Planet Rugby Forum

Eugenius wrote:

Dark wrote:

Eugenius wrote:I’m pretty sure the Pandemic started well after Bill shuffled off to retirement.

Thus it was one of this handful of Opposition leaders that would have been relevant in the real world .

Was Bill even leader of the opposition?

Gosh it’s getting abit confused and chaotic over that side of the house isn’t it ?

Your hypothetical was who would have been the alternative PM, was it not?

We haven't had an election so the only one is Bill English.

The rest are irrelevant.

As Winston picked the losers

Err - no it wasn’t .

It was the ability of the current opposition to dealt with the pandemic better than the current Government at whatever stage .

Hence the multiple choices of leadership available for this very hypothetical opportunity.


Why on earth I would compare the two alternatives before the pandemic actually existed ?

As I said , try not and strain yourself .

Ok then

If you want to go extreme hypothetical of something that had absolutely no chance of it happening.

I call this your reality

They would have just done the same thing, with probably better border controls, and not screwed it up so much.

But we don't know. Maybe they would have been even more crap than Labour, but pushing it to imagine.

Dark wrote:

Eugenius wrote:

Dark wrote:

Eugenius wrote:I’m pretty sure the Pandemic started well after Bill shuffled off to retirement.

Thus it was one of this handful of Opposition leaders that would have been relevant in the real world .

Was Bill even leader of the opposition?

Gosh it’s getting abit confused and chaotic over that side of the house isn’t it ?

Your hypothetical was who would have been the alternative PM, was it not?

We haven't had an election so the only one is Bill English.

The rest are irrelevant.

As Winston picked the losers

Err - no it wasn’t not remotely .

It was the ability of the current opposition to dealt with the pandemic better than the current Government at whatever stage .

Hence the multiple choices of leadership available for this very hypothetical opportunity.


Why on earth I would compare the two alternatives before the pandemic actually existed ?

As I said , try not and strain yourself .

Ok then

If you want to go extreme hypothetical of something that had absolutely no chance of it happening.

I call this your reality

They would have just done the same thing, with probably better border controls, and not screwed it up so much.

But we don't know. Maybe they would have been even more crap than Labour, but pushing it to imagine.

Given Nationals sometimes slavish more conservative following of other countries initiatives ( more of a wait and see ) my guess that they would have been slower to act and when they finally did act it would be more along the lines of Australia lite . So no not the same .

Certainly their leadership statements since point to a more relaxed attitude to shutdown .
Bridges would have been leader and unless he was completely full of shit , he argued against many of the Governments measures and their length .

Obviously not enough people trusted either his argument nor delivery as he was soon replaced .

I think National far more susceptible to the large business lobby’s interests and influence , I believe they desired something more aggressive . It’s difficult to imagine any opposition leader ( whichever it was ) being immune to this influence .

You might well regards this as a better potential outcome , I however do not .


It’s nonsense and contradictory I think to keep insisting that National would have reacted with exactly ‘the same’ , only to do it better .

It might be convenient for an argument but it’s seriously unlikely .

Eugenius wrote:

booji boy wrote:Just following the social media trends I saw a lot of natural National supporters return to the fold when Muller took over. Bridges had literally driven away some of the dyed in the wool, true blue voters. He was that bad. Whilst everyone was disappointed in Mullers dismally short reign I think those same voters are still much happier with Collins than Bridges.

Meanwhile I'm seeing more swinging voters who are becoming disillusioned with this Govts constant bungling of the border controls and the complete lack of accountability for all the failings.

I think the vote on 17 October might be closer than it was once looking. Still a comfortable win for Labour but perhaps not the bloodbath it was once shaping up to be.

Maybe , do the polls show this ?

Has there been a recent poll?

More talking the entire period under discussion mate .

That might lead to some conclusions .

Eugenius wrote:

Dark wrote:

Eugenius wrote:

Dark wrote:

Eugenius wrote:I’m pretty sure the Pandemic started well after Bill shuffled off to retirement.

