Gavin

I think the old bill did the right thing Stipe. It's a big deal to set up phone taps and surveillance etc. One incident of highly dubious conduct may be defended but it's virtually impossible to defend a long term pattern of that conduct, especially if you've gathered compelling evidence. The confidence of punters will be be rocked by allegations of race fixing. Over the years I've seen hundreds of races that I considered dubious. What invariably went hand and hand with that were tote movements that matched the questionable actions or lack of by drivers. Now, every time certain drivers hand up to family members or similar, punters will turn cold. Every time there is a betting plunge, punters will be questioning if a fix is underway. Racing and betting is good but it's not that good. Punters will feel robbed and eventually walk away. The ONLY way the authorities can have a positive result here and restore confidence is by a life ban for "anyone" regardless of who they are if they have been convicted of race fixing. No grey areas. Gone. The integrity of the industry is paramount.

Also very important not to ever allow yourself to be bullied, especially by inadequate and narcissistic human beings who's obnoxious conduct was instrumental in so many genuine racing folk leaving the oxidation pond. If anyone had the audacity to disagree with that vile little man, he would first abuse and belittle you with his intellectual arrogance, then threaten you at the same time he packs yet another tantrum. He can't actually do anything himself due to his numerous limitations. All he can do is seek the assistance of brown noses who routinely suck up to him through fear of ever being his target or of course, pay someone to act in his stead. Only he can discuss with "gay" abandon the names of anyone in the industry who's alleged dubious actions have come to the attention of other industry participants or authorities. He is worthy of contempt only.

Things just getting worse. By conspiring to supply, does that mean he was supplying it? If so, is there any suggestion that these drivers were under the influence of ecstasy while driving in races? Why do people who have the world at their feet, allegedly risk it all ? Such a frustrating waste.

I don't mean to be pedantic, but is "match" fixing and "race" fixing one and the same, or have they made an error in the charge description?

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=3586320

There is just no way the Police would charge these people unless they felt there was enough evidence to gain convictions. All those accused are innocent until proven guilty of course but a very black day for the industry. Genuinely shocked and saddened to see Blair charged. Nigel McGrath was one of those involved in the blue magic fiasco. By his previous standards, he has been quiet ever since until the last year or so. How many times has the name John Dunn been mentioned in the last two years by stewards etc? By far the biggest name is that of N.R. The potential connotations of her charge don't reflect well. The fact Matt Anderson with his connection to NR has been charged with race fixing and possession is also a huge red flag. The industry has been trending down for some time. This will do nothing for the confidence of everyone in any way associated with the game. There's me thinking only NSW and Queensland had choreographed many of their races.

Whenever the Riccarton carnival comes around each year, I look back on some of the jumpers from years gone by that left their mark on me. Crown Star was an absolute beauty. Would love to see a clip of him doing what he did best if anyone has one? Fairly confident he was the Brownes best ever jumper. Not at all in the same mold as Ardri and Ascona. Another horse that comes to mind was the grey Charger. My memory is not what it was but I recall him winning a feature jumping race at the carnival about 30+ years ago. Unsure if it was the Sydenham Hurdles or the Koral Steeples. Reon gave it no hope in the home straight but it still got up. Unsure if Eric Templeton trained it. Was a fair enough horse on the flat from memory also.

It does seem obvious now that you're not Fred and Daphne's little friend. His grammar is on par with what my son was like when he was 12, where as your grammar and input is more like a 15 year old school leaver. Just out of interest, did you have a brown nose in your school class photo also?

Only the ones you pay and or suck up to. There must be a lonely rock somewhere waiting for you to slide back under it.

