The end of a toxic leader

If there's one thing that Judith Collins is usually good at, it's using scandalous information about other people to her advantage. Not above undermining her own political party, Collins has been known to even leak against her fellow MPs, particularly those who posed a threat to her as the leader of the beleaguered National Party.

That’s what makes her downfall so extraordinary. By attempting to sanction Simon Bridges using a complaint about inappropriate behavior from five years ago, Collins has appeared the political novice, and not the cutthroat operator that we’ve all come to know and despise.


Today, Stuff reported:

Live: Judith Collins rolled as National leader

Judith Collins is out as National's leader after her demotion of Simon Bridges threw the party into disarray, Stuff understands.

Bridges was to be demoted and stripped of his portfolios in response to a complaint about comments he allegedly made to a female colleague a number of years ago, it was announced on Wednesday night.

The complainant is understood to be MP Jacqui Dean.

You’ve got to question Collins’ faculties here. Firstly, she has failed to accept that she's the main cause of National’s polling slide. Evidently a majority of voters don’t support the vexatious nature of Collins and her chief advisor Cameron Slater and any attempt to paint them in a different light was obviously a folly only the most deluded right-wing propagandist would believe in.

But by attempting to use a dirty tactic to fend off a leadership challenge, even if there is merit to the initial complaint, Collins appeared incredibly arrogant, even by her standards. Collins even claimed that she had the support of the board to demote Bridges, a bold faced lie that also sealed her fate. In effect there was no other option left to her colleagues other than to end her short tenure as the so-called leader of the National Party.

Collins issued her press statement at 9.24pm, including claiming she was unanimously backed by the @NZNationalParty board.
Only after she was rolled did the President correct the record, around 18 hours later.
Had Collins prevailed, Goodfellow would have gone along with the lie.

— Matthew Hooton (@MatthewHootonNZ) November 25, 2021

In fact the blue “team” has been nothing more than a shambles since Collins and her forlorn entourage obtained the opposition benches last year, particularly during the Delta outbreak whereby they still appear conflicted about the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines.

However it’s the desperate attempt to hold onto her unwarranted power that has ultimately resulted in Crusher's downfall. Besmirching Simon Bridges with an old complaint is one thing, but trying to convince a predominantly male dominated caucus that she wouldn’t use similar underhanded tactics against them is quite another.

Clearly this total failure to read the room is a huge misstep showing that Judith Collins has no place leading a political party, or a place in Parliament for that matter. In my opinion she should do the right thing and resign entirely before the next election.

National aligns with the anti-vaxxers

What is it about the National Party that’s causing them to look so indecisive at the moment? Not only do they often criticise the Government for implementing policy that they themselves have previously promoted, National also seems to have no firm stance on important topics such as MIQ facilities, which they previously wanted to build but now want to demolish.

This indecision is causing very large amounts of confusion for journalists and voters alike, who cannot decipher exactly what National actually stands for. I mean contradicting themselves because they simply forgot what their position previously was is one thing, but contradicting the party line when it comes to things like vaccines should be ringing some large alarm bells.

Perhaps the worst flip-flopper amongst the blue “team” is none other than their leader, Judith Collins. Although she tries hard to appear reasonable, Collins has been caught out a number of times sabotaging the Covid-19 health response and supporting anti-vaccination protests.


Last week, the NZ Herald reported:

Judith Collins on Groundswell NZ protest and James Shaw's COP26 trip

National Party leader Judith Collins says she will attend Groundswell NZ's "Mother of all Protests" on November 21 to show her support for Kiwi farmers.

Groundswell NZ is the farmer-led group behind the successful "Howl of a Protest" in July when rural people took to the streets in tractors and farm vehicles to show their concerns over Government regulations and the "ute tax".

Unfortunately a few regulations and the “ute tax” aren’t the only things these farmers are protesting about. And just like the Destiny Church, Groundswell is clearly a politically motivated movement that will encourage anti Government sentiment wherever they can, even if it means aligning themselves with the anti-vaxxers.

Here’s a photo of Crusher Collins’ mates Brian and Hannah Tamaki, who have been organising numerous anti-vaccination protests around the country despite court orders banning them from doing so. They’re having a meeting with Leo Molloy and Groundswell organiser Scott Bright on the right, who earlier this month gave gifts of food to people attending an anti-vaccination protest organised by the misnamed Freedom and Rights Coalition.

But that’s unfortunately not the only indication that Groundswell organisers are against vaccines.


On 2 November, Stuff reported:

Groundswell NZ denies being anti-vax after founder shuns vaccination promo video

Meanwhile, a photo of Groundswell's Pukekohe and Auckland co-ordinator, Scott Bright, sitting at a table alongside Brian and Hannah Tamaki has been shared on social media.

Hannah Tamaki has previously stated in a Facebook post that she would choose not to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.

Her husband, Brian Tamaki, has also said in a social media post that the long-term effects of the vaccine were “unknown” and claimed the vaccine was “untested”.

In fact, the vaccine has been extensively tested and any side effects happen within days and weeks, rather than in the long-term.

Bright has also provided fresh vegetables to the Freedom and Rights Coalition protests, but told Stuff he attended the protest in a personal capacity.

Of course Collins isn’t the only National Party MP who has aligned themselves with the anti-vaccination crusaders. Harete Hipango was also recently caught supporting a protest against a vaccine clinic in Whanganui.


Last week, Newshub reported:

Whanganui COVID-19 vaccine protest: Kaumātua felt 'sad' seeing 'our families out there'

The Prime Minister's day began with heated protests outside a vaccination bus in Whanganui on Wednesday, where she was scheduled to visit a vaccination clinic.

"I feel sad when I hear our families - they're our families out there, our nieces, our mokopuna," Whanganui kaumātua John Niko Maihi told Newshub.

"I'm surprised at how many people don't want to be vaccinated."

…

Another politician visited the protest - local National MP Harete Hipango.

"I'm here to support my community," she said, when asked if she was there to support the protest.

She left soon after Newshub clocked her, saying later she thought it was a protest about something else.

Then there's National Party MP Chris Penk, who has been liking numerous posts that promote the anti-vaccination movement in New Zealand.

What this shows is that a number of National Party MPs, including their leader, have stupidly aligned themselves with the anti-vaccination movement. There is no two bones about it. And with a potential 95% of Kiwis who will be getting fully vaccinated, that's going to be a hiding to nowhere for the main opposition party. As a result of their idiocy concerning Covid-19, the blue "team" will likely continue to poll very badly, particularly while Judith Collins is calling the shots.

Government funds vanity projects instead of the disabled

If there’s one thing that can damage Labour's brand, it’s misspending public money on vanity projects and unnecessary PR campaigns instead of funding things that really matter to everyday Kiwis. The opposition knows this, and often attempts to exploit a perception that Labour isn’t able to properly allocate taxpayer dollars in a way that truly benefits the entire country.

However, unlike the opposition, the vast majority of voters are thankfully a lot more reasonable, particularly in terms of the Government’s funding allocations. This is especially the case when you consider the considerable amounts of money being generated for the Government through our hard work and an export sector that is incredibly profitable.

