Moore on 2009
Mike Moore writes:
The Prime Minister smiles and sails on, changing tack with the wind. He has this non-political image. A sort of James Stewart, Tom Hanks, Henry Fonda, and golly gee, oh shucks attitude as though it’s all so new and surprising. A bit like the young Anna Paquin on Oscar night.
That the most obtuse comparison I’ve seen 
Nick Smith had an effective year, although there is something extra terrestrial about him. I would not be surprised to learn he collects Star Trek dolls.
Heh. Nick is an engineer – he is more likely to build his own Enterprise!
Transport Minister Stephen Joyce seems in command of his portfolio and gives confidence to bald men everywhere. Social Development Minister Paula Bennett is a real danger to Labour. She is a cheerful, Westie battler whom people relate to and her approach to welfare is firming up National support.
I think Paula prefers her description.
If success is taking money from the many and giving it to your mates then the Maori Party has done well. They have cost the New Zealand people over $2 billion. That’s about $8 million a week for each of the five seats that National promised to abolish. It’s excused as smart MMP politics. Turiana Turia comes across as a kindly auntie and Pita Sharples as the good-natured principal of an intermediate school on sports day. They escape sceptical scrutiny from the lily-livered liberal media. Te Ururoa Flavell shows substance and could make them a New Zealand Maori Party, not just a Maori Party.
Hone Harawira is the kind of angry, insecure bloke I worked alongside at a freezing works in the Far North. He was honest in his vulgar vomit over non-Maoris but the real reason he should be ejected from Parliament is the way he wears his ties.
Hone gets the prize for the most famous line of the year, closely followed by former minister Chris Carter who, when excusing his overseas travel, warmed us with the news that his food bills were small because he and his partner were not big eaters.
I missed that one from Chris.
December 26th, 2009 at 10:52 am
I feel sorry for Mike. His tendency to rambling incoherence has increased with age. He can still produce some pungent comments, but they so often miss their targets, or don’t make sense.
December 26th, 2009 at 11:23 am
Seems to me Moore is spot on in most of his comments – if not all.
December 26th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Moore was basically calling Nick Smith a space cadet. Dificult to disagree with that.
December 26th, 2009 at 11:44 am
I think you mean abstruse. But obtuse kinda makes sense in an insulting way =)
December 26th, 2009 at 11:46 am
As always, a rambling incoherent mess from Mike but not half as bad a the 2009 politics review from NZPA.
The Herald also managed to spell Rodney’s surname wrong – but 1,570,000 people on google search have done the same thing. Maybe the Herald was one of them!
December 26th, 2009 at 11:51 am
The only danger Paula Bennett poses is to the privacy of beneficiaries.
December 26th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
“The Prime Minister smiles and sails on, changing tack with the wind. He has this non-political image. A sort of James Stewart, Tom Hanks, Henry Fonda, and golly gee, oh shucks attitude as though it’s all so new and surprising. A bit like the young Anna Paquin on Oscar night.”
Moore is right on there. I’ve found Key’s performance this year so toe-curlingly cringe-worthy it beggars belief. He will have to lift his game because if such a performance continues unabated for another 12 months, it’ll start to wear pretty damn thin with most. Key needs to reduce the embarrassing distractions that the media and intelligentsia will exploit, inevitably eroding voter confidence in the Nats: i.e
* Dick dipping old fools like Worth.
* Double dipping finance ministers.
* Melissa Lee being abandoned in Mt Albert – who was supposed to be managing her campaign for fuck sake ?
* The folic acid debacle.
* Pandering to Maori race pimps and separatists.
* That kind of elitist, born-to-rule arrogance over referendum that the previous ministry had.
December 26th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
On the big issues the Government is handling very very well, the above issues are all small matters which count for little except for Labour supporters who do not support the Government. Moore has a screw loose, he basically talks his own book so far as the Labour Party is concerned which includes that punch and grow nutcase Clayton Cosgrove. He has a bob each way on Cunliffe and Jones and supports Goff. Not very revealing, but he is right about Paula Bennett – she providing she gets fully on top of the job will present a very big danger to Labour – which is why John Key decided to take a punt on her. I just hope she is getting plenty of the best help he and his office can provide.
December 26th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Nick Smith “I would not be surprised to learn he collects Star Trek dolls”, No , Nicks forte is giving vast amounts of money to foreign ponzi schemes.
December 26th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
In defence of the Herald’s sub-editors, it is highly unlikely they would “correct” Mt Hide to Hyde. So Moore must have spelt it that way. So why did they not correct it? If I had been subbing the story I would have hesitated, then left it unchanged. Because Moore might (might) have been making a play on Mr Hide’s Jekyll and Hyde act – transforming from perk buster to bustee. The trouble with Moore is you don’t know. Was this a clever word play, or is he just so zoned out he can’t spell the name right?
December 26th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Speaking of the Hoeeruld, what better gift they have to bestow us on Boxing Day than a column by Tracey bloody Barnett?
December 27th, 2009 at 5:27 am
Ross
“The only danger Paula Bennett poses is to the privacy of beneficiaries. ”
Given that these beneficiaries are taking money from me every week then the bastards do not deserve any privacy if they are doing so under false pretences.
December 27th, 2009 at 6:44 am
Yes, BB, I agree but there are two issues. First, if beneficiaries are not taking money under false pretences, then they should be afforded the same courtesy and consideration as you and I. You will be aware that Paula Bennett released private information earlier this year, even though there was no suggestion that the beneficiaries concerned were rorting the system.
Speaking of rorting the system, Bill English became a little tetchy when asked to reveal details of the trust in which he’d placed his million-dollar-plus home in Karori. Ministers of the Crown who are being paid large sums of money by taxpayers should also expect that what they are doing is above board. Otherwise they might be seen to be hypocrites.
December 27th, 2009 at 7:07 am
Ross
If you expect to get a bite out of me by having a crack at English then you are sadly mistaken, IMHO the man is an idiot and a trougher of the highest order, Key should have taken the chance to sack him when it presented itself.
The two bludgers that Bennett outed were the ones who choose to go public with their criticism of the government, they decided to take the issue to the media so Bennett was totally within her rights to release details of their circumstances.
Fuller in particular seems to be living very nicely thank you on the back of hard working Kiwis, if anybody fits the description ‘bludger’ then the Fuller female is it.