Good article, Henry. In my opinion (and based off some anecdotal polling of friends), the straw that broke the camel's back was Hipkins ruling out any form of wealth tax or CGT. I voted for Ardern many years ago on a campaign of tax reform and the standing up of Michael Cullen's Tax Working Group. As we all know, that fizzled out with Ardern ruling out any form of CGT, and despite Labour having a strong majority in government (which they ended up squandering with no real progress on anything.) Ardern was widely criticised for that stance, which is why it beggars belief that Hipkins would repeat the same stance, despite overwhelming evidence that we need tax reform. That action, for me, has proved beyond any doubt that Labour have no vision and no guts to make any real changes. Then you have National promoting old tired policies (more roads, less taxes) and it becomes clear that both major parties have nothing to offer this country. Whether you like them or not, you have to respect for ACT, TOP, Greens, and Te Pāti Māori for having some big ideas and being willing to put them on the table. I think this year is definitely the year of the minor parties.
A good article about a poor performing Government and how that influences those that closely follow politics and those that don’t. However you could have mentioned the effect of the last minute raft of election promises that motivate the selfish “ what’s in it for me personally" voter. I'm sure the leaked " No GST on fruit and vegetables " would have been in that basket. Unfortunately the New Zealand voting public is largely disinterested in politics and that is compounded by the continuing poor behaviour of many of those elected. It is being suggested by some commentators the coming election will determine New Zealands future and will be the the most important election since WWII but how many of our citizens appreciate that? I fear not enough and that is where the election campaigns of all political parties have so far failed!
Good article, Henry. In my opinion (and based off some anecdotal polling of friends), the straw that broke the camel's back was Hipkins ruling out any form of wealth tax or CGT. I voted for Ardern many years ago on a campaign of tax reform and the standing up of Michael Cullen's Tax Working Group. As we all know, that fizzled out with Ardern ruling out any form of CGT, and despite Labour having a strong majority in government (which they ended up squandering with no real progress on anything.) Ardern was widely criticised for that stance, which is why it beggars belief that Hipkins would repeat the same stance, despite overwhelming evidence that we need tax reform. That action, for me, has proved beyond any doubt that Labour have no vision and no guts to make any real changes. Then you have National promoting old tired policies (more roads, less taxes) and it becomes clear that both major parties have nothing to offer this country. Whether you like them or not, you have to respect for ACT, TOP, Greens, and Te Pāti Māori for having some big ideas and being willing to put them on the table. I think this year is definitely the year of the minor parties.
Henry
Good morning,
A good article about a poor performing Government and how that influences those that closely follow politics and those that don’t. However you could have mentioned the effect of the last minute raft of election promises that motivate the selfish “ what’s in it for me personally" voter. I'm sure the leaked " No GST on fruit and vegetables " would have been in that basket. Unfortunately the New Zealand voting public is largely disinterested in politics and that is compounded by the continuing poor behaviour of many of those elected. It is being suggested by some commentators the coming election will determine New Zealands future and will be the the most important election since WWII but how many of our citizens appreciate that? I fear not enough and that is where the election campaigns of all political parties have so far failed!
You are an excellent observer, commentator. Thankyou