Obviously we should all share in our mutually generated wealth, and one of the best ways to do that is by ensuring our infrastructure is functioning properly and everyone’s basic needs are being adequately met. However, the current Government unfortunately appears to have lost the high ground and has already become arrogant about where they allocate vast sums of public money. Not yet into their third-termitis, the Labour led Government's disconnect between what should and what is being funded appears to be getting worse, and therefore needs to be highlighted.

While MBIE is busy spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayers dollars on flashy new PR videos about climate change, that try to place responsibility for man-kinds biggest existential threat onto us mere individuals, inflation has all but wiped out any wage increases for low to middle income earners, ensuring that most will be without the financial means necessary to adapt to the serious consequences of climate change.

While the Minister of Energy and Resources, Megan Woods, is busy making excuses for another badly produced video that cost taxpayers $600,000, students are having to take the Government to court to try and halt new oil and gas exploration…polluting enterprises that will ensure New Zealand has already failed to meet our COP26 obligations before the ink has even dried.

While Minister Carmel Sepuloni is busy promoting a new so-called Ministry for the Disabled, which will be run by the same old dysfunctional Ministry of Social Development, she's also splashing $500,000 worth of public money on a badly designed book website, which has little to no value for most hard working Kiwis. Meanwhile, the re-allocated support for people who’re struggling to survive is almost non-existent.

Obviously the Government’s current incrementalist approach to beneficial social change isn’t going to fix the entrenched inequality that creates adverse effects throughout Aotearoa, whereby one in five Kiwi kids continues to go without adequate food or proper housing.

In fact the Labour led Government has decided, somewhat under the cover of Covid-19, to even start hassling disabled WINZ clients again, in order to make cuts to their welfare payments. Surely not I hear you say? But here’s a small sample of tweets from a recent online discussion by and for the New Zealand disability community, which clearly shows the Government isn’t being very kind at all, not even to our most isolated and vulnerable citizens:

Someone close to me had Spina Bifida (she passed away in 2019) & every year MSD/WINZ demanded a medical certificate from her to prove her condition had not miraculously "gone away"!?

I cannot over state the vileness of this cruel practice.

— Frank,Socialist Hermit Kingdom,sez get vaccinated (@fmacskasy) November 4, 2021

Have been doing this for my autistic son for 17 years.
Dr signed for 5 years and I had to asked her to change it to 2 as anything over that gets either declined/questioned etc. Plain &simple stupid.
My mum's cerebral palsy finally didn't need a Drs cert by the time she was 53!

— Jo politically homeless (@JoGillett4) November 4, 2021

My friend had to keep giving evidence that her son's arm hadn't grown back.

— Mrs W - vaxxed for Aotearoa (@teresanz68) November 4, 2021

My son has albinism. We go through this regularly as well. Like you don't grow out of Down Syndrome, albinism....or a host of other disabilities. I think they should have a list of disabilities that don't go away, but that would be too easy. My GP gets really mad

— Charlotte French 🇳🇿 She/Her 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ (@lottiefrench45) November 4, 2021

Oh for... @CarmelSepuloni this needs to be fixed!! One, dangerous to take a baby into a clinic RN, and two, most of the issues in this thread are permanent. Why WINZ needs to make people jump hoops is beyond me. Cruel, like waterboarding.

— scan, then stitch all the things BMLSc ✝️ (@paulainauckland) November 5, 2021

My grandmother who broke her spine in several places in a car accident in the 70s or 80s also had to suffer through this ordeal, wheeling herself in her MNUAL WHEELCHAIR the 10km to the local WINZ office to prove she hadn't suddenly decided to start walking again...made me irate!

— 𝓙𝓸𝓼𝓱 𝓛𝓾𝓬𝓪𝓼 ✌🏻 (@giosuelucas) November 5, 2021

I see nothing has changed since my daughter received CDA 20 years ago…nope her congenital scoliosis has not fixed itself, yes we are holding out for a miracle but they seem to be in short supply… like PICU beds…

— Jussi 💉💉 (@justjussi) November 4, 2021

Omg I gotta do my two yearly to, for my ASD boy and yup still there . 2 years later my boy is still himself but nope gotta do this stupid form again just in case he got cured from being himself lol

— T (@AnyaNaraya6) November 4, 2021

No different for me being autistic and having to explain that "no, my brain wiring hasn't changed"

— Katz (@CaelKatzi) November 4, 2021

My mother, who has been blind for 50 years, is going through this now with her disability allowance. I can totally empathize with your patients.

— Hayley ☀️ (@LadyHayley_) November 4, 2021

It’s the same for T1 Diabetes. Maybe they know something we don’t about a cure. pic.twitter.com/XWD095qq8A

— Haupᴉua Muɹu (@hpm_1) November 4, 2021

Yes it is so depressing, parents HATE doing it. Can my brain damaged child feed herself these days ? No. Can she walk? No can she talk? No. It is cruel.

— Anne Keith (@as_wk) November 4, 2021

This stuff is just heartbreaking.

My son fronts up every two years. No, his back isn't better, yes it has deteriorated further since he last was checked.

Inhumane, degrading BS.

Frankly, I thought a Labour government would put a stop to this dehumanising practice. Guess not😢

— DebNZ Vaxxed x2 (@DebNZ4) November 4, 2021

So dumb. My cousins son has Williams Sydrome that they had to affirm constantly for ORS I think. No he hasn’t grown his chromosome back again this year 🙄.

— JDF Hockey (@JulesFDF) November 4, 2021

My friend was tetraplegic, could not even move his head. When he told them he couldn't do the jobs they suggested, they then said - well what about this other job, how do you feel about climbing ladders?
!!!!!!!!!!!

— AliS (@AliS63206825) November 4, 2021

We were promised that this stupidity would stop several years ago but no.. Try this 1. My son had his benefit stopped because he didn't respond to a letter WINZ didn't send asking to prove his genetic syndrome hadnt suddely gone away.

— Broken (@Head_Weasel) November 4, 2021

Same for friend with multiple sclerosis. Ridiculous and time consuming and an unnecessary cost to provide medical certificates

— Satsuma (@Satsuma04523379) November 4, 2021

Of course it would be a lot worse for impoverished Kiwis, particularly those living with disability, under a National and ACT Government, especially one where Judith Collins was calling the shots. But that doesn’t excuse the Labour led Government or let them off the hook for continuing to persecute the disabled while wasting taxpayers money on PR vanity projects that have no cultural or societal worth whatsoever.

Dean Brosnahan - Arsehole of the Week

There's no question that someone who lies about having had a vasectomy to get unprotected sex is a complete A hole! But what really made Dean Brosnahan an Arsehole Award winner this week was that he repeatedly harassed one of his victims, who later fell pregnant to him, with further sexual assaults and death threats to her and her baby.

Brosnahan, who had been charged with raping a tenant of a property he managed, then went on to work for the Ministry of Social Development for four months, also matching tenants to potential rental properties. This raises serious concerns about a sexual predator who may have also been forcing other vulnerable females, namely WINZ clients, into having unwanted sex with him to get a house to live in.