Thus it was one of this handful of Opposition leaders that would have been relevant in the real world .

Was Bill even leader of the opposition?

Gosh it’s getting abit confused and chaotic over that side of the house isn’t it ?

Your hypothetical was who would have been the alternative PM, was it not?

We haven't had an election so the only one is Bill English.

The rest are irrelevant.

As Winston picked the losers

Err - no it wasn’t .

It was the ability of the current opposition to dealt with the pandemic better than the current Government at whatever stage .

Hence the multiple choices of leadership available for this very hypothetical opportunity.


Why on earth I would compare the two alternatives before the pandemic actually existed ?

As I said , try not and strain yourself .

Ok then

If you want to go extreme hypothetical of something that had absolutely no chance of it happening.

I call this your reality

They would have just done the same thing, with probably better border controls, and not screwed it up so much.

But we don't know. Maybe they would have been even more crap than Labour, but pushing it to imagine.

Given Nationals slavish following of other countries initiatives my guess that they would have been slower to act and when they finally did act it would be more along the lines of Australia lite .

Certainly their statements since point to a more relaxed attitude to shutdown .

Bridges would have been leader and unless he was completely full of shit , he argued against many of the Governments measures and their length .

Obviously not enough people trusted either his argument nor delivery as he was soon replaced .

No idea

The one thing we do know is the Nats were asking for the border to be shut weeks before Ardern went in "Hard and fast", with presumably lot's of "Kindness" and "Caring" with her "Team of 5 million"

booji boy wrote:Just following the social media trends I saw a lot of natural National supporters return to the fold when Muller took over. Bridges had literally driven away some of the dyed in the wool, true blue voters. He was that bad. Whilst everyone was disappointed in Mullers dismally short reign I think those same voters are still much happier with Collins than Bridges.

Meanwhile I'm seeing more swinging voters who are becoming disillusioned with this Govts constant bungling of the border controls and the complete lack of accountability for all the failings.

I think the vote on 17 October might be closer than it was once looking. Still a comfortable win for Labour but perhaps not the bloodbath it was once shaping up to be.

Yes I think election night will be a bit closer with national ending up in the mid, possibly late 30s

I think ACT will end up with a few disgruntled Nat supporters and get over the 5% threshold, nzf gone

Based on nationals pre Covid figures there are obviously a lot of Nat swing voters- bridge can’t have been that bad at that point because they were polling about 44%

brat wrote:

booji boy wrote:Just following the social media trends I saw a lot of natural National supporters return to the fold when Muller took over. Bridges had literally driven away some of the dyed in the wool, true blue voters. He was that bad. Whilst everyone was disappointed in Mullers dismally short reign I think those same voters are still much happier with Collins than Bridges.

Meanwhile I'm seeing more swinging voters who are becoming disillusioned with this Govts constant bungling of the border controls and the complete lack of accountability for all the failings.

I think the vote on 17 October might be closer than it was once looking. Still a comfortable win for Labour but perhaps not the bloodbath it was once shaping up to be.

Yes I think election night will be a bit closer with national ending up in the mid, possibly late 30s

I think ACT will end up with a few disgruntled Nat supporters and get over the 5% threshold, nzf gone

Based on nationals pre Covid figures there are obviously a lot of Nat swing voters- bridge can’t have been that bad at that point because they were polling about 44%

Hmm ... good point.

Eugenius wrote:

Dark wrote:

Eugenius wrote:

Dark wrote:

Eugenius wrote:I’m pretty sure the Pandemic started well after Bill shuffled off to retirement.

Thus it was one of this handful of Opposition leaders that would have been relevant in the real world .

Was Bill even leader of the opposition?

Gosh it’s getting abit confused and chaotic over that side of the house isn’t it ?

Your hypothetical was who would have been the alternative PM, was it not?

