The landed gentry Boomers have spun the local elections hard to the right…
New mayors have been elected in most major centres around New Zealand as voters overwhelmingly opted for a change of direction.
Right-leaning mayors triumphed in Auckland, Christchurch, Rotorua and other regions in a contest which could signal a broader mood for change ahead of next year’s general election.
…local elections are a rigged casino for the landed interests of NZ and being the landed gentry, Boomers always vote, indeed in many cases those rich white boomers have property in multiple locations and gain multiple votes! Oh how quick the right’s ‘one person one vote’ mantra against co-governance goes out the window when it’s their landed gentry voting privileges that get challenged.
As Comrade Chris Trotter has pointed out, the powers of counsellors have been so reduced to puppets by the technocrats that there is little point voting in the first place.
The ramifications of the Left being smashed so badly should be a wake up call for the Left but it won’t.
I was genuinely surprised Tory Whanau won Wellington, as a vassal for the Professional managerial Class, I honestly thought Whanau’s brand of toxic middle class wokeness would have been rejected once it was outside their echo chamber, but Wellington is the wokest city in NZ and they not only elected Whanau, they managed to get a working majority on Wellington council.
After 3 years of dysfunction on Council, the voters wanted a win in Wellington and got it.
This is terrible for the Left because they will conclude more woke middle class wank is the solution and try and take that perspective into the 2023 election.
The total apathy of turn out will spurn the usual ill informed demands to vote online.
Comrades, we are such. cheap arsed nation that we contract these elections out to a private company who doesn’t give a fuck about turn out!
If we are THIS cheap, to allow local elections to be run by a private company for private profit, how cheap do you think the online voting system will be?
Once you go online, you allow your entire system to be hacked and once that happens, politics will be destroyed in this country.
No, the solution IS NOT online voting, the solution is that we stop being such cheap pricks and run it ourselves again, like the national elections.
In the end in Auckland, there were only a dozen places you could cast a special vote, we need one day vote with 2 weeks pre voting with multiple polling booths around the city like we do with the national elections to fix the access issues that ensure the landed boomer gentry interests are always maintained.
This swing highlights how toxic 3 waters and co-governance has been weaponised by the banjo twangers and points to the terrible polarisation the NZ political landscape has become.
Jacinda must use Waitangi Day to actually articulate where the boundaries of 3 Waters and Co-Governance are so as to draw a line under the fear mongering by the right or risk this spilling into the 2023 election.
The Left have spent far too much time talking and very little walking. Voters don’t believe we have the capacity to make transformational change any longer and are drifting back to the Right.
The ‘progress’ in Auckland to fix the infrastructure gridlock caused by mass immigration hasn’t occurred at any real speed (thanks to Covid) but if we on the Left are simply presiding over a managed decline, we will be destroyed next year at the 2023 elections.
These local elections are a win to ZB, National, ACT and the landed boomer gentry, it was a terrible election for the Left, especially if they believe the lesson learned was more Professional Managerial Class wokeness!
Efeso also announced his resignation from local Politics last night which ends one of the most important generational political voices in Auckland.
Efeso didn’t fail Auckland, Auckland failed Efeso.
To my depressed Millennial and Get X friends remember, next year will be the first election ever where we numerically outnumber the propertied Boomers. Be merciless when you cast your vote next year and demand actual economic justice from our Left wing politicians, not mere caution and the woke wash of social justice, because caution and alienating social justice dogma will end Jacinda’s legacy and eliminate any hope we have of resetting the economic imbalance in our country.
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No, the solution IS NOT online voting, the solution is that we stop being such cheap pricks and run it ourselves again, like the national elections. Totally agree, although still those that want to vote will vote, Those that can’t be be arsed won’t.
can any NZ govt come up with a digital service that actually works, seriously can anyone name a govt e-project that came in on time and to spec…sorry this is is too important to be half arsed IT company.
..sorry it just is
Speaking Auckland here;
As I have said, Auckland Transport was a major reason for Wayne Brown winning. Leo knew it all too well. AT has fucked more than enough people off with their despot style and getting down with the cool professional management bike kids shit to cause this. Look at Aucklands CBD, a pig sty of closed streets and bus layup bays, judder bars and crawling speed limits. That’s AT! That was the future under anyone but Brown or Molloy!