Yesterday, Stuff reported:

Police didn't tell Ministry of Social Development its job applicant was being investigated for rape

Stuff this week reported that in 2020 the ministry (MSD) hired Dean Francis Brosnahan, who was under police investigation for inducing a woman into sex by lying to her about having had a vasectomy. He had pursued her through a listing made through the company he worked for, Oxygen Property Management. She fell pregnant.

Brosnahan left his role with Oxygen – Stuff understands other tenants also made complaints about Brosnahan to the company – and was quickly hired by MSD as a housing broker. Oxygen and MSD were both unaware that Brosnahan had also resigned from a previous role at Corrections, facing allegations from three women relating to sexual harassment or inappropriate behaviour.

In late May, MSD learned Brosnahan had been charged with rape – through Brosnahan and his lawyer rather than through a second vetting – and Brosnahan resigned three weeks later. Wellington regional manager Jamie Robinson said that after learning of the charges, MSD took immediate action to meet with Brosnahan and raise concerns. Over three weeks, two attempts to meet with him were delayed by Brosnahan, Robinson said.

You’ve got to wonder why he was allowed to resign and wasn’t immediately sacked instead?

Victims adviser Ruth Money said police were negligent to not reveal the information, particularly given Brosnahan had pursued the victim through his role as a property manager. It is understood part of Brosnahan’s role at Work and Income was matching tenants to potential properties. MSD said that when it became aware of the charges, Brosnahan had no further face-to-face contact with clients.

 

Of course an incomplete Police report the Ministry of Development initially received and the Police direction that the Ministry should reapply for another background check at a later date certainly should have made them think twice about employing Brosnahan. I mean why would the MSD ignore such glaringly obvious red flags like that for four months?

Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni said MSD had “acted on the information it had, as soon as it had it ... MSD has HR policies it must follow when someone employed by them is accused of a crime, especially if they maintain their innocence. MSD correctly followed these processes.”

MSD clearly didn’t act on the information it had as soon as it could have. Because if it did, Brosnahan wouldn’t have been hired and then placed into a position of power where he could potentially take advantage of other vulnerable women.

However the real kicker here is that in 2015 Brosnahan was allowed to resign as a Corrections Officer after an internal investigation found that he had sexually harassed numerous women there as well. For some reason though the file containing his misdeeds simply disappeared. How often are these types of things covered up I wonder?

Unfortunately we will likely never know who exactly has been paving the way for this sicko for all these years? But what we do know is that Corrections, the Police and the Ministry for Social Development has failed miserably here to protect numerous vulnerable women from a known sexual predator.

Robinson previously said that neither of Brosnahan’s two references gave MSD cause for concern.

Honestly! Like a sexual predator is going to put ‘accused of rape’ on their references.

The complainant told the court that she felt Brosnahan was in a significant position of power, given he could help put a roof over her head, or not.

After she fell pregnant Brosnahan had repeatedly urged her to “kill the baby” while lying on top of her, or pushing her towards traffic.

Disgusting! And to think that the Ministry of Social Development is more concerned about their reputation than this guys victims. Instead of launching a proper in-depth investigation into what Brosnahan got up to while in their employment, they have instead launched a PR campaign to try and absolve themselves from any wrongdoing. No wonder most people think that the culture within many Governmental departments is rotten!

Why is the Government listening to Des Gorman?

Des Gorman - Idiot

The Covid-19 response in New Zealand has, until recently, gone pretty well really. Successful lock-downs helped us to beat the first wave, we've seen comparatively few deaths and case numbers are well below those of our trading partners. However, it seems that whenever the Government starts listening to the wishes of the opposition and their propagandists, the wheels invariably fall off our once renowned response to the pandemic.

The first sign that the Government was changing tack away from a health response driven by expert advice was when they decided to prematurely open up a travel bubble with Australia, even though many states in the lucky country were struggling with increasingly high Covid-19 case numbers.

As you may recall, the Government was soon forced to halt their ill-conceived quarantine-free trans-Tasman travel bubble, but the damage was already done. Not long afterwards the Delta variant inevitably raised its ugly head here, and has now become well established in Gods own.

In May this year, NPR reported:

New Zealand Pauses 'Travel Bubble' With Australia Amid Coronavirus Outbreak In Sydney

Less than three weeks after launching a quarantine-free "travel bubble" between New Zealand and Australia, officials in Wellington, New Zealand's capital, announced Thursday that flights from Sydney would be temporarily suspended after new coronavirus cases were detected there.

 

The Labour led Government had played Russian roulette with the virus and lost. Then in August 2021, the first unlinked community cases of Delta were detected. But instead of learning from this monumental mistake, which will undoubtedly cost many millions if not billions of dollars, Labour is once again throwing the dice to see if they can beat the odds.

While they ignore the advice of numerous experts, including the countries best virus modellers and our most eminent epidemiologists, the Labour Government, in all their wisdom, is choosing to instead listen to people like Des Gorman, who isn’t properly qualified to provide advice concerning Covid-19. In fact his own University recently distanced themselves from the Act Party associated “professor” because of his numerous unscientific reckons.

This hasn't stopped the old fool from continuing to advocate on behalf of the virus though.

 

On Monday, RNZ reported:

Vaccinated Aucklanders should have more freedoms - Des Gorman
 

University of Auckland emeritus professor of medicine Des Gorman said easing restrictions was the only way to maintain public compliance.

"If you leave Auckland where it is, I think you're going to have an outbreak of civil disobedience.

Gorman said despite rising case numbers, it is safe to ease restrictions.

"I think it is, providing you distinguish between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. Very clearly vaccinated people are a much lower risk to the health system and so they should have greater freedoms," he said.

 

And here’s a brief rundown of the expert advice the Government is currently ignoring:

On Sunday, Newstalk ZB reported:

Professor Michael Baker: Alert levels likely to remain the same

New Zealand recorded 143 new community cases today - 135 in Auckland, 6 in Waikato and 2 in Northland.

Epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker says he doesn't think a move could be justified in Auckland because the numbers are still rising very steadily.

On Monday, 1 News reported:

Hendy says Level 4 should be considered for Auckland

Covid-19 modeller Professor Shaun Hendy says the Government should consider a short Level 4 circuit-breaker for Auckland as Covid-19 cases are expected to rise in the coming weeks.

On Saturdey there were a record 160 Covid-19 cases in New Zealand followed by 143 on Sunday - the vast majority in Auckland. Hendy says he expects cases numbers to continue to rise. 

 

Also on Monday, RNZ reported:

Covid-19 modeller warns against easing restrictions

There are calls for shops and public facilities to open under Level 3 Step 2.

Canterbury University Covid-19 modeller Professor Michael Plank told Morning Report any move would have consequences.

"A move to step 2 would accelerate case numbers, it's clear case numbers are still rising."

 

You would hope that the Government would at least acknowledge the advice from these esteemed experts. Instead, they have chosen to listen to a right-wing idiot with vested interests in seeing the virus spread. Despite Des Gorman's lack of any equivalent level of expertise, he somehow gets far more media attention than he actually deserves.

What this means is that the Labour led Government has chosen to put the bank accounts of already wealthy business owners ahead of the public's safety, which will potentially open them up to justified litigation by the families of those who pass away from this preventable disease.

