Concert review: Shania Twain 14th and 15th December 2018 - Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney

I've been a fan of country singer Shania Twain since I was a kid so when her Now Tour was announced earlier in the year I knew I had to get a ticket and that's exactly what I did. I immediately got an A Reserve ticket within an hour of the presale for the show on the 14th of December at Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena. I wanted to be as close to the stage as possible. Say what you will, but where you are in an arena affects the enjoyment you have at a show.

The day of the concert eventually came around and Shania did not disappoint at all. Her opening act was Bastian Baker who had little charisma and it was easy to see why he was only a supporting act rather than the headliner.

Shania entered through the audience at the back of the arena before starting with Life's about to get good, the first single from her latest album, Now. The crowd was incredibly excited.

She introduced one of her newer hits, Poor Me, a song that had started out very angrily but changed as she went through the writing process and was now her drinking song.

Luckily the sombre mood did not last too long and it was back to the upbeat songs of the late 90s including That Don't Impress Me Much which saw her change into a leopard print gown and the graphics on the stage cubes change.

There was a Kiss Cam right after the song and at the end of it Shania kissed one member of the audience before singing a spectacular track, Any Man of Mine from her 1995 album, The Woman in Me.

The crowd joined in for the next two songs, Whose bed have your boots been under and Honey I'm home.

Again, the mood turned sombre and there was another outfit change for the track, I'm alright, which was about her divorce from Robert "Mutt" Lange.

After a brief interlude, Shania took to the second stage in the middle of the arena and was perched with just her guitar. She said it had been 21 years since the next song had been released and that everyone had been on a journey and grown up with that song. It was of course, the song that made her a superstar, "You're still the one". That was the highlight of the night for me and a very special moment. There's nothing I love more than seeing an artist up on stage with just their guitar talking about the song before they launch into the performance. I find it makes the performance much more personal than someone who just sings a song.

More Fun was a nice song but the inspiration for it was a bit cheesy and Shania talked about how Magic Mike had inspired the dance moves.

Next up was a video interlude of a few of her old songs before the 90s ballad From this moment on from Come on over.

The mood picked up again for I'm gonna getcha good and the stage cubes were lit up with neon writing.

She brought Bastian Baker back on stage for Party for Two and he stayed for the next song, Swinging with my eyes closed which she asked the audience to participate in.

The final song was If you're not in it for love I'm outta here which the audience sung along to.

Red Storm was played after a brief gap and then Shania came back on stage for the encore which was Man! I feel like a woman.

It was a great show.

It was so great in fact that after seeing an ad on Facebook for tickets to Saturday night's show at a heavily discounted price ($76.80 including booking fee) I had to go along.

I was delayed by public transport but my seat was even better. It was a side view which would normally put me off but I was actually right by the stage so I could see what was going on backstage. I could see the back up singers, the drummer, the dancers and the guitarists talking, taking selfies, taking photos and just taking in the surroundings. It was great to see. I could also see what was going on more clearly.

As I'd been to the show previously I could focus more on the performance rather than taking photos and videos.

I enjoyed both nights of the show and the standout moment for me both nights was when Shania sung You're still the one on the second stage and the epic costume changes and dance moves.

Shania's still got it and I give both shows 4.5/5.

It's time for a Celebration because Kylie is bringing her Golden Tour down under.

Australian pop Queen Kylie Minogue has finally announced tour dates for Australia next year.

She will be bringing her Golden Tour down under for six shows in March.

Tuesday, March 5th
ICC Sydney Theatre, Sydney, NSW (All Ages)
Tickets: Ticketek | Ph: 13 28 49

Monday, March 11th
Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide, SA (All Ages)
Tickets: Ticketek | Ph: 13 28 49

Wednesday, March 13th
Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne, VIC (All Ages)
Tickets: Ticketmaster | Ph: 13 61 00

She will also be playing at the music festival A Day On The Green.

 

A Day On The Green Shows

With special guests Jake Shears & Hatchie
(plus an additional special guest to be announced!)

