Setting everything up for their sorted mates. Wow, we need to contribute to our chosen Party. Give them some fighting chance. It is hard in the face of rocketing costs for rates power and insurance, but even $5 a week automatic payment gives $260 per year. We need to rally the troops to register and to vote.
Hope you got some sunshine MT. Looks like we’re all going to need some to get through watching New Zealand’s hijack being facilitated by Luxon, a dimwitted, sycophantic, servant of capitalism, without a moral compass, courage, or any integrity whatsoever. And standby, because Luxon will get nastier and more short-tempered as he comes under more pressure, which he will. Yes, that’s personal because it is. I’m watching an idiot destroy the country I’m living in and a country I love.
And, hell no, we’ll never hear anything remotely balanced from Newstalk. The takeaway for me though - and it’s frightening - is Newstalk’s ratings. They demonstrate a high level of support for the utter bullshit coming out of that place. Hoskings, who could at least provide some balance in his high-profile broadcasting role, has elected to become a promotional spinmeister and hitman for the political right instead.
This whole political debate is getting very messy and divided here (and everywhere), and it’s not just about left versus right, it’s really about capital versus labour. Those who own capital (Graeme Hart, Mowbrays, Wrights, etc) or those who work for those who own capital (the Luxons of the world) have a vested interest in reducing the cost of labour to increase profits. I believe it is possible in a neoliberal system to deconstruct every single decision a government makes back to this truth.
There are variances between left and right but capital has been winning forever. And it’s neoliberalsm’s camouflage of capital that is gutting our standard of living. Even the partisan political struggles we observe daily are all caught up in supporting neoliberalism. Look at Keir Starmer’s epic failure in the UK. They booted out the despised Tories after a 14 year reign to become even more despised themselves in six months. Common thread….implementing, supporting, maintaining, neoliberalism.
On being elected, Starmer and Reeves immediately chose austerity, which is the same thing as choosing neoliberalism, and now Labour UK is in trouble in the same way the Tories were. Blue - red, same result, maybe even worse.
As soon as you venture beyond words to actions, this phenomenon becomes self-evident anywhere you look. It is one reason NZ Labour are not in a rush to release policy. Neoliberalism only exists because its original creators needed an excuse to favour capital, hence the trickle down rhetoric. It has never occurred. Meanwhile, under the cover of the fair wealth distribution Neoliberalism promised, the middle-class has been gutted, the proletariat has been gutted, and the precariat have never lived more precariously.
Luxon is just one (a bloody nasty one) of many robotic, animatronic, managerialists, whose existence and meaning in life stems from implementing a cult like dedication to keeping the owners of capital happy. His reward, a capital bone is thrown his way. The more successful he is in serving them, the more meat on his bone. And where do these managerialists come from? They’re made (institutionalised) by the large enterprises who want to drive the cost of production and labour down.
Luxon’s lobotomy and software download occurred at Unilever, an enterprise which has been caught up in human rights and environmental scandals. Luxon’s time at ANZ was also mired in controversy because he tried to apply ‘Unilever’ there too. It’s all he knows. Now, thanks to John Key, Luxon is free to apply ‘Unileverism’ to the entire nation. I would argue his ‘Unilever’ chip even explains his hard lean to the right. Removing costs has been hard-wired into Luxon’s brain, which in my view helps explain why he has always been a closet libertarian or at least libertarian curious.
So, it comes as no surprise to me that Luxon is good-to-go. He’s ready to flog off New Zealand, its land, its houses, its businesses, and its future. And you can already see him savouring all the bones that will be coming his way. I bet he counts them every night to help him get to sleep.
PS: The Rich List profiled the 119 wealthiest New Zealanders in 2025, their combined wealth was $101.2 billion, up from $95.5 billion in 2024. Many donate large sums of money (Graeme Hart $350k) to right wing parties. Ask yourself why? Think about the relationship between capital and labour while you’re thinking.