Obviously we should have waited until Aotearoa reached a higher level of immunisation against a deadly virus that has now killed over five million people worldwide, particularly because case numbers here are continuing to climb. But the Government has instead bowed to pressure from those who obviously don’t have the entire countries best interests at heart...and that’s likely going to be a recipe for social and economic disaster!

Carmel Sepuloni isn't going to fix ACC

The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) is meant to be a no fault no blame system, and was initially designed to help people recover by providing the medical assistance they require. If injuries are long term, ACC is meant to support the disabled person financially with up to 80% of their previous weekly income as compensation.

However ACC no longer meets this brief. Considerable changes have been made over the years to ensure the Ministry makes a substantial profit by declining long-term claimants. They do this by making incorrect determinations and employing corrupt specialists who receive bonuses for misdiagnosing patients, basically because they no longer have any compassion for other people.

It’s not just ACC specialists who’ve got a vested interest in removing injured Kiwis from their books though. The entire organisation is geared to refusing long-term claimants, which usually means injured or disabled people don’t get the care they require. ACC does this primarily by declining claimants and then using incorrect diagnosis. However they also use the legal system to ensure most claimants, particularly those without resources, simply give up.

But that’s not the worst of it. ACC also deters claimants by ensuring that their privacy is breached, which is a further calculated attempt to dissuade Kiwis from making claims.


Today, the Otago Daily Times reported:

The hastily announced independent review into the management of Accident Compensation Corporation data and client information needs to do much more than skim the surface of the organisation’s culture.

Fourteen employees (including two in the Dunedin office) were stood down last week for alleged breaches of privacy.

The allegation from a whistle-blower that some Hamilton call centre staff were sharing details of client’s injuries and making fun of them in a private Snapchat called "ACC whores" was shocking.

This news came hard on the heels of concerns from clients and their advocates about too many staff having access to sensitive claims information, a concern echoed by some staff. Acting chief executive Mike Tully was quick to defend that situation when the concerns were brought to his attention, rather than stand back and reassess whether the way the claims were being handled was truly in the best interests of the claimants. It was not a good look, compounded by the later revelation, the result of a parliamentary question, that 1414 staff have access to sensitive claims.

Should the investigations into the privacy breach allegations confirm the bad behaviour, the temptation will be for the organisation to see those involved as bad apples.

 

Unfortunately the entire organisation is a rotten apple.

Prior to the change in Government, research showed that the claims process discriminates against woman, Māori and Pasifika people. This forced the new Minister, Carmel Sepuloni, to request a briefing about ACC’s dysfunction.

Earlier this year, ACC’s own analysis confirmed that the organisation was racist, sexist and ageist as well as discriminatory against people who are injured at birth. They were also found to be more prejudiced against certain occupations, namely those predominated by women.

Since then nothing has really changed. In fact ACC is still the same sick puppy it always was under the previous National Party Government.

Clearly making jokes about sensitive claims is one thing, but creating an entire Snapchat group called ‘ACC Whores’ so your fellow staff members can laugh about people’s injuries is entirely unacceptable. This all shows that there must be a thorough review of the culture at ACC, and in order to do that, a new Minister is required. Carmel Sepuloni has had long enough to fix what is still a terribly broken system.

Collins supports anti-vax protest

If you’ve kept an eye on the news recently, you've likely noticed the anti-vax, anti-lockdown and anti-Ardern protests occurring in New Zealand, a protest movement that has been gaining some momentum as the Covid-19 disinformation campaign ramps up and restrictions start to bite

But what you may not have noticed is that the current leader of the National Party, Judith Collins, yesterday came out in support of these illegal protests in what can only be described as another misstep that should ensure her political career is effectively over.

Not only did the current opposition leader travel to Auckland in solidarity with these deluded anti-vaccination crusaders, she also openly acknowledged the reason they were on the streets in a tweet that should only be considered as implicit support for their causes.

There’s a lot of frustration and anger in Auckland. From double vaccinated people who see no end in sight with 11 weeks of lockdown & a PM who would prefer Europe to Auckland.

— Judith Collins (@JudithCollinsMP) October 30, 2021

While most law-abiding citizens can understand why there are restrictions, namely to try and save lives by stopping the spread of the deadly Delta virus, Judith Collins and the National Party are actively undermining the good work lock-downs have thus far achieved.

In fact by siding with these anti-vax protesters who were chanting inane slogans such as ‘freedom’ and ‘Jacinda out’, Collins is putting her terribly partisan approach to politics ahead of the safety of the country.

However it’s little wonder Crusher has given her approval to these anti-vaccination and anti-government protesters, being that the main organiser is none other than Bishop Brian Tamaki.

Not content with again breaching his bail conditions, Tamaki and his wife Hannah have been actively organising anti-government protests and promoting online conspiracy theories to try and ensure the sacrifice the rest of the country has made is wasted.

Clearly a consequence of these protests will be an increase in Covid-19 case numbers, which is a sad indictment on just how selfish these people (including Groundswell organiser Scott Bright) actually are. But what is even worse is that the increase in case numbers will assuredly also be used by these idiots to once again try to undermine the government's Covid-19 health response.

But Brian and Hannah Tamaki aren’t the only ones the self-centered Collins is associated with who’ve got a vested interest in undermining New Zealand's substantial efforts to control the Delta outbreak.

Collins is also in regular contact with propagandists and dirty politics practitioner, Cameron Slater. This right-wing attack blogger, who lost his previous slanderous website through court action, has been running an extensive Covid-19 disinformation campaign against the government; a campaign that is undoubtedly endangering peoples lives.

In fact Slater, who is an ardent anti-vaxxer and Covid-19 conspiracy theorist, doesn’t even believe that the Covid-19 virus is deadly, even though it’s now killed more than five million people worldwide.

The problem for Collins and her minions, and ultimately the floundering National Party, is that most Kiwis agree that the Government’s Covid-19 restrictions are worthwhile. Kiwis in general support the way Jacinda Ardern has handled herself as the Prime Minister of New Zealand during the pandemic. In the face of considerable adversity, Ardern’s leadership has assuredly saved lives, which is a lot more than can be said for Judith Collins and the unhinged protesters she evidently supports.

Brian Tamaki - Arsehole of the Week

You may find it somewhat amusing to see Brian Tamaki arrested again for organising another Destiny Church protest. After all, his largely nonsensical argument against the Government’s Covid restrictions is one thing, but those tattooed on eyebrows are really something else.

However it’s no laughing matter. The self-proclaimed messiah is in fact endangering people’s lives by organising mass rallies right when the more deadly Delta strain is spreading throughout Auckland.

The Tamaki’s are essentially trying to convince people to become exposed to a deadly virus by telling their followers that the power of the lord will save them, which is incredibly wrong on many different levels, not least of all theologically.

On Wednesday, RNZ reported:

Brian Tamaki denies breaching level 3 rules at Auckland event

Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki has pleaded not guilty to breaching bail and lockdown rules governing mass gatherings

It is Mr Tamaki's second court appearance in relation to mass gatherings.

He was granted bail to appear before the Auckland District Court next year.

Judge Josephine Bouchier warned him if he was charged again, he "was in peril" of being remanded in custody.

