A friend posted this on Facebook the other day. It is from Willie Jackson:
Willie Jackson
Watching parliament today reminded me that this Government has been clear since this pandemic engulfed us that New Zealander’s must be prepared with masks in case of a second wave and when we did National accused us of scare mongering!This Government has also been clear that our borders needed to remain tight and difficult to get into despite National demanding we reopen them!We have always put the peoples welfare first and for doing so National accused us of conspiring and holding back information from the public.This is not the actions of a constructive Opposition, they are the tactics of a Party desperate for any fear mongering that might lift them in the Polls.Time and time and time again National’s solutions have been proven absolutely wrong in dealing with this virus.The moment we have identified a quarantine problem, or had a problem brought to our attention, we have acted. We are not perfect, no Government can be, but our team are working every hour of the day with dedicated public servants to protect our nation.When we learn something isn’t working the way it should be, we change it. All National have to offer is half truths, self serving criticism and conspiracy theories!Watching Gerry Brownlee insinuate that we have misled you is some of the ugliest politics I’ve ever witnessed.The only way National wins is if NZ loses against the virus. That’s very ugly and National should be ashamed of themselves.
There are some very obvious inaccuracies in this post, which Labour supporters do not bother to make clear. The first time around, we were told very clearly that masks were not necessary. Then, it was Todd Muller who wanted to open up the borders to Australia and bring back overseas students, but that was when we thought we had eliminated the virus. As far as I know, Judith Collins has made no such demands.
Also, it has become clear to anyone with half a brain that the government was aware that there were new cases of the virus before they were actually confirmed. Why would Jacinda be saying – “Say Yes to the Test” and telling everyone to start stockpiling masks if the virus had been eliminated? They may not have had official confirmation at that stage, but clearly they were aware that more cases were probably on the way, and were preparing the adoring public for the news. Therefore, there was nothing wrong at all with Gerry Brownlee implying that the government knew something that they were not sharing with the opposition when clearly that was true. Willie Jackson might not have known about it though, but then again, he is so far down the Labour food chain, he probably doesn’t know what day it is most of the time… just like the rest of them.
The thing is that this friend is an admirer of Jacinda, but she is not overly political and she doesn’t normally post political comments. This is a first for her.
And then there was this, from Pauline Gillespie:
I find myself in the unenviable electoral voting position of having orange marker in hand in October, with no-one to vote for. Sacrilege!
It’s been a wee while coming, but I’ve finally had enough of the platitudes, and sentimental psycho-babble. It came to a head last week when we were dished up the rehearsed response to a journalist’s question: re the ‘team of five million’.
It went something like this: “We may be all on the same team, but not everyone is on the field at the same time.” It struck me too, that Jacinda wears black like a widowed Queen Victoria when she has bad news, and white like the good fairy when she has worse news, or news that’s half bad and half good.
Yes, she’s a great person, an incredible communicator, and could spin any spin doctor. I like Jacinda and have a particular affection for Grant Robertson and Andrew Little, but I’m just finding it irritating being spoken to like I’m a slightly IQ-deprived child. It’s starting to wear very thin. If anyone says ‘we’ve got this’ one more time I will squeal!
Oh, dear. I’m sure most of you know that Polly Gillespie is a lightweight. She writes an agony column for a women’s magazine. (At least, she used to. I’m not sure if she still does.) She used to be a breakfast radio host on one of the lighter, less serious radio networks, with ‘Cones of Silence’ and dirty jokes. She was popular, funny, dizzy and is right at home in the world of gossip and entertainment. And yet here she is, telling the world she is sick of being treated like an imbecilic child and will not be voting for Jacinda this year!
Wow.
The rest of the article is the usual lightweight stuff you get from Gillespie, but the message is clear. She has had enough of the spin. Haven’t we all?
A second lockdown was always a big risk. People I discuss it with are of mixed opinions. Some say there is no alternative. Some are just resigned to going in and out of lockdown for the next hundred years. And the rest say we simply cannot keep doing this, because the damage to the economy will far exceed any health benefits. Personally, I am of the opinion that the government ought to have a Plan B, but clearly it doesn’t. Its only solution to the pandemic is to put everyone into quarantine time and time again and wait for those nasty little bugs to go away.
Well, as we all know, we could be waiting a long time.
One other thing. I’m sick to death of being told to ‘”Be Kind”. There is an insurance company advert that goes on about kindness and I throw things at the TV every time it comes on. (I got this habit from my fellow writer, Deb and she now owes me a TV set.) If they think their message will encourage people to switch to them for their insurance, well, they are dreaming.
Still, one thing is for sure. If Jacinda has lost the gossip columnists, the women’s magazines and the lightweights, she really is in trouble. There are lots of reasons to be unhappy with this government, but most of those reasons are way over the head of gossip writers. So watch out for a multi-pronged attack from Labour. They may even do something totally out of line, such as politicising the civil service by coat-tailing onto Ashley Bloomfield’s popularity, for example, although I would imagine that that would be a big stretch even for this government. Surely they wouldn’t go that far.
Oh, wait…
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