Clive Bibby: Get over it - we won, you lost!

I suspect Sir Michael Cullen (knight of the realm, and faithful servant to this country’s democratic process over many years and author of that quotation), would not have foreseen the dramatic collapse of a government so hell bent on destroying the proud record of its Labour predecessors. 

While never having voted for Labour in my lifetime, l have always been happy to recognise common sense and merit in arguments offered by those of a different political persuasion. 

Chris Trotter: Who’s Driving The Right-Wing Bus?

Bill Rowling told New Zealanders that he felt as though he had been run over by a bus. The metaphor was apt. Rob Muldoon’s 1975 electoral victory represented one of the great turnarounds in New Zealand political history. Three years earlier, Labour’s Norman Kirk had sent the National Government of Jack Marshall packing. But, just three years later, Muldoon, Marshall’s populist successor, exactly reversed Kirk’s landslide. National’s majority in the House of Representatives was identical to Labour’s – a whopping 23 seats. New Zealand had voted for the nation they wanted – and Muldoon was determined to give it to them.

Graeme Edgeler: As Long as It Takes, or There are No Hard Deadlines

Government-formation negotiations are ongoing between National, Act and New Zealand First. We do not know how long these will take. Neither it seems, do they.

Importantly, there are fundamentally no hard deadlines on government formation negotiations in New Zealand. It will take as long as it takes. I’ll start by saying that some of the hypotheticals I talk about here are ridiculously unlikely. National, Act and New Zealand First will almost certainly either come to an agreement, or realise they cannot, well before we reach the ones I mention at the end. The point I am making is well-established by them however: there really are no hard deadlines. There is no date by which, if negotiations haven’t resolved anything, there must be a fresh election. Unless they’re still going in 2026, of course, when we’ll need an election anyway.

Chris Trotter: Taking Charge - Luxon Must Demonstrate That He Can Not Only Win – But Govern.

Christopher Luxon has shown himself to be a fast learner when it comes to mastering the skills required to win. Now, having won, he cannot avoid revealing how quickly he can master the art of governing.
The first lesson he will have to learn is that being Prime Minister is not at all the same as being CEO. Political power is always and everywhere a matter of negotiation. Even dictators discover how dangerous it is to try and rule arbitrarily, and alone. Those who tried did not remain dictators very long.

Kate Hawkesby: Maybe Winston's experience will be a good thing

So, we now know Winston’s in the mix in a real and tangible way. He’s needed.  

We can thank special votes for that.  

So, I’m trying to look for positives, and trust me, it’s not easy - but I found one.  

He at least has institutional knowledge of how parliament works, what being a politician means, and how the place functions.  

That’s a benefit to Luxon because that’s more than he’s got. 

Kate Hawkesby: Special votes are finally out tomorrow

So tomorrow we finally —after such a ridiculously long wait— get the final vote count.

Specials will be done, duplicates checked, ballots finalized, we will know where we’re at, and more importantly, what form the new government might take.

The fact we’ve had three weeks in limbo is completely ludicrous and at least the incoming PM has acknowledged that and claims he’ll do something about changing it. Which as far as I understand involves changing the law and the way the electoral commission operates, and I hope they do that.

Clive Bibby: Lessons from the vote

My guess is that most people reading this column headline will be anticipating the author writing about Saturday’s general election in this country - a result from which we could draw some pretty obvious conclusions. 

Well, if people did think that, they’d be half right but regarding the lessons to be learned, I am actually mainly referring to Saturday’s referendum on the “Voice “ in Australia that enables me to make some really startling observations, drawing comparisons with our closest neighbour that are very revealing.

Kate Hawkesby: Final thoughts before the election

Well this is the last time I talk to you before Saturday... although we’ll all be here Saturday night. Mike, me, Heather, and Barry, if you want to tune into ZB’s election coverage or watch it live streamed on the ZB or Herald websites, we’ll be here. Depending on how it goes if you look closely on the livestream you may see me tearing my hair out.  

Honestly, I’ll be glad to see the back of it. It’s been too long, too divisive, too feisty, too nasty. I think that’s all been a turn off for voters and it may go towards explaining the current apathy. If the polls don’t pick up Saturday, then I think that says something about how this whole campaign —from every side— has been run. The sniping, accusations and insults has been gross. The misinformation that’s been allowed to run unchecked, fuelled by media, has been a disappointment.

Election 2023: Voters told to steer clear of posting on social media

PLEASE NOTE: It is against the law to comment on blogs, websites, and social media about voting or the election on Election Day until voting ends at 7pm - then the free-for-all can resume!

Here are extracts from a Radio NZ article:  

Election 2023: Voters told to steer clear of posting on social media

"Social media users are being warned not to make posts on voting or any aspect of political campaigns come election day.

The Electoral Commission which oversees the election keeps an eye on social media and follows up on any complaints.

Chief electoral officer Karl Le Quesne has this advice: "We just advise everyone don't broadcast on social media about voting or campaigning on election day."

The full article can be read HERE. 

Kate Hawkesby: Two Ws might ruin our weekend

Two Ws are potentially going to ruin our weekend: Winston and Wayne.  