Why Brian Tamaki was given another chance to breach his bail conditions is anyone’s guess, particularly because Hannah Tamaki spent the time her husband was in jail organising another protest outside the Police station.

The Tamaki’s even promoted it on social media showing that they clearly have no intention of adhering to the judge’s bail conditions.

In my opinion the judiciary really needs to start playing hardball with these cult leaders to ensure the publics safety.

There's no question that the Destiny Church protests are politically motivated. In fact some among the right-wing see the virus spreading as a way to undermine Jacinda Arderns popularity.

Brian and Hannah Tamaki are after all friends with Judith Collins, and much like Destiny Church's campaigning, the National Party leader has spent most of her time arguing against the Government’s worthwhile Covid restrictions.

It is somewhat ironic that these restrictions would have reduced cases, saved lives and allowed the economy to open up earlier if people, particularly those who listen to Judith Collins and the Tamaki’s, had actually adhered to them.

Brian Tamaki’s protests have assuredly caused the deadly virus to spread, which is why the deluded church leader wins this week’s Arsehole Award. His followers assaulting a peaceful protester outside of the Police station Brian was being held at was also uncalled for.

‘Freedom of speech’…Tamaki’s Blackshirt Gang violently attack & destroy sign they didn’t like yesterday at Henderson Police Station.
[for the record, it says “F**K Brian Tamaki, his prosperity, his doctrines and his creepy fake eyebrows. Let him rot in the cells!”] pic.twitter.com/eYjhYrWVCd

— DaveMac (@davemacpherson7) October 20, 2021

Now what is it that the Bible says about hurting others?

There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

National's failed firearms bill cost over $390,000

We all know that New Zealand has a very large conservative voter base. That’s why the tough on crime campaigning of the past has worked well to get right wing political parties elected. 

However there’s a limit to how far right wing politicians can push the envelope when it comes to their us versus them rhetoric.

A perfect example of this was on display when NZ First leader Winston Peters made false accusations about Mongrel Mob advisor Harry Tam, who he claimed had illegally travelled across boarders with an associate who was Covid-19 positive.

Yesterday, Stuff reported:

Winston Peters apologises for alleging Harry Tam link with Northland Covid-19 case

Former deputy prime minister Winston Peters has apologised for comments he made on national television alleging former Mongrel Mob member Harry Tam helped a Covid-positive case breach the Auckland border.

On Friday, Tam, a former senior civil servant who now works with gangs, sent the former deputy prime minister and NZ First leader a legal letter, calling for a public retraction and apology by 5pm on Tuesday.

The letter called on Peters to “account for your false comments and the harm those comments have caused him and the community...to avoid any further action being required”.

Five minutes before Tam’s deadline, Peters issued a statement apologising for naming Tam as the Mongrel Mob affiliate who entered Northland.

Whether Peters simply had a senior moment, was straight out lying or had received incorrect intel from his police mates is anyone’s guess? But whatever the reason for the former deputy PM making false accusations concerning Harry Tam, he has assuredly made a huge fool of himself.

But he’s not the only right wing politician to get egg on their face recently. National Party MP Simeon Brown also had a monumental cognitive and legislative failure yesterday when Parliament decided that his Firearms Amendment Bill was a really stupid idea.

Here’s the National Party’s press release:

Government Shoots Down Bill To Take Guns Off Gangs

The Government’s decision to vote down National’s Firearms Prohibition Orders Bill shows how out of touch the Government is when it comes to gangs, says National’s Police spokesperson Simeon Brown.

“This is the second time the Government has shot down legislation which will make it harder for gangs to get access to firearms and make it easier for Police to take firearms off gang members.

Here’s the guts of Simeon Browns’ Bill:

Clause 5(1) and (2) of the bill provides that a firearms licence must not be issued to a person who in the opinion of a commissioned officer of Police is a gang member or a person who is subject to a FPO.

However the Police can already decline a gang member a Firearms Licence. In fact the Police will always decline a gang member the legal right to own a firearm because they view them as not being fit and proper to do so.

Here’s the Police directive:

Some of the criteria that Police may take into account when determining if someone is fit and proper to possess firearms or airguns include whether (s24A):

The person is a member of, or has close affiliations with a gang or organised criminal group.

So Simeon’s Bill is a complete waste of Parliaments time, which is also therefore a complete waste of taxpayer’s money.

It costs well over $300 to run Parliament on a per minute basis, which means that every time a fool like Simeon Brown opens his mouth in the House of Representatives to grandstand about gangs the taxpayer gets penalised.

Brown and his idiotic colleagues have taken roughly three days of Parliaments time (21 hours) to waffle on about gun crime…propaganda to enact a law that already exists.

That’s a cost of well over $390,000 to the taxpayer just so the National Party can pontificate about being tough on crime, and in my book that’s a complete waste of taxpayers money.

David Seymour - Arsehole of the Week

There is no question that the ACT Party of New Zealand is a racist organisation. From calls to introduce a policy to ‘shoot the natives’ during Don Brash’s annual conference speech in 2011 to Rodney Hide openly stating that the party faithful hated Maori people and Jamie Whyte claiming Maori are somehow legally privileged, the common theme running through all of the far-right group’s politicking is one of racism!

Even now, in the 21st century no less, the current leader of the ACT Party has been dog-whistling for support by expressing similar bigoted views, racist views that have clearly hindered efforts to encourage Maori to get vaccinated against the deadly Covid-19 virus. 

On Monday, RNZ reported:

Māori vaccine equity scheme criticism blows back on Seymour

Seymour this morning released a written statement with an attached image displaying the priority access codes, which allow Māori and Pacific people to receive the vaccine at Whānau Ora locations without needing to book ahead.

"The virus doesn't discriminate on race, so neither should the rollout," the statement said. "Access to vaccination has been the same for people of all ethnic backgrounds. If fewer Māori are vaccinated it can't be a problem with access, but this move by the government insinuates that Māori have trouble making a booking."

Obviously David Seymour is entirely wrong! Not everyone has the same access to vaccination centres, particularly Maori who often live in more remote areas. This makes travelling to be vaccinated more difficult and is likely the main reason we’re seeing lower vaccination rates amongst indigenous populations in Aotearoa.

Another issue is that Maori are often mistreated by the health system, which has created a large amount of distrust. You only have to look at the Bay of Plenty DHB’s offensive pamphlet likening the virus to Maori and their wrongful request of passports from Pasifika people before they’re allowed the vaccine to see that racism is alive and well within our health institutions.

However, the virus does discriminate. The New Zealand Medical Journal has found that after controlling for age and underlying conditions Māori and Pacific people have 2.5x and 3.06x higher odds of being hospitalised for contracting Covid-19 than other ethnicities.

Researchers estimated risk of death for Māori from Covid-19 was at least 50 percent higher than European New Zealanders and infection rates are also significantly higher while vaccination rates have languished.

So you can see why certain sectors of our community should be prioritised. In fact making sure there’s a high uptake of vaccines amongst Maori is one of the best ways to ensure the Covid-19 elimination strategy is a success. But despite this best practice, the ACT Party is again playing the race-baiting card, which has effectively inhibited many Maori from accessing the vaccine.

