In 2017 Jacinda Arden was elected after Winston Peters abandoned his supporters and gave her a minority government. She was immediately popular, especially with left-wing governments.

In 2020 in the middle of the pandemic she won in a landslide for her tough stance. However, her restrictive policies began to wear on people and businesses and her poll ratings began to fall so much so that over the last 6 months it became clear that Labour could not win government with her at the helm.

Today she resigned and New Zealand sighed in relief.

Booted is probably nearer the truth than resigned. It's a pity that the party took so long to wake up to her and give her the Big A. She wants to be remembered as being 'nice'. I'm sure Kiwis will have their own descriptions of this dreadful young Leftist.

NZ should have learnt their lesson & don't put another do-gooder in the job !

The only ones I know who were BOOTED was the reprobate Scum Bag Morrison. Friedbrain BOOTED, Uncle Tom Wyatt BOOTED, Shameless Sharma BOOTED, Cry Baby Porter BOOTED, Zimmerman BOOTED! The list goes on, mugs one and all.

Sooner or later Mr Potato Head will get BOOTED!

Indy,
I'm pretty sure installing a do-less-good would give inferior results.

Aidan,
I appreciate what you're saying but appear to confuse doing good with do-gooders. Do-gooders are people who try to portray a picture of being seen & heard for doing the right thing, not actually doing anything good for the common good. Hypocrites work like that !
Sort of 'you have to be cruel to be kind' in reverse !

New Zealand Prime Minister has announced she's standing
down no later than 7 February saying " she no longer had
enough in the tank," to do the job.

She's done her job with intellect and strength. And she knows
it's time to go. The lady became the world's youngest female
head of government when she was elected Prime Minister in 2017
at the age of 37.

And she's led New Zealand through a tumultuous time.
The CIVOD pandemic. A series of disasters - including the
dreadful terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch,
and the White Island volcanic eruption so we have to believe
her when she says:

"This has been a fulfilling 5 and a half
years of my life.
But it's also had its challenges, among an agenda focused
on housing, child poverty, and climate change. We encountered
a ...domestic terror event, a major natural disaster and a
global pandemic followed by an economic crisis."

My fondest memorey and one that made the deepest impression
on me was when Jacinta Ardern appeared behind a podium to
deliver a statement a few hours after the terrorist attack. The
whole world listened to what she had to say.

Her acknowledgement of the fear and sorrow of the Muslim
community did not end there. She hugged the victims in
Christchurch, wearing a black headscarf as a simple show of
respect. She gave people a unifying cry - "They are us!"
And addressing Parliament for the first time a few days
later, she made a small but bold statement by her opening remarks
with the Islamic greeting - "As-Salaam-Alaikum."

And she combined this show of empathy with promises of concrete
legislation and cultural change.

A few hours after the attack she announced a clamp-down on the
country's lax gun laws "within 10 days"
and promised a "weed out."

To me she was a kind but strong, empathetic but decisive,
optimistic, but focused - and that you can be your own kind of
leader, - one who knows when it is time to go.

She will be greatly missed!.

"Jacinda Ardern was a dreadful prime minister of New Zealand who failed in substance but succeeded wildly in image. All her economic instincts were bad, and all her strategic instincts were bad. She had a great desire to undo productive economic reform and remove or shut down the engines of economic growth for what should be a nation of limitless opportunity. She had one genuine achievement. She reacted with dignity and moral seriousness to the appalling Christchurch terrorist massacre....

In substance, Ardern was a flop. She didn’t do the things she promised to do when first elected in 2017. She promised the government would build 100,000 homes, it built barely 1000. She was a big cheese on climate change, but New Zealand’s emissions, before Covid, went up. Public service emphasis was meant to focus on the regions of the country. Instead, all the power, and many more public servants, went to Wellington. Ardern talked a good game on human rights in the abstract, but under her leadership, New Zealand was a tiny, frightened mouse when it came to Beijing."

