I found a cool page on Stuff tonight that lets you view graphs from each of the five major polls following the 2008 General Election.
People who don’t know me very well and see me only as a business-owner are often surprised to learn that I’m voting Labour.
Why? Because there are more important things in my life than how much tax I pay.
Independent foreign policy that carefully considers the justification for war is more important to me than how much tax I pay. A comprehensive social welfare system that recognises that some members of our society give back in ways other than holding down a steady job is more important to me than how much tax I pay. Acknowledging that same-sex couples deserve the same right as opposite-sex couples to happiness and family is more important to me than how much tax I pay. Protecting the rights of children and promoting a less violent society is more important to me than how much tax I pay.
I’m sure most people would agree that there’s so much more to life than business, money and taxes. My hope come election day is that we each cast our vote for the party we believe offers not only the greatest benefits to ourselves personally, but the greatest benefits to all New Zealanders across all aspects of our individual lives.
And so it begins. The National Party’s transport spokesman, Maurice Williamson, said yesterday that commuters could face bills of up to $50 a week for tolls of $3 to $5 a trip on new motorways or similar “roads of national importance”. Read more
If you travel every day…that’s $2,600 per year. If National get in…I guess we now know where we’ll be spending our tax cuts…
LOL?
It was cool to read an article on Stuff today that had positive things to say about both Zillion and happysheep.
On Zillion…
“Zillion was runner-up in the 2008 Netguide trading awards, and is the self-proclaimed auction alternative to Trade Me.
Three of the better features that emerge from the two pages of comparisons with Trade Me include the streamlined buying system, a “Wanted” list and that auction starting prices are the reserve prices.
The streamlined buying system is refreshingly simple. As soon as an item is won through auction or bought via Buy Now, the buyer is directed through a payment process that begins by selecting shipping method and address and ends with payment details.
The buyer is prompted at each stage of the process, circumventing the relatively long-winded back and forth exchanges that are familiar to Trade Me users.”
On happysheep…
“Happy Sheep is a classified site that combines event notifications, flatmates and flat rentals, a personals section, jobs and services and a for-sale section.
Happy Sheep has borrowed the vast majority of its features from its immensely successful American counterpart Craigslist and European equivalent Gum Tree.
Happy Sheep is at the forefront of the movement towards localisation. After registering, users are asked to pick the city closest to them from the five major centres, ensuring that the classifieds available for viewing are relevant to the user.”
Our decision last year to switch Zillion to “no reserve” auctions was in response to buyer preference away from auctions where the seller’s desired selling price is unknown, as described by this article’s author. Earlier this year Trade Me followed suit although continue to allow a reserve price if the seller pays an additional listing fee. It’s encouraging to see a journalist (especially one employed by Fairfax) do his part to educate buyers and sellers on alternatives to Trade Me.
Related links:
If you haven’t heard about James Stewart, the young entrepreneur from Christchurch who’s transforming his left leg into a canvas to raise the profile of New Zealand art and artists, I urge you to take a minute now to check him out…
I first read about James on Stuff and since then he’s received a lot of media attention both within New Zealand and as far away as the UK. So when James wrote to me earlier this week and asked if it would be OK if he auctioned off part of his leg on Zillion, I was only too happy to help. People with this level of commitment to their dreams don’t come along every day.
James has set himself a hugely ambitious goal that will require equally huge levels of commitment from generous New Zealanders who want to help James showcase New Zealand art to the world.
I wish him all the best and hope he succeeds.
I read on Stuff today that Statistics New Zealand is finally considering adding a question on sexual orientation to the census.
About time.
Sure it’s a very personal question, but what question in the census isn’t? How much money you earn? What religion you subscribe to?
This isn’t about the Government putting its nose into people’s personal lives. This is about putting an end to the assumption that all New Zealanders are straight, and enabling the Government to create more sensible and inclusive social policies as a result.
I discovered today that we value space exploration to the tune of US$17.6 billion dollars while at the same time 25,000 people die every day as the result of starvation. This doesn’t feel right to me.
Interested in your thoughts.
While browsing nzherald.co.nz last night I was shocked to discover this article fixed to the top of the homepage as the leading “news” feature.
Highlights include:
- “Budget overshadowed by doom and gloom” (headline)
- “But the history will mean little to the voting public who seem to be turning their back on the Government in droves as they tighten their belts.”
- “According to recent data most people are better off than they were a few years ago, but the reality is almost everyone feels poorer and it appears they are holding the Government responsible for it.”
You would be forgiven for thinking you’re reading the opinion columns on the back pages. But no, this was the lead homepage feature.
Without facts and figures this type of writing should have no place in a news article.
How exactly are the people of New Zealand “turning their backs”?
Where does “the reality is almost everyone feels poorer” come from? Does the author have some special insight into the “reality” of things that eludes the rest of us?
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s perfectly acceptable to print opinion pieces. It’s interesting, and helps people to make sense of current events. But don’t publish it on the homepage/frontpage of the New Zealand Herald. I believe that most people, either consciously or unconsciously, will read articles published on the frontpage as fact. It’s what we’re trained to do.
Simon posted some interesting thoughts on how this kind of reporting creates self-fulfilling prophecies and I think he’s absolutely right.
When reporting the news, big media sites have a democratic responsibilty to accurately report the facts and allow voters to assess the “reality of the situation” for themselves.
National announced yesterday that should they win the election, they’ll spend $1.5bn on rolling out a fibre network to deliver high-speed broadband into the homes of 75% of New Zealanders in the next five years.
This is bold move from National and great news for our Industry.
From my point of view, I believe that properly managed government investment in this kind of infrastructure is no different from government investment in roading and highways. Just as our state highways are critical to our country’s economic well being, so too is the “information highway” and access to super-fast Internet.
Of course careful work will need to be done to ensure we don’t end up with another monopoly. That would suck, but really, what’s the alternative? New Zealand’s a small country and it’s unlikely that the private sector would ever invest the kind of money required to get something like this off the ground properly.
I think that it’s great that National is taking the issue seriously and showing some bold leadership. I’m not sure if it would swing my vote, but it would certainly have a positive impact on my daily life. It will be interesting to see Labour’s response and how the debate unfolds leading up to the election.
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