The Nation and Q+A current affairs review
The Nation
Ever since National told The Nation that they would get no John Key interview as part of National's campaign to shield Key from any critical media, The Nation have dumped the pro Government stance and are going for the throat now. It's delicious.
Colin James is on, he's one of the best commentators around, he notes along with Duncan that Labour have stolen the march on National and gave support to Labour's opening address as the better opening address.
Very critical of National's stance on retirement age.
Cunliffe is on. Garner is as hard as nails. Cunliffe not sure when the $5000 tax free comes into effect, but he says it will be implemented in the first term. Garner focuses in on those who will be allowed to retire at 65 because manual labour has busted them up, Cunliffe says he wants to be generous, the problem with that is that these agencies generally do their best to turn people down for eligibility.
Russel Norman and Winston are on regarding retirement. Rus says it would be part of a post election coalition deal, and says he is flexible. Winston is on tub thumping, points out that the crises is happening now, not in ten years. Winston sounds like he can work with Labour, Duncan tries to tie down Winston on working together, Cunliffe says he can work with the Greens and NZ First.
Thank God Russel points out the joke of balancing the books by 2015. He is doing very well in the debate. They all agree they won't sell Assets.
I always feared that NZ First wouldn't give the Greens their dues if they were in any type of Government, (as they have in the past), yet Winston sounds far less anti-green these days.
Interesting.
MMP debate is up and running, I honestly think MMP will win by a handsome margin and won't be defeated, it is trending in iPredict at about 80% chance of retaining MMP . Sulky pants Cameron Slater is on, but he just seems so irrelevant since leaving Citizen A doesn't he?
Jordan Williams is on as the anti-MMP voice, he refuses to debate the issue on Citizen A ever since I outed one of his founding members as a white supremacist. He is very bright and one of the next leaders of the right, watch out for his rise even if this attempt to give the elites an electoral system that benefits them falls over.
The Nation do the best pre-produced political stories in NZ current affairs and they focus this time on Ohariu (thank God they chose Dunne as the example of sub 5% threshold and not Hone), but they miss how important this electorate will be and how close Charles is to toppling Dunne. Pity they didn't note the white supremacist founding member of the anti-mmp group I outed was also on Katrina Shanks Ohariu electorate panel.
Jordan finally announces he is fronting for Supplementary Member which is a bastardization of MMP and really just gives First Past the Post a winners bonus. Ugly, but a clever attempt to look 'moderate'.
Let's be clear, Supplementary Member is a first past the post wolf in proportional clothing.
Jordan tries to claim that he has massive online support, Sean points out that he only has 220 facebook members.
Ouch.
Bill Ralston and Brian Edwards are the panel, excellent choice. They point out how schizophrenic the Herald were damning Labour about hiding Phil Goff and then praising them for policy.
They both note how much better Labour's opening address was and how appalling National's was. They note how important the debates will be, Brian says Phil will win the debates, Bill tries to pull that back, but admits that Goff will be strong. They both fail to note that Phil has been written off by the mainstream media and that voters aren't expecting much from him so his underdog position will surprise viewers.
They all give the first week of the campaign to Labour.
Q+A
I like how Andrew Geddis on Pundit blog criticized Q+A producer and baby boomer wannabe Tim Watkin as craven for not mentioning my banning on Radio NZ. That was hilarious.
So this weeks craven baby boomer episode of Q+A is the minor party leaders debate, how Q+A can claim this is the first debate when Native Affairs did it first last week is craven.
I'm craven about the word craven this week.
Weird news thing to start the show, don't like it, they should do a 'weekend newspaper headlines' segment rather than an actual news bulletin.
Paul and Guyon are 'chewing the fat' in the week that was rather than the amusing brilliance of Damien Christie. Sadly Paul and Guyon are as entertaining as a car crash. If I wanted 5 minutes of biased right wing opinion talking to itself, I'd read the NZ Herald. The 'week that was' segment should now be renamed 'the sound of one hand clapping'. Unsurprisingly they both conclude that they love John Key.
Yawn.
No mention of how Labour's opening address shat all over National's - note of course that every other commentator in the mainstream media have all argued that Labour's opening address was head and shoulders over National's.
No mention of that in the
David Parker is up against the hollow brain of Steven Joyce. Parker is sharp and Joyce doesn't face that too much inside the National caucus. Steven is sweating under his nose. Doesn't look comfortable and is leaning too far forward trying to defend keeping the retirement age at 65 when National probably secretly wish they could dump it all together.
