0 Tweet of the Day - 1 June 2014

The Greens have launched their Carbon Tax policy at their conference today. But look who showed up to make the point:

The Green Party; saying one thing but doing the opposite since, like forever!

And somehow, we doubt the the "Green Party paid for Lucy Lawless". We rather the suspect that the long-suffering taxpayer will have picked up the bill. If nothing else, the Greens have made an art-form out of spending Other People's Money.

0 Hide on the "Cunliffe experiement"

Rodney Hide could have got away with just one sentence in his Herald on Sunday column this morning; the very first one. Under the headline Lonely Cunliffe must soldier on Hide opines:

The David Cunliffe experiment has failed. Eight months into his leadership Labour is polling below what it was under Phil Goff and David Shearer.
The election is less than four months away.
The danger for Labour is that its poor polling will collapse its vote, as happened to National in 2002. Its low polling became a self-fulfilling and accelerating prophecy. Polls matter.
Labour's unimpressive showing may well cause even more votes to drain across to the Greens and New Zealand First.
That prospect will now be occupying the minds of Labour MPs and activists.
Cunliffe will soldier on. He has no choice. I know what it's like.
You can't give up.

Every day you have to find your smiley, positive face. It's tough. Lonely. Hard.

Hide is right; he knows what it's like. He's even been in the same position as David Cunliffe, as he describes:

Cunliffe has an added burden. His caucus didn't want him. He was thrust on it by party members and the unions. That wouldn't matter if he were succeeding. But he isn't. There will be a lot of "I told you so" going on. The lack of caucus support makes a lonely job even lonelier.

It was always going to be tough going for David Cunliffe when barely a third of the Labour caucus voted for him after the Labour's Got Talent tour last year. For every Labour MP who supported him, there were two who did not. The cards were stacked against him.

Labour is stuck with Mr Cunliffe now, even though he is, as Hide notes, polling worse than his two predecessors. With the election just three months and 20 days away, it's too late to change horses.

And that's not going to make the post-election wrangling any easier, should Labour be in a position to form a coalition. Hide reminds us of the options:

 

And yet it remains a tight race. Labour could poll badly but still put a government together, with considerable concessions.
The Green's Metiria Turei and Russel Norman would be deputy prime ministers and would dominate policy-making.
Winston Peters would be kingmaker and would demand his pound of flesh.
Hone Harawira would be Minister of Maori Affairs. The Internet Party would be in government being dictated to by Kim Dotcom.
It's not a pretty prospect. And that's Labour's other problem. Its polling puts other parties into the box seat, a prospect that turns off middle voters.
And then there's policy. Cunliffe will be asked about every nutty policy put up by the Greens, New Zealand First, Mana and the Internet Party. Does he support it?
Cunliffe can't dodge the policy bullet. That would add to the uncertainty of voting Labour. If he accepts the policy, he's not in charge. If he dismisses it, he risks a spat with a potential partner.
John Key escapes these problems. National is polling high. Plus he has incumbency. People know what they are getting with National. They can't be so sure with Labour.
It comes back to the polls. They put Cunliffe on the back foot and Key on the front. Cunliffe is now desperate. He needs a lift.
"I just need to push the polls up a bit. I need to change the story ... hmmm. Immigration. That always works for Winston. I'll give that a shot. I will dress it up as housing policy. The party's woolly woofters will be upset. But what the hell? I've got nothing to lose." It's called dog-whistle politics. Sadly for Cunliffe, the only ones who heard it were Labour activists.

Actually, it's good that Rodney Hide wrote his whole piece, and not just the opening sentence. That last paragraph should serve as a huge warning to the Labour Party.

Traditionally the friends of immigrants, Cunliffe's Labour Party risks alienating those who have chosen to make New Zealand home. However you can guarantee that if he has to, David Cunliffe will snuggle up warmly to an immigrant who is wanted by the FBI for alleged copyright offending, racketeering and money-laundering on a Mega scale.

 David and the GIMPs; can you imagine what a recipe for disaster that would be? But sadly, thanks to MMP, that's what we could wake up to on September 21st. That's a scary thought, and we thank Rodney Hide for the reminder.


 

0 Does this count as treating?

Award-winning Fairfax reporter Andrea Vance has made a significant find on the merchandising table at the Green Party conference:

The Greens have been going on lately about cash for access. But isn't nookie for votes way more serious? Wouldn't that be classified as treating?

