Politics 2019: The year of FukYoo in NZ

Something happened in 2018 to NZ politics and I think it has everything to do with Jacinda Ardern.

You see after a near decade of National Party rule for better or worse (mostly worse for the majority and definitely better for the well off) the scales tilted just enough (when the thumb of Winston Peters was added) to tip things in favor of regime change and before you could say "Chinese spies in the Beehive, Thompson and Clarke and Bill English for leader, why God why?" National were out and we had a new (well sorta new) government with political darling Jacinda Ardern and political opportunist Winston Peters running things.

It was for many, who had longed and hoped for an end to the Neo-Liberal revolution that Labour had started in 1984, supposed to be a fresh start, a new page if you will in the book of NZ, with our two heroic leaders (because we are not counting James "I wanna be conservative" Shaw as a leader in this scenario) tearing down the old structures and rebuilding the new.

And then nothing happened.

Oh to be sure we had a dynamic 90 days of fun and excitement over the summer of 2016 with what at the time looked like an auspicious start but by mid winter 2018 the "revolution"* was well and truly over and by start of summer 2018 it was clear that the leitmotif of the government was something along the lines of "Opps, oh dear, but hey at least we tried".

I have detailed it here on this blog and so have others on other blogs but what is clear as I sit in the shade, sipping an ice cold beer, on what is otherwise a scorching hot summers day is that the revolution was not televised because it never occurred.

We could go into detail and look at how things like Kiwibuild, the watered down labor reforms, Winston's slush fund and parasitic nods to horse racing, as well as Jacinda Ardern, showing no political nonce or skill, has become little more than a hollowed out talisman like figurehead for a highly cathartic but ultimately futile feel good orgy of political spin and retroactive finger pointing at National for why the country continues along this doomed course to neo-feudal slave state.

But it was not all doom and gloom in 2018 as things like MeeToo in NZ, the teachers strikes and issues like water, immigration and tourism have slowly continued to bubble away while the willingness of whistle-blowers and leakers, in and outside government, show that FukYoo Politix is alive and well and lurking just below the surface of NZ.

Oh yes ladies and gentlemen, its not the political classes (and the now mostly parasitic media) which have dominated the discussion but ordinary kiwis with their voices and their issues and this is why the Labour/NZ First coalition has found that the agenda slipped away from them before even six months were up and that celebratory mood of late 2017 had shifted to increasingly organized dissent.

This is also why National can not get itself out of the political doldrums that they now listlessly drift in as leader or no the party is only marginally representative of the political landscape in NZ (and only the most idiotic believe that a new leader will change that around).

And thus we arrive at the year 2019, the year of FukYoo Politix in NZ, the year that Jacinda, Winston and Labour start to look just as bad as Simon Bridges and National and we start to see more and more Kiwis saying (usually in large groups with banners and placards) that they have had enough, that they want real change for the better, not just some feel good platitudes from the faux liberals in government.

2019 is the year that issues like water quality are going to come to a boil (pun intended) and the fact that Aotearoa has become little more than an over priced tourist resort in the South Pacific will find common parlance.

2019 is also the year that decrepit organisations like political parties, the Treasury and the NZDF are going to come under more and more examination and scrutiny as social media and digital tech continue to act as independent drivers of change because if Jamie-Lee Ross can tape his conversations with Simon Bridges so can anyone.

2019 is also the year this blog gets its mojo back as we will be going over from a "wait and see" attitude to our new government to full blown critique and mockery of the scum-baggy doings of this current government because its become evidently clear that Jacinda has her comfortable salary and those nice perks but Labour is essentially out of ideas and now more than happy to sit back and get by on nostalgic reminiscences and saying things like "but it was worse under National" rather than do anything concrete.

In short the FukYoo revolution that was brewing under National and John Key but which was temporarily nipped in the bud by a change of government is now back on track and looking for a few new scalps. And this blog officially endorses that.

Democracy is at its strongest when people participate and when participation is more than voting once every three years and in the last 12 months I have seen more and more people get upset about things, talk about things and talk about doing something about those things rather than just sit by and do nothing.

Other blogs may make "predictions" but thats just playing the odds of generic but expected random events happening, this blog will be doing its best to exhort the revolution and lead the charge by taking a critical and opposing stance to those who are enemies to a better New Zealand.

