If National wins ...

[artemis]

..... The irony is that when the tables are turned...
Don't New Zealanders deserve to know what is being negotiated away by the main parties
Isn't this misleading that the public will be able to have their say about the policies in the next term of government
That they won't get their say over the legislation and policies as they will already been ratified by the coalition?

That could work quite well for the successful major party. A lot of promises were made during the campaign, some massively expensive. Not all can be progressed, obviously, so a chance to drop the policies they didn't really want anyway. Blame NZ First.

[minimoke]

The irony is that when the tables are turned...
Don't New Zealanders deserve to know what is being negotiated away by the main parties...?

Not necessarily. Put the coalition agreement aside for a moment. If I vote Labour and National gets in I don't get a further say on policy National puts forward. And even then National will go on and do stuff that wasn't even in a policy. eg putting up GST. Labour has done the same thing but its so long since they were on government I cant think offhand of an example.

We will get what we get. We all went into the elections knowing there would be a coalition and that there would be a very good chance NZ First would be the deal maker. Really, the only surprise is that Labour isnt in a stronger position.

But dont despair - we still have the usual law making process where most policies get tested through public consultation and select committees. Politicians always have an eye on the next election and they tend to err on the side of caution.

Its been 21 years now - I would have thought we would have grown up a bit and realised that negotiations, no matter what they are tend to be confidential. No side wants to show their hand.

[blackcap]

Bill back in favour now. 66% chance for Bill, 34% for Jacinda.

www.betfair.com

[Joshuatree]

Bill using his knees as well as his back

[elZorro]

Bill back in favour now. 66% chance for Bill, 34% for Jacinda.

www.betfair.com

Jacinda gave another couple of winks this morning on TV1. Surely that should have increased Labour's odds of winning?

[minimoke]

Jacinda gave another couple of winks this morning on TV1. Surely that should have increased Labour's odds of winning?

We should know by now she wasn't winking. She has a tic.

And having a tic is not far removed from having Tourettes.

And tics main trigger is stress along with anxiety, fear and panic

[blackcap]

Jacinda gave another couple of winks this morning on TV1. Surely that should have increased Labour's odds of winning?

Haha I missed that. By the way, did you get any of the generous 10's and 12's I was offering you on Labour the Monday after the election? Just curious.

[westerly]

Not necessarily. Put the coalition agreement aside for a moment. If I vote Labour and National gets in I don't get a further say on policy National puts forward. And even then National will go on and do stuff that wasn't even in a policy. eg putting up GST. Labour has done the same thing but its so long since they were on government I cant think offhand of an example.

We will get what we get. We all went into the elections knowing there would be a coalition and that there would be a very good chance NZ First would be the deal maker. Really, the only surprise is that Labour isnt in a stronger position.

But dont despair - we still have the usual law making process where most policies get tested through public consultation and select committees. Politicians always have an eye on the next election and they tend to err on the side of caution.

Its been 21 years now - I would have thought we would have grown up a bit and realised that negotiations, no matter what they are tend to be confidential. No side wants to show their hand.

An excellent post.

westerly

[elZorro]

Haha I missed that. By the way, did you get any of the generous 10's and 12's I was offering you on Labour the Monday after the election? Just curious.

No I didn't, I haven't used the site and was a bit too busy to figure it out this time. The bidding traffic for our elections doesn't look very big.

I think the odds should be 50:50 at this stage. The board is obviously in two minds anyway.

Here's a link to all the news on today's meeting.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/pol...winston-peters

So the board members have 95-99% reached a consensus on policies they want, now the politicians are going to speak to Labour and National to see who matches up, I guess. The board members are going home, but will be available by Skype and other methods when it comes to further decisions.

Winston is meeting one-on-one with Jacinda Ardern later this evening.

(And with Bill English).

The meetings are both completed.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=11934041

[Baa_Baa]

Winston looks absolutely buggered in that Herald interview, I haven't seen him look so tired, almost jumbling his words. Must be close to a final agreement or he might run out of puff(ery).