How pathetically childish. Are you really that insecure and desperate? You do appreciate you're not 12 ft tall here and have no perceived power over adults. You must feel naked and vulnerable. You stepped into a superb site Dave and Ange created. A very long list of loyal members gifted to you on a well established site that had no challenger to it's pole position. Then along comes your little bully mate. His way is always going to be the only way. Anyone with the audacity to have a different perspective was treated with utter contempt. The oxidation pond were losing some of it's best contributors as fast as a bottle of milk with a hole at the bottom loses it's contents. That's ok. He still had his all important platform to vent and the site still didn't have a rival. His contempt and ridicule for harness racing was routine and well known. Then you stepped in. You set out to prove what hypocrisy was really all about. You did a wonderful job. The new found power went to your head. You could speak to intelligent adults with a long history in the game like they were naughty little children. If they had the audacity to question that treatment and your incessant hypocrisy, you would then threaten their membership. How pathetic. It spoke volumes about you. The favouritism and brown nosing you exercise toward certain people was nauseating. Your total lack of courage and personal integrity to standby and allow LM to do the very things you'd threaten other non favoured folk with their membership over was sickening. Did LM catch you behaving inappropriately with a sheep that resulted in you fearing upsetting him in case he told an embarrassing story? Either that or you're just frightened of him. He did a superb job of highlighting your hypocrisy and lack of intestinal fortitude. Nice. So what are you left with now? A site that has lost a good portion of it's members and more of the same result every week. You will be left with a group you could fit in a campervan. Of course you're worried. Meanwhile, this site just gets better and better. Why am I not surprised by you are deeply concerned? You can put up obsequious and cringe thank you messages to members you previously treated with absolute contempt, but it won't change a thing. Everyone can see straight through it. Just like trying to buy people's loyalty with competitions won't change anything either. Your product is damaged beyond repair. The ONLY way it can be saved now is for a new owner to step in. Even when that occurs, it will take years for the site to recover if at all. You took what was a premier forum and turned it into a toxic and stinking oxidation pond. Well done you. Give yourself another rap. It was your conduct that created the need for this wonderful site. How incredibly short sighted. In saying that, I should thank you as this site is on the up at exactly the same time the oxidation pond sinks further into the mire. Nice. Enjoy. How to grab defeat from the jaws of certain victory by Scooby3051. Could be a best seller.

The oxidation pond was once a superb place to drop in and share your perspective on racing and enjoy that of others. Then it was hijacked by a 15 ft tall narcissist ex jockey who thought it was entertaining to talk down and ridicule anyone who had the audacity to hold a different perspective to him. Then along came the next cab off the ranks. The lion from Wizard of Oz masquerading as Fred and Daphne's friend barking at the moon while sucking up to and protecting his favoured little boys club stopping only to enjoy lemon juice while trying to understand the meaning of the word "hypocrisy" We should thank them as this awesome site would not have been needed had the oxidation pond continued to run the way it did for previous owners who were not on power trips massaging their own egos. RIP that site. Onward and upward to this site which will only get bigger and even better. Happy days.

(08/08/2018@19:07) NZ Metropolitan Trotting Club Inc Tuesday 6th November 1979 Results Enquiry Race 6 New Zealand Cup (Gr1), $85,000, OC HANDICAP PACE, 3200m Weather: Fine Track: Fast Race History Plc Bk Horse Barrier Hcap Stakes Fav Time Margin Driver Trainer 1 1 Lord Module fr 52,000.00 1/2 4-09.0 C C Devine C C Devine 2 2 Rocky Tryax fr 17,000.00 10/8 M R DeFilippi 3 3 Trevira fr 8,500.00 9/9 G W Hamilton (J) 4 4 Bad Luck fr 5,200.00 8/10 R M Cameron 5 5 Del's Dream fr 2,300.00 13/12 6 13 Trusty Scot 10m 0.00 6/6 7 6 Greg Robinson fr 0.00 5/5 8 7 Delightful Lady fr 0.00 4/4 9 8 Wee Win fr 0.00 3/3 10 9 Majestic Charger fr 0.00 12/11 11 14 Sapling 10m 0.00 2/1 12 10 Sun Seeker(1973) fr 0.00 11/13 13 15 Rondel 10m 0.00 7/7 $85,000.00 Scratchings SCR 11 Roydon Scott SCR 12 Locarno Divs: $3.55. $1.70. $7.25. $7.45. Quinella $81.85. Margins: 4 1/2 lengths, 1 1/2 lengths, 1/2neck Times: Mile Rate: 2-05.2 Placed Horses: Lord Module 1974 B h Lordship - Module (by Bachelor Hanover) Trainer: C C Devine, Templeton Owner: C C Devine Breeder: Mrs S M Porter,P L Porter Rocky Tryax 1972 7 B h Lumber Dream - Southern Spot (by Hal Tryax) Owner: B A Heseltine Breeder: B A Heseltine Trevira 1973 6 B g Scottish Command - Vonnell (by Van Hanover) Owner: Mrs M V Hamilton & Mrs J R Marshall Breeder: Mrs M V Hamilton,Mrs J R Marshall

