NationStates Jolt Archive

With the New Zealand Elections taking place on NOVEMBER the 8th I thought it might be in Every Kiwi's interest to see our lovely Prime Minister Helen Clark Take a tumble and face plant onto the floor while touring around a Christchurch Mall.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2mQv8NBCI8

I though this movie is damaging to her campaign as it shows her weakness ahaha jokes. I actually think Helen Clark is a great politician and Prime Minister and She has my vote. She had is before but after seeing the poor women face plant like that she has got my sympathy

What do you foriegners or fellow kiwi's think about our leaders fall? just wondering.

I would give her 8 out 10 for style. Not up to the greats like Boris Yeltsin yet though.

Did you guys notice that when she falls over and tries to grab that guy that same guy does nothing to help her up he just turns around and stares at her haha

It's okay. But not up to Gerald Ford standards.

it's okay. But not up to gerald ford standards.

/winner

She is like family. My family fall over too. I'll adopt her. Hey in Australia we've got half of New Zealand over here already - what's one more?
I've always liked Helen Clark even if she does make the odd slup up! (The spelling is intentional - just trying to portray the Kiwi uccent!)
We bloody love Kiwis over here - we can beat them at cruckut - not like those cocky Indians!

Yeah the kiwi accent is all wide and cutting and the australian accent is shrill and peircing hahah!

Hey you know the whole rivaly between New Zealand and Australia well New Zealanders take it more seriously cause when me and my best friend were in AUssie last december we were all aruguing these points on the pavlova and the rivalry etc and they were like

"Theres a rivalry? Oh I didnt know that, I just thought Kiwi's are weird" and me and my friend looked at each other and were like

"Oh yeah... no rivaly... we were kidding.... *cough cough*" hahaha anyway never mind. Its flattering you guys love us over there haha but new zealanders love australia with like 30,000 moving over there every year haha

Oh well time to eat my "Fush and Chups" haha jokes, collectivity by the way we think aussies say Sex when they say six

Yeah the kiwi accent is all wide and cutting and the australian accent is shrill and peircing hahah!

Hey you know the whole rivaly between New Zealand and Australia well New Zealanders take it more seriously cause when me and my best friend were in AUssie last december we were all aruguing these points on the pavlova and the rivalry etc and they were like

"Theres a rivalry? Oh I didnt know that, I just thought Kiwi's are weird" and me and my friend looked at each other and were like

"Oh yeah... no rivaly... we were kidding.... *cough cough*" hahaha anyway never mind. Its flattering you guys love us over there haha but new zealanders love australia with like 30,000 moving over there every year haha

Oh well time to eat my "Fush and Chups" haha jokes, collectivity by the way we think aussies say Sex when they say six

Seriously, what?

America is totally stealing New Zealand's thunder.

Well, if Helen's slip up means she loses votes, then I am happy

Go Key!!! He is the Key to a brighter future.

We'll swap you... Krudd for Helen...

Nice to see New Zealand has its own Bush.

Call me patriotic, but I still think the most artistic falling over politician has to be Neil Kinnock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh8ktNsie0I

Nothing will ever match our former President--the good George:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnOnDatqENo

Nothing will ever match our former President--the good George:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnOnDatqENo

We were lucky there. In some countries, that could have been considered an act of war.

We were lucky there. In some countries, that could have been considered an act of war.
If the fish the Japanese had served weren't so incredibly crap that it made people ill, the Japanese PM wouldn't have been vomited upon. Kiichi should have committed seppuku on the spot.

My favorite fall remains the time Castro was nearly assassinated by the floor (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVJ0bTbh9d4&feature=related). I mean, any jerk can fall down, but it takes a special kind of dedication to slapstick for a public figure to do a face plant off the front of a stage.
This is his left knee and right arm, which are broken for you.

If the fish the Japanese had served weren't so incredibly crap that it made people ill, the Japanese PM wouldn't have been vomited upon. Kiichi should have committed seppuku on the spot.

That would have been the honorable thing, yes.

With the New Zealand Elections taking place on NOVEMBER the 8th I thought it might be in Every Kiwi's interest to see our lovely Prime Minister Helen Clark Take a tumble and face plant onto the floor while touring around a Christchurch Mall.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2mQv8NBCI8

I though this movie is damaging to her campaign as it shows her weakness ahaha jokes. I actually think Helen Clark is a great politician and Prime Minister and She has my vote. She had is before but after seeing the poor women face plant like that she has got my sympathy

What do you foriegners or fellow kiwi's think about our leaders fall? just wondering.

