DNZ – one year on

This time last year NZ was recovering from the confrontation at parliament between police and protestors and Matt King was announcing the formation on a new political party. (Wikipedia)

The registration of DemocracyNZ in October 2022 is one of a number of political transactions (as shown above) since Election 2020, but the most significant event in the minor party scene.

A minor party, but a major undertaking to establish a party and have a realistic chance of entering parliament in this year’s election.

King is very aware of the need to be ‘at the ready’ … We’re living with an unstable government that could implode at any time. DemocracyNZ has held more than 50 public meetings from Kaitaia to Bluff since its formation, and is “Election Ready”.

When I spoke to King in September last year he had not lost any enthusiasm for the growing party’s Stand For Democracy saying,

Politics is about people and standing up for what is right especially when unpopular – that takes courage.

Matt King

There was already talk of bottom lines, King’s determination to win back the Northland seat he had previously held as a National Party MP, and to take other like minded candidates with him to parliament – 3 more have been announced so far.

First up was former New Conservative candidate Lee Smith who opened her campaign in September 2022.

Second out of the blocks, Waikato agricultural advisor, Steve Cranston in November.

Both have been vocal in their respective strengths around Education and Groundswell Issues.

Third on the scene, which caused some considerable interest in Tauranga was local lawyer, Kirsten Murfitt, in February.

The party is celebrating its successes to date, in particular its appearance in recent political polls within a few months of registration.

No small achievement for a newly registered party in its first election and with a former MP as party leader, is elible to be included in major political debates.

This is where DemocracyNZ parts company with other minor parties. King has been very clear DNZ has no interest in joining other minor parties including the recently formed ‘umbrella party’ of FreedomNZ.

Tomorrow the party will announce two more candidates and perhaps have some Sunday Thoughts to chew over tomorrow night.

In the meantime here’s what Matt King had to say this morning.

more to come …

Sunday: 19th March

DemocracyNZ held a Facebook live session at 3.00pm today.

https://m.facebook.com/events/907845490268791?mibextid=Z0UBBX

Matt King led a brief review of DemocracyNZ at their one year anniversary with the existing candidates, Lee Smith (Taranaki-King Country) Steve Cranston (Waikato) and Kirsten Murfitt (Tauranga)

Two further candidates were announced following the review but will not have candidate launches at this time.

Dr (Medical) Matt Shelton who will stand as a candidate in the Wellington Region, although there was no indication that Shelton would be a list only candidate.

Dr (Dental) Martin Langford who will stand as a candidate in the Napier electorate.

King stated that it was not appropriate to have a candidate launch in Napier at this time given the extent of the damage still being dealt with from Cyclone Gabrielle and Shelton’s electorate was yet to be decided.

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TOP On The Board

The Opportunities Party TOP leader Raf Manji today announced the next 6 candidates in the party’s lineup following the leader’s launch in Ilam two weeks ago.

Raf Manji
Ilam
Leader

Jessica Hammond
Ōhāriu
Co-Deputy Leader

Shai Navot
Upper Harbour
Co-Deputy Leader

Dr Nina Su | Epsom

Dr Ben Peters | Dunedin

Ciara Swords | Mt Albert

Damian Sycamore | Auckland Central 

The party recently modified its existing logo for this election.

Listen Up Luxon

Listen to Steve Cranston’s message to Luxon:

https://fb.watch/iTv15hc1yP/?mibextid=RUbZ1f

“I’m just curious, Chris … when did climate change become so important to you?”

Steve Cranston

Cranston was straight to the point when he addressed New Zealand’s National Party Leader, Chris Luxon over his climate hypocrisy.

This week saw a determined effort from the National Party to stamp ownership on climate policy and a possible deal with the Green Party in post election coalition arrangements.

Green Co-leader James Shaw has been the key political figure in the country’s development of climate policy and its Climate Commission and also a strong critic of the Opposition’s position on climate policy.

DemocracyNZ as a new political party launched in October hasn’t had time to stamp its mark on the election narrative but are not short of talent in their candidate line up to do so.

The shifting sands that see National move out of Opposition mode and establish an early election position around climate policy is yet another indication National has already surrendered the farming vote to DemocracyNZ.

DemocracyNZ leader, Matt King is a Northland farmer and Cranston an agricultural advisor in the Waikato.

3 Years On

It’s an effort to drag your attention away from all that is happening around us at the moment. I didn’t see the Christchurch earthquake mentioned once yesterday, 12 years on.

What was happening three years ago?

For NZ we were still in a peaceful pre-covid existence.

Far from perfection though, with little if any substance from Labour.

Mallard was becoming aware of the party’s failure to deliver and had been making a nuisance of himself, Jacinda was languishing, and the election chatter about her stepping down after the March Mosque anniversary was heating up.

