Dear New Zealand: I think Prime Minister Helen Clark is awesome.

:-( Wha'happen? (Wasn't she posting just a couple of weeks ago?)

don't get me wrong, she has done things that i think will benefit the country, and i voted for her and will probably continue to vote for her (although this has a lot to do with my low opinion of the greens), but it's not really a case of her having good ideas for the country as a case of new zealand deciding they want something and helen clark thinking "shit i better get on this trend otherwise they might vote for someone else".

Also New Zealand is not as left as a lot of people who have not lived there would like to believe. This goes for socially as well as political. From my experiences anyway, New Zealand is far more racist/sexist/less tolerant than, say, Australia.

Also, she oversaw getting gay marriage legalized down there, yeah?

Well, civil unions.

Not to mention she's ALLEGEDLY the world's biggest closet lesbian. She's tops.

she's married.

People leave New Zealand because we like to travel and see the world. Labour's policies don't drive people away, that's simply rhetoric. If anything might drive people away, ironically, it's student loans which the right are 100% behind. If making lots of money is your thing you'll relocate overseas and if you value a better life style you'll make NZ your home, it's as simple as that. NZ is never going to be the wealthiest country in the world, we're too small and isolated from our markets....

*loves the nonsense spouting from an envious right wing, though if the National Party or Act was my choices I'd be desperate to points score also*

;-)

When you're out of touch with reality and have no social conscience the right does seem enchanting....

she's married.

Key word: closet

but Labour are 100% behind them too http://www.lollers.orcon.net.nz/confused.gif

"But does she choke dudes?"

ha! ha?Iha!

Jean Chretien was pretty punk rock as far as PMs go. Best part about when he choked that guy was that he was rockin a classic pair of Ray Bans at the time

(PS I dont personally think this, but yanno....)

In order to stay in power at the last election her party made a coalition with A CHRISTIAN PARTY STANDING ON THE PLATFORM OF "FAMILY VALUES", so i think it's safe to say things aren't going to be changing soon. The Greens are pushing for it though.

Surely ppl leave NZ in droves for same reason they leave Aus- we're isolated, provincial and comparatively dull?

That and the fact that most people get like NZ$12-15 an hour, which is bullshit.

Worst case scenario is that National's race baiting and welfare bashing get them close enough for United Future and ACT to help them into Govt, which with the nationalist NZ first there as well could be a right wing of all flavours nightmare (including for those involved!)

Also, the insults about "first year" whatever aren't necessary. I'm a professor at New York University, and have a PhD in politics.... Now *that* leaves me open for smart sarcastic comments, I'm sure...

That's not actually correct. People do see the world and come home by and large and our net migration figures back this up. 9/11 only increased the amount of Kiwis returing home though this has changed slightly as the market especially in the UK has picked up. Some people will always stay away because NZ is small and not as interesting as other places perhaps. Many people will stay away because NZ is low wage but that's a function of our size and isolation (and despite the right lauding the 'free market' we currently have the lowest unemployment in the OECD and yet wages are only increasing on average by the rate of inflation - go figure!!). So people who have money as thie first priority wont be too keen to get back to NZ. Me personally I'm about to leave a well paying job in Auckland to go overseas (have already travelled in Africa, Mid East, Asia and Europe though) but I'll be back here or to Australia.

I guess it all depends what matters to you in life. The 'Labour is driving people away' calls are tedious and desperate however ;-)

Phd in what if you don't mind me asking? (I need further information before I unleash :P ).

Now to complete the look all he'd need is a Inuit carving to defend himself.

As a young educated New Zealander I disagree with all these statements, except about the tax rate, but that's not making me leave in droves.

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Di unfortunately doesn't post to ilx no more.
-- kate/papa november (kat...), February 15th, 2005.

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Not to mention she's ALLEGEDLY the world's biggest closet lesbian. She's tops. Not perfect, but few politicians are.

-- Autumn Almanac (ada...), February 15th, 2005.

as far as the "serious" stuff (whadda i care), webber is fairly much right

Yeah, like w/Civil Unions. I don't see how Helen Clark's ideology is any less solid than ANY politician's, those who wanna give the impression of having one (Bush I gues for a start) and those resigned to/making use of a minority position to maintain a certain amount of political influence (ie. cos under Mmp a party that manages 5% gets representation, coalitions, etc) aside. I guess since she's all smart and like cool and arty it's easy to WANT her to be some passionate/driven/unsuccessful politician. What exactly's wrong w/a politician cravenly bowing to their electorate's whims? Aren't they meant to do their best to arrive at some workable compromise from the various interests their country has?

From my experiences anyway, New Zealand is far more racist/sexist/less tolerant than, say, Australia.
opposite of my experiences (haha even my centre-right DAD moved to NZ from australia because he found it too pigfuck/creepy/&c).

It's not that it's less solid than anyone else's, it's that she doesn't appear to have one. Hell, you know where you stand with even Michael Cullen. He's not going to give anyone any money, and you don't expect him to. Helen Clark is completely different. I don't think anyone can reliably say what she stands for and against. Even Tony Blair and John Howard (and yeah, George Bush) are prepared to make what seems to be incredibly unpopular stands on things and not back down. I don't agree with any of their decisions, but from that you know where they stand and you can feel confident either voting for or against them.

What exactly's wrong w/a politician cravenly bowing to their electorate's whims? Aren't they meant to do their best to arrive at some workable compromise from the various interests their country has?

My problems are that a) Helen Clark gives me this feeling that she could easily be in National and not really change much of herself, which makes it difficult to know what I am voting for; and b) doing what the majority wants does not make you a good leader (the point of this thread), because you are not actually doing any leading.

What is the NZ tax rate?

"There are three basic tax rates in New Zealand. They are: -Taxable income up to $38,000 - the tax rate is 19.5 cents -Taxable income $38,001 to $60,000 inclusive- the tax rate is 33 cents -Taxable income $60,001 and over - the tax rate is 39 cents"

Companies are taxed at a flat 33%.

opposite of my experiences (haha even my centre-right DAD moved to NZ from australia because he found it too pigfuck/creepy/&c).

Really? The most racist area I have seen in Australia is Queensland, and that's full of New Zealanders. I guess my experiences come from having an Australian girlfriend in New Zealand, where people seem to feel that being incredibly abusive and racist to people who are Australian is ok.