Nonsense. We stand for a partial asset sale with the funds used for sensible things that we agree with.. (not money for Nat corporate mates) OR We stand for 'sensible' regulations.
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You identify with TOP these days? :) Last week it was New Zealand first, next week.....who knows(?)
Couldn't help the dig about 'corporate mates' aye. Surprised you didn't work your debunked old chestnut '$20 bucks a week' in there somewhere as well....
Speaking of 'corporate mates'.....
'Energy Minister Megan Woods handed out $68 million worth of corporate welfare payments to major businesses replacing their boilers and heating systems. These businesses are massive, profitable operations. They already have strong financial incentives to improve energy efficiency, and they certainly don't need taxpayer help. The latest announcement saw capsicum grower Southern Paprika get $5 million to install a new biomass boiler. Meat producer ANZCO and textile manufacturer Canterbury Spinners each got more than a million dollars, and DB breweries got $500,000. And here's the shocker: the handouts won’t even reduce New Zealand’s carbon emissions.'
Sure - liberal stands for pragmatism and being prepared and able to compromise. Might not sound sexy to somebody who wants everything and that now against strong opposition, but this is the only way things actually get done and survive.
No political extreme government will survive for longer periods in a democracy, and no matter what they have done during their term, they better make sure it was agreed with the other side, or they will tear it down.
I never said being liberal is sexy, but - it allows societies to move ahead instead of ending up in endless infighting.
I never asked or suggested a liberal party should take over government. Not even sure, they would be good doing that, but they are good in moderating and keeping the ship on track. Its a bit like the engine oil for your Ferrari. Clearly - you don't want just engine oil, but if you want to drive the car you need some to go with it.
On a different subject ... NZ First might say what they want, and they may or may not be semi-liberal (though, Winstons typical pre election race baiting is clearly not liberal). The problem with NZ First is, that they are foremost a populist party - not looking for solutions by analysis, but parroting only whatever semi intoxicated people agree on in the countries Friday nights pub rounds. The problem with that is - running a country is a complex job, and similar as I would not allow a random pub round to perform a brain surgery, I would not allow them to control the politics of a country either. Plain dumb.
Populist parties (and they come in all political shades) have a tendency to promote simple sounding solutions to solve complex problems, which do not work. If you want to solve a problem, then I am afraid, they are not your party.
Your highlighted part could also read "many other Governments did a better job dealing with the pandemic". The avalanche of anti Labour votes that are coming this election and not counted for in the polls, is the Kiwi expats that were made "persona non grata" by Jacinda's stupid COVID response. In the last few elections, most overseas voting has gone to The Greens and Labour in that order. I will be very surprised if not much of it goes to National or ACT this time, for the exact reason people will never forgive Labour/Jacinda.Mr COVID (Hipkins) for their idiocy. "Be kind", put a "teddy in the window", "spread your legs". Give ma a break !
What does the term 'liberal' mean to you? The dictionary definition/s of the term range from socially progressive to what we would call 'laissez faire'. Accordingly, it seems the term is quite ill defined in actuality. In Australia the Liberal Party is the closest analogue to the National Party here, while in the US 'liberal' is the term most associated with the left wing Democrats.
liberal
/ˈlɪb(ə)rəl/
adjective
1.
willing to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one's own; open to new ideas.
"they have liberal views on divorce"
2.
relating to or denoting a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.
noun
1.
a supporter of policies that are socially progressive and promote social welfare.
2.
a supporter of a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.
"classical liberals emphasized the right of the individual to make decisions, even if the results dismayed their neighbours or injured themselves"
----
But anyway, 'liberal' clearly does not mean the same thing as 'centrist'.
Not quite on subject, but an interesting theory ... and hey, you well might be right in your prediction on overseas voting. Personally I could not see my dying father in late 2021 due to Jacindas travel restrictions (I would have been allowed to go, but not to come back home), so yes, I know what you are talking about.
I didn't say either that Labour did in this area everything right. However - we are one of smaller number of countries with reduced (vs. increased) mortality during the pandemic ... so, clearly - they did not do everything wrong either, but clearly - this had a price many of us had to pay.
