Observations on the 2017 Election campaign thus far… (whitu)
The final day of campaign is upon us. Tomorrow is the “official” Election Day and nine years of National government is about to either end – or win a rare fourth term.
Setting the Agenda
Political analysis and commentary shaping the progressive debate in Aotearoa New Zealand, focused on power, policy, and accountability.
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You’re Wrong Keith: We Have To Do This NOW.
KEITH RANKIN IS WRONG about Jacinda needing to lose this election. If that’s what happens on Saturday: if National somehow hauls itself back onto the Treasury Benches; then it is the purest folly to suppose that the election of 2020 will be a Labour walkover. If the Centre-Left cannot win in 2017, then the question that begs to be answered is: “Can it win at all?”
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Let’s make sure the Greens get well over the threshold
The Greens hold the key to this election. If the Greens don’t get 5% and leave Parliament its unlikely Labour will be in government. If the Greens get 5% (or 6%, 7%, 8% or 9%) a Labour/Green government is likely.
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Gareth Morgan’s TOP: My Hopes and Doubts
Although I remain interested in TOP’s policies and hopeful about their prospects in the upcoming general election, I am not without my doubts.
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NORML’s Guide to Cannabis Policies of NZ Political Parties
Cannabis is well and truly an election issue. For the first time ever, most parties now have written policies or have taken a stance supporting reform of some description. There is a lot to consider so to help we have assessed the cannabis policies or public statements of party leaders against NORML’s three core policies:
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The only votes that count is the party vote – except in………
Given the momentum shift in the last few weeks it seems inevitable there will be a change in government.
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Transforming New Zealand
There’s a lot at stake in this election. We face huge challenges ahead, including tackling climate change and building a more equal society. The Greens have put transformative proposals on the table. If we succeed in forming a government with Labour, we will usher in an era of progressive change for the benefit of all New Zealanders.
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Dave Macpherson: A Reminder to the Parties about what’s important for the mental health of New Zealand
It has taken Coleman five years and 10 months of being Health Minister to recognise that the Government’s suicide prevention strategy is not working (that’s if you can even find the strategy), and for every one of those years and months he has presided over a system that has delivered world record youth suicide statistics.
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Housing is the critical issue for the election
We are not doing policy development well in New Zealand. Labour now has a real chance here to get it right. There would be time, for example, to investigate the risk-free return method first discussed by the McLeod Tax Review committee in 2001, and more recently by the Gareth Morgan foundation.
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Why Jacinda needs to lose this election
I believe that there will be a financial crisis next year (see my recent ’New Zealand’s Cyclical Growth Contractions’, 12 Sep 2017), and that Labour at present is ill-equipped to handle such a crisis. Further, it may take a major financial crisis (with Labour in Opposition) to drag Labour into the present century, just as the 1930s’ crisis belatedly dragged Labour into the twentieth century.