New Zealand needs an open democracy

During my recent visit to Bangkok, I watched a whole lot more TV, for one reason or another this is a sad fact but I wont go into that here!

While watching various news product from around the world, most of it politics, I was struck by how open and free the United States primaries and the US electoral system were. Where else in the world would two sides of the same political party, the Democrats, would go hammer and tongs for 16 months against each other, throw every filthy piece of dirt, tens of millions of dollars and say the most outrageous things that would be the end of the most stable of friendships in the real world, in the hope that one or other individual would be able to challenge John McCain come November 2008 for the US presidency, in the most powerful open democracy in the world.

Related Political Animal reading

NZ losses democratic freedom
Mike Moore turns the knife
List of MPs who voted for Act
Auckland Protest against EFB
The purpose of the Bill is clear


McCain himself was left open to similar scrutiny, his private life stripped bare for all to see, the very marrow at the centre of his soul was open to question.

No matter the politics that one follows or ones own "world view" one cannot deny that politics in America is in a very healthy state, as defined by the process of selection of candidates,not necessarily the quality of the candidates-you only have to look at the poor political and personal records of Hillary and Barry Obama to see the genesis of truth there.

While watching the box I also saw reported other forms of democracy. The brutal, murderous and secretive dictatorship of Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, where politics is decided at the point of a gun and more recently through threat of starvation, Thailand's "benevolent dictatorship" or democracy with a bomb strapped to it in the Hamas led Palestine.

Lying somewhere in between those extremes lies the New Zealand democratic system. Sick from the dog wagging the tail, extremist lunatics like the global warming fanatics in the Green Party, the racist propaganda from the Maori Party, the complete nonsense from Winston Peter's and his New Zealand First Party and the evil Socialist intent of the ruling Labour Party Junta.

We have individuals like Margaret Wilson, Winston Peters, Sue Kedgly and Jeanette Fitzsimmons who were not voted into power by New Zealanders, but by their own party members and they have made life and death decisions based on their own ill conceived form of personal agenda politics on behalf of all0p New Zealanders.

The epitome of how closed our political landscape was the imposition of the Electoral Finance Act by Labour government politicians last year. Unlike the openness and strident debate that has been seen in America for the last 16 months the EFA has led to a fearfulness of opposition to speak out against the incumbent Labour government, by New Zealanders, the media and opposition politicians alike. The threat to an open democracy where debate can be had without fear or favour just doesn't exist in this country anymore.

While Mugabe and Hamas use extreme forms of control to influence political and personal behavior to sniffle debate and the freedoms of their respective political systems and retain political control, the New Zealand Labour Party have used legislation to achieve similar results.

For the future of a good democracy in New Zealand we must reform our nations political structure in a way more closely aligned to America, where free and open debate reign supreme, if not our future lies closer to Mugabe's Zimbabwe rather than the open democracy that we once had.

Removal of the MMP voting system and repeal of the Electoral Finance Act will allow such a democracy to flourish once again and give the nation the hope that it deserves.

c Political Animal 2008

Labour and their Last Crusade

“We just don't believe in tax cuts - it's against our fundamental philosophy - after all we are socialists and proud of it.”

— Dr Michael Cullen


No wonder Dr Cullen found it difficult to announce his meager tax cuts in this weeks 2008 budget announcement, because his party simply does not fundamentally believe that personal tax cuts are deserved by the working people of this country.

Cullen of course believes that he knows best and that he should hold on to most of your money because he knows best how to spend it. He has done that for 9 years now and simply because it is election year he is giving your money back at an average $16 per week. The price of a ticket to the latest Indiana Jones movie.

We all know that tax cuts do stimulate economies but this is far too little and far too late. Costs imposed on individuals and business by Labour put us way behind where we were in 1999 and most workers would require $200-300 to have them back at status quo.


Related Political Animal reading

Michael Cullen's history on tax cuts comes back to haunt him
Pointing fingers in the playground
At least Robin Hood was honest
The black economy makes sense
Labours State Control out of control

We can exclude so-called "working for families" from the tax equation because it is welfare and we are talking about tax cuts here and not handouts.