Winston could kill all the fun Saturday night by holding the whole country to ransom and not forming a government. Wayne Barnes could ruin Sunday morning with his calls against the AB’s... we are potentially in for a rocky weekend of woe and misery leaving us all with a collective hangover Monday. The country could sink into a deep depression. More so than it already is. Yikes. 

NZCPR Newsletter: Final Thoughts on Election 2023

“Our Governments have great powers and great responsibilities. Their exercise of those powers and fulfilment of those responsibilities is legitimate only because it arises from the consent of the people, or, to put it another way, because it is based on the political sovereignty of the people.”
- Towards a Better Democracy: the 1986 Royal Commission into the Electoral System.

We are now only days away from election night’s ‘big reveal’, when we find out the direction of the country for the next three years.

Kate Hawkesby: One thing that should be on the new govt's radar is the state of our cities

One of the many things that are hopefully on the new government’s radar come October 15 is the state of our cities.  

I mean yes our communities and our suburbs are in dire straits too getting ravaged by crime and unruly gangs in many places, but our CBDs are a mess - they’re unsavoury places.  

They don’t feel safe anymore. I get people messaging me every day about the CBD, particularly Auckland, and what a mess it is, or how embarrassed they are of it. Which is a shame because parts of it are really cool.

Kate Hawkesby: I'm none the wiser as to how this will go

I’m rallying the troops at the moment to early vote.  

By troops I mean family members, but also anyone who’ll listen. So far I think just my husband, my sister and I have early voted. Others are waiting til the last minute. I’m not sure what might happen last minute that could change your mind, short of a scandal of some kind I guess. But you either like the direction the country is going and want to keep it this way, or you don’t.  

At the heart of it we’re essentially voting for change or more of the same. My concern is the short memories of Kiwis as I said the other day, and how many will try to justify pepper potting their vote around like some kind of MMP pick and mix. That’ll only end in tears, probably mine if Winston has anything to do with it.

Heather du Plessis-Allan: Of course Luxon's chickening out of the debate

Is Chris Luxon chickening out of the press debate tonight? Of course he is chickening out.

Sure, his campaign diary will be full and it’ll be a pain in the butt to rearrange things to fit in an afternoon and evening in Christchurch, because it is a several hours long operation to get ready for a debate and then do the debate.

But if he really wanted to do it, he would. He just doesn’t.

Kate Hawkesby: I don't understand the people who don't vote

I went out in search of some democracy yesterday, trying to early vote.  

I looked up on the Vote NZ website where in my area had early voting places open and what time. I headed out on a walk confident I’d found the place but as I rocked up there, the lights were out; the first bad sign. Then I saw an actual sign on the ground, blown over in the wind, it said ‘no early voting here until October 9th’.  

NZCPR Newsletter: Healing Racial Tensions

The same day that New Zealanders vote in the General Election to choose a new government, Australians vote in the Voice referendum to see whether constitutional recognition will be given to Aboriginal people.

This is a landmark decision for Australia. If the Voice succeeds, the country will be divided by race.

This is essentially what’s happened in New Zealand. The difference is that in Australia the debate is out in the open and the public are being asked to vote on whether or not they want to go down this track. In contrast, in New Zealand there has been no openness nor debate –  a race-based future has been imposed on us by the Hipkins-Ardern Labour Government.

Kate Hawkesby: Be careful not who you vote for, but what you vote for

I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, I’m so over this election. Please let it be over already. 

Now that Winston’s crept back into the fray, we've got the old gameplaying of not just the politicians - but the voters now too who seem to believe they can rig MMP in their favour. 

They want to design their own bespoke government. After all these years, we still don’t seem to get it. Essentially NZ voters are their own worst enemies.

Clive Bibby: We need a government that is prepared to say NO!

Listening to the different political parties contest the right to occupy the treasury benches after the election campaign isn’t an exercise that instils confidence in the nation’s ability to extricate itself from the economic and social mess we are in.  

Admittedly, a decent chunk of the debt accumulated over the last three years has been money spent where the government had no choice.

And it is fair to say that the debate surrounding the accumulation of that debt should not be about whether the mostly borrowed money should have been spent but more precisely about how it was spent.

Heather du Plessis-Allan: Winston's back in Government, isn't he?

I don’t quite know how we’re back here, but we are- Winston's back in Government, isn’t he? 

I think all the signs now point to the fact that National can’t do it without him.

The Herald’s Poll of Polls says National and ACT have a 40 percent chance of forming Government alone. With Winston, it’s a 99.7 percent chance.

The big donors are backing him, he’s pulling in more money right now than in any other election beforehand- and it’s coming from the big end of town.

Jason Walls: Surprised the leaders’ debate was a snoozefest? You haven’t been paying attention

The first televised leader’s debate of the 2023 election campaign proved that blue paint dries slightly faster than red paint.  

Political editors and commentators broadly agreed that Chris Luxon was the winner, in what was probably the most lacklustre debate in more than a decade.  

There was no instantly iconic “show me the money,” or “this stardust won't settle” line from either of the Chrises – and certainly no “my husband is from Samoan, so Talofa”.