Saturday, March 9th
Sir James Mitchell Park, Perth, WA
Tickets: Ticketmaster | Ph: 13 61 00

Saturday, March 16th
Bimbadgen, Hunter Valley, NSW
Tickets: Ticketmaster | Ph: 13 61 00

Sunday, March 17th
Sirromet Wines, Mt Cotton, QLD
Tickets: Ticketmaster | Ph: 13 61 00

Kylie fans had better get their dancing shoes on because this is sure to be a show to remember with old classics and new music from Golden thrown in.

At this stage it looks like New Zealand fans will need to travel to Australia for the show, however with a few days between shows it's entirely possible more dates will be added later.

Pre sale tickets are on sale from Tuesday the 13th of November at 12pm AEDT, with the general on sale starting on the 19th of November at 2pm local time.

You can bet that I'll be there to see her in concert. I've been waiting a long, long, long time for this.

Thoughts on Charlie Sheen following his speaking engagement at Sydney's ICC Darling Harbour Theatre

Since his time on Two and a Half Men came to an abrupt end in 2012, actor Charlie Sheen has attracted mixed attention with him being dubbed one of Hollywood's bad boys.

He revealed in 2015 that he had HIV and that he was diagnosed in 2011 which may or may not have sent him into his downward spiral. He has never actually confirmed that it did, only hinted that it had.

The media was very cruel to him and mocked him and his assertations that he had tiger blood and was an Adonis who was winning at life.

He was also in the news for his relationships with his ex wives and accused of being violent and a womanising slimeball.

I can't really comment on whether or not these things are true because as anyone knows, only half the story is told by the media. I'm telling the Pro Charlie Sheen half but skimming over the details because without speaking to him directly I actually can't comment. It would just be conjecture and opinion.

Earlier in the year he announced that he would be coming downunder on a speaking tour. Given how many shows I go to, I couldn't exactly not go to it, so i bought a ticket.

Between buying the ticket and him arriving in Sydney I re-enrolled in acting classes after a five year break. I have three classes a week and then outside of that I have several rehearsals, one of which fell on the night on Charlie Sheen's engagement at the ICC in Sydney.

Fortunately, the event was held close to where acting rehearsals are. It was a five minute walk. I still thought I was going to miss out because as much as I wanted to see Charlie Sheen live, acting is way more important.

The speaking engagement started at 7:30pm so I did miss most of it but then just before 9pm decided I'd go to the final part. I caught the last half hour before going back to acting practice afterwards. As I walked in, Charlie was talking to host and well known Australian broadcasting personality, Richard Wilkins about Two and a Half Men. He said that given the chance he would return to Two and a Half Men and although he didn't explicitly say so, he indicated that he didn't like his replacement, Ashton Kutcher.

He briefly talked about his HIV diagnosis and how his mother had been there for him. Some photos of him and his family were shown on the screens in the theatre which has a capacity of 2500.

There was a brief question and answer session where Charlie answered pre-organised questions about Two and a Half Men, crazy things he'd done in a car by himself. He said something about falling asleep in a car and then being arrested. It's unknown if it was his car. That detail was left out of what he said.

He and Richard then answered a few other questions before the evening closed.

The impression I was left with from the brief half hour I was at the speaking event was that Charlie is extremely misunderstood and that he's not the bad boy that the media says he is, either that or he's learned from his mistakes and it's changed him. I also got the impression that he cares a great deal about his family whether that's his parents, his siblings or his children and grandchildren.

I don't really want to give this a rating as I was only there a short time so I'm not sure it would be fair, but I'd probably give it a 4/5 and the ICC staff were brilliant as well. They get a 5/5 which is very different to the staff at ANZ Stadium on Friday night at Taylor Swift's show.

Taylor Swift - Reputation Stadium Tour - Sydney - 2nd November 2018 - Review

I don't know where to start this blog. I guess I'll start with saying that I was really excited about seeing Taylor Swift live again. You see, I last saw her in 2015 when I was close to leaving Sydney but as a result of one of her monologues about how the audience had chosen to spend the night with her when we could have spent it anywhere else in Sydney, I decided to stay. You see, she said how great Sydney was. Now I know that she is paid to say those things but it still resonated with me and so I was excited to be seeing her again. I was so excited that I actually ended up buying a second ticket on the day that I really couldn't afford and giving the other ticket to a friend (who I later found out didn't end up going), but I knew I had to be in the A Reserve section and that I wanted to be closer. I figured I'd have a more memorable experience near the front, and well, that I certainly did. The experience is one I won't be forgetting in a hurry. It's also one that I would rather not repeat.