(08/08/2018@19:01) NZ Metropolitan Trotting Club Inc Tuesday 10th November 1981 Results Enquiry Race 6 New Zealand Cup (Gr1), $100,000, OC HANDICAP PACE, 3200m Weather: Fine Track: Fast Race History Plc Bk Horse Barrier Hcap Stakes Fav Time Margin Driver Trainer 1 1 Armalight fr 60,000.00 6/7 4-08.7 R H Negus H B Smith 2 2 Bonnie's Chance fr 21,000.00 2/2 R J Brosnan 3 11 Hands Down 10m 10,000.00 1/1 P N Jones 4 3 Idolmite fr 6,000.00 5/4 5 12 Gammalite 10m 3,000.00 3/3 6 4 Trio fr 0.00 9/10 7 5 Glen Moria fr 0.00 8/6 8 6 Watbro fr 0.00 10/9 9 7 John Tudor fr 0.00 4/5 10 8 El Regale fr 0.00 7/8 $100,000.00 Scratchings SCR 9 Lord Module SCR 10 Paul Command Divs: $27.55. $4.30. $1.55. $1.35. Quinella $52.00. Margins: 7 lengths, neck, 3/4 length Times: Mile Rate: 2-05.0 Placed Horses: Armalight 1976 5 B m Timely Knight - Ar Miss (by Armbro Del) Trainer: H B Smith, Weedons Owner: H B Smith Breeder: V L Smith Bonnie's Chance 1975 B m Majestic Chance - Bonnie Countess (by Aksarben) Breeder: Mrs V B McGarry Hands Down 1975 B g Armbro Del - Snow Chick (by Fallacy) Breeder: W H McAughtrie,Mrs M F McAughtrie

On natural ability, Lord Module will always be my favourite. His 79 cup win was a beauty. We were family friends with the Devine's and were with them during the highs and lows of Lord Module's career. His Alan Matson ffa victory still gives me goosebumps. Breathtaking. Adore Me was a super mare. Armalight had no right to win her cup. Parked out for a long way, then rushed to the front and left them standing at exactly the same time you could expect her to being throwing in the towel. Bonnie's Chance won the year after Armalight. Went to Cup day with $30 with the knowledge I may only stay for one race. Put $20 to win on Commander Crockett and Doodie Townley in the first, a 2 mile trot. He won at 6's and I got $2 worth of the $200 odd dollar quinella after a protest. I was there for the day. Had Trilobal to win the second at $5's along with the quinella with aptly named Portfolio. Can't remember the third race but cleaned up on Double Cove and Richard Brosnan in the next at 9's. Charlie Hunters "Jenner" won the trot and I was a fan of that horse so cleaned up.. Stormy Morn was also in that race along with Thriller Dee. I also had a decent place bet on Brian Hill's "McShane". Had a bit to do with McShane named after McShane's Road that is nearby the Richmond Park racecourse in Nelson. McShane won an Inter-dominion heat. Brian had a cup class pacer around the same time called Single Lord. I could tell a story about one of his wins but I best keep that under my hat. I had made several trips back to my car to unload winnings. Then came the Cup. I was only interested in one horse. Bonnie's Chance. She had run second to Armalight the year before. Double Cove had won for RB earlier in the day and I was a great believer in riding the luck / form of trainers / drivers. I had my biggest ever bet on Bonnie's Chance in the cup who turned the tables on Armalight by a big margin. Few interesting runners in the field. Hands Down, the superb trotter Scotch Tar and the wonderful mare Hilarious Guest. When I look back, it's astonishing to think we had three magnificent mares, Bonnie's Chance, Armalight and Hilarious Guest all in the same race. (08/08/2018@18:55) NZ Metropolitan Trotting Club Inc Tuesday 9th November 1982 Results Enquiry Race 6 New Zealand Cup (Gr1), $100,000, OC HANDICAP PACE, 3200m Weather: Fine Track: Fast Race History Plc Bk Horse Barrier Hcap Stakes Fav Time Margin Driver Trainer 1 1 Bonnie's Chance fr 60,000.00 3/3 4-09.0 R J Brosnan R J Brosnan 2 9 Armalight 10m 21,000.00 1/2 R H Negus H B Smith 3 2 Quiet Win fr 10,000.00 5/5 M R DeFilippi M R DeFilippi 4 3 Cyllarus fr 6,000.00 9/9 A J Millow 5 4 El Regale fr 3,000.00 7/7 G B Noble 6 5 Glen Moria fr 0.00 10/10 J A Carmichael 7 6 Hilarious Guest fr 0.00 4/4 M G Vermeulen 8 7 Scotch Tar (T) fr 0.00 8/8 A W Dykman 9 10 Hands Down 10m 0.00 2/1 D G Jones MNZM Disq 8 Ben fr 0.00 6/6 B & J K Hughes $100,000.00 Note: Ben disqualified from 4th Divs: $4.65. $1.60. $1.45. $2.50. Quinella $6.25. Margins: 7 lengths, 1 1/2 lengths, 2 lengths Times: Mile Rate: 2-05.2 Placed Horses: Bonnie's Chance 1975 B m Majestic Chance - Bonnie Countess (by Aksarben) Trainer: R J Brosnan, Kerrytown Owner: Mrs K A Grice & Mrs V B McGarry Breeder: Mrs V B McGarry Armalight 1976 6 B m Timely Knight - Ar Miss (by Armbro Del) Trainer: H B Smith Owner: H B Smith Breeder: V L Smith Quiet Win 1975 7 B g Out To Win - Quiet Ways (by Stormyway(USA)) Trainer: M R DeFilippi Owner: A L Baird, F J Cournane, B A O'Meara, S K Somerville Breeder: S T Poulter