I suspect if Efeso had a profile, because apart from the deepest beltway, no one knew him, that Jacinda and Labour’s brand weren’t in such terminal decline, and he promised to genuinely clamp down on AT’s excesses, with his free fares gig, he may have won. He came a respectable second. And Brown was hardly attractive but he looked like he had the fire in his belly to change things!
I do not think Collins loss was personal. He should not pack in politics either. It just the other option looked like a credible alternative to business as usual. And having said that, the resignation of the head of AT, some overpaid person I’d never heard of, is proof of that!
Online voting works well in the USA – but I fear something was amiss in the whole voting process. It may need some serious tweaking. Auckland is the most diverse city in NZ – what the heck were you people thinking Electing an old – he is almost 80 – misogynistic, white racist? I can’t believe good friends and people actually related to me by blood, voted for this person. My love affair with the city in which I was born and raised, to which I gave so much (did I teach my students nothing?) which I missed so much, is over!!!
Seems you have answered your own question Prunella…’misogynistic, white racist?’
Identity politics from the left has become both tiresome and irritating…seems ‘everyone’ is wrong because they didn’t vote the way you did!…better start looking in that mirror for the problem eh?
I am just trying to emulate Christopher Luxon who ‘identifies’ the disenfranchised and slave wage earners as ‘Bottom Feeders’ – I thought it was the ‘right’ thing to do…..
I was surprised that I never received my voting papers, as my nice elderly landlord had received his two weeks prior. I stopped being surprised when on Friday I saw a line of people that went out the door of the Electoral office in Federal street.
I did wonder if the company that was running the election, decided to cut costs by not sending out ballots by saving money on postage, cause you know, profits before public service…
I popped my votes into a bin at the local Countdown supermarket. the supermarket owners had placed a notice on top of the bin saying “this bin is not for rubbish”, which I thought was rather amusing.
standalone or your nice old landlord got the 2 votes he clearly deserves being a property owner.
Just buy a house standalone and the voting forms will turn up in the post…as do the rates bills…..easy…..
he’ll defend aucklands leafy suburbs from development and keep out the riff raff…the secret desire of all middle class liberals, is your answer, prunella
I did not know the voting system was run by profit oriented business. Too much.
And as if to sum up the malaise that Labour are in, it has finally dawned on our PM that the voting system in Auckland, at least, needs a review and fixing. Jee zuz! You reckon?
It’s been bad for decades, it’s dire now. Using post for voting, in the hit and miss world of NZ Post delivery? WTF! Its as if the organiser’s wanted as few votes as possible with as many hurdles in the way to casting them.
Why not have polling booths plus postal voting plus ballot boxes everywhere?
How did our PM not know how bad this was? Does she not take notice of anything unless her pollsters tell her to? Don’t we have a minister in charge of elections? It’s why Labour are where they are at today, they can’t think for themselves!
First comment on this site.
Eagle confirmed on RNZ that his 4th placing was because voters in Wellington voted along party lines.
This is the first time I have ever agreed with a Labour MP.
Ardern’s public support of both Eagle and Collins in Auckland was the kiss of death.
Great !
Providing Ardern is still leading here hapless bunch of sycophants next year Labour will be lucky to end up with 20 MP’s in the House.
Both National and ACT should have compulsory daily prayer sessions praying that Ardern retains her leadership next year.
Both Ardern and her socialist party are gone for all money.
Great first comment John J Harrison I look forward to reading many more.
Thankyou.
How are the caregivers these days J.J?
Gosh that’s awful Blazer.
Blazer, just got back from a very long brunch celebrating the demise of the Commie / Socialists.
Thank you for asking.
The caregivers ( plural ) are doing their job with alacrity.
May it continue at pace !
Theere aren’t any, labour government cancelled their visas.
Funny.
Fuck me, people here are utterly ignroant of basic facts.
I wish Jacionda was socialist, but she’s about as fucking centrist as you can be, a pure liberal.
No support for unions.
Ignored the findings of the government’s own inquiry into taxation, refusing to create any welath tax, basically the only OECD country without one (even the anti-tax U.S has both capital gains and inheritance tax), keeping arguably the most regressive tax system of the west aligning with upper-class/corporate interests agaisnt those of the working and lower middle class.
