Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, November 7th, 2008 - 55 comments
Categories: act, election 2008, greens, helen clark, john key, labour, maori party, national, progressives, united future -
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Have you still not decided who you’ll vote for? The final poll shows the race between a National/ACT/United Future or a Labour/Green/Progressive/Maori government is neck and neck, so your choice matters. Here is some advice and tools that may help:
When choosing who to vote for there are three things you should consider:
policy – what does the party plan to do? Is that in the best interests of you, your family, your community, and the wider world?
trust – do you believe that the party will do what it says it will?
competence – do you think the people who would govern if that party is in power are up to the job?
Change for its own sake is not a reason to vote for a party. The Government has a very important job, you want the best parties to make up that government. Vote on the issues that matter to you, not trivial things that parties often concentrate on. The biggest issues for most people are having a job, getting enough money to afford a decent standard of living, health and education. Real freedom is not light-bulbs, it is having the income security to afford the life you want for you and your family.
Since Labour came to power, unemployment has fallen to record lows, wages have risen strongly, crime is down, health and education have improved, Working for Families and tax cuts have reduced tax to nearly zero for many families, government debt has been reduced, and private saving has been encouraged with Kiwisaver. A Labour-Green government will continue to build on this record. This article describes NZ under a Labour-led government
National’s record is wages dropping and high unemployment, this time their policies are to weaken work rights. National will not be putting more money into health and education, it would increase government debt and cut Kiwisaver in half. National’s tax cuts would increase tax for many families and would only give others 1-2% more in after-tax income. This article describes NZ under a National-led government
- This test calculates how well your personal views line up with the policies of each party
- This tax cut calculator is the only one that includes money you would lose from Kiwisaver contributions under National.
- The Standard Line series of posts addresses a number of the issues that have arisen during this campaign.
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Scoopit!
Are you talking about the latest Roy Morgan poll. Nats down one and Labour up 2 – only 7% between them and the Greens over 10%. take a look at http://www.roymorgan.com
I can’t see Nat doing it.
The polling is more systemically bias this time around than last for reasons outlined and argued on previous posts.
And how many undecided voters got completely turned off by JK in his private jet wank fest?
Anyhow, whatever happens we lose, ’cause no matter which way you vote, the government always gets in. sigh
Good bye Labour! Yeeha!
Sorry wasn’t paying attention – distracted by the massive hail storm here which still has ice all over the ground,.and the silly things people were saying on National Radio about polls, but not this one obviously. Thanks for the break down of the RM – didn’t see it earlier.
“Anyhow, whatever happens we lose, ’cause no matter which way you vote, the government always gets in. sigh”
LMAO
Labour’s record is making government bigger and more draconian, nanny state leading onto police state. Social engineering reforms without any reasonable justification are intended to break down the traditional structures of stability in society and create additional justification for Government intervention.
If re-elected “the most left wing government in 70 years” would most likely move even further in this direction renationalising Telecom (or at least its lines) and Contact Energy thus restoring key monopolies in government ownership. There would be further legislation aimed at cracking down on key freedoms, we could expect to see the Press Council which handles complaints against newspapers overthrown in favour of a government controlled body similar to the BSA for example. Hate speech legislation is likely since it was blocked during the previous term by United Future.
In continuing its leftward direction Labour as always would empower trade unions with more opportunities to strong-arm private business owners and entrench their existing strong monopolistic powers in existing legislation.
All of the above ultimately represents serious threats to our freedoms as individuals and to democracy as an institution. Democracy is strongest in societies where capitalism is practiced. The USA is one of the world’s most democratic country.
New Zealand has had to endure years of democracy being weakened, not only by the Left promoting MMP, but by the successive Labour governments dismantling all protections built into our system. MMP is a total crock and the succession of increasingly bizarre governments that Clark has cobbled together is a total joke.
Lab/Greens ahead and Winnie on 4.5%……….
Newsworthy?
Watch closely tonight how much airtime this poll gets: genuine litmus test of the true nature of our mainstream media.
“gee anyone would think I was voting for National”
dave it’s obvious you’re one of those really smart righties who votes for act but if you don’t realise that you’re voting for a national govt then you’re even more deluded than you seem.
Oh Steve, that wasn’t you screaming “John Key the anti Obama”
Hopefully people will vote on what politicians are more honest, and who would be best for the country, and use stats and hard data and science to make their choice, and I hope nutters who thinks crying catch phrases make them a political scientist forget to vote.
FINAL PREDICTION
National 50%
Labour 31%
Maori party 8%
Greens 6%
NZFirst 2%
Act 2%
United .8%
Others .2 %
Well, it’s going to be interesting to watch the results and see how much they match up the the media hype & polls. If National forms a government, IMO, it won’t be a very stable or productive one. The majority will be too slim and fractures within the Nats and between their coalition partners will result in all kinds of problems. And their policies are yesterday’s ones. There will be a new economic approach internationally that leaves ACT especially, and a lot of the old faces in the Nats, completely out of step.
