TOP Party one to watch in this election

[BlackPeter]

TOP are polling at 1% according to tonights One News poll. They are not even close.

(Most of the electricity in China comes from coal, which accounted for 62% of the electricity generation mix in 2021).

TOP's plan is to win Ilam - and take whatever party votes they get with them into parliament. While I still think they have an uphill battle to face, its in my view not hopeless. Raf Manji used to be Lianne Dalziels financial hand in the Christchurch City Council, and he is well known in the area.

https://www.top.org.nz/raf-manji

[dln]

Have you been to Onslow?
No one will give a sh1t about that being flooded.

[Aaron]

Looks like my vote will be a wasted one. But as National and Labour won't touch capital gains tax, income testing national super or lower the inflation target to +-1% does it really matter.

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other...cf2fbd381&ei=9

All the voters are after is how much will National offer them with their tax policy today, then they can go back to complaining about the underfunded health system and potholes.

[Logen Ninefingers]

Looks like my vote will be a wasted one. But as National and Labour won't touch capital gains tax, income testing national super or lower the inflation target to +-1% does it really matter.

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other...cf2fbd381&ei=9

All the voters are after is how much will National offer them with their tax policy today, then they can go back to complaining about the underfunded health system and potholes.

I personally don’t think tax cuts are a great idea when we’ve got a revenue problem, whether it be tax cuts to GST on fruit and vegetables or whatever. We get these parties claiming they need to help people enduring a ‘cost of living crisis’, yet giving people more incentive and ability to spend only exacerbates inflation. Presumably *Labour* announce these kinds of tax cuts close to an election to get people to vote for them. The main reason we need more revenue at present is because of the huge reckless spending Robertson has presided over.

Interesting to see you banging on about the health system when the past 6 years have proven that the problem isn’t the vast amounts of money being thrown at it, it’s where the money is going that is the issue. Labour have squandered billions on mergers, extra bureaucrats, a new separatist ‘Maori Health Authority’….none of it has improved outcomes for New Zealanders. Likewise we’ve seen vast waste with the polytech mega-merger, the tv / radio merger that never went ahead, the Auckland cycle bridge that was never built, Auckland light rail that never proceeded and countless other bureaucratic boondoggles. Plus $500 million of expired RAT tests that now must be chucked away. All of this money would have paid for quite a few potholes to be fixed, I am sure. The Left see this vast waste and their response is “and now we must have a wealth tax”. Quite extraordinary really, they never hold Labour to account, just continue with the myopia they are known for.

[Aaron]

I personally don’t think tax cuts are a great idea when we’ve got a revenue problem, whether it be tax cuts to GST on fruit and vegetables or whatever. We get these parties claiming they need to help people enduring a ‘cost of living crisis’, yet giving people more incentive and ability to spend only exacerbates inflation. Presumably *Labour* announce these kinds of tax cuts close to an election to get people to vote for them. The main reason we need more revenue at present is because of the huge reckless spending Robertson has presided over.

Interesting to see you banging on about the health system when the past 6 years have proven that the problem isn’t the vast amounts of money being thrown at it, it’s where the money is going that is the issue. Labour have squandered billions on mergers, extra bureaucrats, a new separatist ‘Maori Health Authority’….none of it has improved outcomes for New Zealanders. Likewise we’ve seen vast waste with the polytech mega-merger, the tv / radio merger that never went ahead, the Auckland cycle bridge that was never built, Auckland light rail that never proceeded and countless other bureaucratic boondoggles. Plus $500 million of expired RAT tests that now must be chucked away. All of this money would have paid for quite a few potholes to be fixed, I am sure. The Left see this vast waste and their response is “and now we must have a wealth tax”. Quite extraordinary really, they never hold Labour to account, just continue with the myopia they are known for.

I would suggest the current polling would indicate at least some people are holding labour to account, that is what elections are for.

You might have hit on why Labour are not campaigning on their past successes.

[Logen Ninefingers]

I would suggest the current polling would indicate at least some people are holding labour to account, that is what elections are for.

