The final vote is in and most people living overseas hate National, which when you consider it, makes sense. It’s interesting evidence for those who feel the mainstream media pro-Key bias has shaped National’s win. National lose their absolute majority, the Greens feel happier with an extra MP and Andrew Little’s ability to hold onto his list placing suddenly means interesting possibilities in the Labour leadership contest.
It also means Grant Robertson can’t keep saying ‘Labour got 24%’. They got 25%, Cunliffe looks slightly less awful.
The big losers here are ACT and United Future who signed up to National before National needed them. How much more could they have gotten if they had waited until the final count? National didn’t need them when they signed the deal, they bloody well need them now.
Bad call from United Future and ACT.
The result also shows that the Left didn’t do as poorly as first thought, this slight change might make some within the Green leadership pause on their new step to the Right. There are large looming changes to how the Greens are going to position themselves politically that are about to be implemented with little wider membership awareness, but that certainty for a step to the right might be dented by the final result.
Within Labour the result will be most felt. Andrew Little is being heavily lobbied to stand for Leader with the possibility of Jacinda as his deputy. Little could win the affiliates, a large chunk of the Caucus and need to project a new image to the Labour membership and he would have a chance. As questions about the relationship between Lusk and Nash get louder, the Party might see a Little leadership with Jacinda as Deputy as the new blood and reconnection with middle NZ that Labour requires without losing Auckland or women voters.
On a sadder note, Internet MANA went up to 1.4, if Hone had won his seat and Kelvin hadn’t had Key supporting him, Internet MANA would be in Parliament with 2 MPs in what would then be a National Party struggling to make a majority.
If only.
“if Hone had won his seat and Kelvin hadn’t had Key supporting him, Internet MANA would be in Parliament with 2 MPs”
The difference is fewer than 800 votes:
http://www.electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_2014/electorate-69.html
The breakdown of party votes at the link shows 3,296 were NZ First.
But the power vase changes the govt. That’s the importance.
So WHY, in any possible multiverse, would Winston give an impassioned call to his voters, as a last call before election day, for his 3,000+ Te Tai Tokerau supporters to vote Davis? How could he not know he was handing the govt to Key with that call? Is that what he wanted? After all the garbage that has been thrown on him (Winston) over the years by the Nats, why did he reward them now?
https://nz.news.yahoo.com/election/a/-/25050445/vote-labour-peters-tells-te-tai-tokerau/
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11327170
To state the obvious ACT and Dunne would not be there were it not for Nationals say so, so really did they ever have anything to bargain with?
I assume some extreme measure will be “promoted” by whoever that ACT MP is on behalf of National and the charade will continue.
But none of this means shit really because meanwhile as reported in the Herald today, but of course not prior to the election, is the amount of people who are in extreme need of housing or “Priority A”. The numbers have exploded from June 2008 totalling 248 to June 2014, now 3188, so living or better put, surviving in a van, for an entire family has become the new way of life in Godzone. What has happened to this country???
Through all the smugness and the post-election back slapping, talk us through that one John Key!
I think it also bears reminding that part of the shape of this election result is because the last National-led government refused to do anything with the Electoral Commission’s recommendations on reforms to the way MMP was working.
I really think the 5% threshold is too high, and the related coat-tailing where lower than 5% is okay if you get an electorate seat isn’t representative government at all. (And I say this knowing full well that if the 5% threshold had been lowered Conservatives would be in too).
But everyone just seems to have forgotten all about those recommendations now 🙁
I think that 4% is still too high. I would get rid of the threshold altogether, and also move to eliminate overhangs. Under such a system Hone would still be in parliament and Peter Dunne out. I recognize that the Conservatives would also have around five seats, but that’s democracy.
Regardless though of which system is best, I think that if MPs cannot make a disinterested decision on this, and I think they can’t, then it should be taken out of their hands and handed over to an independent commission to decide.
This continues the trend of National being unable to win under MMP without electorate seat rorts or other dirty tricks. They just can’t get more than about 47% of the vote even when things are most favourable to the right. They won in 2008 only because of the Epsom rort and because they nobbled NZF’s chances.
The parties opposed to rabid free market nonsense are capable of getting well over 50% without such rorts, and got 60% in 2002. They can’t win without cheating.
