There are bad things happening in this country, bad things that never happened before. But they’re happening now and many know exactly who is to blame. A group of thugs drive a stolen car into a shop window to steal things - Jacinda’s fault.
Thank you for writing this Nick. I know Jacinda will not be taking any of this lightly and I don't know how she bears it; she is a kind, decent, intelligent woman who all through the last five years has also been raising her wee daughter (being the first PM ever in NZ to give birth in office) as well as leading our country through some of its darkest times. I know she never had personal ambition but a desire to help make things better for those who most need it. She is loved despite what we see from the vitriol. I am so grateful to call her my friend.
Thanks Nick - well written, and I'm in total agreement. From the outset, I've been amazed at Jacinda's ability to understand and speak in a knowledgeable manner about so many things. In fact, about everything, it seems to me. She is amazing! And yes, I despair at the misogyny and general misinformed nastiness.
I hope that people spare a thought, over Christmas, at our good fortune to live in this great country right now. And fingers crossed for some decent weather! Make it a Rosé in the sun for me, please.
There were a few trolls who arrived overnight. I don't object to different opinions but I don't have any intention of hosting the sort of rude comments, or blatantly fake claims that are a blight on other sites so they've been removed and commenting is now only available for subscribers. By all means disagree with what I've said but trolls making personal attacks from anonymous accounts can get back under their bridge.
Yes. I know how lucky we are. I am gobsmacked at the level of hatred towards her. It has been there from the start. I saw it first appear in the farming circles pre 2017 election. Underlying reason is misogyny. And not all of it is from males.
What always coment on Luxon page when some die hard Nacts supporter drools over his actions is first he follows Trump techniques, he hired Scott Morrison, Boris, Trump media advisors so lies lies lies lies repeat , and few ignorant people believe. Point out who owns media. Point out how much money they lost in Nacts Kiwi saver cuts, in Superannuation ( Cullen fund for future generations staying at around 59bill dollars or more, Nacts for 9 years cut contributions so we lost hundreds of billions), the 3 times petrol tax increases, the GST , the unsustainable immigration and underinvestment. I Point out that Luxon wants to go back to it , even in face of Trussonemics. Point to them his "businesses are soft" when in UK and in Australian media when our businesses representatives were signing freextrade deals ( is he working for a foreign competitor in putting down our country?) . After I add what this country has inherited and what this government has been doing during those terrible messy times : including pointing out IMF, OECD , S^P , Moody's independent ( caps) reports about our government and economy who grew by 1.7% not 0.7% like Australia. Add all the hospitals, billions ( 7) and police numbers ( i think 3000) , plus Point out Luxon lies about inflation, schools , poverty, repealing Fair pay agreement. Put out as much info on Newshub, Even ZB ( mentioning Hosking works for Murdoch media ) ..the more info based on stats we put out there, the less those attacks would be. And mentioning the new G7 Russia sanctions on oil export, OPEC meeting to see if they again lower production ( 2mil barrels per day last time ) to keep oil prices up ( mentioning all our petrol distributors are foreignly owned and due to Megan Woods they finally passed lower prices to us ) ..and they shut up. I got attacked recently by a Young Nats on Luxin Facebook after I posted facts! Made my day to sort him out ! Nicely so I don't get again blocked! Facts which media doesn't put out.
they are out there. spreading words of deep state and elite plans to control the world. unfortunately their words hint at real questions about how power works in the world. so it seems that they are standing up for good reason. then they point at the wrong enemies. any left wing governments around the world get called out as conspirators. any right wing trump like leaders get called out as saviours of the people. there are genuine questions to be asked about the things they talk about. e.g. how much power the pharmaceutical industry has over our health and how rampant underfunding of our health system and independent medical research has led us to the point of having vaccinations as our only form of defense against viruses apparently coming from wildlife because of rampant screwing of their habitats and intensive farming of them. vulnerable people are being manipulated by some evil people and pushed to the front line of protest. i dont know how to combat such apparently real and right-ful propaganda. but im starting to suspect that it will require some form of listening to their concerns. it seems impossible to point them towards real systemic enemies if they think that we are not listening. how do we do that, listen to their concerns without blaming them for finger pointing? Jacinda might be the only leader who can overcome this.
Cushla, I'm not sure how to combat the misinformation except by asking questions about how Luxon/Seymour etc would remedy the ills they think we are beset by under Jacinda. Specific questions requiring specific answers.