Joyce is a lot more defensive than he normally is, I like watching him squirm.
The panel is Pagani, that awful Deborah Coddington and Victoria University’s Dr Jon Johansson.
Deborah squarks about something, I don't really listen to her, Jon notes Labour's move to increase retirement age is significant, Pagani notes it's an idealogical division. Deborah squarks about something.
Minor Party leaders debate. Met says she wants clean rivers, Hone says he wants to feed the kids, Pita says he is the only authentic Maori voice, Don says there's too much crime and borrowing and Peter says 'fairness' heaps.
Age of Super is discussed: Don supports the age rise. Peter wants a more flexible arrangement. Pita points out Maori die younger and the age of retirement should be dropped. Meteria says Peter's position traps people into poverty. Hone points out 20 Maori will pay for retirement, yet 19 will die before they can get retirement and he demands retirement age is lowered.
Compulsory super is discussed. Pita says we have to rebuild Christchurch, and can't afford compulsory. Meteria says it's a symptom of our low wage economy. Peter says Labour don't like him. Hone says Meteria is right about making a higher wage economy and that we have to save.
Discussion about low wages. Don says something. Peter says people need to be incentivized into saving.
NZers moving to Australia, Meteria attacks ACT over not wanting a high wage economy. Pita says we can't afford compulsory, Peter says 'there will never be a right time' to make retirement compulsory'. Hone argues that Labour and National have always supported the market economy and that support is driving our chase of the global market place to put profits over people.
Hone goes on the attack and is on fire. Privatization of assets has them all scrambling, Hone is up in Don's grill full time now. He is reading the anger of the electorate of poverty, the others are not.
Youth unemployment - Don wants youth rates, Peter is wishy washy, Pita has been crowded out, Meteria attacks youth rates,
Decriminalization of marijuana: Pita no, Don yes, Meteria yes, Peter no, Hone lets look at it after we've fed the kids.
Feeding kids in school - Pita no, Don no, Meteria maybe, Peter no, Hone yes - makes the point we are spending $40 million on the war in Afghanistan and that's what it would cost to feed every kid in decile 1, 2 and 3 schools - feed the kids, not war has a ring to it.
The panel is back - Pagani supported Meteria, Debs supported Peter, Jon liked Hone's 'feed the children' line and that Hone is actually the authentic voice of Maori and not the Maori Party. Debs attacked Dons style.
They all said the first televised debate will matter.
ratings
The last ratings I have show Q+A dropping terribly, The Nation building on Sundays, pretty flat on Saturdays.
During the election they should be rating much higher, with NZ on Air funding for both shows up for decision, they should both be nervous.
posted by Bomber @ 7:57 am
5 comments
5 Comments:
Interesting that when talking about the Tobin-RobinHood-HoneHeke tax Don Brash & Peter Dunne continue to hide their heads in the sand, when as Hone said it's looking VERY likely to be implemented in Europe, & the US. Lots of scare tactics being used around it by those on the Right. Understandable I guess as its biggest affect would be on people like John Key who make their millions buying & selling currency. They are EXACTLY the group that are being aimed at by European govts, as it's their unscrupulousness & manipulation of poorer countries economies by dealing in their currencies, that needs to be controlled. As I understand it, if correctly applied it would be at a very low rate (fraction of a percent) on every financial transaction, not the 1 or 2 % being talked about.
Interesting to see Don Brash & Peter Dunne frantically using scare tactics about the "Tobin-Robin Hood-Hone Heke" tax that some are proposing.
As Hone Harawira said it is being seriously looked at in Europe & the US, and its real targets are unscrupulous financial institutions & currency traders(like our Leader John Key)who have made millions, and in some cases billions in the last few years by gambling on countries economies, and causing untold misery as a result.
Governments have FINALLY decided that they should exert some control over these groups, and take back control of their own economies, rather than letting currency traders et al "play" with their countries currencies.
As I understand it is designed to be applied at a fraction of a percent on each financial transaction, rather than the 1 or 2 % that was being quoted.
When is Guyon Espiner going to don a skirt and pompoms, to fit his role as National’s personal cheerleader?
What’s with Holmes letting Dunne rave? To concoct a Dunne-esque sentence, insert the words "sensible," "moderate" and "families" liberally. You get bonus points if all three words appear in the same sentence
Where is Turia? Why does Sharples want Maori to invest in assets that, as NZers, they already own? What specifically has the Maori Party done to benefit Maori as a whole?