They are capable but squabbling amongst themselves. It stinks. If Cunliffe (who I support) had only been brave enough to handshake Greens and Internet Mana, we would have the government now, in spite of Nationals rorts. The Labour party needs to get its priorities right. The big parties cant win alone. We don’t want them to. That’s why we voted in MMP. The quicker they come to terms with that on the Left, the quicker we will have a different and better government.
Just suppose KDC had endorsed Mana’s Feed the Hungry Kids campaign and donated $4m to make it happen in the north. That altruistic gesture might just have had the result everyone desired. Instead it is $4m down the drain.
Ben,
I doubt a one-off payment of $4 million would have permanently fixed the feed-the-kids problem. We need a government that is prepared to pass legislation that addresses the needs of its needy citizens.
Ben,
Perhaps you meant an altruistic gesture would have returned Hone to parliament, but then there wouldn’t have been an $4 million to fund the Internet Party.
Who cares about the Internet Party. It may well have resulted in several Mana MPs and boosted KDC’s standing as a social democrat. And no, $4 would not have provided a permanent solution but it would have made a start. You never know such a gesture might also have prompted thousands of others to respond in kind intend of throwing only at politicians of whatever hue.
“Who cares about the Internet Party”(?) Ben asks.
Here’s a wild guess to answer your question; I suspect all the people who put time and energy into setting it up care deeply.
It is a pity that IMP could have got 2 seats, but Labour would have lost one, of course, so the difference isn’t great. I dont think that Act or United Future could have negotiated a better deal by waiting. Their national vote is now so low that National would be better off abandoning them and claiming the two National seats.
Realistically if the vote moved any further from National, to the point where the NZ First seats mattered, that would be a worse result in the long run. I would prefer NZ First not to be a kingmaker.
The interesting thing is what becomes of IMP. Among the Internet members there seems to be a desire to continue. If they managed the transition successfully an amalgamation of IMP and Labour Left would be tempting because I still dont see a good outcome of the leadership poll. One day the Labour Right will cosy up to National so why not get it over?
And I totally agree. And amalgamation of those two entities would make all the difference, the 1 million non voters would rise from the grave and we would be home and hosed. We can but hope.
Dennis ….Labour wouldn.t have lost a seat…Kelvin Davis would be out but whoever was on the list after Andrew Little would have got in
“How much more could they have gotten if they had waited until the final count? ” as usual Key ahead of the game!!
On the other hand, VERY exciting thought to have Little going for leadership, smart, connected and solid, just what we need to unite the vast numbers of left thinking people.
Hope returns.
I don’t see Little as a Left wing saviour. He shovelled dirt during the last leadership challenge. We’ll see. But if Cunliffe is out I will resign Labour membership. I am also a Green party member and will resign from them if they play with National. So that leaves Internet Mana for me, or whatever left wing entity that arises from them.
Be your own Left Wing entity @ Jay Ray . Write ! Express yourself here , everywhere . Add to the pool of knowledge . The Truth will eventually , out .
Who in Labour hasn’t dished dirt?
btw, pretty sure that GP membership rules say you can’t be a member of the GP if you are a member of other political parties.
Trouble is, so many people also saying if Labour support Greens, I am resigning my membership etc, so yes, there will be fallout whoever gets the job, and whichever alliances are formed.
I am for Cunliffe, as he withstood the right wing attacks extremely well, not sure if anyone else could have, but if half the party simply continue to undermine Cunliffe, we will be forever divided and ruled.The right wing has successfully turned the left wing tribal, and Little seems to be able to rise above it.
When I see Little kick jonky in the balls ? That’s when I’ll know we have a Left Leader .
Given how close the final result has turned out to be it makes me wonder what a united and properly organised grouping on the left could achieve.
Certainly , distance aids perspective and clarity.
The relentless brainwashing carried out by msm , not to mention the effect of Nationals huge war chest courtesy of big business and wealthy Chinese, would have been rendered almost impotent, as the expats would have been looking at cold hard facts, far away from the madding crowds.
And the more you look at the cold hard facts, the more you realise how silly old ‘Waitakere Man’, along with the rest ,(listening to their daily dose of ‘Radio Live’ or 1ZB or ‘7 Sharp’ or ‘Paul Henry’, have been conned.
I was in Denmark and France visiting relatives and friends, and arrived back a week or so before the election.(The average person is so politically ignorant here compared to Europe, it beggars belief), but that’s another story.
What also beggared belief on return, was the subliminal (and blatant) messaging going on by the right wing media and marketeers.