On top of this, the NZ queen of woke has legislated eye-watering strict environmental standards that will impose huge costs on farmers, banned negative gearing, put in place an effective capital gains tax on housing, and confiscated water delivery systems from councils and handed them over to a Māori co governed body that has enraged local councils.

On top of this food, inflation is now at about 11% and the country is entering a recession.

SM you fail to give a reference for the above diatribe, let me help you out;

According to Uncle Rups gutter press, 'The Australian'

When you cut and paste words like Maori you need to correct otherwise they come up as Māori

Fear not. Like the previous failed NZ PM, Helen Clark, a lucrative job in one of the myriad internationalist organisations (UN, UNHCR etc etc) awaits. Ardern was a good and loyal globalist, prepared to sublimate NZ's interest to global and/or CCP interest, and that loyalty is always rewarded.

Give it a year.

You mean like - Peter Costello, Mathias Cormann,
Christopher Pine, Joe Hockey, et al?

Where's Josh Frydenberg? Didn't Tony Abbott do a
stint in the UK?

As a general comment I think Adern was extraordinary, especially as a woman at her age pushing back against some pretty conservative politics. Doing things like changing the law so that mandated pay rises for politicians were scrapped made her very popular and she won her second election in a landslide.

The actions that kept thousands of NZ citizens alive through the pandemic should be applauded even though it ultimately dropped her standing in the polls.

Dear Paul1405,

Sorry mate, as much as I despise many of our current crop of politicians the term Uncle Tom Wyatt is just not on. I dislike the term anyway but Wyatt's carriage of the Co-designed report has given a firm foundation for the Voice and so I think referring to him in that manner is in anyway justified.

Dear Steele,

Jacinta Ardern was a remarkable Prime Minister.
She had many shining moments as already mentioned.
She promoted diversity and gender equality. There
were more women, people of colour, and LGBTQI MPs
in her government than ever before in NZ history.

In October 2022 a gender equality milestone happened
with women making up the majority of its parliament for
the first time. Prior to that in 2020 she made it easier
for women to negotiate for equal pay with parliament
passing the Equal Pay Amendment Bill.

She was the first PM to march in a Pride parade.
Then there was the history making (in October) Crown apology
that she delivered to a Maori tribe for warmongering and
breaches to the Treaty of Waitangi. The apology was 30 years
in the making and saw the government agree to $NZ 165 million
redress and the return of 36 culturally significant sites.

There's her commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 landmark
legislation. She introduced a new public holiday -" Matariki"
the start of the Maori New Year.

And there's more. Due to the kindness of the Maori communities
when she was pregnant - she choose a Maori connection in
naming her daughter. Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford.

Te Aroha is after the name of the mountain on North Island near
her home in Hamilton.

Ardern might have done lots of stuff that the woke community thinks were important or ground-breaking or that old stand-by, 'brave'.

But the fact is the things she forced upon a reluctant electorate led to her unpopularity. That she is getting out rather than face up to the verdict of the electorate speaks more about her character than any of the political eulogies the woke are penning.

Foxy,

No not like the names you mention, apart from Cormann. The others didn't end up in some UN sinecure. But she will.

Kiwi academic Bryce Woods believes Ardern jumped before she was pushed. She was down to being a 32 percenter, and Labour is plummeting in the polls.

Her own Labour supporters are disillusioned with her.

Hopeless with the economy. To much culture BS. Endless unmet promises.

Foxy,

I never expected you to do anything other than swoon over the woke princess. Her "shining achievements" were mostly virtue signalling and did little or nothing to improve the lives of her constituents in fact mostly the opposite. In fact, without the pandemic which seemed to boost most incumbents, Jacinda was not looking likely to survive the 2020 election.

"Ms Ardern’s election promises, which helped ­secure her such an overwhelming majority in 2020, were turning to dust. Ms Ardern promised to build 100,000 affordable homes within 10 years; five years later, only 1366 had been built.

Emissions have increased by 2 per cent since 2018, net migration has turned negative for the first time in decades as young people flee the country for better opportunities abroad – mostly in Australia – and crime has seen an inexorable rise with a spike in violent gang activity. Like the rest of the world, New Zealand is bracing for a recession this year.

