Category: imported_weekly
The election is over and voters have had their say. Now the MMP horse-trading begins. Elected MPs are the ones who will chose our new Prime Minister and deliver an administration that can command the 61 vote majority in the House that’s necessary to govern New Zealand.
This week’s newsletter is being sent out as the polling booths for the 2017 General Election are closing. Since we may not know the final shape of our new Government for a while, let’s look at what needs to happen before the 52nd Parliament can begin operating
Without a doubt, the election is on a knife-edge. Thursday’s Colmar Brunton poll foreshadowed that the country’s new government is likely to be a coalition between Labour, the Greens, and the Maori Party - a ‘progressive’ combination that would deliver the most radical government in New Zealand’s history.
Last week we looked at the economic policies of the Parliamentary parties. This week we dig deeper into the party manifestos. While Labour has changed its cheer leader, its policies and loyalties remain the same.
Election promises have been coming so thick and fast it feels like Christmas. National kicked off their pledges with the announcement that if re-elected, $10.5 billion over ten years will be invested in roading infrastructure to open up the economic potential of the regions .
A couple of months ago, a news story dubbed “Lemonadegate” made international news. It involved the daughter of a New Zealander living in London, who was fined £150 for setting up a stand and selling lemonade without a permit. She was five-years-old.
Fresh water is an election issue. The export of bottled water has become the focus of an emotional debate that is being relentlessly politicised and propagandised.
A new survey, released this week by the ABS Bank, found that one in five New Zealanders are strongly opposed to National’s plan to lift the retirement age from 65 to 67.
They say a week is a long time in politics. So, it turns out, is an hour and a half. At 8.30 on Tuesday morning, Labour leader Andrew Little told reporters that he was not going to resign - “I’m going to fight”. 90 minutes later he was fronting a press conference announcing his resignation.
Democracy has been described as a ‘fragile flower’. Indeed it is, and it's something we take for granted because our relatively young society has not yet experienced its collapse.
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