I've seen a few new subscribers come through after recent newsletters, so I thought I'd leave this open in the hope that the trend continues. I'd far rather people subscribe because they read something they like than because they're prevented from seeing it, but I will need to bring back the paywall soon, as I figure it acts as a disincentive to contributing if too many are free. Hope that makes sense, and thanks for bearing with me. Nick.
Kia ora Nick, I'm one of your newbies! Pleased to be here after enjoying your free posts for a while now. And happy to have you in my inbox with your wonderful writing and humour.
Today I really appreciate you rehashing that interview so I can get the gist without having to watch it - Luxon is just so irritating - and you come in with all the howling interjections I'd be making myself!
Luxon and Mark Mitchell hopped in their Crown limousine to get to the vigil at the Maunga yesterday to make sure there would be pics of himself sitting on the wet grass in his blue suit with his creepy arm around the unsuspecting woman next to him. This morning on RNZ he said : "I'm proud of the response, I really genuinely am and I've obviously come from a life where I've had to deal with risk management in my business life and what I see and the capability that we've been building, particularly under the leadership of Mark [Mitchell] and the teams from [National Emergency Management Agency] and others, the way they interface with the mayors and the way the mayors then activate their local emergency responses, it's been excellent.” Whaaaaat? I used to run an airline? Then the karakia this morning. Betcha he didn't know the Maori words but he had to put the pics of himself all over his FB site. I saw a thing yesterday from that little ACT jerk Todd Stephenson who had told off a government department for having karakia and had stopped it. OK or not OK? Make up your mind Luxon.
Honestly I feel quite ill the way this whole tragic event has been handled by Luxon. The nerve of him to say how wonderful the firefighters have been when they refuse to pay them more,talk about hypocrites. The sight of him plonked down on the wet grass in his stupid suit was just too much. If I had a nasty streak I'd be inclined to say that he has used this whole thing as a photo op and an opportunity to push the Nat agenda. Has he done as well as Ardern did following a tragedy?....not a hope in hell.
I can just visualize it.......come on Mark let's get down there,they're having a vigil....good photo op......hang on let me get out of my slouchies and into my blue suit..hang on....remind me,whats a karakere? ..
I see their responses and wish wish wish for Jacinda and Grant - they actually do things to mitigate consequences, display kindness and of course acknowledge that we must do something about the climate crisis.
The comparison couldnt be more stark. Luxon comes across as very, very superficially sympathetic and then turns the narrative to himself. And yes, the hypocrisy of praising the first responders whilst denying them the funding they need to function is not lost on the thinking voting public.
So he's baccckkkk - sigh - and reading this it seems he's as unimpressive as ever, consistent in his mind numbing beigeness and meaningless verbosity ... c'mon November so we can be free of this blight on our TVs, our country and our psyches!
I still can’t decide if he’s actually dumb or he’s operating on the premise that people don’t read past the headline and have the memory of a goldfish?
Last election it was "Back on track", then "Going for growth" and now "Fixing the basics- and build the future". Kind of infers - which we all know - none of the previous SPIN, had any substance, and all we can do is wind back to earlier times! Pre the 20th century it seems?
Why have the MSM not asked Chippy for comment so that he could have reminded the country that the last Govt had a fund in place to meet the aftermath of these events. Also that Willis spent this funding on tax cuts for landlords and tobacco companies. Worth pointing out also that the previous Govt had plans to mitigate these destructive, and more regularly occurring, events. So all we see and hear is the blathering PR PM.
RNZ did report C Hipkins comments on the flooding in detail on 22 January: " Labour leader Chris Hipkins has expressed sympathy to those impacted, gratitude to first responders and said climate change "means we are seeing far more of these tragic events"."
I hope everyone is safe and well wherever you are in the motu.
What has happened in Mt Maunganui, Tairawhiti and Te Taitokerau has been absolutely heartbreaking to see. It makes me feel somewhat guilty being here in Pōneke knowing we have escaped the worst of the weather, just as we did when Cyclone Gabrielle.
Tāwhirimātea has been really pissed off and it's high-time that hē tāngata take heed of his warnings. If we don't start looking after our whenua these events will continue to occur.
I'm glad I didn't see our useless PM on Breakfast, but I can't help feeling that him finally going to the affected areas is just a show to make himself look good so people will think that he actually gives a shit.
People have had to leave their homes. They have lost possessions and tragically lives have been lost.
This might seem harsh to some people, but, this sits right at their feet.
It's all well and good visiting these affected areas, but what they actually need is for our government to stand up and actually help them out and provide financial assistance.
The original native tree cover is long gone - Mauao was occupied and modified for centuries. Recommend Manu Caddie's substack on this (will find the link for you...)
