Well the election is over and New Zealand has elected a right wing government. The Act party a more extreme right wing party gained five seats and will become the major coalition partner. The negotiations with Act will begin on Monday and a government would seem to be able to be formed with out undue delay. With five MPs it will be probable that Act will see its role as keeping National to the right and away from a centrist approach. With Sir Roger Douglas as one of the five Act MP’s there could be a fiery time ahead. Act will want to push their polices, all tending to the extreme right. They will be also be wanting to ensure they are seen to be effective in order to maintain the momentum they have gained and help establish the Act party as a force in the New Zealand political scene. I believe we need to respect the decision that the people of New Zealand have made but ensure that we do not let the government stray to the extreme right which would result in a “Bright new Future“ for only a limited sector of our community.
New Zealand’s most important election
Well the leaders are on the final whirl wind tour of the country. The policy has been disclosed, the debates are over and the impressions and perceptions have been left in the minds of the voters. This election is different because of the pending world wide financial crisis. Perhaps we should all consider this critical factor in the equation in make our vote.
For many people their decisions are made (Some have already voted). Some people will vote as they have always voted maybe even the same way as their parents voted. Others will vote on they basis of “money in their pocket” and perceived advantages that they may personally gain. There will no doubt be another group who will make their vote a form of protest, often based on a single issue which they feel strongly about. These feelings can be so intense that they may even vote to their own detriment. There are always those who also go to the polling booth and cast an invalid vote whether by accident, lacking the ability to follow instructions or deliberately.
Hopefully their will also be a number of people that will carefully way up all that they have seen, heard and understood and then make their choice. A decision which will be free of biases, prejudices and self interest, making a decision which will be in the best interest of our communities, country and future generations.
Nationals Tax Cuts a Fizzer
For some weeks National has promised $50+ tax cuts. Today’s announcement by John Key clearly shows it is a fizzer. To add insult to injury National plans to kick the stuffing out of Kiwi Saver to pay for the tax cuts that they are proposing. National must think we are all naive and can be hood winked by fancy rhetoric and slick “car sales” like talk. Kiwi Saver is supported by 800,000 New Zealanders who will almost with out exception not be at all impressed John Key. When will people learn to think about and plan for the future.
People in Glass Houses Shouldn’t Throw Stones
The leader of the opposition has been less than forthcoming over his ownership of Tranz Rail shares..
“(A One News interview once again had Mr Key faltering when he was asked about the shares, initially saying his family owned 25,000-50,000 shares, then shifting to “sometimes 50,000, sometimes 100,000” then finally “yeah, sorry, it was 100,000 in total”.Asked why he had only ever admitted to the 30,000 shares owned by the family trust, Mr Key said: “No one’s ever asked me the number I owned.”)”
As we move towards the election we need to consider……Is the polish starting to come off? Are the cracks starting to show?
NZ economy insulated from the worst effects of the global financial crisis
Due to the care and attention the government has paid the economy over the last nine years it would seem that New Zealand is in better shape to weather the global economic storm than it could well have been.
Just imagine if the opposition had been in power, NZ would be in the same position we have been in during every other recession, the government would have owed billions to overseas banks and our exposure would be so much worse.
With an election now scheduled for the 8th of November it will be critical that people look long and hard at how they use their vote.
Are tax cuts real?
The New Zealand general election is now only about 14 weeks away. The main parties are talking tax cuts. The government having already revealed their policy and the opposition inferring they will up the offer by the government. However the opposition states they will be borrowing money for infrastructure. It seems to me that they are “trying to hood wink the voters” there also seems to be a strong possibility they will sell Kiwi Bank one of only to New Zealand owned banks in the country. The voters of New Zealand will need to carefully consider how they will vote as this election may well be more important than most people realise. Will tax cuts give us more spending power or just be a way of getting us to pay more insidious forms of indirect tax.
General Election
The fever builds towards the next general election. Each day the news papers are featuring those with political aspirations and what the have or have not done. With an MMP system those who want to gain power are very keen to get the party vote and are keen to discredit those who would take it away from them. To be honest it is getting a bit hard to take and there is a long way to go yet ….months and months. The leader of the opposition had his photo in the main news paper this morning and a story about being one of the richest people in NZ. It won’t make me vote for him. Wel at least it looks kie it might be a decent day. Hope so….