The Jackal


14 Jan 2020

National's negative campaigning

Anybody who looked into the Dirty Politics saga knows all too well that honesty is often in short supply within the National Party. You would think that after the exposure the John Key government received over their untruthful attack politics, the National Party would learn from its "mistakes" and leave such underhanded campaigns in the past where they belong. However that unfortunately doesn’t appear to be the case.

Simon Bridges - Current Leader of the National Party

The National Party, now under the feckless leadership of Simon Bridges, is using the same old dirty political tactics, along with assistance from a largely biased mainstream media, to manipulate voters into believing that the current Government isn’t doing its job properly.

National aren't providing any actual evidence though. Instead they're undertaking an entirely dishonest and unconstructive campaign in the lead up to the 2020 election, which basically confirms that National are, as their propagandists like to phrase it, haters and wreckers!

Here’s a recent negative and untruthful tweet authorised by Simon Bridges:


Astounding disinformation indeed. So let’s address these false allegations.

1. Strong Economy

New Zealand’s economic growth is stronger than expected and better than most other major economies around the world. Even on a per person basis, New Zealand is doing better now than National’s last year in Government.

2. Reduced Child Poverty

In order to help achieve a significant and sustained reduction in child poverty, the Labour led Government passed the Child Poverty Reduction Act in 2018. Despite this legislation there hasn’t been a discernible reduction in the child poverty rate yet. In fact the latest statistics show that before housing costs are deducted, the child poverty rate has increased by around 1 per cent. 
However the most recent statistics account for only 9 months of the current administrations governance. For National to be arguing that 9 months is a long enough period of time to significantly reduce child poverty is dishonest! In the absence of available data, they’re simply trying to convince voters that they care more about impoverished children than Labour does, which is clearly a false narrative.
For National to be criticising the Government over Child Poverty, after 9 years of their neglect and significant cuts to social services, is simply ridiculous!

3. Light Rail

We all know that the National Party absolutely failed to do anything about Auckland’s congestion woes. That hasn’t stopped them attacking the Government over Auckland’s light rail though, which is still in the development stage. Cabinet is due to consider the two different proposals in February this year. Clearly the Labour Party never promised to build Auckland's light rail in 2019.

4. 1800 More Police

Once again the promise was to provide 1800 more Police within three years, not the year of delivery. Despite this, in September 2019, the Government announced that 1685 new Police constables had already been deployed and a further 220 aspiring Police officers were also training. That means the Government will exceed the Labour Party’s election promise.

5. Free Doctor Visits

This is another false claim by the National Party. 
The Labour led Government made GP visits free for under 14-year-olds in 2018. Also, the Government ensured that an adult with a Community Services Card won’t pay more than $19 to see the GP and young people aged 14 to 17 years, who have a parent or caregiver with a CSC, will be charged no more than $13.

6. More ECE Services

In the Labour led Government’s first Budget they increased funding for 100% qualified ECE centres by $276 million over four years. The promise was to boost ECE quality and the Government is in fact delivering on that promise.

7. One Billion Trees

Labour never promised to plant a billion trees in 2019. This is just more dishonest politicking from the National Party. The One Billion Trees Programme developed by the current Government has made significant progress and is on track to planting a billion trees by 2028.

8. Capital Gains Tax

The Government has failed to implement a Capital Gains Tax, likely because NZ First MPs are overly invested in property. The issue here is that Labour didn't campaign in 2017 on implementing a CGT. What they said is they would set up a Tax Working Group and then make a decision afterwards.
But why the National Party, who won’t implement a CGT either, is attacking the Government over this is nonsensical. The National Party clearly has no plan, or intention, of implementing policy that would make housing more affordable in New Zealand.

9. Kiwibuild

Labour’s plan was to build 100,000 high quality, affordable homes over 10 years. They now plan on building as many houses as they can, saying the initial figure was too ambitious. 
By October 2019, 726 houses had been built under the Kiwibuild scheme. However the Labour led Government has built 2837 houses since June 2018 when you include their community and state housing builds. Another 3563 Government housing programme houses (not including market supplied houses) are currently under construction. 
Contrast that with National’s plan to scrap Kiwibuild and replace it with nothing. In fact the previous right wing Government sold thousands of state houses to their developer mates at below market rates, which directly led to a prolonged housing crisis. There is no question that such corruption increased the number of homeless people in New Zealand.

