Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Bruce Bisset: Our chance to save New Zealand

Bruce Bisset
Hawkes Bay Today·
2 Feb, 2017 11:30 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Bruce Bisset.

Bruce Bisset.

Huzzah! We have a date! September 23 is Liberation Day, otherwise known as the general election when we finally - and, I hope, irrevocably - get rid of the grasping pestilence of neoliberalism.

And, frankly, other than replacing it with a warped theocratic dictatorship a la the US Trump administration, I don't care what comes next. Anything is better than another term under National.

Because they've stuffed - and are stuffing - this country up so badly in so many ways the only wonder is that the rah-rah brigade still blithely buy their empty rhetoric of a "better" New Zealand.

Meaning all the mindless muffins out there who give lip service to National's faults but still unwaveringly chant "But what have Labour/the Greens/NZ First got?" and beat that little piece of negative spin as if it actually had meaning or substance.

Instead, ask what have National got? Nothing by which to reasonably elect them or hold them to account, because all their policy is made on the hoof.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

And we're paying the price with $100 billion extra debt, failing education and health and police and social services, a housing crisis of epic proportions and economic "growth" fuelled solely by immigration, not to mention a thousand environmental disasters turning us 99 per cent turgid brown.

That's without mentioning the "c" word. Though I can't think of another Western regime where half the Cabinet have committed "crimes" (political, if not literal) and retained their seats.

Besides, better for whom? The 1 per cent who now own half the country? Terrific.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Whereas the main challengers have oodles of detailed policy on every facet of government, carefully designed to make things fairer for all - but does anyone bother to read it?

No, it gets binned with one rendition of "What have they got" and swapped for a cryptic comparison of leaders - as if that were a credible guide.

But what they have, in essence, is the same as they always have: The hard job of picking up the pieces after another appalling right-wing rampage and reintroducing some sanity and care into the country's governance.

For which, excepting Micky Savage and possibly Norman Kirk, they will not be thanked. They'll do it anyway, because someone has to.

That said, I wish Labour and the Greens would up their intensity and fight fire with fire.

It's all very well playing team-bonding games and being the voices of reason, but this is the 21st century; politics is even more about the biggest voice making the brashest noise - as our American cousins have so dramatically proven.

But speaking of the cult of leaders, they do have some problems: Andrew Little and James Shaw are both "nice guys" you'd be happy to buy a car and some insurance off, but they struggle to cut and thrust effectively.

While Metiria Turei unfortunately elicits the worst combination of prejudices with her permanent canary-eating smile, and Annette King is too much old-guard. Even up against bean-counter Bill and She Who I Refuse To Name they're barely treading water when they should be surfing.

I'll still vote Labour/Green because they are a more-than-viable alternative, and we MUST change. But I'd even take Winnie as PM in a coalition government if it meant dumping the Nats. That's how dire things have got.

So take a moment, dear reader, this Waitangi Day - for however you regard it, it is our national day - to reflect on how great this country used to be and compare that to what we have now, and I'd hope you'll agree we need to change direction, fast.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Hold that resolve firm until September 23 - then make it happen.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Firefighters battle motel fire on Napier’s Marine Parade

23 Sep 09:58 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Ross Shield: Defending champions Napier held to first-day draw

23 Sep 05:04 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Collaboration and conversation: Performing Arts Exchange coming to Hastings

23 Sep 02:26 AM

Sponsored

Poor sight leaving kids vulnerable

22 Sep 01:23 AM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Firefighters battle motel fire on Napier’s Marine Parade
Hawkes Bay Today

Firefighters battle motel fire on Napier’s Marine Parade

Many of the motel occupants evacuated onto the street during the blaze.

23 Sep 09:58 AM
Ross Shield: Defending champions Napier held to first-day draw
Hawkes Bay Today

Ross Shield: Defending champions Napier held to first-day draw

23 Sep 05:04 AM
Collaboration and conversation: Performing Arts Exchange coming to Hastings
Hawkes Bay Today

Collaboration and conversation: Performing Arts Exchange coming to Hastings

23 Sep 02:26 AM


Poor sight leaving kids vulnerable
Sponsored

Poor sight leaving kids vulnerable

22 Sep 01:23 AM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP