That’s how bad it has got. Desperation from a broke Government, mad ramblings from a geriatric, fringe player, yelling and screaming from conspiratorialists and revengeful sideliners. – Mike Hosking
Chris Hipkins has made it clear he is out of touch, out of ideas and is set to take Labour into its most negative campaign in history. – Chris Bishop
There was also a big policy announcement: free dental care for under-30s by 2026, which the Labour leader said was the first step to universal dental care. The $390 million costing for the policy looks implausibly low, and the labour force too small and too difficult to grow for the timeline given. – Luke Malpass
In a free country, journalists and the media in general need to be trusted to “speak truth to power” on their readers’ and viewers’ behalf. Prostrating themselves before Mammon, in the form of the Public Interest Journalism Fund, should be beneath them. Television and radio editors and communicators have considerable influence. They should use that power honestly. When interviewing, it isn’t necessary always to find fault with the interviewee. Teasing out a policy, its origin and its possible effect can be revealing. Constant negativity is the way our media succeed in blighting all politicians, giving the triennial election process in our lives a bad name. Why not leave trolling to social media? – Michael Bassett
We feel quite abandoned actually. I think that schools have been left to their own devices and there’s really been a complete vacuum in leadership from the Ministry of Education or from the minister.
We’ve got a curriculum refresh that’s not a curriculum refresh at all, it’s a complete curriculum rewrite that masquerades as a refresh. Schools just feel like they’ve been let down. There’s been little to no support for kids with additional needs, while the Ministry of Education staffing is just ballooning. – Lorraine Taylor
Now you might think that doctors earn quite enough. Well, quite frankly, when I’m lying unconscious on an operating table while skilled surgeons have spent 15 to 20 years honing their skills to do their best to improve my quality of life, or even save my life, they can earn what they like.
Cabinet ministers get more than our senior surgeons and I know who gives a better return on my taxpayer dollar. – Kerre Woodham
A two term Government with a record that too many will have decided is not for them; whether it’s crime and ram raids or health and ED’s you can’t get to or clinics that are closed because of lack of staff or they’re on strike or the recession we have been in, and perhaps the second one we are about to battle through, – that’s what drives votes.
Policy is a distant second to the mood. Specifics are well down the list to the emotion of how you are feeling.
It’s why we don’t read the fine print. – Mike Hosking
Luxon looks like a Prime Minister – and perhaps more importantly – he’s feeling like one. – Amelia Wade
To my mind, what we need from this election is a clear decision, one way or the other.
There’s a lot at stake. It’s not a game. – Tim Dower
We’re not voting for Chris Hipkins, simply because his Government will forever be our disappointing ex. The one who promised us everything, delivered nothing, and feels like they’ve just been ignoring our broken relationship for the last few years. – Verity Johnson
The Government is clearly worried. It has attempted to influence the numbers with its pantomime announcement of some expenditure cuts just 12 days ago, right before the Prefu numbers were finalised. Those were timed to be included in the report so as to improve the outlook, but they are about as real as any other attempt by Grant Robertson to curtail government expenditure. This Finance Minister has a track record of always talking a good game about cost control next year, while spending up large this year. – Steven Joyce
We used to have a rule in government that if you needed extra work done in a department, you had to find the capacity for that work already in the department, if necessary by stopping other work. That discipline is needed again. – Steven Joyce
With his back to the wall as Labour’s fortunes plummet in the polls, it seems very likely Hipkins will show yet again that his principles will always be subordinate to possible political gain. But if he thinks that encouraging — tacitly or explicitly — a repeat of the shameful silencing of Parker and her supporters on March 25 is a wise career move he should really think again.
The Prime Minister seems to have little idea of how much of the trust that many held in the government, the mainstream media and the police was destroyed that day. Or how much simmering fury it unleashed among voters — female and male — who simply want the right and opportunity to hear women speak. – Graham Adams
Sure, some voters will hear the fibs and not hear the corrections and will be freaked out enough to flip away from the centre-right and back to Labour.
But there are plenty of other voters who will see the desperation and nastiness for what it is and find it sad and ugly. It’s especially bad for Labour because it’s so off-brand. They’ve just pushed the “Be Kind” schtick for five years. It’s whiplash-inducing to go from Jacinda hugging everyone to Chris’ troops spreading misinformation on Facebook with a brazenness that would make the anti-vaxxers blush.
If Labour’s going to lose, it’s probably better to lose with dignity than to lose dirty. – Heather du Plessis-Allan
We live in such an infantile world it is only a matter of time before the people who sell you milk will have to ensure you are not lactose intolerant least you sue them for the ensuing gastro turbulence. – Damien Grant
Rating agencies are not good at predicting events, more recording when market sentiment has soured, and for the moment they remain either confident or oblivious to the unravelling fiscal and economic reality of Aotearoa.
This benign neglect may not end on Tuesday, but it will end. – Damien Grant
Homepaddock 
[…] Quotes of the week […]
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