lose 17 of its 65 MPs: Seven from the list and 10 electorate seats. They are:
In this newsletter:
1) 'Lights might go out' as EU receives terrifying warning over Russia gas crisis
Daily Express, 1 December 2021
2) US warns Russia has plans for ‘large scale’ attack on Ukraine
The Guardian, 1 December 2021
Did it take anyone else by surprise to hear the Police Commissioner reveal the Government’s made it legal for iwi up north to stop your car?
Yeah, me too.
So I checked it out.
Turns out, they did change the law.
Two weeks ago, on November 20 — a Saturday — they inserted a new bit into the Covid-19 Health Response Act granting the power to “close roads and public places and stop vehicles” to members of iwi organisations.
It’s there in black and white.
The first canvasses the available literature on the subject; the second canvasses the views of young people and their caregivers.
The first contains this observation:
"Within the Māori world view, children do not just belong solely to their parents, but belong to their wider whānau. Therefore, whāngai does not undermine a child’s sense of belonging if they come to live with other relatives."
Let's take that at face value. A Maori child's connection to their wider whanau is just as important as their connection to their parents.
Says who?
Here is Garrick Tremain's cartoon commentary on Labour Party priorities!
What are
they saying about our country, are they relevant and more importantly, are they
an instrument of change?
Certainly,
Maori land occupations are not a new phenomenon and mostly seem to have
achieved their objectives.
Approximately 70,000 Labour Party supporters and trade union members staged the largest protest in New Zealand in 1938 on the eve of the general election. Labour won with 56% of the vote and went on to increase wage rates, launch a public works programmes and state-housing construction. They also passed the Social Security Act 1938 that greatly expanded the scope of the welfare state. That act introduced our free health service and implemented benefits for the elderly, sick and unemployed.
You can't hide from simple statistics, because they are the truth and the reality.
And this week's stats show there are fewer businesses opening in this country than closing.
That's not just bad news, it's an indictment on the economic governance of this country.
Yes, it's a pandemic, but the narrative is this country is doing well economically. It isn't doing well economically.
In this newsletter:
1) Europe’s energy crisis is about to get worse as winter arrives
Bloomberg, 28 November 2021
I wrote an editorial on Luxon getting the leadership yesterday once we got wind of it in the afternoon, about an hour before their caucus met and before Luxon spoke.
But I had to throw that out and start again once he spoke, because when he did, he changed my mind.
I was pleasantly surprised, actually, I was impressed.
He came out swinging, got straight into all the issues, he talked up achievements over announcements, he gave farmers a long-overdue high five, had a solid answer for the faith question, (he hasn’t been to a Church in five years, FYI) he confidently addressed a Three Waters question, while balancing the underdog card — admitting he might make mistakes because he’s new to politics. And on that, do we overplay that new to politics thing? I mean don’t we just want the best person for the job?
Never had National seen such an exodus of philosophically
inclined followers, as they witnessed at the 2019 General election when the MMP
system of democracy bequeathed the nation by Jim Bolger, delivered Labour a
‘once in nine elections’ exception: To Rule Alone.
Never had I and many others, witnessed such a pitiful performance
by National in Opposition, as has been parody on display since Labour took the
Treasury Benches. A tsunami of
supporters abandoned ship.
By his first appearance as Leader of National, Christopher won votes.
Chris Luxon as new party leader is the right outcome for the National Party.
On paper, he was their best option.
He’s kept his head down so he’s got none of the dirty politics baggage that too many others, in that party, have.
He’s got a strong selling point already: his impressive CV. He ran Air New Zealand for six years. Before that, he was President and Chief Executive Officer at Unilever Canada.
I totally accept that just because he’s good at business does not mean that he’ll be good at politics.
