"I see no good whatsoever coming from this election and don’t want to feel responsible in any way for the outcome – which, however the voting plays out, will almost inevitably perpetuate the paralysing malaise gripping the country and condemn us to further decline."
And this:
"New Zealand feels buggered, not to put too fine a point on it, and I have no confidence that whatever wretched, compromised hybrid government rises from the post-election swamp after tomorrow will have the will, the ability or the moral fibre to fix it."
It gives me no pleasure to say I see no reason so far to revise my gloomy prognosis, though for once I'd love to be proved wrong.
12 comments:
This is very defeatist - we’ve got to try and there’s a good chance that an older Peters, a wiser Seymour and a manager like Luxon can cobble together an effective Cabinet. The alternative, the “cold Fiji” prospect, doesn’t bear thinking about.
Unfortunately you are right
The electorate vote sends a message especially when there is a clear voter intention
Examples. McAnulty, O'Connor, Anderson, Davis, Jackson. Voted out and we all know why
But along comes the party vote and there they are again, smiling and ignoring the clear message
I agree, it is a defeatist attitude. Is it that you want to say its not your fault if things go tits up ?
I doubt it, but that's how it has come across .
It doesn't matter who voted for whomever, what matters is that we start pulling together and get ourselves to a better place.
It won't be the ideal place, but it will be better than this.
Then we go again.
If the smart guys start falling away it makes it much harder for everyone else.
There's a time for thinking and a time for doing.
Karl I disagree. New Zealand doesn't feel buggered it is buggered but just like an old automobile it can be rebuilt, maybe not as good as it once was but made serviceable and even very occasionally made better.
The question to be answered is do we, as a nation, have the will or are we all still focussed on silly side issues that in the long run achieve little?
I decided a long time ago that the only way forward for anyone is through personal effort so as a father I encouraged my children to learn how to make that effort. Successive governments have made every effort to make achievement without effort possible and look where that has gotten us.
I live in hope that the incoming government will learn to pull back a little and allow us to be rewarded for effort through success and not just be rewarded for participation.
As a stand against the crazy and damaging health and education department insistence that humans can change sex I party voted Women's Rights party. Had the WRP not been on offer, I too would have left the space blank.
Speaking from a local Masterton point of view, I think there are two things this new government could do straight away that would improve the life of everyone here in the province.
They could immediately crackdown on crime. The gangs would quieten down, property would be safer, the community could breathe easier and the security guard that has to stand outside of Michael Hill Masterton could find something else to do.
Secondly they could finish the road from Masterton to Carterton and immediately change the road signs back to 100 km/h from Masterton to Featherston. The mental health of every person that has to travel by car from Masterton south would be immediately improved!
These two things would improve the life of everyone here in the Wairarapa. I am sure that every province and every city in New Zealand could think of two simple things this government would do that would improve their life no end. So elections do have consequences. I look forward to New Zealand being a more prosperous and happier place over the next three years.
I don’t know whether to share all of your gloominess. My vote went to NZ First in the hope there could be a brake on some of National and ACT’s more unpalatable plans. If there is a joker in this new pack of cards I feel it will be David Seymour.
We will never know how many votes are lost over all through people not casting a party vote, or any vote. There are other numbers which will never be known. As in the true number of those not actually enrolled to vote.
Numbers from the Electoral Commission say that Labour lost votes in all directions and probably 25% of their 2020 votes went to National. Of the six major parties Labour was the only one to lose ground from 2020.
Non-voters are the difference between total votes cast and total enrolled. This year there were 838,000 non-voters vs 663,000 in 2020 – increase 175,000. That increase would be a mix of stay at home Labour and other disinteresteds. So Karl may be one of the 175,000.
There has never been in my understanding a real majority government, if everyone eligible voted. In real terms National/ACT/NZ First is a minority government. The coalition achieved only 41% of the total enrolled – 1,505,000 votes out of total enrolled 3,688,000.
What was the real cause of Labour going out? Co-governance, Co-governance and Co-governance. That is, like it or not, code for a sizable proportion of the electorate voting or exercising the race card. There was of course a raft of other reasons. Michael Basset has written about the layers of issues over on Breaking Views.
https://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2023/11/michael-bassett-2023-election-in.html
Possibly, if people like you had voted, there might have been a different result and we would not be dependent on the current rabble.
I had the same feeling of pointlessness when I cast my vote. Hope does spring eternal apparently. But between the uninspired National leadership and the predictable wave of zombies voting NZF...here we are again. I truly hope it works out better than I think it will. It is going to take some true resolve to get NZ back on track.
I disagree, strongly. Under MMP it's the party vote that counts. New Zealand was in a tailspin under Labour-Greens. My wife and I were preparing to put the house on the market and move to Australia if they had been returned. We now have a glimmer of hope to turn the country's decline around. A lot will be demanded of Luxon's vaunted managerial skills, while Seymour and Peters will have to exhibit qualities of patience and willingness to compromise they are admittedly not renowned for. But here we are, in the Last Chance Saloon.
I advised several people who held the same views of you to give their party vote to NZ First. Not so much because you get Winston, but because you get Shane Jones and Casey Costello who both have - as my younger children say - "in real life" outcomes they want to achieve.
We also now have a probable coalition party where the top three are Maori from outside the Kīngitanga movement.
Both these things are great forces to have acting on a Government from a party that has a history of not revoking negative regulation.
BTW I didn't vote for NZ First as my priority was financial austerity.
Willie Jackson is talking about war re the treaty ...if some white guy spoke the way he does he'd be arrested and charged with something. Presumably Willie can unite the gangs as they have guns and occupy council buildings and parliament. Is that what's next? He speaks for all maori of course as those who aren't on board with his view are not real Maori...whatever a real Maori is
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