See how much changes when people do nothing
So far, in my time writing, I’ve watched three elections happen. There was the local body election in October, the WEL Energy Trust and now the general election, and each time I write a piece saying you should go and vote.
And each time the voter turn out is pretty abysmal. Sure this is a general election, the turnout is usually far higher, but last election it was the lowest turn out in 120 years – that’s a shameful number – our voter turn out is bad and we should feel bad.
But the pleas I’m putting out for voters to vote seem to fall on deaf ears – so you know what Hamilton, you win – don’t vote, see what happens. See how much changes when good people do nothing.
You see, not voting means you don’t get to have your views represented in the new government.
So not voting is the best way to make sure nothing changes for you. But of course the danger of that is, because you’re apathetic, and come across as someone who doesn’t really care, then you’re the people that the eventually successful politicians will make sure changes happen to – cause you don’t care about what happens to you. If no one votes here in Hamilton how will we make our needs known on a national scale? If we had no voice in Parliament, if no one was there to represent your needs as Hamiltonians, then we wouldn’t have the Waikato Expressway, paid parental leave extensions, a ban on legal highs, no new schools, no ultra-fast fibre roll out, no marriage amendment.
Why should the Government bother funding anything here – hospitals, schools, public transport, benefits, economic development, New Zealand TV and music and film, power companies, Air New Zealand – sure it could be argued that they don’t fund enough as it is, but what if they took away that funding as well!
How safe did you want to feel? Say goodbye to the police, fire service, prison guards – national security in any shape or form would
So stop making excuses, stop dawdling and thinking about it and get your ass to a polling booth, get out there and get heard.
be gone. Sure, as New Zealand’s largest inland city, the navy isn’t so prominent here but it would be gone, same with the army and the airforce.
In fact you’re looking at 14,000 people who would be screwed over if that stopped being funded.
Oh and don’t forget those other jobs you don’t think about – Department of Conservation for example. You can sit back and watch as repopulation schemes for our native birds stop — there goes Sirocco the kakapo, all the hard work spent on rebuilding the black robin population that got as low as seven birds at one stage, and of course it could mean the end of the kiwi. Without any government funding to stop introduced predators, it will see the local wildlife population plummet.
Of course there would be price drops in goods and services as GST would be pointless.
But then the tariffs, the subsidies that the Government pays for many products would also be gone – and with the mass unemployment that would roll out over New Zealand, from the hundreds of thousands of people that are employed by the Government in some form – well our economy would be in ruin. So that’s the crux of it really – don’t vote this weekend, figure the status quo is fine, or can’t be bothered?
Then why should you get anything the Government does, why should you be allowed to take part or use anything they are involved in. Sure, some of it you might not like, some of it may seem pointless to you, or unfairly weighted as a priority – you might want more education spending and less defence spending for example.
Well not voting is not giving a damn about those decisions.
So stop making excuses, stop dawdling and thinking about it and get your ass to a polling booth, get out there and get heard. Make sure that this one time in three years you can have your say on not just the massive issues, or a confidence vote on how dirty our politicians are, but on making sure that every Kiwi is looked after going forward, in whatever way you see fit.
And if you don’t vote, if it does slip your mind, then go away and don’t talk to me, because, as far as I’m concerned, your moment of apathy is what disqualifies you from registering my interest.