Once was a National voter

We've all seen Paula Bennett's arrogance on display whereby she has a dismissive attitude towards important issues, but usually this is directed against left wing politicians.

When Bennett claimed there wasn't a problem with child poverty in New Zealand because the government wasn't measuring poverty properly being one good example.

As is the case with most arrogant people, Bennett cannot control herself properly when confronted. She instead turns on the person questioning her or the government, no matter how reasonable such questioning might be.

That's exactly what happened at a meeting with party faithful in Napier last Wednesday, with Stuff reporting:

Paula Bennett offends Napier

Napier's deputy mayor says Local Government Minister Paula Bennett has angrily rejected local concerns over council amalgamations - an issue she says could cost National its Napier seat.

Faye White raised the concerns at a meeting of party faithful in Napier yesterday, attended by Bennett and Finance Minister Bill English, prompting what she described as a "superior" reaction from Bennett.

Actually, what Paula Bennett is displaying is a bad case of narcissistic personality disorder. Such a disorder is often very damaging to relationships and group dynamics whereby the Narcissist will believe they're right no matter what.

Faye White has simply experienced what the left wing has been putting up with for a very long time, Paula Bennett's narcissism.

"I was trying to send a signal to the minister... that you shouldn't ignore the fact that amalgamation is an issue in Napier [and] that the Labour candidate Stuart Nash is doing a very strong campaign on that issue, amongst other issues."

That's the bit Bennett would have hated! Just the mere mention of Stuart Nash's name would be enough to ensure a dismissive response from the Minister.

"What I was trying to highlight was that it is an issue that National Party people in Napier who are anti-amalgamation are having a conflict with their vote [about] and I'm signalling it's bigger than what she realises."

Bennett responded "very angrily", and was "probably a bit putting down really, being a bit superior".

"She made the comment [that] you're letting your anger stop you from being who you want to be."

She told the meeting she hoped there would be a "level of maturity" about what they wanted from the region.

Bennett is basically calling the people who dare question her authority childish and irrational. This mentality fits perfectly with the four traits of narcissism: leadership/authority, superiority/arrogance, self-absorption/self-admiration, and exploitativeness/entitlement.

White, who said she was a National Party supporter and had worked on Chris Tremain's campaign team in the past two elections, said Bennett had "over-reacted".

[...]

She said National voters were considering splitting their vote, backing Nash in the seat and National with their party vote as a result.

This could be a real problem for National being that Napier is a two horse race between Labour MP Stuart Nash and National MP Chris Tremain.

With a strong campaign there's a chance that Nash will take Napier, especially if Paula Bennett and her narcissism keeps turning blue voters red.

A tale of two meetings

On Wednesday the National MP who tried to ban water, Jacqui Dean, tweeted about a meeting she and Conservation Minister Nick Smith had in Wanaka, which is part of the Waitaki electorate and a blue stronghold:

Nick Smith outlining our environment policies to a packed meeting in #gigatownwanaka pic.twitter.com/FWxdrvFoPc
— Jacqui Dean (@JacquiDeanMP) July 16, 2014

I thought this was rather amusing, being that the so-called "packed" meeting appeared to be in the lounge of a rest home with very few people in attendance. Now compare that sad gathering with one the Mana/Internet party had the previous day in Kaitaia:

Packed house in Kaitaia tonight. Our first #InternetMANA road trip event. Snapshot from the stage :-) pic.twitter.com/VW5GvoB8er
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) July 15, 2014

National also held a marginally better attended meeting somewhere else on Tuesday:

Good crowd this morning for the public meeting with @paulabennettmp @honbillenglish & @WayneWalford pic.twitter.com/7K6Ixavom6
— Chris Tremain (@CJTremain) July 14, 2014

This caused the normally right wing reporter Duncan Garner to ask; "where are the young people Chris?" Now compare that small meeting of older people with another Internet/Mana party meeting the following day:

Full House in Kaikohe tonight. #InternetMANA Road Trip. pic.twitter.com/8gxSB3VJBU
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) July 16, 2014

Good to see the Internet/Mana party mobilizing some decent on the ground support.

Climate Change is the issue

It's interesting to see some National MP's talking openly about their true beliefs on climate change again. Back in November 2006, John Key was adamantly saying the government should do nothing, even proclaiming that climate change was a complete hoax. It wasn't until closer to the 2008 election, probably after some polling, that he changed his tune.

Despite the scientific evidence being settled, the National party is still doing nothing practical to mitigate climate change or acknowledge the danger it poses. While the President of the US of A is busy announcing a raft of initiatives to combat the effects of climate change and bolster their economy in the face of a clear and present danger, our very own Minister of Finance, Bill English, had this to say:

What a moron!

National hates Dolphins

We all should know by now that the iconic Maui's dolphin is on the brink of extinction, with only 55 adults remaining. That's why it's highly important to try and reduce any harmful industry activity the mammals are or could be exposed to, or so you would think.