OTOH, if we get an LPG + M agreement to govern, it will provide the possibilties for negotiating a new way forward in difficult times. If they don’t get to govern, they’ll take the time to forge a new way forward anyway, in preparation for their next stint in government. The have a positive working relationship amongst the left parties.
But, a Labour led government this time round is still a possibility.
So I’m giving my electorate vote to the Labour candidate – the most worthy left candidate. And I’m giving my party vote to the Greens.
Labour’s practical systems and exepertise, and Clark’s skills in managing support aggreements + The Greens (and MP) new ideas will result in forging a new way forward. It will be focussed in the right direction for the future problems (on the environment & support for a work places, that positively nurtures workers, as well as sustainable and productive businesses, plus social policies that will promote communities worth living in).
Whatever happens, the left won’t lose in the middle term, because the Labour government have laid the appropriate ground work.
dave it’s obvious you’re one of those really smart righties who votes for actWhy bring my name into this thread?
[she was talking about Australian Dave. SP]
Confirmation of the state of our press…..latest and most historically accurate poll ignored, after the huge meal made of previous ones (including in tonight’s bulletins).
Election 08: a handful of “journalists” just doing their masters’ work…..
dave cause you piss over everything else!
[this post is specifically for undecided voters coming on the net before voting, they're likely to be new to blog threads, lets not have you and dave putting them off. SP]
Helen asked Stacey Jones to come out of retirement and go back to NRL and he has. Only the news is only reporting the coming out of retirement bit.
AK, it’s because the news media also focus mostly on their own polls. it’s their way of creating ‘news”.
After this election I think it will be time to demand a better MSM…. or maybe the election will just show they are irrelevant?
Very interesting link to the political quiz. It directed me to vote National, but alas that would be supporting the likes of Lockwood and Maurice and quiet frankly they scare me more than the ebola virus.
Go team purple.
Hoolian
Im guessing you was a premature baby, now a premature man!
[criticise without getting personal. SP]
Swampy,
how do you feel about the fact that Key has said it will be a priority to start collecting DNA samples from everyone charged with an offence that could receive a jail sentence.
Note that that is charged, not convicted and that the sample will not be destroyed. The state will be collecting and retaining DNA samples from innocent citizens under a Key led government.
Nah. I’m guessing you are talking about Civil Unions and the like? If so you’ve got it barse ackwards. The biggest proponents of social engineering in that case were those who felt that the State should only recognise certain types of relationships.
I can’t really be bothered with the rest of your paranoid speculations, which are wrong in any case, the next thing on the agenda is actually The Compulsory Gay [Mandatory ManDates for Tories] Bill.
This though, The USA is one of the world’s most democratic country., is funny.
Just watched all the closing statements as party political broadcasts on TV One.
Key made all those promises about cutting buearocracy in the public services. Actually, that hasn’t grown out of step with the development of frontline services. His focus on education is good, but the testiing idea just doesn’t stack up. There’s enuff stuff going on to monitor students. And time spent on testing against national standards, just increases buearocracy unnecessarily – contradicts the claims he makes to bwant to cut such stuff.
Why do Key and Hide keep getting filmed driving around in cars – not very good for the environement and wastes fuel resources..
The Nat closing address vid tried to be presidential, but came off looking like one of those work-place training vids one has to watch on in-service training days.
Clark & Anderton went for the depression era fireside chats, aimed at talking directly to the people, responding to what they wanted in difficult times. Might not go down well with the younger generation used to multimedia, and fast-paced sight and sound, that caters to short attention spans. I noticed that Clark was critical of Key and National, but no more so than Key was of Labour. It’s interesting how Key claims he concentrated on a positive campaign, unlike Labour whohe says just tried to smear him and his party [note the contradiction - smears Labour and Clark by saying they are the smear artisits.]
The Maori Party had a cool vid, focused on the people, and their energy & sense of community, and on their relation to land and precious resources. Best vid of the bunch IMO..
The Greens had cool visuals & a great message, but I wasn’t too keen on the wispy languid music.
Winstone gave us some stern and stirring stuff for troubling and dangerous times. He spoke fearlessly against the media and vested interests who had tried to bring him (and democracy) down. He pledged to fight them in the bus queus and the train stations, with his followers bravely weilding their gold cards. He promised to stand up to the evil money traders and foreign vested interests that will rip off our banks and businesses. And he rounded it all off with a Winstonian victory sign.
Hide – geez,he just looks like he’s auditioning for reality TV. He reminds me of an old guy at a party, dressed to look young, who tries to make you laugh with weak jokes, and dance with you when you’re trying to avoid him. God I hope he loses!
ok
take randals advice kiddies
VOTE LABOUR!
Randal. I’ll vote for the local Labour candidate – actually a cabinet minister.
I forgot to mention the closing statement by Peter Dunne (UF). Actually I hardly watched it. I was bored as soon as he started talking and went to attend to a chore. He talked a bit about the importance of coalitions and working well in relationship with coalition parners. Made me laugh, as it just reminded me of how he and potential coalition partner, Hide, were arguing heavily against not wanting to support each other’s policies – on RadioNZ National’s Morning Report, Minor leaders’ debate earlier this week.
