Watching the Tide

Hangovers, Big Hairy News, Humanities lost, and a horrible year for the Greens.

So I'm just gonna sit on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time

Songwriters: Stephen Lee Cropper / Otis Redding

Christmas Parties

As you might recall from yesterday’s newsletter, last night was Christmas Party time for the Rockels.

One of the younger members of the household celebrated using a Virtual Reality headset. It was quite amusing to watch last night as they imagined that the floor was pitching back and forth as a ship on the seas, and they staggered back and forth. At one point, when there was a lull in the storm, they launched themselves through a doorway and made it safely to the security of the loo.

Perceptive or perhaps cynical readers might have guessed that there was, in fact, no VR headset and no wave-like motion - this family member had been on the plonk with their mates. I sent them in the direction of bed, suggesting they stop avoiding the water and drink some of it - and they might feel better in the morning.

Fi did rather well at her casino evening. When she got home, she had millions, even having given much away, like Christmas bonuses from the good fairy of HR. My wife declared that she was changing careers and, henceforth, would be earning her money gambling, which seemed promising until I saw that all her winnings were laminated and had probably been made that afternoon.

Back home, the dogs and I held the inaugural Nick’s Kōrero Christmas Party, which I’m feeling pretty good after today - the joys of being a non-drinker. The only thing that would’ve made it more festive would’ve been if Fraggle and Sprocket, the aforementioned hounds, had been more enthusiastic about wearing the party hats.

BHN interviews Chippy

Pat and Chewie over at Big Hairy News had Chippy on their show, and it was really good.

It wasn’t rote sound bites or talking points that he’d been prepared to deliver by a crew of comms people. Hipkins spoke off the cuff, from the heart and was excellent.

Image: BHN/BeFunky.

Christopher Luxon couldn’t speak like that in a million years; he is not in the same class as Chippy. Whether it’s being able to discuss something and demonstrate a good understanding of the topic at hand or speaking genuinely about issues without feeling the need to frame everything in terms of a contest with the other side

In my view, it was as important an interview as last week’s Jack Tame one with Christopher Luxon.

That Q&A interview confirmed that the Prime Minister was out of touch, unable to sound genuine or like he was well informed about an issue and had a plan, exactly as many of us have been seeing and saying. Even as much of the media has denied what was before their eyes.

The BHN interview of Chris Hipkins also confirmed what many of us have seen. Which is a Labour leader who is genuine, intelligent, and understands that we have big issues which soundbites solutions and silly slogans can’t solve. A man who would lead for all Kiwis, just as he did previously in the PM role.

An in-depth interview like this and the recent Working Group debate on the Treaty Principles Bill suggest that the mainstream media is becoming redundant in terms of political coverage even faster than jobs are being lost.

Sadly, fewer people will see the BHN interview, which is a shame because we desperately need long-form interviews like this. One sit-down with Jack Tame a year is not enough for the public to get to know the people they vote for, and this interview really showed the contrast.

These are some of the responses I received, suggesting similar thoughts were percolating with others:

Christian: “It's because the political system is faulty; it is easy to distort with fake news and dirty tricks. There's no accountability for corruption and interference, and we end up with a dud like Luxon. It's because we had people like Jessica Mutch McKay working tirelessly to fool the public about what they were getting.”

Carol: “Great interview. I listened to all. I can honestly say that I wouldn't have lasted five minutes if it was Luxon.”

Ray: “It was a pleasure to listen to a common sense conversation without meaningless BS word salad.”

David: “I guess a lot of voters brought into the Mutch McKay narrative that we just needed to get to know Luxon, and we'd like him. Now voters are starting to realise they were sold a dud. Surely Luxon's days are numbered due to his ineptitude and the fact he is totally out of his depth.”

Ann: “There are too many kiwis who take no interest in politics. It’s shameful, really. Because of them, we end up with the bloody Luxons of the world.”

Of course, this being Twitter, there was the usual level of intellectual rigour from the right.

Honestly, I don’t know why they bother. I can only assume that all the people they know are also not smart, and it hasn’t occurred to them that some of us aren’t impressed by childish taunts. There were worse ones, of course, with name-calling and nasty allegations against both Chippy and myself, but you don’t need to see those.

I thought about quoting some of the things Chippy said, but I’d really like to encourage you to watch the interview if you haven’t. Pat and Chewie did a great job, and kudos to Chippy for making the time to appear on BHN:

If you’d like to throw some support their way and get some great merch, you could check BHN out here and soon be rocking one of these:

Hooton strikes again

One mainstream political commentator has again shown he is willing to speak honestly about Luxon’s non-performance and dis-acquaintance with reality. Although coming from the right, Hooton would like to see Luxon implement the sort of scorched-earth policies that neoliberals have been shuddering over in Latin America for decades.

Unfortunately, Hooton’s criticisms of the Prime Minister are securely behind the paywall, whereas they opt to keep Mike Hosking’s thoughts free for all to see - which seems a bit overpriced if you ask me.