Like Taylor Swift I can relate to caring about one's reputation and then not caring. I can relate to people thinking one thing about you but another being true. Taylor Swift is one artist who writes music that I can relate to. She also delivers that music in a way that touches me.

I had actually decided I would only go to acting practice (rep) for a short time tonight because of Taylor Swift, so she was right. There were other places that some of us could have been. I can't speak for others in the audience but I certainly did miss being at rep, though I managed to get a short rep in prior to the show which was good.

Anyway, let's fast forward though shall we? I was on my way to the show and people were walking slowly. I didn't want to miss my train and I run at the gym so I weaved in and out of the pedestrian traffic at Central Station. I finally got to Olympic Park and I got to my seat at ANZ Stadium and that is when the drama began.

When I go to a concert I like to take a lot of photographs and I also like to get video. I do this for two reasons. One is because I simply like to relive the concert and the other is because I write reviews of concerts I go to. One of the major reasons I ended up buying an A Reserve ticket at the last minute was because when I went to the 1989 World Tour I had to watch on a big screen rather than watching her in real life. When you watch on the big screen the experience is completely different.

When I got to the show there was this group of four girls in front of me who were totally oblivious to the fact people were behind them. They were completely ignorant. I did what any normal person whose view was blocked would do, I stood on my seat. Now again, as I say, if I'd wanted to watch on the big screen I wouldn't have bought another ticket on the spur of the moment. I would have kept my original ticket.

Here is where the drama began even more. A mother came up to me and whinged that I was blocking her kids' view. I explained the situation and stood my ground. If someone is blocking my view then I will have no choice but to block theirs, but that isn't what bugs me really. It was her shear entitlement. She thought that just because she has kids they have the right to everything. I'm sorry but the universe does not revolve around children. It never has done and it never will do, and they are probably too young to remember anyway. I know I barely remember my first few concerts. I remember who they were, where they were and that's about it. I couldn't tell you anything else. That's not even the real issue though. She got really nasty about it and started name calling. I was polite. I explained the situation.

Later on, maybe about half an hour later, the father came over and asked me the same. He was more reasonable, but again, why would I sit down when my view of the stage was being blocked by other people? If I'd wanted to watch on the big screen I wouldn't have bought another ticket at the last second. I would've kept the cheap seat but I wanted a different experience to what I had at the 1989 World Tour where I couldn't see a thing and had to watch on the big screen.

The father was more reasonable and he kind of gave up but this is where it gets really bad. I tried to reach some type of compromise so we would both win and so that I'd be happy and they'd be happy but they weren't having it. It was their way or the highway.

They got really abusive though and their body language was absolutely appalling. I'm an actor, singer and a writer, so when someone is cold towards me I sense it. It could be one word, maybe not even a word, sometimes all it is, is a look. They got security and security was rude to me, but here's the part that really offended me and got me quite riled up and here is the part that actually ruined my night.

A group of people behind this couple and their children laughed and clapped after security forced me to sit down. Now that might seem quite minor but if you've ever been bullied then sometimes it's only a little thing that will actually trigger that memory and being laughed at and having them clap got me really upset and yeah I cried. The people sitting directly next to me though were about the same age and they were nice. They were basically on my side. You could tell that this wasn't their first concert and that they knew that some people would miss out on a view, but where they seemed to understand me was that they recognised that I'd been bullied by the parents, this random group in the vicinity as well as security and another staff member. They actually seemed to understand the situation and were nice. Just before the show started we changed seats so that I would have the aisle seat. I'll explain why this is important later.

I'm not one to give up on what I want though. Anyway, Taylor Swift came on late because rain delayed the show but that was okay. I actually don't remember the first part of the show because I was fuming because of being bullied and abused by staff and customers of the stadium. A few songs into the show during Look What You Made Me Do I decided to stand on my seat because I didn't want to photograph the backs of people's heads. I wanted to photograph Taylor Swift and her dancers. The couple directly behind me glared at me and were really angry. I was willing to compromise though and just stand up when taking photos. If I'd had my way completely that would've been the entire show though, but it was what was fair. This couple didn't really fight me on it.

