Key’s clumsy opportunism

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, September 22nd, 2010 - 41 comments
Categories: making shit up, MMP, uncategorized - Tags: ,

John Key has tried to use the mess that is the ACT fiasco to take a clumsy swing at MMP:

I think it will increase the likelihood that people will vote MMP out,” he said.

I’m wondering whether the public might say ‘look, very small parties are consuming quite a lot of time’ and maybe they will take the view that MMP fundamentally isn’t working so well.

As Danyl points out at the Dim Post:

The death of ACT will make it a lot harder for National to form governments under an MMP system. Sooner or later Dunne will retire or be voted out; that’ll leave them with only the Maori Party as a potential coalition partner which is not where National wants to be. So it would make sense for National to encourage voters to ditch MMP and adopt a less democratic, less representative electoral system.

And I have to say I agree. As Muldoon and the last National government made it clear, it’s a lot easier to enact policies that hurt voters if you don’t have to face a party vote.

In the meantime let’s take a few minutes to remember who it was that tried to stop us getting MMP the last time:

41 comments on “Key’s clumsy opportunism ”

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  1. felix 1
    22 September 2010 at 7:17 am

    No hard hats, no harnesses. Get down from there you bloody idiots!

  2. Lazy Susan 2
    22 September 2010 at 7:55 am

    I’m wondering whether the public might say ‘look, very small parties are consuming quite a lot of time’ and maybe they will take the view that MMP fundamentally isn’t working so well.

    They might also take the view that National’s judgement on the choice of play mates is
    poor.

    By the way, Mr Key, good democratic governance does take time. Of little consequence to you though as your recent actions show that you have little respect for democracy.

    TVNZ are running a poll on whether to retain MMP.

    Dissappointing to see 58% at present are in favour of ditching it – the sheeple have spoken!

    • Carol 2.1
      22 September 2010 at 8:03 am

      Thanks for the TVNZ poll tip, LS. Your link doesn’t work for me. It’s here:
      http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news

    • Murray 2.2
      22 September 2010 at 10:23 am

      Dissappointing to see 58% at present are in favour of ditching it – the sheeple have spoken!
      Thats Democracy in action, isn’t it?
      Or isn’t it the sort of Democracy that the left likes?

      • Pascal's bookie 2.2.1
        22 September 2010 at 10:25 am

        So right wingy democracy = crappy online poll.

        Good2know.

      • Carol 2.2.2
        22 September 2010 at 10:30 am

        Actually it’s 48% for keeping it, 52% for ditching it. Margin of error… TVNZ tends to attract a conservative audience…..

        • Salsy 2.2.2.1
          22 September 2010 at 10:49 am

          As with so many polls the question is misleading. Keep MMP or Change System. Some MMP voters who want MMP improved could also be voting in this category …

        • Draco T Bastard 2.2.2.2
          22 September 2010 at 11:02 am

          The entire MSM attracts a conservative audience. I think it has to do with the appearance of authority and status that the MSM has and which it’s losing.

      • Lazy Susan 2.2.3
        22 September 2010 at 1:09 pm

        Warning – keep Murray well away from any electoral reform.

        I suppose you also think those little revenue earning text polls on Close Up and Campbell are also shining examples of democracy in action.

        I said the result was disappointing – much like your debating skills.

      • Roger 2.2.4
        22 September 2010 at 11:33 pm

        No it isn’t. If you think that democracy is all about silencing minorities at the whim of the majority you add nothing of value to this debate. In 2008 only 78.92% of voters chose either of the two main parties. Is it democracy in action that the other 21.08% of the population have NO REPRESENTATION WHATSOEVER?
        In 2002 only 62.19% of voters chose either of the main parties. Should the other 37.81% of the population be completely silenced?
        While I personally have never voted for a minor party I would never advocate or accept the political silencing of those that find a greater affinity with smaller parties their representation and voice due to them. This obviously does not suit the view of democracy that yourself and others on the right have that it is about the larger numbers telling the rest to shut up because that’s the way the chips fell.

  3. comedy 3
    22 September 2010 at 7:59 am

    Well MMP is a joke, surely we should be running with a more voter friendly system like WTC that’d work far better.

  4. Carol 4
    22 September 2010 at 8:05 am

    The only problem with MMP is that an electorate MP like Hide, can bring 4 other list MP’s into parliament with him. The percentage required to get a List MO into parliament could be looked at too.