Yesterday, RNZ reported:

Vaccination clinics prioritising Māori 'swamped by Pākehā’

The national strategy of vaccinating against Covid-19 through general and mass events is not working for Māori, with even clinics that prioritise Māori and Pasifika being "swamped" by Pākehā, a Covid-19 researcher says.

Earlier this week, Act Party leader David Seymour tweeted out a vaccine code reserved for Māori, encouraging his supporters to use the code themselves.

The code was sent by Māori health provider Te Whānau o Waipareira via confidential email to its clients as part of a push to lift Māori vaccination rates that are less than two thirds of the non-Māori rate.

Te Whānau o Waipareira CEO John Tamihere said Seymour was trying to sabotage attempts to make the rollout more equitable. He said his clinics had vaccinated five times as many Pākehā as Māori and Pasifika.

Independent writer, researcher and advisor Rāwiri Taonui, who focuses on Covid-19 in Māori communities, said the story was similar around the country and different strategies were now needed to turn around low vaccine uptake by Māori.

Combine this latest display of racism with Seymour’s previous acceptance of donations from White Supremacist backers and his dishonest claims about white privilege being taught in New Zealand primary schools, and it’s easy to see that the ACT Party is still wearing the same old racist stripes. In fact it’s the same out-dated party that has been proactively inhibiting Maori progress since its first inception in 1993.

However the main reason David Seymour wins this weeks much anticipated Arsehole Award is that he failed to say anything about the Government prioritising vaccines for the elderly, who are also a high-risk demographic that could be disproportionately affected by Covid-19. This blatant contradiction clearly shows that the ACT Party’s objection to Maori being prioritised for vaccination is entirely racially motivated, making ACT New Zealand under the leadership of David Seymour still a terribly racist and divisive party that is undeserving of public support.

Now is not the time to overreact

ISIS Terrorist - Ahamed Aathill Mohamed Samsudeen

We all agree that the attack on innocent people at LynnMall on Friday was a cowardly and despicable act. Six people were seriously injured, with three still remaining in a critical condition at Auckland City Hospital.

However, this is not the time for a knee jerk reaction by the public or Government. This is not the time to blame ethnic minorities or religious beliefs, because they played no role in the radicalisation of the now deceased terrorist. Likewise, this is not the time to close our borders to refugees or those looking for a safe place to raise their families.

This is also not the time to propose laws that would remove citizenship, or the time to give the Police or judiciary more powers to surveil or convict individuals, other than the Counter-Terrorism Legislation amendments that have already been proposed.

Here is one of the amendments that may have prevented this atrocious crime:

5A Carrying out and facilitating terrorist acts

Carrying out includes preparations, credible threats, and attempts

(1) For the purposes of this Act, a terrorist act is carried out if any 1 or more of the following occurs:

(a) planning or other preparations to carry out the act, whether it is actually carried out or not:

(b) a credible threat to carry out the act, whether it is actually carried out or not:

(c) an attempt to carry out the act:

(d) the carrying out of the act.

 

Being that these amendments are currently before the House of Representatives, perhaps if the National Party wasn’t always trying to ‘gum up the works’ of Parliament, the Government may have amended the legislation in time to have prevented this despicable attack. Maybe if Judith Collins had got the legislation right in 2013, we wouldn’t be in this situation either. Possibly, if instead of trying to rehabilitate this deluded individual, the judge had sentenced Ahamed Aathill Mohamed Samsudeen in July to more jail time, the outcome might have been different. Maybe if the Police had used the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act to have him properly assessed and treated; he wouldn’t have felt compelled to try and kill innocent people.

Hindsight is indeed a great thing, and in this regard the PM should feel vindicated for her legislative changes following the Christchurch mosque shootings. In my opinion, this is where the semi-automatic and assault rifle ban has been proven effective. Imagine what would have occurred at LynnMall had this lone wolf had access to military style weapons. However this is also not the time to ban over the counter knife or scissor sales. Clearly somebody who has become radicalised to this extent won’t be deterred by such pointless measures.

The problem isn’t only a failure of our current systems. The problem is that no matter how well we prepare or work to counter terrorism, certain people will continue to become radicalised by online disinformation.

The key therefore is to further develop systems that firstly inhibit people’s access to objectionable terrorism inducing material, and secondly ensure that people are educated enough to be able to determine fact from fiction.

New Zealand doesn’t need to respond by inhibiting access to everyday items or further limiting people’s privacy or freedoms. Instead, Aotearoa would be better served by trying to de-radicalise those who’ve become mislead by hateful online material. We would be better served by making sure that individuals aren’t isolated to an extent whereby exposure to terrorist propaganda can take root in the first place. 

The best response is therefore one of inclusiveness. In this regard the Government should increase the refugee quota to help those trying to escape situations that are the breeding ground for terrorism, situations that New Zealand, like many other western countries, has to a degree been complicit in creating. This would go some way to deescalating terrorism by reducing the reasons some people hold for hating Westerners. Although this isn't politically convenient at the moment, the benefits to this long-term approach far exceed any risks, which are currently painfully apparent.

However, despite the rawness of the situation, this is not the time to allow segregationists to seize the narrative. Instead, we should look to increase and enhance the broadcasting of our multicultural and diverse communities. Because without inclusiveness, it is far more likely that more individuals will feel isolated and thus be more prone to radicalisation…consequently making it more likely that similar terrorist attacks will occur again in New Zealand.

Chris Bishop swallows a dead rat

You’ve got to wonder why Chris Bishop decided for a career in politics? It’s obviously not because of some sort of altruistic belief system. After all the former tobacco lobbyist clearly doesn’t give a damn about helping other people to better their lives. Instead, according to his own statements, Bishop is in Parliament to make it more difficult for the current Labour led Government to govern.

Often touted as being an integral member of the National Party's liberal wing, Bishop's most notable transgression was when he got caught using Snapchat to send inappropriate messages to teenage girls. At the time Bishop said he was simply campaigning on behalf of the National Party. But it's doubtful the parents of the numerous girls he contacted would have complained if that were truly the case.

However despite many questions going unanswered during that controversy, it appears Bishop’s position within the blue "team" has in recent weeks become even more tenuous, mainly because he inadvertently undermined the authority of his own ignominious leader, Judith Collins.

Apparently Crusher became furious during a recent meeting because leaked messages revealed Bishop's lack of support for her caucus decision to blanket vote against a bill banning gay conversion therapy...legislation that passed its first reading despite National's chaotic opposition to it. The National Party clearly lost the moral high ground as well as the debate, and Crusher was not pleased that the party's disunity had played out so tragically in the public domain.

On Thursday, the NZ Herald reported:

Knives out in National, as caucus struggles to show unity despite obvious division

Collins was unhappy with the way some MPs had publicly suggested they were less than supportive of the caucus' decision to vote against a ban on conversion therapy.

Collins allegedly unloaded on one of the most high-profile detractors, Covid-19 spokesman Chris Bishop.

Bishop, along with Nicola Willis and Erica Stanford, is considered a standard-bearer of the caucus' liberal wing.

One source told the Herald that Collins "completely lost it" at Bishop. Another source described her tirade as "f***ing ballistic".

