NZGames.com Forums

NZGames.com Forums (https://forums.nzgames.com/index.php)
-   Politics (https://forums.nzgames.com/forumdisplay.php?f=41)
-   -   John Key resigns as PM (https://forums.nzgames.com/showthread.php?t=87747)

Ab 5th December 2016 14:00

John Key resigns as PM
 
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=11760656

Quote:

John Key is resigning as Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Key made the announcement at his weekly press conference this afternoon.

Key, his voice shaking with emotion, said he told his Cabinet of his decision this morning

"This is the hardest decision I've ever made and I don't know what I'll do next."

Bill English is expected to take over as Prime Minister and Steven Joyce is expected to take on the finance role.

The Herald understands that Key's wife Bronagh asked him to resign.

The National Party caucus will hold a meeting on December 12 to decide the new party leader and Prime Minister.
Holy wtf didn't see that coming Batman.

pxpx 5th December 2016 14:04

welp gg

Lightspeed 5th December 2016 14:07

So guesses on what happened?

Ab 5th December 2016 14:15

Max refused to partner for golf with Trump

blynk 5th December 2016 14:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lightspeed
So guesses on what happened?

Wondered that.
More likely personal decision rather than political.

Why would the National Party try and roll him with their current popularity (if only Labour did this now).

I sense we will look back on this in a couple of years and see this as the demise of the NP. They will change PM and then there will be in fighting and leadership changes.

pxpx 5th December 2016 14:33

Quote:

Key cited family reasons for leaving, saying the job had required great sacrifices "from those who are dearest to me".

His wife Bronagh had endured "many lonely nights" and his children Stephie and Max had been put under "extraordinary levels of intrusion".

ZoSo 5th December 2016 14:36

Lurking that long in Mt Roskill, surrounded by Labour, would do that. Hawaii would be calling loud.

Ab 5th December 2016 14:47

If you're over it, you're over it. He's massively popular and the party he leads is polling at 50%. NZ PMs don't get to go out on top, I don't think it's happened in the past hundred years. They get knifed or they get voted out. JK breaks the mold again.

I'm not happy though, because the world is fucked. It's been reassuring to know that NZ was in the hands of a guy who is genuinely popular and who is a sensible centrist with leftie tendencies.

fixed_truth 5th December 2016 14:48

Yeah I would say it's for family reasons. If it didn't leave now then he could of been stuck in the job until 2020

He'll be looked back upon as our most loved and most hated PM.

ZoSo 5th December 2016 14:55

Clearly scared Of Holt.

JERI 5th December 2016 15:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lightspeed
So guesses on what happened?

I hope it's not a family tragedy or a distressing diagnosis or something. Good luck John.

Lightspeed 5th December 2016 15:55

Maybe he's gonn go chill with Obama.

madmaxii 5th December 2016 17:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ab
I'm not happy though, because the world is fucked. It's been reassuring to know that NZ was in the hands of a guy who is genuinely popular and who is a sensible centrist with leftie tendencies.

_b _b _b

CCS 5th December 2016 17:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZoSo
Clearly scared Of Holt.

True. I'm very tempted to vote for her as a joke.

Lightspeed 5th December 2016 18:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ab
I'm not happy though, because the world is fucked. It's been reassuring to know that NZ was in the hands of a guy who is genuinely popular and who is a sensible centrist with leftie tendencies.

I think JK squandered NZ's moral authority at a time when it's most needed. But maybe he's right, maybe the need to be in "the club" is paramount with the future we're facing.

National is also squandering NZ's social capital to keep some backwards thinkers happy so they can stay in power. That's going to leave a long, painful legacy.

That said, it's an unfortunate truth that amongst the current stock of world leaders, JK looks pretty good.

Ab 5th December 2016 18:26

As far as I can tell the biggest problem facing the Western world is old angry white men, because they fuck up everything they touch.

How's this for a theory: a world in which the influence of old angry white men is growing is a world in which New Zealand's governing party HAS to accommodate Winston Peters. Maybe JK just looked ahead to the next election and the thought of having to give the old vampire a seat at the big table... and went "yeah, nah".

pxpx 5th December 2016 18:42

Winston can't live forever.

Ab 5th December 2016 19:20

He's been looking shaky for years. But all he has to do is make it to the next campaign and life is miserable. If that's one of the things on Key's mind, then fuck yeah retire at the top.

Seriously, as of his last day Key has won the game. Undefeated multi-term Prime Minister leaving with his party more popular than when he took office. Nothing his opponents have done has touched him.

smudge 5th December 2016 20:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ab
who is a sensible centrist with leftie tendencies.

umm, BS Mr ACT voter. He was an opportunist who took advantage of the popular dilusion he was a "likeable, down to earth" type, and used a generation's willingness to sell out the future of their children's, and grandchildren's futures in their own self interest, to remain in power.

CCS 5th December 2016 21:25

Lul wat?

pxpx 5th December 2016 21:43

Yea, smudge, you're dead right. History will show that John Key did everything he could to remain in power. Even resigning!

Ab 5th December 2016 23:08

See that's just how power hungry he is.

CCS 5th December 2016 23:56

I'm still not sure whose future he sold out and what that future was.