We haven't had an election so the only one is Bill English.

The rest are irrelevant.

As Winston picked the losers

Err - no it wasn’t not remotely .

It was the ability of the current opposition to dealt with the pandemic better than the current Government at whatever stage .

Hence the multiple choices of leadership available for this very hypothetical opportunity.


Why on earth I would compare the two alternatives before the pandemic actually existed ?

As I said , try not and strain yourself .

Ok then

If you want to go extreme hypothetical of something that had absolutely no chance of it happening.

I call this your reality

They would have just done the same thing, with probably better border controls, and not screwed it up so much.

But we don't know. Maybe they would have been even more crap than Labour, but pushing it to imagine.

Given Nationals sometimes slavish more conservative following of other countries initiatives ( more of a wait and see ) my guess that they would have been slower to act and when they finally did act it would be more along the lines of Australia lite . So no not the same .

Certainly their leadership statements since point to a more relaxed attitude to shutdown .
Bridges would have been leader and unless he was completely full of shit , he argued against many of the Governments measures and their length .

Obviously not enough people trusted either his argument nor delivery as he was soon replaced .

I think National far more susceptible to the large business lobby’s interests and influence , I believe they desired something more aggressive . It’s difficult to imagine any opposition leader ( whichever it was ) being immune to this influence .

You might well regards this as a better potential outcome , I however do not .


It’s nonsense and contradictory I think to keep insisting that National would have reacted with exactly ‘the same’ , only to do it better .

It might be convenient for an argument but it’s seriously unlikely .

Oh you have added a bit.

Your right of course.

We are talking hypothetically

OK

National would have wiped the virus from the entire world by now.

Everyone in NZ would now be a millionaire

There would now be no climate change.

Edit: Should add. Happy for you to prove me wrong

Eugenius wrote:

booji boy wrote:Just following the social media trends I saw a lot of natural National supporters return to the fold when Muller took over. Bridges had literally driven away some of the dyed in the wool, true blue voters. He was that bad. Whilst everyone was disappointed in Mullers dismally short reign I think those same voters are still much happier with Collins than Bridges.

Meanwhile I'm seeing more swinging voters who are becoming disillusioned with this Govts constant bungling of the border controls and the complete lack of accountability for all the failings.

I think the vote on 17 October might be closer than it was once looking. Still a comfortable win for Labour but perhaps not the bloodbath it was once shaping up to be.

Maybe , do the polls show this ?

tbf Eug, the next round of polls are not going to be good for Labour. National/ACT are likely back in the game.

Auckman wrote:

Eugenius wrote:

booji boy wrote:Just following the social media trends I saw a lot of natural National supporters return to the fold when Muller took over. Bridges had literally driven away some of the dyed in the wool, true blue voters. He was that bad. Whilst everyone was disappointed in Mullers dismally short reign I think those same voters are still much happier with Collins than Bridges.

Meanwhile I'm seeing more swinging voters who are becoming disillusioned with this Govts constant bungling of the border controls and the complete lack of accountability for all the failings.

I think the vote on 17 October might be closer than it was once looking. Still a comfortable win for Labour but perhaps not the bloodbath it was once shaping up to be.

Maybe , do the polls show this ?

tbf Eug, the next round of polls are not going to be good for Labour. National/ACT are likely back in the game.

This outbreak will be crucial, if they can successfully repel this latest outbreak I think it will cement their popularity. If they can't control the outbreak then it's anyone's game. If Labour can get things back to "normal" by the election people have short memories and will vote accordingly.

Dark wrote:

Eugenius wrote:True .

For as the Darks of this world attack the Government as utterly incompetent, an opposition bitterly divided and throwing up leadership after leadership is hardly confidence creating .

The majority stay with the devil known .

It is what opposition do in dissaray

Clark
Goff
Shearer
Cunliffe
Little
Ardern

Nationals almost there after one term !!

Groan

Ok so you’ve had your birthday .

