Yesterday morning I sent out emails to six political party leaders inviting them to submit guest posts to The BFD. With election year fast approaching and parties getting into election mode I wanted to give them all an equal opportunity to get their views in front of our substantial audience.
The goal for this new venture has always been to get as wide a spread of political viewpoints as possible so with that in mind I sent invitations to the National party, the Labour party, the Green party, NZ First, The New Conservatives and the ACT party.
Whatever our political views are, I know that our audience believe in a free and open contest of ideas, and what better way to debate the issues than to be in communication with people who have different views to us.
Our comments section is well moderated so guest posters need not fear any disrespect or abuse. Robust discussion will definitely ensue but it will be an opportunity for them to take the pulse of our right-wing/centre-right/conservative and libertarian community.
I sincerely hope that as many political parties as possible take me up on my offer as it will make the lead up to the election that much more interesting.
The first person to respond to my email yesterday morning was National leader Simon Bridges who thanked me for my offer and said that he really appreciated it. Fingers crossed that we hear from him or other National MPs soon, as a significant chunk of our readership are National voters and I know they would love to hear from Simon and other National MPs as well as have them listen to their concerns as to where the National party is currently heading.
I especially hope that the Green party take me up on my offer. In fact I will publicly state right here and now that my commitment to free speech is so strong that I will even publish a guest post from Golriz Ghahraman. Go on Golriz put my claim to the test. I know you want to :)