Terry Sarten: The future ... where are the flying cars?

Green Party MP and co-leader Metiria Turei -- early payment would have secured high moral ground

THE future must look comforting to some of our political parties.

For Prime Minister Bill English, the tale of Metiria Turei's duping of the benefit system must be a fuzzy, warm reminder of when he himself was found to be double-dipping and claiming an MP subsidy on a house he owned.

He only got around to repaying the money when it became public knowledge, and no doubt feels an affinity with her position having done essentially the same thing but from a position of considerable wealth.

For some reason, he did not resign even though he was Finance Minister at the time.
Perhaps his actions were regarded as simply another example of the Kiwi fascination for taking what you can get out of the taxpayer.

It is fair to note that Metiria would have come out of the furore in better shape if she had fessed up and paid the related debt years ago - her parliamentary salary would have made that a snip - before making it into a tilt against the unforgiving nature of bureaucracy at its most challenging for the most vulnerable.

That would have given her the higher moral ground to lambast National policy towards beneficiaries.

When we consider the future, we always come back to the question: "Where are the flying cars?"

We have been promised these for over a decade but there has been no sign they are about to appear any time soon.

Auckland and Wellington commuters must be yearning for something that would enable them to sweep across the city with no gridlock, no blocked lanes and avoid road rage hitting new heights.

If one of the major parties promised flying cars by the year 2020, they would waltz into power but this seems unlikely at a time when none of them seems really sure how they should address the growing inequalities that exist across the country.

Labour has Jacinda, a bright new spark igniting the election with her potential.

If they had some coherent policy that showed they do not just want power but want justice as well, they could kick for touch and lock up the vote in a scrum.

Winston is being himself and looking after numero uno.

He is a skilled politician but that does not mean he is a good politician.

His divide-and-rule tactics are a worn-out cliché along with his tilting at immigration windmills made of prejudice and bigotry.

Gareth Morgan's Opportunity Party has brought new thinking to the election with some eminently sound economic and social ideas but these are in danger of being swamped by both his views on cats (which was bound to make enemies) and a widening sense of distrust in anybody who has actual knowledge and expertise.

I opened this column by talking about the future, so it is only fair that I make some predictions for Sunday, September 24 - the day after the election.

It will be sunny, with occasional showers. A chill wind will be blowing up the nethers of United Future, the Act Party and NZ First as National and Labour find themselves without sufficient seats to govern alone.

One of them will go to the Greens (who will harvest seats via the party vote) to form a government and we will see social justice firmly back on the agenda.

There will be no flying cars but there will be recognitions that unless we tackle the social ills of today they will become a weight that drags down children and families over the next decade.

■Terry Sarten (aka Tel) is a writer, musician and social worker who would like a flying car but is prepared to wait until New Zealand children are not burdened by inequalities.