"Before the New Zealand Elections are over, the world will know that a Prime Minister can fall!"

We'll swap you... Krudd for Helen...

Don't worry about swapping - I would gladly exile her to Australia.

Don't worry about swapping - I would gladly exile her to Australia.

okay, how about this then:

We take Helen off your hands if you take Krudd the dudd off ours?

Hey AP and Lapse, you'd simply be swapping Labor PMs around! You'd get pretty similar policies. And the conservative Opposition leaders also have similar policies.

Can you think of any real differences?

Carbon emissions - a small argument about when it is being introduced.
Banks and finance - governments need to intervene to protect the economy
Immigration - In favour of it as long as unemployment doesn't rise.
Exports and Imports - Where do we sign on Free Trade Agreements?
A republic - Yes we'd like one, meanwhile "God Save the Queen!"
Rugby World Cup? Go All Blacks! C'mon Aussie come on! (Well at least here the countries disagree!)

A Federation of South Pacific States? - Hmmm! Here's where there may be quite a few issues to sort out but all the parties would probably be interested.

Clark has a lot to learn...

Oh, and Fiddles, for you: Castro (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/output/motivator9807941.jpg)

Oh leave her alone. She was just tired.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10540629

Hey AP and Lapse, you'd simply be swapping Labor PMs around! You'd get pretty similar policies. And the conservative Opposition leaders also have similar policies.

Lapse is the one who wants to swap Labour PMs around; I want to get rid of them - with Clark gone, it will take at least six years before Labour is back in the game (many of their MPs date to the 1980s, if not the pre-1999 period). I suppose I would accept Krudd if he didn't interfere with our politics and lived a exiled existence on Waiheke Island (or perhaps go to Rann's old stomping grounds of Birkenhead or Maraetai, or Bjelke-Petersen's birthplace of Danneverke).

Can you think of any real differences?

Carbon emissions - a small argument about when it is being introduced.
Banks and finance - governments need to intervene to protect the economy
Immigration - In favour of it as long as unemployment doesn't rise.
Exports and Imports - Where do we sign on Free Trade Agreements?
A republic - Yes we'd like one, meanwhile "God Save the Queen!"
Rugby World Cup? Go All Blacks! C'mon Aussie come on! (Well at least here the countries disagree!)

I would argue that Key is much different to Howard, and possibly Turnbull (haven't heard much about him, so I cannot say). Certainly, Key is a significant shift away from the policies of the 1990s and probably brings a more international approach to politics (having lived overseas for the best part of a decade and a half).

A Federation of South Pacific States? - Hmmm! Here's where there may be quite a few issues to sort out but all the parties would probably be interested.

We didn't want to join Australia in 1901, and we still don't want to.

I don't understand how Australia and NZ aren't republics. Actually, I barely understand how England isn't one.

Yeah well not joining meant you had dominion status in WWI and that meant Kiwis came under British military law rather than their own country's.
Mind you, I respect the Kiwi's wish to go it alone - for a country of 3 and a half million, Kiwis punch above their weight.

But you need to get serious about a South Pacific federation and make sure that countries like New Zealand and Fiji are there to balance Australia.
You don't want us Skippies getting too big for our boots.

Clark has a lot to learn...

Oh, and Fiddles, for you: Castro (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/output/motivator9807941.jpg)

Now someone need to make a video with this, the footage of the Berlin wall teardown, and the 1812 Overture to call it "The Fall of Communism".

And the thesis of Capitalism lost its antithesis of Communism

Lot of good it did - there remained an ideological vacuum for Islamism to fill.

But back to the Kiwi issue....was Helen Clark's fall symbolic of Labor's trailing 43% to the National's 45% in the polls? Not a great time for Labor to call an election....

But back to the Kiwi issue....was Helen Clark's fall symbolic of Labor's trailing 43% to the National's 45% in the polls? Not a great time for Labor to call an election....
The issue at hand is not about Australia (or NZ, or whatever the Hell kiwi means), it is about falling on one's ass. Or face. Or enormous testes, really, whatever is pointed downward at a certain, videotaped, moment in time.

Well Humpty Dumpty had a great fall!

Or was that Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field

A Kiwi is a rather cute bird and someone who can say "fush und chups" without blushing - the perennial butt of Australian humour. (Bahhh!)