…

Following the conference, Collins wanted to remind her caucus that becoming a member of Cabinet means swallowing a lot of dead rats. A minister won't always get it their own way, but they have to sell the Cabinet line all the same.

Bishop's great sin on the conversion therapy issue vote was a leaked exchange between himself and a woman, where he revealed he was unhappy with the way the party voted on conversion therapy.

The Herald was told Collins was furious about the way the party's conversion therapy spat had spilled out into the public domain – and one source said it would not be surprising if disciplinary action followed it.

 

Of course Bishop shouldn’t be considered admirable for his views on gay conversion therapy, because he didn’t actually intend for his lack of conviction to be leaked to the public. Instead, Bishop was happy for voters to believe that his silence showed support for his party’s repressive and thoughtless political direction concerning LGBT matters.

Collins set a low bar for taking disciplinary action against her caucus. Former leader Todd Muller was forced to announce his retirement after being outed for briefing the media.

But unlike Muller, who had already retreated from frontline politics, Bishop is one of National's top performers, and, as Covid-19 spokesperson has done a good job at rebuilding National's tarnished reputation on the most significant political issue of the day.

The problem with Thomas Coughlan’s argument here is that Bishop hasn’t really performed very well at all. In fact he was the ringleader in National’s recent disastrous Twitter misinformation campaign concerning an alleged lack of Covid-19 vaccine booster shots.

Over the last few weeks, National and their propagandists have incorrectly argued ad nauseam that the booster shots weren’t the same Pfizer vaccine formula that’s currently being administered throughout New Zealand and the world, which is entirely wrong and made National look like a bunch of ignorant and unread fools!

Excess vaccine stock are not boosters. Boosters are intended to prevent a drop off in efficacy by covering subsequent strains. The US intends to make boosters available in September.

— NZ National Party (@NZNationalParty) August 23, 2021

On Wednesday, Newshub reported:

Coronavirus: Scientists correct National Party tweet accused of spreading 'misinformation' about COVID-19 vaccines

Alison Campbell, honorary fellow and biological sciences lecturer at the University of Waikato said boosters were a "nudge to remind the immune system about what it's already learned".

"It's an additional dose of an existing vaccine. The pertussis booster I had a couple of years ago would be an example, as is a third dose of the existing Pfizer vaccine. Something that's been reworked to cover additional variants is not."

Newshub has contacted the National Party for a response. At the time of writing on Wednesday morning, the tweet hadn't been removed or corrected. Several Twitter users accused the party of spreading "misinformation". 

Although Bishop's gay conversion therapy debacle was bad, it’s the numerous factually incorrect statements by right-wing politicians and their media lackeys that is likely losing National support at the moment.

The opposition’s failure, along with an effective Covid-19 strategy, has effectively provided Jacinda Ardern with 85% public support for her Government's scientifically based response to the pandemic. This success makes National’s idiotic blunder concerning the 10 million doses of Pfizer vaccine already ordered (including around 3.6 million potential booster shots) even more damaging to Bishop's credibility on all things Covid-19.

This also begs the question, why exactly should the voting public take the National Party seriously when their campaigning is such a complete shambles? I mean how exactly is the National Party going to hold the Government to account when they cannot even get the basic facts about Covid-19 vaccines right?

Despite this incredibly embarrassing brain fart by Chris Bishop, he surprisingly hasn't lost his position as National’s Covid-19 spokesperson. Instead, Crusher took away his portfolio as Shadow Leader of the House, apparently because Michael Woodhouse of all people can do a better job.

Talk about Chris Bishop swallowing a very large dead rat.

It's supposedly not a demotion either, because according to Crusher Collins, her reprimanded MP apparently needs to spend more time on National's Covid-19 campaign, which is clearly thus far only helped to bolster support for the Government's elimination strategy.

Yesterday, Stuff reported:

National Party reshuffle: Judith Collins strips Chris Bishop of key portfolio

Most notably Chris Bishop has lost his Shadow Leader of the House portfolio, a key role that saw him involved in much of the party’s Parliamentary strategy.

…

Bishop is understood to have pushed for a conscience vote on the gay conversion therapy bill, which National opposed on-bloc at first reading. A private message to a member of the public where Bishop made clear his distaste for this vote was subsequently leaked.

Unfortunately for Bishop, that wasn't the only leak he's had to worry about lately.

Chris Bishop says he wants to make the country ungovernable during a pandemic
WOW! pic.twitter.com/yhPSdwIG6g

— Aotearoa Aotearoa (@rugbyintel) August 25, 2021

If Bishop truly believes that his time is best spent trying to “gum up the works” to stop “the Government from governing” properly during a pandemic, then it’s clear that he’s wasting Parliament’s time as well as his own.

In fact trying to cause administrative problems during a deadly virus outbreak essentially shows that Bishop has absolutely no concern for public safety whatsoever. He is therefore not fit to represent the people of Aotearoa as a Member of our Parliament.

Because making it more difficult for the Government to govern is the exact opposite of what any duly elected official should be doing, particularly during a pandemic that, despite the best efforts of the National Party, New Zealand still has a decent chance of beating.

The US doesn’t need opium from Afghanistan anymore

We should all know by now that Operation Enduring Freedom, which later turned into Operation Freedom's Sentinel, whereby the United States and its misguided allies invaded and occupied Afghanistan for two very long decades, has been a complete failure!

Not only has the US-led invasion of Afghanistan caused the deaths of over 171,000 people, including more than 47,000 civilians, the cost of this unjustified war has also meant a far greater number of innocent people have been displaced or lost their lives through increased disease and starvation. Despite these numbers, the true cost of the United States' unwarranted war on Afghanistan will likely never be fully quantified.

Of course these aren’t things that the current President of the United States dares to mention. Like most Western leaders, Joe Biden has been caught asleep at the wheel and is now scrambling to safeguard his reputation. In effect he has to clean up after former President George W. Bush, who actively lied to facilitate a so-called war on terror, and Donald Trump, who failed to properly negotiate and plan for the safe withdrawal of US and other coalition troops deployed in Afghanistan.

So what has the coalition of the willing actually achieved through this prolonged and bloody conflict? Well firstly much of Afghanistan has been bombed back into the dark ages, which aligns perfectly with the Pentagon's primary objective of stopping Middle Eastern and other Asian continent countries from unifying under Islamic rule.

The US also captured and secured Afghanistan’s opium production for twenty years, which under the occupation once again became the world’s largest supplier. Prior to the 2001 invasion, the Taliban had all but halted Afghani farmers from growing poppies, because they believe opium is un-Islamic.

Of course the propaganda campaign to protect the United States and other coalition countries has never ended. Even now the news reports are rife with claims that only the Taliban are involved in and profiting from the drug trade in Afghanistan.

Yesterday, Reuters reported:

Profits and poppy: Afghanistan's illegal drug trade a boon for Taliban

The United States spent more than $8 billion over 15 years on efforts to deprive the Taliban of their profits from Afghanistan's opium and heroin trade, from poppy eradication to airstrikes and raids on suspected labs.

That strategy failed.

Of course it failed, because it wasn’t the United States’ objective.

