LEFT IS RIGHT AND RIGHT IS LEFT

TVNZ's Deputy Political Editor must have been talking to TV3's Duncan Garner.

Francesca Mold was on TV1's News tonight blithely talking about the Act Party on John Key's 'right' and the Maori Party on his 'left'.

This is just inept and lazy journalism.

Let's get this straight.

The Maori Party supports neo-liberal economic policies. It has a punitive view of welfare which co-leader Turia says is close to Act's view. It has conservative views on a raft of other issues.

How exactly is this 'left wing'?

It seems that Mold, Garner and others are determined to maintain the fiction that there are major political differences between the parliamentary parties when, in fact, they all adhere to bankrupt neo-liberal ideology.

The differences are one of emphasis and not substance.