One hundred percent MT. And NZME aren’t even trying to be subtle anymore. Rupert Murdoch is Australia’s most dangerous export ever. Hello Trump. He’s now one of the world’s most dangerous people, and his legacy looks set to continue its ‘radioactive’ trajectory. As you’ve said before MT, it’s a huge problem because right-wing media favours right-wing parties who have by far, the biggest war-chests. And in a politically disengaged population, that’s an enormous advantage. They will be able to drown out or greatly reduce the effectiveness and reach of messaging from the left.
Yeah, I get it MT. It’s so incredibly easy to feel completely powerless. We-the-people around the world need to fight back now and it isn’t going to be a walk in the park. The blind stupidity and gratuitous cruelty of people like Luxon, makes me want to detach my own retinas. He is that hard to watch. Does he know what he is doing is wrong? No, he doesn’t, because his programmed worldview sees inequality as collateral damage. He is a completely dehumanised human being. The only thing Luxon is evangelical about is serving his master and it isn’t god…it’s capital.
Good comment James. The rich listers average $850 million. If it sat in a call account with no interest, you'd have to spend $17 million a year for the next 50 years. That's a lot of butter, but of course, it's about status, not petty cash.
So if they all gave up 10% they'd have the same relative status and we might have a health system and affordable basics for the 99%.
Ultimately, inequality is combustible, so putting out the cinders asap is excellent future insurance, especially for the wealthy. They need those they’ve made unequal to make more profit.
Fair point Johnny, he’s a dead ringer for Humpty Dumpty, except Dumpty was a good egg in a store, personified by Lewis Carroll. Luxon, is a completely rotten egg inside a fragile shell. So don’t worry Johnny, Luxon will crack for sure.
This is an excellent summary of where neoliberalism has brought us. I would also add that, as Friedman himself boasted, the think tanks were responsible for allowing these wrecking economic policies to be accepted as the norm. They killed off the idea of looking after one another and have brought us to individualism. I feel this quite strongly, having a child born with a rare disorder, you're made to feel you should be able to deal with this alone, why should society help, it must have been something you did anyway. With media orgs like NZME and their star turd Hosking churning out the bollocks that people seem to eat up, I'm not sure what the future holds. I would love to see a return to collectivism of some kind, definitely we need to move away from the wrecking ball of austerity but the holders of capital seem to have the power at the moment.
Excellent point Victoria. Promoting individualism is a very useful strategy to further entrench neoliberalism. In my view, the Nordic countries have the best current system for supporting healthy, happy lives.
Their productivity is high, their prosperity is world-leading, and institutions like health and education are free to all citizens. They do pay more tax, but not much more when you look at the way it’s structured - they don’t rely on fiscal drag. And in return, tax payers receive world class government run public enterprises and institutions. Imagine, a health system that works, no student loans, secure housing, comfortable retirement. NZ offers none of those things.
One of many problems New Zealand has, is the capital class aren’t going down to labour without a fight, and even the left here rocks neoliberalism. Adern was a neoliberalist. The Greens are neoliberal. More progressive yes, but they’re not game-changers yet. They need our support for that, but changing this awful government is a good start to opening up fresh conversations about the future.
Agree with pretty much all of that James. I'm not convinced the Greens are neoliberals, but there was absolutely nothing radical about their alternative budget. It looked like a 1970s NZ budget, pre-Rogernomics. And look how Seymour, Luxon and Bishop managed to use it to scare all the mainstreamers like it was a Muldoon-era reds under the bed campaign. Ugh, education and media not being owned by the capital class are so important!
Let’s hope Chlöe and the Greens can improve their position and help the left win. Maybe then we might see some green shoots of something better shine through. As Grace Blakely points out, even the Reserve Bank is on the side of capital, so the Greens have got their work cut out for them. The entire western world is ‘rigged’ for neoliberalism.
The political system of NZ and Western democracies in general, is fully fledged ‘trickle down’ economics. Grace Blakeley’s latest article here on Substack is a terrific, thought-provoking read on neoliberalism and it’s significant shortfalls.