From John Key’s recorded phone message sent to every land line in N.Z begging for his vote,(pathetic really), to the ridiculous number of his political signs.(8, in a distance of 5km from my house to the local shopping centre)!
I walked into Whitcoulls at the airport to see dozens of John Keys autobiography displayed on the main stand by the check- out.
Then wandered over to the magazine rack, only to find that the All Blacks had allowed their soul to be sold by having Key posing with them, (as if he was the captain), on the cover of a rugby mag, wearing an All Black jersey,(sacrosanct).
On it went ,everywhere you looked and listened.
Guyon Espiner telling David Cunliffe in a so called interview before the election that, “nobody likes you, so where to from here”.
I mean, this is National Radio, (aptly named these days)and I have never, ever heard this kind of ‘schoolboy bully’ garbage interviewing before!!
But to sum up the expat conundrum; A week before leaving Europe I strolled down the beautiful beach boulevard of the Grande Plage in Biarritz France ,with a Kiwi friend who has resided in Europe for 10 years now and hailed from a ‘Blue’ North Canterbury farming family . As we walked, the conversation turned to the upcoming election and I asked him in neutral tones, his opinion. This educated man, who knows his on mind, narrowed his eyes looked at the crashing surf silhouetted against the orange fireball sunset and said, “Key’s an arsehole. He and his mates don’t give a shit about N.Zs long term future. They are internationalists , they are f##king N.Z and they’ve got to go”!!
Excellent comment . We need an inquiry . Immediately .
“Guyon Espiner telling David Cunliffe in a so called interview before the election that, “nobody likes you, so where to from here”.
…that is disgraceful! ( radionz has hit new lows with the journalists on Morning Report)
..but at least overseas New Zealanders can see the truth
…”a Kiwi friend who has resided in Europe for 10 years now and hailed from a ‘Blue’ North Canterbury farming family . As we walked, the conversation turned to the upcoming election and I asked him in neutral tones, his opinion. This educated man, who knows his on mind, narrowed his eyes looked at the crashing surf silhouetted against the orange fireball sunset and said, “Key’s an arsehole. He and his mates don’t give a shit about N.Zs long term future. They are internationalists , they are f##king N.Z and they’ve got to go”!! –
I believe a Labour/Green government would have set up an independent (no advertising) TV channel. The other channels would not have liked that.
Whilst you were over there did you check out how well is the French economy doing under Socialism?
😉
As well as the US economy, which required massive bailouts after the 2008 GFC. Plus the US government, which is about $14 trillion in debt. Plus high unemployment; homelessness; crime; and sluggish growth.
You were saying, Andrew?
Andrew; the flawed Neo- Liberal super tanker that has caused so much economic imbalance, cannot be turned around on a dime!
As has happened in N.Z, National have managed to take an 8 billion dollar surplus and turn it into a 80 billion dollar deficit, whilst at the same time privatising our highest yielding assets.
Add to that a plummeting tax take, the reliance on a ‘one trick pony’, that’s dominated our export earnings (at the expense of others), being in trouble, and a Government marketing their ‘brand’, as being masters of the economy.
‘Masters of the economy’! Nothing could be further from the truth!!
The lie continues.
The Danish, by the way, who pay high taxes, but have a totally free education system right through to completion of university studies are streaking ahead. Because they have a much higher number of highly qualified people , they can tap into the high end, high earning industries.
Oh, and to top it off, most of them are fluent in 3 languages as well.
So don’t give me this deluded crap about Neo liberalism being ‘the way ,the truth and the light’. That runs parallel with religious zealot, American mid-western Republicanism .
You wonder why France is struggling and Americas still in a quandary ?
Instead of looking at the last couple of years, look at the last 30 years !!
I’m special and I live in NZ. By my calculations – and based on last elections figures – only about 10% of specials are overseas voters. It also includes those of us who move a lot (more likely to be low SES, renters, and prob left wing voters), are young, and/or a bit disorganised. Plus all the reasons one might be out of one’s electorate on the day. Apologies if there is a breakdown of overseas votes you’re referring to, but I haven’t seen it.
Please … call me ignorant if you must but as you say ;
” The final vote is in and most people living overseas hate National, ”
And that surely begs several questions …
I was under the impression that everybody here hated the bastards also , so why is it that the off-shore votes show an anomaly ? And that anomaly is that while everybody seems to love jonky here , those living off-shore hate the fucker .
