The next morning
So, new government. Like I said last night, I'm not surprised, but I am wary. John Key has made some interesting statements in the past, and I'm very, very worried about what this new government is going to do to legislation around working conditions. I remember ECA far too clearly. And I remember being on the same hourly rate in 2000 as I was on in 1992. To give you an indication of how things changed, my hourly rate has more than doubled since 2000. Admittedly, I've moved to an industry that's better paid, so that needs to be taken into account.
Act worry me a lot. Especially after those incredibly arrogant comments that Roger Douglas made last night - they only got 3.7% of the vote, so hardly a mandate for their policies. Even TV3 broke their neutraliy to comment on that - OK, it's TV3, who are left of centre, anyway, but...
The Maori Party are not the kingmakers. Can't say I'm disappointed by that - the last thing the country needs is another time in limbo while the Maori have huis to decide who to back. Having said that, the party vote in the Maori seats strongly supported Labour, so Tariana Turia may have a few things to think about.
There don't seem to be any Labour seats. Massive swings against Labour in their traditional heartlands, and MP's that would have been considered safe were defeated. Some of that admittedly was due to boundary changes - I know West Coast-Tasman gained Wakefield, which is very strong National, and a couple of other seats were similarly. But a 7% swing against Labour? It's been a long time since we've seen that kind of swing - maybe the 1990 election, Maybe even further back than that - 1984 or 1975.
For me, financially, I'm going to be better off under National. Their tax cuts are designed to help single people and people with no kids, especially. Hello, preaching to the inner city, younger voters. For the country, I'm not so sure it's such a good thing.
Helen Clark going. I have to admit that I'm not overly surprised by this. She's 58, and I thought that she'd stand down as leader before the next election to give her successor time to settle in. This was a bit quicker than I expected. As to who will replace her - I have no idea who that'll be. Cullen's deputy leader, but I doubt it'll be him. Maybe Goff or King? The Labour Party has been all about Helen for such a long time that really every other MP has been well back in the shadows.
One thing's for sure - we live in interesting times.
Act worry me a lot. Especially after those incredibly arrogant comments that Roger Douglas made last night - they only got 3.7% of the vote, so hardly a mandate for their policies. Even TV3 broke their neutraliy to comment on that - OK, it's TV3, who are left of centre, anyway, but...
The Maori Party are not the kingmakers. Can't say I'm disappointed by that - the last thing the country needs is another time in limbo while the Maori have huis to decide who to back. Having said that, the party vote in the Maori seats strongly supported Labour, so Tariana Turia may have a few things to think about.
There don't seem to be any Labour seats. Massive swings against Labour in their traditional heartlands, and MP's that would have been considered safe were defeated. Some of that admittedly was due to boundary changes - I know West Coast-Tasman gained Wakefield, which is very strong National, and a couple of other seats were similarly. But a 7% swing against Labour? It's been a long time since we've seen that kind of swing - maybe the 1990 election, Maybe even further back than that - 1984 or 1975.
For me, financially, I'm going to be better off under National. Their tax cuts are designed to help single people and people with no kids, especially. Hello, preaching to the inner city, younger voters. For the country, I'm not so sure it's such a good thing.
Helen Clark going. I have to admit that I'm not overly surprised by this. She's 58, and I thought that she'd stand down as leader before the next election to give her successor time to settle in. This was a bit quicker than I expected. As to who will replace her - I have no idea who that'll be. Cullen's deputy leader, but I doubt it'll be him. Maybe Goff or King? The Labour Party has been all about Helen for such a long time that really every other MP has been well back in the shadows.
One thing's for sure - we live in interesting times.