Lightspeed 6th December 2016 00:08

Maybe he resigned when he could no longer hold onto power? Maybe he's now looking forward to enjoying the fruits of his position without the scrutiny? We don't really know what's up. But I guess it's clear the story we each prefer. ;)

"Keep Winny from power" isn't a very impressive resume. Is that worth the problems we've inherited? Is a billion dollar prison really the spending priority of a leftie?

Ab 6th December 2016 01:46

Dunno, but legalising gay marriage and free doctors' visits for children, etc, sure ain't the legislative priorities of a rightie.

pxpx 6th December 2016 07:54

lolspeed strikes again

DrTiTus 6th December 2016 11:22

I blame John Keys

fixed_truth 6th December 2016 12:18

I'll give John a B. Had he not sold assets & stopped Cullen fund payments for tax cuts then he could've made a B+. But then when you take into consideration education, health, surveillance, poverty, housing & govt. debt then maybe I'm being generous. Gonna miss that cheeky smile though.

Ab 6th December 2016 13:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by fixed_truth
I'll give John a B. Had he not sold assets & stopped Cullen fund payments for tax cuts then he could've made a B+.

Fair call, although I'll point out that he campaigned on partial asset sales and got elected therefore that policy was part of his deal with the voters.

As a politician I rate him as an A- on a bad day, off the scale on a good day. But as a Prime Minister I think your ratings are pretty sane. I wish he was retiring a bit less popular for having expended some popularity on doing stuff that needed to be done.

Savage 6th December 2016 13:32

At a time when the rest of the world seems to be slowly eating itself and/or imploding in spectacular fashion, and considering some of the NZ specific hurdles that came his way, I think JK did a pretty good job of getting NZ through.

pxpx 6th December 2016 15:00

English? Not feeling it.
Coleman? Not feeling it.
Collins? Not feeling it.

CCS 6th December 2016 15:04

Prime Minister Crusher. DO IT!

Ab 6th December 2016 15:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ab
As far as I can tell the biggest problem facing the Western world is old angry white men, because they fuck up everything they touch.

Second point: one of the other problems is that people are giving up on the electoral system and they are starting to hate the people who are part of it. That's one of the reasons Key has been so successful and so popular, people regard him as an outsider, someone who already had a life before Parliament and who is looking forward to life after it. If your CV is "Young Nationals, Staffer to a National MP, List MP, Electorate MP" (or the leftie equivalent) then you are the wrong person for the wrong time.

Lightspeed 6th December 2016 15:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ab
Dunno, but legalising gay marriage and free doctors' visits for children, etc, sure ain't the legislative priorities of a rightie.

They certainly would be if they thought that would bolster public support. Even the US, far more right than NZ, largely supports gay rights. Free doctors visits for kids is a nice thing to hold up when anyone questions the undermining of the rest of the public health care system.

In any case, during a time where NZ repeatedly demonstrated its economically robust nature on the world stage, the foundations of which predate any recent prime ministers, on balance JK tipped our resources away from those in need to those who already have much. The justification being financial prudence. Rather than seeing the strength of NZ and continuing to feed what built that strength.

Ab 6th December 2016 15:50

It's easy to say "oh it was inevitable" years afterwards. Of our English-speaking OECD peers only Canada legislated for same-sex marriage before NZ. The UK, after us; the USA, after us; Australia still hasn't.

Can you think of any "right wing" leader in the world whose party has done anything remotely comparable with the Ngāi Tūhoe settlement which removed Te Urewera from the National Parks Act? with restoring the right of Māori to seek customary title through the courts?

Would a "right wing" leader go on a Keynsian public-works spending spree funded by public debt (roads, Chch, etc) as Key has done? Would a "right wing" leader publicly lend his name and support to a campaign to discard our colonial flag in favour of a unique flag that reflected our identity?

Would a "right wing" leader not only retain the social policies of the left government he replaced (e.g. Working for Families) but increase benefit spending?

Summary: a centrist with leftie tendencies. Anyone who argues for Key as a right-wing ideologue is fucking blinded by their own dogma. He's rich, and took control of the National Party, so he must be right-wing.

CCS 6th December 2016 17:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ab
Summary: a centrist with leftie tendencies. Anyone who argues for Key as a right-wing ideologue is fucking blinded by their own dogma.

Truth for days.

fixed_truth 6th December 2016 18:40

I think JK was flexible and so was sometimes right-wing, sometimes a centrist and sometimes left-wing. I do think if you weighed up the past 8 years he would be centre-right.

I know this is National and not JK but I assume it's based on policy.

Ab 6th December 2016 19:02

As previously commented, any graph that lists ACT as "authoritarian" is worth what you paid for it.

But you're correct in pointing out that JK is not the National Party. Which is important, because he has changed it to be more like him. I think JK is the greatest thing to happen to National in forever, because he's pulled it away from oldwhitemalecountryconservativeness and to the centre where the people and the votes are. You think the party of "Springbok Tour" Muldoon and "Fiscal Envelope" Bolger and "Iwi/Kiwi" Brash would be out there settling Treaty claims and giving same-sex couples the right to marry without John Key?

StN 6th December 2016 19:25

I still think there might be something come out of Pike River. Maybe enough to sink national in the coming months. That kind of gamble might have played on his mind too.

Ab 6th December 2016 20:12

Yeah and I'm sure the Benghazi smoking gun was in Hillary's deleted emails too.


All times are GMT +13. The time now is 01:17.

Powered by Trololololooooo
© Copyright NZGames.com 1996-2024
Site paid for by members (love you guys)