Phil Goff surprises me!
 

I hated him and his pointless opposition government, but actually I’m starting to like the smile allergic little ferrit…a little ;). First $5k of peoples incomes tax free would bring us into line with international standards. However when I heard him comment on closing loopholes in property investing I did wonder why he hadn’t picked a more opportune moment to think of that…like when they were in government!

While the National lead government remains popular I do just wonder if they can hold on without making any progress or actually implementing any changes. Also questions about their ineptness in bringing a pay parity between Australia and New Zealand will be...difficult.

Re: Phil Goff surprises me!
 

Made me smile when whole discussion on TV was 'has he dyed his hair then or not ? ' and no relevance to his political statements. I bet he would have a good 'spitting image' puppet

Re: Phil Goff surprises me!
 

i've encountered John Key and Phil Goff a couple of times in a work capacity. To clarify that - being in a work capacity and as I am a lowly worm I pretty much have to sit and listen as the adults talk. The conversations have been along the lines of "this is X, she's the Y position at Z company" "very nice to meet you, enjoy your visit" type 'conversations'.

BUT it is really interesting how they each come across. John Key comes across better on TV I think. In person I think he's confident and that comes across well. Also, he is very good at being a politician- the eye contact, the remembering peoples names, the self depreciating humour etc. However, each time I have encountered Phil Goff he comes across as nice, personable (oooh i spelled that incorrectly I think), and also very switched on and aware of the issues.

But I don't think he's got that natural flair that Key has. Or at least, Key has a natural flair mixed with knowing how to operate in a very corporate world.

It's interesting to me at least.

Re: Phil Goff surprises me!
 

The trouble with Kiwi's and politics is we tend to focus more on personalities than policies.

Re: Phil Goff surprises me!
 

John Key's beginning to show his 'true blue' colours re proposed second term though on privatisation (do they never learn?).
NZ$5000 tax free from Labour would be a start but it's still way behind UK.

My feeling is that the National Government has done very little to upset anyone in the first 3 years in the sense that the GST increase/tax cuts have only just come in, hence the strong poll ratings continuing....?

Re: Phil Goff surprises me!
 

Without a shadow of a doubt I agree with that. They always always new it was going to require more than one term to get their work through. That's normal I suppose for any government. But they knew they couldn't completely change some processes as soon as they could.

Re: Phil Goff surprises me!
 

So this year could be a good time to stab the national party in the back and change sides before they get to the dreaded second term in government and cock it all up? I mean next term when national starts to get into the real right wing stuff I don’t want to be the one saying “Yes they are rubbish…and I voted for them…”.

Labour won’t win anyway with a reshuffled Clarke cabinet of old MPs and a leader who can’t even smile for more than a second.

You do think maybe you could give your vote to a third party but then you look at the possible beneficiaries:
The Green Party – Which is essentially a scaled up action group promising ice cream for everybody because they will never be elected.
Maori party – Which may not even exist after the next election.
ACT – I wouldn’t trust Rodney Hide to organise a piss-up in a brewery.
United Future – Silly Christians trying to stop shops from opening on Sundays and the unmarried from having sex.

So those aren’t real options either.

Re: Phil Goff surprises me!
 

I just don't think 3 years is enough to do anything much, by the time they're settled in they are planning for the next election. I reckon the terms should be longer, maybe four years. I think National have done very well considering the global financial crisis and the previous 10 years of profligacy from the socialists!

Re: Phil Goff surprises me!
 

Yes...but passed precedent doesn’t apply to the future terms of an incumbent government.

Re: Phil Goff surprises me!
 

I'm sure old Philbo is a lovely fella but he's not Prime Minister material. Labour's spent the last three years opportunistically (yes, it's a word!) trying to blame National for everything (including the Pike River Mine disaster!) whilst avoiding discussing the HUGE debt they ran up in Government. Wee Johnny Key has no choice but to deal with the $300 million a week they're having to borrow, and this means higher GST, cuts in public spending etc. We'd all love a Government that provides everything, but we don't want to have to pay for it. At least we're not in the UK where Gordy ran up a debt equivalent to 70,000 POUNDS for every single taxpayer! The budget constraints needed there are hurting them too. Here in NZ, we have to be realistic about the size of the problem. And Philbo can blow as much as he likes on Grecian 2000, he's not the fella to fix this.

That's my two cents any road! :thumbup:

Re: Phil Goff surprises me!
 

I'm not very keen on the "you must vote x or y because otherwise it's a wasted vote" argument. In a proportional representation system the minority parties can wield some power. Not in an absolute power way, but in the sense of being able to make deals in a minority government.

Aside from that, a vote for what you believe in at least signals what you believe in doesn't it?

Re: Phil Goff surprises me!
 

I always vote for minority parties...can't seem to help myself.

Re: Phil Goff surprises me!
 

Death and taxes.

Re: Phil Goff surprises me!
 

Who and why? Explain to us the brain thinky things inside your head.

Re: Phil Goff surprises me!
 

Well back in the day, it was the alliance.
More recently Green.

It's the whole social justice driver that I have going on.
I figure that the more parliament needs a different set of voices, even if they are in opposition. What I want, in general, is a labour led govt, but they can get in (or not) just fine without me. Without minor parties, there's no point to MMP so sometimes it feels like a vote for the process as much as the party. My candidate vote is usually for the labour candidate though ( who was Phil Goff at my last address)