And its not just NZ but across the world the mood has continued to get closer and closer to a flipping of the zeitgeist, some places are closer than others but if you cant read a a blog , watch the news or listen to a pod-cast and get the impression that the world is going through change then you need to get out more.

2019 is the year the Coalition Government in NZ gets put on notice and have that notice enforced if they cant do whats needed to be done and 2019 is also the year that we start to look critically at politics in NZ in general as its become pervasively clear that political parties are more the problem than the solution, that undue influence of foreign and business interests are really what politicians and senior civil servants are listening to rather than Kiwis.

At this point this is only a thumb nail sketch of my ideas for blogging in 2019 but I must say its an exciting thought to be out of the stink mist that was 2018 and heading towards a dynamic and trans-formative next 12 months.

Happy new years and now back to that cold beer.

Vootie!

*-Because who does not remember both Winston and Jacinda flouncing around on the Beehive stage saying they needed to contain the destructive forces of capitalism

Whats the W in Wellington stand for?

This was written just before Christmas but I ran out of time to post until I had managed to digest Christmas dinner. For the New Year normal blogging will resume. Happy Hols everyone.

I have not posted much in the last month because I have been busy.

“Well duh!” I hear you say but it’s not like I have not wanted to blog but between the new role, new (old) town, the catching up, social occasions and settling in there has little time or incentive to get behind the keyboard.

So presented here, in no particular order, for you reading pleasure is a distillation of what I have heard, discussed or seen in the last 30 days or so.

Oh, so you have a security clearance?

The latest report on the Thompson Clark scandal makes for serious reading and I (and others) have come away from it with more questions than answers.

For example how did a private security company like T&C end up working for a government Department and its industry equivalent at the same time? What happened to the secret recordings that just disappeared? How does a government agency contract a company to do work without a contract?

And the stain of this thing spreads far and wide. The squirrels have made very rapid moves (for them at least) to distance themselves from the report’s findings and so it seems you no longer need to have a security clearance to get regular access to all sorts of privileged information via official and unofficial channels.

Net take away is that Thompson and Clark appear to have operated well beyond the law and the established code of conduct for such things and various parties are trying to sweep this under the rug because this looks far more than just a few matesy phone calls but something far more sinister.

Pedophile of the year

I hate with an undying passion the inevitable “politician of the year” lists which inevitably fill out the December news cycle because as one of the most despised sections of society it seems unfitting to elevate whatever floats to the surface of the scum pond that is politics as something excelsior.

And the candidates this year, in what has been a very mediocre year for political comings and goings are (surprise surprise) Jacinda Ardern and Winston Peters because reasons.

Celebrating either of these two for doing what they have done (wait what have they done?) is the same as celebrating some ghastly child molester for doing what they do best.

Great, so they kept the collation moving forward, yaaaay, I did not set fire to my place of work so can I get some applause as well?

But just to wind you munchkins up I will put forward my own contender for “politician of the year” and its …. wait for it … Jamie-Lee Ross.

In a year where mediocrity reigned supreme and almost everything the coalition did was watered down to be meaningless (read NZ First getting the labor reforms strangled in their crib) or letting their minions run amok (read Jacinda and her inability to know or control her MPs, cabinet ministers and staffers) or perverted as to just be a piss take (read Kiwibuild) Ross stood out for his balls to the wall, Gotterdammerung approach to politics because when there are many turds bobbing in the toilet-bowl its surely the flaming turd that stands out.

A Bridge too far

And speaking of turds, how about that Simon Bridges?

I managed to finagle access to relatively informal knees up for young Nats recently (via my National Party contact T) and it seems like the old MO of dressing appropriately, keeping your mouth shut (always the hardest part for me) and letting your skin color do the talking still works.

Keep in mind that “young” in context of the Young Nats really means people in their 30s and 40s, upwardly mobile and religiously conservative (or should that be conservatively religious) (and white) but still it’s this faction of the party that is considered the liberal half of National.

Well the topic of discussion on everyone’s lips, apart from one young buck who was very excited about seeing Eminem perform live (obviously the very epitome of rebellion)*, was not when will Simon Bridges be rolled, but who will replace him.

At least for younger Nats the prospect of Judith Collins (or any other member of the gang of five) is an anathema to them but the only realistic contender (Amy Adams) seems unwilling to be seen plotting Bridges demise (the key word here is “seen”) and as such the older guard appears to be mulling the prospect of giving Judith a shot at the title because at this point why the hell not and said prospect seems to be upsetting to the youngsters as much as Jeremy Corbyn leading National.