The focus of this budget on yet more welfare, through working for families, higher student allowances and unemployment benefits and higher profligate spending on embassies, Governor General house renovations and train set purchases just shows where Labour's priorities lie. The extra spending on these u necessaries far outweighs their meagre cuts in taxes and in these dire economic times you cut back on spending, you don't spend more on luxuries.

That is where the wriggle room for National comes in promising more money going back to those who earn't it in the first place.

A far better tax cut regime would have been the first NZ$10000.00 tax free and a progressive rise to around 20% tax rate to $30,000 of income then a tapering off to 10% after that as incomes go higher-an incentive to work harder/smarter, instead of the current disincentive as the tax rates go higher the more you earn. That ain't going to happen under National either but one can dream nonetheless!

If this was a budget to help pout those in need because of the current blow out in oil, food and service prices then the October 1 cuts would have been brought forward to June 1 but there will be an election not long after Oct 1 and as Michael Cullen rightly says:

My view is that tax cuts are largely offered as a political bribe, not because of beneficial economic or social effects.

— Dr Michael Cullen

Cullen's maxim doesn't not apply to National as they have always been consistent on personal tax cuts. They believe in them, they always have and it has always been one of that party's main economic tenants-that is, kiwis know best how to spend their own money, not the government.

A chorus that has been sung by Labour since our economy went pear shaped and reiterated in the budget is that "global economic conditions" have affected our economy. Sure they have, but the largest negative affect by far has been Labour's mis-management of the economy for the last 9 years. Hard work by our businesses and middle classes (those that provide the bulk of taxes) provided the best economic conditions in generations but the good times were squandered by Labour. High taxes, regulation and reckless government spending have led to a doubling of mortgage rates, higher food and energy prices and inflation. These things happed before any global slowdown and it is simply a lie to say otherwise.

What was needed in the 2008 budget was a vision for its people. That is, a strong focus on hard work and personal responsibility and incentives to enable that. What we got was more of the same. Energies channeled on State involvement in our lives and a tax and spend policy that would extend into a Labour 4th term should we all be unlucky enough to have them foisted upon us again for another 3 years.

We will leave the second to last word(because I always get the upper hand over her) to our Aunty Helen:

Tax cuts are a path to inequality. They are the promises of a vision-less and intellectually bankrupt people.— Helen Clark, speech to 2000 labour Party Conference

Tax cuts are actually the path to fairness, equity and personal responsibility, the intellectually bankrupt tag goes to those who disagree or would cut personal taxes weeks before an election.




c Political Animal 2008

Labour Party election funding murky at best

c Stan Blanch 2008


The stench surrounding the funding of the Labour Party by ex pat Kiwi Owen Glenn prior to the 2005 election just gets more pungent and darkly ominous, as the weeks and months pass.

Glenn gave NZ$500,000.00 to Labour Party coffers to bolster their empty pockets in the run up the the 2005 stolen election(Labour took over $800,000.00 of taxpayer money to illegally fund their campaign) nothing wrong with that, big money shouldn't be a problem to fund an election run.

It seems though that there is more than meets the eye to this generous individuals gift.

If the bestowing for Glenn, of a New Years honour this year wasn't enough, it seems that the layers of the onion that are the gift to the Labour Party appear to be peeling off to reveal a bit of a rotten core.

It certainly isn't the gift that keeps on giving.

Glenn has revealed that he gifted the money to Labour because of concerns that he had over the Brethren spending their own money(not taxpayers dear readers) to campaign against Labour and the Greens.

But curiously, Glenn made his first donation of $200,000 to Labour in 2004, well before the Brethren's involvement in the 2005 election became public knowledge.

A slip of memory on Glenn's part?

According to Labour Party president Mike Williams yes: "Owen is confused about the timing".

Williams seems very confused since he himself admitted in a May 5 2005 story in the New Zealand Herald that Glenn had been paying funds directly into Labour Party coffers beginning in 2004 and to the tune of $200,000.

The biggest possible scandal exists directly with the Prime Minister though.

Glenn has been reported as saying that he was offered the post of Minister of Transport by Helen Clark, in order to get him back to New Zealand.

Clark has denied Glenn's assertion that he was offered a job in the Labour Cabinet saying on Friday, "...it did not happen..."

Now we have all heard the Prime Minister lie before and caught out multiple times, so Fridays denial seems a trifle perplexing given the status Owen Glenn has reached in his business life. Impeccable business acumen, honesty and straightforwardness have been trademarks of his throughout his distinguished life.

