Shopkeeper Capitalism - National Party Campaign Poster 1949

 National Party Election Campaign Poster 1949

 

They won the election, thanks perhaps to the friendly shopkeeper vote. The same rhetoric was abroad in the UK, a young Margaret Thatcher earning her stripes in her father's corner shop so that later in her career she could barrack the British public in the 1980s with her vision of shopkeeper capitalism and misguidedly apply her corner shop principles to government.

 

Others were more ambivalent about the shopkeeper's role in the community as this postcard from the early 1900s suggests:

 

 

The Grocer

 

You pose for a grocer so swell,

But we're on to you full well;

Your sugar's sand, and second-hand

Is all the stuff you sell.

 

New Zealand's National Government Will Rely on ACT for Supply & Support

The National Party will rely on the minor party, ACT, to govern. ACT will offer "supply and support" - vote with National on budget supply and on votes of confidence - but will not formally enter a coalition with National.

National PM-elect John Key is offering ministerial positions outside cabinet to several minor parties, a policy he once criticised Labour for but now concludes works well.

ACT leader Rodney Hide is expected to receive a ministerial post outside cabinet as is Peter Dunne, the leader and only MP of the United Future party.

The Maori Party has held talks with Mr Key about its possible support for a National government in the new parliament. Maori Party leaders will conduct hui with supporters in the next few days to determine whether or not the party should enter an arrangement with National in which Maori Party MPs would hold ministerial posts outside cabinet.

National's Emergency Worker Assistance $42 million Package in New Zealand Election Campaign

National leader John Key unveiled the party's emergency economic assistance policy for those who become unemployed as a result of the economic crisis.

For families eligible for tax credits under Working For Families, the in-work tax credit, valued at $60 per week, will continue for up to 16 weeks after a worker is laid off. Additionally, the accommodation supplement available to unemployed workers will be raised up to $100 per week to assist in making rent and mortgage payments.

The package is estimated by National to cost $42 million.

In addressing the distribution of benefits received by banks and the unemployed, Key reminded banks that the taxpayer was funding the deposit guarantee system and there was an expectation that banks would "be very careful about the manner in which they deal with customers who may, as a consequence of the global financial crisis, find it hard to meet their obligations."

As the election campaign heads into its final week, the economic policies of the two major parties are becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish from one another. This may pose a greater risk for National as it attempts to secure a vote sufficient to give it a clear majority to govern without relying on support from minor parties such as the Maori Party.

Labour Party's Stance on Entrenching Maori Seats

Helen Clark, Labour Party leader, has said "I don't have any particular difficulty with entrenching those" Maori seats that are created on the basis of the numbers of voters registered on the Maori electoral rolls.

She clarified that she meant entrenching the seats through the electoral option rather than entrenching a set number of seats.

Entrenching the Maori seats means that a 75 percent majority of parliament would be required to abolish the seats.

The Maori Party, likely to play a pivotal role in any coalition or support agreement with a major party post-election, has made it a condition of support for a major party to form a government that the Maori seats be entrenched.

The political problem is less with Labour and more with National since National has declared it will seek to abolish the Maori seats by 2014, although National leader John Key has said during the election campaign that this position is "not the bottom line" on the issue.

Maori Party Leadership Division As General Election Heats Up?

Maori Party co-leader Dr. Pita Sharples appears to be getting the message loud and clear from the Maori electorate that voters prefer a post-election agreement with Labour rather than National.

"We would prefer in the first instance that Labour got the higher share of the vote, because that's what our people want," Dr Sharples told The Press in Christchurch.

His co-leader Turiana Turia expressed surprise at Dr Sharples comment, continuing to take the line that the Maori Party remains interested in talking to all political parties about post-election arrangements.

Polls indicate that the Maori Party is likely to win 6 or 7 of the 7 Maori seats.