My other question is … is the vote counting for here the same as for from there ? Because I swear to God , the last election here was rigged .
I know , I know … You journalist types are duty bound to only see the facts thus report accordingly . Well , I’m no journalist so I can be taken by flights of fancy any time I fucking like and right now ? I’m flying high on the notion that jonky rigged the ‘ facts ‘ .
Call me old fashioned if you must .
@Countryboy – with you there. You have hit the nail on the head, re post election results.
Something has been niggling me about this past election. Being the old cynic I am and given what went down prior to 20 September – Dirty Politics, GCSB, and the resulting Auckland town hall rally, all going against FJK and the Natsies, I suspect there has been some manipulation of facts and figures of the election!
After all that, I can’t believe Kiwis are so stupid to put their trust again in this deceitful, corrupt bunch of charlatans! Things are not adding up!
Something is very rotten in the state of NZ (yet again), post election!
I have been waiting for the special votes to reveal an anomaly. Except is it an anomaly or rather a true picture of the election if it hadn’t been rigged.
I still cannot believe that Internet Mana party would have only gained 2500 extra votes when compared to the previous Mana party results at the last election. I still cannot believe that Internet Mana party followers would be so fickle or influenced in any way by the MSM.
It was an embarrassing result for Kim.dot.com and played into John Key’s hands so perfectly it makes me suspicious.
It also proves that the Moment of Truth was not a flop as our media tried to convince us of as overseas voters would of read similar headlines and watched the MOT online.
Remember the right always do double back.
Did the left think that with both the Dirty Politics and Moment of Truth reveals that the right were going to lie down and take it.
It is John Key’s master stroke. Rig the election ‘American style’ and destroy the left, embarrass your arch enemy Kim.dot.com and maintain status quo forever!
What’s happened with the AVAAZ petition? Last time I looked it had been closed, and victory claimed, after over 9,000 people had signed it.
Here is the link to the Electoral Commission Election Results info:
http://www.elections.org.nz/events/2014-general-election/election-results
“Official Count”:
“All ballot papers counted on election night are checked again to ensure the voter’s intention is clear and then recounted. All valid special votes are counted.
“The Returning Officer forwards the results of the completed official count for their electorate to the Electoral Commission. Further checks are carried out by the Electoral Commission before the official results are declared.
“After the declaration of results, candidates and parties have three working days to apply for a judicial recount of the votes should they wish.”
@countryboy, I totally agree!
*We recently drove through the Mordor of cow conversions and new dairy factories gleaming in perfect isolation on our way up to Ashburton. How long before the Chinese take over Fonterra? Also many of the rivers we saw on the way up had no water water running at all, I would have expected some spring melt. Is this normal I can’t remember? So many irrigators were going I can imagine they have siphoned all the water from the rivers. Shame.
No It is not normal.
There is no water in them because of all the dairying.
Who down – voted my , and other peoples comments re election rigging here and why ?
@ Yogibare . Exactly ? Where did that petition get buried ? In what shallow grave ? Where is the shallow grave ( that [ it ] and the over 9000 people who signed it ) located ? The MSM have completely side-stepped those 9000 people . It’d be like the MSM completely ignoring the entire population of Greymouth vanishing over night . ( Hey , wait a minute ! )
From my experiences at TDB over the last few years and prior to that at Tumeke and from my own experiences in retail over about a seven year period combined with my professional contacts in NZ Film and TV , my professional relationships with the NZ Police , court officials , other writers , artists and health professionals but last but by no means least , the good and caring general public of NZ / Aotearoa , most of whom are not stupid and are not monsters were ALL united in their hatred of the National Party and had very strong views on their politics .
The MSM would have us believe that the Public could care less for their politics unless they were National Party Voters which is complete bullshit .
I was in Christchurch after the first series of EQ’s and was deeply saddened to see hekia parata cause such unfair and unnecessary stress on families . I watched that fat fucking swine and bully brownley swaggering about like an arrogant jabba the hutt but without the class to the extreme distaste of ALL people affected by the EQ’s and now I’m expected to believe that those same people , their lives fucked by EQ’s and then dismissed by their politicians favourite Blog Thug slater , the fat coward as worthless , whining trash , voting for their abusers in unprecedented numbers ?
That simply defies logic and common sense . It also defies that facts .
