Ed Said - Do you remember the elections?

 

Ironically, first up on the news two days after our general election: some rugby player goes out on the booze and is dropped from the team heading to Argentina. This nation knows all the players in the national footy team but most don't even know the name of the political leaders fighting to get them a better deal.

That hackneyed phrase rises again: The more things change, the more they stay the same. A resounding win for National by any measure ensuring another three or possibly six years in government unless there are some radical changes made by opposition parties.

Read it how you like, Dotcom failed to encourage any new or young voters to register or participate as was one of his party’s major goals. In fact, all parties lost voters to National. A couple of people who admitted to being ‘gutted’ by the results were, I suspect, not really surprised by the result but by the magnitude of it.

The Greens have taken a turn toward the left and are now as red as they are green, Labour shunned any sort of alliance with them preferring to go it alone and, despite the message of falling support, the Judith Collins affair, Dirty Politics and the Greenwald ‘revelations’, still chose to play the man rather than the ball – personalities instead of policies – with disastrous results.

My question is this: Why is mainstream media concerned to the point of distraction about what Labour should do? Labour at this moment is a non-entity. Given their state in the polls and being now ‘rudderless’ one would think that electing a new leader (their fifth in six years) could be simply done by a show of hands though.

Local elect Mike Sabin, while he has a large constituency to cover, gave a pre-election commitment to fight for the Kaipara. Happy or otherwise with the outcome it is our responsibility as citizens to keep our representatives on their toes, to question their actions, to seek answers to and assistance with community problems and to work with them, whatever our political persuasion, to make our place a better place.

Now, ‘going forward’ (a meaningless phrase I detest) we’re into daylight saving and though we have had the odd warm day there is still enough moisture about to reserve judgement on whether it really is spring. On the other hand buds, blossoms and new leaf growth tells us this is so, and so with annual occasions such as school ag days, art trails, garden rambles and the cricket season all about to descend upon us I think we are now happy to be cajoled into folding up and storing our winter woollies in favour of whatever the summer season might bring.

Our lead story confirms Mangawhai’s popularity and growth. The MAZ is becoming more user-friendly by the week and is in for a big summer, the new museum is set to open in its true capacity in early December and the St John station not long after. Lots of eateries are looking for summer staff and there is plenty of optimism in the business sector and anticipation of what summer may bring throughout the town in general. It’s ‘Mangawhai on the move’. Now there’s a slogan worth cultivating!

Just my thoughts.
Rob & Co.

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