It is rather alarming that New Zealand Prime Minister, John Key is involved in discussions with the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard over the processing of asylum seekers: (from the NZ Herald)

Ms Gillard said she had also spoken to New Zealand Prime Minister John Key about the possibility of a regional processing centre for asylum seekers.

“John said to me that he would be open to considering this initiative constructively,” she said.

“East Timor and New Zealand are vital countries in this initiative, as they are already signatories to the refugee convention.

“And New Zealand, like Australia, is a key resettlement country.”

Currently the two major political parties in Australia are locked in a battle of who is the biggest bigot and racist. This is not a game that New Zealand wants to join. New Zealand prides itself on its multiculturalism.

Declining asylum applications from people of Afghanistan and Sri Lanka just because they are from those two countries is racist segregation in its most simple form. For any New Zealand politician to support the immigration policies of a country that is happy to endorse racism is political suicide. Crosby|Textor may have done well with John Key so far but this is one push poll that they will lose.

Bring Barack Obama to mind – strip him of charisma and vision, then douse him in White King [bleach] – and you’ve got NZ’s new PM.

First Section: Helen Clark cleans up John Key with facts and cutting straight through the spin. John Key tries to suggest the current economic crises is a result of Labour without realising that International Factors have a bigger influence. John Key will not stop cutting Helen Clark off and states to Mark Sainsbury that he will just keep talking louder unless he is given ability to talk – not a good look.

Section Two: No clear winner.. John Key maybe.

Section Three: John Key implies that we shouldn’t be a leader on Climate Change because we are only 0.4% of world emissions. Well ponder this… Why be Nuclear Free when we are only a fraction of the size of the world?

Section Four: Somehow they get stuck in 1981 Springbok Tour. John Key states he didn’t have an opinion gets eaten by Helen Clark.

Section Five: Education. John Key rules out universal allowances talks about standards. Doesn’t really get anywhere. Much like the rest of the debate. They should mute the mic of the person who isn’t speaking.

Section Six: I’m almost asleep. This is actually quite boring. They get hit by a question about smaller parties. I still think that it should have been everyone over two hours maybe.

Summary: So much for a debate. It was terrible. And didn’t help much. However, the You Tube idea was great lots of young people involved. I would give John Key the win… The smilling assasin.

Hat tip: scoop.co.nz