Exactly what it is. Last year there was an under-reported report about how foreign investors now saw NZ assets/land etc as "cheap" or was it "good value" under this "friendly" new government.
The current record for usage of urgency was Jacinda Ardern's 2nd term with 28 usages, but that was during COVID so it's arguable that it was necessary. The next is John Key's first term, with 27 usages, but that was after the GFC. There was probably over-use in both scenarios, but it's understandable that there will be some urgency needed in times of crisis.
What's the crisis that urgency is needed for now?
If anything, there's a housing crisis, and repealing the foreign buyers ban will only make it worse.
What would a solution look like?
Having something like a two-thirds majority can mean the opposition blocks things that genuinely need urgency in order to hamper the government. Ideally blocking needed uregency would damage public perception of the opposition, but after seeing how the filibuster has been abused in the US I wouldn't be surprised.
Lobbying and corruption laws. Restore public interest media. Public interest test.
But this government is also removing public interest conditions from the Overseas Investment Act - ie. like in the States, our system is not set up for this type of blatant working against Kiwi interests.
As corporate media dominates - like Fox does in the US - it's not great.
Ardern expended significant political capital to try to entrench water protection against privatisation and effectively got hanged for it.
🤔 It is that of course BUT also a way to try to get people & assets through before we have a chance to change govt & reverse or severely modify this, remembering that they are also making it harder for future govts to do things without being liable for compensating those "affected"? 🤬
Absolutely critical analysis from you yet again MT, I remember being disturbed as a young man slowly becoming politically aware by stories from 'lefty hippies' about Rockefeller and Standard Oil and union breaking in the US. I never dreamed for a moment all these years later that we would be facing our own venal politicians and uber wealthy in a fight for the very survival of our way of life as a supposedly fair minded country moving, even if all too slowly, into facing our colonial past and creating a mature equitable society in true partnership with Tangata Whenua. I fear for my moko's future making me more determined than ever to see the back of this current corrupt cabal.
Thank you for describing the hypocrisy of the government's fiscal and monetary policies... Trying to explain the Reserve Bank's mandate to people (including those who believe they are 'informed' by good media, such as - depressingly - RNZ), is exhausting!
I defend our media where I can including TVNZ as all media is precious to my mind - but I might have just had enough with them. Spending the first 10 prime minutes of bulletins on Donald Trump is laughable enough but to consistently, without fail, ignore fiscal policy is a bridge too far for me.
It's journalistic and economic recklessness - and given how basic this stuff is, I do wonder it's intentional.
😱 I was hoping it would be the "greenie/leftist" wealthy that wanted to come to Aotearoa to escape Trumpism in the US - yeah I know the theory that there are no GOOD wealthy people, but as with everything there is nuance 🤷 The ones who want to cycle & walk through pristine uncluttered countryside might help in the fight AGAINST mining on Conservation land, whereas those who want to live in central Auckland & fly by helicopter to their Waiheke Is estate are more likely to either invest in the mining or not care if rural Aotearoa gets destroyed because their "bubble life" doesn't get impacted 🥺
💯 As always - biased and/or unbalanced media is one of the biggest impediments to voters understanding information & the effect issues will have on them or their whanau. Giving up is not an option though - the "wealthy & sorted" might be able to escape to Aotearoa but where do WE go 🤷 We can't ALL afford to move to Australia, and a lot of us wouldn't WANT to even if we could 😱 I read a piece today saying even retirees who own their homes mortgage free are struggling with the cost of rates, insurance etc on top of higher food & electricity - not the "wealthy & sorted" but the ordinary folks who worked ordinary jobs & thought paying off the mortgage would mean they could live on National Super & be comfortable enough. Whose voters are those traditionally & could the lived experience help move the needle next election, despite a broken media system ⁉️ Will it make them more receptive to friends & relatives quietly explaining the odd disconnect from political speak to real consequences 🤔
I am out of touch with what "most people" do with respect to media so not aware of ANYONE who listens to Newstalk - but SKY subscribers can get SKY News Australia (which judging from some chyrons I have seen are typical Murdoch-owned rightwing bias) plus they can tune into FOX channels from the US - Sometimes seems like David & Goliath but we have to keep loading our slingshots with stones & remembering that David won eh 💪
The rise and rise of barefaced lies. History will not be kind to the old legacy media as it becomes more and more obvious that they have become nothing more than tools used by owners to ensure “their” government retains power to feed them . Tongues for hire such as MH etc are just corrupted so badly , they may as well wear rosettes for the arses they are so loudly licking. For what? The chance to be a wealthier celebrity ? Who knows or cares . Hollow lickspittles serving hollow political opportunistic parasites sucking the life out of societies. There, that's my frustration rand out of the way for today. I stand by it, but settle back into stoic acceptance of the shit we must face.
