I'm NOT telling you who to vote for. You have agency - you can read (or not) what I've written which will make it clear who I'm not voting for.
You don't have to agree with me. I'm sharing my understanding of decisions being made by people in power that disregard the people/places those decisions are being made about
There is no perfect party
What I AM advocating for is that you stay informed, and make sure that you check you are enrolled to vote (do that here). And I encourage you to think about what/who is important to you, and vote to protect those things. For the future you want to leave behind for the young people growing up after you. If that's all you needed to read, great.
I'm writing this so I can more easily reference the things I'm aware of but am unable to answer when I'm on the spot. Obviously I'm biased against the coalition however I've tried to stick to facts as much as possible, and linked to articles so you have starting points if you want to read more into certain topics.
I understand that I'm a yarn business. But my yarn business can't exist without a craft community. And in that community are teachers, healthcare workers, Māori, disabled folk + people who care for disabled folks, neurodivergent folk, LGBTQIA+ folk, parents, ethnic minorities, environmentalists. People who have been negatively impacted by decisions and policies put in place/removed by this government. After nearly nine years in business, some of the people in this community I am personally connected with, and I hurt when they are hurting.
And not that I love talking money, but we are in a cost of living crisis. Which means there's less money for awesome things like yarn. This impacts ALL yarn retailers - dozens of small business owners who would love to stay in business.
Okay, so below are the main things I'm aware of, if there's a big, or little, policy I'm missing, please let me know. I can't promise to update straight away but putting together stuff like this takes time and energy.
Decision/Policy | What they claim(ed) | The reality |
|---|---|---|
Dec 2023 - Land Transport (Clean Vehicle Discount Scheme Repeal) Amendment Bill passed under urgency | Fiscal unsustainability (costing more in rebates than being able to reclaim in fees) | No select committee scrutiny or public consultation. Weakens our ability to transport emission targets. Fair points in the "feebate" but the uptake indicates people need support to move to low emission options. Not sure what the answer is, but this didn't do the environment any favours. |
Dec 2023 - Natural and Built Environments Act (NBEA) and Spatial Planning Act (SAP) repealed under urgency | Campaign promise Claimed it would hinder development and create excessive legislation | The NBEA aimed to fix environmental degradation under the RMA, the repeal will allow the decline of natural resources and biodiversity. Prioritises property rights over environmental safeguards. Complex implementation. |
Dec 2023 - cancelled the ferry contract | Cost blowout to $4billion (however this was due to terminal and port upgrades needed in Wellington and Picton) | Cancelling the contract cost $671million 2029 before we get two new ferries when we could have kept the contract and had new ferries by now |
Feb 2024 - Three Waters repealed under urgency | Campaign promise. Claimed that Local Water Done Well would be cheaper for ratepayers. | Look, Three Waters wasn't perfect but it was set up to sort out sh!t. Rates went up. Except for Luxon. Our household rates increased by 20%. I didn't get a rebate when I challenged this. In fairness, the current situation is the result of decades of negligence however, cancelling a solution only to land on a more expensive one doesn't exactly help with the cost of living. |
Mar 2024 - Fast-track Approvals Act passed under urgency | Streamline consenting for major infrastructure and development projects |
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Mar 2024 - Strict immediate changes to purchasing guidelines for disability support | Reduce costs | This severely impacted the disabled community - as discussed by Emily Writes, Aug 2024
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April 2024 - landlords able to claim 80% of their interest expenses, April 2025 - landlords able to claim 100% of those expenses | Said this would ease pressure on the rental market and deliver savings to renters | Do you know of anyone that got reduced rental rates? Could not find any reports online that supported this claim. |
