BOMB A FIZZER ?

Good - Roy is gone in a clinical display of leadership by Hide. However we tend to agree with John Armstrong. The voters and supporters have a right to know why. Hide should - well, hide nothing.

He needs to be transparent about the reasons for dismembering the party.

And if indeed there was a neutron bomb - one would have expected it to explode by now. Hides refusal to reveal what Roy was sacked for will just continue to fuel speculation that what she did was serious. And the fact that ACT no longer has the Assoc Defence portfolio in itself speaks volumes.. One can only speculate about a lack of trust on the part of National that it has taken the portfolio back inhouse.

We will watch the events of the next few days with a great deal of interest..

MOOD OF CAUTIOUS OPTIMISIM

The tide of change that has swept though America appears to have set off a similar wave here. Media today are speculating that this Saturday will signal a change in NZ politics. . John Armstrong talks of Labour needing an miracle. We agree.

NZ HERALD HEAPS PRAISE ON KEY

John Armstrong has a good column analysing National's performance this week and its a thumbs up.

He sees merit in the more centrist face that Key is presenting with announcements like the transitory package - which is a pay the basics insurance for those who find themselves unexpectedly out of work.

Armstrong rightly points out that this wont sit easy with some of the Nats drys but the reality is Key has tapped into a large and grumpy voter segment - the jobsters who are out there putting all they have into life but dont get much as a bent penny from the policies of the past.


Key looked relaxed this week - Clark on the other hand looks like a coiled spring.

We here at the prawn are expecting that Labour will try and bring out some dirt this week - Clark will probably get Winston to do it - he hinted at more dirt to come a couple of times recently.

And Clark will be positioning herself to look like a leader who has the answers to the growing economic tsunami that is about to wash over the country.

We also think that after the generally lack lustre mini minor leaders debate last night the focus will be squarely on the two leaders.

JOURNALIST OF THE WEEK

We have always admired Armstrong - he is fair minded and has a bloody good brain and can cut through the mire of of any issue and get to the heart of it. His column this morning in the Herald is a great example of that - well written - very readable and on the button.

THIS IS NO TIME FOR SANDPIT POLITICS

John Armstrong has got it right in the Herald this morning - Labour has rejected Nationals offer of advice on the financial crisis is about politics - they have simply put politics before good sense.

And again in the Herald John Sherwin the international tax guru reckons we are staring down the barrel of big increases in GST because of the pool of financial crap we are sinking in because of the burden of our huge deficits.


So its time for all the wise heads to get together and put up a package that will get us through this crisis - because that is what we are heading towards at breakneck speed - a crisis .


But instead all we are likely to see is bitchy backbiting nasty name calling from Clark as she plays the politics of personality -
While Key will be standing on the sidelines wondering what if - and thinking of how he will handle the mess he will be delivered after the election.

Maori Party and National Party feel a bit of manakitanga

Maori party - tino pai


This from John Armstrong of the Herald

However, the way the numbers fall in Parliament may well force the Maori Party into a formal confidence-and- supply arrangement of the kind NZ First has with Labour.
That would be a big step for a party naturally worried about becoming another statistic in the minor parties' largely unsuccessful struggle to get a reward from voters for being reliable partners either inside or outside a minority Government.
The Maori Party does have the advantage of representing a niche market, rather than having to compete with all and sundry. But at some point it must start delivering the goods.
This election would seem to be the opportune time to do so, given National's lack of viable partners and Labour's likely need for any partner it can get.



I gave a speech to a bunch of mothers some 2 months ago and it wrapped around the theme that the Maori party would be in government with the National Party following the next election.

I am Ngai Tahu and, in my time have dabbled in tribal politics at a grass roots level, so I'm very aware of what the politial essence of Maori is.

And it aint socialism.

Even at the last election the growing brown intellegensia could see a need for the Maori Party to take a fresh look at their political bedfellows.

Sadly it was not to be. And maybe that has been a good thing as both the Maori party and the National Party have had time to step back and take a good look at each other and they appear to have come to the conclusion that a bit of miscegenation could be good for the country.

If they feel the aroha and join forces after the election, then Busted Blondes wine cellar will be the richer.

A mate bet a bottle of Hill of Grace ( year of the winners choosing ) that the Maori party wouldnt have a bar of the Nats post the election.

BB reckons its the best bet she has made in a long time