The front page the NZ Herald is running today has this headline and this photo:
What Get's Axed Under the National-Led Government?
Is this an unflattering photo of Chris Luxon, or what? What's with the dark foreboding background; the gnarling teeth? Using the word "axed" conjures up an image of him as running around with a weapon. What will he chop off? Now Google "NZ Herald" and "Ardern". Here's their latest photo a few days before the election, complete with headline "Did Ardern Just Have a Dinosaur Dig at Luxon?", implying Luxon may not believe in them.
Meanwhile, Newshub rolled out its favorite economics panelist yesterday, Shamubeel Equab, to make disparaging comments about the incoming government's ability to effect change. Equab is the guy who called National's revenue estimates on its proposed foreign buyers tax "bullshit" and David Seymour "economically illiterate".
Here's a personal story. Two days before the election I gave an interview for OneNews about our economy and political parties. I laid blame on Labour's economic mismanagement for our current mess, though added that the policy proposals of our major parties to get us out of the mess are not particularly different. The entire segment of the interview during which I critiqued Hipkins was removed from what appeared on the 6 o'clock news that evening.
My impression is that Newshub, Stuff, NZ Herald and our State-owned TV Channel do not like the election result - they don't like how the people have spoken. Actually, Hipkins was never elected by us - he was elected by his own party when Ardern stepped down. Now the people have clearly said they want change. They have rejected what Chris Hipkins and Grant Robertson stand for. We, the people, want the incoming government to change things and to succeed. We want NZ to succeed. Does the mainstream media want NZ to fail?
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