I prefer to see the good as well as the bad of everything instead of moving with blinkers into one corner. In general a successful strategy (seeing both sides). Another reason why we need more liberals in parliament (back on subject ... ;) )!
TOP are really trying to buy the youth and the Christchurch vote. That much is apparent.
OK - sorry for the lack of definition, and I am not sure I can improve on that a lot. However, I can try to explain what I mean with liberal.
Liberals are democrats (not referring to the US Party), standing for and considering the rights of everybody, not just of the bunch who currently happens to have the political majority and choose to abuse their power (as all extremes do). Liberals clearly can't be extreme right or extreme left.
I see liberals as the people who are able to see the benefits as well in right-wing philosophies as well as in left-wing philosophies (and, it might be hard for somebody extreme to imagine, but actually the other side does have their points as well). A liberal would try to merge the best from both worlds (which inevitably requires compromises) and create a solution which stands in time.
Ah yes, and liberals don't act based on some doctrin but based on good arguments, common sense and considering as well the rights and interests of the other side. Just good common sense - try to find a win-win instead of pushing your current political power down everybody's throat.
Not even sure I would personally call me politically "liberal" (I am a conservative Greenie with a social conscience and the understanding that you need a healthy economy to be able to pay for everything else) and I rarely voted liberal in my life (but I did sometimes), but given that on this very forum some people called me: Leftie, extreme left, left wing and similar, while others called me: extreme right or right-wing, might give one an indication where I stand. Given that there are clearly people to my left (they call me right-wing) as well as to my right (they call me left-wing) I clearly must stand in the middle ;);
And no, I am certainly not subscribing to "Laissez faire", unless the behaviour in question would not impact on other peoples rights.
Does this help?
And it was a great investment for the public who got into it at the time, despite the Labour and Unions sowing the panic at the time and telling us it was a very bad investment, which it turns out that it wasn't.
Fact is, Labour and the Unions really have absolutely no idea about whether or how people can improve their lives by growing their wealth over time, beyond what they earn. They are the antithesis to investment and for that reason, I will have nothing to do with them, ever.
A year old now, but gives some perspective on some of their positions.
Apologies for linking to Karen Plunket.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=6yXni1LQ...IHBsdW5rZXQ%3D
OK, back to The Opportunities party, shall we?
We had earlier a lot of discussion about polls. Here is a cluttergraph of all the polls they had since 2020 - and for my eye (the arrow is handdrawn by me) does the trend clearly go into the right direction, doesn't it?
Attachment 14766
For subscribers of the businessdek - if you go into this (probably paywalled) article:
https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/p...nz-first-rises and scroll down to the polls, you can look up the results for any party you are interested in ... and it shows you for every dot as well which poll it was (if you hover over it).
Sure - a linear extrapolation would give you 4.5% .... but hey - it might be exponential growth.
And a recent Roy Morgan poll returned already 4% - what if the poll on election day returns 5%?
Neither the Green party nor ACT did just grow linear, didn't they? It is enough if the politicians in power just annoy the electorate enough - and if it is really an ACT/NZ First/ National government running ACT's austerity policies, than I am sure they will boost the votes for any party not in government.
Better not take the risk and get Raf Manji now instead of Peters at the table.
This whole TOP thing is a delusion. Wouldn't it make more sense just to vote for National or Labour? Those are the two parties likely to win the seat in question; and people will not only use their electorate vote for TOP, they will probably use their list vote for TOP as well. What an incredible risk for the major (and minor) parties to lose list votes if they get involved in any of this TOP nonsense.
This Top thread has gained a lot of traction, maybe because they have a charismatic leader.
If the lost sheep are looking for a new paddock to graze, perhaps they could check out the grass at NZ Loyal party.
1 % transaction tax will excite share traders won't it?
I'm surprised to see some posters suggest Top as a viable coalition partner for National.
I haven't updated myself on Top policy since Gareth
Morgan's days, but they were more left than Labour.
Am I missing something?
A U turn?
The more new parties appear in our midst, the more confused some will feel....
