Until the advent of the virus over the previous six decades I’d spent at least half my life abroad. I went and sometimes lived for times virtually everywhere which taught me that people are basically the same, thus I lost any sense of nationalism.
Then suddenly I found myself compelled to stay here for 3 years, thanks to the hermit kingdom absurdity. I was appalled by New Zealanders meek passivity to this and most of all to the ludicrous but now dead Jacindamania madness.
For that matter Jacinda herself was disbelieving, writing in the Guardian at the time how she’d lie in bed bewildered and suffering from imposter syndrome. The then lapdog NZ media, surviving on a $65 million government bribe with taxpayer money, opted to ignore that story.
So for three years now, lots of golf and tennis plus time to deal with hitherto ignored health problems. I had a book published of four novellas. Then someone suggested this Blog as an outlet for my frustration. Initially, I confined it to humour to lighten our days. But as the government’s screaming incompetence, fear-mongering, outrageously divisive racist activism favouring maoridom and much, much more, saw me deal with more serious topics.
The absolute low point of the past three years was the public’s passive acceptance of the imposed nanny state. The “Team of five million” and “Be Kind” mantras belong in kindergartens. For me they were unbelievable. I was ashamed to be a New Zealander as common sense went out the window. The Be Kind childishness was particularly outrageous given the unbelievably cruel, unnecessary and illegal prohibition on thousands of Kiwis prevented from returning home, in numerous cases to farewell dying family members.
At the outbreak of the virus I forecast on this site that when it was all done and dusted Sweden’s “live with it” approach will be shown as the correct one. It’s not yet all done and dusted but that’s now been accepted and widely adopted.
I was correct with my Swedish prediction but will be equally right with my forecast of a landslide defeat for the government next year. The big issue causing bitterness across the land is the ludicrous maori wonderfulness nonsense. Add roaring inflation and a population exodus to Australia and I fear an angry and dispirited nation in 1993.
It’s deja with the 1983-4 mood. At the time, Muldoon, unable to cope with the economic consequences of his bad decisions, adopted the approach of constant foreign travel, babbling nonsense about another Bretton Woods conference. He viewed these travels as photo opportunities with polite foreign leaders, intended to impress the voters back home. They didn’t, a point Jacinda should note having announced a similar foreign leaders’ meetings programme.
Late last year on this blog I wrote that after tidying up some matters I was out of here in the new year as I don’t wish to spend such time as left to me in an angry state. So I’ve now left for foreign parts.
So no more blogs, at least for four months but a big thankyou to everyone who added their comments and helped endure the craziness of an increasingly inept government.
Thanks also to cartoonists Garrick Tremain and Bob Brockie so I’ll close with another on the mark Tremain offering.
99 Comments
Bugger . Enjoyed reading them. Yes there are many angry people out there now. Worst governing and least transparent government I have seen in my lifetime in NZ . 2023 can’t come soon enough.
Sadly the numbers of stupid people in New Zealand outweigh the common sense brigade and continue to support Ardern while she continues with her “smoke and mirrors” deviousness to continue with her plans which is ruining the New Zealand so many of us grew up with and gave us a life style that is fast disappearing.
You will be missed. I wish I could join you but I am trapped in this hell hole for now. Assuming the election is in 2023 I hope you are right about the landslide defeat but I am not optimistic that the potential replacements will be an improvement. This has been the worst 2 years in my lifetime in NZ and I am not looking forward to the future with anything other than worry.
Thanks Bob for all your very perceptive observations and the lack of temerity to say it like it is – sadly, not every Kiwi has been reading your blog – it should have been NZCEA compulsory reading.
If that woman has any say in NZ after the next election, I also will be leaving NZ, but permanently.
Kindest wishes.
Looking forward to your return. Will there be any rational voice in NZ meantime?
I see the beginnings of a new protest in Wellington now the grounds have been cleared. Imagine Banners at every intersection saying BRING BACK BOB. Go well Sir Bob but don’t stay away tool long.
Thank you so much for keeping me sane over the last few years and saving my liquor and medical bills. We will all have withdrawal symptoms until you hopefully manage some comments in the months to come.. Enjoy your new freedom.
