Could you not trust this man?

Max and Fraser are very interested in this year's election. I guess political awareness starts at the first election after you turn 10, or so. They're both very curious about how mum and dad are voting, and while their mother will not tell (though we all have our suspicions :-) I don't see any reason not to discuss my political leanings with them.

I've been what is commonly termed a 'floating' voter for most of my voting life. I imagine the politicians themselves might term people like me 'floaters', with an eye to the scatalogical implications. After all, their livelihoods are on the line!

So, after reading this blog post I thought I might as well also share my personal voting plans with the world.

In the referendum I will be voting to retain MMP

MMP is a straightforward system which gives a representation in parliament almost directly proportional to the proportion of votes for each party. It seems like a no-brainer to anyone aged five to twenty-five, and I figure it's important for their future that I vote this way. Some older folk seem shocked at the idea that a government might have to negotiate with representatives of large minorities in order to actually get legislation passed which would annoy one person in twenty.

In voting for an alternative to MMP, should an insufficiency of fairness-loving voters visit the polls, I will be voting for STV. STV is a stupid alternative, because it's complicated and confusing, and so if we really end up going down to the wire against some less fair system than MMP it will be much easier to argue against STV, but I'm really hoping that doesn't happen. MMP has been a great enabler to produce a much more inclusive government for New Zealand since it's introduction.

In the Mana Electorate I will be voting for Hekia Parata

I've been disappointed with Kris Fa'afoi who seems to think that "communicating with the electorate" means "standing on street corners shouting into a megaphone", and I believe Hekia is much more aware of the issues, and a much more capable and experienced politician.

My party vote will go to the Green Party

It's pretty obvious that National don't need my party vote, and I've been disappointed with their performance on important environmental and economic issues in any case. In an ideal world they'd have to form a coalition with the Green Party in order to govern, but that seems unlikely unless every Labour and Green voter who can still draw breath turns up at the polling places while the National voters all sleep in and forget to vote. Unlikely.

What I see from John Key seems increasingly like patronising gloss, and I can only imagine he has his hand behind his back with his fingers crossed. We're getting little real information in between the sound bites, for example the National Party has refused to answer the questions from Radio NZ. That can't be good.

And what do the kids think?

They tell me that they believe that these are good choices for the future. Fraser's fairly easily swayed by the opinions of those around him, but he's only 10 after all. Max does look at all the options, thinks about them and has interesting things to say. I don't think they're saying it just to please dad!

Oh, and Max drew the politician for this post. I'll let you guess who he definitely doesn't trust...