We might not be seeing the amount of progress we want, but at least it’s progress.

The alternative to the Labour led Government's incrementalism on major things like Child Poverty and the Housing Crisis is a continuation of John Key's self-serving ideology and negativity from the National Party, which is obviously disappointing from a public and political perspective.

National aren't proposing any actual policy changes that are anywhere near researched or robust enough to even consider voting for. Instead they seem to be entrenched on the sidelines busily throwing stones, that with the truth getting in the way, are landing well clear of the mark.
Published by the Jackal



7 Jan 2020

Donald Trump’s strategic gamble

There’s a meme going around the Internet at the moment claiming that Donald Trump is a bit of an idiot. To outside eyes it does seem as though the President of the United States thumbs his nose at his own countries laws and administration far too often to be taken seriously.

People should take him deadly seriously though. Trump understands that in a world of mass media and fake news, not being talked about is akin to political death.

To this effect he’s designed his entire media strategy around gaining attention. In fact he’s an expert at manipulating the mainstream media and the public alike to promote himself above all others. Trump is a reactionist in every sense of the word.


Much of the President’s success comes from a clever strategy of controlling the sound bite. Trump always has a memorable answer to any criticism that not only makes sense to his followers, but is also designed to annoy anybody who has the time to dig into the details.

Insulting smart people’s intelligence might seem like a bad idea politically, but Trump understands that politics is a numbers game and attention spans are now shorter than ever.

Very few people read past the headlines these days, something I’m sure Cambridge Analytica made abundantly clear to the President during his election campaign. There is no question that Trump has a plethora of propaganda tools at his fingertips even Hitler would be proud of, which combined with his style is perfectly suited to controlling the American masses.

Donald Trump prays in the Oval Office

The Don will clearly do anything to attain and retain power. If that means doing dirty deals with the Russians to destroy political opponents, criticising his detractors through disinformation campaigns or targeting and assassinating high profile people from other countries to take the focus off his impeachment, then that is what Trump will do.

Some may view his grandstanding as patriotism, but make no mistake his recent bravado concerning Iran is all about Trump trying to secure his Presidency for a second term.

You may think the leader of the so-called free world wouldn’t be so callous as to risk the lives of thousands if not millions of people just for his own political gain? Think again. Recent events have clearly shown that Trump will do anything, including threatening to destroy Iran’s cultural sites, to secure himself in a position most of the world now views with disdain.


Everybody with half a brain knows that the case for killing Qasem Soleimani in Iraq was razor thin, while the benefits for Trump, that his impeachment has been delayed indefinitely as congress deals with the fallout, are considerable.

Not only does Trump, a climate change denier, take some of the focus off of Australia’s PM Scott Morrison’s mishandling of their unprecedented bush fires, he also gets to flex his countries military muscle and once again cast himself as the saviour of the Middle East.

The flip side to wining votes domestically however is extensive international criticism for undertaking what most are calling an unprovoked and unnecessary assassination.


In an attempt to calm their critics, the United States Congress says they will vote on another law change that could halt Trump's planned re-invasion of the Middle East. What they don’t say is that a similar vote has already been vetoed by Trump and they’re voting to halt an invasion that has been many years in the planning and has in fact already began.

In effect the United States Congress has become an impotent tool of a dictator, scrambling to save face in a world that has lost all respect for a largely soulless America. A master manipulator is not only playing them, they’re complicit through their own political failure in the Presidents morally repugnant crusade to save his own questionable political career.



Trump saying the assassination was an act of peace, not an act of war, was a masterstroke in manipulating the narrative. Deluded followers thanked him profusely while labeling those who spoke out against another unjustified war crime as unpatriotic.

The false ‘weapons of mass destruction’ claim has been replaced with direct fear mongering about terrorism. Patriotism for America has in effect become a cancer to the rest of the world with fear, not loyalty, now binding western countries to the Red White and Blue.