won by Naval Officer. That of course was the Derby where Liquid Lightning and Richard Brosnan fell and several others were bought down going past the post the first time. Just looking at the replay again, I can't help wonder why the race was not called off shortly after the carnage occurred? There must have been at least 15 people on the track plus a dog when the remaining runners went around the carnage with a round to go. Those who backed Naval Officer would likely not have wanted the race called off but was there much discussion at the time about the decision to let the race continue? I remember the race well but there was no online blogs in 1984 to express opinions. Safe to assume that had this race occurred in 2018, it would have been immediately called off and rightly so. It seemed farcical to let it continue?

Thank you very much for that. It fills in the blanks that have crossed my mind many times over the last 41 years. I recall Lord Novello also. Was a regular placegetter in the open sprints at the time. Would often look the winner only to be run over late. Also had a soft spot for the grey Stevo and many other wonderful grey horses over the years. Topping that list in the same time frame as Battle Heights was the awesome Grey Way. Tudor Light was a beauty also. Has there ever been a better field assembled in NZ than the 1977 Easter Handicap? .

I'm almost certain that the race you refer to was on the day Prefer won the Cup in 76/77. Would like to know if the grey Stevo was in that same race. Anyone have any details of the sprint race won by Battle Heights and double price with Prefer? Cheers

Morning Hesi, Excellent post. The face of politics in our beautiful country has changed forever. National steered that change where selfish greed is good and anyone who is not on board with you is the enemy to be targeted and ridiculed via whatever underhanded method they feel the need to adopt. Gordon Gekko would be proud. When a person such as Ardern is seen as a legitimate target for outrageous personal abuse and ridicule, you know something has gone badly wrong. When that vile abuse is deemed reasonable and justified, you start to fear for the country that will be left for our children and grandchildren. If our Government was as diabolically bad as the National Party cheerleaders incessantly maintain, surely that is great news for them. Not only will it result in their heroes being back in office in 2020 or sooner, but it will almost certainly result in Labour not being seen as a reasonable option for many years to come. If that is logical and correct, then why not just sit back smugly and wait? Why do they need to hit everyone over the head with how wonderful National are and how diabolical Labour are? The math don't work. I'm not a fan of Gareth Morgan. That's as polite and respectful as I can be on that score. He did however get one thing right when he said selfish voting was rampant in 2017. What's good for me rather than what's good for our country. That is the National Party ethos. I find the level of anti directed at the Labour Party by highly motivated hero worshiping National Party supporters perplexing. Why are they so motivated with their scathing comments? It can't possibly be because they care more about NZ than everyone else. If they did, they would have owned how diabolical the housing crisis has been for so many young NZ families. Their heroes displayed routine denial and indifference toward fellow Kiwi's in this area so are they just following that lead? I don't recall reading one comment from them over the last decade about our deteriorating health system that was very obviously negatively impacting on more and more New Zealanders. The nurses have been stressing the woefully inadequate safe staffing levels to Jonathan Coleman for the entire time he was NZ's worst ever Health Minister. He wasn't remotely interested. All he was interested in was $$. The people involved can go whistle. Where have the National Party cheerleaders been while this was happening? Smugly holding their health insurance policy while watching their own investment portfolio increasing off the backs of others misfortune? I'm alright Jack, how are you? How could anyone condone the record levels of immigration that was drowning already struggling infrastructure? Why open the floodgates and keep them open when there is already a housing crisis and traffic woefully backed up everyday on our motorways? What was the plan to resolve this? Even more record immigration. Mercilessly, Winston Peters and NZF stopped the bleeding on October 19th when they chose Labour. Every move the new Government has made to address the aforementioned mess has been ridiculed and undermined by National and their supporters. More than just a little ironic. So what happens in 2020, when Labour is returned to Government with a higher % of the vote? Were National and their cheerleaders totally wrong? Has their divisive campaign been a complete fail? or will they keep saying it's the appeal of Ardern's baby and the gullibility / ignorance of NZ voters? Surely if they are correct in their scathing contempt for Ardern, National will enjoy a record landslide victory at the polls in 2020? Anything less will highlight a very long list of negatives alongside National and sink them further from NZ voters. As for Cameron Slater. His style of politics resides in the gutter. Anyone who quotes his links or copies his divisive narrative is showing where their politics reside. Very telling that Bridges would like his input...oh wait a minute, that was just a wandering finger / thumb that he had no control over. For the record, the other one plays Jingle Bells.