By the end of 2022, rather than laughing and smiling her way through television interviews, Ms Ardern was beginning to look pale and haunted as media interrogators pinioned her on the government’s failures."

mhaze,

For your information:

Tony Abbott - Adviser to the UK Board of Trade since 2020.

Christopher Pyne - Since late 2020 - consultant in the
Australian Defence Industry. He's chairman of several
advisory boards dealing with missiles, and other weapons.

Arthur Sinodinos Ambassador to the US since Feb. 2020.

Julia Bishop Chancellor of the ANU since Jan 2020.

Peter Costello - Goldman Sachs et al.
Josh Frydenberg - Goldman Sachs.

Mathias Cormann - Secreatary General (OECD) since 2021.

And the list goes on.

shadowminister,

You don't disappoint either!
We all know that your bar is difficult for you to
lift any higher. If you tried you'd get a hernia.
Or be gone with the wind, so to speak! Lol!

Well Foxy, I said that none of these people apart from Cormann ended up in UN sinecures. You might have guessed therefore that I knew where indeed they did end up.

But thanks for your efforts in pointing out that my original point was correct.

mhaze,

Have you ever been right about anything?

Lets see?

Nah!

It seems rather churlish and more than a tad childish to be saying I've never been right when this very morn you yourself showed that I was right on the singular point I made.

Of course, there are many an example of my accuracy that I could raise but my all time favourite is this gem from Foxy....

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=20202#357305 and the following 10 or so posts.

mhaze,

I realise that it isn't your fault that you
don't see reality with total accuracy.

That's why you need people like Steele, myself,
and others, on this forum to correct your
vision.

You're welcome.

We're glad to help!

yep, churlish and childish

Foxy,

Economic competence is not that high a bar. Though most left-whinge politicians struggle to pass it. Jacinda was booted for the same reason Juliar was her incompetence and inability to keep her promises made her a liability (or liar-bility)

Over the English-speaking world, unbiased commentators are saying that Ardern was popular among foreigners who weren't subjected to her far-Left wokeness, but "deeply unpopular" in her own country. A fair summary.

mhaze,

Churlish and childish?

And you're not?

Don't fret. We promise not to laugh at your accuracy!

Deeply unpopular in her own country?

Not among the Muslims, Maoris, and other human beings.
The others don't really matter. As long as we have human
beings - the country's in good hands and NZ hasn't run
out of them yet. At least thus far. The same won't be said
if the Coalition ever get s chance to get in here.

Foxy,
Sounds like you're lost for principles !

Ardern's many failures have been the result of deep ideology, serious stupidity and genuine evil. Her supine groveling at the feet of Xi’s China outdid even the most sycophantic Australian ex-politicians.

indyvidual,

Sounds like I've lost my principles?

Really?

How would you know - you don't have any.

Foxy,

In labelling all those that don't support Jacinda as non-human (a majority of New Zealand) you are suffering from the same hubris and arrogance that Hilary Clinton did before being defeated by Trump.

In early 2020 before Covid Labour after a series of cock ups were well on the way to being a one-term government. The lockdowns in the pandemic boosted Labour's popularity giving the incumbent government a landslide. Labour took this as a mandate to implement a slew of unpopular legislation and their popularity plummeted to the point where not even saint Jacinda could save them. Chris Hipkins (Mr lockdown) has taken up the poison chalice in the hope that he can reverse Labour's dismal polling.

shadowminister,

So how did NZ go in the pandemic?

Give us a link please.

shadowminister,

Jacinta Adhern has shown her human qualities as PM
and deserves recognition for that. Her kindness is
but one of her legacies which is a rare quality for
a politician to have and has been appreciated not only
by New Zealanders by internationally as well.

Also New Zealand's Covid strategy was one of the world's
most successful. It was successful in limiting the spread
and impact of the virus.

