If National wins ...

[BlackPeter]

And I think most politicians will have their heads around the idea that money in circulation is good money, as far as taxes go.

BP, most of what you call 'election bribes' is a part-rebalancing of the money taken off certain sectors by National, which then also boosts the economy. For example, the hospitality sector found the new 18 year drinking age and interest free loans helped in their turnover. Tertiary students still pay a lot more for their education than they used to.

Are you saying that the 18 year drinking age and the interest free student loan have been introduced to support the hospitality industry? I guess this is an interesting point of view. Drinking age might be a discussion for a different thread ... but if you say that our tax money is used to increase the intoxication rate of still rather young people ... not sure, whether I would call this a good thing.

Anyway - each to their own.

[elZorro]

Are you saying that the 18 year drinking age and the interest free student loan have been introduced to support the hospitality industry? I guess this is an interesting point of view. Drinking age might be a discussion for a different thread ... but if you say that our tax money is used to increase the intoxication rate of still rather young people ... not sure, whether I would call this a good thing.

Anyway - each to their own.

I didn't say it was a good thing overall, Labour should have left it at 20 yrs I think. But there's no denying that the money rotates around the economy. The bigger student bars in Hamilton target the university area for mailouts and flyers, advertising. Years ago, they had to 'officially' wait until the students had been in town for a year or two, and turned 20.

Student loans were previously spent on all sorts of stuff, but they've been a bit more crafty with it lately, making sure the fees are paid first by direct transfer, and leaving about $50 pocket money a week with the students.

[westerly]

But if wage levels fall and the CPI falls even faster then you have an increasing standard of living, EZ.

And profits fall and businesses struggle.

"If, as is happening, tourism (which is labour intensive) takes the place of dairying this is beneficial to the regions as tourism is regionally dispersed. And it's also good for pollution.
Meat is doing very well, dairy farmers can switch to cattle and sheep."

Tell that to a farmer with a dairy herd to dispose of and a large mortgage.

"We have 4 adult children who took out student loans. One paid it off herself and I paid off the other 3. If they are interest free it's much easier to deal with."

Daddy will look after us

"Does everything have to be doom and gloom in the hope it will scare ignorant voters into voting Labour?

Trust the educated National/Act supporter to have rose tinted glasses

westerly

[elZorro]

Trust the educated National/Act supporter to have rose tinted glasses

westerly

Yes, we all know that tourism jobs are some of the lowest paid, and the hospitality sector is just as bad. We can't build a smart economy on that, even if it looks slightly interesting.

Might I suggest to Vince, or the person in charge of renaming threads, that we rename this thread as pertaining to the 2017 elections? It still mentions 2011 in some places. Let's keep up with the times, be relevant, it's going to be a tough battle for the next election. There's a lot at stake. We'll be posting and generating traffic, so we deserve a well-named thread. Don't chop the thread out please, just rename it.

Labour is going to start releasing new policy in 2016. Looks like they have a useful tertiary education policy planned.

http://thestandard.org.nz/tertiary-f...l-from-labour/

[fungus pudding]

Might I suggest to Vince, or the person in charge of renaming threads, that we rename this thread as pertaining to the 2017 election

It is every bit as pertinent to the 2017 election as it was to the last two elections. Renaming it would be pointless.

[Daytr]

That's a big if & yes if you think our flag should be a corporate logo.
More than likely its $30M down the drain.

If the vote results in a new flag to give us an identity, rather than look like Australia, then it is a bargain. $26 million odd is nothing in terms of the recognition it will bring NZ, which will be another boost to tourism. Even if the vote is for the status quo it will gain a fair amount of global reporting. Try buying that.

[Daytr]

National are still making bribes. Just ask a certain Saudi businessman.

Well, he promised that he is not going for the baubles of power. And than he did. I guess his election bribe was to stay away from power, but he broke his promise. Does this qualify?

But hey - you got me. I had all the other old left-wing election bribes in mind when I wrote my sentence (like interest free student loans, working for families, "free" child care for preschoolers, Nationalising of Kiwi Rail, ...)

Enough for you to justify the plural?

But hey - it is your beloved Winston, so happy to change my sentence from

"Remember - Winston First is already looking for a new bribe to keep him for the next term in parliament, while we keep paying for his old bribes. "

to:

Remember - Winston First is already looking for a new bribe to keep him for the next term in parliament, while we keep paying for his old bribe and Labours old bribes. "

[westerly]

Well, he promised that he is not going for the baubles of power. And than he did. I guess his election bribe was to stay away from power, but he broke his promise. Does this qualify?

But hey - you got me. I had all the other old left-wing election bribes in mind when I wrote my sentence (like interest free student loans, working for families, "free" child care for preschoolers, Nationalising of Kiwi Rail, ...)

Enough for you to justify the plural?

But hey - it is your beloved Winston, so happy to change my sentence from

"Remember - Winston First is already looking for a new bribe to keep him for the next term in parliament, while we keep paying for his old bribes. "

to:

Remember - Winston First is already looking for a new bribe to keep him for the next term in parliament, while we keep paying for his old bribe and Labours old bribes. "

Politicans offer bribes at election time, that is normal political behaviour. Remember Muldoon and superanuation, Key and tax cuts, and the 10 bridges in the recent Northland bye election. National is not immune ( and we all keep paying
Incidentally only 3 bridges were approved for funding but National's Bridges says he will do some arm twisting (not in so many words of course ) to
have them approved.

westerly

[fungus pudding]

That's a big if & yes if you think our flag should be a corporate logo.
More than likely its $30M down the drain.

The alternative flag is no more - or no less a corporate logo than the current flag. A successful corporate logo should be able to be recognised and identified with the entity concerned, without writing. e.g. McDonalds golden arches. A flag should be the same, and in time more and more countries will drop their bland, meaningless* flags in order to boost their identities. Our current flag might do something for Australasia, but not NZ - and that just confuses the vast majority of the world who have never heard of New Zealand. I much preferred the red, white and blue Lockwood design but nevertheless will vote for change, because anything is better than the current one.

* meaningless to anyone but the citizens of the country e.g. Haiti, Bolivia, Ukraine.

[winner69]

Seems appropriate the TPPA should be signed at den of iniquity lie Sky City (sorry it is really just a convention centre isn't it)

At least Sue et all won't have to travel far to make a noise. If I was in Auckland I'd join in