Trump has blundered strategically in both a political and operational sense. As Middle Eastern countries unite against America, the President is not only undoing Barrack Obama’s legacy, but also George Bush’s compliance with the CIA’s directive to destabilise the Middle East. The nuance of such matters however will unfortunately likely be lost on America's voting public.
Published by the Jackal



6 Jan 2020

Jeremy Clarkson - God is an arsonist


You've really got to wonder if Jeremy Clarkson is worshiping the right deity? I mean thinking that Australia is somehow deserving of the calamity that has befallen it in the form of unprecedented bush fires is one thing, but claiming God intentionally likes to cause people and animals immeasurable pain and misery is another.

Today, SBS News reported:

Jeremy Clarkson slammed for saying 'embarrassed' God has set fire to Australia

Former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson has attracted criticism for claiming that God "didn't want people to live in Australia" so has set fire to it.

In a column for UK newspaper The Sun, Clarkson tried to take a light-hearted approach to the ongoing bushfire crisis, which has so far claimed at least 23 lives.

What is it about Climate Change related disaster that brings out the worst in people who aren't being affected? Clearly Australia burning and people dying isn’t something for the privileged Englishman to joke about.

Clarkson said God created Australia "as a continent far, far away where he could house all his experiments that had gone wrong", before listing the saltwater crocodile, the redback spider and the nation's many snakes as examples.

"He even used this remote outpost to house some of his more ridiculous ideas. Stuff he came up with when he was drunk. Like those birds that can't fly and that otter with a beak.

Why would The Sun give column space to the ravings of a senile old fool? England is actually embarrassing itself internationally by publishing the dribbling inanities of someone obviously suffering from Narcissistic personality disorder. Instead of rushing to print such badly written clickbait they should do the right thing and get Jeremy Clarkson some help.

"And to make sure people didn't go there, he put a huge coral reef on the approaches ... For millions of years, this big, sandy cupboard under the stairs went unnoticed," he said, seemingly ignoring Australia's Indigenous history.

Seemingly ignoring Australia's Indigenous history? Maybe he actually means Aboriginal people as well? I mean it’s not the first time the idiot has been openly racist. This appears to be just another example of his unhinged bigotry!

"But then along came Captain Cook and now the world knows all about Oz and its stupid, dangerous creatures.

Nearly 500 Million wildlife creatures have died (not including insects, bats or frogs) in the Australian bush fires so far. Entire species have perished meaning Australia will never fully recover. Anybody making light of such a large disaster clearly needs a straightjacket.

"Plainly, God is embarrassed. Because he's decided to set fire to it."

What kind of entitled prat claims that God is an arsonist and that Australia somehow deserves to be punished right when they're hurting the most from these record-breaking fires? Clarkson is effectively trolling the entire nation of Australia. So let’s see what the Aussies say in response.

Published by the Jackal



31 Dec 2019

Apathy in the face of disaster

Warning: This article contains topics that might trigger right wing snowflakes!

 Unless you’ve had your head buried in a billabong for the last four months you’d of heard about the Australian bush fires. The fires have been unprecedented, with approximately five million hectares (12.35 million acres) of land burned nationwide. More than 1,000 homes have been destroyed and 9 people have now tragically lost their lives.

The world is watching with ever increasing unease about Australia's climate change related disaster. Not just because the fires aren't under control, but because the Australian Government is sitting on its hands while their country burns.

Youth environmental leader Greta Thunberg succinctly summed their apathy up in one of the most iconic tweets this year:


So what are Aussie leaders doing to help fight these fires? Well going on holiday of course.

On 22 Dec, The Guardian reported:

Scott Morrison says Hawaii holiday was like taking 'that extra plumbing contract' on a Friday afternoon

In a series of interviews on Monday Morrison cited family commitments as the reason for his decision to holiday in Hawaii during the crisis, comparing himself to a plumber forced to choose between a Friday afternoon job or seeing his family.

Morrison returned to work on Sunday, cutting short the holiday by a day after the deaths of two volunteer firefighters on Thursday, but insisted he would not “panic” by increasing Australia’s ambition to fight global heating.