Instead of listening to the scientists on this matter, the National led government is determined to undertake oil exploration and drilling in the critically endangered dolphins habitat. This is despite the proposed oil and gas industry activity being proven to be harmful to mammals.

Today, Stuff reported:

The Green Party says mineral mining permits have been granted across a third of a marine sanctuary inhabited by Maui's Dolphins.

Today the party released maps comparing sightings of the endangered mammals with areas where mining companies have been granted exploration permits on the west coast of the North Island.

The maps show there have been 254 sightings of the dolphins.

There's no doubt that the government's decision will result in more dolphin deaths.

Instead of treating another sentient being with the respect it deserves, National will allow a risky business to undertake dangerous activity that will undoubtedly have a detrimental impact on Maui's dolphin's, pushing them even closer to extinction.

Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges said the Government had taken steps to tighten regulation around mineral exploration, and the permits were for prospecting, with more onerous requirements if the companies elected to progress to drilling.

"Using an evidence-based approach there has been no harm to Maui's Dolphins [from mineral exploration]", Bridges told Radio New Zealand.

This is another blatant lie by a National MP. The negative effect on mammals like the Maui's dolphin's from seismic testing is well documented. There are also a number of studies showing how drilling waste and petroleum-based substances have an adverse effect on whales and dolphins. Here's one of them (PDF).

It’s simply not good enough for Simon Bridges to claim that there's no evidence when there obviously is. He's a Minister of the Crown after all and should at least have a basic understanding of what the scientific research (PDF) is saying.

Instead, the dishonest Energy and Resources Minister appears to be no more than a sock-puppet for the oil and gas industry, which is yet another good reason to change the government come the September general election.

Hauiti's spending spree

It always amazes me that political polling in New Zealand seems to coincide with reporting on yet another government blunder or case of corruption. But instead of the polls reflecting the general publics distaste for such things, they seem to reward errant government MP's for their bad behaviour.

When revelations that the National led government used incorrect crime statistics that were falsified by the police to show declining crime rates, their polling support increased. After new information that shows National applied "political pressure" on the SIS and Immigration to allow Kim Dotcom residency, the people polled apparently approved of a clear breach of due process with National's support going up 3%.

One of the problems is that mainstream media is largely ignoring stories that make the government look bad. As an example, a biased approach to reporting meant recently released information showing the NZDF involvement in war crimes was effectively sidestepped by the MSM and consequently by the government as well.

In fact the polling would have us believe that such abuse is an acceptable practice that should be rewarded by voters at the upcoming 2014 election.

However the public might not be so forgiving of being ripped off, with Stuff reporting yesterday:

Claudette Hauiti has surrendered her parliamentary charge card after using it to pay for a Christmas trip to Australia.

The trip and other unauthorised spending on the card - known as a purchasing or p-card - led to the list MP returning it to Parliamentary Service in March.

Prime Minister John Key said in 2010 that the Government had "led the charge" on transparency of MPs' spending.

But Parliamentary Service has refused to detail the mis-spending on Hauiti's card or supply a total.

It was bad enough that Hauiti only attained her position because National's lowest ranked list MP at the time, Aaron Gilmore, had to resign after abusing restaurant staff, clearly showing the Nats are scraping the bottom of their talent barrel, but after Hauiti is put in a position she clearly doesn't deserve she starts ripping off the system? That's not an acceptable way for our democratic process to be utilized.

You could only imagine the mainstream medias reaction if Hauiti was still with Labour. Thankfully for his ratings the Prime Minister is conveniently out of the country so he doesn't have to try and justify such spending abuse after claiming government MP's would be held to a higher standard...standards that appear to be non-existent under his so-called leadership.

Much like the former Act party leader Rodney Hide, ripping of the taxpayer is likely to be the death knell for Hauiti's short and unremarkable political career.

It also took more than a week for the National party to return calls.

She admitted last night that she had used the card to pay for flights to Australia, which she said cost about "$200 and something", but could not be more specific.

"I went to Australia. It was travel only and way outside Parliamentary Service guidelines."

Clearly this is a blatant lie. Government MP's always fly first class and even at economy pricing a return flight to Australia is around $500 these days. It's also an obvious lie because the government hasn't been forthcoming with the details of Hauiti's spending. They're trying to hide the extent of just how much she's ripped off the taxpayer for obvious reasons.

If Hauiti is too stupid to understand the rules and doesn't have enough moral aptitude to realise that using taxpayer’s money to fund her Christmas spend-up in Australia was wrong, she's certainly not capable of representing the good people of Kelston.

Coupled with employing her wife, Nadine Hauiti-Mau, in her Auckland electorate office and it is clear that Claudette Hauiti should do the taxpayer's a favour and resign, which would be no real loss to the National party or politics in general.

Where are the houses Nick?

The housing crisis is hurting New Zealand families. People are working harder than ever but can't get ahead. The Housing Minister says he's addressing the shortage, but where are the houses?