You said local jockey Johnny Grylls. I assumed the Taumarunui Cup was always run at Te Rapa but Grylls was based @ Te Awamutu. Was the edition Prefer won, run at Te Awamutu? I'm assuming that was a Saturday meeting? I recall going to watch the Te Awamutu Cup in the late 80's for the wrong reasons. Our car got stuck in the mud and ripped off our exhaust system. Nice. The cup was won by a horse named Admiral Blair or something similar. In my minds eye it came around the outside on the bend and won handsomely.

Some big names in there for sure and some old favourites.

I made the error of believing differing perspectives could be expressed here respectfully. I won't make that error with you again. There is arrogant contempt all through your input and very typical of a National Party cheerleader who feels anyone who has the audacity to support Ardern is either a girlie magazine reading cult member or has had their cheese slide off their cracker. There is another possibility. That being you're actually wrong about Ardern and those who support her. God forbid. Anyone who thinks the very personal abuse directed at Ardern is deserved, fair and mild, won't get another moment of my time.

Hey hesi, Appreciate your kind words previously. We are sailing on the same ship my friend. The election has mixed memories. Some very funny moments but often just frustrating diversions. Our media is no longer to be trusted. Full of vested interest and egotistical types that have forgotten what news is about. It's now often just bias opinion pieces masquerading as news. When Ms Ardern was elected Labour leader, i thought yes, finally we will have a good opposition led by a good leader. They'd had 9 years of ineffective / inadequate male leaders well past their use by date. Unsure who was worse. Phil well past his use by date Goff, David sorry for being a man Cunliffe or Andrew should have stood down 18 months before he finally did Little. I didn't think Labour had a realistic chance of becoming Government in 2017. Then something remarkable and unprecedented occurred. Ardern started connecting with people and Labour supporters in hibernation, finally had some hope. Donations came pouring in. I sincerely believe that John Key was largely so popular because there was simply no alternative. Not in the red corner anyway. I was hoping the election would have been fought over what was happening in NZ. The diabolical state of housing, health and floodgate immigration topped that list. Instead it became a farce. A well organised campaign against the blood e water tax, misrepresentations about tax cuts and Joyce's dead cat on the table. At the time he orchestrated that, Labour had remarkably gone ahead in the polls and all the momentum was theirs. I believed they were right on target to govern. Then it became defend defend defend. Bias commentators said Labour ran out of puff but I don't accept that. They were derailed by an underhanded campaign which is what National do best. Bill English strikes me as a decent man but he is most definitely not a natural apex type leader. More a stop gap steady as she goes type. I thought the last televised leaders debate chaired by Hosking was very telling. Bill was brutally exposed. Wouldn't look at the camera. Seemed to have run out of narrative apart from "strong stable Government". Jacinda ran rings around him. The only time Bill woke up and looked at the camera was when it came time for the closing speech. Then out came the well rehearsed strong stable Government bla bla bla. I thought if that was a boxing match, it was a knock out victory to Ardern. I read the reports on it the next day and alleged experts described it as a draw or narrow victory to English. Really? On what planet? The planet where zero leadership and debating skills rule. Bill's election night performance was also farcical. He came out throwing his arms in the air celebrating National's alleged victory. They even dropped the victory balloons from the ceiling. Comedy show . The actual result under MMP was a worse case scenario for National. Their support parties gone and now needing Winston Peters (the man they tried to destroy) to get back into Government. Bill's speech was one of the worst political speeches I've witnessed. It had clearly been at least written by someone other than English who was unfamiliar with it's content. I've made hundreds of speeches over the years and English broke just about every rule in the book with that speech. You need punters to believe they are your words and they are genuine. What you got instead was English looking confused and referring to the speech text every few seconds and often with sustained looks. It was insincere and farcical. An obvious attempt to hoodwink that they had won and put pressure on NZF to choose National. Thankfully, NZF saw straight through it. A big part of the problem is National's assertion that they won but were robbed. They got exactly what they deserved. Sent packing under MMP because they had no friends. Their support parties gone and their own arrogance shot themselves in both feet. They should have seen the writing on the wall and courted Peters. Instead they arrogantly believed they wouldn't need him so tried to destroy him. How did that work out? Interesting that the man who steered that ship has now gone but National's arrogance is still up in lights. They believe they will either govern alone in 2020, or NZF will be gone and parties that don't even exist yet and won't take National votes, will be their new friends. Seems they have learned nothing. I will make this prediction. National will never be the Government again until they have a female leader. Bridges has no hope of ever being PM. He will be gone by December 2020 when National finally accept he's not the right person to lead National.

