Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 3/11/23

Less than 30 minutes to go before the final 2023 vote count is announced

This Buzz is being posted not too long before we hear the final results of the 2023 General Election, to be unveiled at 2pm when we will learn whether National and Act will need the support of NZ First to form a government. This, in turn, will influence the appointments of the new ministers whose announcements – when they get down to governing – will be recorded on the government’s official website.

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.

Kate Hawkesby: Taxpayers deserve better than this wasteful spending

You’ve got to think there’s something very rotten in the state of the public service in this country that they’re carrying on —in some quarters where they know full well they’re getting cancelled— that they’re carrying on hiring people, working on projects, spending money, commissioning work.  

Why? They’re not going anywhere. Three Waters, light rail, Let’s get Wellington Moving... why are people on these projects persevering when they must know it’s over? They’re gone, surely the spending stops. It’s reckless and wasteful, and smacks of a deluded sense of entitlement that they can carry on in the false belief —or maybe just arrogance— that wasting taxpayers' money on contracts and outlay trumps the reality, which is they’re toast.

Kate Hawkesby: Are we having to wait too long to form a government?

Peter Dunne is someone I really respect because he’s emerged from a life inside politics to remain an engaged and informed observer on the outside. 

He makes a lot of sense, which is why I love having him on this show. He recently gave an interview where he talked about the fact we shouldn’t have to wait this long for election results. 

I agree.

Denis Hall: Left and Right!

Politics - has become a dirty word. It was supposed to be a place where we could discuss the pros and cons of the governmental systems we live by - and by and large it had been agreed that the overarching thing that ruled us all - despite political parties attempts to modify it - was/is Democracy - with a capital D.

DEMOCRACY!

Why Democracy? Simple answer - one man one vote regardless of who we might be. Rich man poor man - each gets only one vote. Each man or woman gets their say. Brown man white man - each gets only one vote - man or woman - all at an age of maturity - all get one vote.