In holding to ransom the election of Trevor Mallard as Speaker of the House, National bluffed it’s way to increase the number of their MPs that can be appointed to Select Committees. This was despite a clear understanding between the new Coalition government and National that Trevor Mallard would be elected unopposed as Speaker, and National’s Anne Tolley as Deputy Speaker.
National’s denial is partly to blame why our horrendous housing crisis spiralled out of control. During it’s nine years in office, National continued to point-blank deny the social problems it faced. This continuing denial will ensure they remain in opposition for the coming decade.
You’d think that after the humiliation of being dumped from government, that National’s ex-Ministers would keep a relatively low profile in the next few months.
On 25 October, incoming Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, announced that NZ First’s talented Tracey Martin would be appointed to the new Labour-NZF-Green cabinet as a full-ranking Minister;
The media role is reporting post-election politics has not been an edifying spectacle to watch. Put simply, the most exacerbating aspect of three weeks of coalition negotiation has not been the length of time – remarkably short by international standards – but the interminable, inane, media commentary we’ve had to endure.
A coalition with Labour and the Greens offers a fresh start. It puts NZ First into a brand new government, with a fresh leadership, new ideas, and none of the baggage offered by a tired government that had simply run out of ideas.
Kia ora Mr Peters,
With the counting of Special Votes, a clearer picture has emerged as to what voters in this country have chosen. The majority have voted against National and it’s allies.
At 2PM today (7 October 2017), the Electoral Commission announced the final vote results, including some 446,287 special votes cast (17% of total votes cast).
As a result, National has lost two seats and the Greens and Labour each pick up one seat in Parliament. The Green’s Golriz Ghahraman and Labour’s Angie Warren-Clark enter Parliament on the Party List.
You can feel mainstream media’s frustration with the news-vacuum created by the two week period necessary to count the approximately 384,072 (15% of total votes) Special Votes that were cast this election.
. . Red-Green, Blue-Green? There is mischief-making afoot. Suggestions for a National-Green coalition are being floated by various right-wing commentators,…