"Yeepers, who do I vote for?! TOP? Labour? Green? Leighton Butler Party? ACT? Freedom NZ? NZ Loyal? Loyal Freedom NZ? Values NZ? NZ Values? Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party? Aotearoa Legalise Cannibals Party? Te Pati Maori? National? United Communists of Aotearoa Party? New Conservative Party? Nude Conservatives Party?.....HELP!!!!"
That legalise cannibals Party should eat out a place in history!
This week's election poll is here:
https://www.sharetrader.co.nz/showth...l-the-election
More negative Reputation from BlackPeter. You know what you are, BlackPeter? An absolute tosser.
Before he ingratiated himself into the leadership at 'TOP', Raf Manji ran as an Independent in Ilam in 2017.
https://www.pressreader.com/new-zeal...81745564465001
You really are an Azz.
You couldn"t help yourself could you BlackPeter.
A negative rep to me for your perceived aggrievement.
Go and bite your bum!
You won't like your rotten taste, but at least it will give you something to get your teeth into, rather than attacking posters here.
Azz and Getty will both report to the headmasters office to receive their mandatory canings.
He's got his mouth full at the moment...
No, l just gave him an assignment in an earlier post this afternoon.
You could say he's dining in.
Raf Manji is a breath of fresh air.
Evidence based policies no dog whistling and not left or right. These are NZs version of the Australian Teals.
If he can't win Ilam, then hopefully they poll well & gather momentum for 2026.
https://fb.watch/nqReb64Xjc/?mibextid=Nif5oz
He really is. This is actually the first interview I have watched of him, and he comes across as a smart, intelligent, down to earth person. I even like the fact that he said "We will work with anyone. We are just focussed on solving the problems we face in NZ today." None of the party v party BS.
Realistically, we probably won't see TOP in government this time round, but you are right. If they gather momentum between now and 2026, they may well stand a good chance.
They have my vote - decision made.
Actually - I happened to have yesterday a good chat with him in one of his "meet the candidate" meetings in Ilam. Great guy, and yes - other than other politicians I spoke to, he seems to be one of the people first listening and analysing a problem before suggesting a solution. We need more of these people in parliament.
Politically he might be best described as liberal environmentalist (he mentioned blue green and the Australian TEAL party). but above all, I think he is a problem solver who is able to work with both political sides.
He came across quite different to other politicians from both the left and the right, who typically just have a solution (their respective ideology) and try to make this fit to whatever the problem might be.
Good man, and no matter which convoluted tactics some people might suggest - he will have my support.
And actually, I don't think his chances to get in as MP of Ilam don't look that dim. He has good connections to the university, his party offers for the youth a much better perspective that either National or Labour does - and, just in case people didn't notice, Ilam is where the univerisity is and where most of the students are enrolled. Sort of wondering, whether the people doing the polls already realised that the elections are this year during term time :)?
Top party wants to please everyone but that is not how the world works .
Never let the facts get in the way of a nice sounding but unsuitable one-liner :);
Here are their policies: https://www.top.org.nz/policy
Ah yes, and something I recently found - Raf Manji on Three Waters - interesting piece:
https://www.top.org.nz/three_waters
Sounds to me like common sense, but if you think this is pleasing everybody, than you clearly have never spoken with one of the political extremes.
TOP is liberal and they are environmentally aware. Both hard right as well as hard left do hate them. From which side are you hailing?
I don't get that feeling at all. Their focus appears to be on solving the issues NZ is currently experiencing, whilst investing in our young people to ensure they enter adulthood/the workforce with the skills they need (in a wide range of areas, not simply traditional education). I 100% agree with him re the suggestion to create a new "young offenders" prison. A total waste of money, ambulance at the bottom of the cliff idea. As someone who has seen first hand (via a previous job) how youth justice works in this country - prevention is better than cure. Another thing I liked from his interview was his comment that some things have already been put in place, that we may or may not agree with, but we need to see how they go. So, he is not doing what the others are doing, declaring they will immediately reverse projects that have already begun, straight off the bat, at a huge cost to the country. That is a far more sensible and responsible approach in my opinion. Sure, it may be that they end up scrapping something, but not until the evidence is in, to show it is not working.