You might have hit on why Labour are not campaigning on their past successes.

I don’t vote according to who will give me a tax cut. No doubt some people do. My main fear is what will happen after the election of a LABGREETEPATI government, as I think we will see a dystopian nightmare unfold over the ensuing 3 years, with extreme racial division, crime and society descending into a ‘Mad Max’ scenario, and a large scale ‘brain drain’ and capital flight. While others peruse policies with a hawk-like intensity and end up wasting their vote, I’ll vote simply to block the LABGREETEPATI nightmare from becoming a reality.

[fungus pudding]

I don’t vote according to who will give me a tax cut. No doubt some people do. My main fear is what will happen after the election of a LABGREETEPATI government, as I think we will see a dystopian nightmare unfold over the ensuing 3 years, with extreme racial division, crime and society descending into a ‘Mad Max’ scenario, and a large scale ‘brain drain’ and capital flight. While others peruse policies with a hawk-like intensity and end up wasting their vote, I’ll vote simply to block the LABGREETEPATI nightmare from becoming a reality.

As I do. Vote in the best way you can against the party who will do the most harm .

[Logen Ninefingers]

TOP's plan is to win Ilam - and take whatever party votes they get with them into parliament. While I still think they have an uphill battle to face, its in my view not hopeless. Raf Manji used to be Lianne Dalziels financial hand in the Christchurch City Council, and he is well known in the area.

https://www.top.org.nz/raf-manji

I think Brownlee was a problem in Ilam last time around, for the electorate vote to go to Labour. Ilam is usually about as safe a National seat as you can get. Labour currently hold the seat and will be desperate to retain it, and I foresee that National voters will vote for the new National candidate who has no baggage.
I just can’t see where Manji’s votes will come from in the above scenario, I can really only see him coming a distant third….unless left wing voters abandon Pallett en masse for Manji, in which case he may come second.

[BlackPeter]

I think Brownlee was a problem in Ilam last time around, for the electorate vote to go to Labour. Ilam is usually about as safe a National seat as you can get. Labour currently hold the seat and will be desperate to retain it, and I foresee that National voters will vote for the new National candidate who has no baggage.
I just can’t see where Manji’s votes will come from in the above scenario, I can really only see him coming a distant third….unless left wing voters abandon Pallett en masse for Manji, in which case he may come second.

... which is a forcast not more or less worth than any opinion from any professional analyst (which we know, are always wrong); Remember, how many people predicted 6 weeks prior to the 2017 elections that Cindy will make it?

But independent from the value of any forecast with an agenda .... this says absolutely nothing about which party has the best program. And lets face it, always just going for the party we think creates the lesser damage is not really uplifting, isn't it?

Given that National and Labour did work over the last 3 decades or so hand in hand to run the country down (no matter whether we talk health services. education, public safety, infrastructure or even defence) would I wish somebody with fresh ideas all the luck they can get.

We can't just continue with National underfunding essential services (like education and health) when its their turn and Labour (when its their turn, like the last 6 years) just throwing money at them instead of fixing them, because they have no clue how to run projects.

National tried for decades to starve the essential services we have, and Labour did not know how to cure them when it was their turn.

Somehow it feels we need to change the approach.

Early days for my journey of discovery, but so far I like what I've seen from TOP:

https://www.top.org.nz/policy

Their main problem might be that they don't rattle the cage strong enough. Lets help them, shall we ?

[justakiwi]

Given that National and Labour did work over the last 3 decades or so hand in hand to run the country down (no matter whether we talk health services. education, public safety, infrastructure or even defence) would I wish somebody with fresh ideas all the luck they can get.

Exactly. People have very short memories, and while I fully agree that Labour has let us down, they did not create the current situation all by themselves. National contributed to it during their stints in government, and are also responsible for the mess we now find ourselves in.

Somehow it feels we need to change the approach.

Early days for my journey of discovery, but so far I like what I've seen from TOP:

https://www.top.org.nz/policy

Their main problem might be that they don't rattle the cage strong enough. Let's help them, shall we ?

They have my attention.