Why 100% of Parliament needs to agree to postponing the election

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The issues around the Election date has come to the forefront by Winston going public with statements about postponing the September 19th election date to November 21st.

Graeme Edgeler has done the hard yards on the technicalities of the law and what they allow over at Public Address.

I think that while the technical parameters are a super majority of 75%, it would be good to have every political party currently in Parliament on board with a decision to move the stated election date of September 19th.

Personally I think the threat of the pandemic is enough of a reason to postpone the election until November 21st.

It has public health implications and mental health ramifications and allows the political parties to actually catch their breath and put together a political response to what has been an unprecedented and unplanned national emergency.

It is unfair to the small parties to have so little oxygen, it is extremely unfair to the Opposition who have been starved of the ability to hold the Government to account, and it is incredibly difficult to a Government who are actively managing the crisis to participate in something as intensive as an election campaign.

BUT

We should work to get every political party in Parliament on board, that’s Labour, NZ First, Green, National and ACT, so that it carries total political solidarity.

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As it is, there are enough frightened and vocal voices on social media claiming this pandemic is a bioweapon spread by 5G, postponing the election while we have a functioning Police State in effect will be like putting out the fire with gasoline.

Getting all Parties on board matters and if it takes time to to talk them around, that time should be spent.

If all else fails, gain it with the super majority, but solidarity to postpone an election is crucial to avoid fuelling social media conspiracy.

This matters because the moment you start being able to question the legitimacy of a Government, the easier to is to ferment violent radicalism as a response.

This stuff matters.

31 COMMENTS

  1. Nope.
    September election please.
    With David Clarke a ministerial example, there is plenty of time for politicians on full pay to organize a campaign working from home. Less bike rides and walks on the beach.

    Our democracy and freedoms have already been eroded more than they should have been.

    A later election works better for the opposition as you say, more oxygen fur then less endless patronizing PM press conferences, and more time for people to be frustrated and feel the economic effects of the lockdown, but don’t be changing yet another factor of our diminished lives in our new police state.
    I’d like to vote the government out sooner rather than later please.

  2. After listening to Winston and Paula National and NZF are in step on this. It seems some people did not learn by the debacle of the last census when it is suggested that we have electronic voting.

  3. Arrrh because as of this morning 44,000 people have signed on the bene! Thats just about enough for an electorate seat. Its going to get worse, 100,000+!

    Now we’ll see what the princess is made of under pressure? What will she do?

    Will she downgrade the lock-down to get people back to work if they have a job to go too and risk a flare up of C19? Or, to mitigate the potential political backlash hold out to do the right thing and deal to the virus until its under control which will give the right & corporate business community oxygen and some time to ramp up another attack?

    Suspending the election can only be done with a continued lock-down or else it’ll look like they’re dicking about and playing for time. It’ll look indecisive and may make them seem and look vulnerable.
    It’ll give the right further ammo for them to attack if the lock-down is downgraded. “We want more bailout money to take the workers back or else …”

    With over a million people hanging out to find out if they have a job to go to and or are about to be thrown into the poverty grinder, MSD/WINZ. Its only now that we’ll see whats shes made of?
    Will see wimp out like she normally does, vacillate, or kinda lie whilst smiling at the camera to convince us all that its all good! Sweet as! We did this! Lets forget about it! Its Christmas soon! A cure-all vaccine has been found and we’re at the top of the list! … Something like that.

    Oooh! Oooh! The Easter bunny is coming! The Easter bunny is coming! He/she/them/they/it, is bringing a surprise!

  4. When the National party is vomiting stuff like this from Bennett on RNZ ” I must say that even in the last couple of days I’ve just been wondering just how ready would the public be for a September 19 election and is it fair to them and fair to our whole democracy system to be asking them to go through that,” she said ”

    When the National party is advocating fairness and democracy you know they are up too something.

    Maybe their donors will be in such bad shape by August that they just wont have the money too influence policy.

    Or this ” Bennett said she wanted serious time and thought given to any alternative voting methods ”

    That sounds like serious consideration should be given too online voting which would be a serious mistake when you are talking about electing a government.