Foxy,

Jacinda does have some admirable qualities I won't dispute that, and her reaction to covid won her the 2020 election. However, she continued strict anti covid measures while the rest of the world was opening up and the vaccine mandate that she'd promised she would never do led to the firing of hundreds of nurses and teachers and made it extremely difficult and expensive for even Kiwi's to return to the country. This led to hundreds of bankruptcies and economic hardship that cost her most of the support she'd earlier won.

This coupled with new taxes on landlords, income tax, farm vehicles, the 3 Waters legislation, carbon tax on farmers etc since 2020 along with a series of blunders have led to a collapse in Labour's polling and with NZ's food inflation at 11% the start of a recession and a drop in real wages Labour's prospects at the Oct 2023 election looks grim.

shadowminister,

I think that she was a remarkable leader and had
admirable qualities including now - knowing when
to go. I wish her well.

SM,

"taxes on landlords, income tax, farm vehicles, the 3 Waters legislation, carbon tax on farmers etc"

You are only looking at the NZ Labour government from your own conservative political perspective, and calling things a failure, that's fine you are just as political as I am, The Conservative government had almost 10 years of failure in Australia, buts that's my opinion.

Her "admiral qualities" don't need to be disputed because they do not exist. A dreadful person, hiding behind a sickly grin.

Let's hope NZ gets a better deal from the new PM, who looks about 12 years old. They like 'em young over there. Too young.

Yes, lets criticize the NZ PM.
After all - Australia has not had the more unpleasant
little turds. Or
more characterless people. - Pygmys next to other world
leaders. Contemptible little squirts. Nasty pieces of work
who have indulged in half-truths, lies, commo cans, and cheap
attacks. No, not us. Our past leaders have all distinguished
themselves for the good of the nation - and of course they knew
when to leave. They weren't booted out?

You are right Foxy, we've had more than a few, almost as bad as Jacinda.

There was Whitlam Keating & Krudd to start with. Then of course there was Julia. What is it with Labor Females?

Then we should not omit McMahon & Fraser, then Turnbull who was almost as bad as Julia.

Now we have Albanese who is rapidly looking to be every bit as bad as Jacinda.

Yes we are proving pretty bad at picking leaders ourselves, & at the moment we look like catching up with NZ, USA, GB, France & Canada, in the no hopper leader stakes. God help our grand kids.

Hasbeen,

I'm surprised you agree with me.
Good for you.

I'm glad that you recognise that
the mob that I'm talking about are the mob
that have been in power the longest
in this country - and of course they run rings
around any mistakes that Jacinta might have made.

She doesn't even come close to what these people achieved
and the legacy they left behind for others to clean
up. Thank goodness we now have people in charge who will
be able to clean up the mess.

“We will continue to be your single source of truth. Unless you hear it from us, it is not the truth.”

That's a comment of Ardern's, hard to find these , but still remembered by people with good memories of the arrogant creature.

Another comment from someone else with a good memory:

" After smashing human rights and civil liberties and trying to enforce Klaus Schwab’s globalist policies upon New Zealand, the stilettoed jackboot has decided to cut and run as she’s hopelessly behind in the polls.”

A good summing up both her departure and her miserable legacy.

Yes lets talk about "the truth."

Pauline Hanson released a book in 1997 called
"Pauline Hanson: The Truth." The book made a
number of claims about Aboriginals and immigration.
It predicted that by 2050 Australia would be run
by an Asian lesbian cyborg. That Aboriginals were
"savage cannibals who ate their own babies."" That
gun control advocates had "retarded sexual and emotional
maturity."

She tried to distance herself but a documentary showed her
proudly boasting about her "very informative book" after her
1996 maiden speech warning Australia was in "danger of
being swamped by Asians."

A shame that this woman has not bee booted out yet!

When the loony left run out of arguments, they rant about irrelevant matters and rant about people who are irrelevant to the topic.

The Ranters were an official dissenting group in the 17th Century. They are still with us on OLO.

Contemptible little squirts

Such as Krudd, Juliar, etc

Albo is as dull and incompetent as any leader in History.

ttbn,

And you, you third-rate contributor to this
forum, are leading their pack!

shadowminister,

Some are more contemptible than others though.
And the voters have made that clear at the
last election!