No Rent to own housing policy
Hand outs to corps during covid rather than citizens.
I coudl go on and on.
If you think this is communism, you probably think Mussolini’s policies are too centrist.
#NotMyMayor ? LOL
There will be a bonfire of council services around the country now. Parks sold, libraries closed, rents put up for pensioner housing.
Ironically, none of these so called ‘keep rates’ down types have ever proposed removing penalties or interest on late payment of rates.
@Millsy
Don’t forget all the tasty infrastructure network service contracts that will come up for their cronies; neolibs hate running things and boomers like money…
Are you referring to the current Labour Government Leftorium?
No boomer, I’m referring to the assberg that is Auckland council. Central government don’t do five eighths of fuck all anyway and certainly do not directly operate any infrastructure network. This used to be the job of local government, until the neolibs moved in. The signature of this move to the right will be yet more cronyism and dismantling of responsibility. Not really anything to do with the frankly terrible central government.
Would the adult left please stand up??
Keep rates down requires payment of rates so why would anyone want to incentivise non payment?
Absolutely Yeti but the thought patterns of some are hard to follow.
It’s not so much a swing to right leaning mayors and councils…It’s more of people have had enough of crazy green and Labour morons spending ratepayers hard earned money on the most stupid things possible and not doing the basic tasks that need to be done to run a functioning city or town.It’s bad enough that central government have failed to do the most basic of tasks , but when local governments practice cloud nine policy it’s a case of enough is enough….One good think is Wellington council will provide us with plenty of laughs as they continue with hyper silly , sadly at the rate payers expense….
You mean things like parks, libraries and pensioner flats?
If you are against council services, you are against humanity,. Plain and simple.
Really? So if a council provides a service of any kind it’s inherently good? Question, should the council be spending millions on attracting tourists when our basic infrastructure is fucked? I’d argue that maybe this money could be spent differently and directed to things that matter to those of us already here.
what is your definition of council services? – like art galleries, libraries etc are essential services, it is not all about roading etc
Parks, libaries, galleries, pensioner housing, etc. I fear that these right wing nutters are going to slash them all.
Also not too sure why people have a big problem with cycling infrastructure. Not all those who cycle are wealthy latte drinkers, I know where I live, most people who ride round on bikes are defienitely proletarian, some even lumpen.
Hopefully the loss of a lot of LW councillors will clear the way for new talent willing to step up in 2025 and 2028.
I’m a cyclist, but the planned expenditure of a BILLION dollars on cycle lanes in Auckland by the previous council is bonkers
Of course, the cycle way problem could be solved by a simple stroke of the pen — make it legal for people to ride bikes on footpaths.
You would rather run down pedestrians then be run down by a car.
pensioner housing. Once C-19’s done it’s job problem solved.
Why are councils into building and renting houses to anybody .They are responsible for the snails pace that private contractors build homes with their red tap. The state needs to look after those in need of help with housing with a total package of care Councils need to get back to basics water in and out , roads and footpaths ,parks ,library, some entertainment venues .The rest should be left to private enterprise.
Councils have been building pensioner flats for decades, and renting them at a CHEAPER rent than your beloved private sector.
As I said, if you are against public services, you are against humanity
The contract to provide the elections should include a percentage related to the number of NZers voting! The skinny part should be for the admin and the fat part related to the turnout.
The Boomers worked hard and took opportunities when they appeared. The accumulated broad gains of society have continued to be built by boomers from what they inherited. The question to answer is why is there a landed gentry in the first place?
This government has had a rare parliamentary majority and two terms in government and things have worsened in most metrics including the landed gentry.
People are exasperated and it’s now anyone but Labour. They have crashed and burned their political capital for the next 15 years.