The election was rigged . FJK and his minions rigged the results to stay in power at what ever cost to future-proof their agenda . They will understand that upsetting and confusing a scant few million NZ voters is barely worth consideration on the global scheme of things .
I found this link and post it here to help give some perspective on what we face as a people on a stunning few Islands way down in the South Pacific surrounded by vast oceans with lots of lovely fresh water , plenty of space and a subservient slave population already in place .
Walmart .
http://boingboing.net/2014/10/03/walmart-heirs-net-worth-exce.html
Thank you for your kind support @ Mary_A .
Always , always listen to your instinct .
The 2014 NZ general election was rigged , and I have no doubt at all that it would not have been the only one .
Just exactly how did the NZ Labour Party become so fatally parasitised by Neo Liberals , right under the noses of those well and truly on high alert for such Confederate and Machiavellian overtures ?
It’s like NZ was a completed jigsaw puzzel but a few bastards came along and threw it all up in the air leaving us to try and put it back together by studying its individual pieces . We need to focus on the Big Picture , and the Big Picture looks fucking scary to me .
Tena ra tatou katoa.
I finally got round to crunching election numbers from 1935 on, finding some results I didn’t expect but which were kind of unsurprising. According to the Elections NZ site from which I got the raw data, results aren’t fully reliable for before 1935, which I chose as a starting point because from then until 1993 allows comparison of Labour with its longest-running opponent, the United-Reform coalition which became National.
It shows what was done in the days when rigging (gerrymandering) was legal and could be done openly. As far as I know it still can but has been somewhat trumped by MMP, which would help explain the efforts made to get rid of MMP once the powerful shadowy few found what a nuisance it was to them. (Do the names Shirtcliffe, Williams (J) and Talley mean anything to you?)
The 21 elections involved in my view illustrate a process that could be called the refinement of rigging – finding and using new ways once others had been judged unacceptable by the electorate. It gives reason to suppose that rigging is going on now in ways yet to be discovered and rather more difficult to prove.
Of the 21, National won 13 and Labour eight. For each election I divided the % of total votes for each party by the number of seats their vote yielded, getting a ratio for each party,adding the ratios together for each party and dividing by 21.
For National the mean vote needed to get a seat was 1.077 % of the total; for Labour it was 1.117%. This shows that for all that time a Labour vote was on average worth 0.04% less than one for National.
For the first eight elections, as for most of the rest, the ratio of % vote to seats gained was lower for the winning party, as would be expected (more seats won under FPP). However the 1957 election was notable in that although it lost by 4.1% to Labour, National managed a 1.133% ratio to Labour’s 1.178%, losing by only 39 seats to 41. For the three preceding elections National had won each time with a lower ratio than previously, probably thanks to constantly improved gerrymandering.
During the sixties the difference between National’s and Labour’s ratios was over five times the mean (at over 0.2%) and may have led Labour voters and others to become much more aware of how much harder they had to vote to gain a seat as National’s gerrymandering continued apace. This culminated in the 1972 reaction when Labour’s ratio was over 0.4% better than National’s, the biggest difference since 1935.
National turned the tables in 1975,in an exact reversal of seat numbers ( from 32-55 to 55-32) but a lower vote % than it had taken Labour to achieve the same thing.In 1978 and 1981 National refined its gerrymandering to the point of winning more seats than Labour on a lower total vote than Labour got (39.8-40.4 and 38.8-39 % of total votes). The hobbits were stirring however so the method needed changing.
And the solution was ‘co-opt the opposition!!! which continues to this day. In 1984 ‘Labour’ outflanked National on the right, taking National’s agenda further than it had so far dared and managing to hold on until Mr Lange decided that suffering people mattered more than beautiful theory, and played beautifully into National’s hands for a 67-29 seat mother of all thrashings. At nearly ten times the 0.4% mean ratio difference it comes second only to Labour’s 1935 victory, and beside both of these National’s 2014 ‘crushing win’ is an MSM fairytale like ‘Labour’s worst result in 92 years.’
Why the 2014 result is little to do with any mistakes Mr Cunliffe may have made this time,but instead is a continuing part of the above process, will need to be the subject of another post
Kia ora mai.