Foxy,

And they made it clear in 2013 and in 1996.

But certainly not at the last election and at
the one to come!

Do keep up!

Labor has only been in power for a while and has already racked up a few broken promises and cock ups.

In 2007 Krudd had a significant win but by 2010 Juliar only scraped in with two ex-national turncoats.

shadowminister,

But look at what they've achieved thus far.

And they haven't been in power that long.

Count your blessings. While Peter Dutton talks down
the Indigenous Voice every chance he gets.

Foxy,

What have they achieved? Rampant inflation, increased cost of living, low wage growth, looming recession?

Hi Foxy and SM,

Swings and roundabouts, our niece who recently returned to NZ with her family after 6 years in Sydney, we speak most days. She was saying she went to the local "dairy" (that's what Kiwi's call the corner shop) a dozen eggs $19, at the supermarket $14, crazy. But on the other hand all children aged 3 and over and not yet at school are entitled to 20 hours/week pre-school, and top up is very cheap $24/day. Niece found a good PS in walking distance, no problem with enrolment, and they are flexible with the hours. K1 she loves her PS. K2 who is not yet 3 is a special needs child. K2 as a "special needs" she will be starting at a school in February with proper trained teachers looking after her, also government subsidised, and none of it, means tested. Niece was saying the child care is saving them $500/week, its one of the reasons they returned to NZ. Also they have ordered a new Tesla electric car, which are very cost effective against petrol models. The car they are using now takes 98 only (her mother-in-laws car), so expensive to run. They have also been looking at houses to buy, they couldn't do that in Sydney. There is some king of rent-to-buy scheme, whereby you pay rent equal to 2% of the purchase price of a new home, with the option to buy later on at the original price, I said to niece, grab that with two hands if possible.

Labor also achieved rampant crime and carnage in Alice Springs after lifting the booze ban.

Hi SM and Foxy

SM, are you blaming Jacinda Ardern for the lifting of the booze ban in Alice Springs? BTW is Alice Springs on the North or South Island of NZ? Just on the subject of booze, add alcohol to any poor socio-economic situation and it fuels what is already a disaster. Many of the homeless at our charity are alcoholics, mostly males, but some females as well. Often homeless because no one will accommodate them anyway, or not for long. Some occasionally ask for money, we don't give out money. Monday is the worse day, doing the door is a real eye-opener, you have to be very tactful, situations can develop in an instant. I'm on door duty this morning at 9am. We don't allow "clients" inside for good reason, only on Monday mornings for 'Brekky Club', we don't have the security to deal with some situations that could arise.

Paul,

Catch up!

Foxy was singing about Abozo's government's progress.

As for NZ, Preschool is cheaper than in Aus where Juliar reduced the child-to-carer ratios and boosted prices. Aus also has fully subsidised schools for the disabled, and new Teslas cost from $80 000. My petrol-driven car purchased and driven 200 000 km would cost less than $60 000 even at NZ's high petrol prices. PS just about any car can run on 91 petrol. Your MIL is just wasting money.

Rent to buy exists for first-home buyers and is not nearly as good as you think.

Dear Paul,

All we need do - is compare what the current government
has achieved thus far with what the previous one did
during its entire time in office. Then sit back and
laugh! People like SM are irrelevant!

Foxy,

Compared to the achievements of the Coalition the Labor government is a hilarious joke.

shadowminister,

I don't see Peter Dutton and any of his team laughing.

But Anthony Albanese and his team has been smiling
a lot lately.

But as Labor's cock ups accumulate, Albozo is smiling less and Dutton more.

I agree SM Dud Dutton is smiling these days, now he's got his own version of Peta Credlin running his show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3jnymeJof4

If your Mother-In-Law says her car runs on 98 then it runs on 98, since she's lending it to you. The child care and house purchase sounds good to me, if JG made it so bad why didn't the Coalition fix it up in almost 10 years in office. For a mob who left us with a trillion dollars of debt, and Gerry Harvey with $12 million of free lucci, add in all the scandals, they weren't all that crash hot now were they?