Still; the last commenter on the cut-and-paste has the right thought:

Well at least the Greens come with warning stickers now.

Amen to that!

0 The Chris Cairns saga

Herald cricket reporters Dylan Cleaver and Andrew Alderson have been well on top of the match-fixing saga. And they report that Cairns may yet face a third cricket authority making allegations against him; they report:

Chris Cairns has returned to New Zealand full of defiance, but might have another fight on his hands with the England and Wales Cricket Board investigating whether they can lay charges against him.
The former New Zealand all-rounder held a press conference at Auckland Airport upon his return from London. He read from a prepared statement and did not take questions as he left to spend "time with my family".
He said he had been interviewed by the Metropolitan Police, the ICC's anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU) and the ECB.
"At my own request, I was interviewed by representatives of Metropolitan Police, the ECB and the ICC anti-corruption unit," Cairns said yesterday. "This is in relation to an allegation I perjured myself at the trial Cairns v Modi in 2012, and separate allegations by the ICC's anti-corruption unit that I am a match-fixer. I was not arrested or otherwise detained in London and I have not been charged with any offence, criminal or otherwise."

This is the first time the ECB has been connected to discussions concerning Cairns.
The UK Telegraph last night reported that the ECB was taking legal advice over whether it could charge Cairns with alleged match-fixing offences, giving it jurisdiction over and above the ICC.
It is understood an ECB anti-corruption official sat in on discussions with the ACSU but John Rhodes, the ICC official who took testimony from McCullum, did not.

It is the ECB which has taken the lead and charged Lou Vincent with match-fixing with regard to allegations concerning two English county matches. The ECB seems, at the moment, to be more pro-active than its parent body, the ICC.

It was interesting too that Cairns lashed out against Vincent and his former wife, and has named former New Zealand captains Daniel Vettori and Stephen Fleming, and current ODI player Kyle Mills, whose brother Heath is head honcho of the NZ Cricket Players' Association. The Herald story continues:

Cairns yesterday emphasised that he rejected all the allegations against him, describing the testimony of Vincent and his ex-wife, Elly Riley, as "despicable lies" and questioning why it took McCullum three years to report the approach.
Along with Vincent and McCullum, former national captains Stephen Fleming and Daniel Vettori and fast bowler Kyle Mills were yesterday named as those who have given statements to investigators. Cairns said two were to confirm that McCullum told them he had been approached by Cairns, but one's memory was too "foggy" to back up that assertion.
"It is also significant that none of those players seem to have spoken to anyone at the ICC or any other organisation about my alleged conversation with Mr McCullum until this year, 2014," Cairns said.
"As a result of my trip to London, I now also understand that no person has made any statements to support the allegations Mr Vincent and his ex-wife have sought to level against me. There are also no allegations that I ever received any monies for my alleged activities, nor paid any monies to any person."

Regular readers will know how we feel about this case. Chris Cairns is entitled to be presumed innocent of any wrongdoing until such time as it is proven. But it is hard to ignore the weight of testimony. The obligation of cricket authorities and possibly the Metropolitan Police will be to prove the allegations.

There was however one red herring thrown out by Cairns; Cricifo reports:

Cairns claimed the interviews in London were conducted at his own request and dealt with allegations he had perjured himself during the Cairns v Modi trial in 2012, and separate allegations of match-fixing.

"I was not arrested or otherwise detained in London and I have not been charged with any offence, criminal or otherwise," Cairns said. "I repeat that each and every allegation against me, that I have cheated at cricket or attempted to induce others to cheat at cricket, is false." 

Cairns' statement that he was "not arrested or otherwise detained" is obfuscation. He was given a guarantee before he left New Zealand that he would not be arrested or detained at this point in the investigation, so it is somewhat disingenuous of him to claim that because he returned to New Zealand as a free man, he has somehow been vindicated. If Cairns is to be vindicated, that moment is still some distance away.

We will continue to follow this story with much interest. As we have said many times, match-fixing is a blight on the noble game of cricket, and those who are found to have participated in it will deserve whatever punishment they receive. There is no place for them in the sport.