At ground level though, homelessness was gaining traction and Facebook activity suggested there was at least 20k Kiwis living on the road in an organised fashion.

That’s not counting the general homelessness and the increase of people living in cars which was evident in Northland.

The battle with freedom campers was heating up and gypsy camps were developing around any convenient location.

If it wasn’t for Covid that would have been the narrative going into the 2020 Election 3 years ago.

Dangerous Territory

It’s frightening to watch but we are seeing the political disposal of free speech even without legislation. 

DemocracyNZ or Not?

So, would you agree that this is one of the most confusing times New Zealand has seen in its political history?

“It’s not responsible ‘to take options off the table'” Grant Robertson, said today, amid questions over potential flood tax.

Yet, these same people would exclude debates they don’t want to have from this election along with other political parties whose ideas you might like better.

This happens to an extent in every election year where the parliamentary parties will eliminate some issues early on to keep the election tidy often sidelining single issue parties – “It’s not an election issue.”

Among the minor parties we have now, sits DemocracyNZ.
Here is a party that is growing a candidate list who understand and can debate these issues and a party that has held public meetings throughout the country during the last 12 months.

Matt King already has a front bench that is capable of functioning in Parliament. That is one of the reasons I think we are seeing David Seymour fire up. Whether Seymour wants the top job or not he’s desperate for ACT to walk over any territory where DemocracyNZ candidates could shine.

ACT know they have some serious competition in Matt King who has already done one term in Parliament as a National MP but also what the public might not realise yet is with the quality of candidates standing for DemocracyNZ, they could easily win electorate seats where ACT would struggle to do this.

What we’re seeing with our two main parties, though is not an election but a competition for power – and after this week’s performance from Luxon some supporters will be taking a step back from National. 

If the politically homeless walkway and don’t vote for DemocracyNZ it’s a lost debate. The debate you could have had but will definitely not get if they don’t bother to vote.

Having said that, DemocracyNZ isn’t doing as much as it could to connect. The party has to make itself more visible than it is now.

DemocracyNZ – registration approved

The Electoral Commission has approved the registration and logo of the DemocracyNZ Party.

Registeted Logo

On 12 October 2022, the Electoral Commission approved the registration of DemocracyNZ and its logo under Part 4 of the Electoral Act 1993 and updated its register of political parties.

Matt King Party Leader

Party Leader, Matt King is understood to be making an announcement to party faithful at a DemocracyNZ meeting in Christchurch tonight.

credit Kiwi Voice

The party emerged from the parliamentary protest in Wellington in February, fighting government mandates.

King, a former policeman led the campaign against mandates for the armed services and police and continues to be an advocate for the pro-choice lobby.

Matt King and Lee Smith

Apart from King, who intends to stand as a candidate in Northland the party has also announced its Taranaki-King Country candidate, Lee Smith, pictured above at her launch in Te Awamutu on September 30, 2022.

Party Website http://www.democracynz.org

The only official policy area King has waded into outside of opposing the Government’s Covid-19 response, is climate change policy, also labeling the Opposition weak, claiming DNZ now had more farmers in its ranks than National.  

With a support base that saw more than 400 people turn out to his Chch meeting last night, DNZ must be considered a possibility to cross the 5% threshold at the 2023 Election.  

In what has no doubt been Ardern’s worst week in politics the PM hasn’t been able to impress.

Brand Jacinda is Broke

Update posted by Matt King, Tuesday 14 March 2023.

Ditch Climate Policy says New Conservative

Ted Johnson

New Conservative, a minor political party wants New Zealand out of the Paris Accord.

A proposed new levy on farmers for greenhouse gas emissions is Government “throwing both farmers and consumers under the climate bus” says New Conservative co-leader, Ted Johnson.

Johnson, also a candidate in the recent mayoral campaign in Auckland says the levy “will only benefit New Zealand’s competitors in international markets.”

There are good reasons why, as the Prime Minister says, “no other country in the world has yet developed a system for pricing and reducing agricultural emissions.”

Other countries have prioritised feeding their people over quixotic attempts to control the climate.New Zealand is a nation built on agricultural exports and this Labour Government’s proposal will only make it harder for our farmers to compete, while driving up grocery prices.

Our farmers are the best in the world. If, as the Government claims, there is a competitive advantage in reducing emissions, our farmers will be the first to move. Imposing yet another tax on farmers while incentivising the conversion of farms to forestry is both unnecessary and dangerous at a time of global food crisis.

Helen Houghton

The World Food Program estimates that 828 million people go to bed hungry every night and as many as 345 million face starvation.“Our farmers are part of the solution. Unfortunately our government is part of the problem,” says co-leader, Helen Houghton.