Midway through was Shake It off when one of the other stages was used and Taylor Swift brought Charli XCX and Georgia from Broods back onto the stage. By that point it didn't matter who was standing or what they were doing. Nobody was paying attention so I staged my move and stood back on the seat because I'd be damned if I wasn't gonna get some good photos of the show that didn't involve the backs of people's heads. I positioned the seat though so it was partially in the aisle so that nobody would really be affected. I looked around a few times though and I noticed other people standing on their seats as well. I also noticed this one drunk lady yet nobody was doing anything about them, so what I want to know is the following:

1. Why did security think it was okay to harass me yet they ignored the others who were doing exactly the same?
2. Why didn't security tell the girls in front of me to sit down so they weren't blocking the views of other people?
3. Why did the parents think it was okay to abuse and name call?
4. Why did a random group of people think that laughing at some was okay?
5. Why do people think bullying is okay?
6. Why did the ANZ Stadium staff think it was okay to abuse me?
7. Why did the ANZ Stadium staff think that bullying was okay?
8. Why isn't there better crowd control? If people have seats then EVERYONE should be seated rather than having one rule for some people and another for others. It's as if they thought that harassing and picking on me was okay but others who were doing exactly what I was doing were allowed to.

That's not my real gripe though. Sure, I swore near the children, not at them. I want to make that very clear. I had absolutely no interaction with the children near me, just their obnoxious, rude and entitled parents. The people in my row agreed that I was being bullied by others and they tried to improve my mood but when I stew I really stew and given I'm writing this blog I'm still stewing because I don't like bullying.

And that's actually my real gripe. I wasn't bullied by children. I was bullied and abused by grown adults, adults who should know better, adults who should know the meaning of the word respect, and I just wasn't shown any respect tonight by the people behind me. In fact, I'd actually go so far as to say that a vast number of people in Sydney don't even know what respect is and that they think they can mistreat people, as I was mistreated tonight. There is no excuse for laughing at someone, calling them names or abusing them and grown adults should know better. As I say, there were kids nearby and while I don't really about that, I do question what type of example the children are being set when they're around parents who think that bullying people at a concert is okay.

And of all the concerts to bully someone at it was a Taylor Swift concert. Taylor herself has been bullied and she's written numerous songs about it right from Mean to Clean, Shake It Off,  Look What You Made Me Do, Bad Blood, This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things and Blank Space. People should know better than to bully others and there's never going to be any justification for it.

Anyway, how was the actual concert? Well, I was stewing until Shake It Off when Taylor moved to another stage. I did like the opening which was the song Reputation sung by Taylor Swift. I was definitely feeling that song. She sung a few other songs, Ready For It, I Did Something Bad, Gorgeous and a medley of Style, Love Story and You Belong With Me before Look What You Made Me Do which was when snakes really made their appearance on stage.

It wasn't until she moved to one of the other stages which was in the middle of the floor that the show got really good and the crowd was very enthusiastic. She brought Charli XCX and Georgia from  Broods onto the stage and they belted out the song Shake It Off. Snakes continued to feature more and she did a few songs from that position before moving back to the main stage for Don't Blame Me and the rest of the final act of the show.

The final act of the show featured other songs including Long Live/New Year's Day which was sung with just her piano on the main stage before she launched into Getaway Car which had a video backdrop, Call It What You Want which was set up on stage like a castle.

The show finished with We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together/This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things and there were fireworks which is very cool, especially given it rained for the majority of the show.

Sadly Taylor didn't do as many monologues as in previous shows and the ones she did do were much shorter and felt a lot faker. It didn't feel like she was as genuine as she has been in the past. She also didn't dance as much as during the 1989 World Tour. She relied much more on the dancers and she was much more in her own little bubble. It didn't feel like she cared about the audience like she had previously. The only time I felt like she did care was during one of the final video features before Getaway Car which was about how she'd been around fake people who didn't truly value her.

Unfortunately my opinion of the show was always going to be clouded by the bullying and abuse at the beginning of the show. I wasn't a fan of Broods. Charli XCX was good for the most part other than when she launched into a mini girl power monologue before her song Boys. I really liked her songs Break the Rules, 1999 and I Love It, which I now realise I actually have on my iPhone. I purchased Break the Rules and 1999 after the show. She had stage presence and definitely knew what she was doing. She deserved to be there.