Of course there is a high degree of faux loyalty at play here and I think such a gathering is more sounding out situation than some hatching of a plot but the obvious issue is that Bridges is now nothing more than a place holder (or a bridge if you will) for/to the next leader but the party cant make up its mind, or summon the will to move against him yet but the summer is young and MPs have a month or so to plot over the warmer months.

One thing is for certain though and that’s the warranty on Simon Bridges has well and truly expired and taking him back to the shop for repairs is not an option. The cost is too high so the “owners” are looking around for a replacement model. It’s only a matter of time.

Just one of the boys!

The NZDF has had a rough few years of late, what with the Hit and Run inquiry and all those sexual scandals** that keep coming up but the NZDF has a plan to fix all of that.

Seems that by dragging in as many “secret witnesses” as possible the whole inquiry will be kept secret with some form of edited press for the media and public because what could possibly go wrong with that?

And I am reliably informed that its gone further than that with not so subtle hints to parties to either kept their mouth shut, stick to the official line or at the very least plead “secrecy” if a line of questioning get to close to things like the truth because the NZDF has fought this tooth and nail from the start and is not going to let something like an official inquiry stop them from keeping buried what really happened.

And if that requires a few people’s careers so be it.

Meanwhile in Wadestown

Rental prices for a property (even a one or two roomed place) in Wellington are insane and every house I have looked at has been run like a hostage negotiation session by property managers who seem to have received their PR training from Hezbollah.

The flip side of all this is I have four weeks left to find a place before the summer window for genuinely available rentals closes and I am back to the mercy of the the collective insanity which is property prices in Wellington.

So far I have seen a veritable tree-house with the most spectacular view of Ngaio imaginable, a house which looked great on paper until I realized that what I thought was just the lounge was the entire house and several great looking but clearly un-insulated properties which just screamed “freezing cold in winter”.

Add to my dilemma is that as I am a cat owner and as soon as I tick the pets tab 80% of available properties disappear and I am wondering what it’s going to take for me, my cat and record collection to find a place to live.

So thats all for now, normal (well at least normal for me) blogging will resume in the new year. Have a good one, stay safe and for gods sake don't drink and drive.

*-I wonder how he would feel about the reformed Wu Tang Clan touring NZ soon?
**- Far, far too many links to link so just google "NZDF sexual scandal" and start reading

Its time to have a rant about China!

Traitor: a) One who betrays anothers trust or is false in an obligation or duty, b) one who commits treason

In 1999 Jenny Shipley (then PM of NZ and now currently going through the courts for not doing due financial diligence as a Director of Mainzeal before it went into liquidation) parked some buses in front of a group of protesters in Christchurch so that they would not be visible to then Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

It was an odious moment in New Zealand history and one which set in motion a series of events which culminated in the recent decision by our current government to not allow Chinese telecommunication Company Huawei to bid for building New Zealand's 5G network.

Because for the last two decades, since Shipley decided that a bunch of Kiwis, lawfully protesting the Chinese occupation of Tibet, should be put second to possibly offending the Mr Zemin; New Zealand has been licking the boots of China.

Both National and Labour governments since that date have repeatedly prioritized China over ordinary Kiwis (and while National is the worst culprit its was under as Labour government in 2007 that a reporter was evicted from a Beehive event because the Chinese delegation objected to their presence) and now we find ourselves with one of the two major political parties (National) little more than a hollowed out front for Chinese interests, with Chinese spies in parliament and all because we want to sell our milk there.

Well, its like Heather du-Plessis-Allan says, the time has come to pick a side except that du-Plessis-Allan is a naive dupe if she thinks that siding with China is the smart option because: Donald Trump.

How so?

Let us count the ways.

First China is not a democracy, not even close, its a one party state lead by a god emperor for life whose word is enshrined at the same level as mass murderer Mao-Tse Tung and where human rights, free speech and all that good stuff that we like to have in an open and free society is not available in any way shape and form where any attempt to ask for democracy is crushed with brutal force (like Tiananmen Square in 1989) or suppressed and smothered (like the 2014 Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong); where places like Xinjiang and Tibet are held by force against the will of the general populace; a country which has built the great firewall (to censor the internet from anything which would embarrasses the Chinese government) and co-opted Google to build secret project, called Dragonfly (a search engine which, like the great firewall, censored search results to the Chinese governments liking).

