Eliora
Much has been said recently about the hapless James Shaw, co-leader of the Green Party.
He is publicly pleading for forgiveness. Shaw signed off on a $11.7 million deal for a private green school in Taranaki. He looked sheepish as he begged and beseeched green voters not to desert him and change their vote. This is a big ask, as green voters do not like privately funded schools.
The BFD. Cartoon credit BoomSlang
Shaw emphasized that this is the only mistake he has made. Not so fast James. We can think of many other mistakes you have made that many do not like, including selling out on the oil and gas workers in Taranaki and giving $1.4 billion annually to the global warming, climate change, Paris Agreement. Well, maybe the green voters would have agreed with you on those ones.
The green voters found to their dismay that Shaw had been underhand. He would not agree to $3 billion worth of infrastructure projects unless he got his hands on this taxpayer’s money for the school.
Newshub obtained an email that went to government ministers and the Treasury from Shaw’s office and it included a stark ultimatum.
Tova O’Brien 1st September 20.
The deal was clinched behind the scenes keeping his own colleagues and supporters in the dark.
Will Shaw be forgiven or is his disloyalty too much?
Winston Peters went into coalition with Labour in 2017. National voters had been encouraged to give their party vote to New Zealand First, as many of their policies were a good fit and National needed a coalition partner. Whatever happened behind closed doors, Peters could not or would not do a deal with National. With all his experience, Peters must have been rubbing his hands in glee knowing he would be sitting with a bunch of inexperienced Labour MPs.
The national voters who voted for him believing he would never go with Labour felt betrayed, stating angrily especially on blogs, that they will never trust Peters again and therefore will not vote for him. They were horrified he put a Labour-led Government, with a socialist PM, into power.
New Zealanders are now witnessing Peters pulling away from Labour.
Will Peters be forgiven or is his betrayal too much?
The BFD. Cartoon credit BoomSlang
Ardern speaks in personable tones and with big smiles to her Facebook fans in the evenings. She made many promises if she got into power, but few have eventuated in the last three years. Many will vote for Jacinda simply because she is personable and smiley. But many will not.
Lately, people have mentioned that while kiwis were going out of business during the lockdowns there were others propped up with payments from the Government. Some unfairly even got more than their usual salary.
Kiwis and parts of the media have become dissatisfied with Ardern saying one thing and then finding out it is not true. Ardern has regularly told Kiwis that she is the one source of truth in New Zealand. She is naive to assume that kiwis will only believe what she says. Many will choose to use their intellect and think for themselves.
While the polls have Labour in front, numbers have been steadily dropping. It is difficult to vote for someone who promises one thing, then does not do it, again and again. The country has borrowed $200 billion. It is doubtful that Ardern will ever admit that she has failed and/or say sorry. She has never admitted that the border was breached and cannot see any shortcomings in her handling of this pandemic. Instead, Ardern attempts to placate kiwis by saying “it is a tricky virus” and that they cannot work out where it came from.
Will Ardern be forgiven or are her accumulating failures too much?
National found themselves on the Opposition benches with several changes of leadership. National voters were disillusioned with their move to the centre and with some MP’s messing up. National MPs had to watch helplessly as the Labour-led Government achieved very little in terms of delivery and spent eye-watering amounts of money.
Will National be forgiven or are those concerns too much?
A friend completed the ISIDE with… 2020 Political Party Quiz.
“answer the following questions to see how your political beliefs match your political parties and candidates”.
He answered the 40 or so questions and was intrigued to find that he should vote for NZ First. He indicated; however, that he will not be changing his vote.
Obviously, New Zealand’s borders are unsafe as Kiwis have caught COVID-19 in the community. It is not an “Immaculate Infection” as Nicola Willis National MP, let Ardern know in the House.
The question is, what does it take for voters to switch allegiance to another party?
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