Geez, Toni, anyone would think you were happy with the result
Hopefully we can get away from this culture of dependency that Labour has created, whilst bleeding the Country dry..... I have to say I was shocked to learn that people were having more children because of the handouts they were getting from the Govt. Now I believe that people should have as many children as they can afford to have with no handouts from anyone.
oskatd;212653 wrote: Geez, Toni, anyone would think you were happy with the result
Hopefully we can get away from this culture of dependency that Labour has created, whilst bleeding the Country dry..... I have to say I was shocked to learn that people were having more children because of the handouts they were getting from the Govt. Now I believe that people should have as many children as they can afford to have with no handouts from anyone.
I so agree oskatd, I nearly got run out of work because I said there were too many handouts that the rest of us were paying for, and hope if National got in they would slash the benefits to only those who really really need them. I so wish I had a blue rosette to wear tonight when I go in.[}] That's all that got stuck in their heads, 'Labour is giving me money so I hope they get in'. There was no opinion about anything else. I think I shall gloat tonight.[^][}]
Well, not happy this end, but the majority prevailed :rolleyes:
So I am looking forward in anticipation to what exactly our Brighter Future will look like [}] and what the first 100 days will bring. My most fervent wish at the moment is that John Key sticks to his word and doesn't allow Roger Douglas a seat around the table...
I am glad to see the back of Winston. That is one man who showed such promise when he first entered Parliament, but somewhere along the way ended up as Winston First rather than NZ First, IMHO.
Take a break...while I take care of your home, your block, your pets, your stock! [] PM me...
I remember a while go now, 1981 (27 years ago) debating with Winston, Jim Mclay and Paul East at a national party convention in Rotorua about the merits of a gst like tax and no income tax. Winston was arrogant even then. So I am finally pleased to see the last of him after all the stuff of the past six months.
Wine does not make you FAT it makes you LEAN...
....against tables, chairs, floors, walls and ugly people.
I'm sure not going to miss Winston. He was so full of self importance. I'm just glad he didn't stuff the Foreign Affairs portfolio up. Where he went wrong, was his pride and too much drinking. His Mum was a lovely lady, according to my Mum. (She had a beautiful singing voice appariently).
Its an end of an era with Helen bowing out the way she did. It was a grand gesture though and I admire her for doing it. She's been a very hard worker for NZ. Her first term of office was very good. I even voted for her to return in the following election, but the Labour Party blotted its copy book during its second term, with all its social engineering and I decided I wouldn't make that mistake again.
So we live in hope that this newer look National Party can work constructively with the other smaller parties to get us through the next few years of fiancial hardship. I too, hope the Carbon Tax debacle gets dealt to in a big way. There's no point in taxing the agricultural sector of our economy when no other countries are doing it. Leading the world to spite our faces seem an empty gesture to me. Especially as the world needs food that is produced in the greenest way it can. Which doesn't involve keeping cows in heated barns over Winter and growing huge amounts of grain, so that beef animals can eat it on feed stands. Grass fed animals are better for people's health and if that means letting them burp, then I say let them do it. Its natural. So is swamp gas. Are we going to drain all our swamps to stop them emitted gas? and let a number of bird species perish in the process? I don't think so!
45 hectares between Whangarei and Paparoa
Herd of Registered Dexter cattle
New Hampshire Red poultry & Dorking poultry and Sicilian Buttercup poultry
Pilgrim Geese, Appleyard Ducks.
Polled Wiltshire Sheep, both black and white
An old Heading Dog called Lad and a cat called Pusscat,
good one MM
I don't know if I am happy about the result or not . I didn't decide how to vote until yesterday morning and ended up splitting the vote . The main thing I am worried about with the new government is the presence of ACT and in particular Roger Douglas [}][}][:0]I hope John Key has talks with all the minor parties so he has some balance in how he approaches the major issues. Fingers crossed it all goes well for the majority of us [^]
We only just heard the result a few hours ago.... spent a night away with our son's rubgy team's families at a remote lake with no radio, TV or cellphone cover, loads of fun, 23 kids who didn't stop running from the moment they arrived to the moment we left.
The funny thing about this election is that in every other one I've voted in, it was an obvious choice of left or right wing. Now there's no huge gap between the two main parties, it's mainly the road to getting there is different. So I don't think there will be any of the earth-shattering changes like NZ had in the 1980s.
I find Winston entertaining, wouldn't want my sister to marry him though.
I doubt National can get out of the Kyoto protocol because it has already been signed on behalf of New Zealand, though I don't suppose there's any huge penalty for not meeting the targets you've agreed to. These international protocols do have their use, the one to reduce CFCs to stop the ozone hole increasing was very effective, but I think the global warming issue is much more complex.
I have a feeling that they've used the science (ie net production of carbon from cattle) based on overseas models where they are more confined and grainfed. Here we have tens of thousands of hectares of pasture and an extensive (rather than intensive) model of farming. Has anyone worked out how much carbon that pastureland and associated shelterbelts absorb (therefore reducing the net amount of carbon a cattle farm emits)? It might be that our cattle are merely recycling carbon that's already in the atmosphere, not generating extra carbon. It's petrochemicals that are the real concern (by that I mean burning gas, oil, petrol, deisel, coal, etc) because they are producing carbon that would otherwise be stored indefinitely. And that's assuming that you believe that reducing carbon emissions from human activities will have a significant effect on global warming in the first place. The jury is still out, as far as I'm concerned.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see how things go from here.
I'm not particularly optimistic about any Govt in NZ bringing 'major change' - we get pushed around by so much of what happens overseas, I can't say I'm expecting anything amazing, or particularly different. Despite all the good-quality research about what makes countries good places to live in I doubt we'll be seeing anything much. Empirical evidence doesn't go a long way in politics. As part of my work in research and science I sometimes advise various govt departments and what I have seen is that things don't really change, despite the public being sold that idea. I love NZ and will be the last person to head off to foreign shores, maybe I'm dreaming but I work hard for the betterment of my country and all those in it. I guess I'm not expecting the Govenment to, so I just get on with it. There are many ways we can try to influence what happens and voting is only one of them.
] That's all that got stuck in their heads, 'Labour is giving me money so I hope they get in'. There was no opinion about anything else. I think I shall gloat tonight.[^][}