KEY POINTS:
The latest Roy Morgan political poll shows support for both Labour and National slightly down although National has a 14-point lead over its rival. The poll, puts support for Labour down two points to 34 per cent while the National Party is down one to 48.5 per cent support.
If there was election today, who would you vote for and why? Here is a selection of Your Views:
Tim
Vote to National. Labour is:
A. cheaters using public money for their fame and vote.
B. cynical and dictatorship - making legislation to cover their bumps.
C. enemy to our harding working middle class (favouring to doles, ACC beneficiaries, criminals and druggies). Pushing Maori and PIs to depend on doles; as a result our middle class are becoming servants to those (because of Labour policy). Unjustice!
D. too PC! Not genuine!
Mervyn
Well Luke, if economic growth has been so great under Labour, how come NZ has dropped down the OECD ladder relative to other developed nations. This country has stagnated under Labour and I fear we will hit a major recession when the housing boom finally goes runs out of puff. The reason National is picking up support is that people are suffering financially out there. Also, I can see no reason why the government should have an financial interest in an airline or a bank. Those industries are already highly competitive anyway.
Julie
I would vote for National as we need to get rid of Labour before they bring in any more stupid legislation that costs us taxpayer more of our money.
Luke Mason
Socialist trap? We're going to turn into communists? This is the most ridiculous propaganda from the right that I've ever heard! The simple facts are that economic growth has increased more in the past ten years than ever in the 80s and 90s. Unemployment is at its lowest and all you bored lot want to bitch about is tax cuts and communism? At least we still have an airline, our own bank and cheaper doctors' visits and paid parental leave. To me these are good things that would never have come under National. Wake up people, this country is actually in a good state because of sound economic management.
John
We're voting for Kirsten, if she promises to regulate the dollar and allow warships back into our ports. John Key's smile doesn't look as false as that of Bill English, but everyone knows it's Bill pulling the strings. It's the same old National Party, different smile. And Labour have no clues on how to run the economy - Michael Cullen admitted his incompetence today by saying he doesn't know what to do about the over-inflated Kiwi. Helen's busy filling 5 million dollar rugby balls with hot air, and her pal Jim Anderton created a society dependent on party pills. The Green's are a bunch of dim lightbulbs creating hair-brain legislation that's got nothing to do with conservation - they've got the country's biggest pot smoker on their team and still couldn't get cannabis legalised. The Maori party exists because there'll always be people exploiting that angle of politics. And Winston Peter's doesn't show up for work until it's two minutes to election week. So far, the most sane option would appear to be Kirsten.
Scott
Voting Act. Without a viable coalition partner, National could out poll Labour and still be stuck in opposition.
Betsy Harwood
For the first time in my voting life [now 72] I will be voting National. I do not need the government of the day telling me how I should live my life. Plus, I'm sick to death of all the PC rubbish dished up every day. What a terrible state we are in. No one taking responsibility for their actions, parliamentarians making up useless rubbish laws to pass when they should be dealing with things that really matter.
S.B.
I am disgusted to see so many NZers falling for the socialist trap. Former soviet premier Nikita S. Khrushev said during the cold war about the Americans: " We cannot expect Americans to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their leaders in giving Americans doses of socialism until they suddenly awake to find out they have Communism". Communism is still alive. The Reds are certainly not "under the bed" any more. I will vote for the party that will turn NZ around from where we are today.
Trotsky
There is a clever conspiracy by the Labour party to become the natural party of government.This has been implemented by placing the majority of citizens on welfare, so they are dependent upon the State (and in particular upon the Labour Party) for their very survival. This is what the "welfare for families" package was all about. This is why Mr Cullen taxes and squanders ever increasing sums of money these bribes should enable the pigs to sink their snouts in the trough for yet another electoral term. If the kickbacks fail, a last roll of the dice by Labour is blatant corruption in classic totalitarian style, the public will be made to pay for an illegal propaganda campaign. Throw the Stalinists out!
BP Lewis
I would not vote for either National or Labour both are so similar you can not tell them apart in their race to appease business. As an example, working for families (lab) and accommodation suppliment (nat) are both excuses which hide the fact that NZ employers are not paying livable wages. The overpricing of Auckland is driven in part by the $1,000,000,000.00 spent on accommodation supplement. How many houses could be built with one billion dollars per year or 11 billion since introduction (1996). As for working for families policy, if even high income families (over 50,000pa) need it, what does that say about the cost of living and the size of real income in NZ today. Both are examples of our two major parties supporting the wealthy at the expense of ordinary kiwis. In our non-democracy support for any other party is better for the people.