No conspiracy theorist ever thinks they are wrong, and there is so much misinformation available to cement their thinking that they are right that applying logic doesn't work.
So we just have to ask specific questions about what National would actually do to change things, and what exactly is it that they dislike/hate about Māori/immigrants/women in leadership/women/homosexuals/...
And, just so you know, I struggle with taking my own advice because I just want to tell them to bugger off!
Cusshia Paice. Interesting perspective, extremely difficult to think of a possible solution. Power is so very hard to battle, as has been well proven throughout the history of mankind.
In the face of unrelenting criticism, it is easy for the truth to get lost.
And you are right - we are so lucky and the number of people who don't know that is stupidly, unthinkingly large (adjectives which describe them too, by the way ...)
What scares me is not so much that there is definitely a misogynist streak in the criticism (and as a longstanding feminist I bloody hate that) but that it is generated largely from outside Aotearoa by neoconservatives - the same ones who rarked up the far right white supremacist conspiracy theorists in the US. It also scares me that we have more than our fair share of them here too, happy to get on that bandwagon.
And the scariest is the normalisation of the criticism, the unthinking and growing acceptance of the biased media coverage.
Taken across the board as a whole, these things add up to a dark period ahead:
*the misogyny,
*the racism,
*the lurch to the right, *the complicit media, *the deliberate turning away from all the amazing work this government has done to restore the balance and improve outcomes for people who have been purposefully ignored and neglected.
FFS, people, we need to be shouting louder and longer and more cogently than the nay-sayers. We need to be asking
*what will Luxon do to deliver better outcomes in inflation, cost of living, employment numbers, wage parity than we currently have?
*how will Luxon make sure our water systems provide safe drinking water for all communities, our sewage treatment systems don't pollute our waterways or groundwater?
*how will Luxon ensure better outcomes in the next pandemic than we have had in this one?
*what are his plans for reducing poverty and improving educational outcomes for all students in all schools?
* what are his plans for increasing staffing levels in the health sector when all countries are seeking staff from a limited pool of qualified personnel?
*who in his team has the principles of care for all NZers and newcomers that will enable inclusive policies to be developed and implemented?
*Does he have those principles as part of his christian persona or does he not actually adhere to Jesus's teachings?
We need to push for specificity in the answers people give and not let them get away with 'it's time for a change' or 'I don't like Jacinda' or any what aboutism.
Civics education is a fundamental component of democracy. This is what needs to be our priority. Without it, we descend (as we are now doing) into a frustrated rabble where an understanding of how the system (including its built-in checks and balances) is designed to work, is completely absent.
The first time I have seen anyone, msm or podcast etc, anyone, mention the closure of police stations and reduced police numbers under the Key governments. Thanks.
30 police stations shut under key . 501s started that time to be sent over. Key didn't care . But he got The Order if Australia for services to that country . Still dies it : ANZ 2 billion dollars profit this year!
I loved your article Nick as it summed up so many of my own observations. I truly think it is misogyny that underlies most of the unpleasantness and downright nastiness. It's always been said that a woman has to achieve twice as much as a man to be thought half as good and Jacinda's experiences are proving that. The way she is treated by the front people on the TV breakfast programmes is markedly different to their fawning over Luxon. In the house, Jacinda decimates Luxon and the other Nat MPs with their assertions and lies but you wouldn't get that from the msm commentary. I have a master's degree in NZ history and am well acquainted with the achievements of past PMs. The best have been Savage, Ballance and Fraser, with Jacinda not far behind as a true leader who cares much more about people than power and money.
A well written article. This country tucked down the bottom of the world is very lucky to have a good person as our head. Labour does not get everything right. but we are safe so far down here. I feel that I live in a country with freedom and peace and choice. But we have a lot of ungrateful takers here. Not willing to help out, but instead moan and protest violently and in their protests stem the rights of others who try to go about their day to day lives. Protesting is fine, but do it in a timely and intelligent way. But honestly I think it because she is a women and the bullying of her is disgusting.
I nearly cried when passing through Te Aroha yesterday we stopped outside a vacant shop (had formerly been an op shop) and it had HUGE professionally printed anti-Jacinda signs 😢
I'm glad you liked it and thanks for subscribing. That is just horrible that someone would paint such a mural, especially in Te Aroha - why do people have to be so horrible?