Speaking about Luxon, Hooton said:

“Kiwis,” he claims, “know we have got a plan, and they can see that plan is starting to work.”

The problem is that neither public polling nor economic data support those assertions.

Half of New Zealanders think the country is heading in the wrong direction, and only a third think it is on track.

Rest assured that even though Hooton is criticising Luxon here, he is still an evil tory, and he enthuses about being able to draw centre voters to National as they take fright at the prospects of a surge in popularity for Te Pāti Māori. However, he indicates that scare tactics alone will not be enough:

For re-election, the coalition needs evidence, accepted by voters, first that the economy is turning around strongly; second and relatedly that at least current health services are fiscally sustainable; and third, that there is a plausible path to avoid the permanent debt spiral and default Treasury forecasts.

So far, Luxon scores zero out of three.

Hooton then spends the rest of the article bemoaning the fact that Luxon isn’t behaving more like Javier Milei, the president of Argentina. A neo-liberal right-wing populist who believes in privatised education and healthcare, in easy access to guns but not to cannabis or abortion. This guy:

To be fair to Luxon, his government might be a bit slow to cancel culture, but they eventually got there.

Cancelling Culture.

I was less than thrilled by the following news this week; please pardon the language.

It is depressing to see this government's small-mindedness. You’d think it would be obvious to anyone that economics and education, for example, are important, and our creative sector employs many people in film work, video game production, and lots of other fields.

Research in the humanities is important to our society and economy, and defunding this work will be to the long-term detriment of our country. The coalition is playing to an anti-intellectual element in our country: “Thinking is Woke,” commented Mark, and those who can only see things in dollar terms—it is Trump 101, and it is so depressing that some people buy into it.

Of course, some won’t see dumbing down the population as a downside but as an end in itself. Rob pointed out, “Remove the tools and information for critical thinking, and the public will be gullible and amenable to anything they want to do.”

Juliette (name changed): “ACT is also launching an attack on cultural safety in nursing. Irihapeti Ramsden dedicated her life to health equity for all until her life was so sadly cut short. I was lucky enough to be taught by her - one of the great privileges of my life.

ACT MPs and supporters were sadly let down by their parents - never taught to share nicely and not bully. They are a total scourge on our society - unprincipled, inhumane and greedy.

Race-baiting to gather votes for more greed is unforgivable.”

The longer I think about it, the more I agree with Juliette. I used to think that those with left or right views just had different values, but in the context of this government, I see it more as those who have matured and learnt to care for others supporting the left and those who haven’t developed beyond the self-centred view of the world we might see during adolescence, back these coalition parties.

I appreciate that speaking negatively about the population is not a great way to bring people together, but we should be honest about the fact that there is something seriously wrong with the values of those who would still support this coalition after the year we have seen from them.

See you back after this short commercial break…

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I have a Christmas special until Boxing Day that I hope makes a subscription a bit more affordable. With a 25% discount for 12 months, an annual subscription costs $75, or if you prefer, it’s $7.50 per month. That works out at around 25 cents per newsletter you receive, which adds up to me being able to earn a living doing this writing, which I really appreciate. 🙂

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A tough year for the Greens

In the Herald this morning: Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick on ‘probably’ the party’s toughest year. It has been a tumultuous time for the Greens since the high of a best-ever result at the election.

Julie Anne Genter got in trouble for trying to get Matt Doocey to listen. Jame Shaw, of course, has gone, and so too have Golriz Ghahraman and Darleen Tana. Shockingly, Efesso Collins died, and more recently, co-leader Marama Davidson has been battling cancer. As a long-time supporter and member of the party, it has been hard to watch.

Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. Photo / Mark Mitchell.

Yet, through it all, co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has not only been rock solid for her party but also an intelligent, brutally honest voice against this government's actions. I’ve also been particularly impressed by the knowledge of Lan Pham from Ōtautahi, Christchurch and the passion of Tamatha Paul, who comes from Tokoroa - not so far from where I grew up in Rotorua.

Someone who I’m sure has a much better understanding of the realities of primary industries in Heartland, NZ, than many of those from other parties who turn up in shiny new gumboots and lord-of-the-manner jackets at Fieldays once a year.

Tomorrow morning, I’m off to the Green Party Climate Policy launch here in Tamaki Makaurau. I’m not sure exactly when the next newsletter will come out, but I expect to write about that tomorrow afternoon or maybe Monday morning. Anyway, if you’re wondering why there is no newsletter tomorrow morning, that’s why. 🙂

I hope the hangover isn’t too bad if you’re nursing one from a Christmas party. My top cure tip is a cool swim; nothing as refreshing as that, in my view. Failing that, you can’t go wrong with a pie and a berocca. Have a good one, all of you lovely people.

On this day in 1967, Otis Redding went into the studio to record “(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay”, he died in a plane crash three days after recording the song. One of my favourites.