The Smart Money

I have dibs on Jesus!

Browns Bay

The beautiful sunshine today drew us into Browns Bay. This beachside town is located in the East Coast Bays on Auckland's North Shore. There are numerous seats and picnic tables for your convenience. A large children's playground with the most exciting looking skateboard/bmx ramp that I have seen was being used exceptionally well on this sunny Labour Day weekend. Families and couples were out and about occupying the beach and cafes in the township. We walked and shopped and had coffee and cake with Casey, once again, seated at the table with us.

Election Race

Today's headlines read that Peter Dunne (from United Future) would be a minister under a National led government. Dunne has said that he felt that he had gone as far as he could under Labour and that his policies were more closely aligned with National's.

National is still ahead in the polls but for the first time in a year, it could not govern on its own. The gap has narrowed to 12% and National would need a partner.

United Future

United Future has been in the happy position of being sought by both of the major political parties. A minnow in political terms, they have been a favourite choice as a coalition partner and they have supplied the Government with confidence and supply for the past two terms.

A centre right party, they are led by the Hon Peter Dunne, member for Ohariu Belmont, and one member elected from the party list.

The party message is that United Future seeks innovative solutions to issues based on common sense, not ideology. United Future is based on the premise that every political issue is ultimately a family issue. When the family is working well, the community and the country is working well.’

United Future was formed in 2000 following a merger between the Future New Zealand (formerly the Christian Democrats) and the United Party. They provided support for a minority Government led by Labour and the Progressive Coalition party (Jim Anderton's party) in an early election in 2002.

St Heliers Bay

We are having some stunning spring days, of late. Sunday was just gorgeous so we went to St Heliers, one of my favourite places, to bask in the sunshine, have a walk and get some lunch.

St Heliers is an inner city beachside town that offers a large range of speciality and boutique stores, restaurants, bars and cafes. The streets are lined with Pohutakwa trees (see earlier blog) that bloom with gorgeous big, red flowers in the summer time. The recent addition of wide wooden pathways along the waterfront, not dissimilar to the boardwalks found in the US, are ideal for strolling and taking full advantage of idyllic views. The distinctive cone shape of Rangitoto lies just across the water.

There was an art and craft fair on that day and I ended up getting quite a few gifts along with some homemade jam and a couple of truffles - naughty but nice!

Lots of people were out taking walks, sailing, roller blading, playing ball on the beach and having picnics. We bought some food and coffee and watched the world go by and the glistening ocean. It really was a perfect day.

Wordle!

I saw one of these on a friend's blog and I wanted one!!

Click here to see a larger image, or to go to the website and make your own! Is that cool, or what???

ACT

ACT is a likely coalition partner if National win the election this year. The Party has a rocky road ahead. They haven't polled above the 1% threshhold for most of this term.

Known for exposing extravagant ministerial salaries and expenses and bringing down corrupt ministers (he laid the complaint with police about Winstone Peters), Party leader Rodney Hide has known the way to ensure survival was to lobby in his savy Epsom electorate on the need for Act to retain their seats in order for National to be successful.

Hide has known that he needed to manufacture himself as something more than just the rabel rouser and so over the last couple of years we have seen him as the dancing star, harbour swimmer and diet king.

The Act pledge card consists of 20 key policies. The three main areas include:

• The economy - to get Government spending under control and lower and flatten taxes through a Taxpayer Rights Bill. Not to cut spending but to hold spending to the rate of inflation and population growth.


• Zero tolerance to crime - three strikes and you're out.


• Dump the emissions trading scheme. This will wreck the economy with no benefit for New Zealand or the world. Act will pull out of Kyoto. ACT will remove the thermal energy ban, cancel the proposed tax on forestry cutting and conversions, dump the arbitrary ad hoc targets for renewables, and can the wasteful 'energy efficiency' subsidies.

The Act Party was formed by Roger Douglas. He split from the Labour Government and set up Act to prevent Labour from regaining power in1996. They were successful and took eight seats in that election.

As Minister of Finance with the Labour Party since they took power in 1984, Roger Douglas was responsible for the most far reaching changes the NZ economy had seen since the social welfare system was set up in the 1930s. "Rogernomics" altered the structure of both public and private sectors.

Now Roger Douglas has re-joined the Party to re-inject some much needed populist vote as number 3 on the list.