Ignorance. Conspiracy theories . Antivaxers . Far right white supremacists Neo nazi. Jacinda is hated by those fringe elements empowered by Trump. Remember when Trump had derogatory comments in when we had a small break of Covid in ? I was wondering why he cared : because he hated someone else to be better than him and Peter Thiel as his adviser must have pointed it out to him. Thiel, you know of "citizenship in 2 weeks officiated by Brownlee at Parliament house "! The American preper who thinks Armageddon would come, they would survive in their underground bunkers in NZ , and restart a society based on their ideas! We have few of those in.m
Great read Nick and all of it true. I'm 63 and can say without any doubt she is the best PM I have ever seen here in dear old A-NZ. Over the years I have voted across the political spectrum, basing my choices on the party I felt best suited to the climate of the times. I'm not a dyed-in-the-wool Labour supporter but I did vote for them last time and will do so again, primarily because of Ardern.
We are lucky to have her and the shortsighted can go to hell.
Spot on, Jacinda is superbly suited for the role of PM , we are so very lucky to have had Labour looking after us , the nactoids would have forfeited a large number of Kiwis on the alter of Capitalism if they had been in charge during the pandemic, of that I have no doubt what so ever.What also makes me quite angry/sad is listening to the likes of woodham, hdpa etc who are simply traitors to their own Sex, instead of championing one of their own rising to the top of the 'greasy pole' they are doing their damndest to destroy her.
Add the likes of Andrea Vance to that list ,also Tracey Watkins and I am sad to say Josie Pagani. The Irish woman Vance who thinks she is always right ,called Jacinda Ardern ( in a Stuff opinion piece today ) the "smilng knife". Vance exposed her misogyny by "sort of" excusing the journalist who asked our PM ,and the Finnish PM if her visit to Aotearoa was because they were both young PMs of a similar age. getting together. Vance was sure that the optics of seeing the two young PMs together was the reason the Finnish PM had visited /been invited here, because Finland is not one of our traditional trade partners. Given MS Marin's trip down under also includes Australia I wonder what "optics" she and Albanese will present if optics is her only reason to visit- according to Vance.
Thank you for writing this Nick. I know Jacinda will not be taking any of this lightly and I don't know how she bears it; she is a kind, decent, intelligent woman who all through the last five years has also been raising her wee daughter (being the first PM ever in NZ to give birth in office) as well as leading our country through some of its darkest times. I know she never had personal ambition but a desire to help make things better for those who most need it. She is loved despite what we see from the vitriol. I am so grateful to call her my friend.
Thanks Nick - well written, and I'm in total agreement. From the outset, I've been amazed at Jacinda's ability to understand and speak in a knowledgeable manner about so many things. In fact, about everything, it seems to me. She is amazing! And yes, I despair at the misogyny and general misinformed nastiness.
I hope that people spare a thought, over Christmas, at our good fortune to live in this great country right now. And fingers crossed for some decent weather! Make it a Rosé in the sun for me, please.
There were a few trolls who arrived overnight. I don't object to different opinions but I don't have any intention of hosting the sort of rude comments, or blatantly fake claims that are a blight on other sites so they've been removed and commenting is now only available for subscribers. By all means disagree with what I've said but trolls making personal attacks from anonymous accounts can get back under their bridge.
Yes. I know how lucky we are. I am gobsmacked at the level of hatred towards her. It has been there from the start. I saw it first appear in the farming circles pre 2017 election. Underlying reason is misogyny. And not all of it is from males.
What always coment on Luxon page when some die hard Nacts supporter drools over his actions is first he follows Trump techniques, he hired Scott Morrison, Boris, Trump media advisors so lies lies lies lies repeat , and few ignorant people believe. Point out who owns media. Point out how much money they lost in Nacts Kiwi saver cuts, in Superannuation ( Cullen fund for future generations staying at around 59bill dollars or more, Nacts for 9 years cut contributions so we lost hundreds of billions), the 3 times petrol tax increases, the GST , the unsustainable immigration and underinvestment. I Point out that Luxon wants to go back to it , even in face of Trussonemics. Point to them his "businesses are soft" when in UK and in Australian media when our businesses representatives were signing freextrade deals ( is he working for a foreign competitor in putting down our country?) . After I add what this country has inherited and what this government has been doing during those terrible messy times : including pointing out IMF, OECD , S^P , Moody's independent ( caps) reports about our government and economy who grew by 1.7% not 0.7% like Australia. Add all the hospitals, billions ( 7) and police numbers ( i think 3000) , plus Point out Luxon lies about inflation, schools , poverty, repealing Fair pay agreement. Put out as much info on Newshub, Even ZB ( mentioning Hosking works for Murdoch media ) ..the more info based on stats we put out there, the less those attacks would be. And mentioning the new G7 Russia sanctions on oil export, OPEC meeting to see if they again lower production ( 2mil barrels per day last time ) to keep oil prices up ( mentioning all our petrol distributors are foreignly owned and due to Megan Woods they finally passed lower prices to us ) ..and they shut up. I got attacked recently by a Young Nats on Luxin Facebook after I posted facts! Made my day to sort him out ! Nicely so I don't get again blocked! Facts which media doesn't put out.
