The 17th of October is the general election in NZ. A labour / greens coaliton looks likely which is not terribly surprising given the current government’s response to the covid-19 pandemic and the on-going dis-array in the National party which is the main opposition party here.
Advance voting is at record levels which suggests that the electorate made up it’s mind pretty early on.
Most you will not care and I really wanted to just be able to share this, one of the most unquestionably kiwi things imaginable.
At least I don’t have to ask who the person Taika is replying to is. Would she retain the PM seat should your predicted coalition outcome happen @aeneas?
Ferg Burger is a ‘world famous’ burger bar in Queenstown.
Jacinda is the leader of the Labour party so staying as PM should be a given. In fact the greens have been saying a vote for them is a vote for the Jacinda government.
The opposition parties have been very careful not to attack her directly as her personal approval rating has been as high as the mid 70% range during 2020.
I don’t think a US president has had numbers that high since sympathy approval for Bush Jr. following 9/11.
Must be nice.
Edit: Although, even Trump had a COVID-sympathy boost earlier in the year. Seems that it could have happened in the US again with minimally competent leadership. Alas.
Can you guys vote to remove the second “R” from Jacinda Ardern’s name? Since I’m an American and believe in pronouncing the letter R, I always sound drunk when I try to say her name.
A few years ago I/we came very close to immigrating to NZ. What stopped us was, naturally, one of our stupid cats because NZ has some bizzarro rules on certain breeds of ‘pedigree’ cat that meant we’d have to leave him behind. Our tabby would’ve just been fine though, which is ironic since the entire reason for the restriction is protecting the local wildlife and she’s racked up quite body count over the years whereas the pedigree is as lazy a playboy you can imagine. The only way that boy is eating any mouse (protected or otherwise) is if it is served to him on a silver platter. Which fox.mrs, doting upon his every whim, would be all too keen to attend.
Anyway, I have, of course, regretted the decision to stay on this blighted island from time to time, but perhaps no more so in the wake of covid and our government’s utter bungling incompetence at every single turn. While I’m very much aware that no place on this earth is perfect and the events of 2019 certainly showed that NZ shares in some of the disappointing and petty hatred that denigrates us all, your governance is nonetheless one to aspire.
I’ve yet to meet anyone who’s been to New Zealand who has not loved the place, so I’m looking forward to visiting once its allowed.
It really is a different world down there.
In this pretty typical description of the NZ debate, I was struck by these last few paragraphs.
Asked if they had anything to say to each other, Ardern thanked Collins for her “moving and sincere” speech after the Christchurch mosque shootings in March last year, and her action on gun control.
Collins thanked Ardern for giving “her heart and soul” to the job of prime minister, and said she knew the effort, time and toll it could take. Collins admitted that while she enjoyed the campaign trail, she missed having dinner with her husband and son.
The last time two US candidates and sincere positive things to say about each other during a debate was back in 2008.
MMP became the electoral system in NZ in 1996 since then no party has ever won the election with enough seats to govern alone. Till last Saturday.
Even in many of the seats national won - they lost the party vote this time Look at papakura from that list - Collins is the leader of the Nats and she won her seat but more people voted for Labour.
The local electorate where I live has flipped from Nat to Lab for the first time that I can ever remember and I’ve lived here for 30 years now.
Turns out that keeping people safe resonates.
@soma - let’s hope Chole keeps that seat - but there’s close to 435k of special votes and I assume Auckland Central will be a few of those.
Also hope that Tamati Coffey is actually out in his seat.
Just saw the thread. Predictably it was a red tide, though I’m hopeful Labour will be willing to attempt some daring, transformative things that risk alienating their recently acquired Nat voters rather than sticking to being a safe centrist party. I wonder how their negotiations with the Greens will go, since they can govern alone.
I’m also crossing my fingers that Tamati Coffey’s back on the list. Having Rawiri Waititi in Govt will put the pressure on to actually attempt to tackle our terrible prison system. Here’s hoping the special votes are enough they can secure another MP. Probably the best comeback story of the night. Also, I’m genuinely thrilled that the Advance Party is gone burgers! Farewell to the sorry story of JLR.