0 Quote of the Day - 1 June 2014

The Herald on Sunday has chosen Martyn Bradbury to be its leftie of the week, and he doesn't disappoint, confirming what everyone already suspected; MegaMana is hardcore left-wing:

Some on the left call this a sell-out. Principled opposition is admirable, but who will tell the 285,000 children in poverty we wouldn't replace the Government because we couldn't agree on which version of Marx to follow?
If Labour and the Greens are to defeat Key's National, Act, United Future, Maori Party coalition, they need every ally they can get. A political party aimed at the group least likely to vote doesn't risk splitting votes on the left. With the Internet Party's resources and flax-root networks of Mana, the possibility of this being the parliamentary maths game changer is high.
If Harawira, Harre, Sykes and Minto are the "sell-out", sign me up.

Interestingly Martyn, not everyone is signing up. We spotted this on Twitter last night:

We suspect that Dylan Reeve will not be the only one to delete Kim Dotcom's app, as people start to understand the political motivation of the Internet Party, and its place in the political landscape.

0 Is this a political first?

Laila Harre has confirmed suspicions that she is being paid a salary to lead the Internet Party; the NBR reports:

Internet Party leader Laila Harre reveals has revealed she is being a paid back-bench MP salary as leader of the Internet Party
A backbench MP is paid $147,800.
"I have just agreed to a contract which is in line with the already public intention of the party to pay candidates the same as a backbench MP. But I have to say that there simply wasn’t any discussion at all about personal remuneration for me at any stage during this decision and it just was not a factor in me making up my mind," she told Lisa Owen on TV3's The Nation this morning.
Kim Dotcom, who made his fortune from Megaupload (for which he faces piracy, money laundering and racketeering charges), and sister sites including Megaporn and Megaerotic, has revealed he is bankrolling Internet Mana to the tune of $3 million.
Earlier, Internet Party CEO Vikram Kumar told NBR that other sources of funding paled next to the money being tipped into the campaign by one of Mr Dotcom's family trusts.

This seems to be a most unusual arrangement. Is this the first time in New Zealand political history that a party "founder" has paid salaries to the party leader, and to aspiring candidates, as Dotcom has already promised to do?

Despite Ms Harre's protestations that money was not a factor in her becoming the Free Kim Dotcom Party leader, we have our doubts. Laila Harre certainly wouldn't have been earning close to $150k per annum working for the CTU would she?  Or if she was, what do the CTU affiliates rank and file think about their hard-earned dosh paid out as union fees being paid out with such gay abandon?

And has anyone yet asked Laila Harre how she feels about being the employee of a former pornographer? Or do scruples disappear when the chequebook is waved around?

0 Tweet of the Day - 31 May 2014

It would appear that Labour MP Chris Hipkins ISN'T a fan of the Large German Gentleman and his purchasing power:

Now we do have to note that Chris Hipkins, along with the likes of Trevor Mallard, Annette King and Clayton Cosgrove is aligned to the ABC faction within the Labour Party. So we can't say with any authority that David Cunliffe shares this view of Dotcom, which is a great pity.

David Cunliffe could earn himself a lot of respect if he were to come out and say that he will have nothing to do with anyone buying political parties. We suspect that Mr Cunliffe is much more an end-justifies-the-means politician.

Mr Cunliffe's attitude to MegaMana over the next few weeks is going to be fascinating to watch. Does he, like Hone Harawira, have a price?

0 "Mana" Cartoon of the Day - 31 May 2014

We spotted this pictorial commentary of political events this week, and it was too good not to publish:

Hone may have his manna, but we know his price now. He is a political prostitute. And although we despise Sue Bradford's politics, she has walked away from Mana with mana. For that she should be commended.

0 More good news

Labour and the other opposition parties continue to bang on about a "housing crisis". It's true that housing supply is tighter and more expensive in places such as Auckland and Christchurch, but to call it a "crisis" smacks of election-year desperation.

Then again, every time that Labour and the GIMPs have declared something to be a crisis, it's been proven not to be, and already there are some very good signs with regard to housing supply. Housing Minister Nick Smith put out this presser yesterday:

Nick Smith

30 May, 2014

Building consent figures continue to rise

Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith has welcomed today’s release of the latest building consent figures from Statistics New Zealand which show the upward trend in the number of consents issued is continuing nationwide.
“There were 22,705 building consents issued across New Zealand in the year to April 2014 – the highest number of consents issued nationally in any 12-month period since the year to June 2008, and a 27 per cent increase on the same period the year before. This continues the trend of growth with the number of consents continuously rising since March 2011,” Dr Smith says.
“We are seeing this trend also reflected in Auckland and Christchurch. In Auckland, more building consents were issued in the year to April 2014 than in any other 12-month period since the year to February 2007, and a 41 per cent increase on the same period the year before.
“Meanwhile, Christchurch saw the highest number of consents in the year to April 2014 than in any other 12-month period on record, and a 103 per cent increase on the previous year.