“why is it that the off-shore votes show an anomaly ? “
One big anomaly was the difference in Greens vote, which was 15% from special votes, 10% final. (But today I can’t find the link that shows the Special Votes by %. It is not on the Electoral Commission site and I can’t find it via Google or history search. If anyone knows this link, please could they post it? TIA)
I would say you are correct in what you have said Countryboy.
Internet/mana did well considering the short time they were on the scene coming up to the election. Agreed, it would have been good to have seen them with some seats.
I believe they can only grow in strength.
A lot can happen in three years of politics….
The biggest loser on the official results is NZF. Peters has to be livid at whatever idiot strategist advised them to urge his party’s supporters to give Harawira the cold shoulder. Harre’s numbers in this tweet posted on TS are a window into a different future if our left political parties actually understood MMP (though I think ACT would still have been back with 1):
http://thestandard.org.nz/national-lose-majority/
With National at 60 and needing 1 for speaker, that gives them 59 votes in a 121 seat parliament. NZF could have added their 11 and made that into an unassailable 70 votes on condition of being in a 2 party coalition. UF and ACT may in fact have been wise to sign up early (the people who voted them in their electorates were Nats and sockpuppets will only ever do what the hand shoved up their ass requires).
Good to see that the CP got under 4%, so that even if the EC’s recommendations had been allowed by Collins, they still wouldn’t have got in. Hopefully that’ll lead to a 3% threshold being adopted this term.
I am just surprised that the Maori Party held onto its 2 MPs, as the Electoral Commission website claimed there were no specials outstanding in the maori electorates. Hope they get a good price for them.
I was of the belief that the speaker has a vote under MMP
Yes the speaker has a vote ..his party exercises it as a proxy vote I believe
PM
You could be right about that. Can’t see anything specific about it with a quick glance on Wikipedia, but the article on Tapsell has:
That “at that time” makes me think it has since been changed. So thank you for the correction. However, it doesn’t greatly change my point that NZF would have been in a much better bargaining position if they hadn’t played beat the IMP (and Labour & GP had cooperated against Dunne).
The speaker votes by proxy.
Peters let himself down!
The labour caucus think this guy is going to do a better job than cunliffe?
http://youtu.be/K6wBcwj59F4
The media will have a field day with little, he isnt leadership material – and he’ll get the same as goff and shearer got.
I thought it was pretty good, lively and got the message over
Context is vital, mate.
So true Cliff.
Cunliffe is the obvious choice for leader. Any fool can see he has all the qualities. Why everyone is running through all these other possibilities is beyond me. NONE of them have got the all round game that Cunliffe has.
The ABCers and the media are just going to have to suck it up or move on.
Why should Labour choose a lamb for the slaughter house just to appease their own selfish ideology?
How wll a Little/Arden ticket save Labour? Little’s rep as a union activist could be seen as a risk. People have moved on from the old days when all business was seen as bad. Today, they know that business is good, it’s actually necessary. You either work for government or an entreprenuer. Even if you work for a charity you’re working for a social entreprenuer. It’s unfettered corporatocracy and greed that gives business a bad rep. I think Arden’s being promoted on the basis of her looks . If you’re gonna go for pretty at least get some function with your form. If that’s the case, how about Stuart Nash? It sounds controversial, yes. But he’s got the looks, business nous and Labour pedigree. And unlike Arden, Nash isn’t the type to cower in the heat of battle. My two cents.
I thought the definition of a GOOD union man (which Little is in my view) is someone who can communicate with ALL sides, business as well as workers; and convince wary business people that having a strong union is in their best interests too. I.e. someone who can negotiate agreements which leave everyone happy – something Labour kind of need right now I would have thought.
If only people were a little bit braver, a little less quick to ‘go with what the so called media tells them is – the flow’, a little less contrary and a little more MMP savvy……………can feel three years worth of education and campaign coming
Forget about personalities for the moment Martyn, in it’s essence politics is all about pressure.
The big question is, can the opposition parties work together as a cohesive force to put pressure on the government to properly address progressive issues?
With a total of 59 seats, Labour the Greens, NZFirst and the Maori Party all support the Feed The Kids bill, compared to National and ACT’s 61 seats. Counting Peter Dunne’s seat, but taking out one for the Speaker this comes to a working two seat majority for those supposedly opposed to Hone Harawira’s Feed The Kids Bill.
Some fierce lobbying by the opposition parties might be able to move Peter Dunne to cut the government Majority to one. With further pressure the opposition parties should be aiming to at least get this Bill to the Select Committee hearing stage. This is where groups like Child Poverty Action and the Salvation army and other NGOs could then present their submissions with all their evidence for the need for this programme.