A sad day Sir Bob. I’ve really enjoyed your daily humour & thought-provoking commentary over the years.
Mid last year I could clearly see the looming NZ disaster & ‘escaped’ to Australia so I totally get where you’re coming from. NZ is now an angry, confused & divisive shambles.
I do hope we can all look forward to further sensibilities from you at some stage in the not too distant future. In the meantime best wishes to you. Stay well & stay safe.
Thanks for your posts Sir Bob they will be greatly missed, especially the humour.
You’re Farewell post is 100% right. Safe travels.
Thanks for all the humour and thoughts Bob. Keep laughing!
PS: Maybe Blog from Scotland? Let us know how it hangs over there.
Bob, I shall miss your perspective on matters that require more than the accepted normal. With thanks.
Travel in safety- and be sure to return.
WHAT A TREASURE YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN. GO WELL, KEEP ON
Thanks Sir Bob for our daily chuckle. You will be dearly missed in our household. All the best.
Great reading as always – agree the plane loads of K1W1’s heading for Oz over the next 6 months will be akin to the late Muldoon years (I had my 21st in Sydney)
Dear Sir Bob,
I am very sorry to be reading this.
But you deserve the best of continued good fortune and long life. If leaving this country is the best option for you, then, sadly, so be it.
As the only child of an English father and Irish mother who immigrated to New Zealand from the UK in the 1970’s, I have often intellectualized my ongoing interest in what the late Neil Roberts aptly called “New Zealandness”. I interviewed him for my book about where this country was going (2003).
Since both my parents have died, I now accept that I am driven to make my family’s immigration worthwhile and much more besides. That is a sentiment no doubt shared by other immigrants who have suffered much to get here and have prospered since arriving.
Because you, Sir Bob, have been, and continue to be, an inspiration and have served this country beyond measure; because many people of rare generosity of spirit and intellectual depth, like Neil Roberts, shared what was important to them with me; and because of the lessons and legacy of my late parents:
I intend to stay here in the confidence of realizing the good things entrusted to me, shared with me, for the betterment of this country.
As a society, we are being tested as a crucible. When the Gold of New Zealand comes through the fire, the wisdom and knowledge so generously shared by Sir Bob Jones, will be greatly counted as an integral element of that National Treasure.
Be well and happy. And please keep in touch with your readers!
Best wishes,
Adam Greenwell
Having returned from Australia in late July with a view to making a good fist of it,and enduring 6 odd months of this governments ineptitude I too find myself questioning my reasons for remaining here.the incessant impositions on daily life, both at work and away, coupled with a not insignificant rise in the cost of living, all have added up to be fairly unpleasant homecoming. Thus as a long time follower of both your blog and other works, I wish you well and give thanks for your taking the time to write this blog, it has, as I note other contributors have previously said, been an island of sanity and a keenly anticipted treat for its readers.
Thank you bob, hope to see you back soon!
Bob- I feel you are abandoning us to the Nanny!
Please come back soon! (I wont say ‘stay safe’ or any if that utter rubbish)
Francine Sweet
Dear Sir Robert,
How would CAKE describe your blog?
Engrossing, enraging, enriching, entertaining, enlightening, enigmatic, enjoyable, enchanting, enthralling, encouraging, enlightening, enrapturing and enticing! Breathe!
And that’s just using a few words starting with “en”! I could go on, but you probably get the picture.
I must confess, CAKE has read every one of your posts, even when I had the hump with you. Of late, there were even a few posts that I disagreed with vehemently. Sometimes, you didn’t publish me, you scoundrel! So it goes…
I have cursed, cried and chuckled at your blog, but I have never been indifferent.
You walk your own step. In a world full of robots, I cherish the man (I hope my use of the term “man” doesn’t upset your politically correct sensibilities) who walks his own path.
I hope that your retreat from your blog is a temporary manoeuvre, like a carefully constructed Hannibal battle plan. Perhaps as your centre appears to crumble, you will respond with an encircling move, trapping the lefty lickspittles in your in your rhetorical trap! I hope so.
As a person who has lived half their life overseas, I feel your frustration and horror at current events in New Zealand.
