For John Key, the incumbent prime minister seeking his third term, the latest news on the New Zealand economy should help his chances. Between April through the end of June, the New Zealand economy grew at the fastest pace in 10 years, growing at 3.9%.
As leader of the centre-right New Zealand National Party, and former Wall Street foreign exchange trader, Key seems to have performed his job well. However, Key once quipped that long-time soccer star and fashion model David Beckham seemed "thick as batshit". That might not bother most Kiwis since rugby is the national sport.
Stupidly, Key oversaw an overzealous arrest of Kim Dotcom (born Kim Schmitz). Dotcom is the founder of Megaupload that has made file sharing of U.S. copyright movies easy to trade. Key had to acknowledge his government agents had screwed up, violating Dotcom's protected right to privacy for which the government has a duty not to violate.
Today, the New Zealand Herald published a story which claims that if Americans were picking the next Newzie prime minister, picking upon looks alone, Americans would pick Laila Harre. Harre is the leader of a political alliance of two left-wing parties, the Internet Party, which advocates for cheap internet, and free tertiary education, and the Mana Movement, which advocates for free school breakfast, government housing, $18.80 an hour minimum wage and free ertiary education. Kim Dotcom seems to be backing the Internet Mana bid.
I looked at the pictures. They're politicians. They look a bit dodgy to me, some more so than others.
Here is Key tipping back a coldie with Prince William Windsor of the UK.
Interestingly, I've yet to come across anything said by any of the candidates in support of individuals and their property.
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