Kerre Woodham: Election of policies, not pretty faces

Prime Minister John Key. Photo / Greg Bowker

So. it's not even February and the lines in the sand have been drawn.

Labour will tax the rich and redistribute their money to the poor; National will allow investment in our state-owned assets and will take a long hard look at beneficiaries and those who are a burden on the national economy.

It's back to core business for both parties in 2011. No more fannying around with a local version of Tony Blair's Third Way. No more desperate attempts to woo the middle ground. It's back to ideological policies and that's a good thing.

We'll have to think about the kind of country we want and how best we go about creating it and funding it. No more voting for leaders based on their looks or their affability or their telegenic capabilities.

This will be an election where people will have to think before they tick the box.

And if that's the case, we'll probably see the lowest turnout in living history. It's going to be hard for the average Kiwi.

In the lead-up to the last election, John Key cleverly cherry-picked policies that would appeal to both National and Labour voters but in 2011, it's crunch time.

I agree we can't go on borrowing $300 million a week just to maintain our lifestyle. But allowing investment in our state-owned assets isn't going to grow the sort of wealth we require for our needs long term.

And while I think much of what the fourth Labour government enacted was ultimately good for the country, I still remember the brutality of it all. I know our farmers are better off without subsidies but I remember seeing the poor, broken families walking off their farms.

And I know many government jobs were just subsidised work schemes, but the legacy of forestry towns and railroad communities dying - almost overnight - is with us still.

On the other hand, I had a caller ring in who said he was on the dole because it was better than being a low-skilled, lowly-paid worker. He'd had to work roughly 60 hours a week to earn $780; on the dole and with all the other taxpayer subsidised help, he got $695 a week - and as he said, that's a no brainer. He'll stay at home, mind the kids and go fishing rather than work every hour God sent to put food on the table. He was an articulate man, and sounded like a good dad. He told me neither he nor his partner smoke or drank and that they lived for the kids. Which is great.

But there's something very wrong when a capable, fit young man is better off sitting on the dole than working. The answer is not to cut the dole - Ray, my caller, knew he was existing not living - but to grow our wealth. The party that tells me how New Zealand Inc can do that will get my vote.