Lacking even the spine it takes even to believe their own press releases, this National minority government will today announce a back-down on its previously-announced plans to survey Schedule 4 land for mining.
A backdown that tells their putative opponents in the leftward direction that all that’s needed to derail this govt’s plans is a little noise and the invasion of the hotel next door.
And, following repeated resistance to backing down on things that really should be reversed--like the Emissions Tax Scam and the anti-smacking law--it’s a backdown that tells National’s core supporters to go to hell. That says, “We’ll listen to Sue Bradford, but not to you.”
The National Party. Outflanking Labour on the left since the time this latest leader took over.
UPDATE: More from around the traps:
- Timidity yesterday on labour law – NOT PC
”…even on the rare occasion it does move in the right direction, his government doesn’t have the balls to move very far: Ninety days probationary unemployment. Now with fries.” - Mining by the Numbers – WHALE OIL
”When faced with the hard decisions the government has chosen wrong every time…” - Canary of public opinion sounds last note – DIM POST
”The government has coal on it’s face today after plans for mining collapsed…” - How’s that financial hub going? – DIM POST
”…broader significance of the backdown on mining is that we’re seeing a tradition of this government’s big picture vision projects failing: the job summit, cycle-way and now mining…”
And those numbers again:
- $4.3 billion - estimated value of gold and silver on Great Barrier Island.
- $54 billion - estimated value of mainly gold and silver on Coromandel Peninsula
- $1-2 billion - estimated value of coal in Paparoa National Park
8 comments:
Sadly, judging from the poll numbers it seems outflanking Labour on the left is precisely what the median voter wants them to do. In some sense I think you're shooting the messenger - the real problem is that this is what most NZers actually want and expect from their government.
Spot-on. I borrowed the pic and put it up with a link back to here.
Outflanking Labour on the Left was actually Rodney Hides' words, when he was interviewed on TV1 after the last election about forming a coalition government with National as a minority partner. The correct Rodney's words were something like:
Rodney...
John Key, is actually moving to the far left of Helen Clark
The idiot journalist (i think it was espioner) chided in by saying to Rodney something like:
Espioner...
Don't you think that sort of comment from you may be inappropriate at this stage, since you will be talking with National on agreements to make in forming a government?
So, Rodney had foreseen this and said it correctly at the time, just before this spineless Prime Minister took office.
@FF: "Outflanking Labour on the Left" was around well before the election. For example, the cartoon with that very phrase came from the March 2007 edition of 'The Free Radical.'
And the Labour reforms you might've heard about are...?
That is of course 'labour'.
And the labour reforms you might've heard about are ... more timidity.
Ah. Not sure why I bothered asking a libertarian now that i think of it ;-)
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