Setting everything up for their sorted mates. Wow, we need to contribute to our chosen Party. Give them some fighting chance. It is hard in the face of rocketing costs for rates power and insurance, but even $5 a week automatic payment gives $260 per year. We need to rally the troops to register and to vote.
We have the numbers.
Well said.
Hope you got some sunshine MT. Looks like we’re all going to need some to get through watching New Zealand’s hijack being facilitated by Luxon, a dimwitted, sycophantic, servant of capitalism, without a moral compass, courage, or any integrity whatsoever. And standby, because Luxon will get nastier and more short-tempered as he comes under more pressure, which he will. Yes, that’s personal because it is. I’m watching an idiot destroy the country I’m living in and a country I love.
And, hell no, we’ll never hear anything remotely balanced from Newstalk. The takeaway for me though - and it’s frightening - is Newstalk’s ratings. They demonstrate a high level of support for the utter bullshit coming out of that place. Hoskings, who could at least provide some balance in his high-profile broadcasting role, has elected to become a promotional spinmeister and hitman for the political right instead.
This whole political debate is getting very messy and divided here (and everywhere), and it’s not just about left versus right, it’s really about capital versus labour. Those who own capital (Graeme Hart, Mowbrays, Wrights, etc) or those who work for those who own capital (the Luxons of the world) have a vested interest in reducing the cost of labour to increase profits. I believe it is possible in a neoliberal system to deconstruct every single decision a government makes back to this truth.
There are variances between left and right but capital has been winning forever. And it’s neoliberalsm’s camouflage of capital that is gutting our standard of living. Even the partisan political struggles we observe daily are all caught up in supporting neoliberalism. Look at Keir Starmer’s epic failure in the UK. They booted out the despised Tories after a 14 year reign to become even more despised themselves in six months. Common thread….implementing, supporting, maintaining, neoliberalism.
On being elected, Starmer and Reeves immediately chose austerity, which is the same thing as choosing neoliberalism, and now Labour UK is in trouble in the same way the Tories were. Blue - red, same result, maybe even worse.
As soon as you venture beyond words to actions, this phenomenon becomes self-evident anywhere you look. It is one reason NZ Labour are not in a rush to release policy. Neoliberalism only exists because its original creators needed an excuse to favour capital, hence the trickle down rhetoric. It has never occurred. Meanwhile, under the cover of the fair wealth distribution Neoliberalism promised, the middle-class has been gutted, the proletariat has been gutted, and the precariat have never lived more precariously.
Luxon is just one (a bloody nasty one) of many robotic, animatronic, managerialists, whose existence and meaning in life stems from implementing a cult like dedication to keeping the owners of capital happy. His reward, a capital bone is thrown his way. The more successful he is in serving them, the more meat on his bone. And where do these managerialists come from? They’re made (institutionalised) by the large enterprises who want to drive the cost of production and labour down.