    Life will return too the ” market ” as it always does and now is not the time too be reacting as if the lockdown will be permanent.

    The last date for an election is 21st of November when parliament must be dissolved by 12th of October based on the return of the writs from 2017

    I think Jacinda should hold her nerve and look at the situation again in a months time and just before the budget.

  5. In my view, Jacinda is on a roll.

    2 months ago I reckon she was going out the back door as fast as she came in.

    But she has done well Covid 19

    Politics is fickle.

    People forget the good real quick.

    Absolute no brainer for Labour ( and I am not a Labour voter as a rule) for Jacinda to grab the chalice while it’s full.

    Economic grief will really set in around Xmas. And government will get the blame.

    Much better to be starting a new term than finishing the old and an election.

    • The lockdown has undoubtedly saved lives but THE OECD say our economy will be one of the worst hit. It was a hard call but most would agree the right one but the government must increase WINZ staff and get more mental health workers in the system. Perhaps we can keep some of the NZ workers coming back from Australia who they do not want.

      • Rather than having more WINZ staff the government has to also create more jobs than is being destroyed how ever we run the risk of over cooking the economy with inflation. WINZ is processing online applications anyway.

  6. “unfair to the Opposition who have been starved of the ability to hold the Government to account”
    Oh puhleese.

    • starved of the ability to hold the Government to account

      I missed that bit – Must have read it too fast.

      That statement is simply incorrect. Three days a week they have time and space to get together in full public view and rant their little Natty hearts out.

    • If there was any doubt the opposition was not holding the government too account they don’t have too worry because their media friends will do the job for them with consistent negative stories and hard done by business leaders and share holders seeing their bonuses disappear down a deep COVID 19 black hole.

  7. November is Winston’s choice. Too close to Christmas which I hope we will be able to celebrate. Also there needs to be time for the next government to do something meaningful before the Christmas wind-down and New Year. October at the latest. But better still put it off for a year – we are in a very shaken situation and don’t want some smartalec change agents coming in topsy-turvy just to show they are different. I don’t want to be an experiment for some new approach for some new policy that has been bought from some bigger country and which wil involve making someone here wealthy at the expense of the rest of us.

  8. Winston needs time to set up a new secret trust so his quid pro quo mates can donate to his campaign.
    Its also useful to delay referendums….

  9. Nope. September election please. Less chance for National to engage in dirty politics. More chance for Labour to govern without Winston……. a 3 year chance to consolidate the ideal of caring governance and prove that when the people come right, the economy comes right.

  10. Its all about electorate seats. 41 Nats to Lab’s 29.

    The question is; How many seats can Labour flip?

    They will need to flip 4 to 5 seats to be safe(unlikely). To ensure for the fact that the Gweens arent coming back and a deal or no deal needs to made with Winston or to have any chance of winning outright is a highly unlikely scenario.

  11. No thank Denny Paoa to National cant stand the horrible lot I come from a National background and I know my Dad would roll in his grave to see what National has done to this country they are not fit to govern. SS is a horrible lying little man only out for his glory u can keep him

  12. Whichever date is set, there needs to be a concerted drive before that date, to ensure that people are enrolled to vote, that they understand the voting procedure, and that they realise the value of their vote.

    Those who don’t vote are unlikely to be corporate reps or the uber-wealthy sector. That lot have all the access and comprehension and ‘voice’ that they could wish for and more. But there’s a mass of disaffected people, real people here in AO/ NZ who have previously felt disconnected and disempowered, who have not felt that their voices counted for anything, or would even be heard.

    If our system is to be truly democratic then there needs to be a full and fair representation. The entire population needs to feel they are a valued part of the whole and that their vote really does count. In the 2017 election 692,155 enrolled voters did not vote. Just over 20%! That number could surely sway an election. A true representation of who the people of Aotearoa NZ want for their leaders, and choose to trust with their government, must include this lost 20%.

  13. Why would Labour want to delay the election when Jacinda has done such a stellar job, again, in a crisis? Jeez Martyn, back the truck up. What are you promoting?

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