Indian Newslink Sept 15 2017 Digital Edition

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10 Electionlink Greens will rescue New Zealanders from all robberies James Shaw By the time this column goes to print, the general election will be just a week away and early voting will have already started. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank the Indian community for the hospitality that I have been shown all around the country - whether in visits to temples or community forums or just engaging one on one with members of the community – it has been a privilege to engage and hear out your thoughts and concerns. I want to let the Indian community know what our Green vision in government means: safer communities, decent housing and a cleaner environment for everyone. Damning record There are too many in New Zealand that feel unsafe. The attacks on dairies, homes and international students are unacceptable. It is a damning indictment of National’s record that there have been 1287 aggravated robberies - an increase of nearly 87% from the previous year. We will put victims first by ensuring that victims of crime get compensation and the support they need. There are no excuses for the attacks and that is why we will take strong action on crime. The Green Party will bring true justice by reforming our justice system so that we can shift to a model which is proven to reduce crime by reducing reoffending through rehabilitation and ensuring that prisoners are not just released into the streets with no transition programme. Poverty needs addressing because it drives so many New Zealanders to the point of desperation where they wrongly feel as if they have no choices but crime. Our families package will help end the poverty that many people in New Zealand face. Too many families - particularly in Auckland are having a hard time finding warm, dry and affordable housing. Whether you are renting or wanting to buy a home - we believe that you should be able to easily find warm, dry and affordable accommodation. Cooling the market That is why we want to cool the housing market by putting in a capital gains tax and putting a ban on overseas-based speculation. It is completely unfair that a Hollywood tycoon is pricing out the cost of housing for a young couple who worked hard to get residency and are wanting to make a future in New Zealand. We will make life easier for homebuyers through our rent-to-buy scheme which will enable the state to provide low-cost financing for first-homebuyers having a hard time. For renters, we will help by making tenancies longer, banning letting fees and improving your rights. You should be able to make a home wherever you are - whether or not you own your own home. We know that Asian-New Zealanders are twice as likely to be renting and so, we have made it a priority to help protect your rights as Election Day nears bringing improved prospects Raj Singh After what feels like one of the longest election campaigns ever, it is finally coming to an end. By the time this column goes to print, early voting will have started and you will have an opportunity to vote on election day on September 23, 2017. It has been a privilege to visit and talk to many of you on the campaign trail. Oftentimes, I have felt like an ‘icebreaker’ for the Green Party in helping us communicate and talk to voters to whom we have talked. Across Auckland, I have had an opportunity to connect with you for which I am grateful. Green Party Leader James Shaw has already talked about what the Greens in Government will do for our communities, and I would like to build on his points and mention things he has not had the space to mention. Insight into community issues As many of you know - I am a lawyer and am involved with the community outside of the campaign. This has given me some insights into the difficulties that our people are facing and a thing that comes up again and again - not just at work but also the campaign trail is immigration. There are so many heart-breaking stories of families having to be separated, of students spending tens and thousands of dollars to come here - lured on false dreams only to be disappointed. Last but not least, of those being exploited at work by unscrupulous employers - most disappointing of all - sometimes perpetrated by members of our own community. Fair Immigration Policy The Green party has consistently stood for a fair, compassionate immigration policy. Our plan will crack down on dodgy international education agents by requiring that all tertiary institutions in New Zealand put in a code of practice so that someone can be held to account. More importantly - we are not just preaching rhetoric - when the international students who were exploited by their education advisors took shelter - we were proud to stand with them publicly. Behind the scenes we were active in lobbying the minister and making the case to the government for a compassionate approach where the students would be allowed