Your views: Readers' letters

Prime Minister-elect Jacinda Ardern and her new government have immediately come under fire from incensed right-wing commentators.

Media hissy fit

Wow. It has been impossible to keep up with the rabid media editorials slamming the new coalition.

An endless flow of enraged op-ed pieces has popped up in the corporate media online and off.

Prebble, Hosking, Soper, Armstrong, Patrick Gower, Lisa Owen, Heather du Plessis-Allan, Leighton Smith, Duncan Gardner - you name them, they have been having a hissy fit like I've never seen - ranging from the subtle to the insidious.

A small sample: "Ardern should 'cut the crap', accept they're lapdogs" - (Newshub) "'NZ shock: losers take power' - The world reacts to the Jacinda Ardern-led Government" (Stuff). "Already a mess - we are all in trouble" (Hosking), "Jacinda Ardern will regret this 'coalition of losers'" (Herald), "Did Jacinda Ardern 'curse' the All Blacks?" (Herald), and "Will Labour's fair pay policy really bring New Zealand to a standstill?" (thespinoff).

The reality: the countries with stronger unions and higher pay, particularly those in northern Europe, actually outperformed National's New Zealand on a number of levels economically.

Helen Clark's export-based economy was, in fact, stronger than National's housing bubble, immigrant-driven economy. But be prepared to see a lot more of this crazy right-wing hysteria from the business press in New Zealand.

And then we have the truly relentless far right. As one observer wrote: "The Dirty Politics crew have already gathered and posited realignment in light of this Government. David Farrar has already posited on Kiwiblog that it is his intention to weaponise social media and communications to this effect."

In reality, even this Government is still to the right of most of the developed world on taxes and spending. National had indeed radically "turned back the clock" ... to classical liberal market economics of the 1920's. And big city media are now entrenched with their right-wing sycophants.

No equivalent to Hosking and fellow travellers exists on the left. There is no real left voice left. The media owners (investment firms, real estate funds, et all), advertisers and flak from well-funded, high-profile big business "think tanks" will make sure of that. They have profited too much from National's mess.

BRIT BUNKLEY
Whanganui

Hosking's view

This is Mike Hosking speaking. We are all in trouble. Labour didn't even know it was being picked. It took Jacinda Ardern ages to show herself. The Greens hadn't even signed off. What a mess. Where's the policy? What are the portfolios? Labour needs to explain. NZ First did way too well. The Greens are losers. They have a lot of explaining to do. Jacinda Ardern takes a very big risk. She has 100 days to prove she isn't an accident. She needs more years in opposition. Bill English didn't lose, he just didn't get picked. This new government is vulnerable. Bill needs to stay and pick at it big time. MMP is mad ... Where's me head!?

ROD SACH
Whanganui

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