“Losers make promises they often break.
Winners make commitments they always keep.”
Dennis Waitley, motivational speaker and writer, 1933 –
Go back to March 1 2011. What was I thinking when I made a commitment to myself to write a blog post each day for a year? That’s 365 posts. Where did I think I was going to get enough ideas to write every day?
There are days when inspiration or just an idea for a post pops into my head – often when I am in the shower. But other days… And today is one of those other days.
OK it’s the day after Election Day and the outcome was fairly much as the polls showed. John Key and the National Party (right) gained 60 seats out of the 120 seats in the House. This enough seats to govern on its own and with the help of a couple of small parties, to have a clear majority. However, the pundits were very wrong in some of their other predictions.
Most guessed predicted that NZ First and its founder and mainstay Winston Peters would stay out in the cold where they had languished for the past three years. But against all the odds, and all the polls, NZ First led by a jubilant Peters has stormed back and will have a say in parliament with 8 or 9 seats depending on the final count.
The Green Party gained 15 seats and will have a strong voice in the next parliament. This is the largest number of votes transcribing into seats they have ever gained.
Labour (the left) gained only 34 seats a sad outcome for this party that under the leadership of Helen Clark held office for three consecutive terms. The party appears to be in disarray. It is commonly supposed that the current leader of the party, Phil Goff, will resign following this major defeat. Several names have been mentioned today as likely candidates for the job but with no obvious choice.
Under MMP (Mixed Member Proportional) we have parties represented with only one or two members in the house. While this caused consternation and mayhem during the first term of this new (to us) electoral system in 1996, most New Zealanders appear to be happy with this form of electoral voting.
So while John Key and his party received an overwhelming a resounding vote to continue its policy making it must be noted that fewer than 60% of voters actually went to the polls to record their vote. In Australia it is mandatory to vote but here in New Zealand it is mandatory only to register to vote.
I wonder if the number who voted actually reflects the fact that the pundits all had National way out ahead of Labour in all the opinion polls or are 40% plus, simply apathetic.
Anyway, congratulations to John Key and his team.
Phew!~ Another post on the way to 365. Number 266 only 99 to go! Thanks for reading and taking this journey with me.
Related articles
- Key to remain NZ PM, Goff concedes defeat (news.smh.com.au)
- NZ Leader Wins 2nd Term, Pledges Fiscal Discipline – ABC News (abcnews.go.com)
- Key Wins New Zealand Election, Clearing Way for Asset Sales (businessweek.com)
- Election Day (growingyoungereachday.wordpress.com)
You are doing great! Thank you for letting me know about the politics in GB! We do not get that much information here. Writing is tough, isn`t it? I looooove your pic by the way:-)
Have a great day
Ginger
http://beatbloodpressure.wordpress.com
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Thanks for the comment. I always notice when I am out of the country there is very little coverage of what goes on here in New Zealand.
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it is quite a commitment, isn’t it? I got derailed in Sept due to an out of town funeral I had to attend. But somehow, I’ll still have my 365 posts by end of December. Then i need to decide if I’m going to do this one more year! It’s actually been a wonderful experience as I’ve met some amazing people along the way.
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I shall continue certainly to the end of the year and probably through to theend of February – that will be the year for me. Then I have to decide how often to post after that. Oh yes, the people one meets in this blogging community!
Thanks for the comment.
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Always glad the see the Greens(environmentalists) win in all countries in which they have a presence. Unfortunately in the USA we have a different kind of Greens – the megabanks and megacorps which control the green($).
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Oh you only have those nasty grasping Greens in your country. Ours are much gentler and caring.
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What a great commitment! I thought I would post every day when I started in July, but that hasn’t happened. You can do it!!
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Thanks so much for the encouragement.
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You’re doing very well, Judith. As your Australian neighbour I’m interested in your country’s politics. Do you get information about Australian politics? It would interest me to see what you know about what’s going on here in Australia and how you interpret it. Keep writing blogs! They are very stimulating. Best wishes, Uta.
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Thanks Uta. Yes, we do get information on Australian politics and we also get a lot of your news. SKY News comes out of Australia so we keep up a bit. We all know your PM Julia Guillard but I am sorry to say that I don’t know the name of any one of the leaders of the state government.
It’s hard keeping up with everything that goes on in this world isn’t it?
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….keeping up with everything that goes on in this world? Very hard indeed!
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It’s hard to post every day. I actually hit the one year mark back in September (around the 23rd, I think). You’re doing really well. Just keep on keepin’ on, as they say. 🙂
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Thanks for the encouragement Robin and congratulations on passing the one year mark.
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I really admire not just the comitment of the 365 day bloggers, but also their sticking power. Imdo7#m’
*&&&&&&&&&&&&&777777777777777777777777777777777777777
(that last bit was a contribution from Alice !)
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Thanks for the comment and thanks to Alice. Haven’t seen her face in your blogs recently.
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I’m happy for you that you are on your way to your goal. On the 365th day, I will be there to celebrate with you and share the glorious fireworks. I admire your dedication and motivation to create posts that inspires and moves people. God bless you always….
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The commitment is only to myself but I made it and shall keep it. Thanks – you will be invited to the celebrations on February 28th.
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Hi Judith!
In answer to your question from your previous post:
People in Australia who do not vote, have to pay a fine!
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Thank you again. We had fewer than 60% of eligible voters voting on Saturday. What a disgrace!
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Thanks for explaining the NZ political parties and elections…I had never known about that and it’s very interesting…thanks
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NZ is so small and so doesn’t often make the headlines anywhere else in the world. Glad you found the post interesting.
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Interesting, Judith. I’d never heard of having to vote, or be fined! I wonder how different our country would be if that were the case here. Great job on your posting goal! I guess if you run out of ideas, it’s off to the shower until you get one. 🙂
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I always thought voting or not was a choice, but not so in Australia. And today may be one of those days for a long shower.
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