Their stated goal is to reduce sheep and beef farming by 24% and dairy farming by 7%, wiping out a large part of our food production for their anti-farmer agenda.

By their own admission it might even drive up global CO2 emissions as production is replaced elsewhere.

New Conservative calls on the Government to focus on real solutions to real pollution, and “abandon policies driven by climate change hysteria and doomsday modelling scenarios” says, Houghton.

New Conservative would remove New Zealand from the Paris Accord, abandon the ETS, and repeal the Carbon Zero Act.

New Conservative October 2022

Brand Jacinda is Broke

Know Us By Our Deeds

I was wondering what was going to happen this morning but how else would you expect Jacinda Ardern to respond?

“I reject that.”

Of course … but what else would you expect from someone who not only had established a “Podium of Truth” but who has indeed come to believe, she is one in the same, and the only source of truth.

I’m loathed to quote the mainstream but this RNZ article is important to the extent that Reuters had seized upon it well before Midday today.

Why, because they are watching the downfall of the darling of the left, the Queen of Woke, call her what you like, Brand Jacinda is in meltdown.

Could our country’s politics get any more, Orwellian?

It’s not just Ardern that’s in trouble, it’s her party too – the New Zealand Labour Party is faced with a tough call, as current polls reflect rapidly growing dissatisfaction with both Ardern and her government.

Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern really is her own executioner though, after breaking with convention last week, and endorsing candidates in the country’s local body elections.

Tania Tapsell Mayor of Rotorua

The outcome of that local body election (that we witnessed this weekend ) saw a solid swing to the right and pushback against the Māori Caucus which is a critical part of this Labour Administration.

The essential element that creates the perfect storm is the media concept that the medium is more important than the message – when credibility is more important than the perception you are trying to swing – Faafoi fell over off at the same hurdle last week.

This applies to “Brand Ardern” and equally to our mainstream media.

In the same article, discussing Kris Faafoi, Ardern essentially argued that we should deny human nature, and endorse the possibility of corruption after Faafoi’s disclosure last week that our ex-cabinet minister was part of a lobbying cabal.

A NZ mainstream media that is already stretched to the edge of credibility, saw well known political journalist, Guyon Espinor respond with a very solid, “Come on.”

Politically, Ardern is being hunted by the shadow of death. Too much credibility has been forsaken by too many others for the sake of any prime minister in a democracy.

There is a limit to that convention – upholding the respectability of the position of prime minister – appearances sake on behalf of the country

And this morning: Ardern fell into a breakfast bowl of her own shark infested custard.

Enough Of Ardern

Tania Tapsell

The new Mayor of Rotorua

A councillor since the age of 21 and now Mayor of Rotorua in her third term at age 29. It’s a personal success story fronting up to one of the most difficult jobs in New Zealand today – Mayor of what used to be the tourist town of ‘RotoVegas’ a city decimated by Jacinda Ardern’s pandemic insanity.

Auckland, our supercity, has its issues too, but I wouldn’t make Tania Tapsell the new Mayor of Auckland or Wayne Brown the new Mayor of Rotorua.

That’s New Zealand, a country of great diversity in many respects, regionally and locally as well, and that requires purposeful talent to suit each circumstance.

That aside, Tapsell’s success is a strange irony for those that remember her grandfather, Labour Speaker Sir Peter Tapsell.

If this election has been a slap down for the Red Queen, with voters sending many left wing incumbents packing, Tapsell has been equal to the occasion in delivering a king hit to Mahuta, and the Māori Caucus.

To the Minister for Local Government Nanaia Mahuta, as Tapsell oppossed 3 Waters as a councillor. She may however, support whatever National’s alternative is, and that’s still an unknown, whereas many would rather see a compete return to the independence of Local Body management.

To the Maori Caucus in their pursuit of co-governance. The myth is that the Maori Caucus represent 16 – 17 % of those identifying as Maori.

They don’t. That Elite group represent more like 4% of Māoridom, much to the annoyance of the other 12 – 13 % who regard themselves as New Zealanders with Maori ancestry.

That group exist throughout NZ and have a tough time having their political position recognised.

In that respect a significant load rests of Tapsell’s young shoulders and she isn’t going to get an easy ride through the next 3 years trying to rebuild a city when the country is not yet through its economic recovery and struggling to rebuild its tourism.

It’s grand opportunity though, and if Tapsell seizes the day and the success, she’s a hero in the making.

The Dark Shadow of Kris Faafoi

Former NZ Labour MP Kris Faafoi

Tokelau descendants in their diaspora outnumber the residual population 4:1 (some 7,000 people in total) and one of the Pacific nation’s recognised success stories, has fallen from grace.