The record number of consents in Christchurch is especially good news, given the Government had to intervene last year to eliminate blockages in the consenting system at Christchurch City Council. More than double the number of consents were issued in the year to April 2014 compared to the previous year as the rebuild gathers momentum.

But it's not just Christchurch. Nick Smith singles out the accord between the Auckland Council and the Government for special mention:

“I hope to see this positive trend continue. Earlier this month I announced the third tranche of Special Housing Areas under the Auckland Housing Accord agreed to between the Government and the council. This has brought the total number of Special Housing Areas established to 63 with a potential yield of 33,500 homes across Auckland. We have also agreed to an Accord in Christchurch to help restore the city’s housing stock to pre-earthquake levels and ease the pressure on its rental and temporary accommodation markets.
“We recognise however that the housing challenge is not just limited to Auckland and Christchurch, and we have negotiations underway for further Housing Accords in Wellington, the Bay of Plenty and Queenstown.
“We also have a complementary programme of work underway which includes reducing building material costs, reining in development contributions, cutting compliance costs, investing in skills and productivity in the construction sector, and supporting first home buyers through our Welcome Home Loan and KiwiSaver First Home Deposit Subsidy schemes.
“Today’s figures confirm the Government is making good progress in addressing New Zealand’s housing challenge. There is no magic bullet to solving the housing challenge but we are on the right track and delivering real results.”

Nick Smith is right; there's no one single magic bullet to solve housing supply issues, which is why the Government has introduced a range of initiatives as outlined. The good news today is that there are signs those measures are working, whereas Labour's solution is to slash immigrant numbers, even though the issue is far more complex than just that.

We talked with a friend during the week who owns a business here allied to the building trade. The business has been run off its feet this year, as housing booms, even in the provinces. A recovering economy, and a surge in business and consumer confidence has breathed life into the construction sector. That's good news for everyone.

0 The GIMPs revisited - by Curly Sue

Our resident song-rewriter Curly Sue has been at it again, reaching back into the mid-1970's to reprise an Elton John classic. Here's a very early version or the real McCoy by a rather follically-challenged Reggie Dwight:

Curly Sue saw our post yesterday about the GIMPs (Green, Internet, Mana, Peters), and the creative juices must have flowed almost immediately, because this arrive by e-mail late yesterday afternoon:

Davy and the GIMPs

Hey kids, you all can vote together
The spotlight's hitting Dotcom
His girth is known to change the weather
We’ll write off student loans tonight
So stick around
We’re gonna dust off Laila
The lolly scramble will astound

Say, young apathetics, have you seen them yet?
But they're so hot right now, D-D-D-Davey and the GIMPs
Oh but their line up is wonderful
Oh Davey he's really keen
They got goose step boots and Winston too
And they’re gonna dig up Alamein!

D-D-D-Davey and the GIMPs

Hey kids, plug in the “inter-web-thing”
They hope you’ll be blinded
And Davy makes them tricky
Rort MMP, and hope the youth come along
But left wingers doing it all for money

Is nothing but wrong

Say, young apathetics, have you seen them yet?
But they're so hot right now, D-D-D-Davey and the GIMPs
Oh how will they co-operate?
Oh the train wreck will be out of sight!
They got some union fruits and they’re cashed up too
Unfreeze Anderton from Carbonite!

D-D-D-Davey and the GIMPs

Say, young apathetics, have you seen them yet?
But they're so hot right now, D-D-D-Davey and the GIMPs
Oh but their line up is wonderful
Oh Davey he's really keen
Oh It does not compute; who’ll be the next recruits?

Corkery’s undies must not be seen!

D-D-D-Davey and the GIMPs

This isn't the easiest song in the world to mash, but we reckon Curly Sue has done a masterful job here. She and we hope you like it. If it helps the GIMP label to stick on Labour's potential coalition partners, who are we to complain? 