John Key has made a big play about be willing to discuss measures to end childhood poverty.
Let’s take his words at face value.
John Key and National must be challenged to allow the evidence in support of this child poverty relief measure to be heard and be debated in the house.
All it takes is one more vote for this evidence to be allowed a hearing.
Let us see if the Government’s neo-liberal arguments stand up to the arguments of those who work with the reality of children in poverty everyday.
If John Key is not prepared to even let the evidence be heard, this exposes him as a liar and a hypocrite at least in regards to being concerned about the 100,000 kids in this country that go to school hungry every day.
Post script:
“The recognition I think we all have is that there are some extremely poor children who are missing out”
John Key.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10535794/Child-poverty-on-Key-agenda
“It is encouraging so early in the life of the new Government that the Prime Minister is signalling a need to address child poverty”
Major Campbell Roberts of The Salvation Army Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1409/S00507/sallies-pleased-at-fresh-ideas-to-tackle-child-poverty.htm
Will John Key be shown to be the honest broker he claims to be.
Or, will our Prime Minister be exposed as a liar and a hypocrite in his claim that his government is asking “for fresh ideas on tackling child poverty.”
To determine this, is the task of an opposition in a democracy. My last question is this; Is the current opposition up to job?
Are the current crop of opposition MPs prepared to do the hard work of lobbying and pressuring the government on child poverty to justify their salaries, and as is their duty? Or will they just sit on their hands to Let The Kids Bill now on the floor of the house, (and very likley to be the first order of business for the new parliament), quietly drop off the parliamentary worksheet, unremarked?
If Labour opened its eyes, the best person is already there, right under their noses.
I’ve made this point before. It’s Nanaia Mahuta, an experienced politician, with intelligence and a strong old Labour value focus.
I’d like to know if anyone from Labour is prepared to nominate her. Either that, or at least ask her to make a stand for the leadership!
Come on Labour, pull your finger out, use your brains and just LOOK!! She’s there, I’m sure just for the asking!
Do you have any basis for your claim that the Green Party is planning a shift to the right?
As a member of the Green Party’s strategic planning group, I can’t help thinking I would have heard about this if there was any truth to it.
We seriously need to educate the young on what the vote is and why they should vote. And to anyone who didn’t vote or did not vote on the Right, don’t complain when the Key rort continues, but remember we all have to try and endure the consequences of your action or lack thereof.
What the special vote probably shows is that much of the “landslide” came from last-minute events: the MOT; the “terror raids” in Australia, for instance. Irrelevant, but eloquent circumstances. The Left would probably have lost anyway – or deserved to lose if relying on New Zealand First to form an administration proved necessary.
Clearly if we didn’t lose the election debate, we certainly didn’t win it.
We should capture aspirational voters who want a better life as well as a better country.
Those people will agree to empower the disadvantaged members of society on condition that they seek to help themselves, but they also hope to get ahead for themselves and their families.
They care about the environment they will leave to their children, about New Zealand’s international reputation, probity among the powerful etc. On the other hand they fear the erosion of what financial security they have achieved.
The message should also invite this large segment of the population into the tent rather than implying that they are uncaring about poorer Kiwis.
All of this is far more important than the pure credentials of a new – or old – leader.
The sooner we get back to the real issues affecting our interaction with the rest of the country, the better.
Totally agree, the landslide came from last minute events. It was such a strange election campaign I’d want to be careful about where to pin the blame on the left.
And I’d also remember Nicky Hager’s main lesson that Dirty Politics turns a lot of people off and the right wing parties benefit from it.
That said, Andrew Little was very impressive on Q&A this morning.
We need to get a united opposition now and force National in the courts to relinquish to all opposition parties their right to collectively take over half of our taxpayers media TVNZ & RNZ.
By law National have to give equal public media time on those networks of TVNZ/RNZ to the opposition to run expressly for their views on everything going forward from now.
This is vital as National try to cover up what bad policies they are trying to sell us from here on in.
So the Labour choices are Cunliffe, Robertson and Little. Its a bit like National without John Key having a leadership race between Gerry Brownlee Chris Findlayson and Nathan Guy. Not an exciting thought. Perhaps Labour should have invested more time, energy, expertise and loyalty in David Shearer
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