I have contacted TVNZ to express my concerns about the exclusion of New Zealand First. Here are the emails:
Dear Gemma
I understand you are concerned that New Zealand First leader Winston Peters will not be included in Sunday morning’s Q & A show on TV ONE, which will feature a multi-party debate.
Paul Holmes will moderate the live multi-party debate that includes the following leaders: Metiria Turei from the Greens, Don Brash from ACT, Pita Sharples from the Maori Party, Peter Dunne from United Future and Hone Harawira from Mana.
To be clear: the Q & A debate on Sunday 30 October will be on a smaller scale than the major 90 minute election debate planned for primetime on Wednesday 16 November on TV ONE.
The 16 November multi-party debate is open to parties represented in Parliament or parties that achieve 3% or more in one of the two ONE News Colmar Brunton polls before the debate. The two qualifying polls are scheduled for broadcast by ONE News on 3 November and 10 November. ONE News stands by its Colmar Brunton polls, which are robust and scientific.
The New Zealand First leader is not excluded from that debate. He is invited subject to meeting the criteria.
Q & A has sought to apply the same criteria for this Sunday’s multi-party debate, but using the last two ONE News Colmar Brunton polls from September and October. New Zealand First did not achieve the 3% threshold in either of these polls.
As the national broadcaster, TVNZ is very mindful of its election coverage responsibilities. The criteria is in place to ensure there is a manageable number of participants, given the constraints of the debate format in a live studio setting. The criteria has been made widely available and will be applied with an even hand.
Yours sincerely,Georgie Hills, TVNZ Corporate Affairs
Dear Georgie
With reference to your comments about polling: please refer to http://www.3news.co.nz/Election---Goff-may-do-deal-with-Peters/tabid/419/articleID/231075/Default.aspx (Saturday 29 October)
Evidently, New Zealand First has growing support. As the article notes,
The Horizon poll shows the strongest minor parties are still the Greens at 11.6 percent, with New Zealand First gaining support at 6.2 percent.
Of the other minor parties, the poll lists Act at 3.4 percent, with Mana at 2.3 percent and the Maori Party sitting at just 1.7 percent.
I understand that Guyon Espiner has a disproportionate amount of sway with regard to political coverage on TVNZ. It is evident that TVNZ is determined to deny New Zealand First and Winston Peters fair coverage. Mr. Peters' Media Liaison person advises me that over recent months, Mr. Peters has given numerous presentations to packed venues around New Zealand. TVNZ's silence about these presentations is deafening.
As an aside, I find it extremely odd that TVNZ has opted to use white lettering and a white tick inside blue boxes with a blue background for the election coverage logo. In this country, blue traditionally represents right wing parties, most notably, the National Party. It is inappropriate to use this colour, in the same sense that it would be inappropriate to use red, a left wing colour, for the election coverage logo. TVNZ should have chosen a neutral colour that is not linked to a prominent political party.
After all, contrary to what Mr. Espiner might believe, TVNZ is the national broadcaster, not the National Party broadcaster.
Thank you again for your response.
Kind regards, Gemma
OMG Gemma, you are so right about the colors tvnz has used for it's election coverage: white ticks on blue boxes! They are National Party colors indeed! This is a totally biased and blatant use of subliminal conditioning of the subconscious, as outlined by Alex Jones:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/subliminal-messages-exposed.html
I'll do this briefly... Gemma, the TVNZ policy of a seat in parliament or three percent was set months ago. It's based on Colmar Brunton polls because they are the ones designed and paid for by TVNZ and therefore the one TVNZ knows is robust. The Horizon poll, for example is self-selecting and offers prizes to those who sign up - it's not taken seriously.
It's not biased against any single party. It draws a line, and at only 3% rather than parliament's own 5%, actually goes out of its way to allow minor parties on.
If you don't like that threshold, what would ours be? Would you include the Conservatives, Kiwi Party, Social Credit Democrats, Alliance and all the others? Would you cut Mana because they're lower than NZF?
And Martyn, again... check your facts. Q+A's ratings have not dropped 'terribly'. The RWC gave us a couple of lower weeks, but still higher than last year and still 3-4 times what The Nation does. Last week was a 2.1, with 3s in Auckland.
Most people's interest in the election starts now, so yes I hope our numbers go up.
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