0 Une citation motivation réussite

Citation d'encouragement travail, citations positives, citation de motivation sportive, citation pour se motiver, proverbe de motivation, phrase motivante travail

Découvrez la plus belle citation motivante en image:

Personne n’est trop vieux pour se fixer un nouvel objectif ou réaliser de nouveaux rêves.  Les Brown 

Si tu veux connaître quelqu’un n’écoute pas ce qu’il dit, mais regarde ce qu’il fait.   Dalaï Lama

Soyez sûr, si vous voulez vraiment réussir, que vous ne renoncerez jamais. Peu importe à quel point la situation est difficile.

Vous ne pouvez choisir ni comment mourir, ni quand. Mais vous pouvez décider de comment vous allez vivre. Maintenant.  Joan BAEZ

Contentez-vous d’agir et laissez les autres parler.  Baltasar Gracian

Je ne regrette pas ce que j’ai fait, je regrette les choses que je n’ai pas faites lorsque j’en ai eu la chance.

C’est dans les moments de décision que notre destin prend forme. Anthony ROBBINS

La seule façon de faire du bon travail est d’aimer ce que vous faites. Si vous n’avez pas encore trouvé, continuez à chercher. Steve Jobs

 Si vous désirez vraiment faire quelque chose, vous trouverez un moyen. Sinon, vous trouverez une excuse. Jim ROHN

L’action n’apporte pas toujours le bonheur, sans doute, mais il n’y a pas de bonheur sans action. Benjamin DISRAELI

Les aptitudes sont ce que vous pouvez faire. La motivation détermine ce que vous faites. Votre attitude détermine votre degré de réussite. Lou Holtz

 Le premier travail d'un manager n'est pas d'apporter la motivation mais de supprimer les obstacles.  Scott Adams

0 First Gower, now Garner

We blogged last night about Patrick Gower's rant about the MegaMana rort.

If you think that was bad, wait until you see what Duncan Garner thinks; Gower's piece was but an entree. In his op-ed this afternoon he has absolutely ripped in to Dotcom, Harawira et al. Under the headline Party for sale - Internet-Mana is a sham and a rort Garner opines:

This Internet-Mana party alliance is a sham and a rort, but MMP allows for it - which is the worst bit. 
I’ve seen nothing like it in the history of NZ politics. It is far less transparent than the dodgy electorate seat deals National has done over the years. New Zealanders have every right to be outraged.

This is about an already convicted criminal - a rich internet tycoon wanted on piracy charges, no less – on the run from the United States and sheltering in New Zealand. He’s a had a run in with the NZ Government and the US authorities, so he’s doing all he can to buy his way out of trouble.
It now includes pulling out his cheque-book and paying for a political party and buying people off – so he can keep his sorry backside out of the clink.
It’s as simple as that: he’s paying big money so he doesn’t turn into some sort of dribbling mess behind bars – some reports suggest he’s pumped $4m into setting up this party. So how much is he paying his people?
I asked new leader Laila Harré yesterday, she said she wasn’t sure yet. But money between the two will change hands at some stands, she’s clear on that.
She will be paid for this role. Is this the New Zealand way? I would argue no way. It’s grubby isn’t it? You only get paid once you get elected don’t you?
I have had a bit to do with Harré over the years. She has been a tireless and effective campaigner for those on the left. However, her former allies think she has sold out; Jim Anderton is far from impressed.
Harré is ambitious. Before all this she had integrity and credibility, but many of us are questioning that now. What does she really have in common with Kim Dotcom? Bugger all. He’s found she has a price after all.

Duncan Garner absolutely nails all the key issues in this sordid rort. Kim Dotcom clearly thinks he can buy people off. New Zealand needs to send him a clear message that that's not how we do things here.

Every man, they say, has his price. We know now that Hone Harawira will dispense with democracy for half a million big ones. We don't know what Laila Harre's price is, but we're guessing it's a darned sight more than the base salary for a back-bench MP.

Garner closes, and rolls out the dreaded "C" word:

Most of all this deal lacks transparency; she will, and should be, hounded by the press about how much she is personally being paid by Kim Dotcom to be the leader. Plus, what sort of deal has been done on Kim Dotcom’s possible extradition?
If there is a change of Government, and a future Minister overturns any extradition, isn’t that corruption? Wouldn’t he have bought his way out of an American jail?
New Zealanders have every right to feel dirty over this deal. It brings our political process into disrepute. Dotcom has contempt for our system, our democracy and our country. To him, everything is for sale and everyone has their price.
I don’t see it lasting. This will, and should, end in tears.