Tena koe, many thanks for this post. Great for me too, to be educated on the true history of Mauao. Leading to the undeniable fact that climate change is real and present. That govts can’t continue to ignore the facts. Nga mihi.
His blizzard of words on Morning Report was exhausting. Barely answering a question and in full blame Labour and campaign speech mode. Refusing to answer the questions on climate change policies
Mauao has shown us exactly what to expect. No prevention, no real support, just high fives for the ambulance drivers at the bottom of the cliff. Hell, that’s a bit close to home.
Dunno eh. "Fixing the basics- and build the future" seems more like a 1st year commitment than a third. Unless they broke something over the last two years… in that sense it feels like an admission.
Good article Nick. Very grounded articulation of what we’re all feeling right now about the non-response of this government to the suffering - weather, poverty, resource scarcity- of the whanau of Aotearoa.
So, the PM thought the vigil was lovely , is like saying, 'yes ,we were on The Titanic, it was WONDERFUL .
I had the 'pleasure' a few years back of doing a show for Air New Zealand with Jeremy Corbett and Mike King when numb nuts was head honcho, and I swear to you the same tired/trad phrases were used then.
i.e 'building a stronger, better airline', 'going back to basics', 'I have a dream, a vision if you will' ' I never inhaled',' I don't drink...cocaine? um, er , I swear I thought it was baking soda'.
Mike's joke was that Chris had bigger breasts than Amanda..
We met him again a few years later. He was but a mere MP then.
I asked him if he remembered me 'Of course I do, how are you Wally?'
I've seen a few new subscribers come through after recent newsletters, so I thought I'd leave this open in the hope that the trend continues. I'd far rather people subscribe because they read something they like than because they're prevented from seeing it, but I will need to bring back the paywall soon, as I figure it acts as a disincentive to contributing if too many are free. Hope that makes sense, and thanks for bearing with me. Nick.
Kia ora Nick, I'm one of your newbies! Pleased to be here after enjoying your free posts for a while now. And happy to have you in my inbox with your wonderful writing and humour.
Today I really appreciate you rehashing that interview so I can get the gist without having to watch it - Luxon is just so irritating - and you come in with all the howling interjections I'd be making myself!
Keep up the great work, ngā mihi
You won't regret it. Great commentary and almost always on issues that are fudged by mainstream media.
Luxon and Mark Mitchell hopped in their Crown limousine to get to the vigil at the Maunga yesterday to make sure there would be pics of himself sitting on the wet grass in his blue suit with his creepy arm around the unsuspecting woman next to him. This morning on RNZ he said : "I'm proud of the response, I really genuinely am and I've obviously come from a life where I've had to deal with risk management in my business life and what I see and the capability that we've been building, particularly under the leadership of Mark [Mitchell] and the teams from [National Emergency Management Agency] and others, the way they interface with the mayors and the way the mayors then activate their local emergency responses, it's been excellent.” Whaaaaat? I used to run an airline? Then the karakia this morning. Betcha he didn't know the Maori words but he had to put the pics of himself all over his FB site. I saw a thing yesterday from that little ACT jerk Todd Stephenson who had told off a government department for having karakia and had stopped it. OK or not OK? Make up your mind Luxon.
Ha ha - had to deal with risk management in my business life!! What? Undersupply of anti-perspirants to the mid-west?
What he means is he has had a lot of experience with avoiding accountability which is essentially what Risk Management means to corporate people.
💯 And minimising short term financial cost, maximing external/social and long term costs
Correct. Externalising social and long term costs
Risk Management would have simply been words on a piece of paper to Luxon in his business life!
Very good.
What my father would have called an extraordinarily flatfooted response, but current generations are more likely to respond with : WTF!
Honestly I feel quite ill the way this whole tragic event has been handled by Luxon. The nerve of him to say how wonderful the firefighters have been when they refuse to pay them more,talk about hypocrites. The sight of him plonked down on the wet grass in his stupid suit was just too much. If I had a nasty streak I'd be inclined to say that he has used this whole thing as a photo op and an opportunity to push the Nat agenda. Has he done as well as Ardern did following a tragedy?....not a hope in hell.
He has used this whole thing as a photo op. That’s not nasty it’s just fact. And why was he even in a suit???!!
I can just visualize it.......come on Mark let's get down there,they're having a vigil....good photo op......hang on let me get out of my slouchies and into my blue suit..hang on....remind me,whats a karakere? ..
Totally!
Imagine being that poor woman with his arm around her. Eww!
I see their responses and wish wish wish for Jacinda and Grant - they actually do things to mitigate consequences, display kindness and of course acknowledge that we must do something about the climate crisis.
The comparison couldnt be more stark. Luxon comes across as very, very superficially sympathetic and then turns the narrative to himself. And yes, the hypocrisy of praising the first responders whilst denying them the funding they need to function is not lost on the thinking voting public.
