Smith K. Stead

The Chris Bishop Humiliation Ritual Will Continue Until House Prices Improve

Yesterday’s election confirmed what so many already knew -National’s list MPs were never getting back in. The maths never lies. The writing had been on the wall for a long long time. Losing talented people is incredibly sad and i'm gutted for some of them. But strategic voting helped National win electorates and create an overhang to counter the left’s almost flawlessly executed overhang strategy. Without it the centre-right would have little chance of forming the next government. The left used the rules of MMP. The right had to do the same to have a chance. The numbers show a 20% increase in vote splitting on the right from the last election. The message clearly gained traction and thankfully has given the centre-right a real chance of forming the next government. Yet 706,000 party votes still went to National without adding seats beyond its electorate wins. Essentially wasted votes. I do wonder whether @NZNationalParty should have understood that maths and been more upfront about it with voters. Once the list seats were out of reach the success of the right bloc should have become the priority. We can be sad about losing good people and still recognise why strategic voting made sense. The maths doesn’t change to suit party loyalties. For me this comes back to the future we want for New Zealand. We should remember the damage history shows socialist and communist economic policies have done when they crush incentives to build and invest. They shrink the pie and drive out talent and capital. Then politicians act surprised when productivity falls and living standards go backwards. Sometimes I think the left forgets how much our living standards depend on businesses creating jobs and wealth. You cannot keep promising to spend more without backing the people who make that possible. At ZURU we employ hundreds of people here and plan to grow that to thousands over the next decade. Around 99.5% of our projected revenue of more than $10 billion next year will come from overseas. We are fighting to bring more of that wealth home and create opportunities for talented Kiwis to build careers and eventually businesses of their own. We need more companies doing that. More investment. More well-paid jobs. A bigger tax base to pay for better hospitals and schools. Higher living standards for everyone and better support for our most vulnerable. I want young people to see a future here and families to get ahead. That takes a country willing to back people who build things and create wealth. That is what I care about. Far more than any one party. At the end of the day I want NZ to kick ass.

Newly unsealed court documents revealed that Ramond Horsch, the late suspect at the center of a disturbing investigation into at least seven missing women in Philadelphia, was given a ‘do not arrest’ letter from a former Philadelphia mayor. bit.ly/4sFkv7d