Then there are things like its actions in the South China sea and its general history under communist rule, things which include the great leap forward (an insane, state sponsored economic program which saw millions die from famine) and the cultural revolution (a paranoid orgy of blood-letting and murder which saw millions persecuted and over a million killed).

And did I forget to mention its corruption and environmental issues where the country is toxic to your health and your wallet.

In short the Chinese government is not a friend of New Zealand, it is in fact the enemy, plain and simple.

There is nothing wrong with the people or the culture (and having lived and worked there and I like both) but the government of China and the Chinese Communist party is hostile to you as a citizen, to New Zealand as a free democratic nation and to to anything and anyone which gets in their way.

So explain to me again, why we are puckering up and smooching Chinese backside to get our dairy products on Chinese store shelves when its clear that Aotearoa is now the meat in an increasingly hostile China vs US sandwich?

Some people say that we can sail a middle course, we can be a neutral party in all of this but such statements are people who would happily oppose places like North Korea or Saudi Arabia or people like Donald Trump yet feel its ok to bend over and spread for China. There is nothing in recent Chinese history which shows that the Chinese Government will do anything less than undermine everything we believe in and then some.

I say no way.

New Zealand's culture and heritage (both Maori and Pakeha) have little in common with the designs and interests of the power elite in China and a lot with the value systems and ideals of both the US and the free-world in general. We would not tolerate the things China does in NZ yet we are willing to go silent because of Chinese money?

Such a path undermines the very things we hold dear in NZ.

So if siding with the US and the Five Eyes gets us taken off the Chinese Christmas Card list then so be it, it was long over due that we put some eggs in other baskets anyway.

 And if you think the US and its actions in Iraq/Afghanistan and at home even compare with whats going and gone on in China then I have a bridge for sale because this is not a better the devil you know argument but one of fundamental differences.

The fact that National has pent the last nine years facilitating China to the extent of allowing Chinese intelligence operatives in government and is more than willing to sell slots in the party to Chinese interests is plenty for them to be called traitors and to have a long hard look at their suitability as being part of the political system in NZ because if we tolerate spies and seats for sale we might as well just give up now.

I am thankful, very thankful in fact, that I live in a country where I can blog about such things because if I lived in China the though police would be kicking in my door right now.

But its important to keep in mind that this is not some call to start an anti-Chinese jihad because, as I said before, this is not about the people or the culture of China but a political system and structure which is antithetical to our own politics and way of life. We should not fear or hate someone just because they are from China or are Chinese but if they happen to be card carrying members of the Chinese Communist party (ie Jin Yang) then they should be refused outright.

Ever since Jenny Shipley parked those buses the day was coming where the cognitive and ethical dissonance of our doing business in China and our own security (both physical, political and spiritual) would finally be so obvious that they could not just be talked away or ignored; and today is that day.

And there is no easy option out of this, we cant manage China or its expectations or designs with good old Kiwi diplomacy because whether we like it or not conflict between China and the US is coming, maybe not war but the history of great powers is one of conflict at the top (although it often does end up as war), or for the top of the pile and who would you rather see sitting there?

For the politically simple, the mantra would be "neither" because Donald Trump is obviously just as bad as Xi Jinping but that is just rubbish as while US democracy is suffering at the moment, its still functional enough that Trump will be voted out of office in three or seven years and as flawed as democracy is its infinitely better to what the Chinese Communist Party has planned for you.

New Zealand needs to wean itself off doing business in China if the cost of such business is forfeiture of our own political system and values and we need to get China out of NZ politics or its not NZ politics its Chinese politics.

And the kicker for all this is a Chinese telco banned from trying to do business in NZ because its a security risk.

I will be the first to admit that there is not much public evidence for the actual threat but when our own intelligence agencies are trying to get back-doors built into our communication systems why in gods name would we trust anything from a business which has direct links to the Chinese Government.

If you live in NZ and believe in the political and social system we have then what the Chinese Government represents (specially with its actions in NZ) is the direct opposite of those things and you should oppose it with great zeal because if you don't you wont always have that option.

Finally, you can still support National and not be happy with what Simon Bridges & Co (specially Judith Collins and Jin Yang but so many others as well) are doing with regards to pandering to Chinese interests but you might just want to be a bit more critical about National and its behavior and not just be down with Simon because you cant stand Labour and Jacinda, lest you find yourself on holiday in Cambodia.

Vootie!