15 years old !

( onto ignore you go )

BlueThunder wrote:

Auckman wrote:

Eugenius wrote:

booji boy wrote:Just following the social media trends I saw a lot of natural National supporters return to the fold when Muller took over. Bridges had literally driven away some of the dyed in the wool, true blue voters. He was that bad. Whilst everyone was disappointed in Mullers dismally short reign I think those same voters are still much happier with Collins than Bridges.

Meanwhile I'm seeing more swinging voters who are becoming disillusioned with this Govts constant bungling of the border controls and the complete lack of accountability for all the failings.

I think the vote on 17 October might be closer than it was once looking. Still a comfortable win for Labour but perhaps not the bloodbath it was once shaping up to be.

Maybe , do the polls show this ?

tbf Eug, the next round of polls are not going to be good for Labour. National/ACT are likely back in the game.

This outbreak will be crucial, if they can successfully repel this latest outbreak I think it will cement their popularity. If they can't control the outbreak then it's anyone's game. If Labour can get things back to "normal" by the election people have short memories and will vote accordingly.

That's my thinking tbh. A lot hinges on whether this outbreak is under control.

Quite concerning in this election so far seems to be the higher profile granted to conspiracy theorists and niche activists. ACT cosying up to the anti-1080 mob also concerns me. I don't recall these aspects being so visible in past elections; though perhaps that is sepia-tinged nostalgia.

Eugenius wrote:

mr bungle wrote:

Eugenius wrote:

mr bungle wrote:

Ghost-Of-Nepia wrote:Frankly you're making stuff up about that time. Why would I mention the cricket games in Oamaru, FFS?

Let's get back to this thread topic. Does anyone understand why hardcore Labour supporters would be Facebook friends with a couple of senior National MPs? For trolling purposes or they just love the celebrity side of politics? It's positively baffling.

Who is Eug FB friends with? I reckon Simon is a Yvonne Todd fan.

I doubt it .i

Tho Jacinda complimented a work we put together for a past show .

Be still my beating heart .


https://ibb.co/jT8Kfby

So which senior Nats MPs are you FB friends with?

Someone’s been looking at my friends list ?

Creepy ! And more than slightly inappropriate.

None to my knowledge .

Tho admittedly when I was thinking of opening a gallery several years ago I cast a pretty indiscriminate net , going for numbers and potential collectors .

Maybe it’s time for a cull ?

Three of my FB friends are friends with you. One you can keep, but I feel like cutting the others.

Eugenius wrote:

Dark wrote:

Eugenius wrote:True .

For as the Darks of this world attack the Government as utterly incompetent, an opposition bitterly divided and throwing up leadership after leadership is hardly confidence creating .

The majority stay with the devil known .

It is what opposition do in dissaray

Clark
Goff
Shearer
Cunliffe
Little
Ardern

Nationals almost there after one term !!

Groan

Ok so you’ve had your birthday .

15 years old !

( onto ignore you go )

The saddest bit is you think I give a shit.

BTW I forgot in your hypothetical the Nats would have cured cancer by last February.

Why hasn't Ardern?

BlueThunder wrote:

Auckman wrote:

Eugenius wrote:

booji boy wrote:Just following the social media trends I saw a lot of natural National supporters return to the fold when Muller took over. Bridges had literally driven away some of the dyed in the wool, true blue voters. He was that bad. Whilst everyone was disappointed in Mullers dismally short reign I think those same voters are still much happier with Collins than Bridges.

Meanwhile I'm seeing more swinging voters who are becoming disillusioned with this Govts constant bungling of the border controls and the complete lack of accountability for all the failings.

I think the vote on 17 October might be closer than it was once looking. Still a comfortable win for Labour but perhaps not the bloodbath it was once shaping up to be.

Maybe , do the polls show this ?

tbf Eug, the next round of polls are not going to be good for Labour. National/ACT are likely back in the game.