Asked about his judgment in taking the holiday, Morrison said the fires had been going since September – citing his earlier visits to bushfire areas – and “still have a time to run yet”.

Even before the bush fire season had officially started the fires had ravaged much of the Australian east coast causing widespread damage. That stark reality wasn’t enough for Morrison to stick around though. Instead he set about annoying environmentalists by saying burning and exporting more coal wouldn’t make any difference to Australia’s fire season. He then went on holiday to Hawaii.

Australian Prime Minister - Scott Morrison

With an ever-increasing body of evidence available you would think that a Prime Minister would make the simple connection between these unprecedented bush fires and climate change increasing temperatures in Australia. Not Scott Morrison though. He’s been steadfastly ignoring the numerous scientists and their warnings that a hotter, drier climate would contribute to Australia's fires becoming more frequent and intense.

So why would Morrison ignore the warnings and advice that Australia must curb its GHG emissions? Well money of course.

On 23 Dec, AFP reported:

Australia PM defends coal as climate-fuelled bushfires burn

Under-fire Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday rejected calls for "reckless" and "job-destroying" cuts to the country's vast coal industry in the face of a deadly climate-fuelled bushfire crisis.

Morrison's conservative government has fiercely defended the lucrative coal industry in Australia, which produces a third of global coal exports and provides work in swing electoral districts.

"I am not going to write off the jobs of thousands of Australians by walking away from traditional industries," Morrison told the Seven Network, in one of several morning interviews rejecting calls for further action.

"What we won't do is engage in reckless and job-destroying and economy-crunching targets which are being sought," he told Channel 9, responding to calls for more climate-friendly policies.

While Scott Morrison cites the potential job losses from the lucrative coal industry for not reducing Australia's record breaking coal production level, he blatantly ignores the many thousands of jobs that will be directly lost because of these bush fires. He also fails to consider the lost productivity because of record-breaking pollution levels.

On Dec 2, The New York Times reported:

Australia Burns Again, and Now Its Biggest City Is Choking

State officials have warned of the dangers. The New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage said that “our network has recorded some of the highest air pollution ever seen” in the state.

In November, the department recorded 15 days of poor air quality, far beyond the monthly norm.  On Monday, the levels of PM2.5, the most harmful form of pollutant, were 22 times the accepted safety level — the equivalent of smoking more than a pack of cigarettes a day. Pollution levels were expected to reach similar heights on Friday.

Even compared to the terrible fire seasons of 1994 and 2001, “this event,” state officials said, “is the longest and the most widespread in our records.”

It’s not just the human cost that should be counted either.

On 29 Dec, The Evening Standard reported:

Nearly 500 million animals killed in Australian bushfires, experts fear

Around 480 million animals are feared to have died in the bushfires sweeping Australia, including nearly a third of the koalas in New South Wales's main habitat.

Ecologists at the University of Sydney estimate around 480 million mammals, birds and reptiles have been killed, directly or indirectly, by the devastating blazes since they began in September, The Times reported.

This includes almost 8,000 koalas, which are believed to have burnt to death on the state’s mid-north coast.

So what will it take to get Scott (Scumo) Morrison to act in the nations and environments best interest…one of Australia’s cities burning down? Clearly a change in Government will be required in Australia before we see any meaningful reduction to their coal exports, which account for a whopping 7% of GHG emissions worldwide.


There is no question that increasingly hotter temperatures are fuelling these fires...and despite underfunded fire-fighters best efforts, the numerous infernos look set to continue destroying homes and livelihoods across Australia with little to no intervention from their climate change denying Prime Minister, Scott Morrison.
Published by the Jackal



30 Dec 2019

The Spinoff is a bit shit really

Call me old fashioned, but I like my sport to be played fair and on an even field. In fact there’s nothing worse than a game where the ref fails to umpire properly and one team is flouting the damn rules.

The same goes for politics. If journalists don’t do their jobs properly, politics becomes a complete shit show! That’s because without politicians being held to account they can pretty much get away with doing and saying whatever they want with impunity. In this regard biased reporting puts the entire political system and our democracy at risk. After all, a misinformed population cannot be expected to vote for or act in their own best interests.