Glenn also loaned the party $100,000.00 to employ fund raisers after the 2005 election, it was paid back without interest but the interest forgone seems to have been in breach of the electoral rules.

I'm unsure whether the changing of the appropriate electoral laws by Labour after the 2005 election to make their illegal pilfering of $800,000.00 of taxpayer funds legal has also made this latest reported breach legal retrospectively, but it bares thinking about when you cast a vote this year.

Whichever way you look at this situation it stinks worse than Parakura Horomia's socks on a wet hot day in Wellington.

Labour have passed laws to crack down on other political parties for the 2008 election but it seems they have some skeletons in the closet left over from 2005.

The funding from Labours wealthy foreign domiciled backers during the 2005 election needs to be looked at more closely by the appropriate authorities and the public of this country cant be fobbed off again by the likes of a Prime Minister who wouldn't know the truth if it came up and shook her hand then slapped her in the face with it.

The public have a right to the truth.

Clearly this scrutiny should also be applied to the coming election for if we can be sure of one thing, Labour will try similar ploys again.


Related Political Animal reading

NZ Herald gets nasty over the Electoral Finance Bill
Electoral Finance Bill: Day of Protest
Electoral Finance Bill: The purpose is clear
Mike Moore turns the knife on Electoral Finance Bill

C Political Animal 2008

Waiting for the backlash

Emmerson, NZ Herald, Dec 12 2007- "Shallow and error-prone"

The Herald is facing a backlash from Helen Clark for their strong
stand against the Electoral Finance Bill, she doesn't like opposition
and the EFB removes that in election year.



The latest stupidity from the Labour/Peter's Government, Winston"Baubles" Peters, paying back ill gotten taxpayer money to a children's hospital instead of the Auditor General, is merely another in a long list of arrogant, unlawful, stupid, malicious and corrupt practices that Helen and her hangers on have foisted upon us over the last 8 long years.

I'm just wondering to myself, when is there going to be a backlash?

Where is the anger, the outrage, the venom, has Clark's regime breed the mongrel out of us?

There have been touches of it, with street protests against the Electoral Finance Bill, but those were tame. In Australia cars would be burned in the streets if their leaders tried this sort of fascist stuff!

We watched our judicial system tumble when Labour pulled down the august pillars of the Privy council appeals without a whimper.

Little was done when Kiwis' rights as parents to discipline their children by having the capacity to smack was removed.

Attempts at dissolving property rights, the intervention of Clark's nanny statists to tell us what to eat, watch, listen to, breathe and teach us "appropriate" ways to talk to those who offend against our persons least we hurt their feelings were met with a whimper of dissent, even from the National "opposition".

The arrogance of a leader and those under her who believe they are above those that they work for is truly mind blowing. Speeding through a small town at 170km per hr to go to a rugby game and blaming several policemen by allowing them to be charged. Mugabee and other tin pot dictators would be proud and we presumably were too because few bothered to raise a voice let alone a middle finger.

Making theft of taxpayer money to buy an election legal after the fact is clearly a breach of the very moral and indeed legal fibre that most Kiwis presumably live by and I would have thought that even the loony left who voted for Labour, NZ First, The Greens, The Maori Party, United Future and Jim Anderton, would have stood up to be counted, considering they are implicit in the crime of buying votes with stolen taxpayer money.

Surely the guilt must be eating away at their conscience?

The gutter snipe attacks in Parliament by sniveling little Stalin adherents, like Micheal Cullen and Trevor "The Bash" Mallard against the leader of the opposition, John Key, for dragging himself out of poverty and making a success of himself in the finance world and accumulating wealth is truly without parallel.

"Scumbag, scumbag, scumbag" "rich prick" sums up Cullen's attitude to those that might have worked hard and made money, his use of terms like this, especially in Parliament, show him for what he and his party are.

Arrogant, self serving, jealous of those that have done better and career politicians who wouldn't have a way of making a living outside government, a government department or a union and supporters seem to lap up this sort of childish playground stuff because they probably feel the same.

We shouldn't be hacked off and angry like Dr Cullen because an individual might have made a success of his life through hard work and accumulated wealth we should be angry at those who deride those successful people!

