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Do you remember how long National stuck to the ‘we should have been the government’ after the 2017 election? As the self-proclaimed ‘natural’ party of government they believe their actions are righteous and correct no matter the cost, or strangely the outcomes! (Side note: the cost in this case is always paid by someone else, or spread nicely across society where nobody can opt out eg raising speeds on roads to put vulnerable road users in more danger)

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Excellent points Luke

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So this is the new government housing policy. Is it to just put a few more people in prison? They do not know how to solve any problem from its essential basis.! prisons do not constitute housing. Increasing the basic pay and not firing so many people would be a good solution. I wonder if they thought of this?

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Hard to tell if incompetent or just so busy falling over themselves to implement populist, neoliberal and donor policies that they don't see these obvious contradictions.

For many months I thought "Do they not see that what they are doing is directly contradictory to their stated goals - law and order, health, education, economy?"

But 10 months later, the answer is "No."

They don't, and they may not have thought of those things because it's against their ideology!

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🙋🏽‍♀️It really does seem like this govt looks at all the data & then does the opposite 🤬 But that's a bit generous because I don't think they DO dispassionately look at the data, if they deign to look at it at all. It is straight ideology & damn the experts or actual provable outcomes from where it has already been tried. While we can't go past the harm to individuals & families done, it is infuriating all the lying (YES LYING!) our elected representatives are confident in doing to our faces on camera 🤬 - and before someone points out List MP's, we also elect them via voting for their party.

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Yip, no more doubts from me anymore on who they are, Cindy!

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Oh yeh, this government are very good economic managers - of the truth. I'm starting to think that the public service reduction was to slow down the turn-around of OIA requests - it seems that every decision or policy announcement has to be chased up by an OIA request in order to find out the decision-making process. From what I've read, it seems every single one has been in contrast to advice and, as so beautifully expressed by the Waitangi Tribunal, "characterised by a blind adherence to pre-existing political commitments". So. They make shit up, justify their decisions on this made up shit, and then pretend that they have considered actual evidence and advice presented by others but go ahead with 'addressing' their made up shit anyway. And repeat.

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Gets silly and tiring doesn’t it Lynette?!

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It's just so galling and predictable. I mean, I catch myself hoping they won't 'go there', but it's almost so textbook to be ridiculous. Maybe they need to be ridiculed, because admonishment just doesn't touch them. Which page of the austerity flipchart Luxon brought home from his Tory tour will they turn to tomorrow? It's an horrendous mash up of a Shakespearean tragedy and comedy. Plenty of applicable quotes, that's for sure!

"My tongue will tell the anger of my heart, or else my heart concealing it will break."

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It's at the point now where I think - do I even bother documenting what is happening, and agree ridicule may now seem more apropos because it's kind of beyond a joke now. And the evidence is clear enough to me that this is not a good faith government or a serious one - so what's the right reaction?

At the same time I don't want to be a rage baiter or someone who's just endlessly complaining but I don't really know anymore Lynette!

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Couldn't have explained it better 👍 Given their backers & mentors it is not surprising I guess, but not sure the "ordinary" voter understood this, or what long term damage it would do to things THEY might want in the future 🤔

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Someone posted a Ryan Bridges article from this morning - it was congratulating Luxon on the important numbers - his polling and economic metrics!

This is the point - two different realities are emerging because the right wing feed their people what they want and conceal other realities e.g. Casey Costello's very probably corruption!

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A range of indicators. A range of data. A range of people. A range of opinions. A range of interested parties. The slippery narrative of nursery rhyme trolls trying to meet their monthly kpi's.

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YES!

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🤯 I have to admit this really has blown my mind.

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