You beauty, Michaela!! Well done, you!
they are out there. spreading words of deep state and elite plans to control the world. unfortunately their words hint at real questions about how power works in the world. so it seems that they are standing up for good reason. then they point at the wrong enemies. any left wing governments around the world get called out as conspirators. any right wing trump like leaders get called out as saviours of the people. there are genuine questions to be asked about the things they talk about. e.g. how much power the pharmaceutical industry has over our health and how rampant underfunding of our health system and independent medical research has led us to the point of having vaccinations as our only form of defense against viruses apparently coming from wildlife because of rampant screwing of their habitats and intensive farming of them. vulnerable people are being manipulated by some evil people and pushed to the front line of protest. i dont know how to combat such apparently real and right-ful propaganda. but im starting to suspect that it will require some form of listening to their concerns. it seems impossible to point them towards real systemic enemies if they think that we are not listening. how do we do that, listen to their concerns without blaming them for finger pointing? Jacinda might be the only leader who can overcome this.
Cushla, I'm not sure how to combat the misinformation except by asking questions about how Luxon/Seymour etc would remedy the ills they think we are beset by under Jacinda. Specific questions requiring specific answers.
No conspiracy theorist ever thinks they are wrong, and there is so much misinformation available to cement their thinking that they are right that applying logic doesn't work.
So we just have to ask specific questions about what National would actually do to change things, and what exactly is it that they dislike/hate about Māori/immigrants/women in leadership/women/homosexuals/...
And, just so you know, I struggle with taking my own advice because I just want to tell them to bugger off!
Cheers, Marilyn
Cusshia Paice. Interesting perspective, extremely difficult to think of a possible solution. Power is so very hard to battle, as has been well proven throughout the history of mankind.
Thanks, the best, Nick. All needed to be said and you've said it beautifully.
Loved the choice of song.
Thank you. Such a relief to read this - it feels like an oasis of sanity.
Each day this week I've been putting a Quote Of The Day on my Facebook page, this was the QOTD today - thank you for your kind words :)
Thank you, Nick,
In the face of unrelenting criticism, it is easy for the truth to get lost.
And you are right - we are so lucky and the number of people who don't know that is stupidly, unthinkingly large (adjectives which describe them too, by the way ...)
What scares me is not so much that there is definitely a misogynist streak in the criticism (and as a longstanding feminist I bloody hate that) but that it is generated largely from outside Aotearoa by neoconservatives - the same ones who rarked up the far right white supremacist conspiracy theorists in the US. It also scares me that we have more than our fair share of them here too, happy to get on that bandwagon.
And the scariest is the normalisation of the criticism, the unthinking and growing acceptance of the biased media coverage.
Taken across the board as a whole, these things add up to a dark period ahead:
*the misogyny,
*the racism,
*the lurch to the right, *the complicit media, *the deliberate turning away from all the amazing work this government has done to restore the balance and improve outcomes for people who have been purposefully ignored and neglected.
FFS, people, we need to be shouting louder and longer and more cogently than the nay-sayers. We need to be asking
*what will Luxon do to deliver better outcomes in inflation, cost of living, employment numbers, wage parity than we currently have?
*how will Luxon make sure our water systems provide safe drinking water for all communities, our sewage treatment systems don't pollute our waterways or groundwater?
*how will Luxon ensure better outcomes in the next pandemic than we have had in this one?
*what are his plans for reducing poverty and improving educational outcomes for all students in all schools?
* what are his plans for increasing staffing levels in the health sector when all countries are seeking staff from a limited pool of qualified personnel?
*who in his team has the principles of care for all NZers and newcomers that will enable inclusive policies to be developed and implemented?