Hating TOP would be a total waste of effort as they just will not feature in this election. Manji is coming 3rd on the polling in Ilam - despite his pork barrelling - and the party is polling well under the threshold in the party vote. Good luck to Manji in all his future endeavours, heading back to CHC Council will give him the substantial meal ticket he is seeking.
Somewhat disappointing post - I thought that's beneath you, but always learning :) ;
But just for clarity - no, I am not Raf, nor am I in any way associated with TOP. Just an open minded voter sharing his experiences and views.
I find it sad that a small group of people seem to think they have the right to rubbish TOP, while at the same time trying to undermine and ridicule others with a different perspective.
Quite funny understanding of democracy.
Let me guess BlackPeter you live in Canterbury. I lived there for 25years and want it to do well. The problem is a lot of students don't vote regarding teal card. Good luck to TOP a possible party similar to united future.
It was just a joke. I can see you are very optimistic about TOP and Manji, but I like to balance things up. They are just more politicians after all. IMO Manji is a bit of an opportunist, and I am allowed to have my opinion. He has been a Christchurch City Councillor, then (while still a councillor) he stood as an Independent in Ilam, now he has popped up in TOP. So - based on that - I think he is not a conviction politician, he is a floater.
Some jokes are just bad taste, and this is one of them. Decent posters don't try to undermine other posters integrity unless they have evidence for what you now call "just a joke".
But sure, anybody is entitled to their opinion, even you. What's however telling is that so far nobody really tried to discuss their policies. Just feels like a line up of hard right smears trying to undermine a democratic alternative without having any substance. This is sad.
And as far as Raj's alleged "floating" is concerned - anybody is allowed to change their political stance. Winston Peters did that, Richard Prebble did that and many other politicians did that, some of them deserving more respect than others. I don't think however that this was the case with Raf. In 2017 TOP was still new and under Gareth Morgan (while already centrist) a different party. Remember the saga with the cats? I wouldn't have supported Gareth Morgan either (well, I didn't). Today however Gareth is history and TOP reemerged as liberal environmental party. Not sure, where you see the problem in standing for them now and not then?
I'm not trying to undermine your integrity. If you won't accept that I was joking then that is a bit of bad faith on your part.
I have discussed TOP's 'Christchurch Plan' policy in other posts.
TOP is courting the Christchurch / Ilam vote and the youth vote.
As far as the youth vote is concerned, TOP are courting it with a suite of socialist policies:
- Fully funded healthcare for young people, including GP visits and dental care.
- Free annual eye checks.
- Free mental health care (up to 5 sessions a year).
- Free public transport (buses, trains, ferries).
- $1,500 credit for e-bikes, scooters, and bikes.
- $5,000 tax-free savings boost at age 18 into a savings account through KiwiBank, which can be accessed for education, training or placed into a KiwiSaver account. ('To access the Universal Savings Boost, young people must complete a National Civic Service Program before age 23.')
This program is purportedly 'about future-proofing New Zealanders to become more resilient citizens through a focus on the 4 C’s: Conservation, Civil Defence, Community Service and Civics.')
Total cost: $1.5 billion per annum (TOP's figures)
Funded through:
Climate Emergency Response Fund - $200m
Income Tax shifts (income over $180,000 taxed at 42% (up from 39%) and a new top rate of 45% for income over $250,000) - $550m
Corporate Tax shift (from 28% to 29%) - $750m
In New Zealand we should work to improve the lot of ourselves and those around us, and not recieve large scale hand-outs from the state via redistributive taxation.
TOP's policies are not centrist as far as I can see, they are significantly to the left of the Labour Party. This is epic pork barrelling to secure votes, nothing is really 'free', it all has to be paid for either through borrowing (which incurrs interest) or 'Robin Hood' taxation.
This is all detailed here, encompassed by something TOP call 'the Teal Card'. This is a blatant appropriation of the terminology and thinking vis a vis 'the Gold Card' for the elderly which was championed by Winnie Peters and NZ First.
https://www.top.org.nz/tealcard
OK - so you are complaining that TOP proposes to basically provide free healthcare for our youth? Really?