Garner is right; this stinks, far worse than the snapper that got David Shearer's number. The stench of corruption hovers over this dirty, dirty deal. 

And it is especially ironic to consider Hone Harawira's contribution to the Third Reading debate on the Electoral Finance Bill in December 2007, when speaking as a Maori Party MP he said:

HONE HARAWIRA: I want to make the point that if I wish to speak in Māori at any time, I will do so.

We are the Māori Party, with not a bean to our name, but we still turned down $250,000 rather than compromise our independence, and for the same reasons we are opposed to this bill. We are the Māori Party, and we were angry with both the divisive “Iwi/Kiwi” campaign run by National and the nasty “a vote for the Māori Party is a vote for National” campaign run by Labour, because we did not have the wherewithal to counteract either. Yet still we are opposed to this bill. We are the Māori Party, with not a bean to our name, but we stand free in this House, answerable to no one but our own people, uncompromised by shady deals with either of the major parties, and we are proud to say that we are opposed to this electoral finance legislation.

We know Harawira's price now; a price Kim Dotcom willingly paid, with his tainted money. We hope he can live with himself.

0 Scary, scary, scary...

Turn you mind back just two months, when the Herald reported this:

If Kim Dotcom becomes part of a king-making triumvirate in September, I will run around the neighbourhood waving my undies in the air.

All we ask of Pam Corkery, now that she is on Dotcom's payroll is that she gives people fair warning about where she lives so they can leave town and avoid life-long trauma.

Pam Corkery is another so called "principled" leftie who has fallen down to worship at the altar of Dotcom's supposed wealth. The political Left has shown its true, greedy colours this week.

 But please; no more talk of Pam Corkery's undergarments...

0 Tweet of the Day - 30 May 2014

Do we have psychic powers? Do we what! Check this out:

It was just this morning that we predicted a return to politics for Pam Corkery. Within eight hours, it has happened!

Now we wait with bated breath for the triumphal entry into the Promised Land of Dotcom Dollars for Jim Anderton; surely it's only a matter of time. That'll really bring the yoof voters flocking to MegaMana!

0 Photo of the Day - 30 May 2014

Eat your heart out Winston; Grey Power Upper Hutt has a new darling:

Maybe the Grey Power folk didn't like Winston's "Jimmy Savile" smear either. Is Grey Power's love affair with Winston First on the rocks?

0 Quote of the Day - 30 May 2014

John Key sees right through the MegaMana sham. And he's telling the country; this, via the Herald:

Prime Minister John Key has ramped up his criticism of Kim Dotcom in the wake of the union of the internet Party and Mana Party, saying Dotcom was trying to "buy influence" and there was nothing Dotcom had in common with either Laila Harre or Hone Harawira.
He said he had little doubt Mr Dotcom was simply trying to get politicians in place who might be able to help block his extradition.
"You've got a guy who can't buy a house in New Zealand, but he can buy a political party. I think most New Zealanders would look at that and be pretty cynical about it. No one should be under any illusion.
"This is a very wealthy guy trying to buy a political party to stop himself being extradited."
He said Ms Harre and Mr Harawira had "zero" in common with Dotcom.
"Kim Dotcom lives in a house that is probably worth about $25 million. FBI records show the hundreds of millions of dollars that came with him.
"And you're telling me he's a natural bedfellow of Laila Harre and Hone Harawira? If you believe that then you believe Santa Claus is going to turn up 12 times a year just to make New Zealand a more joyous place."
The internet Mana deal is aimed at maximising the number of MPs Harawira can bring into Parliament with him if he holds his Te Tai Tokerau electorate.
He said he had not known the law allowed parties to stand as joint force and then split into separate parties after the election and "it seems a bit of a rort."

Key is dead right. And he's not finished either; read on:

He said the internet Mana Party's first joint policy of free tertiary education was "unaffordable and New Zealanders will know that."
"That's what you're going to see from the far left of politics. You'll be led by Russel Norman, Kim Dotcom, Mana, David Cunliffe, you're going to see extreme examples that New Zealand can't afford and fundamentally promises they can never meet."
Mr Key said he was not worried about the impact of the internet Mana Party on National because it would take votes from the Greens and "disaffected Labour voters" rather than National.
"From National's point of view it's of no great relevance. But if you're Metiria Turei, Russel Norman, maybe David Cunliffe, you might be just a little more worried."