The Taliban banned poppy growing in 2000 as they sought international legitimacy, but faced a popular backlash and later mostly changed their stance, according to experts.

Why was a steady supply of opium important to the United States you might ask? Well it’s used to make the highly addictive and deadly drug heroin, which was first introduced into America by the CIA as a way to repress black communities. Then in the 70’s it was extensively used to decimate the anti-war and other resistance movements, which allowed the United States’ war machine to continue destabilising smaller resource rich countries around the world largely unencumbered.

More people now die in the United States from opioid overdoses (69,710 in 2020) than by homicide, which is really saying something when you realise that carrying a gun is a constitutional right in most of their states.

However a new drug has now taken over from heroin as the most deadly. Illicit fentanyl addiction has over the last few years meant that heroin use in the US is declining. Fentanyl is a completely synthetic drug with the ingredients manufactured in China, just like the precursors for methamphetamine.

It’s therefore no coincidence that the US is withdrawing from Afghanistan at the very same time that demand for heroin declines. They simply don’t need Afghanistan's opium anymore, because Fentanyl is proving to be a far more effective drug in their campaign to subdue the masses.

Carter sees the writing on the wall

If there’s one positive thing you could say about the previous John Key led Government, it’s that his MPs generally towed the party line. In fact compared to what’s been happening within the National Party lately, they looked downright disciplined.

However, with Judith Collins at the helm, that’s clearly not the case anymore. Over the last year or so the blue “team” has become splintered into factions and is falling apart. Infighting is obviously a major problem, with Crusher banging heads with anybody who dares to question her authoritah.

It’s a strange dynamic, whereby National MPs who back a leader with very little public support have been handsomely rewarded, while others are ousted or are left to resign in disgust!

Yesterday, 1 News reported:

'No confidence' - David Carter explains exit from National Party

Former long-serving National MP David Carter has quit the party’s board in disgust at the re-election of President Peter Goodfellow.

The National board voted Goodfellow back in this morning, despite loud criticism of his involvement in the selection of some controversial MPs and candidates.

Carter has been on the board for nine months and told 1 NEWS he “hasn’t enjoyed the culture of the board”.  It’s believed he’d stood against Goodfellow.

“I have no confidence in the leadership of Peter Goodfellow,” he said.

“It’d be hypocritical for me to stay on when I have no confidence,” he said in a brutally honest interview with 1 NEWS.

The “inner sanctum” of the board works in a way he disagrees with and he never felt like he received the acceptance he felt he deserved.

In my opinion, Goodfellow should have been fired after it was revealed that he personally selected a Chinese spy to be a National Party MP.

Goodfellow was widely seen as an excellent fundraiser for the party.

But Carter disagrees, telling 1 NEWS while he remains the President, National will struggle to get the donations that it needs.

“Until there’s some change, we won’t have the dollars to win (the next election). National need support from corporate New Zealand and he hasn’t been successful at getting that.”

David Carter isn’t the only one to see the writing on the wall. Indeed, Chris Finlayson also recently left the party with a similar bad taste in his mouth. In fact the former Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations didn’t mince words when he said that the National Party had become a “disaster” under Collins’ so-called leadership.

In June, Stuff reported:

National Party is self-destructing, former minister says

Former National minister Chris Finlayson has lashed the current National Party as a disaster, placing the blame squarely on the leadership – both in Parliament and the wider party organisation.

He says the party leadership “deserve everything that’s come to them” after self-inflicted “brand destruction” over the past couple of years.

The comments will put more pressure on party leader Judith Collins who is already facing internal scrutiny over the resignations of former MP Nick Smith, and the current MP for Bay of Plenty, short-lived party leader Todd Muller. They will also pile pressure on current party President Peter Goodfellow.

Obviously not enough pressure otherwise Goodfellow would be gone by now.

 

Finlayson, who served as a National Party MP from 2005 to 2019 and held a number of ministerial portfolios, was scathing in his assessment of the current party. Speaking from his law office in Auckland, he said that the party didn’t need a detractor as it was doing well enough destroying itself.

“I don't think I've ever seen, in my life, brand destruction as devastating as that,” he said.

The same month, Stuff reported that Todd Muller was resigning as well:

Todd Muller resignation followed admission about anonymous article

National MP and former leader Todd Muller announced his retirement at the next election after admitting to his party he had been an anonymous source in an article criticising returning MP Harete Hipango.

…

But it has subsequently emerged that Muller’s resignation followed a late-night admission to his fellow National Party MPs that he had been one of the anonymous sources in a Newsroom article criticising Hipango, who is returning to Parliament following Nick Smith’s resignation.

It’s understood that this made National leader Judith Collins furious, and there was a threat that Muller could be expelled from caucus.

The caucus meeting was sparked by a different story concerning allegations of inappropriate spending by Hipango, which Collins has put down to an innocent “coding error”.

Collins was coy when asked about whether she wanted Muller to resign on Wednesday, saying the decision was not in her hands.

By rewarding a thief while punishing the whistleblower, Collins displayed a level of contempt for her party’s supposed Christian values rarely seen in New Zealand politics.

Crusher was also obviously lying when she claimed that Muller leaving had nothing to do with her. She is after all the National Party's current leader, and has subsequently also barred Muller from even attending caucus meetings.

Although they won’t directly say, Carter, Finlayson and Muller exiting National is all about who’s currently in charge of a party that’s stagnating at around 28% support. And with no end in sight to the backstabbing, there's no sign of their chances at re-election improving either.

Today, Newshub reported:

National Party 'letting it all hang out', losing public faith - political analyst Bryce Edwards

The conference saw the National Party lose another member - former Speaker and Cabinet Minister Sir David Carter - who resigned after challenging the leadership of party president Peter Goodfellow and losing.

"He says 'he's got better things to do with his time, he's not going to waste his time on the Nats', so that's a stinging review of the National Party," Edwards said of Sir David's resignation.

There was also the issue of the National Party voting unanimously against a Bill which will ban conversion therapy, despite MPs saying they support banning the practice.

…

Dr Edwards acknowledged being in Opposition is difficult for any political party and it can lead to negativity and "finger-pointing".

"It creates its own momentum of disaster - there's leaking to the media, infighting, no one pulls together."

Dr Edwards pointed out other parties disagree and have infighting too - the difference is they keep it under wraps.

"They keep it out of the public arena - National is letting it all hang out and it doesn't give the public much faith."

A political party that was once dominated by alpha males now rewards weak and ineffectual suck-ups who have become nothing more than Judith Collins’ errand boys. 

Take Simeon Brown for instance, who has been promoted well above his station simply because he regurgitates Crusher’s online propaganda without question. Then consider Christopher Bishop, who doesn’t even have the willpower to vote for what he actually believes in anymore.

This doesn’t bode well for the National Party, particularly when Judith Collins is effectively culling her own party of anybody who might have the slightest inclination about challenging her for the leadership position.

Pretty soon Crusher will be seeing allies as enemies and all that will be left of the National Party is a bunch of sycophants who won’t even be able to hold their own party to account, let alone mount any proper opposition to the current Government. And that’s not just a bad thing for National; it’s a bad thing for accountability within other New Zealand political parties as well.