Politics/Election
 

Soon (for those who can be bothered) we are going to vote for who going to be in charge for the next three years and for the first time I am at a lost to who to give my vote for.

National - Smug John "I am just like you, except I am a millionaire" Keys really annoys the hell out of me and to be honest National have not really done a fantastic job, looking after the economy, but have managed to keep the big banks happy. Do not like the plan to sell off state assets.

Labour - Could not organise a orgy in a brothel, Phil "Deadman walking" Goff has no teeth when someone needs to lay into this government. I have a fairly left leaning policial affiliation, but these muppets have no talent.

It's pretty certain that National will get through, but I might give the greens my party vote, just as a protest against the top two.

Re: Politics/Election
 

I'm voting National. If only to keep the thing from becoming a hung parliament, more than anything. Don't particularly like asset sales, but the thought of Phil Goff, Parekura Horomia, Maryan Street and Trevor Mallard being on the front bench, with the Greens in balance of power, is kind of scary. :blink:

Re: Politics/Election
 

My view is almost exactly opposite, we’ve tried the “safe” options from both sides of the house under MMP so we have a good idea of what doesn’t work. Maybe it’s time for a bit of a change and a new approach.

It’s incongruous if we bleat on about how New Zealand needs some innovation in government and go on electing the same parties and politicians to power isn’t it? Election cycles are so short here anyway that playing a difficult hand only carries a small risk of short term pain :).

Re: Politics/Election
 

I'm with you Catchafire, it's a crying shame that their isn't a serious contender in the third spot, like the Lib Dems, that could snap remotely near the heels of National or Labour.

It's all a bit of a circus now and there is no middle ground; Labour and National are so many poles apart in terms of the rich versus poor vote that I can't bring myself to vote for either.

I really don't want the snarky smug bloke back for a second term, even though I did vote for him the last time. I can't bring myself to vote for the Goff geezer, so that only leaves me with the Greens.

The only good thing I suppose is it seems undoubted that Goff will lose, so he'll step down and hopefully they'll then get a proper leader.

Re: Politics/Election
 

Yeah, difficult choice. National seem certain to get in because John Keys a 'nice bloke' and they've not done enough upset enough people yet with NZ's short election terms. Certainly 3 years is too short a term.

It'll be my first vote here having not quite being here long enough for the last election. I won't be voting National, they seem to have no long term policies, asset sales is a bad idea, and Key's backed himself into a ridiculous corner by refusing to review the pension age.

Virtually all countries have raised their pension age, and some while ago. And any sensible person in their 40's and younger knows the state retirement age won't be 65 when and if they get there. National doing nothing, simply delay's the inevitable and gives people less notice.

At least Labour doing something here, but even then it's a slow implementation.

Yes, there's MMP and at least a vote should count, but outside of voting for any of the big 2 or the Greens, it's likely that any other sensible vote won't count.

Re: Politics/Election
 

Or will they?
Double good if Act are finished :fingerscrossed:, they've become pretty irrelevant.

Re: Politics/Election
 

shussshhhh.......
let's make sure they are finished after the election not before so they split the vote on the right but just miss out on Epsom and the threshold......
brash looked like a clown on the minor leaders debate last week - winston could almost get a party vote from me just to have a chance however small to get rid of the Nats.
DISCLAIMER: I have no idea why I typed that :eek:

Re: Politics/Election
 

Winston Peters has really thrown a spanner into the works by saying he isn't interested in coalition. Voters seem to love the idea of living up to values in an uncompromising way, even if Key doesn't think a minority government could work (though he didn't explain why?).

The thing is that Key is in the wrong party for the moment. In industrialised countries across the world people are looking for reform towards more egalitarian societies but all Key can say is "more jobs...blah blah blah..." which misses the point entirely. That worked back a few years ago when people where worried about their jobs and recession (even I voted for National back then) but people have stepped back now and asked what is the underlying root problems are.

Re: Politics/Election
 

Don't believe Winston can resist being a Kingmaker again if he can get away with it. Will be interesting to watch.

Also I don't trust him but he might be the only way to keep us away from the Nats and their oudated (on that I agree with you Charismatic) take on the free market.

Let's get MMP to work for the left rather than the right this time! :p :p :p

I will admit to supporting the Tories back in the late 70s and leaning towards them in parts of the late 80s but never voted Conservative or National in a general election, have done in the local elections in the UK when the alternatives were not worth a vote. :eek:

Re: Politics/Election
 

I don't think Nationals policies are outdated and John Key has been a good prime minister but they are swimming against the tide here. That said he still might make it but I can't see it being a happy second term.

Re: Politics/Election
 

Key may have been a safe pair of hands and a likeable bloke but the current climate requires more than that and I too can see him in for a rough time if his party are in government.

Selling off state assets is pretty outdated to me - been done before here and was not a bundle of laughs and it's never going to work the way it did in the UK where privitisations brought lots of small investor capital into the equity markets and got people interested in the stock exchange. Not to mention getting the efficiency improvements many of the organisations needed - don't see how Air New Zealand is going to deliver a better service when 40% of it is owned offshore.

Failing to push the retirement age up is short-sighted and not at all modern.

Delivering tax cuts and benefits to the rich and asset rich is old school as well.

None of this will wash in 12 months never mind 3 years and there may be some serious consequences.

Re: Politics/Election
 

People will accept it, most polling is still indicating a National landslide.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...1_-parties.png

Re: Politics/Election
 

Yes he will win for sure and the assets will be sold. But eventually his honeymoon will end and maybe the media will start giving him a harder time and give the opposition some positive coverage for a change and so make it less likely that he 'walks it' next time....which is only 3 years away after all.

A lot of the negative perceptions of Phil Goff are media-led. Genesis - Phil is much more like you than John Key!. I know which I'd trust in the jungle the most.

Re: Politics/Election
 

I'd knife them both tbh, better safe than sorry :p.

Re: Politics/Election
 

I'm voting Green, can't think why anyone would want to vote for either of the two main parties - both are flawed, self serving and tainted by their leaders images.

Green Party wants

• 100,000 kids out of poverty by 2014.
• Plan to clean up New Zealand's rivers and lakes.
• Green jobs for New Zealanders

Other priorities they are focussing on include

•Transport
•Country of Origin labelling
•Rebuilding Christchurch
•Conservation
•Equal Pay
•Keep it Kiwi - foreign ownership

Make perfect sense to me. How can you not vote for them?

http://www.greens.org.nz/issues