OPINION
Imagine the Labour Party as a tree – a fruit tree. On this tree are 64 pieces of fruit representing the number of MPs in the Labour Caucus. Sixty-four fruit loops if you like. Maybe we should show them some kindness (Jacinda’s buzzword) and call them lemons. Both terms are somewhat derogatory but lemons seem somewhat more appropriate as they are bitter on the tastebuds and can leave a sour taste in the mouth.
The purpose of this article is to determine whether the Labour lemon tree is a healthy or infected one. Has it produced healthy or rotten fruit, i.e. policy. The fruit on a tree will be of various sizes. Let’s assume the larger ones represent the ministers in the cabinet. These are the lemons that sign off on policy decisions. Whether it is good or bad policy is largely determined by the thought processes involved.
Here is where Labour’s problems become apparent. Their thought processes, driven by their ideology, are no better than rotten fruit on a tree. Infection is rife. Most of their policy, like rotten fruit, has a smell about it. It is becoming more apparent in recent times that these people will go to any lengths to achieve their aims. They will try anything on, be it legal or not. They have no regard for the wishes of the majority. They simply don’t listen. It’s their way or the highway.
The initial buzzword from Ardern was ‘kindness’. She says, “If I could distil it down to one concept that we are pursuing in New Zealand it is this: Kindness.” This turned out to be nothing more than a personal ‘dress up’ to suit the camera and the occasion.
Take a look at their priorities:
AIM – Secure the economy
REALITY – Robertson has spent like a drunken sailor and put the economy at risk.
AIM – Tackling the housing crisis
REALITY – Greatly increased waiting lists. Few houses built. Rotorua ruined.
AIM – Lifting children out of poverty
REALITY – The only obvious assistance has come from Fonterra and Sanitarium.
AIM – Meeting the climate challenge
REALITY – Going after the the farmers to the point where 20 per cent will walk off the land, again putting the economy at risk.
AIM – Fixing our health system
REALITY – Crackpot idea of centralisation means it is now on life support. Waiting lists are huge.
AIM – Working in partnership with Maori
REALITY – Willie Jackson and Nanaia Mahuta are in charge and it’s haere ra to New Zealand and haere mai to Aotearoa.
If you can find ‘kindness’ in any of that you are a magician. The buzzword has now changed. It is the opposite of kindness. It is ENTRENCHMENT. This, in combination with co-governance, has hugely sinister overtones and implications. It strikes at the very heart of our democracy and our ‘unwritten constitution’. Here is where the bad fruit analogy comes in.
THIS GOVERNMENT IS ROTTEN TO THE CORE.
They have no regard for what is right and what is wrong. It is indistinguishable to them. They also have no regard for the truth. Lies are the norm. Ardern takes no responsibility for any of the many failures and stuff ups she and her government have made. It’s never her fault. Her lemons in cabinet are the same. After five years and the country in a demonstrably worse state, we are still hearing that “It’s due to nine years of neglect by the previous government.” It’s pathetic.
They are bullies. Gaurav Sharma is testament to that. In Labour’s world, attack is the best form of defence. The nasty party.
They are dictatorial. Shown by the rushed way they push legislation through. Very little time for submissions.
They are sneaky. They use subterfuge to try to insert what they want into legislation.
However, the chickens are coming home to roost. Like rotten fruit falling from a tree, the latest polls have them on a continuing downward trajectory. The Roy Morgan poll has Labour at 25.5 per cent, which is quite different from the One News Kantar poll at 33 per cent. The Roy Morgan is the more believable because they poll both mobile and landline phones. Landlines pick up the older voters who have a propensity to vote Right, and this shows up in the results.
The reality is these people aren’t up to the task. None have worked in the real world of business. None have been introduced to the school of hard knocks. None have had to risk their money to make money. Therefore there is a complete disconnect with the day to day lives of the voting majority. All they know is their ideology which, like them, belongs in a bygone age. In a year’s time they will be joining it.
Labour is fast resembling overripe fruit – ripe for the picking. We have all well and truly got the pip. Next year’s election gives us the chance to squeeze the life out of them via the ballot box. A juicy thought.