Kris Faafoi is typical of others from the New Zealand Labour Party of which he is now a former MP and Cabinet Minister following his resignation in July 2022. A political party that courted his jovial nature to use as a member of parliament.

You may think it is unfair to single out his association with Tokelau and in general I would agree. Tokelau itself places great stead on the use of their experience and the practices of tunoa and expulsion for bringing shame to the culture, such as we witnessed recently with Mahelino Patelesio and his ongoing encounter with the Nukunono Taupalenga for his dissenting views.

(One would not like to think that Tokelau supported political and elite corruption but it is possible)

Faafoi now joins the ranks of Labour’s disgraced and deplorables such as Trevor Mallard our dishonorable former Speaker who is in the process of being shipped off to Ireland as New Zealand’s next Ambassador.

New Zealand is quickly courting the dual reputations of a second world socialist failure and a dysfunctional third world disgrace.

[After 200 years of unique development and being ahead of its time in many respects]

Unless there is something more behind Faafoi’s sudden departure than the desire to spend more time with his family (and without a convicted crime to be punished by a court) what Faafoi is guilty of is breaking with our well established conventions.

In that respect he is the artist of his own dark shadow but in no way can claim ignorance or innocence of his wrongdoing.

Faafoi has made a mockery of his title (Honourable) and as an NZBS Journalism graduate must have understood some degree of ethical behavior before entering parliament.

(*Hon) Kris Faafoi was elected to be the Member for Mana in November 2010 – he’d worked for more than a decade as a “journalist” at both TVNZ and the BBC.

A former Minister for Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media, Civil Defence, Customs, Commerce and Consumer Affairs as well as Associate Minister of Immigration and what Faafoi started remains unfinished business as discussed by the Directors and Editors Guild. https://www.deganz.co.nz/tag/kris-faafoi/

Two months later the former-journalist/MP tells Radio New Zealand he is chief executive of the company – Dialogue22 and seemingly unconcerned about any criticism leveled at him about this.

“I don’t particularly get fussed about that, you know, people are entitled to their opinions but as I said you leave politics and you have to find yourself a career.”

Kris Faafoi

There may be a hidden truth in what Faafoi said, in that journalism is a career and parrotoxic media is a job and at worst obedience to authoritarianism.

Faafoi can have his opinion too: but that’s only about his career not about what he thinks he might be entitled to, or entitled to do now that he has moved on.

Faafoi expects us to buy the spin. Nice try, liitle boy, but you were a cabinet minister three months ago, not now.

The country’s newist lobbyist has come through what is typically referred to in politics as the revolving door between politics and the corporate world into his new role.

Does this matter? In a country that tells the world NZ is not a corrupt place to do business, it should be pointed out other countries have integrity rules about exactly this.

The day Faafoi departed parliament he left no forwarding address – gone to enjoy his peace – that I would call either a bare-faced lie or a conspiracy after the fact if his former colleagues are prepared to remain silent and not slam some immediate legislation back in his face like we know they are capable of doing.

As a cabinet minister Faafoi will have been privy to the most important political discussions, and the information that goes with that territory.

Something no other existing participants in that industry could match. What is normally confidential is not the knowledge alone but those people associated with that, both inside and outside parliament.

His flippant brush off quoted above is one of the biggest middle fingers this country has seen.

Confidentiality aside, elements of cabinet discussions do often leak but parliament has the ability to sensure those actions and any indiscretions.

Faafoi is able to use and misuse what is unpublished, possibly intimidating, threatening, commercially sensitive, anti competitive … and any other etc. not listed.

Inappropriate advantage shouldn’t exist but then the example of Mahuta is leading the way.

Confidential public information is not intended to end up in the hands of commercial interests. We do not simply sell information about cabinet to the highest bidder and what entitles Faafoi to profit in that way as opposed to the labour of his former “career”?

I’m not offended just personally but on behalf of every minimum wage media worker out there struggling to make ends met and every media student that finds this in their history lesson.

That information is intended to be used for the public good, not to advance private interests, everything Faafoi supposedly stood against, isnt it?

But there is another significant consequence that needs to be stated loud and clear and that is Faafoi’s ability from within the position he has established to orchestrate funding of the Labour Party for the 2023 election without our normal and existing checks and balances.

We all should be concerned about that.

See Also – Enough of Ardern

UN Speech September 2022

Bryce Edwards: Faafoi’s lobbying position should be illegal

More on Kris Faafoi

The new lobbying company is owned by Greg Partington, who has a number of different businesses that connect with politics and political insiders. Another of Partington’s businesses, the communications agency “Tatou NZ” is run by the partner of Cabinet Minister Peeni Henare, Skye Kimura.