Well, I remember that I grew up myself in such a society (West-Germany in the 1960íes / 70íes, where a compulsory social insurance scheme funded all these things) and I remember as well that my public transport (to get as well to school) was state funded.
Actually - I think NZ was not too different in this time (free healthcare, free schooling, free university), its just that the people who benefitted from these policies here seem now to be too selfish to give the next generation the same great start into life they enjoyed themselves.
But back to my old home - Germany was during this time not under a socialist regime. They had MMP and governments have been either CDU/FDP or SPD/FDP, with CDU being similar to National, SPD being similar to Labour and FDP being similar to TOP). So, policies have been centre-left or centre-right, and mainly centre of the road. And btw - Germanys economical success during these times was legendary: "Das Wirtschaftswunder" (economic miracle). Something to strive for, not to kill with stupid hard right ideologies.
Maybe we just need to get rid of all these blinker wearing right (and left) wing extremists, loosen the handbrakes and turn our country into a succesful economy again?
Our youth is our future, and not investing into our future (and its health) is not just selfish, but plain dumb - so what is wrong with TOPS policy?
Ah yes, and you might have missed that TOP is proposing as well a social service which our youth would need to contribute to before they would get the $5000 you are whinging about. Remember - we do have acute worker shortages in many essential industries like health services, care services and infrastructure. What a great idea to give our youth a first hand look into these industries, reduce the worker shortages and fill vacancies with young Kiwis instead of hiring another bunch of people from the islands?
What exactly would be wrong with that? Having our youth engage in social services (e.g help in age care or planting trees) would be good for everybody - and whinging about a small thank you for this service is just - well, pick your choice: mean, tight, short-sighted - or just dumb?
TOP is about investing into our youth and with that into our future, not to kill it off or send our young people to Australia, as other political parties do with their brain dead policies.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cUL...usp=drive_link
TOP: Not left or right, but forward looking and future focussed.
I’m not ‘complaining’ about anything, I’m laying out the TOP policies entirely as they are. We can trot out all the slogans we like, including ‘investing in youth’, this is still a socialist giveaway via redistributive ‘Robin Hood’ taxation.
Giving away ‘free’ stuff is all well and good - I’m sure we’d all like free clothes, a free car, a free house and so on and so forth - but these are most definitely Left wing policies. And we can dress the giveaways up in fine language and talk about ‘future focussed’ and ‘fresh ideas’, but strip away the marketing spin & this is really all about attempting to buy a place in the next Parliament.
The next TOP policy drop: Free beer!
Sad.
Would you ever invest into a company which stopped investing into its future? No sensible investor would, but I can't remember a lot of investment contributions from you, so maybe you are just here to promote an extreme rightwing and selfish way to kill our country off. Certainly not the way I imagine our countries future.
I want it to keep thriving - and this requires investment into its future workforce, otherwise we won't have a workforce to keep it going.
Maybe you should move to Somalia, I hear they don't collect taxes over there ... and just look what you get for this privilege :p .
I think this is now turning into a massive dummy spit from you. You are labelling something as an 'investment' when it is in actual fact just a programme of socialistic giveaways. Not giving each 18 year old $5000 is now labelled as "an extreme rightwing and selfish way to kill our country off". I beg to disagree.
People have paid their way in New Zealand for time immemorial & we are now in a new phase where parties like the Greens and TOP are looking at a 'revolution by stealth' where life becomes about how much you can drain from the taxpayer, rather than about being a productive member of society in your own right.
Sorry, free this, free that, and free the other thing is extreme socialism, extreme Leftism, and it is most certainly that which will "kill our country".