Luxon’s lobotomy and software download occurred at Unilever, an enterprise which has been caught up in human rights and environmental scandals. Luxon’s time at ANZ was also mired in controversy because he tried to apply ‘Unilever’ there too. It’s all he knows. Now, thanks to John Key, Luxon is free to apply ‘Unileverism’ to the entire nation. I would argue his ‘Unilever’ chip even explains his hard lean to the right. Removing costs has been hard-wired into Luxon’s brain, which in my view helps explain why he has always been a closet libertarian or at least libertarian curious.
So, it comes as no surprise to me that Luxon is good-to-go. He’s ready to flog off New Zealand, its land, its houses, its businesses, and its future. And you can already see him savouring all the bones that will be coming his way. I bet he counts them every night to help him get to sleep.
PS: The Rich List profiled the 119 wealthiest New Zealanders in 2025, their combined wealth was $101.2 billion, up from $95.5 billion in 2024. Many donate large sums of money (Graeme Hart $350k) to right wing parties. Ask yourself why? Think about the relationship between capital and labour while you’re thinking.
In my mind there's no doubt NZME = Fox News
And Fox is extraordinarily successful and profitable - they DOMINATE all news cables in the USA.
One hundred percent MT. And NZME aren’t even trying to be subtle anymore. Rupert Murdoch is Australia’s most dangerous export ever. Hello Trump. He’s now one of the world’s most dangerous people, and his legacy looks set to continue its ‘radioactive’ trajectory. As you’ve said before MT, it’s a huge problem because right-wing media favours right-wing parties who have by far, the biggest war-chests. And in a politically disengaged population, that’s an enormous advantage. They will be able to drown out or greatly reduce the effectiveness and reach of messaging from the left.
Yep it's really sad how many people buy into it all James. Sigh. C'est la vie, I guess.
The problem with c'est la vie MT, is we end up with Trumps…plural.
I did feel a pang when I wrote that last part, James. So agree with you completely
Yeah, I get it MT. It’s so incredibly easy to feel completely powerless. We-the-people around the world need to fight back now and it isn’t going to be a walk in the park. The blind stupidity and gratuitous cruelty of people like Luxon, makes me want to detach my own retinas. He is that hard to watch. Does he know what he is doing is wrong? No, he doesn’t, because his programmed worldview sees inequality as collateral damage. He is a completely dehumanised human being. The only thing Luxon is evangelical about is serving his master and it isn’t god…it’s capital.
Good comment James. The rich listers average $850 million. If it sat in a call account with no interest, you'd have to spend $17 million a year for the next 50 years. That's a lot of butter, but of course, it's about status, not petty cash.
So if they all gave up 10% they'd have the same relative status and we might have a health system and affordable basics for the 99%.
Ultimately, inequality is combustible, so putting out the cinders asap is excellent future insurance, especially for the wealthy. They need those they’ve made unequal to make more profit.
Love your conclusion, Allen!
Very good comments James – thank you!
'Write a character description of Christopher Luxon' - nailed it, James. He is a horrible human being.
Horrible, horrible, horrible.
I love your description of luxon, you've hit the nail right on the head!
His head is hard to miss Johnny. It’s a great big polished dome with nothing inside it.
He reminds me of Humpty Dumpty, if only he'd have a great fall, never to be put together again...
Fair point Johnny, he’s a dead ringer for Humpty Dumpty, except Dumpty was a good egg in a store, personified by Lewis Carroll. Luxon, is a completely rotten egg inside a fragile shell. So don’t worry Johnny, Luxon will crack for sure.
This is an excellent summary of where neoliberalism has brought us. I would also add that, as Friedman himself boasted, the think tanks were responsible for allowing these wrecking economic policies to be accepted as the norm. They killed off the idea of looking after one another and have brought us to individualism. I feel this quite strongly, having a child born with a rare disorder, you're made to feel you should be able to deal with this alone, why should society help, it must have been something you did anyway. With media orgs like NZME and their star turd Hosking churning out the bollocks that people seem to eat up, I'm not sure what the future holds. I would love to see a return to collectivism of some kind, definitely we need to move away from the wrecking ball of austerity but the holders of capital seem to have the power at the moment.
Excellent comment..
Excellent point Victoria. Promoting individualism is a very useful strategy to further entrench neoliberalism. In my view, the Nordic countries have the best current system for supporting healthy, happy lives.
Their productivity is high, their prosperity is world-leading, and institutions like health and education are free to all citizens. They do pay more tax, but not much more when you look at the way it’s structured - they don’t rely on fiscal drag. And in return, tax payers receive world class government run public enterprises and institutions. Imagine, a health system that works, no student loans, secure housing, comfortable retirement. NZ offers none of those things.
One of many problems New Zealand has, is the capital class aren’t going down to labour without a fight, and even the left here rocks neoliberalism. Adern was a neoliberalist. The Greens are neoliberal. More progressive yes, but they’re not game-changers yet. They need our support for that, but changing this awful government is a good start to opening up fresh conversations about the future.
Agree with pretty much all of that James. I'm not convinced the Greens are neoliberals, but there was absolutely nothing radical about their alternative budget. It looked like a 1970s NZ budget, pre-Rogernomics. And look how Seymour, Luxon and Bishop managed to use it to scare all the mainstreamers like it was a Muldoon-era reds under the bed campaign. Ugh, education and media not being owned by the capital class are so important!
Let’s hope Chlöe and the Greens can improve their position and help the left win. Maybe then we might see some green shoots of something better shine through. As Grace Blakely points out, even the Reserve Bank is on the side of capital, so the Greens have got their work cut out for them. The entire western world is ‘rigged’ for neoliberalism.
The political system of NZ and Western democracies in general, is fully fledged ‘trickle down’ economics. Grace Blakeley’s latest article here on Substack is a terrific, thought-provoking read on neoliberalism and it’s significant shortfalls.
More tinkering. That’s all they want to do. The country crashes and burns around them. I think it’s called a fire sale.
Exactly what it is. Last year there was an under-reported report about how foreign investors now saw NZ assets/land etc as "cheap" or was it "good value" under this "friendly" new government.
Urgency again? It’s just a way to avoid scrutiny 😖
And minimise publicity and scrutiny at every level, yes. There’s no media outcry either the way there was when Labour used it.
Even former National staffer David Farrar thinks urgency is being abused: https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/05/11/urgency-under-scrutiny-as-pay-equity-changes-rushed-through/
The current record for usage of urgency was Jacinda Ardern's 2nd term with 28 usages, but that was during COVID so it's arguable that it was necessary. The next is John Key's first term, with 27 usages, but that was after the GFC. There was probably over-use in both scenarios, but it's understandable that there will be some urgency needed in times of crisis.
What's the crisis that urgency is needed for now?
If anything, there's a housing crisis, and repealing the foreign buyers ban will only make it worse.
What would a solution look like?
Having something like a two-thirds majority can mean the opposition blocks things that genuinely need urgency in order to hamper the government. Ideally blocking needed uregency would damage public perception of the opposition, but after seeing how the filibuster has been abused in the US I wouldn't be surprised.
Lobbying and corruption laws. Restore public interest media. Public interest test.
But this government is also removing public interest conditions from the Overseas Investment Act - ie. like in the States, our system is not set up for this type of blatant working against Kiwi interests.
As corporate media dominates - like Fox does in the US - it's not great.
Ardern expended significant political capital to try to entrench water protection against privatisation and effectively got hanged for it.
She knew.
PS Daniel I got the note - acknowledged with thanks.
Thanks mate! :-)
🤔 It is that of course BUT also a way to try to get people & assets through before we have a chance to change govt & reverse or severely modify this, remembering that they are also making it harder for future govts to do things without being liable for compensating those "affected"? 🤬
A well connected plan - for donors and libertarians
Absolutely critical analysis from you yet again MT, I remember being disturbed as a young man slowly becoming politically aware by stories from 'lefty hippies' about Rockefeller and Standard Oil and union breaking in the US. I never dreamed for a moment all these years later that we would be facing our own venal politicians and uber wealthy in a fight for the very survival of our way of life as a supposedly fair minded country moving, even if all too slowly, into facing our colonial past and creating a mature equitable society in true partnership with Tangata Whenua. I fear for my moko's future making me more determined than ever to see the back of this current corrupt cabal.
