Can I be bothered blogging about National's housing policy? The most noteworthy aspect is its similarity to Labour's - again. They will return tenants right to purchase their state home but if this happens the state home stock will be replaced.
"We won't be running down the state housing stock. We acknowledge that we need it."
Mr Heatley said the party would now keep Labour's policy of fixing state house rents at only 25 per cent of the tenants' incomes except for tenants on high incomes.
He promised to keep the accommodation supplement.
He also promised to keep Labour's Housing Innovation Fund, which provides $12 million a year in capital for community groups providing shared-equity and other subsidised housing to low-income people.
What is the point of this election? The Dominion Post comments in its editorial today, on the matter of the closing poll gap between National and Labour,
What this poll and others taken around the same time do show is that there will not be a walkover. This is healthy. Democracy thrives on the contest of ideas, policies and personalities, not on forgone conclusions.
Except there is no contest of ideas. "What this poll" actually shows is that we are not living in a 'thriving' democracy. A thriving democracy would be one that is flourishing, prospering and growing rich. We are living in a tired, cynical, paralysed democracy that is deeply dissatisfied with the status quo but too scared to change it.
8 comments:
This is why I am leaving NZ. John Key is an utter fuckwit and not fit to lick Don Brash's boots. Nothing will improve in this country under a National Govt lead by soft cock Key.
Murray
You can have a "thriving democracy" without being rich, as one is a system of government, the other other is a condition that government inevitably has an affect on.
That is why ACT has such a wonderful opportunity this election, if it can get the message out there.
Excellent post Lindsay. The major players have zero interest in changing the status quo. Keep on spending $160,000,000 a day and taking their cut in reward for doing such a fine job.
National 52%
ACT 2%
enough said.
It's stupid, stupid attacks like this
that made John Ansell wash his hands of you.
Anon, It wasn't.
You can have a "thriving democracy" without being rich,
No you cannot. Dickhead.
The athenian's democracy was built on slavery.
Unless NZ manages to get a lot richer - the only way to keep us in any way democratic would be to move to taxpayer franchise or a similar arrangement.
I see you are having the same problems we are having.
Can I suggest at this point that until we (us, you, me) are able to get our economic freedom back, we are individually and collectively slaves...if the govt says their going to spend $7B on a mole rat project; how can I refuse?
This is where we find ourselves, so how do we get out of this position?
By changing the way our governments tax us, I hold we can gain our liberty back. Suggest we get our govt back by seeing that they replace taxing our income with taxing consumption. Sounds simplistic, unfair, whatever, but until we get the politicians out of the taxing business the corruption will continue. And that's the real problem. If they could only tax what I chose to spend they wouldn't have power over us, you, me. I don't have to consume mass quantities; that I can control. I have to earn a living, and if they can tax my money before I can spend it, then I'm a slave at worst; an indentured servant or serf at best. If they can't force us to comply then we won't. In some countries 5% of the pop pay 80% of the taxes. Look at the power that gives them to set the agenda? We think we are snagging the rich; but they just raise prices, or lower wages, and pay off the pols re-election committee with the taxes. Govt has no money and the taxes are buried in product costs, which are passed on. Movement afoot in US called the fair tax for that; perhaps NZ has the same problems we do? Peace Out
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