Like previous years, the need for independent oversight and scrutiny from the press has never been greater. But unfortunately 2019 hasn’t seen any increase in balanced reporting. Instead, so-called journalists have again attempted to mislead the public into believing falsehoods with numerous examples of prejudiced and downright dishonest reporting often being the norm not the exception.

Toby Manhire - freelance writer and editor of The Spinoff

A good example of this was displayed when The Spinoff claimed in September that the Labour Party had attempted a cover-up of an alleged serious sexual assault, a claim that turned out to be entirely untrue.

On 18 Dec, Radio NZ reported:

Sexual assault allegations against ex-Labour staffer 'not established'

As part of her inquiry, Ms Dew conducted several interviews and considered 28,000 Facebook and text messages between the complainants, the respondent and others.

There was a "a serious allegation of sexual harassment" made against one of the Labour Party volunteers at his home, along with other allegations of sexual harassment made by the complainant and two other female complainants.

"The most serious allegations, those of sexual assault, were not established," the report said.

"The assault is alleged to have occurred in February 2018 at the respondent's home. However, there is insufficient evidence that the events occurred as alleged by Ms 1, at any time during February 2018.

"Her evidence was incorrect in several critical respects in relation to the events of that evening."

The report also revealed the two people had been in a "consensual personal relationship" for some eight months by February 2018.

On Dec 19, The Daily Blog reported:

TDB 2019 Media Awards  - Worst Journalism 2019 
The Spinoff published a damning one sided expose hit job alleging serious sexual assault, this led to feminist journalists and right wing Pundits to declare that not only must Jacinda have known about this sexual assault, but that she actively covered it up as well. 
It was a vicious character assassination against Jacinda based on nothing more than woke mantra and rumour.

A real good old fashioned witch trial.

When this erupted in the media, huge pressure went on Labour to cauterise this wound and Nigel Haworth lost his job and a review immediately called. To confuse matters, Simon Mitchell, Lawyer and Labour Party uber insider swore that the claimant had never sent the documents she claimed she did.

Pathetically The Spinoff hasn’t bothered to respond to Bomber Bradbury's post. Likewise, the Dew report confirming that the Labour Party wasn’t informed of the alleged serious sexual assault hasn’t resulted in any retractions of the lies that The Spinoff published.

Alex Casey - Senior Writer at The Spinoff
Such unwarranted silence is in stark contrast to their previous vociferous attention seeking. Without a second thought for those who might be impacted, opinionated hacks like Andrea Vance, Tova O'Brien, Toby Manhire and Alex Casey loudly beat their war drums for Labour Party resignations like a bunch of crazed zealots! Too invested in their own false narratives to properly contemplate just how prejudiced their misinformed reckons were, these “journalists” lacked impartiality on a scale never before seen in our faltering fourth estate.

Even now, after an extensive investigation and comprehensive report showed their accusations were false, some journalists still claim Labour mishandled the serious sexual assault complaint, which according to them is the reason party president Nigel Haworth resigned. Apparently the MSM still view Haworth as insignificant collateral damage not worth a second thought or upholding things like journalistic integrity over. God forbid they actually apologise to him for their numerous incorrect accusations that destroyed his previously unmarred career as the Labour Party president.

The investigation clearly shows that Haworth hadn't failed in his duty to the Labour Party or the alleged victims. Instead Haworth resigned because he admirably didn’t want to see his party mired in a relentless, vindictive and unfounded smear campaign orchestrated by unprofessional journalists whose attack articles lacked any semblance of objectivity.
Published by the Jackal



23 Dec 2019

Paula Bennett wrong to condemn PM

Warning: This article contains sensitive topics some people might find offensive.

It seems rather tedious to have to reiterate this on the eve of Christmas, but people are innocent until proven guilty under New Zealand law. Evidently certain journalists and politicians have forgotten this basic tenet of our Justice System. Of course people can make assumptions, but the media and Members of Parliament in particular must ensure that they aren't simply broadcasting beliefs that are based on mere speculation.

