RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
Per Angusta Ad Augusta
I for one am glad the 2008 election is over. I hugely enjoyed participating in it as RAM's Candidates Co-Leader and also in the Auckland Central electorate. I never would have imagined RAM would have even been contesting these elections, since our decision only came a few months ago and we had to hastily prepare a campaign!
It's been an amazing learning experience as a 20 year old postgraduate student to be so involved in politics, particularly in a small party that was largely ignored by the corporate media despite us putting a lot of effort in. And with Labour apparatchiks like Matt McCarten and The Standard telling people all sorts of terrible lies and smears about voting for RAM. That's life, I guess!
But most importantly, this election has been a huge building block in the development of a broad left organisation in New Zealand. RAM now has a nation-wide structure that we could not have imagine existing a few months ago. We've got an active core of hundreds of members, we've been out on the hustings and we've gained invaluable experiences that will lead us onto success in the upcoming local and national elections!
Our party, while performing poorly in party votes (at just past 400), did well in electorate votes (receiving more than 1,000). This shows to me that many of our members and supporters who were pulled to vote for major parties by the pressure from the media during the election.
The results need to be seen in the context of a difficult election with a massive swing to National and ACT as the 'change parties'. Also, let's not forget that RAM now has a far greater influence and public impact than our vote gives us - our GST-off-food petition and People's Procession to Parliament all evidence of that.
I also want to pass on my congratulations to the two other small parties of the left - the Alliance and Workers Party. The Alliance did a good job in building on their 2005 performance, and clearly have a great bunch of people involved who are serious about the broad left project. The Workers Party - while apparently (and extremely childishly) celebrating beating RAM as their main achievement in the elections - deserve acknowledgment for their electoral performance.
But what a terrible election for anyone from the centre left-wards. The Greens performed poorly considering their huge campaign, as did Labour and New Zealand First.
I'm not sure where New Zealand is going to be by 2011, but I sure as hell know that I and the rest of RAM will be there to fight the good fight for left-wing, humanist values! Thanks for your support everyone
Oliver Woods
Comments
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
"greater influence and public impact"?
How many actually turned up to the climax of People's Procession to Parliament ?
About 40
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
Your success is a known weakness. Too many parties on the left splits the vote and none is expected to be elected. You all have similar policies and if you can all work together in one body many heads....well it's quite a task but possible.
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
Oliver, how do you figure that NZ first is a party of the left?
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
Last anonymous - I think Oliver meant 'because NZ First supported a Labour-Greens govt', rather than NZ First are left of themselves.
It is a lowlight of this election how many daft 'lefties' celebrate NZ First missing the 5% threshold, when that would have made it a very tight outcome. Instead, these 'lefties' are effectively celebrating a National-Act victory. What intellects.
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
The last anonymous comment correctly analysed my position. New Zealand First are centre-left on most of their economic policy but on the social right - nevertheless, they supported Labour's liberalism with confidence and supply, making them in the minds of many New Zealanders a 'party of the left'.
I was sad to see that they are gone purely because it means that those votes may well be swept up by Peter Dunne and John Key, pushing the axis of New Zealand politics further to the right.
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
Serves NZ first for turning to racism and fearmongering.
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
I don't think it's helpful to call NZ First "left". Where was this left-wing economic policy when Peters was finance minister in in coalition with National?
NZ First's policy has always been to support the major party that gets the most votes. Given the chance, Peters would have done a deal with Key, just like Dunn.
It would have been funny if NZ First had got back in and propped up a shaky Labour-Green coalition, just because Key refused to work with Peters. But Key was rightly confident that NZ First wouldn't get back in.
The demise of a racist oppotunist who exploited opposition to the free market while propping up pro-market governments, smoozing up to the Bush regime and taking back-handers from billionairs IS something for the Left to celibrate.
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
Your delusion really knows no bounds Ollie.
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
And clearly you, Anonymous, have enough balls to put yourself up in front of an electorate and run an election campaign?
With regard to comments about New Zealand First, Winston Peters xenophobia and even more so of his supporters was really deplorable.