Hyperborean
PD... that's what their counting on.
Peter Martin
It is good to see that the Clark government is on their way out they have done much damage to NZ & they need to be removed asap. National will however need to watch that they do not move so far to the left that they are indistinguishable from Labour. Just a pity that we have to wait until next year to get rid of our current bunch of incompetents.
PD
Me vote for Labour? Yeah right! Doomsday will come first.
Arron
Kirsten is dead right, Labour have declared war on the middle class. With their ideology the ideal system is a very small ruling class (the party) with a large underclass of people all at the same lowest common denominator of living standards (the proletarians, sound familiar?). The tactic is to destroy living standards through higher costs (especially taxes) and then come to the rescue with middle class welfare (working for families). It appears to be working well. I too evidently earn too much but struggle to survive with a very modest lifestyle. The only solution is to go overseas and then Labour has one less opposition voter to worry about. Well done Labour, you may be evil but you also think long-term and are very clever with your strategy. I think they will win in the end even if they lose this election.
Tom Semmens
The strangled prose and intellectual disconnect between cause and effect amongst all the anti-Labour hate mail here tells me that sticking with Labour is the best thing to do. The Labour record is impressive. They've turned around a battered and demoralised country since 1999 and returned it to a point where all the over-geared middle class readers of the Herald can bitch about is wanting a poor-little-us tax cut.
Linda
I will be voting National. This country desperately needs growth and since Labour came to power it has dropped alarmingly - from around 4 per centpa to around 1 per centpa. The only way to be able to afford to pay doctors and nurses and school teachers more is to grow the economy. National will reduce the cost of doing business and earning money in New Zealand - partly through tax cuts. This is the only way to keep high performing NZers in NZ and may even help attract some back.
Grant Westcott
I vote that all of the politicians stay at home and stop meddling in our lives. We'd save a fortune on their travel, accommodation and meal allowances, let alone the benefit to the environment of getting rid of all that hot air emanating from the Beehive.
Andrew Atkin
I think you can tell the substance of a political party not so much by what they say, but by what they don't say. I have read through most of National's speeches over the last couple of years, and I have been generally impressed by their ability to bring attention to all the key factors making up the issues, and also the way that they outline what they will do about them (I usually agree with them). They have my vote.
A Leslie (Southport, Queensland)
So your headline reads Labour on the way back. What a disappointment I thought that with National likely to finally kick this Socialist Labour Government out I might be able to come home from Australia. As a proud New Zealander I have watched in dismay as this Labour Government has continued with policies of ensuring New Zealanders total dependance on the Government for their very existence. This has ensured that the great bulk of New Zealanders have remained relatively poor in comparison to other western countries. Power prices are ridiculously expensive, health, communication and internal travel are high in comparison with Australia. The liberals (Labour supports) among you will immediately bleat on about Australia burning coal to produce their power. Yes but Australians can afford to be warm or cool as the need arises. Our pioneering forefathers, who built the infrastructure that we enjoy today would not be able to believe that some elderly have to go to bed early as they cannot afford the high power prices. As for the costs of petrol what can I say? We are just plain ripped off. Our dollar has continued to strengthen which should have resulted in the cost of fuel remaining at least steady. Greedy Petrol Companies continue to price gouge and nobody does anything about it. New Zealanders are just plain worn out with all the unimportant drivel which is fed to us by the politicians via the media. There is just no energy left in the general population to fight for a fair deal. So let's get started on a new beginning and kick this current government into touch and see if a new broom can sweep us clean of state dependency and PC rubbish. Hopefully the new government will give us the regulations and tools to help ourselves improve our own living standards. With a 14 per cent lead in the polls I think I can safely book my return flight.
Simon (Sumner)
So all-knowing Andrew (below) knows why National is out-performing Labour in the polls: it's because we've all suddenly become dumb, and have believed a few National slogans. Ummm, sorry Andrew, but that argument really is quite pathetic. While slogans are part of the political landscape, they do not make or break parties. And your denigration of others based on their party vote is childish. Logically, you have committed the fallacy of the straw man.
I would vote National today primarily to get rid of Labour. They have been in power too long and have become arrogant and cynical. They think they are above the law and I believe they undermine the foundations of democracy with their arrogance. The $800K spend-up in the critical period before the last election was brazen. Equally brazen was their initial defence of Taito Philip Field, and then they set up an inquiry with terms of reference so restricted it had no hope of getting to the bottom of the matter.
Then the 20 free hours that everybody knows is not free. Even the crèche that operates in the Beehive, who opted in to the 20 free hours scheme because it felt obligated to do so, and who operate rent-free, have still had to increase other charges to the mums and dads because of the scheme. What a joke.