to finish their courses. Our Immigration Policy also supports reversing the changes that National have made around family sponsorship. We think that you should be able to sponsor your parents and siblings - because part of being at home in a new country is having family and it only makes sense that you should be allowed to sponsor them if you are able to so. We want to keep families together and ensure that you are at home in New Zealand Equality at workplace We want to make sure we have fairness across workplaces too. Too often many of us experience discrimination from employers - this has actually been proven in a study in New Zealand with those not having European names receiving half the SEPTEMBER 15, 2017 a renter. Last but not least, I know that many people come to New Zealand to experience the wonders of our beautiful country. We want to protect New Zealand’s beautiful environment and create green jobs through our Green Infrastructure Fund which will invest in smart, clean and sustainable jobs for the future and reduce pollution. We will also protect our conservation estate and parks by doubling the funding for the department of Conservation and protecting them from mining. The Green Party in Government will keep our communities safe, in warm, affordable and decent housing and protect our beautiful environment. James Shaw is Co-Leader of the Green Party of New Zealand. interviews as European New Zealanders. The Green Party will help address this by trialing gender and race blind CVs so that you are being assessed on your merits - not ones coloured by the veil of prejudice. We also want to smoothen and assist the cross-crediting of qualifications so that our qualifications that we gain abroad are recognised here. I have been proud to be a Green candidate this election because the Greens have consistently stood up to defend migrants from scapegoating and advocated for policy that would help our community. Please give your party vote to us so that we can keep standing up for migrants in Government. Raj Singh is the Candidate of the Green Party at Manukau East. Raj Singh Candidatefor Manukau East We love NewZealand. That’swhy we’re committed to cleaning up our rivers, ending povertyand taking action on climatechange. Authorised by Gwen Shaw, L1, 17 Garrett Street,Wellington Raj isthe founder and Principal of aSouth Auckland based lawfirm who wants to sharehis professional success by giving his community avoice and representing them in Parliament through his work with the Green Party. He is passionateabout policy, law, effectivecommunication and leadership,education and immigration. Rajoften offers legal education seminars to communities. Authorised by Gwen Shaw, Level 1, 17 Garrett Street, Wellington NZ
SEPTEMBER 15, 2017 Australian history set to repeat in New Zealand Thakur Ranjit Singh Many with reservations about Labour Party’s ability to unseat three-term rule of National Party may feel this is a colossal task for Jacinda Ardern. Among others, this means turning around a rudderless and crippled ship in such a short lap and time. Has this phenomenon ever been achieved before? No? Either you have a short memory, or were not even born when it happened. This happened in Australia some 34 years ago. There, a new Australian Labour Party’s leader Bob Hawke, accomplished an electoral victory in just four weeks as leader. He defeated siting PM Malcom Fraser’s ruling Liberal Party government in 1983. Experience and Miracle What caused this miracle for Labour? Electionlink One million votes uncast make us irresponsible people Bawa Arora Politics and political decision-making affect all of us. Many Indian Newslink readers who have migrated to New Zealand come from India, the world’s largest democracy. They are therefore no strangers to politics and its ability to influences the lives of people. On Saturday, September 23, 2017, New Zealanders will have a chance to exercise their voter franchise. It is therefore appropriate to discuss the voting process and importance of voting. Australia was going through some tough economic times in early 1980s. At the time of proposed election in 1982, the economy suffered from high inflation, industrial disputes and high unemployment, accompanied by a prolonged drought. Fraser had been Prime Minister since 1975. On the other hand, Labour Party was led by Bill Hayden, and like our Labour Party, they were also going through disputes, disunity and instability. A faction of the Labour Party wanted to roll Bill Hayden as Party Leader in favour of Bob Hawke. Prime Minister Fraser was well aware of the disunity in Labour, and took advantage of this. He prematurely dissolved parliament and called for election on March 5,1983, unaware that Hayden had resigned and was replaced by Hawke. Frazer brought forward the election by seven months to take advantage on apparent disunity in Labour camp. The Legislature New Zealand has a unicameral legislature and follows the Mixed Member Proportion (MMP) system