Around 1978, 79, I took two doubles on the aforementioned race. My memory is fading and have no reference material to confirm exact details. Hoping someone can confirm dates and prices etc. I took a horse called "Prefer" in the first leg, the cup. I think Dave O'Sullivan trained it? No idea who rode it,what it paid and who the placegetters were. The second leg was an open sprint over 1100 metres..I think. There was a grey horse named "Stevo" who would often lead. The interesting runner was the grand old stayer "Battle Heights". I think he was aged 10? I read somewhere that old stayers can often run a very bold first up race in a sprint. As a result, I put Stevo and Battle Heights in as my second leg runners. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=2859 Prefer won the cup. Stevo led until late when Battle Heights finished very strongly to win the sprint. I think Stevo ran second or third. The double was around $200 - $250 but could be wrong. I just know as a relatively young and inexperienced punter, it was a handsome win. Any help filling in the blanks would be appreciated? Cheers..

Can't agree with you. When I was a boy in primary school, it was common to justify the calling of names by stating bla bla bla said it first. That aside, the whole Max Key etc situation is not comparing apples with apples. He for example, courted media attention incessantly and set himself up as a young man with very strong opinions who was an enormous fan...of himself. He would have attracted attention regardless of who his father is. That aside, I don't condone comments directed at him and his sister over certain photos. What you're talking about with Ardern is a completely different ballgame. Anyone who says they are the same levels of personal abuse is displaying at the very least, a high level of bias. What's been directed at Ardern has been relentless. It's completely bereft of any respect whatsoever and is very personal. It's also unprecedented on this scale in NZ Politics. I also disagree that putting yourself in the frame of public office should explain the level of abuse directed at Ardern or anyone else. I come from an old school where only people deserving of personal abuse, should be subjected to it. People such as the vermin that participate in home invasions on the vulnerable elderly or the scum who hurt and exploit children. Females with a strong social conscience who are always respectful of others should be exempt from such personal abuse. Bottom line is, the people who target Ardern, will always justify doing so. I very deliberately avoid engaging on your contention about legislating against poverty. Mostly due to my not wanting to discuss the colour of the letterbox while the house in the background is engulfed in flames. I will say this however. I have not in my lifetime, seen another PM more passionate about stamping out poverty than Ardern. Also not a big fan of discussing what was said at the last election as it only brings back into focus the subject of dirty politics. A term that really only came into view during the previous Governments time in office. The tactics employed by Joyce etc against Winston Peters was a new low as was his dead cat on the table. Rather than discuss National's record in health,education,crime,immigration and of course housing, the attention was all directed at the alleged fiscal hole. A hole that not one financial advisor in NZ agreed with. If we were in early 2020, and punters were ridiculing the Governments first term, I would be on board with those critiques should they be accurate and justified. The fact that campaign of ridiculing Government policy etc started the very day Ardern took office, speaks volumes about the true motivation and validity of it.