This outbreak will be crucial, if they can successfully repel this latest outbreak I think it will cement their popularity. If they can't control the outbreak then it's anyone's game. If Labour can get things back to "normal" by the election people have short memories and will vote accordingly.

Anyone else find it interesting that Hipkins is fronting most of the media conferences and not the combo of Ardern/Robertson?

Cynic in me thinks its so while the media are hounding them on possible cock ups they are keeping Ardern out of the firing line to keep her image. Or is it bc of all the opposition parties moaning that Ardern got too much free press

Feel sorry for Hipkins - got tossed this bugger of a portfolio at the last minute, just when the bastard virus popped up again.

he must be pulling his hair out

Monkey, I think it the later .

She doesn’t want it to appear an undue advantage either way .

Any publicity being good publicity and all that .

Frankly I wanted her to simply say fudge it and but her foot on the opposition throats .

But I guess that’s neither who she is or how she wants to be perceived .

Damn .

Enzedder wrote:Feel sorry for Hipkins - got tossed this bugger of a portfolio at the last minute, just when the bastard virus popped up again.

he must be pulling his hair out

I think him simply a competent night watchman.

He’ll be replaced after the election .

Enzedder wrote:Feel sorry for Hipkins - got tossed this bugger of a portfolio at the last minute, just when the bastard virus popped up again.

he must be pulling his hair out

He's obviously a pretty competent guy without the gravitas to go to the highest level of leadership.

Given where the health system was at prior to covid, where it has to be now and the huge issues in education he'll need to have stuff taken off him post election.

Its like he came in as a night watchman to face a spinner and out of nowhere Waqar Younis decided he had enough gas for another spell and is going head hunting

Monkey Magic wrote:

Enzedder wrote:Feel sorry for Hipkins - got tossed this bugger of a portfolio at the last minute, just when the bastard virus popped up again.

he must be pulling his hair out

He's obviously a pretty competent guy without the gravitas to go to the highest level of leadership.

Given where the health system was at prior to covid, where it has to be now and the huge issues in education he'll need to have stuff taken off him post election.

Its like he came in as a night watchman to face a spinner and out of nowhere Waqar Younis decided he had enough gas for another spell and is going head hunting

I think Hipkins is doing very well in the circumstances. He has been thrown a hospital pass by his incompetent predecessor Clark and between Health and the Education portfolio he is making a good fist of it. His fronting up daily just makes Clark look like an even bigger plum. Credit where it's due.

Clark was on his last legs before the pandemic frankly .

Medical specialists didn’t rate him one bit .

Christchurch is still in a hole thanks largely to his efforts and will take sometime to dig out .

Eugenius wrote:

Enzedder wrote:Feel sorry for Hipkins - got tossed this bugger of a portfolio at the last minute, just when the bastard virus popped up again.

he must be pulling his hair out

I think him simply a competent night watchman.

He’ll be replaced after the election .

This is the second time you have hinted at a new Health Minister .. are you saying Dr Verall will be the next health minister

What I’ve been told -

Eugenius wrote:What I’ve been told -

She would be a first term list mp , would be shame if she got thrown under a bus that early in her career

I dunno, I reckon they might keep Hipkins there because he is experienced and knows how to answer questions but put Verrall and Liz Craig as associate ministers to really run the show.

What a shitshow. It is indicative of just how crap National is that no amount of utter incompetence from Labour will prevent them from forming the next Government. And make no mistake this Labour Government is rubbish.

One thing I have noticed about Hipkins is at least he fairly still honest and owns shit.

Still turned into a prick though

Given that you rate Trumps management ability I think I’ll understand that as a compliment.

Monkey Magic wrote:

Enzedder wrote:Feel sorry for Hipkins - got tossed this bugger of a portfolio at the last minute, just when the bastard virus popped up again.

he must be pulling his hair out

He's obviously a pretty competent guy without the gravitas to go to the highest level of leadership.