Broods were inexperienced and I didn't really like their music. Taylor Swift was polished as ever but this time I felt like she was a little too polished and a little more impersonal than during the 1989 World Tour. The other disappointing part of the show (aside from the bullying and abuse) was that there was no encore. Welcome To New York would've been a good encore. I won't criticise Taylor Swift for being late onto stage. She didn't arrive until 9:30pm when she'd been scheduled to arrive on stage at 8:50pm. She was late onto stage because the rain caused logistical issues. I had also been expecting rain since tickets went on sale on the 13th of December.

It's mildly annoying though because had I known she was going to be on stage so late I could've spent longer at acting rep tonight.

Anyway, I can only give the show a 3.5/5 because aside from being bullied and abused by other customers (when others were also standing on chairs, which when you think about it, really says more about the ignorance of the people in front of me and the parents and other bullies behind me) Taylor didn't seem as genuine as in previous concerts, there wasn't as much talking and there was no encore. I always look forward to an encore during concerts. In some ways, Shake It Off's performance which was in the middle would've been an excellent encore but it wouldn't have fit at the end of the show, nor would Welcome to NewYork, Mean might have though.

Here are my favourite photos from the show though. Shake It Off, New Year's Day, Look What You Made Me Do and This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things were my favourite songs during the show and Shake It Off my favourite moment. It was during Shake It Off that I was able to shake off the bullies and start enjoying the show.

Meghan Markle sports Karen Walker and fashionistas go nuts snapping up the items

Karen Walker has long been one of the darlings of the New Zealand fashion industry, being worn by the likes of Lady Gaga and Kelly Osbourne plus many others. She can now add the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan to her list of admirers.

Since touching down in Oceania, Meghan has been spotted wearing several Karen Walker items.

When she touched down in Fraser Island, she wore Karen Walker's Northern Lights sunglasses in black which retail for $289.05AUD.

Source: https://www.popsugar.com.au/fashion/Meghan-Markle-Karen-Walker-Northern-Lights-Sunglasses-45408426 

In Fiji she was spotted donning Karen Walker's Temptation Studs which sell for $341.76AUD.

 
Source: https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/fashion/108173590/meghan-markle-wears-karen-walker

As she and her husband, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex landed in Wellington yesterday, Meghan had chosen a beautiful coat by Karen Walker. The Banks Trench retails for $975 and the New Zealand media organisations, Stuff and the NZ Herald are reporting that it is sold out. This is confirmed on the Karen Walker website.

Source: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12150655

As you'd imagine, this was a very proud moment for Karen Walker and when she was interviewed by Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking, she confirmed that the trench had sold out since the Duchess had worn it when she arrived in NZ.

She indicated that there had been a business agreement and that the brand had spoken to either Meghan or her team. Being an astute business person, Karen would not confirm any further details.

It has since been revealed that although the coat is sold out, it is available on pre order now. If you don't want to wait though then there is another alternative though and that is the Reverie Jacket which is available for $675AUD.

Source: https://www.karenwalker.com/clothing/jackets/reverie-jacket-60046/mocha

That's exactly what I have done, being a long time loyal Karen Walker customer, I have purchased the short version of the jacket.

It is so awesome that Meghan has worn Karen Walker's designs several times and the designer and her team should be extremely excited at all the worldwide publicity.

It certainly is a massive achievement and a real fashion coup given other NZ designers might have been looking for Meghan's attention.


 

Invictus Games Closing Ceremony - Sydney 2018

Now I am not one for ceremony, nor am I one to support sporting events. Generally I despise things, however I am a huge fan of Prince Harry and was absolutely gutted when he married Meghan Markle (because you know, there goes my chance of being with him).

Anyway, it was announced that Prince Harry and his pregnant wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex would be touring both Australia and New Zealand for the Invictus Games which were held at Sydney's Olympic Park.

It's extremely hard to find the time to travel around the city on the off chance that one might spot the Royals so I made a decision to purchase a ticket to the Closing Ceremony of the Invictus Games, and I snapped up an amazing A reserve seat. I was in row 10 of the grandstand, seated a couple of rows behind Estonia and next to the military representatives from Australia. You can't get much better than that unless you're a VIP, which sadly, I'm not yet.