No Milllsy…I’m not against council services…In fact I’m all for more services…Basic’s like clean drinking water , functioning sewage systems , safe footpaths and maintained toads , parks maintained , social housing and very importantly libraries….Unfortunately I can’t comment on all councils but the pattern of uncontrollable debt and obsession’s like stadiums , cycle lanes , removal of parking spaces where people shop and just stupid speed bumps and roundabouts at intersections that do not need them and the cycle lanes..Oh god….endless miles of empty cycle lanes…And before you pipe up with NZ Transit pays for most of the stupidity , the councils do spend money on these fantasy projects ..Millions…..To give you an idea of stupid spending…The ORC spent $12,000,000 looking…I will say that again…Looking for a new building in Dunedin….A few phone calls to real estate businesses could have done the job…And at the time they didn’t find a building suitable….The left and the greens have had a good run as far as squandering rate payers money goes , but at the end of the day they have been absolutely fucking useless…excuse my French…
Maintained toads….bugger….
Could have fooled me…
Interesting to see that Invercargill , Dunedin and Christchurch have new Mayors with the hands on. , roll your sleeves up and do it approach….Unlike the professional overhead approach of the previous lot from Dunedin and Christchurch…It’s a shame that Mother Nature and Father Time have touched base with Sir Tim and it will be interesting to see how Nobby goes as his replacement….
I don’t him only what I’ve read about him.
I think he will be good.
” I don’t him”?
Is that English?
So you wait for typos then you strike? Wow you are awesome.
No one owns the water apparently but the residents here in Taranaki are being forced to pay for water through introduction of water meters, but water bottlers can have as much water as they want. So if we change the definition of residents to water bottlers then we can have as much water as we want, even make a profit on it? I’m not in your immediate family Nanaia but please help me here.
So when will these so called Youth-quakes of young, savvy, politically aware start to come into play and change the dynamic? I think it must be 20 years since I first heard the term and we are still waiting.
just because you give a group the vote/bag of lollies it doesn’t guarantee their support…I cite pretty awful patel and suella braverman as examples…their parents were refugees and they’re the nastiest dirtbags….the ‘youthquake’ will go the same way….we all know ‘all property is theft’ at 18, turns into the stock broker at 30.
What about blaming Landed Gentry Gen-Xr’s?
A lot of vitriol directed at “boomers” because they bothered to exercise their right to vote and the so called “thousands” on the left didn’t bother.
Strange thought process if you ask me.
Bourgeois or better known as N.I.M.B.Y. GOT THEIR local electorate friend to care in councils for them. 40% , what that in regard to our national elect, monster difference come the day of a proper value turn out, mind we have a year of these N.I.M.B.Y. MAYORS TO SHOW THEIR GRIT.
All the rest right, wetting themselves, got this election in our hands, really, how shallow they need their support base to ad sugar to their latte, as their afford of the best coffee shops, in their chosen districts, never, coffee, in those places, do thy have proper coffee shops in their place.
In all your doom and gloom. The Māori Party walked into many local bodies for the first time.
Look for a strong left wing voice on council for the first time in 40 years. By that I mean normal voices expressing the reality of working people in this country.
That’s my future whats yours?
Supposedly three waters is so important, yet f*ck all people turned out to say they cared one way or the other. It probably is unpopular ( and let’s pretend its the democracy piece) but I think some people are drawing all sorts of conclusions on a questionable sample size. Wayne Brown is hardly extreme right. He says inappropriate things because he’s 400 years old, not because he is one way or another.
Yes, you do have a point wheel; the man is a fossil. Where you are wrong is the man’s value set; he is one of those amoral soulless ducks (ducks???? I meant fucks) who follows the neolib mantra. Watch for the few remaining core council services to be sold off for profit to (usually Australian) multinationals in the name of “sorting it out”.
I’m sure it will be fine though because he “isn’t really that right wing”….
Leftorium ” follows the neolib mantra” could make him Labour could it not. I am not trying to defend Brown I am just saying we are drawing a whole lot of conclusions on bugger all people turning up. Brown saying ‘finish projects’ would resonate with a number of people from either end of the political spectrum. The “City of Road Cones” could lead people to think ‘give him a go’. If Collins had won some might be saying a homophobic conservative is a sign of regression as well.
Landed gentry boomers my foot! I’m a Michael Joseph Savage “when are they gonna do something for the workers?” genuine Labour voter, who will never vote for this lot who have NO RIGHT to claim to be a LABOUR party.
The landed gentry vote because the landed gentry pay. Ratepayers have greater skin in the game.