Your views, August 31

At the age of 53, this white middle class male has to this point spent his life voting Labour. Over the years my wife and I have worked really hard to get on top of the financial pile. We paid for our kids' education, flicked 10 per cent of our income to charities, paid our taxes, and basically looked after ourselves. Then the other day I started thinking about how Cullen and Co have ripped into our modest level of wealth over these past six years. For starters, and without any good reason, Labour whacked up the tax rate from 33 to 39 per cent. They then banged in a heap of additional hidden taxes (just take a quick look at fuel tax). Now to add insult to injury my accountant tells me that Cullen is planning on cancelling 9 to 5 motor vehicle agreements for those of us who use our private vehicles for company purposes. If that's not enough I now hear that Cullen is planning on taxing Kiwis on investments they have in overseas locations such as Australia. What's with these guys? Don't they understand that punters like my wife and I are the backbone of this country's wealth. My late father will hate me for it however the reality is that I just can't afford to vote for Labour any longer. My vote this year is going to National, a party that appears to understand that you don't stick it to essential economic units such as myself.
- John

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Government should not regulate relations between emloyers and employees - they are adult enough to speak for themselves. Who needs "big mother?" - big mother needs her salary.
- Judith

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There are coffee bars in Auckland malls where the staff get 2 breaks of 10 minutes in an 8 hour shift. There are no meal breaks and no allowance for visits to the toilet. Labour has it right. They will get my vote!
- Dale Spittle

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I do not think that Labour should try to legislate meal breaks. There are already laws and contracts covering this, all they need is enforced. This sort of legislation only takes away peoples rights and abilities to govern themselves. We do not need to be told every step of the way what to do. There are jobs, eg healthcare where sometimes it is just not possible to take a break due to emergency situations etc. But that is covered by contract. This country should not try to follow Britain by listening to its surveys, Britain is in deep trouble thanks to political correct lefty social engineering. It is about time that New Zealnders re-discovered the backbone that once represented this country's greatness and stood up for themselves. We do not need a nanny state!
- Karen Anderson 

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Do you know what I find fascinating, is the fact that so many people comment on New Zealand being so far behind the other OECD countries. We have lower wage rates, poor education, poor health, poor roading etc. Doesnt this tell people something? The government obviously is not doing a good job.Yet over 40 per cent of the country want Labour to continue to govern. Here we have a man - Dr Brash - who is willing to pull this country out of the gutter and put us back on par with the rest of the world. Why not give him a chance. He has to have a lot more to offer than the current Labour government.
- Brendan

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As an Australian looking on I note with interest how National have learnt from our esteemed leader. All you have to do is promise money and the populace will flock to you. In Australia we have become greedy and selfish and we have a government which feeds of this. I just hope you are not heading in the same direction. Laila Harre (Election Blog 30.08.05) says it so well. Take heed and don't fall for the twenty pieces of silver. Believe me it is eaten up before you have time to spend it and you're left with a government without heart. Good luck.
- Gary Bruce