Can't say I support TOP. In Manji's interview @ 2:25 he talks about "Economic well being for Maori" and Ngai Tahu (local Iwi). He's fails to distinguish that Ngai Tahu has massive corporation that has done nothing in regards to improving Maori OUTSIDE OF THEIR IWI. Instead they've only benefited to those from their own clan. We see this often as where my wife works, they routinely have to deal with Maori issues because migrant families from say the North Island are not part of the Ngai Tahu. Likewise where I do PTA involvement at primary school, we aid the impoverish, (some Maori families) that they themselves having no relation to Ngai Tahu. So i'm against this stupid narrative that "We need to do more for Maori" when it's always been the various Iwis around NZ have taken on a selfish approach.
A Maori bank? C'mon this has been done before in Canada. The fundamental reason why it does not work lies in the same problem why African nations never get any development funding. Because the lenders expect more and history has shown that not all borrowers are equal. Those whom are able to manage and return their debt get are preferred. For centuries the banks in Canada have discriminated 1st Nations when it comes to business lending on their ventures. Can't blame them as nearly all of their projects fail. Well proven time and time again when tax payer $ goes to funding indigenous initiatives.
There's so much I don't like about TOP so that's reassuring to hear from the leader himself what their party is about.
Sadly - you just keep spreading misinformation. In your favour I will assume that you are just too lazy to read the post you are replying to and to do your research before you are responding. Just reading my previous posts would have been enough, so please - if you want to keep a meaningful and civilized dialogue, than please first properly read whats written instead of making things up and than argue against the strawman you created yourself.
Actually - what you are doing is one of the usual trolling strategies. Is this how you want to behave?
So, just for you - lets look again into the relevant bit of TOP's TEAL policy:
Attachment 14770
Giving every child a fair start, on completion of the National Civic Service Program:
I guess it couldn't be more clear, could it? This payment is on completion of the National Civic Service Program. Which part of "on completion" do you not understand? - or do you just like to make things up and spread misinformation?
What a complete load of bollocks.
NZers haven't paid their way for time immemorial as BlackPeter has already pointed out. Many of the policies TOP are advocating for were what most people over the age of 50 would have experienced especially in regards Healthcare. Getting kids on ebikes or any bike is also a good thing and will help limit the growing diabetes crisis. It would also reduce traffic, lower emmissiins and road maintenence.
Most people over the age of 50 would have also come out of University with little or no student debt. Now the best way to pay off that burden is to go overseas.
None of the major parties have governed for the long term future of NZ in the last 25 years or so. And as a result NZ has gone from being a relatively cheap place to live with a high standard of living, education & health services to an absolute shambles.
Both Labour & National want to continue down the same old failed path.
Nothing is actually free, that is what most people forget. It is your and mine money. It is not free. Tax is theft by any other definition. It is taking from the productive and redistributing to the unproductive. (to a point) We have gone too far the socialst way and the current state of affairs is a timely reminder that communism/socialism does not work long term and is not sustainable.
I don't care if they have to stand on their head for a week to get the hand out, it's still $5000 of taxpayers money being given away.
Giving every child a fair start, on completion of the National Civic Service Program:
1/ An 18 year old is a taxpayer, a voter, and not a toddler. They should be treated accordingly.
2/ There is nothing 'fair' about taking from one group of people & giving to another using the power of the state.
3/ This is the first I've ever heard of the idea that 'a fair start' involves a suite a freebies + a $5000 hand out.
'Neither Left nor Right' but with Left wing socialistic & redistributive policies, and now people with Left wing perspectives are popping up in the thread to vent against anyone discussing the nuts and bolts of these policies. Apparently you are an "extreme right winger" if you don't agree with ever expanding socialism.
Actually - cheers for posting the interview.
Reading however what you heard and comparing listening to what Raf said are two different things. I'd encourage anybody to listen to the interview by themselves. I can't hear anything which would put Maori interests above other interests, and hey, what's wrong with supporting those who are still at the bottom of our economic and social order? If they get a chance to move into better housing and get better education and better jobs, we all will win.
But, btw - I don't think there is an expectation that everybody likes TOP's policies (nobody can please everybody :) ). So, if after checking you don't like them, this is ok. Its a democracy and liberal parties get rarely more than 10 or 15%. We do need as well lefties and even some of the right people in a functioning democratic system. However - in successful democracies there normally are liberal people involved in government.