That’s all I saw of his closing statement vid.
his haircut wasn’t up to much either!
anyway
the local nat mp is gonna get rolled here too
Carol, thanks for the reports.
Dunne makes my fist itch.
Total empty vessel.
People bag Winston for being a self promoting unprincipled parasite, and rightly so, but widdle Peter does the same bloody thing using boredom as a shield. No one can stand paying attention to him for more than 10 seconds lest their brain freezes, so he just keeps getting away with it.
When he had his big success and the worm people fell in love with him he ended up dragging a bunch of evangelicals into parliament. No worries, I don’t care. I’d like to see some more of them in there actually, Heighten the contradictions like.
But the thing was that nobody knew until they were there. Ther were stories in the paper about “OHMIGOD look who Petries friends are, who knew?” He certainly didn’t say who was on his little list to the broader public. They were there as payback for something, either donations, on the ground workers or whatever. He hooked up with them as a tactical move to keep ‘imself in parliament, and when they got embarrassing he dropped them like rotten boogers. Tried to keep them quiet as MP’s, (though there was that one chap that went on hunger strike about some eeevil thing), and generally treated them like serfs.
Wot a shit.
Vote him out.
It seems likely that, as happened in the Australian Liberal party, the upper ranks of Labour will dessert their parliamentary careers for greener pastures soon after their humiliating defeat, leaving an inexperienced rump of a party that will barely be able to mount a credible challenge in the following term.
So this election will in fact dictate a centre-right government for the next six years…and there is nothing wrong with that.
mmm, dessert. my girlfriend is promising exactly that but won’t make up her mind what she’s making
seti the search for extraterrestial intelligence foundered when they discovered you
nevermind
it proves you are not what you claim to be
the natoinal party is out on its feet
all the yesterdays men who never were todays men will be swept away by the tide while Lbour and the greens grapple with real issues besides lining ones own pockets with other peoples money
Keys is good at that
he got away with $50,000,000 but he aint gonna get away with any of mine
Just watched the alt tv interview with Helen Clark was the best one ive seen of her, shame it wasn’t on tv1 or mainstream media so a few undecided voters could watch. If Labour doesn’t make the numbers it will be the best government to be voted out of office, will be close and I hope Winnie can scrape in , besides most of his supporters would hang up on pollsters so maybe his support base is better than it shows..
bobo
that is why natoinal are so desperate
this IS the best government New Zealand has had for a very long time yet the tory wreckers just want to get in there and loot the treasury and state assets like they always do after Labour has straightened out their last mess
don’t lie steve. You don’t have a girlfriend – enjoy making your own dessert tonight. Hope you can make up your mind.
(trolling is permited on elections-eve don’t you know)
[it appears it will be some kind of ginger cake. SP]
PB: At the cost of a Nat government for three (or if you believe the hacks, six) years?
(I’m agnostic on ths point, so it’s not a leading question
)
L
Those who will abondon the party, of note -
Uncle Helen
Cullen
Mallard
Barker
Tizard
Burton
Street
Dalziel
Chadwick
O’Connor
…as well as a host of back benches.
There will also be a certain amount of bloodletting in the Goff-Cunliffe battle leaving many of their losing supporters disillusioned, prompting another exodus.
Of course Winnie, his team, Anderton and Fitzsimons will also be gone.
I actually feel sorry for the left…sort of.
Randal – hopefully we aren’t talking about buying back the rail, bringing back kiwibank and getting rid of an employers contract act , 8 years from now… a bit like how america has been in a redneck time warp since Pres Clinton went..
forgetaboutthelastone – haven’t you got a National party pre-win nasty 90s yuppies & traders themed party to go to tonight?.. the last one the nats thought they had in the bag too. I always back the underdog not a dog of a party.
Alt TV interview with Helen Clark by Oliver Driver was excellent. Pity too late to link to it for others who missed it. She was much more relaxed and candid, and lighting less harsh. Mentioned how her husband and mother are very upset by the attacks on her, that National went looking for dirt on her husband’s academic career (I wonder why she hadn’t raised that before?), and how the left and right have such different values and policies. Mentioned that Stacey Jones’ public endorsement was in response to the League-ies fury over the other two backing Key in South Akld the other day. Oliver was a great interviewer and finally asked the sort of questions that I wanted to hear about.
And thanks Standard for the wonderful election information and support over the last few months. Kept us sane, informed and connected. I’m not surprised that even the righties like it.
As things stand right now, NZ could be ahead of the game given the crunch about to descend. Every other country is belatedly moderating free-market policies to something not dissimilar to what labour has been doing for the past 9 years (right wing free-market with the edges smoothed). They will probably go ever further left as reality dictates.
Meanwhile, NZ is meant to be 20 – 25 years behind everyone else. Hence the need for Key and National.
So vote Nat to get NZ back where it belongs in the global scheme of things.
seti I think your parents must have abandoned you at birth and that is why youhave such a jaundiced view of the world
none of those people will abandon the Labour Party
they have principles anda desire to do the right thing
they are not fly by night carpetbagging tories
take ahike dude