Given where the health system was at prior to covid, where it has to be now and the huge issues in education he'll need to have stuff taken off him post election.

Its like he came in as a night watchman to face a spinner and out of nowhere Waqar Younis decided he had enough gas for another spell and is going head hunting

Education, or the lack of it due to Covid is a big issue that still needs to be addressed. not just how to deliver it and catch up, but how to re-engage students from lower income families who have ended up leaving school to take up relatively low paying jobs as their families have taken a financial hit.

Hareaway wrote:

Eugenius wrote:What I’ve been told -

She would be a first term list mp , would be shame if she got thrown under a bus that early in her career

I reckon .

Hareaway wrote:

Eugenius wrote:What I’ve been told -

She would be a first term list mp , would be shame if she got thrown under a bus that early in her career

I reckon .

Fat Old Git wrote:

Monkey Magic wrote:

Enzedder wrote:Feel sorry for Hipkins - got tossed this bugger of a portfolio at the last minute, just when the bastard virus popped up again.

he must be pulling his hair out

He's obviously a pretty competent guy without the gravitas to go to the highest level of leadership.

Given where the health system was at prior to covid, where it has to be now and the huge issues in education he'll need to have stuff taken off him post election.

Its like he came in as a night watchman to face a spinner and out of nowhere Waqar Younis decided he had enough gas for another spell and is going head hunting

Education, or the lack of it due to Covid is a big issue that still needs to be addressed. not just how to deliver it and catch up, but how to re-engage students from lower income families who have ended up leaving school to take up relatively low paying jobs as their families have taken a financial hit.

Saw the AimHi head saying opening up for seniors again helps out the high decile schools while the lower decile ones in south auckland are still stuffed. They've lost kids to the workforce, kids don't have devices/internet to take part in remote learning, and a lot of kids particularly in PI families are expected to be looking after their younger siblings when home, not do school work.

Assuming we have covid situations like this for the next year or more it is going to take a lot of clever buggers to work out how to stop the outcomes for these kids turn into an absolute shitshow

It's a difficult one. So many kids who are having their potential snuffed out by this.

Not sure what the solution is, but heard discussion around having something similar to the wage subsidy, but aimed at helping the families of the kids at risk so they could stay in school.

Eugenius wrote:Monkey, I think it the later .

She doesn’t want it to appear an undue advantage either way .

Any publicity being good publicity and all that .

Frankly I wanted her to simply say fudge it and but her foot on the opposition throats .

But I guess that’s neither who she is or how she wants to be perceived .

Damn .

The Education of children, youth and young adult is an interesting issue during a pandemic.

The key issues to me are:

1. The education of NZers.

2. The Education of Foreign Learners.

First the education of NZers

At the younger end, birth through to seven, education appears to be most successful when high interaction to relationship build and bond with the primary caregivers....parents.....especially up to the age of five. This however is in direct competition with the work force, and many parents must place their children into care centres, kindergartens, preschools. Parental leave has improved the care of infants more as the initial bond is built, and grandparents are involved in care as well.

The pandemic, especially at level 4, improved life and learning for this age group overall, as I read and hear that many families made the most of the time together, without having to resort to expensive outings and holidays. It seems that the "up to seven year old child's" commencement of formal education has always been a debate, as Singapore starts kids as young as 3.5yrs, Britain at 4 yrs, NZ at 5 years, Australia 6yrs and Finland 7 yrs.

Our 8 to 14 cohort of learners, are the group whose knowledge and skills are being built up through rich experiences and a widening curriculum.....and through widening relationship development away from family, building resilience through cooperative learning, sport, arts, and other "character building" interests. The lockdo....thrwn for this group was harder.....and if children were asked....harder on the more physical types who missed their sport.....easier on the academic as they could read more without the plod work of endless assessment and assignments. Overall however, not much damage is done as kids, like the environment, had a chance for a rest and the importance of having to understand the reason why lemmings jump over cliffs drifted into insignificance......for 5 months.