Oh leave her alone. She was just tired.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10540629
Wish I knew some women like that. The article tries to make out it's a bad thing.

Yeah well not joining meant you had dominion status in WWI and that meant Kiwis came under British military law rather than their own country's.
Mind you, I respect the Kiwi's wish to go it alone - for a country of 3 and a half million, Kiwis punch above their weight.

Australia, Canada, Newfoundland & the Union of South Africa also had Dominion Status at the time. Full independence wasn't granted by Britain to any nation until 1931, with the Westminster Statute being passed.

But you need to get serious about a South Pacific federation and make sure that countries like New Zealand and Fiji are there to balance Australia.
You don't want us Skippies getting too big for our boots.

If New Zealand were a state of Australia, we would be number four, so I don't think there would be much balancing there. Even if the Pacific Islands and New Zealand became one state, we would still be a mere number three.

I don't understand how Australia and NZ aren't republics. Actually, I barely understand how England isn't one.

England remains a monarchy I suspect for two reasons

Number one: Tourism - the monarchy helps provide a lot of tourist revenue to Britain
Number two: As one of the few control mechanisms left. The House of Lords has been gutted, Britain has no constitution, and it is too late for them to get one, and therefore, there is nothing stopping objectionable law from being passed except the fact that the monarch can veto it.

In terms of New Zealand, there are again two reasons why we keep the monarchy

Number one: The Treaty of Waitangi - it was an agreement between the British Crown and the tribes of New Zealand. If New Zealand becomes a republic, this problem will need to be addressed and I suspect that it would be too fragile
Number two: Similar to number two for Britain above - the monarchy remains our sole control mechanism left. If Clark could get 61 votes, we could become a dictatorship tomorrow, except for the fact that the Governor-General would veto it

But back to the Kiwi issue....was Helen Clark's fall symbolic of Labor's trailing 43% to the National's 45% in the polls? Not a great time for Labor to call an election....

Labour had to. The last legal date for New Zealand to have an election was November 15; the law states that the election must be held by the Saturday before the end of a 39 month period after the last election. Since the last election was held on September 17, 2005; that period expired on November 15, 2008.

Thanks for that useful info AP but as for WWI, the British army could try and execute NZ soldiers but not Australians because Australia was a Federation since 1901.
This meant that Britain murdered Kiwi soldiers (though the British Army might not have seen it that way).
Australian soldiers were disrespectful of British staff officers for a very good reason. They were often incompetent upper class twits.
NZ had the highest casualty rate per capita of any troops in WWI.

As for Federating with Australia, it probably wasn't a serious proposal anyway. Regional interests and the ANZAC legend cemented much more than a Federation would have. But the issue of a loose federation of South Pacific states will be increasingly important as other power start to flex their muscles in the Pacific andas Pacific Islands suffer the effects of climate change.

Thanks for that useful info AP but as for WWI, the British army could try and execute NZ soldiers but not Australians because Australia was a Federation since 1901.
This meant that Britain murdered Kiwi soldiers (though the British Army might not have seen it that way).
Australian soldiers were disrespectful of British staff officers for a very good reason. They were often incompetent upper class twits.
NZ had the highest casualty rate per capita of any troops in WWI.

Federation made little difference; Australia was legally a Dominion (like Canada) during World War I, and didn't become fully independent until 1942 (although it was retrospectively dated to 1939).

It might have been due to the nature of command in Western Europe that influenced the trials of New Zealand soldiers and Australian soldiers. Certainly, it would be more likely that New Zealand soldiers would have been in British divisions than in their own divisions.

As for Federating with Australia, it probably wasn't a serious proposal anyway. Regional interests and the ANZAC legend cemented much more than a Federation would have. But the issue of a loose federation of South Pacific states will be increasingly important as other power start to flex their muscles in the Pacific andas Pacific Islands suffer the effects of climate change.

Probably the Pacific Islands Forum would be the main vehicle for that.

You're right!
By the way, I like and respect Helen Clark as I admired David Lange. Maybe Labor has been in power too long (Power corrupts!) but she has done nothing to shame New Zealanders. Good luck to Key who looks like getting in - as with the US, I don't really much care who wins. I hope that democracy wins in the long run.

England remains a monarchy I suspect for two reasons

Number one: Tourism - the monarchy helps provide a lot of tourist revenue to Britain
Number two: As one of the few control mechanisms left. The House of Lords has been gutted, Britain has no constitution, and it is too late for them to get one, and therefore, there is nothing stopping objectionable law from being passed except the fact that the monarch can veto it.

