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Smalley: Parties don't represent our beliefs and values

Author
Rachel Smalley,
Publish Date
Tue, 19 Sep 2017, 7:41AM
And that's because for some, there isn't one party that represents – wholly – our beliefs and their values.  (Photo \ Getty Images)
And that's because for some, there isn't one party that represents – wholly – our beliefs and their values. (Photo \ Getty Images)

Smalley: Parties don't represent our beliefs and values

Author
Rachel Smalley,
Publish Date
Tue, 19 Sep 2017, 7:41AM

Do you know, with 100 percent certainty, which way you’re going to vote and why. And that’s the crucial bit. Why?

And I ask this because I’m having a lot of conversations at the moment with people who simply don’t know. They're torn. We’re days away from going to the polls and they can’t decide which way to vote.  I’m one of those people.  I’m what you call the proverbial swinger. 

And I think there are a lot of us. I’ve had conversations in cafes, petrol stations. In the malls, at the supermarket, in a dairy yesterday...and it's mainly women I'm speaking to but many are undecided. 

And that's because for some, there isn't one party that represents – wholly – our beliefs and their values. 

Yes, we aspire to do better financially and for the country to be strong economically, but not at the expense of others. And again, this is just about the conversations I've been having, but people aren't necessarily voting for the 'now', they're voting with one eye on the future too. 

Sustainability is an issue. I think about Finn, my 8 year old, and I wonder what his New Zealand will look like when he’s my age, economically, environmentally and socially?

And that’s why inequality is such a big issue for many. Child poverty? It’s huge. If we don’t intervene to help the thousands of kiwi kids who are growing up in a physically, mentally and emotionally deprived environment, then Finn's adult life will be very different to mine. 

Child poverty, unchecked, will create a huge demand on our justice, welfare and health sectors. An unmanageable demand.  And Finn, as a future taxpayer, will be trying to prop up a far greater percentage of welfare-dependent people than what we're doing at the moment. And what will that mean for the social fabric of New Zealand? Well, forty years from now, that inequality will breed unrest, and frustration and a much higher rate of crime.

Now, National is doing some good work in this area. Bill English’s social investment work is sound. He’s far more tapped into this then what John Key ever was. But Labour is very much driving the need to tackle inequality head on. It's the central theme to all of its social policy. 

But, and this is where I go back to no party representing one person's values and beliefs, I’m uneasy about Labour’s approach to farming. I'm very uneasy about the urban-rural divide. We are a primary-producing nation.  That’s why our economy is so strong. Farmers are the backbone of our economy.  Yes, we need to be more innovative in lessening the impact of farming on our environment, but point the finger at farmers and hitting them with higher taxes that's not the answer. 

I've just talked briefly about two election issues here, child poverty and the environment. But there are many issues which are dividing swing voters and from one day to the next, they're lurching from the left to the right, from right to left. 

The decision isn’t black or white.  And at the moment, I’m worried I’ll be walking towards that voting booth on Saturday and I’ll still be undecided.  That’s my real fear, and I don’t think I’m alone in thinking that way. 

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