Paul,

It is hard to deal with Labor's $trillion of debt, especially with the greens in the senate actively blocking any attempt at a cost saving.

PS. Octane rating required depends on the compression ratio. 91 is good for a compression ratio of 10.5:1 and 95 is good for 12.5:1.

Putting a higher octane rating does nothing for performance or fuel economy, and if your car does not need it you are just wasting money.

So unless you MIL was lending you a Ferrari?

Hi SM,

I don't know what kind of car the niece has from her M-I-L, but she is happy to have the use of it. if someone lent me a free car and said put 98 in it, that would, seems fair to me.

Moving on How's this for a joke political party.

Big challenge for the leadership of the WA Liberals. The deputy leader Libby Mettem is challenging the incumbent leader David Honey who wont go! There could be blood on the floor of the phone box at the next Liberal Party meeting in WA, with the secret vote deadlocked at one a piece. THE JOKE IS THE LIBERALS ONLY HOLD TWO SEATS IN THE WA LOWER HOUSE Lib's and Davo's! Does Libby have the numbers? She has bang on 50%, but needs one more vote, and that's Davo's. What a Micky Mouse party.

The reality is that while Jacinda is the darling of the lefty world for all her virtue signaling Kiwis are less than impressed with her broken promises and slipshod treatment of small businesses and the agricultural communities.

SM,

Lets face reality, I know its difficult to get your had around, but the self claimed "money misers" ScumO' and Friedbrain were responsible for wasting hundreds of billions of taxpayer borrowed dollars on their mates from the big end of town, with nothing to show for it. Unlike the modest prudent spending by the Rudd government during the GFC, this pair spent like drunken sailors with nothing to show for it, except an endless trail of debts, and a big hangover for us poor taxpayers! They racked up debts greater than ALL the previous governments since federation combined! Hows that for a record!

I see, you have nothing to say about the loonies from the WA Liberal Party. The WA National's not to be out done sacked their leader as well. BTW The WA Nationals are the official opposition as they have 4 lower house seats, the Liberals 2. Sandgropers must be counting their lucky stars that their state is being run by a fantastic Premier in Mark McGowan and a terrific Labor Party team. I'm sure you will second that SM. Then there is Nazi Dom in you state of NSW, poor you.

Pauliar,

Labor's spending like drunken sailors far more than the coalition ever did and even so Inflation is increasing, debt is increasing, real wages are dropping so people are trying to work out why they voted for the bunch of fwits in Labor.

I believe Brendon Tarrant was a member of the greens/antifa branch.

Ah! SM,

For the second time this year you break our truce, calling me Pauliar and making the false association between Tarrant and the Greens, usually its paedophiles, but a mass murderer will have to do, so you think.

There is no dispute that ScumO' Morrison and his sidekick Friedbrain spent like "drunken sailors" racking up billions in debt, before they were booted from office, and Australia has nothing to show for such massive waste. Sorry Gerry Harvey does, he's got $12 million of our money thanks to that pair of reprobates.

Paul,

The only thing one can count on in your posts is that you are lying through your teeth.

At every step through covid Labor was criticising Morrison for not spending more. If labor and the greens were in charge there would be a $ 2 trillion Labor debt.

Albozo and the green clowns are boosting inflation and interest rates with bigger spending, Stuffing up the coal and gas markets.

When you lie I will call you out.

SM, I have no prob with you calling me out if I lie, but fortunately for me I don't lie.

Now, this $2 trillion figure, do you have evidence, or was it just a message from the 'Divine One', which came to you in a dream or a nightmare. I, like most Greens, do not oppose sustainable government spending where necessary. Unfortunately "Jobkeeper' was overreaction and non-sustainable, a massive waste. I do recall Labor supporting Coalition extravagance, but not the Greens. Often, I don't trust Labor, they can be a bunch of sycophants, as you well know.

Paul,

You still blatantly lie frequently and have just done so.

SM,

You said; "If labor and the greens were in charge there would be a $ 2 trillion Labor debt." I asked you for evidence of that claim, you call me a liar, is someone hacking your posts?