How does Labour hope to get back in? Easy vote for National!

Here’s the thing, this election may already be over…but, if Labour is to have any chance I think two things need to happen.

1. Winston Peters needs to be back
2. ACT needs to disappear

There is not much that Labour can do to get Winston Peters back, but for the other necessary action to happen, maybe Labour can help that along a little bit.

ACT seems to be somewhat imploding with not too many people seemingly happy with the coup d'état that Don Brash pulled on Rodney Hide and since doing so even fewer people seem to have been impressed with his performance as leader of the party. For a party, who is always ‘tough on crime’ to have a leader who wants to decriminalise marijuana seems erroneous at best, hypocritical at worst.

ACT seem to be doing a pretty good job at taking themselves out of the running however the voters of Epsom, of whom 70% voted for John Banks in the Mayoral election, will likely come to the conclusion it’s better to have a Mr. Magoo type operation and still have John Key as Prime Minister, than to risk having Phil Goff in the top job. It is likely that as it stands right now Banks will win Epsom, even with two recent polls saying otherwise.

Labour needs to double bluff.

Labour needs to get around the constituency quietly and get all their supporters to vote for National’s Paul Goldsmith.

Goldsmith in the last two polls has been leading John Banks by 17% and 14% respectively however as the election comes closer and the National supporters see their parties ratings drop somewhat, many are like in Epsom to put in this dysfunctional party ‘for the greater good.’ But what is all the Labour supporters voted for Goldsmith as well…for the greater good.

In the latest poll National’s Paul Goldsmith was on 37%, John Banks on 24% and Labour’s David Parker 17%. If that 17% went and supported Paul Goldsmith on Election Day his numbers could jump enough to nullify the difference those that pull support from him to keep ACT in. A ‘double bluff’ worthy of the ‘reality’ TV series Survivor.

In theory Labour supporters voting for a National Party candidate in Epsom, could help them bring down one of the most popular parties in recent times. In theory.

Now come Election Day, National could have a majority, they may have enough votes to get there with the Maori Party alone…or no matter what happens ACT could romp home in Epsom, but Labour is stuck in a situation where they need to have either strong coalition partners themselves, or they need to remove National’s partners if they are to have any show. 

TVNZ Stitch up Hone Harawira

I read about the ‘lone’ protestor at Waitangi today on stuff.co.nz this afternoon. He is Wikitana Popata, nephew of MP Hone Harawira. I read that he took to a megaphone and claimed that John Key is the author of all that is wrong in Maoridom, here is what he said of John Key in a post protest interview…

“Many of my people still live off our rivers in Aotearoa, he is the one responsible for murdering and killing a lot of our people.”

“He is the one responsible for mining throughout Aotearoa.”

“He is the one responsible for stealing our foreshore, for stealing our land.”

“He is the one responsible for the injustice to my people.”

For video you can visit stuff.co.nz

Of course NZ knows that this is not the case, however we live in a free and democratic society where we have the right to air and voice our opinions even if most of us would disagree with them. In fact we probably should be encouraged to voice our opinions more often. Most of us would be more comfortable with a more ‘sanitary’ version perhaps than what we saw today…however I think that is the point of today’s protest.

I then read that Hone Harawira has told reporters that he was proud of his nephew for standing up for what they believe in and voicing their beliefs in the only way young people know how to do.

Fair enough, I thought, he hasn’t gone as far as to back the content of the protest in full, he has just said that he was proud that his nephew was passionate enough about a topic to make his views known.

Then I was watching OneNews tonight and I saw that they spun this story to imply that Hone Harawira is fully in support of what was said.

Jessica Mutch on voiceover “Hone Harawira’s chances of uniting with Labour or National are slim when he says things like this about Wikitana Popata protesting against the Prime Minister, “I was quite proud of the protest actually”

I think TVNZ has stitched up Hone Harawira, but is it an innocent mistake, or is there some malice here? Either way they portrayed Hone Harawira’s statement without the context that I read on stuff.co.nz this afternoon.

Now the truth is that Hone Harawira may agree entirely with what his nephew was saying, but that’s not how it has been reported (except by TVNZ). He picked his words carefully, even to the point of not wanting to comment on what was said because he wasn’t there and, according to numerous media sources including the ODT, didn’t hear everything that was said.

So why did TVNZ imply that he supported what his nephew had said?

Was it poor journalism? Was it a genuine mistake? Was it context that wasn’t shown in the Stuff article?

Or is it that we are wanting a villain in this election year? Winston Peters turned out to be the villain last time around with the debacle around Owen Glen, and you have to admit, Hone fits that mould pretty easily.

For me I think that Hone Harawira is not playing a smart hand right now, I don’t mean to offend or incite by that comment, I just think when you’re on the inside you can make a difference without losing your mana or compromising your principles. The people of Te Tai Tokerau love Hone, and if he chooses to run in the upcoming election he will be there next term. I just wonder how he will forward the cause of his constituents by standing on the outside throwing stones at those on the inside.

Do we really want a Center governement?

I wonder sometimes if what we say we want...is actually what we want in politics.

It seems that what we hear over and over again is the viable third party...a party for all New Zealand, a party that represents the majority of us, a Centrist Party!

John Key is a very centrist politician...in some areas he is more left that Labour and in other areas he is very right. I interviewed him last year and he described himself as socially liberal and fiscally conservative. He is somewhat left, somewhat right...he is in fact as close as we've seen to a centrist politician in quite a while.

Here's the problem, when you position yourself in the centre, it means you please a lot of people, but annoy many at the same time.

Ratifying the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, seen by many as a very left position to take. This has the possibility of alienating his traditional right supporter base. Also the rise of GST and changes to income tax, seen by many as a typical right government move but will this just confirm to the middle-left support base John Key may be gaining that nothing has changed?

When you are in the middle you are in danger of being a jack of all trade, but master of none.

If National annoys more people than it pleases they may be a one term government, if they please more than they annoy then they could be here for a while. And by looking at the polls right now you'd have to say that NZ is basically happy with a Center-Right Government with a Centrist Prime Minister