Our NCEA kids live in a world that our School Cert and UE kids could only dream of.....the world of the internet and technology. I believe these kids fall into three distinct groups: the achievers who never changed gear.....they grabbed their computers, consulted their teachers and MOE syllabuses, and with minimal guidance, self taught using all sites online. Then there are the ones like me......needing to be spoon fed more. They will have holes in their learning, only if that learning is hierarchical, and required as a prerequisite for future courses......they/we are more trusting souls and what we don't know that we dont know, doesnt seem to affect our future development. Catchup will be necessary. And as for the third group, they have other desires in life and are only there as there is an age attendance requirement.....these are not spoon feeders, but force feeders.

The tertiary sector is a different scene again, as learners are self investing for job skills and future employment and careers. The pandemic was harmful for these young adults, as standards of competence are involved, which must be assesed and met which will lead to more time at their place of sudy until courses and competence in their understanding and application are achieved. Internal organisation of these places of study will be essential, to allow courses to be completed in part years in the future.

The Education of Foreigners

This issue of closed borders really only affects this group, foreign learners...and overseas based staff...and the institutions that recruit them and their fees. Having foreign students has got it's merits as sharing of culture, practices, learning syles, knowledge is always beneficial......however, the Pandemic has caused unwanted ripples across the secondary and tertiary sectors......mainly to do with money. Bums on seats bring in money from the MOE....bums on seats mean more staff have to be hired on contracts...........money from foregn students pay for the extras.....then the pandemic hits and the money tap is turned off.

Schools which recruit have the extra funding to create smaller classes by hiring extra staff beyond their MOE allocation......there are interesting times ahead for these schools budget wise...and political agitaion to let in foreign students through the closed border in their thousands. The MOE are caught between a rock and a hard place on this issue, as a small country school for example, who after gypsy day when the dairy industry has its new contracts realigned, loses half its students whose families move to another district: suddenly.....less bums on seats, less funding, less staffing......automatically ....if not for that year, then certainly for the next. Consistency must apply - work within finacial constraints.
The same rules apply for all.

In summary.....the pandemic has had a huge effect on education, but not evenly across the whole sector......and even suggest it was a boost for family life, especially for the younger children.....but a pain in the arse for secondary and tertiary students for reasons stated above,

Jacinda Ardern has just done a cases per million comparison of us vs. the USA. I wonder if that will get back to Donald Trump.

The more party-tribalism bollocks I see in the lead-up to the election, the more inclined I am to "waste" my vote on the TOP party. Doesn't appear to be any other options that will take a pragmatic approach to policy, as opposed to just vote "buying" measures. Really do appear to be on a path towards a genuine Idiocracy in the future.

As for my local MP - there really needs to be an option to vote against a single candidate, rather than for one - "anyone but Shane Jones" will do for me.

Demilich wrote:The more party-tribalism bollocks I see in the lead-up to the election, the more inclined I am to "waste" my vote on the TOP party. Doesn't appear to be any other options that will take a pragmatic approach to policy, as opposed to just vote "buying" measures. Really do appear to be on a path towards a genuine Idiocracy in the future.

As for my local MP - there really needs to be an option to vote against a single candidate, rather than for one - "anyone but Shane Jones" will do for me.

As someone firmly in the anyone but Gerry Brownlee camp I endorse the introduction of this option.

JB1981 wrote: Jacinda Ardern has just done a cases per million comparison of us vs. the USA. I wonder if that will get back to Donald Trump.

That did make me chuckle. Although she missed an opportunity to have a nice chart on display.

Fat Old Git wrote:

JB1981 wrote: Jacinda Ardern has just done a cases per million comparison of us vs. the USA. I wonder if that will get back to Donald Trump.

That did make me chuckle. Also she missed an opportunity to have a nice chart on display.

You can't do that.