David and the GIMPs will halt New Zealand's economic recovery in its tracks. Their big-spending policies will fuel inflation, and taxes and interest rates will go up. The people they purport to represent will take the biggest hit. Waitakere Man and his wife will be paying more at the pump for their gas as David and the GIMPs meddle with the Reserve Bank Act and force the exchange rate down. Food prices will soar, mortgage rates will go up, and the plunge in the exchange rate will make the family holiday that Waitakere Man had been saving hard for unaffordable.

Fortunately though, Waitakere Man realised in 2008 that Labour had lost its way, and he and his missus voted for John Key. In 2014, they have joined the National Party, and they are now campaigning to make sure that Labour gets the message as to how far it has strayed from what used to be its core constituency.

As for Kim Dotcom, Waitakere Man knows a rort when he sees one.

0 Of David and the GIMPs

We spotted this on Twitter last night:

The reality, beyond the humour of the acronym GIMP, is that's what New Zealand will have should be some chance Labour be able to form a coalition government after the General Election. With the IM component picking the pocket of the G component, and quite possibly cutting the Green numbers in Parliament, there will be tensions aplenty, not to mention the tensions that already exist between the G and the P.

Can you imagine it? A coalition of David and the GIMP doesn't even bear thinking about. We think this is an acronym that will stick.

0 We can't help but wonder...

It's been an interesting week in left-wing politics. The Internet and Mana Parties have merged to become MegaMana. Laila Harra, former Labour Party member, New Labour and Alliance MP, Green Party staffer and trade unionist has been appointed leader of the Internet Party, and will be at #3 on the MegaMana list.

Take a look at MegaMana's Top Four; Hone Harawira, Laila Harre, Annette Sykes and John Minto; they're all not just from the political Left, but the extreme Left. Quite how they fit alongside their moneybags "founder" and "visionary" and his four million bucks (more on that later in the day) is anyone's guess. It would seen that even hard-core left wingers have their price, and Dotcom is paying it.

And then we hear that Willie Jackson has categorically ruled out standing for Labour in Tamaki Makaurau, but has NOT ruled out standing in the same electorate for MegaMana. It's a veritable Alliance Party reunion!

So we can't help but wonder; who's next? Is the door of the political crypt about to be rolled open, and Jim Anderton dusted off and wheeled out? Alamein Kopu is no longer with us, but there are still the likes of Frank Grover, Pam Corkery, Sandra Lee and Phillida Bunkle (to name but four) who could be recruited to fatten the ranks. After all, Dotcom has promised to pay their salaries, and the Left loves Other People's Money!

The Internet Party is supposed to be forward-looking and visionary, but Laila Harre's speech yesterday took us back to the past. If that's where MegaMana wants to mire itself, then dredging up recycled politicians from a generation ago is the perfect starting point.

0 Belle citation gourmandise

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"La gourmandise commence quand on n'a plus faim. " Alphonse Daudet 

Plus des citations gourmandise

"Point de passion qui s'allie mieux à la luxure que l'ivrognerie et la gourmandise." Simone de Beauvoir 

"La gourmandise réside dans l'exquise délicatesse du palais et dans la multiple subtilité du goût, que peut seule posséder et comprendre une âme de sensuel cent fois raffiné."
Citation de Guy de Maupassant

"La gourmandise remplit si bien le gourmand qu'elle le préserve d'autres passions : un seul ami suffit."
Citation de Anne Barratin

"De toutes les passions, la seule vraiment respectable me parait être la gourmandise."
Citation de Guy de Maupassant

"Les liens de la gourmandise retiennent plus que tous les autres et l'on prend souvent un mari à l'appât d'une bonne table. " Robert J. Courtine

"La gourmandise est le vice des moeurs qui n'ont point d'étoffe. " John Lyly

"La gourmandise, quand elle est partagée, a l'influence la plus marquée sur le bonheur qu'on peut trouver dans l'union conjugale. " Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

 

"La gourmandise, quand elle est partagée, a l'influence la plus marquée sur le bonheur qu'on peut trouver dans l'union conjugale. " Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

"La gourmandise a encore l’inestimable avantage de développer entre compagnons de table des sentiments d’indéracinable affection, infiniment plus indissolubles que les sentiments qui naissent entre compagnons de. .. lune de miel." Guy de Maupassan