And hey, I don't like many policies from e.g. ACT or the Greens either, so why should people who love those support TOP?
You continue to use this term 'liberal' but I still have a problem getting a handle on your definition. When you say that 'liberal parties rarely get more than 10 or 15%', which parties are you talking about? The Liberal Party in Australia is one of the major political parties there.
Just face it - if you whinge about "free" healthcare for our youth (which actually is in principle anyway implemented in NZ - just not very good, if you look at e.g. mental health and dentistry), than I suspect there are not many people standing politically to your right within the still democratic spectrum. Right? I guess, lets not argue about semantics, these are just the naked facts ...
Just give me the name of one democratic politician who stands to your political right. If you can't, than clearly you must be the extreme right. See?
Good question.
I probably would not have written all TOP policies as they are, but I think I can live with all of them.
I had myself to first think about this concept of investing into the youth, but I think it makes a lot of sense - and actually, it is not much more than most decent societies offer their youth anyway.
Obviously - it is at this stage a small group of volunteers writing this stuff and they don't have the armies of lawyers other taxpayer funded parties (already in parliament) command, so I am sure, there are lots of things which still need clarification.
However - I think they are good enough as expression of intent, and given that I don't expect them to get this time the absolute majority, I recon there will be plenty of opportunity to create any missing detail together with a coalition partner.
There are a number of areas where I just didn't found a TOP policy so far, i.e. I don't really know whether my view will align with theirs (and they might no know yet either :) ).
Raf Manji talked about liberalisation as well in the economy, which is good, but I am not sure I have seen yet documented policies about a policy framework to (de-)regulate our economy. There is however a high level economy policy with which I don't disagree ... its just a bit high level.
Re Manji ... still early days. But yes, I see in him less ideology and more common sense than in many other politicians I met so far, and I see him listening where others jump already to ideology defined conclusions.
Given that we are not talking about making him the next PM (well, not this year :) ) would I give him at least the benefit of the doubt I used to give as well to e.g. David Seymour when I voted for him (well, his party, I don't live in Epsom) when he first came into parliament. Unfortunately - David sold his soul to the gunlobby (and some other unpleasant groups) to increase his votes, but we can't really hold that against Raf, can we?
I think Raf is ready for a "trial round" in parliament and he and his party have lots of potential. Whether I still say that in three years from now, time will tell.
On the other hand (independent from Raf) - we clearly do need liberals in parliament to stabilise the boat. This consistent left - right and every time throwing away what the others did is just stupid.
It's not just 'free healthcare for youth' though is it:
- Fully funded healthcare for young people, including GP visits and dental care.
- Free annual eye checks.
- Free mental health care (up to 5 sessions a year).
- Free public transport (buses, trains, ferries).
- $1,500 credit for e-bikes, scooters, and bikes.
- $5,000 tax-free savings boost at age 18 into a savings account through KiwiBank, which can be accessed for education, training or placed into a KiwiSaver account. ('To access the Universal Savings Boost, young people must complete a National Civic Service Program before age 23.')
This program is purportedly 'about future-proofing New Zealanders to become more resilient citizens through a focus on the 4 C’s: Conservation, Civil Defence, Community Service and Civics.')
The TOP policies are further to the Left than anything the established Left wing parties are proposing. So that doesn't make me 'extreme Right'. Unfortunately you are trying to sell TOP as centrist when the reality is something different.
The suite of bribes does not just extend to youth voters, TOP and Manji are also courting Christchurch voters with the lure of a $1 Billion spend up in that city -
We have a vision for a world-class Christchurch and Raf Manji wants to help deliver it.
Our investment proposals include:
A new South Island Cancer Center and Laboratory ($580m)
A new Mental Health and Trauma Center ($20m)
Shift to a Zero Emission Urban Bus Fleet by 2030 ($130m)
Roading and Footpath Repair Fund ($70m)
Hospital Car Parking ($30m)
150 new Community Constables ($45m)
10 new Police Kiosks ($5m)
A new South Island Police Training College ($40m)
Christchurch Cathedral and Arts Centre Repair Fund ($40m)
A new Primary/Secondary School ($40m)