When the dust settles after the general election and the special votes are counted, a number of key issues will become clear.
For example:
1) Will National and Act be able to govern alone or will they need to pick up the phone to Winston?
2) Yes, there was a huge mood for
change — but there are still many questions unanswered about what that change might look like, both from the victorious parties involved in forming a government’s perspective and, possibly more importantly, what the people who voted in large numbers for change expect from the new Government.
Like so many Kiwis frustrated and angered by the previous Government’s contempt for our concerns, I hope that the incoming administration will recognise its responsibility to respond to the mandate they have been given by honouring the promises they made on the campaign trail.
And therein lies the problem — at least, the one seen by those who need to be convinced that the change they voted for will be addressed as a priority.
While it may be a bit early to expect answers to our questions, there is a substantial majority out there who are not simply asking that the politicians take a look at the critical issues facing this country but actually respond in a way that restores trust in the democratic process.
I hope that when Christopher Luxon, David Seymour and (presumably) Winston Peters sit down and review the options available to them post-election, they keep in mind what happens to politicians who betray that trust as the two-term Labour Government most certainly did.
The new team to occupy the Treasury benches must not repeat the cynical treatment of the country’s working class, or the disastrous attempts to divide the country on racial lines of the past six years.
My personal hope is that the promises to repeal all of the offensive, race-based legislation will be seen as a priority.
Over to them.
Clive Bibby