    • ianmac 4.1
      22 September 2010 at 10:34 am

      Yes. There was a learned discussion about this on Public Address last year(?) One point was that the threshold should be shifted from 5% to as little as 2-3 % or even 1 percent. The ridiculous 2008 election saw Act with one elected member and 2.5% but 5 MPs in power when NZF had 4.5% of the vote but no MPs.

      So keep MMP but adjust the details.

  5. southernrata 5
    22 September 2010 at 8:12 am

    If MMP is voted for in the referendum it triggers an enquiry that can recommend changes such as no more “coat-tails”.

    • Lanthanide 5.1
      22 September 2010 at 8:44 am

      That’s what annoys me. The changes to MMP should be up *this time*. Eg, the question should be:
      * MMP, with or without the following changes: x y z
      * Other options

      Then, once MMP is chosen, the follow-up referendum can select which changes are taken. But as it is now, it’s selecting between a non-perfect MMP vs other options that sound glamorous and like they might solve all our problems, when really tweaks to MMP would likely be the best avenue to take.

  6. To be frank 6
    22 September 2010 at 8:34 am

    I bet the Australian Government is happy they don’t have MMP for elections to the House of Representatives. FPP elections are so straight forward everytime. Yeah Right. Key needs to take politics 101 at Auckland University so he can better understand how Parliament works. With minority governments in both the UK and Australia, Key has just proven what a moron he truly is.

  7. The Chairman 7
    22 September 2010 at 8:49 am

    The scope of political reform should be widened to include a form of Direct Democracy.

    Voters across the political spectrum want more say (with clout) on the major issues.

  8. Rharn 8
    22 September 2010 at 8:51 am

    If ACT implode you can bet that the Nats will do all that they can to see MMP ditched.

    • Draco T Bastard 8.1
      22 September 2010 at 11:09 am

      /agreed

      National, being the authoritarians that they are, don’t like democracy as it gets in the way of them stealing from the rest of us.

  9. abc 9
    22 September 2010 at 9:21 am

    Not sure I can stand to follow politics anymore- this poll is just about the last straw. We live in an idiocracry. Seriously thinking about cutting off the internet and the TV and living a life of peaceful ignorance. If not that then it might have to be a one way ticket out of here.

  10. ZeeBop 10
    22 September 2010 at 9:23 am

    National are too stupid to realize that FPP system in a internet world would ridicule Muldoon right out of the park,
    do they really think they will get to push far right extremism under FPP?
    But like so much of National’s governing philosophy revolves around how it will look next week rather than what actually will happen to the country in five ten years time.
    Watching the Key government is like watching a disaster in slow motion, pretty much their own new policies
    have been all retrograde, extreme, and water down. They grow government with crime levies, with more prison bunking, with tax cuts to the few, with little understanding of the facts of the world economy.
    That there is a incentives and capital mismatch, the people with the capital don’t know how to, or want to, incentivise the masses. Too much capital chasing any status quo themed investment, too little government regenerating economies and too much government churning old victors and keeping them capital gorged.

  11. sally 11
    22 September 2010 at 11:38 am

    I just miss Rod Donald 🙁

    I’m sure we owe it to him to at least retain the voting system he fought so hard to put in place.

    • abc 11.1
      22 September 2010 at 1:26 pm

      I was thinking about Rod Donald this morning, and wondering what he would make of what is happening in this country. Would he think the years he spent campaigning for democratic elections in this country were a complete waste of time? His life was ultimately very short, and perhaps the time he spent trying to improve the lot of the thick, ungrateful and full of hate citizens of this country could have been better spent with his family.

      Rod was a hero- I don’t there are any heroes left. I think a lot these days about people who died for this country in the hope the lives of people who came after them would be better. People are just so wretchedly selfish these days and are just not worthy of the sacrifices people made for them. They pretty much deserve what they will get if they get rid of MMP and there are no controls at all over the corporate elite. I just don’t want to be here when it happens…

    • grumpy 11.2
      22 September 2010 at 1:26 pm

      Problem is there are no more Rod Donald’s. The original Greens are all gone and have been replaced by tired old Marxists. May as well call themselves Socialist Unity Party and then see how many votes they get.

      • felix 11.2.1
        23 September 2010 at 12:35 am

        None of you pricks had a single positive thing to say about him when he was alive. It rings a little hollow now.

    • comedy 11.3
      22 September 2010 at 4:29 pm

      One of the few politicians that hardly anyone hard a bad word about – and not just because he passed early.

  12. billy fish 12
    22 September 2010 at 1:18 pm

    Arguement seems to go
    We don’t like the system that much because we can’t really make it work long term therefore the system is broken.

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