of voting. It is a proportional system, which means that the proportion of votes a party gets will largely reflect the number of seats it has in parliament. Each voter gets two votes. The first vote is for the political party the voter chooses. This is called the party vote and largely decides the total number of seats each political party gets in Parliament. The second vote is to choose the MP the voter wants to represent the electorate Under the leadership of Hawke, Labour Party recollected, gained its lost territory and support, and surprised all political pundits. On the election night, Labour party experienced a massive swing and wrested back power. Time Magazine, ran the following self-explanatory story in its March 14, 1983 issue: Voters bet on a chummy, charismatic new leader Barely a month ago, Robert James Lee (Bob) Hawke, 53, was a fledgling parliamentarian with a mediocre record as his party’s spokesman for industrial relations. Last weekend, he was elected Prime Minister of Australia, leading to victory a listless, often divided Labour Party that has held power for just three of the past 34 years. Claiming about 74 seats in the 125-seat House of Representatives (an approximate swing of 22), Hawke and his Labourites ended the 7½-year reign of Incumbent Malcolm Fraser and his Liberal/ National Party coalition. they live in. This is called the electorate vote. Candidate who get the most votes win. They do not have to get more than half the votes. Share in Parliament Under current MMP rules, a political party that wins at least one electorate seat or five per cent of the party vote gets a share of the seats in Parliament that is about the same as its share of the party vote. For example, if a party gets 30% of the party vote, it will get about 36 MPs in Parliament (30% of 120 seats). So, if that party wins 20 electorate seats, it will have 16 List MPs in addition to its 20 Electorate MPs. Meaningful comparison Now, let us compare this (1983 Australia situation) to 2017 election in New Zealand. Change in Labour Party leadership took place less than two months before the election. The party, going through instability since the departure of Helen Clark in March 2009, failed to anchor with any leader. Political good-fortune eluded them and they were in a free-fall with National Party gearing up for a historic fourth term as the government. And then a miracle happened, where admirably, Andrew Little gave over leadership to Jacinda Ardern. (See the author’s ‘Andrew’s sacrifice takes Jacinda to the Crown’ in this Section). And as they say, rest is developing into history. The polls taken since Ms Ardern took charge have shown one thing clearly - Labour’s consistent march forward, breaking new grounds in polls and preferred Prime-Minister’s choice. All indications are that they will be in driver’s seat. Large apathy Recent analysis shows that in 2014, close to one million enrolled voters did not care to vote. For a nation of 4.8 million people this represents very low voter turnout. Further, it also affects the formation of the Government and public policy. New Zealanders need to participate in the process of voting and electing our next and future Governments so that policy formulation can take place based on needs of majority of our population. In case we choose not to vote, we choose not to participate in the process of electing people who will make 11 Sliding National The meteoric rise for Ardern is contrasted by a drop in support for National Party, their campaign errors in apparent desperation, and absence of any major blunders by Ms Ardern. As a result, Jacindamania had taken root in earnest. All general indications and trends point to one conclusion – history will be repeated. Media worldwide will run similar news story as the Time Magazine story above, after the election on September 23, 2017. Ms Ardern would execute a Bob Hawke punch on Bill English. Sceptics who consider this as a mammoth task for Labour Party in general and Ms Ardern in particular, are correct. However, it is not impossible, considering the telltale signs, as indicated above. Thakur Ranjit Singh is a political observer, media commentator and journalist. He runs his blog, ‘Fiji Pundit’ and lives in Auckland. critical decisions on taxation, transport, healthcare, climate change and housing and many other social, economic and environmental issues. Forfeiting rights Further, we also lose the right to complain when we disagree with policy decision framed by the Government of the day. Therefore, it is critical that all of us to exercise our right to vote. We should also encourage our youth who have reached the voting age to exercise their rights. Bawa Arora is a political observer, resident in Auckland. Related articles appear in this Section. Mahesh Bindra nzfirst.org.nz MOUNT ROSKILL ELECTORATE 09 250 4070 mahesh.bindra.7 MaheshBindra PARTY VOTE Authorised by A. Martin, 13 Brown Road, Warkworth
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