Christmas could come early with a red, green and black coalition.
NZ introduced MMP to ensure our government is representative of the views of the majority. In 2017, that majority voted for change.
If our nation’s post-election conversation is anything to go by, you’d think we’d never switched to MMP in 1996. National may have won the most votes between itself and Labour, but that doesn’t mean they have first dibs for a coalition with New Zealand First.
In fact, now that the special votes are in and both Labour and the Greens have picked up an extra seat each — we know for sure that more people voted for change than those who voted for the status quo.
Labour, Greens and New Zealand First all campaigned on a message of change. Here’s how the voters responded:
- National + ACT + Māori Party + United Future = 1,197,512
- Labour + Greens + New Zealand First = 1,305,333
That’s the kind of direction setting from voters that MMP was meant to cater for, surely.
ActionStation is a movement of New Zealanders who share a vision for a fair and flourishing Aotearoa. We’re nonpartisan but not apolitical; we rally around policies not parties.
During this election we did a fairly comprehensive analysis of the main political parties’ policies against a crowdsourced vision for a better New Zealand that we created in collaboration with more than 30,000 New Zealanders. We then encouraged our community to vote in line with that analysis.
Our community is diverse. We don’t agree on everything, including who to vote for, and that’s a big part of our strength. But what we do share are our values and a willingness to act.
Over the past three and a half years, we’ve helped almost half a million New Zealanders come together to take action for clean rivers, better public mental health services, stopping trade deals that put profit before people, and much more.
We’ve stood on the steps of Parliament and handed in petitions, made submissions to Select Committee, rallied in the streets to say no to the TPPA or yes to a healthy planet. We’ve crowdfunded billboards and floated giant inflatable poop emoji down rivers to draw attention to issues we care about. We’ve shared our personal stories of the public mental health system, or renting in the hopes to drive positive change.
We know from the data generated by having almost half a million New Zealanders take action through our platforms, there is healthy appetite for change.
We also know from our policy analysis that with a Labour-New Zealand First-Greens coalition we have more chance of change than with a National-New Zealand First combination.
We also know it has a greater likelihood of happening than a National-Greens coalition which has already been written off by the Green side of that equation.
Here’s where Labour, New Zealand First and the Greens overlap most, in line with the areas our community and many others outside of parliamentary politics have been taking action:
Mental health:
New Zealand First, Greens and Labour have all committed to a national inquiry into mental health with Labour committing to this review to be undertaken within the first 100 days. All three parties also want to re-establish the Mental Health Commission. The National Party say there is no need.
Trade:
All three parties have been very wary of the kinds of trade agreements that put private corporate interests above people. Deals like the TPPA, which New Zealand First led the charge in Parliament to oppose, and that National have been trying to push through despite massive public opposition for years. Labour have been pretty back and forth, but if we want to stop the most dangerous parts of the TPPA than a Labour-led government is our best chance of doing that.
Public broadcasting:
Labour and New Zealand First are the best when it comes to broadcasting policy. They both want to ensure adequate public investment in public interest media and broadcasting in the form of sufficient and sustainable funding that is not vulnerable to political or commercial demands. They also both want to ensure inclusiveness through diverse content, perspectives, and ideas connected to communities in a range of accessible formats and platforms.
The National-led government only increased funding to RNZ for the first time in nine years after we handed in a petition signed by more than 30,000 people. The increase was only a fraction of what is actually needed.
Freshwater:
All three parties want to see charges for bottling water.
Climate change:
Labour, Greens and New Zealand First all agree on setting legally binding climate targets and on work towards mitigation, including support to New Zealand’s infrastructure. The Greens and New Zealand First are also aligned in wanting a Carbon Tax.
The National Party, on the other hand, are not yet serious about mitigating runaway climate change. Their targets are unambitious with no realistic plan to achieve them.
And something we haven’t campaigned on, but seems worthwhile mentioning:
Tertiary Education:
All three parties want to increase allowances and introduce various measures to reduce the impact of student debt.
This is Winston Peters’ chance for a genuine legacy. A chance to build upon the good that started with the GoldCard and free health care for children under six.
Will his and New Zealand First’s next move be change? Or will it be status quo?
Let’s hope it’s the change they campaigned so vigorously on.
Here’s an ad we crowdfunded into today’s paper to encourage that choice:
