40 Comments
Aug 9, 2022Liked by Bernard Hickey

“ a succession of young, entitled, error-prone, tone deaf, shifty and arrogant candidates “

Says it all, these are the type that National attracts unfortunately!

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Aug 9, 2022Liked by Bernard Hickey

I was a Green Party candidate in 2011 & 2014, and can tell you that the Party leadership very much asked about any skeletons in our closet before every selection (the fact that they thought that “dancing around a fire naked” would actually be a boon for the membership is another matter entirely 😜)

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Aug 9, 2022Liked by Bernard Hickey

Brilliant Bernard. Please release to general audience asap. I went to a private school ,not Kings , in the 60’s. There were no incidents like that at all. Once a bully always a bully one would suggest. Typical of the moneyed land owning classes who are so privileged.

Currency traders are the “bottom feeders” of Capitalism in my humble opinion. They contribute nothing.

Patrick Medlicott

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Aug 9, 2022Liked by Bernard Hickey

Luxon intimated on Breakfast tv 1 today that a violent offender like Sam wouldn’t fit the 3 strikes bill( deleted now). Apparently violent offending isn’t serious enough. When questioned further Matte got a close down on whether more should have been done at the time. He wasn’t there. One hopes Luxon keeps all comments in future to events that he was actually there at the time. Cop out big time. Asked to leave one school 3 day suspension from another- says he led a student lifestyle at University- did he actually get a degree? Luxon rabbits on about our failing education system. He has a perfect example of it failing holding down a seat in Tauranga.

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It should come as no surprise since this sort of bullying behaviour was common at Kings College for many decades into the 20th century; modelling the 1840 traditions in Britain’s Rugby School during Tom Brown's School Days when 13year old Tom was brutalised by 16 year old Flashman (before the latter was also kicked out for much the same sort of crimes). According to George McDonald Fraser’s speculation in “The Flashman’s Papers”, his antihero didn’t change his behaviour and continued to be cad and a bounder as he progressed up the social ladder of British military aristocracy. Questions need to be asked about when Uffindell’s might have reformed after left high school given it took him 20 years before he owned up and apologised to his accuser (without explaining his political aspirations); and why didn’t he admit to being a reformed bully when offered a chance during the National Party’s candidate diversity selection process. With this morning revelations, Rugby's Flashman would have been proud. Not only has his Kings College successor been cited for bullying and assault, but he can now add lying, hypocrisy and misogyny to his CV. I wonder how many of these attributes would qualify for permanent ostracization under National's Three Strikes rules?

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Aug 10, 2022Liked by Bernard Hickey

While I would take the point of National still looking in a position to govern, I think there has been a decline in National /ACT support over the past few months. Earlier in the year, National and ACT were at almost 50 percent on Roy Morgan polling. It has since declined by four percent, largely from National falling away. Christopher Luxon is also falling in preferred PM ratings.

I'm not trying to disagree that there will be a potential change in government, but it seems like there could be a steady decline for National (probably not ACT) from here. Best thing Labour (and the Greens) can do is be quiet.

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Aug 10, 2022Liked by Bernard Hickey

Guyon Espiner summed it up nicely this morning - "Looks like you're selecting arrogant and entitled men with no sense of public duty".

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Aug 10, 2022Liked by Bernard Hickey

There is an old Jesuit maxim that states “give me a child until he is seven and I’ll show you the man”.

If this saying is more true than not then we can see that the behavior of Sam Uffindell is set. Two events, so far, show what sort of person he is underneath.

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Aug 10, 2022Liked by Bernard Hickey

Please New Zealand, do not let these people back into power. We do not need narcissist bully boys running the country. We have serious problems that need fixing, for which genuinely diverse backgrounds are needed. We need people who empathize with others, are genuinely involved in their communities and want to reduce inequality and address climate change. Sorry rich white banker dudes but your skill sets aren't required for running Aotearoa. Keep climbing the corporate ladder for all our sakes!

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Aug 10, 2022Liked by Bernard Hickey

The old “what did they know and when did they know it?” (To paraphrase a famous line).

What’s the count on National party scandals stemming from failures of selection committee due diligence? More than half a dozen?

The fact that it is possible to speak of such a trend clearly signifies a systemic issue. What other stories still lie in the minefield, waiting to be stumbled upon?

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Aug 10, 2022Liked by Bernard Hickey

Why do you say that National is ahead of Labour in the polls? They are ahead because Act has scored so highly. This is a scary thought. People have forgotten the harm that Neo Liberal policies have done to New Zealand and if Act gets into Parliament on National's coat tails all the good that Labour and the Greens have done will be erased.

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Aug 10, 2022Liked by Bernard Hickey

While National might be marginally ahead of Labour in the polls it is the support of Act that makes it soar ahead. A National win in the next election with Act on its coattails is a very scary prospect.

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If Luxon thinks that's what 'really well educated' looks like, let's hope he gets nowhere near our education system.

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Try being the emaciated white kid at Papatoetoe East Primary School. Bernard here is a call out for you: Whose worse, Ardern’s continual support for Mallard or Luxon and his management of Uffindell?

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Aug 10, 2022Liked by Bernard Hickey

Going to have to call you out on calling Uffindell attractive, he looks like a melted candle that’s been beaten by a bed post

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Bernard, what's your basis for concluding that Luxon was a successful leader in corporate life? That sort of claim is being made by various media seemingly always without evidence or argument. Key was never chair of Air NZ. He was an independent director.

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