Thank you for describing the hypocrisy of the government's fiscal and monetary policies... Trying to explain the Reserve Bank's mandate to people (including those who believe they are 'informed' by good media, such as - depressingly - RNZ), is exhausting!
I defend our media where I can including TVNZ as all media is precious to my mind - but I might have just had enough with them. Spending the first 10 prime minutes of bulletins on Donald Trump is laughable enough but to consistently, without fail, ignore fiscal policy is a bridge too far for me.
It's journalistic and economic recklessness - and given how basic this stuff is, I do wonder it's intentional.
It's trite now but Marshall Someone said "the medium is the message."
How NZ is portrayed to potential overseas investors.
https://robbreport.com/shelter/homes-for-sale/new-zealand-luring-wealthy-americans-1236886307/?fbclid=IwY2xjawL1yCNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHmAbiLjeZ9k1sSHedf4yTtqBy221VrCfX5odTeb8kWWyRXx5fd2wWSWA27G7_aem_62jnnPkrD81iv0cDXWIBdA
Thank you Liz, unsurprising but still depressing stuff.
😱 I was hoping it would be the "greenie/leftist" wealthy that wanted to come to Aotearoa to escape Trumpism in the US - yeah I know the theory that there are no GOOD wealthy people, but as with everything there is nuance 🤷 The ones who want to cycle & walk through pristine uncluttered countryside might help in the fight AGAINST mining on Conservation land, whereas those who want to live in central Auckland & fly by helicopter to their Waiheke Is estate are more likely to either invest in the mining or not care if rural Aotearoa gets destroyed because their "bubble life" doesn't get impacted 🥺
A greenie leftie american couple live next door - not wealthy - just very community and environment minded. So there are some good ones!
Wow Liz - that is interesting 🤔😢
Stuart Nash…
No spin there then.
💯 As always - biased and/or unbalanced media is one of the biggest impediments to voters understanding information & the effect issues will have on them or their whanau. Giving up is not an option though - the "wealthy & sorted" might be able to escape to Aotearoa but where do WE go 🤷 We can't ALL afford to move to Australia, and a lot of us wouldn't WANT to even if we could 😱 I read a piece today saying even retirees who own their homes mortgage free are struggling with the cost of rates, insurance etc on top of higher food & electricity - not the "wealthy & sorted" but the ordinary folks who worked ordinary jobs & thought paying off the mortgage would mean they could live on National Super & be comfortable enough. Whose voters are those traditionally & could the lived experience help move the needle next election, despite a broken media system ⁉️ Will it make them more receptive to friends & relatives quietly explaining the odd disconnect from political speak to real consequences 🤔
I am out of touch with what "most people" do with respect to media so not aware of ANYONE who listens to Newstalk - but SKY subscribers can get SKY News Australia (which judging from some chyrons I have seen are typical Murdoch-owned rightwing bias) plus they can tune into FOX channels from the US - Sometimes seems like David & Goliath but we have to keep loading our slingshots with stones & remembering that David won eh 💪
The rise and rise of barefaced lies. History will not be kind to the old legacy media as it becomes more and more obvious that they have become nothing more than tools used by owners to ensure “their” government retains power to feed them . Tongues for hire such as MH etc are just corrupted so badly , they may as well wear rosettes for the arses they are so loudly licking. For what? The chance to be a wealthier celebrity ? Who knows or cares . Hollow lickspittles serving hollow political opportunistic parasites sucking the life out of societies. There, that's my frustration rand out of the way for today. I stand by it, but settle back into stoic acceptance of the shit we must face.
“Under Urgency” is the UUgg-liest means of choice employed by this unpopular chaotic government to circumvent citizen involvement. UUrrr-gh!