In terms of New Zealand, there are again two reasons why we keep the monarchy

Number one: The Treaty of Waitangi - it was an agreement between the British Crown and the tribes of New Zealand. If New Zealand becomes a republic, this problem will need to be addressed and I suspect that it would be too fragile
Number two: Similar to number two for Britain above - the monarchy remains our sole control mechanism left. If Clark could get 61 votes, we could become a dictatorship tomorrow, except for the fact that the Governor-General would veto it


The thing about the control mechanism is that I can't see a situation whereby the monarch (or equivalent) would veto and be successful. In terms of power relations the non-compliance of the public, the army, the police etc are much bigger obsbtacles than simply a signature.

Did you guys notice that when she falls over and tries to grab that guy that same guy does nothing to help her up he just turns around and stares at her haha

Yeah, moron guy. I dunno about NZ politics so she just looked like a regular lady who needed help...

Hey AP and Lapse, you'd simply be swapping Labor PMs around! You'd get pretty similar policies. And the conservative Opposition leaders also have similar policies.

Can you think of any real differences?

Carbon emissions - a small argument about when it is being introduced.
Banks and finance - governments need to intervene to protect the economy
Immigration - In favour of it as long as unemployment doesn't rise.
Exports and Imports - Where do we sign on Free Trade Agreements?
A republic - Yes we'd like one, meanwhile "God Save the Queen!"
Rugby World Cup? Go All Blacks! C'mon Aussie come on! (Well at least here the countries disagree!)

A Federation of South Pacific States? - Hmmm! Here's where there may be quite a few issues to sort out but all the parties would probably be interested.
Yeah, but atleast we'll have a milf screwing up the country as opposed to an ugly old up-himself smirking arsehole...

Yeah, but atleast we'll have a milf screwing up the country as opposed to an ugly old up-himself smirking arsehole...

What? Clark is hideous

I think you misunderstood Lapse, AP, he's on your side. I think that he was having a go at Kevin Rudd. He's a rusted on free marketeer.

I wonder if Clark will squeeze back in - or form a coalition? It will be interesting. Probably Key will get in because of the economy.....but think about it AP. Does it really affect your personal life much? I've had good years under governments I didn't vote for andbad years under governments I did vote for. Life is often what you make it. Don't be fooled that a change of government will affect you all that much.
"If voting could change anything, it would be illegal."

What? Clark is hideous

I'd still rather be trapped in a room with a horny Helen Clark than a horny Kevin Rudd...

I'd still rather be trapped in a room with a horny Helen Clark than a horny Kevin Rudd...

Ha! ha!:eek:Kevin! Behave youself!:$Helen! Not with the banana - no!

I think you misunderstood Lapse, AP, he's on your side. I think that he was having a go at Kevin Rudd. He's a rusted on free marketeer.

I wonder if Clark will squeeze back in - or form a coalition? It will be interesting. Probably Key will get in because of the economy.....but think about it AP. Does it really affect your personal life much? I've had good years under governments I didn't vote for andbad years under governments I did vote for. Life is often what you make it. Don't be fooled that a change of government will affect you all that much.
"If voting could change anything, it would be illegal."

I know that Lapse is on my side, it is just that I don't want either Clark or Rudd. In terms of affecting my personal life much; yes it does. It took Clark nine years to get around to giving tax cuts; in that time Australia has been cutting their taxes and as a result, thousands of New Zealanders are moving there - I have a friend that now lives in Brisbane, and several work colleagues have either moved there or are considering moving there.

A Key/Hide/Dunne government will start doing economically beneficial things such as cutting taxes, and that means less of my money going to fund Twilight Golf, Sing-a-long Courses and the employment of thousands of Wellington based pen pushers. It means when I graduate and get a full time job that the economy would have grown, it means that my wages would be higher, and it would make for a more prosperous New Zealand.

Clark had the best economic conditions since the 1950s to do something. She made a big f**k up of it.

Aunty Helen!!!!

Ahh man. Painful to see.

But alas the good woman has my vote-useless as I think it'll be. I really dislike John Key-he does seem untrustworthy and it appears he'll do anything to become the next PM. Shame really, under Labour NZ has done pretty darn well. I can't believe Key tried to use the current economic situation against Labour... It's a global recession fool! Oh well. Saturday will be interesting.