voting is fundamentally selfish in nature imo. What policies will benefit me? In a state of a crumbling economy, high inflation, high interest rates & a cost of living crisis, this selfishness is heightened. Weβve had 6 years of welfare, state house building, second chance for criminals & light sentences. How has that served us? Crime is out of control, essential foods are up 15%, our health system & infrastructure is cracking (literally) & we have gone backwards as a society & more divisive than I can remember. Labour had to contend with some bad weather & a pandemic.
But the pandemic cannot be blamed for the RNZ merger, light rail, 3 waters, te pukenga merger & a continual waste of money for consultants deciding on projects no one wants or needs. National are traditionally the party that focusses on spending cuts, education, infrastructure & rebuilding an economy. It makes logical sense that labour were ousted, given the predicament we find ourselves in. Labour have had the chance to right wrongs, and have allocated spending in the wrong areas.
I know I will get burnt for saying this, but again, this vote was for me. I have a large student loan, I work my ass off, and Iβm sick of being in the crunched middle. You should be rewarded for contributing to society & increasing the GDP. This is not an attack on the βpoorβ, because the poor havenβt exactly been looked after under labour. Inflation and cost of living disproportionally affects the poor, and we need to get out of this. We need to encourage people to go after it, dangle the carrot that through self improvement & getting after it, you too can be successful.
I donβt come from a wealthy background. But I donβt agree with endless handouts & the soft on crime approach. Iβve lived in Auckland for 5 years, weβve endured multiple lockdowns, unfair fuel taxes, rapidly increasing crime & a failure of public transport.
Labour were ousted more than anything. But we truely canβt do any worse. National have a task on their hands, but Iβm far more comfortable with them in control. I donβt expect massive changes for months/years, but Iβm happy someone else will be given an opportunity.