Aaron Bowkett
To be honest I don't believe the Labour Party can claim much credit for the current economy. In fact, if they left the tax rate where it was when they were elected I think we would be better off now. The reason is we are in the middle of a world wide commodity boom which has nothing to do with an elected government. Sure they can share the spoils depending on which way the party leans (left or right). But come on, a drop in taxes would only be offset by yet higher mortgage rates and a higher currency. National will probably get voted in just in time for everything to turn to custard.
Loones
The government's role is to take taxes and spend them on things for the betterment of the whole society. Not to look after your bank balance. Tax cuts and benefit reductions would give those on good incomes even more money to spend on overseas holidays and fine dining, but at the other end of the scale it means more poverty, a harder life, and more reason to go into crime. I'm in the top tax bracket, but I still think taxes could be a little higher so the government could spend more money where it's needed, not on stadiums and yacht races. Labour has faltered recently, but is still heading in the right direction.
Morris Cutforth
What Labour has done over the past 8 years is take advantage of a great economy that was provided for them by National during the "hard" years. Helen won't admit to this and I fear that exactly the same thing will happen in the future. National will bring the economy under control then struggle with a downturn for a few years and Labour will reap the benefits. In the meantime we get stuck with all these "feel good" policies like Civil Unions and Anti-Smacking which do nothing for the average New Zealander.
Kirsten
Hmm, I think I will start my own party. The Middle Class Party. I do not benefit from Labour being in power as we earn about $5 too much for Working for Families. I probably won't benefit from National so why not just start my own obscure party, which would do more for middle class New Zealanders. A demographic that is being missed out I feel. As I don't have the funds to start my party I will be voting either ACT or Green. I concur with a fellow here. They need a voice of reason.
Caroline
I'm not, in general, a right-wing person. I used to be a Labour supporter, back when they were actually a centre-left party. But they have swung too far to the left for me to consider supporting them now, while National has swung to the centre. I actually find it interesting that much of the criticism I see levelled at National now is criticism of their policies back in the 80s and 90s. Thankfully, times have changed since then, and so have both the major parties. Labour has become a party I no longer feel comfortable supporting, and a large part of that is their incredible arrogance. As for the Greens, they don't even seem to bother with the environment anymore, they're too busy trying to push their social policies. National has my vote next year.
Andrew
I simply don't understand how New Zealand voters got so "dumb" all of a sudden. Whatever happened to measuring a party by its policies and intentions? Instead all National has to do is have its propaganda wing come up with phrases like "Nanny State", "PC gone mad" and "Socialist Labour Government" and the rest of you are suddenly sucked into supporting National. National hasn't revealed its policies or its intentions and they won't, not until they're in power, at which point they'll likely have the mandate to do whatever they like, thanks to your vote. Make up your mind when you've compared National's policies with Labour's.
Peter W
Vote Labour! According to most economics theories a recession is on it's way very soon. Any one can do well in a booming economy I want to see how Labour manage the other side of the cycle. If you're a National supporter and you vote them in, you'll find them being blamed when things eventually slow down and they won't get a second term.
David
Both Cullen, Clark and the Labour party are suffering from a political arrogance last seen in the days of Muldoon. They must go therefore National is the only answer.
Paul H
Beneficiaries should not be allowed to vote. Only those who contribute to the running of the country should have a say.
Albert
There's an interpretation about the meaning of diplomacy, i.e. "asking someone to go to hell in such a way that he actually looks forward to it". Well, labour has done that extremely well indeed.
Danhelox
I'd like to reply to 'Auckland' at the top of this post: I agree that our economic performance could improve but let's look at the only marked difference between Labour and National's economic approach: the "George Bush' style tax cuts. It really is quite quaint to expect an almost purely ideological policy decision to be the silver bullet for the economy. Firstly, we are not over taxed by OECD standards: at 34.8 per cent of GDP our tax revenue is below the average 36.3 per cent. (2003 figures). Secondly, if you want business-friendly tax reform the focus should be on reduction of the corporate rate, as Labour has. (Ireland is often referred to by business leaders as an example to follow they did not enact National's 'across the board' cuts). Forth, we've had serious inflation issues over the last couple of years imagine what it would have been like after crudely dumping 11 billion dollars into the economy would we have had interest rates closer to 12 per cent-15 per cent? Fifth, if you want to advocate for National's economic policy be honest tell us what social services you won't be paying for! The super fund? Roads? Hospitals? Schools? Or will you just be attacking the least fortunate?
Elizabeth
I would vote Labour the others have nothing better to offer.
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