And together they were smarter than Luxon's whole cabinet of noddies.
So he's baccckkkk - sigh - and reading this it seems he's as unimpressive as ever, consistent in his mind numbing beigeness and meaningless verbosity ... c'mon November so we can be free of this blight on our TVs, our country and our psyches!
I still can’t decide if he’s actually dumb or he’s operating on the premise that people don’t read past the headline and have the memory of a goldfish?
Both of those things, I think.
Last election it was "Back on track", then "Going for growth" and now "Fixing the basics- and build the future". Kind of infers - which we all know - none of the previous SPIN, had any substance, and all we can do is wind back to earlier times! Pre the 20th century it seems?
from his Little book of 'CEO phases' , for the day . My Mum was great at hers and I still use them today.. I'm feeling a bit crook today .
Why have the MSM not asked Chippy for comment so that he could have reminded the country that the last Govt had a fund in place to meet the aftermath of these events. Also that Willis spent this funding on tax cuts for landlords and tobacco companies. Worth pointing out also that the previous Govt had plans to mitigate these destructive, and more regularly occurring, events. So all we see and hear is the blathering PR PM.
RNZ did report C Hipkins comments on the flooding in detail on 22 January: " Labour leader Chris Hipkins has expressed sympathy to those impacted, gratitude to first responders and said climate change "means we are seeing far more of these tragic events"."
Chris Chang asked some decent questions. Excellent!
Mōrena Nick and all Nick's Kōrero whānau.
I hope everyone is safe and well wherever you are in the motu.
What has happened in Mt Maunganui, Tairawhiti and Te Taitokerau has been absolutely heartbreaking to see. It makes me feel somewhat guilty being here in Pōneke knowing we have escaped the worst of the weather, just as we did when Cyclone Gabrielle.
Tāwhirimātea has been really pissed off and it's high-time that hē tāngata take heed of his warnings. If we don't start looking after our whenua these events will continue to occur.
I'm glad I didn't see our useless PM on Breakfast, but I can't help feeling that him finally going to the affected areas is just a show to make himself look good so people will think that he actually gives a shit.
People have had to leave their homes. They have lost possessions and tragically lives have been lost.
This might seem harsh to some people, but, this sits right at their feet.
It's all well and good visiting these affected areas, but what they actually need is for our government to stand up and actually help them out and provide financial assistance.
Anyway, that's enough from me.
Have a great day Nick.
Luxon seems to be a 9-5 worker?? 40 hour weeks? Meow.
A comment this morning, of him springing out of Judith's helicopter, 'Temu's GI Joe!
The blame game in Tauranga? Ā concerned bystander, Council, iwi, emergency services?
Trees cut, what happened to the native trees? Climate change is real, so are the deniers! 🤔
The original native tree cover is long gone - Mauao was occupied and modified for centuries. Recommend Manu Caddie's substack on this (will find the link for you...)
https://open.substack.com/pub/manucaddie540258/p/a-brief-history-of-vegetation-on?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2nuxa
A fantastic read, thank you for the link.
And welcome.
Tena koe, many thanks for this post. Great for me too, to be educated on the true history of Mauao. Leading to the undeniable fact that climate change is real and present. That govts can’t continue to ignore the facts. Nga mihi.
I wish luxon had burst into flames!
Yes self combust it's actually a thing. Dreams are free 😂🤣😂
His blizzard of words on Morning Report was exhausting. Barely answering a question and in full blame Labour and campaign speech mode. Refusing to answer the questions on climate change policies
Mauao has shown us exactly what to expect. No prevention, no real support, just high fives for the ambulance drivers at the bottom of the cliff. Hell, that’s a bit close to home.
Dunno eh. "Fixing the basics- and build the future" seems more like a 1st year commitment than a third. Unless they broke something over the last two years… in that sense it feels like an admission.
My thoughts exactly
Good article Nick. Very grounded articulation of what we’re all feeling right now about the non-response of this government to the suffering - weather, poverty, resource scarcity- of the whanau of Aotearoa.
So, the PM thought the vigil was lovely , is like saying, 'yes ,we were on The Titanic, it was WONDERFUL .
I had the 'pleasure' a few years back of doing a show for Air New Zealand with Jeremy Corbett and Mike King when numb nuts was head honcho, and I swear to you the same tired/trad phrases were used then.
i.e 'building a stronger, better airline', 'going back to basics', 'I have a dream, a vision if you will' ' I never inhaled',' I don't drink...cocaine? um, er , I swear I thought it was baking soda'.
Mike's joke was that Chris had bigger breasts than Amanda..
We met him again a few years later. He was but a mere MP then.
I asked him if he remembered me 'Of course I do, how are you Wally?'