I am reminded of a quote by Jacob Bronowski, whose family perished at Auschwitz:
“We have to cure ourselves of the itch for absolute knowledge and power. We have to close the distance between the push-button order and the human act. We have to touch people.”
Well, Sir Robert, I think that you have touched people. Not like Saville! Thank you for the blog. I have thoroughly enjoyed it so far.
You be you, as the yoof would say.
Good luck overseas. I wish you all the best.
Kind Regards,
CAKE
Thanks really enjoy your Blog. I’m off too, not till July but still off on a one way flight to Europe. Farewell Bob.
Thanks Bob. Agreed with half of what you wrote and enjoyed all of it.
Good for you, especially in keeping your promise to do so as the madness slowly lifts.
I’ve been lucky to have enough wealth that I’ve not been too hard hit by the last two years of insanity, and to have had a loving family that has hung together under the pressure.
But even so I also feel like escaping, led by my kids who have soured badly on their country. Don Brash has also noticed this, For how much longer will our kids stick around?
The best comment when someone arks up about the govenment or rules is “well you voted for her” You can go on to explain 2 in 3 did and if there are 3 people in the discussion, you can also say “I wasnt one of the 2”
I have struggled to find anyone who has admitted to voting for her so far.
I hope you are right about the landslide, we need to get back to some sanity in this country
Thanks Bob, Come back soon.
Will be missed Bob.Loved your Blogs and books
Thanks for your wit Bob. The gloss has well and truly come off the turd and we look forward to some more common sense after the next election.
Thanks Bob, it’s nice to know that someone else thinks the same as me in this country. Take care and we’ll see you soon. All the best.
Last week on my flight to Sydney the majority were under 55, bright, with large suitcases on a one way ticket. Driven out by hopeless nanny state socialism.
Safe travels, Bob. A dollop of Sydney sun with lashings of everything that Europe has to offer sounds just about right.
Thanks a lot Sir Bob, you had better be back though. Today I read a piece from Henry Kissinger on the Ukraine and that good b***t**d is 98 and still as sharp as a Javelin missile in the hands of a Ukrainian. There are some of us here fighting the good fight I believe. I suggest you follow the 3 Waters action while jaunting around. Tutum iter et mox te videre!
Yes indeed people are basically the same. Nationalism is a geopolitical abstraction.
sad day for nz with one great talent like sir bob packing his bags ……
Safe travels Sir Bob, followed your musing since the 1980’s. At least you are back in the real World.
Never doubt that you have left your mark in New Zealand Bob. Your colourful prose belies a clear insight into the destructive nature of this Marxist Ardern government. I agree that there are more sheep outside the fence than being farmed, all thanks to the State Controlled Media.
Alas one of the last bastions of common sense leave the Titanic! Bon voyage favourite scribe.
Enjoy your freedom and I look forward in hope to the worst Government of my lifetime losing its ability to do even more damage to everything it touches.
You are absolutely 100 % correct Bob. This is not the same country I grew up in. Unfortunately we have seen the best years behind us now. Unfortunately we did not know it at the time.
Barry Crump would be turning in his grave.
I like yourself Bob, am following in your footsteps as I have had enough and I am leaving for the greener pastures of Asia in June.
Bob, any hope appearing in the crystal ball? Thank you, Smartley
Thank you Sir Bob … its a long, long time ago that we met at the ‘Knight of the Jones’s’. Your whit (sometimes acerbic) was on display then and continues to this day. But always there was an underlying message which we ignore at our peril.
As Mencken said “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary”
May you safely return to joust again at the the windmills.
Bob, I became a fan of yours in the mid 70’s the night you arrived at Radio Windy for your regular talk-back session having just had a run-in with a pompous MoT officer (who lived to regret it) ! Go well my man.
Good luck Bob, its always been refreshing to read some common sense for a change!
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[…] The absolute low point of the past three years was the public’s passive acceptance of the imposed nanny state. The “Team of five million” and “Be Kind” mantras belong in kindergartens. For me they were unbelievable. I was ashamed to be a New Zealander as common sense went out the window. The Be Kind childishness was particularly outrageous given the unbelievably cruel, unnecessary and illegal prohibition on thousands of Kiwis prevented from returning home, in numerous cases to farewell dying family members. – Sir Bob Jones […]