May 2024 - staggered 10% payrise for MPs Starting salary for an MP as at June 2024 $168,600 No specific or professional qualifications are required to be a MP. | No claims here, I'm simply drawing a comparison between a profession that makes decisions for our country, versus two professions that look AFTER future generations, and care for all people in this country, and are always impacted by decisions made by people without qualifications yet earning at least twice as much. | 2025/2026 starting salary for a teacher: $61,329 For primary school, you need a Bacheler of Education (Teaching) or a Bachelor's Degree followed by a Graduate/Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching, which is a minumum of 3 year's full time study, as well as maintaining practicing license 2026 starting salary for a nurse $75-78,000 Bachelor of Nursing is a 3 year full time degree, also maintaining a current practicing license. |
May 2024 - National Resilience Plan (NRP) created after Cyclone Gabrielle was closed. AND Climate Emergency Response Fund (CERF) also closed. | Resilience spending would be assessed through standard budget processes rather than being 'ring fenced' | Extreme weather events since May 2024: June 2024 - East Coast Floods Aug 2024 - Southerly Blast Sep2024-Feb 2025 - 14 natural hazard events, including 6 significant storms Oct 2024 - Otago Floods Jan 2025 - Northland Anniversary Weekend Storm June 2025 - Tasman/Nelson/Marlborough floods Jan 2026 - North Island Storms cause fatal landslide Feb 2026 - more heavy rain and flooding in North Island > so instead of reserved funds to support affected folks... |
July 2024 - tax cuts for tobacco companies | Encourage switching from cigarettes to heated tobacco) products (heated instead of burned | Tobacco lobbying wins - why is Phillip Morris Intl profiting off our taxes? |
Oct 2024 - budget cuts resulting in 75 supplier contracts ending Dec 2024 | Reduce costs |
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Nov 2024 - Treaty Principles Bill | Define Treaty principles, create legal certainty, build consensus | NZ said no - 300,000 submissions (90% opposed). Trying to push this bill forward cost about $4m to do something we already have, TPB did not pass. |
Dec 2024 - Crimes Legislation (Stalking and Harassment) Amendment Bill | Standalone criminal offence for stalking and harassment. | Can concede a positive point for this policy. |
May 2025 - Equal Pay Amendment Act passed under urgency | Reduce government spending on settlements |
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May 2025 - Regulatory Standards Bill | Good law making. | 157,000 submissions (97% opposed). Look, many of you will be aware I rallied hard against this bill. Despite there being no good reason for this bill, it passed. If it's not repealed, on top of the cost to our environment, democracy, and human rights, this bill is expected to cost $18-60million ANNUALLY. I might try and update this later on as there is so much to this bill that is bad news for EVERYONE. |
July 2025 - Education and Training (Early Childhood Education Reform) Amendment Bill passed under urgency | Improve ECE regulatory system's effectiveness and reduce burdens on service providers | Reduced quality and standards. Regulatory changes could undermine existing, more rigorous safety and quality checks. |
Aug 2025 - Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Act passed under urgency | Speed up consenting for infrastructure and housing | |
Aug 2025 - Crown Minerals Amendment Act passed under urgency | Active promotion of mining and exploration | Removes restrictions on new petroleum exploration outside of Taranaki Ignored existing commitments to limit global warming activities Breaches Te Tiriti o Waitangi |
Oct 2025 - changes to the Jobseeker Support to take effect from Nov 2026 | Reduce long-term welfare dependence | Risk of forcing young people to return to unsafe home environments, and potentially leaving vulnerable teens without support while awaiting verification of it being unreasonable to live at home. Increased burden on families - because decisions by this government have done nothing to address the cost of living crisis we are in, and that were not created by the young people currently needing this support. And |
Dec 2025 - new regulations under the Medicines Act preventing new prescriptions of puberty blockers to young people experiencing gender dysphoria - yet remained available for other medical conditions such as precocious puberty, endometriosis, and prostate cancer | Precautionary approach based on a Ministry of Health brief from Nov 2024 that cited a lack of high-quality evidence regarding risks/benefits |
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Dec 2025 - Fast-track Amendment Bill passed under urgency | ||
Dec 2025 Record Unemployment rate by end of 2025 5.4%, highest level since 2015 | Luxon claimed a lag effect as a result of previous government despite the unemployment rate being 4% come December 2023 | Goverment decisions have seen substantial job losses across all public service sectors |
Feb 2026 - Move-on orders authorised | ||
Proceeding with Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) import terminal despite the developing fuel shortage | Address energy security (after systematically wiping all the policies that would have put us in a better position to deal with a ful shortage) |