There are several important differences between the voting public and the opposition.
Prime Minister John Key listed some of them in his speech to the National party conference yesterday:
On election day, over a million Kiwis supported our plan to build a brighter future.
They said yes to more jobs, lower interest rates and less debt.
They said yes to a better welfare system, more elective surgery and greater achievement in our schools.
They said yes to our tough stance on crime.
And they said yes to a more competitive economy.
The public said yes and the opposition just keeps saying no:
Labour and the Greens don’t have a plan and they don’t have a clue.
They just want to spend more money, bring in new taxes, and make you work two years longer.
They say no to everything that will move this country forward.
They say no to 90-day trials, which are giving our young people jobs.
They say no to oil and gas exploration.
They say no to irrigation.
They say no to jobs that are coming here from Australia.
They even said no to The Hobbit.
And the latest thing is they want unions to help elect their leader.
The job of the opposition is to oppose but a government in waiting must also put up viable alternatives and no isn’t one.
People don’t vote for no.
They vote yes for economic prosperity, better health and education and more security and you don’t get that by saying no to policies which will promote growth, equip more people for work and life and help more people become independent.
Homepaddock 
There was no yes & no, the reality is many simply voted on personality.
The national party played the public, the party of business & greed promised more of the same. The national representatives of the electorates, hiding from the public eye, while the charismatic money man sold the fear & division from a tour bus.
We still got downgraded, the possibility of another market collapse still quite real, the income gap with Aussie worse, migration stats worse, inequality catching up with US…….
But don’t worry, mining revenue will boom ( effecting a select few & falsely inflating our national GDP figures) housing will boom (mostly with skilled migrant workers) oh & well all get rich through the nzx ( those with money that is)
So the economy is set under national, just don’t bother trying to factor in the word sustainable. The real trick will be getting th figures to stack up for the next election. being the party of business, I have all confidence that the numbers will be stacked in the right way, makeing the truth far to inconvenient. The truth won’t mean much if we’re up for another presidential style campaign.
Stop with the smiling man on the hoarding, take a look at the conduct in parliament.
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What is really happening here is a mandate is being claimed for any policy that John Key is chasing at any particular time. A convenient form of deception for this government.
What does saying “Yes to less debt ” mean? Has national not borrowed? I believe that they are are also/have borrowed some fantastic $4 Billion to give to the IMF. (On top of a staggering borrowing programme). A sum of $1 thousand per man, woman & child. Is that not in conflict with his sacred & oft-quoted mandate?
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the public who voted National actually said yes to building a brighter future – pretty sad when National says yes on health education, the economy and employment and doesn’t follow up with action, instead claiming the the opposition says no to things that the public are not concerned about… if you cant implement your policies, attack and watch the Greens rise further in the polls.
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Todd – “just don’t bother trying to factor in the word sustainable”
Sustainable means the balance between economic, social and environmental concerns. It means minimising and mitigating any risks from development, not jsut saying no to everything.
CF – in 2008 Labour was promising a decade of deficits, national is doing everything to get back to surplus by 2014 in spite of natural and financial disasters. Then reducing debt should be a priority.
Dave – which policies hasn’t National implemented?
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Sustainable does not mean balance. Sustainable means being able to keep going for a long period, to continue, to endure.
If you have a food production system that is dependent on externals such as artificial fertilizers that run off and pollute waterways, that is not a sustainable food production system.
If you create jobs mining for fossil fuels that release extra CO2 into the atmosphere and make the oceans more acidic, that’s not sustainable job creation.
If someone suggests a stupid idea, eg -selling off strategic energy assets, then of course the only intelligent response is to say “no”
It’s what you say to toddlers who get to close to the fire.
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Viv – but sustainable doesn’t just mean environmental, it also means economic and social and that requires balance between all three.
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With you on this one HP..
America today is not able to ” Substain ” it’s Wheat/Corn exports..
Nothing to do with American Politics… Or even the American Farmer.. …It has nothing to do with the Greenies ..
There has not been any rain,, It has happened before .. and It will happen again…
That is why man invented silo’s.. A thousand years ago and beyond.. .
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