Garth George: Why this voter will be returning to his roots

I am much looking forward to the Weekend Herald, for it will be politics-free. Newspapers and other media are forbidden by law to publish or broadcast any political material on election day - and thank the Lord for that.

It will be nice to spend several hours browsing through a newspaper without being assaulted on every other page by the posturings of politicians dedicated to the pursuit of power and trying to inform my choice.

And nice to amble down at some stage (it won't be early) to the polling booth with my easy vote card to exchange it for a bit of paper upon which to place a couple of ticks.

And, later, to sit glued to the goggle-box as the results come in and the pundits prognosticate for as long as it takes to get some idea of what all the past weeks of politicking have delivered us.

Since there are no foregone conclusions this time, election night on the box should make riveting watching.

Those who live in the Herald's circulation area will have no excuse for ignorance of the issues, for this newspaper's coverage of the election campaign has gone far beyond anything I have seen in all my years in journalism, particularly the days when the editor ran a ruler over the paper each day to ensure that both parties (there were only two in those days, remember?) had received exactly the same amount of space.

The Herald's Informed Choice efforts culminated on Tuesday with the tabloid liftout summarising the campaign, an exercise in the finest skills of journalism that must be without parallel in this country.

But since it is only Thursday and there are some 48 hours to run until the polling booths open, I propose to take this final opportunity to inform you of my choices and, perhaps, the reasons therefore.

I choose Bob Clarkson over Winston Peters in Tauranga because I don't think Peters' smear campaign will win him any friends.

If Clarkson is half as smart as I think he is, he would have seen it coming, because you don't bail up a seasoned political pugilist like Peters without sooner or later getting clobbered.

My pick is that the historic allegations against Clarkson will be shrugged off by all but the doziest Taurangans, most of whom will have noticed that the woman who has become the meat in the sandwich of this unseemly stoush appears more than capable of standing up for herself.

I choose to continue to excoriate the Greens because their overt policies, not to mention their hidden agendas, are not simply ridiculous but sinister. Had I the choice, they would be gone from Parliament before breakfast, never to return.

Their so-called rebuttal of the Exclusive Brethren pamphlet was no such thing. All it served to do was to confirm that everything said in the pamphlet was at least half true.

Capital gains tax? Not on homes, but such a tax nevertheless, and we need another tax in this country like we need a hole in the head.

Diesel prices skyrocketing by 30 per cent? No, but a pollution tax to be set at 18c a litre (for how long?).

Uneconomic and novel transport schemes? Yes - cycling and walking "facilities" would have to be included in the transport network or no funding.

Plans to block construction with the Resource Management Act? Yes - a crackdown on road builders and transport operators and an emphasis on environmental concerns.

Decriminalising marijuana? Yes - they would introduce a legal age limit of 18 for personal cannabis use with no risk of prosecution. And we all know how well age limits work, don't we?

Rather than a rebuttal of the statements made in the much-maligned Exclusive Brethren pamphlet, the Greens' responses were confirmation of them.

But that's not the worst of it.

If you think Labour politicians are wedded to the idea that they know better than we do how to organise society and spend our money, you can take it from me that the Greens are literally obsessed with it.

And, finally, any political party that contains Keith Locke has no place in the Parliament of a respectable Western nation.

I choose to believe that the two Christian parties will register barely a blip on the count of votes, and I pray that they will both dissolve themselves and that their members will go back to their churches and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, by which they might do some good.

For mankind's moral and ethical development is not achieved by changing minds or circumstances but by changing hearts, something God does all the time because with a Holy Spirit-inspired change of heart comes automatically a change of mind and circumstances.

I choose Hone Harawira over Dover Samuels in Te Tai Tokerau because I have spent time in the company of both.

I choose John Tamihere over Pita Sharples because Tamihere would do more for Maori-Pakeha relations than his opponent could ever contemplate, even if he wanted to.

And, finally - unlike my fellow columnist Colin James, whose excuse for not voting is way beyond my comprehension - I intend to front up at the polling booth.

I have carefully considered the policies that have been set before me by all three principal players - Labour, National and New Zealand First - and their records in Parliament since 1984, and have concluded that I want to be more comfortable with the way society is governed and to have more control over how I spend my own money.

My informed choice, therefore, is to return to my roots - and vote National.