GUEST BLOG: Gael Baldock – Are some Kiwis feeling post-coital regret?

I choose to believe that it’s not as simple as 46% of New Zealanders being selfish in choosing a tax cuts over free doctor’s visits and feeding the children? Instead it’s that type of campaign National chose to run and the “right-washing” of the press that left people confused.

First there’s the confusion over MMP. Here are 2 examples :

My friend in Whangamata had a massage client who had voted early for her local National MP because she thought he did a good job and then “because I can’t vote for the same party, I’ve given my Party Vote to Labour.”

Maungakiekie Electorate is a good example of the people having no understanding of strategic voting where a Green Party member asked the public for Party Vote only. Chloe Swarbrick pulled in 2995 candidate votes and just 1575 party votes for the Greens. Her voters weren’t listening. If Swarbrick’s 2995 candidate votes had gone to Labour’s Priyanca Radhakrishnan, who lost by by about 2000 votes, the Maungakiekie Electorate would be a Labour seat. This area includes Penrose, Panmure, Onehunga and Royal Oak. This is an important electorate as it is part of Tamaki that includes the area of Gentrification of State House Homes.

The next is the believing of the propaganda and the confusion by the “dead cat on the table” as the false $11billion fiscal hole is being called.

I spoke with a stranger, walking her cat in Ponsonby. Since she had moved to an apartment, her usually outdoor cat had to be walked because of her bad road sense. That got us onto the subject of Traffic Congestion and Petrol Tax. Is Auckland Council creating congestion on purpose? Lisa Prager has evidence that might be the case to push us into a Congestion Tax. https://youtu.be/v6U-PE58lMg. I explained that neither would be required if Auckland Council brought “public” transport back in-house as publicly owned and operated that has been proven to save at least a third so it can fund its own expansion, operate in areas that aren’t as “profitable” and reduce fairs.

Next she said that Jacinda didn’t have enough experience to be Prime Minister. That had an instant response, “You wouldn’t say that if she were a man!” She’s worked for offices of Phil Goff and of Helen Clark as a researcher and a senior policy advisor to Tony Blair. While John Key was a merchant banker who bought companies to dismantle for their assets with no regard for the workers, that’s exactly what he did to New Zealand State Housing. He rose from the backbenches by agreeing to vote for Bill English and switching his vote to Don Brash so for being duplicitous. 

Then it was taxes. The words that Jacinda did get to say “my intention is”……. Labour in power will have the resources to create a tax working group who’s intention will be to make tax fairer so that the rich pay their fair share and so do companies that hide behind charity status. To stop the “corporate welfare” and “tax avoidance” of those who can afford to pay expert accountants. Where those using houses as an untaxed commodity will pay a Capital Gains Tax, the intension is that it will NOT affect homes and obviously only affect houses when they are SOLD. As for inheritance tax and raising income tax, that was a figment of National’s imagination that they were pretty good at after raising taxes 18 times in 9 years.

The red card was next in her defence of National vote, “Jacinda is a Communist.” She certainly didn’t expect my reaction that Communism is good in theory, but I would have said that Jacinda was more of a Socialist and “I’m all for bringing back the Welfare State where ALL Kiwis fare well.”

I do not believe that I was talking to a brick wall, I could see the cracks of doubt.

Do we trust a “good Catholic” PM who broke the 8th Commandment and, if txt messages at 4am are anything to go by, possibly the 9th Commandment.

Labour ran a clean, honest campaign. It seems that honesty didn’t pay.

Now the power is in the hands of one man who has vowed to put New Zealand first.

Gael Baldock has a background in Architecture, Sociology and Anthropology, is administrator of Facebook Group Page “Save Our State House Homes”