Judith Collins

It's nice to see a strong Minister making changes when and where necessary.

Kudos to you, Judith Collins.

I don't think any opposition party can really complain. But they will. It's the nature of NZ Politics.

- S.

New Zealand - The Great Outdoors

I've just got home from a few days camping at Orere Point in the Auckland region of New Zealand.

My kids and I had a great time getting rained on, living in a tent, exploring some of the parks and beaches in this part of the world.

It occurs to me that I really need to explore more. Get out of the city more. I used to as a kid, but somewhere along the road, I seem to have lost that joy in our environment.

Must make plans.

- S

NZ Referendum on the Voting System

We're coming up to the General Election shortly.

But not enough has been said about the Referendum. We're getting to have our say on whether we're happy with the Status Quo (MMP) or if not, what we'd like to have a look at.

Quite frankly, we haven't been given enough information about the options. And the way the referendum has been structured it'll be MMP vs the preferred alternative. The preferred alternative chosen by people who have been given NO information about it.

So - from Elections.org.nz:

You will be asked two questions:

The first question asks whether you want to keep MMP (which is the voting system we use at the moment) or whether you want to change to another voting system.
 
The second question asks which of four other voting systems you would choose if New Zealand decides to change from MMP.


So then what?

What are the options?

MMP – Mixed Member Proportional

This is the system we currently use to elect our Parliament.

 

There are 120 Members of Parliament (MPs). There are 70 electorates, including the Maori electorates. Each elects one MP, called an Electorate MP.  The other 50 MPs are elected from political party lists and are called List MPs.

 

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 they live in. This is called the electorate vote. The candidate who gets the most votes wins. They do not have to get more than half the votes.

 

Under current MMP rules, a political party that wins at least one electorate seat OR 5% 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 roughly 36 MPs in Parliament (being 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.

 

Coalitions or agreements between political parties are usually needed before Governments can be formed.

 

FPP - First Past the Post

There are 120 Members of Parliament. Each of the 120 electorates, including the Maori electorates, elects one MP.

 

Each voter has one vote to choose the MP they want to represent the electorate they live in. The candidate who gets the most votes wins. They do not have to get more than half the votes.

 

The winning party usually wins a share of the seats in Parliament larger than its share of all the votes across the country. Smaller parties usually receive a smaller share of seats than their share of all the votes.

 

A government can usually be formed without the need for coalitions or agreements between parties.

 

PV - Preferential Voting

There are 120 Members of Parliament. Each of the 120 electorates, including the Maori electorates, elects one MP.

 

Each voter ranks the candidates – 1, 2, 3, etc – in the order they prefer them. 

 

A candidate who gets more than half of all the first preference votes (that is votes marked “1”) wins.

 

If no candidate gets more than half the first preference votes, the candidate with the fewest number “1” votes is eliminated and their votes go to the candidates each voter ranked next.

 

This process is repeated until one candidate has more than half the votes.

 

The winning party usually wins a share of the seats in Parliament larger than its share of all the votes across the country. It is hard for smaller parties to win seats in Parliament, but votes for smaller party candidates may influence who wins the seat because of second, third, etc preferences.

 

A government can usually be formed without the need for coalitions or agreements between parties.

 

STV - Single Transferable Vote

There are 120 Members of Parliament. Each electorate has more than one MP. This includes the Maori electorates. It is likely the 120 MPs would be divided between 24 and 30 electorates, each with 3 to 7 MPs.

 

Each voter has a single vote that is transferable. Voters either rank the individual candidates – 1, 2, 3, etc – in the order they prefer from all the candidates, OR they may vote for the order of preference published in advance by the political party of their choice.

 

MPs are elected by receiving a minimum number of votes. This is known as the quota and is based on the number of votes in each electorate and the number of MPs to be elected.

 

Candidates who reach the quota from first preference votes are elected.

 

If there are still electorate seats to fill, a two-step process follows.

 

First, votes the elected candidates received beyond the quota are transferred to the candidates ranked next on those votes. Candidates who then reach the quota are elected.

 

Second, if there are still electorate seats to fill, the lowest polling candidate is eliminated and their votes are transferred to the candidates ranked next on those votes.

 

This two-step process is repeated until all the seats are filled.

 

The number of MPs elected from each political party usually mirrors the party’s share of all the votes across the country.

 

Coalitions or agreements between political parties are usually needed before governments can be formed.

 

SM - Supplementary Member

There are 120 Members of Parliament. There are 90 electorates, including the Maori electorates. Each elects one MP, called an Electorate MP.  The other 30 seats are called supplementary seats. MPs are elected to these seats from political party lists and are likely to be called List MPs.

 

Each voter gets two votes.

 

The first vote is to choose the MP the voter wants to represent the electorate they live in. This is called the electorate vote. The candidate who gets the most votes wins. They do not have to get more than half the votes.

 

The second vote is for the political party the voter chooses. This is called the party vote. The share of the 30 supplementary seats each party gets reflects its share of the party vote.

 

For example, if a party gets 30% of the party vote, it will get about 9 List MPs in Parliament (being 30% of the 30 supplementary seats) no matter how many electorate seats it wins.

 

This makes SM different from MMP where a party’s share of all 120 seats mirrors its share of the party vote.

 

One or other of the major parties would usually have enough seats to govern alone, but coalitions or agreements between parties may sometimes be needed. 

 

 

NZ Election 2011

One month to go.

I've watched a couple of 'debates' on TV. I'm hugely disappointed. Very light on content and policy, and every time detail started to appear, the Moderator would interrupt with a new question.

Something useful like: "What do you think of the New Zealand flag?"

So... pretty much lost interest in what the Media has to offer. We are not being served well.

It's interesting seeing how supporters of the Left and the Right are taking to Social Media to rage and troll. If anyone of a Right-persuasion says something, a Left-leaner will attack. And more often than not it gets personal.

It seems to be a theme.

Attack the person, not the policy.

I like politics, but this is a shambles. And quite immature.

- S.

The Rena and balance

So, a couple of weeks ago, a container ship called the Rena plowed into a reef.
EVERYONE knew the reef was there, so it's quite cut and dry as to the negligence of the crew.

It's lost a few containers. It's spilled some oil.

And the hand-wringing, gnashing of teeth and outpouring of emotion has been ridiculous.

I've been highly irritated at the media coverage. They've been rolling out simple people who rage at our Government. They've been rolling out the token 'person who's worked on a beach that had an oil spill years earlier' story. They've been giving politicians the chance to whine and not be helpful at all.

It really has pissed me off.

My take on it is that it'll probably be gone by Christmas. The ecological 'disaster' will be found to be over-stated by a huge margin.

Happily last night Campbell Live managed to present a balanced angle. Marine scientists saying that it's not going to be all that bad.

I can breathe again.

S.

My Precious

RIP Steve Jobs. 1955-2011

Your vision changed my world. Always inspired. I will remember.

The Kiwi "She'll be right" Mentality

I've been selling Design services for nearly five years. I am fortunate to be surrounded by some incredibly talented designers, and some of their sensibilities have rubbed off.

One thing I have grown to despise is a trait that New Zealanders tend to have. The idea that something will work out with minimal effort. "She'll be right, mate".

I have seen it so many times in business.

Clever people who produce fantastic products, who provide fantastic services present themselves to their prospects in a half-assed way. They have either no design, or its design done by the Wife's niece who is a hairdresser but quite likes to draw.

I know of online businesses that have incredible systems and technology. But their website looks like crap. "It's all about the back-end and the data". Really?

I know that how something looks sets my expectation for what is offered. If it looks crappy, I'll expect it to be crappy.

Please please please. If you make something cool, DESIGN it. Present it in the best possible light.

- S