The Closing Ceremony was brilliant. It was live broadcast on the ABC and had performers including Australian singer, Colin Hay, rock group Birds of Tokyo, The Kingdom Choir and many others.

The atmosphere was absolutely incredible with speeches from NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and the Governor General of NSW, David Hurley and of course, the Invictus Games founder, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

The Closing Ceremony paid tribute to the competitors from the 15 participating nations and the crowd was incredibly enthusiastic, standing for all the competitors, and standing for both Prince Harry and Meghan.

Meghan spoke about resilience and not letting adversity stop you from living your life. She spoke about courage and not letting your circumstances get you down. She spoke of how she'd met with soldiers prior to meeting Prince Harry and she spoke of the general camaraderie throughout the games.

Later in the evening, Prince Harry spoke about how soldiers are the real heroes, that sportsmen aren't heroes (which I've always agreed with and said). He spoke about the importance of mental health and that people should be open and free with what they're feeling. He acknowledged his own struggle with mental illness and that people shouldn't be ashamed of what they're feeling. He said that mental health is more important even than physical health. I don't necessarily agree with this because the two go hand in hand. If you're mentally well then you'll be physically well but it also works in reverse as well.

You simply cannot have one without the other and they're both equally important. It was clear that both he, and Meghan were incredibly proud of the "mateship" to use Prince Harry's word and that they were pleased with the way all the competitors and volunteers treated eachother in the games.

The next Invictus Games are being held in 2020 in the Netherlands.

Here are a few photo highlights from the closing ceremony last night.

Is it really so hard to be kind to people in politics?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with ambition. Ambition should be admired and looked upon favourably. People should absolutely strive to get to the top if that's what they want, but I do have just one question. Of course, anyone who has read any blog I've written will know that when I have "just one question", it's actually more like a million questions, and some of these questions are purely rhetorical, while I do hope that I can answer some of them.

To give some background, there was a leak within NZ's National Party and it basically turned into a "he said, she said" mud slinging match (that could actually be a good song come to think of it) but over time the issue grew and grew. There were allegations that the leaker was mentally unstable. Over time the leaker was revealed to be Botany MP Jami Lee Ross who, up until that moment had been an up and comer. He was number seven on the list and having known him back at uni, I had thought he'd be future Prime Minister. Of course, we now know that's not going to happen. He was expelled from the National Party. There was talk of there being a by election, but that won't happen because as he's an electorate MP he's now an independent. Whether or not he stands at the next General Election remains to be seen.

The real issue though is the treatment of Jami Lee Ross by those within National, those on social media and media commentators.

After the election when NZ First leader, and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, chose Labour, Jacinda Ardern said taht she hoped that she could bring kindness to politics and that's what I really want to talk about this blog today. Why can't politics be kind? Why must everyone be nasty to eachother? Why does there have to be callousness? To my knowledge, Jacinda Ardern has never ever shafted anyone to get to the top and was a reluctant leader.

Over the last couple of weeks within the National Party we have seen the total opposite. Both National Party Leader Simon Bridges and Deputy Leader Paula Bennett have been nasty about Jami Lee Ross, with Paula bringing Ross' marriage and personal life into the debate. Basically it's been what I would call a smear campaign. Now I don't want to comment on whether or not Ross did in fact mistreat women in his office as allegations suggest, but the reaction to his mental health is what I do want to discuss, and the treatment of him following his admission to hospital last weekend has been quite honestly shameful. So shameful that it actually prompted the NZ Mental Health Foundation to speak out about it.

Firstly, today there was a headline in the NZ Herald (and normally I read them with a grain of salt but this headline really bothered me) that said:

National leader Simon Bridges says Jami-Lee Ross is "no longer my problem" because he is not a National MP anymore.

Source: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12147674  

That comment from Simon Bridges shows a few things that the National Party should be ashamed of.

1. It shows that he is callous and cold because he doesn't have any feeling whatsoever towards a former member of his caucus who clearly had a mental breakdown.
2. It shows little regard for those with mental health issues. If he can't offer support to a member of his caucus how can he possibly run the country?
3. What type of culture is he running in the National Party where a long standing MP with a promising future has a mental breakdown? Did he inherit the culture or did he create it? Those questions must be asked because without answers the public cannot trust the National Party.