Is it not the Kiwi way to get pissed off when your freedoms are being chipped away or is it up to the likes of people like me to motivate you off your couch and get yelling "we are as mad as fuck and we are not going to take it anymore!!"

We have seen any possible anger subside come the last two elections because Labour have bought voters by promising taxpayer moola for their back pockets and any opposition is conveniently forgotten.

I will be here to remind you in 2008 to stay angry, if you are, and use that anger in a positive way by choosing not to vote for those that want your freedoms quashed, and not let you be tempted by my taxpayer dollars to dissipate that anger and vote for your wallet.

C Political Animal 2007

At least Robin Hood was Honest: Labour will buy the 2008 Election

There is no doubt that Helen Clark and the sisterhood in the New Zealand Labour Party are feeling the heat at present.

With Clark finally succumbing in the polls completely to National, if there was an election today John Key and his buddies would govern on their own. The majority of the country at present prefers Key as its leader.

Clark and co are facing a continuing slide in the economy, failing pillars of the state apparatus in health, education, policing and every other sector of government involvement in our lives are under pressure.

The only success Labour have had is increasing state dependence through record welfare recipients and bloating state employees to a level where we may see some pen pushing, clipboard carrying, pen protector wearing drones move to use up Auckland office space because Clarke and her mates have exhausted supply down in the unproductive caverns and dark bureaucratic holes in Wellington.

You better believe though that the sisterhood deep within Labour will not relinquish the control that they have had over New Zealand, the Land of the long trousers, short hair and hairy pits, for control is what this lot crave and they will do almost anything in their power, and they have it in spades, to hold on to it.

The recent proposed changes to electoral law to make it easier for the incumbent to stay in Government and stifle democratic debate has been widely canvassed in sensible media of late. The hand-wringing Chris Trotters and Russell Browns of this world largely see nothing wrong with stopping debate if you disagree with a point of view so haven't critically covered this as yet.

The grab main grab for power by Labour isn't going to be seen until mid next year when they go to the public for a forth term in office.

Labour and Micheal Cullen have been stockpiling stolen taxpayer funds to the tune of billions of dollars and have so-far refused to hand it back to those who earnt it in the first place because it will not earn votes so far away from an election.

The cynical grab for power by promising to spend billions of dollars of taxpayer dollars on you if they get in is reminiscent of Muldoon's lavish social driven election promises in the late 1970s/early 80s except it will go further in 2008.

Taxpayers, business and therefore the economy have been bled dry over the last 8 years by high taxes and lavish government spending and instead of cutting taxes for the self-imposed economic disaster that they helped create they are going to target special interest groups next year with welfare inspired tax credits, more handouts to students, elderly groups, low income earners and immigrant sectors and some but not much money, will go back to the middle classes that earnt this money in the first place.

Of course these kinds of handouts are designed to maintain the control that Labour and the left in general require and lust for but the horrible thing is that they may even placate those same middle-classes that will fund the 2008 power grab.

Are the middle classes that stupid?

Can they not see what has happened? To be sure the old give with one hand and take with the other has been reversed but is the process so hidden that the majority of New Zealanders wont see this 2008 power grab for what it is?

At least Robin Hood was honest, with Dear Mr Hood you knew were going to be robbed and the proceeds were going to go to the poor but for Ms Helen Hood the bluntness of her arrow is probably to her advantage because while the recipient is clear where the arrow came from and where it is going to, the translation of one from the other is muddied with bureaucratic and citizens blood.

The taxpayer funded power grab began at the 2005 election and was successful, just.

Billions of the middle classes taxes were used to buy the votes of the very people who supplied the funding and got Labour the seat of power by around 50000 votes.

To be fair $800,000 of taxpayer moola was also stolen by Labour to fund a pledge card and that kind of politicking cannot be understated in the light of electoral reform bills proposed to become law this year and used to cover off spending in the 2008 election.

In 2008 though we are likely to see the biggest push using taxpayer dollars to re elect a government that we have ever seen in our electoral history.

Cynical, dangerous and morally corrupt? Sure, but it is up to those middle classes to take back the power that they have let go that their taxes represent.

To do otherwise would be to ultimately let themselves and their country down.


c Darren Rickard 2007