*Does he have those principles as part of his christian persona or does he not actually adhere to Jesus's teachings?
We need to push for specificity in the answers people give and not let them get away with 'it's time for a change' or 'I don't like Jacinda' or any what aboutism.
I need a lie down ...
Cheers, Marilyn
Civics education is a fundamental component of democracy. This is what needs to be our priority. Without it, we descend (as we are now doing) into a frustrated rabble where an understanding of how the system (including its built-in checks and balances) is designed to work, is completely absent.
The first time I have seen anyone, msm or podcast etc, anyone, mention the closure of police stations and reduced police numbers under the Key governments. Thanks.
30 police stations shut under key . 501s started that time to be sent over. Key didn't care . But he got The Order if Australia for services to that country . Still dies it : ANZ 2 billion dollars profit this year!
I loved your article Nick as it summed up so many of my own observations. I truly think it is misogyny that underlies most of the unpleasantness and downright nastiness. It's always been said that a woman has to achieve twice as much as a man to be thought half as good and Jacinda's experiences are proving that. The way she is treated by the front people on the TV breakfast programmes is markedly different to their fawning over Luxon. In the house, Jacinda decimates Luxon and the other Nat MPs with their assertions and lies but you wouldn't get that from the msm commentary. I have a master's degree in NZ history and am well acquainted with the achievements of past PMs. The best have been Savage, Ballance and Fraser, with Jacinda not far behind as a true leader who cares much more about people than power and money.
A well written article. This country tucked down the bottom of the world is very lucky to have a good person as our head. Labour does not get everything right. but we are safe so far down here. I feel that I live in a country with freedom and peace and choice. But we have a lot of ungrateful takers here. Not willing to help out, but instead moan and protest violently and in their protests stem the rights of others who try to go about their day to day lives. Protesting is fine, but do it in a timely and intelligent way. But honestly I think it because she is a women and the bullying of her is disgusting.
I nearly cried when passing through Te Aroha yesterday we stopped outside a vacant shop (had formerly been an op shop) and it had HUGE professionally printed anti-Jacinda signs 😢
PS I’ve now become a paid subscriber on the basis of this article ♥️
I'm glad you liked it and thanks for subscribing. That is just horrible that someone would paint such a mural, especially in Te Aroha - why do people have to be so horrible?
Ignorance. Conspiracy theories . Antivaxers . Far right white supremacists Neo nazi. Jacinda is hated by those fringe elements empowered by Trump. Remember when Trump had derogatory comments in when we had a small break of Covid in ? I was wondering why he cared : because he hated someone else to be better than him and Peter Thiel as his adviser must have pointed it out to him. Thiel, you know of "citizenship in 2 weeks officiated by Brownlee at Parliament house "! The American preper who thinks Armageddon would come, they would survive in their underground bunkers in NZ , and restart a society based on their ideas! We have few of those in.m
Me too. 😊
Thank you Leslie :)
Great read Nick and all of it true. I'm 63 and can say without any doubt she is the best PM I have ever seen here in dear old A-NZ. Over the years I have voted across the political spectrum, basing my choices on the party I felt best suited to the climate of the times. I'm not a dyed-in-the-wool Labour supporter but I did vote for them last time and will do so again, primarily because of Ardern.
We are lucky to have her and the shortsighted can go to hell.
Spot on, Jacinda is superbly suited for the role of PM , we are so very lucky to have had Labour looking after us , the nactoids would have forfeited a large number of Kiwis on the alter of Capitalism if they had been in charge during the pandemic, of that I have no doubt what so ever.What also makes me quite angry/sad is listening to the likes of woodham, hdpa etc who are simply traitors to their own Sex, instead of championing one of their own rising to the top of the 'greasy pole' they are doing their damndest to destroy her.
Add the likes of Andrea Vance to that list ,also Tracey Watkins and I am sad to say Josie Pagani. The Irish woman Vance who thinks she is always right ,called Jacinda Ardern ( in a Stuff opinion piece today ) the "smilng knife". Vance exposed her misogyny by "sort of" excusing the journalist who asked our PM ,and the Finnish PM if her visit to Aotearoa was because they were both young PMs of a similar age. getting together. Vance was sure that the optics of seeing the two young PMs together was the reason the Finnish PM had visited /been invited here, because Finland is not one of our traditional trade partners. Given MS Marin's trip down under also includes Australia I wonder what "optics" she and Albanese will present if optics is her only reason to visit- according to Vance.