Simon Bridges must step down as the leader of the National Party because if he's unwilling to support a former member of his caucus what will his views towards mental health in the general community be?

If Simon Bridge is willing to publicly shame an MP, what will his general attitude towards bullying in the community be? Bear in mind that NZ has one of the worst rates for bullying. How are people supposed to stop bullying eachother if the MPs and supposed leaders of the nation don't set a good example?

The poor behaviour from Simon Bridges doesn't stop there though. A few days ago it was reported that he had called MP Maureen Pugh a hopeless MP. What type of leader says that about a member of their team? If you expect better from your staff wouldn't you encourage them? Wouldn't you try to help them?

Maureen Pugh's response has also been somewhat questionable with her saying that she is glad that Jami Lee Ross is no longer in the National Party. She has also acted poorly when saying nothing would have been better. Her comment just added fuel to the fire.

Only one MP within National has actually shown any type of compassion and humanity and that's Auckland Central MP, Nikki Kaye who has never demonstrated, or shown herself to be nasty. She posted on Facebook yesterday:

Some of you have messaged me regarding what has occurred recently. It has been a very tough time for many people. I have been shocked and saddened by what I have heard. My thoughts are with the women who have come forward and I know that people are working to ensure that they are supported. I am also thinking of Jami-Lee Ross and his family at this time. The leader has confirmed that we will get some independent advice to make sure we have the best possible systems and processes to ensure that people are safe and are supported.

Why can't others show compassion and care towards everyone involved? Why does it have to be an either/or scenario? It appears as if several people are hurting, so why can't they all be cared for?

This brings me to my next point, if Simon Bridges is unwilling to care, genuinely care about a (former) member of his caucus then how can he be trusted to lead the party, let alone the country? The simple answer is that he can't be.

So who should replace him?

On the absolutely not list would be Judith Collins and Paula Bennett, Paula Bennett for obvious reasons and Judith Collins because although I like her strength of character, at this particular point in time she's not the right leader. National needs to show that it has heart and that it does care about the country. It needs to go back to basics and instill confidence in the public.

Todd McClay who is currently Shadow Tourism Minister, Shadow Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister; and number 5 on the list, is an option. He's been quitely in the background for a few years, just getting on with the job.

Then there is Amy Adams who sits at number 3 on the list and was a contender after Bill English stood down following his defeat at the last election. She is a stable MP from the South Island and Shadow Finance Minister. Although she's unlikely to ever be Prime Minister, she could be an option to bring back compassion to the party.

Longer term would be Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye, MP for Hutt South Chris Bishop or MP for Pakuranga, Simeon Brown. All of these MPs have potential and are up and comers. Kaye has always been popular within the community, beating out Jacinda Ardern in Auckland Central in 2008 and 2011 before Ardern was gifted the safe seat of Mount Albert, which has been held by Labour since its inception in 1946. She could potentially be Prime Minister and she certainly wouldn't resort to nasty tactics like some other politicians have.

The main thing to take away from all of this is that National has imploded and shown itself to be nasty, cold and callous. If someone has had a breakdown then the last thing you do is treat them like garbage as some of the MPs do. You offer them support and help. If National can't do that for one of their MPs how are they supposed to do that for Mental Health issues in the community? How are they supposed to care for the entire country when they can't even care for one person.

So to close this blog, I'm going quote Jacinda Ardern after she became the 40th Prime Minister of NZ last year; because this is what National needs to do, they need to bring kindness back and with Simon Bridges steering the wheel that's just not going to happen. National needs a new leader, one who actually cares about the people, because as Jacinda Ardern said on Radio NZ after she became Prime Minister last year.

I want people to feel that it's open, that it's listening and that it's going to bring kindness back...I know that will sound curious but to me if people see they have an empathetic government...it's not about just preserving people's political careers. It's not about power. It's about being in a position to make a difference.

Politicians need to set an example, and if they can't be kind to eachother, how are members of the general public supposed to be kind? Things need to change and nastiness needs to leave politics.

The same could apply to Australian politics or the community in general, but that's another blog post entirely.