12 posts tagged “alliance party”

What are the odds I would follow two organizations whose Twitter avatar is a red A? Autocar magazine and the Alliance Party both decided to use the A in their logos (the latter having been contributed by me). Can you recognize the typefaces?

There are very few people who are all liberal or all conservative. I tend to find people are a mixture—it would be wrong to say there’s even a continuum between left and right. We tend to be a pick-and-mix people, coloured by our experiences and our hopes. We change our views as we age.
   Last year, I stood for a left-wing party but am one of the more centrist members in the Alliance.
   I tend to say I am Confucian, which some people have mistaken for socialist when in fact it is closer to libertarian. And some folks think libertarian is an inherently right-wing idea. Yet both the Alliance and the right-wing ACT Party here in New Zealand have incorporated libertarian ideas, if one defines that as maximizing personal liberty. There are areas where the two diametrically opposed parties agree as a result. They simply disagree on how that liberty is to be achieved: the Alliance believing in the necessity of some state mechanisms and nationalization of some industries for the sake of job creation. ACT is a monetarist, technocratic party.
   I love the ideals of patriotism and freedom, I believe more in Keynes than the technocracy, and I wish to put people first. When it comes to running this country I want to see locally owned businesses get better breaks than foreign-owned ones, whether at the local level or the national level. I want to encourage domestic ownership of international businesses, rather than the other way around. I believe in the innovative spirit of New Zealanders.
   So am I right-wing or left-wing, liberal or conservative? Other than economic theory I think both sides would agree that the majority of the last paragraph applies to them. If we have a sense of right and wrong, then I am not sure it is that important we belong in a “camp”.
   Fight corruption, support the good, build friendships, piss off the evil. Not a bad strategy to have through life.

I helped out the Alliance Party today at the Newtown Fair, though people weren’t interested in talking or even thinking about politics, except for a select few who came by to sign a petition against water meters. Our thought: water is the right of New Zealanders, and there shouldn’t be an additional burden on lower-income families. But, when people’s head spaces aren’t in political mode, it’s hard to canvass—as I discovered, even when meeting individual stall operators. Maybe I am a bit more politically minded than the average person.
   Still, it was a vibrant occasion, and while I was there to work, I did snap a few shots.

   New Zealand has the highest per-capita ownership of Ferraris in the world (lot of insecure men) but this F430 was a beaut. More than that, the owner drove it here so people who wanted to sit inside it could pay to have a picture taken, with the proceeds going to the Mary Potter Hospice. I didn’t take too many as I figured I could probably ask very nicely at the concessionaire in future for some shots, but this is a lovely motor.
   Interesting was the next one: I wish I could say this was a real Morgan Three-Wheeler, but when I saw the badges weren’t right, it could only be a Triking Cyclecar, a replica. I am not enough of an authority on prewar Morgans, so maybe a real fan can tell me if there are some detail differences.
   I snapped more shots of this car:

The polls were mostly right: National is back in power, and considering it voted for most of the same legislation as Labour, this means no substantive change. PM-elect John Key was a former Wall Street type, which is discouraging. ACT gets four seats, so the country’s worst politician and the technocratic architect of national decline, Sir Roger Douglas, gets in. (Just because his old man did all right as an MP doesn’t mean he inherited the genes—if he thought Sir Robert Muldoon had contempt for him he hasn’t met me.) United Future and Māori also have seats but National–ACT might not need their support to govern. At least Franks did not get Wellington Central: he may have fancy learnin’ but I could tell you a few stories there. What a totally boring outcome.
   Helen Clark stood down as Labour leader as well tonight, which means the only person with leadership skills and any sense of decency on that side is out. The creeps from the former Cabinet will find someone totally unelectable and we can make a prediction already for 2011.
   A few of the more positive things I can say is that I have met Deputy PM-elect Bill English and he is a far nicer man than the camera seems to show. Also he is far more intelligent, just that in 2002 he had some terrible advice from his party. There are decent MPs among the Nats such as Nicky Wagner who will serve their electorates well. I would rate the future Cabinet more highly than the likes of Cullen and Goff but for the impotence they have shown in their years of opposition.
   We didn’t get any seats, but it was a privilege to have stood and to have played a greater part in democracy. I thank the Alliance for letting me stand as no. 12 on the list.

Vote today!
   And remember, National voted for: the legalization of prostitution, the anti-satire rules in Parliament, the anti-smacking law, and the free-trade deal with China.
   A vote for National and ACT means the return of Sir Roger Douglas, the man whose free-market ideas saw to our drop in the OECD, the increase in food bank numbers, and the widening gap between rich and poor.
   Whomever you vote for, vote for real change today.
   Minor parties can be a moderating influence on the major ones, to keep them in check and to keep everyday New Zealanders like you and me at the top of their minds.
   Of course I am running for the Alliance but you need to make up your mind on who is best for your values. But I can bet you it won’t be a major party. And of the minors, I can bet you it won’t be ACT.

I didn’t rehearse this and it was totally off the cuff, but since I am still coughing, there was a bit of editing. It’s my little MP3 about going to vote, and why Labour and National are bad choices for voters wanting a change. There is a recorded disclaimer in case it is regarded as an election advertisement but I still believe it to be my opinion.

I know it’s more populist, but it is true. (The Alliance’s site is alliance.org.nz.)

I was totally stoked when Dan Gordon took a comment I made and turned it into a fictional election billboard on his blog. (Dan, please let me know if you prefer just the link and not the image.)

Maybe I should note ‘Authorized by Tom Dowie, 18 Walton Street, Christchurch’ even though it’s not an ad from the party, just to be on the safe side. (US readers: this is our equivalent of ‘I am … and I approve this message.’)

After reading that the Progressive Party is engaging in historical revisionism—by taking credit for policies it was not even around to make—we’ve made a couple of interesting advertisements for the Alliance Party, which did come up with Kiwibank and paid parental leave.