I am of course referring to the findings of an inquiry into the allegations of sexual assaults and harassment that recently rocked the Labour Party to its core, an inquiry that was the result of certain media and National Party politicians mercilessly going on the attack against Labour without verifying the facts first. 

Sadly for those who jumped to conclusions, Maria Dew QC recently summarised:

Sexual assault allegation – not established 
1.15. The allegation of sexual assault made by Ms 1 against the respondent is not established. The assault is alleged to have occurred in February 2018 at the respondent’s home. However, there is insufficient evidence that the events occurred as alleged by Ms 1, at any time during February 2018. Her evidence was incorrect in several critical respects in relation to the events of that evening. 
1.16. The investigation also found that Ms 1 and the respondent had been in a consensual personal relationship for some eight months by February 2018. The time Ms 1 and the respondent spent together in his home or her flat, during the evenings in that month, arose out of their personal relationship. In this event, the New Zealand Labour Party Code of Conduct and Harassment policies do not govern their personal relationship.

As some people seem to be a bit confused about this finding, please allow me to clarify. It does not mean a sexual assault did not occur. It is not the place of a QC to make such a determination. Instead that is the role of the Police and ultimately a Court of law.

The problem is that without the alleged victim making a formal Police complaint (here's how to report rape or sexual assault), published speculation about somebodies guilt or innocence is just that, speculation. A trial by media on the basis of misinformation promoted by unscrupulous politicians doesn't help anyone. It certainly didn't help the alleged victims in this case.

Deputy Leader of the National Party, Paula Bennett

A lack of any due process unfortunately didn’t stop Paula Bennett from trying to condemn Jacinda Ardern about the alleged sexual assault complaint, a complaint that hadn’t actually been made to the Labour Party at all. The facts be damned! Bennett smelled blood and knew that her media lackeys would lap her rhetoric up like there was no tomorrow.

Cover-up they yelled, too hungry for a scoop and reckless with their own credibility to even properly check the veracity of the claims made. For most of us however, even before the investigation was concluded, it was pretty obvious such an unrelenting public attack on the PM was unwarranted. The report just confirmed that our suspicions were correct.

The remainder of her evidence about reporting this allegation orally in her 9 March 2019 investigation committee interview, is rejected as improbable when assessed against the weight of other witness evidence to the contrary. On the balance of probabilities, the emails Ms 1 sent to the Party on 9 March 2019, to both Mr Simon Mitchell and Ms Lacy, did not contain any attached document detailing her allegation of sexual assault by the respondent.

This means Labour was telling the truth when they said they hadn’t received a complaint about a serious sexual assault. The QC likely checked for any attachments on the emails Mr Mitchell and Ms Lacy had received and found none. We should therefore consider this finding entirely evidentially based.

So a genuine mistake to attach a document (we've all been there) and/or a calculated attempt to discredit the Labour party and in particular the Prime Minister? In my opinion this all stinks of more business as usual Dirty Politics from the National Party. There is no question that Paula Bennett used the vulnerable 19-year-olds situation to her advantage. Instead of informing the Police about an alleged rapist, Bennett selfishly politicised the unsubstantiated claims and in the process ignored the legal rights owed to all those involved.

Clearly it wasn’t in the public’s interest for Bennett to abuse the very foundation of her Parliamentary Privilege by failing to act with honour. Invariably the general public is interested in politicians telling the truth and upholding the law rather than the morally challenged amongst them using other peoples misfortune to try and save their own deteriorating political careers. In this respect and in light of the malicious smear campaign she caused, Paula Bennett has breached her Conditions of Service as a Member of Parliament.

Here’s what she tweeted just after the report was released:


Get that! Labour wants to bury a report that almost entirely exonerates their conduct. Talk about deluded! The realisation that it’s in her best interest for people to be on holiday at the moment seems entirely lost on Paula Bennett...and for this stupidity alone she should resign.


Do you want to talk?

Safe to talk KĹŤrero mai ka ora sexual harm helpline: www.safetotalk.nz, 0800 044 334

TOAH-NNEST Te Ohaakii a Hine – National network ending sexual violence together: toah-nnest.org.nz

National Collective of Rape Crisis 24-hour helpline: 0800 883 300

Published by the Jackal