It's part of the reason why I'm glad they're gone as a party from Parliament. Never again can Winston rouse up racists and rednecks against Maori/Asian/Muslims/ethnic minorities.
But New Zealand First were certainly economically somewhere on the left-wing compared to National and Labour. They did play a part in fighting against neo-liberalism in New Zealand political history. They were hardly revolutionary activists, but they did do some practical things that have helped us a lot (including free healthcare for under sixes, higher minimum wages, and taking a shitload of votes away from National!).
Cheers,
Oliver Woods
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
Yes, cause we all know it takes a very large set of balls to run for office (one might hazard a guess, that's part of the problem)
A different anon.
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
"have enough balls"
Bit sexist.
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
lolz!
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
Oliver,
Youre making a monkey of yourself.
NZ First is not on the left.
You made a mistake by saying they were. accept it and move on.
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
Actually, within the framework that this election has been discussed, namely that a Labour-led government is some sort of left, and the National led government will be right, Oliver is correct. NZFirst have won a number of reforms, like the (far from adequate) under 6 health care and the Senior Citizens' Card, which would have been unlikely to have got through without them. Peters is in many ways an old school Muldoonist, which, sadly, in the context of Labour's shift to the right in the 1980s puts them clearly to Labour's left on economic issues, even though their social policy occupies the reactionary territory that Muldoon's National party used to occupy.
Cheers,
John
ps. So how's that for a bit of bridge burning sectarianism from the WP . . .
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
check out the latest post on Reading the Maps: http://readingthemaps.blogspot.com/2008/11/tiny-ferocious-creatures-far-...
Cheers, Skyler
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
Woods on readingthemaps.blog:
"Hey Maps, I'm heading into Auck Uni right now to help set up for the 'Save MMP Campaign' meeting tonight"
A save MMP campaign? Did I hear you right?
Jared D
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
Shocking, shocking stuff eh Jared? But it's a bloody good idea. The Nats may well want to scrap MMP, which has been a major advance on FPP. There's a reason why big business is so keen on bringing back FPP. It was the system that made Rogernomics possible. I think there should be a push to get rid of or lower the threshold for representation in parliament, too - whatever you think of their politics, NZ First's failure tog et seats was a travesty of the system, when Act got five.
Scott
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
It's a shame that RAM didn't do better. http://www.ram.org.nz/
I also agree that MMP needs a bit of tweaking. How the hell ACT got five seats while it got less share of the party votes than what NZ First got is beyond me. http://2008.electionresults.govt.nz/partystatus.html
Still, it's far better than what FPP gave us: a choice of dictators between two major partys.
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
It was nice to see the greens winning more seats and funny to see the bill and ben party getting more % of the party vote than some of the others.
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
I think trying to reform MMP, while it sounds nice in a bourgeois framework, misses the point for anyone representing socialist ideas...
I remember socialism being something about taking control of the means of production? Maybe?
Jared D
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
Bill & Ben in 2011.
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised that some voted for Bill and Ben as a protest.
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
down with MMP!
I'm for STV!
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
Nah, STV is too long and laborious. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_transferable_vote It's a STV system for voting for people to local health boards and some local councils http://www.stv.govt.nz/STV/index.htm which I cannot be bothered with because to go further than five is too tiresome.
When the referendums occurred in the very early 1990s http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_reform_in_New_Zealand me and many others discarded the STV system for the above problem and voted for MMP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_member_proportional_representation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_system_of_New_Zealand because it was simpler than STV and the others while it was better than FPP. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plurality_voting_system
But if STV is for you? Then enjoy voting for the local health boards and some local councils!
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
http://www.greenleft.org.au/1992/72/2408
an intersting read about the referendum than brought in mmp to aotearoa
it is only because of mmp that the greens get their seats in parliment
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
"have enough balls to put yourself up in front of an electorate and run an election campaign"
hilarious. wood's performance was evidence of naivity and stupidity at best. probably a large chunk of self-righteous egotism too. the result of their 'campaign' can hardly be said to be evidence of courage.
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
^^ indeed. Surely all the time an effort which went into RAM's campaign would have been better spent elsewhere. I mean gaining a few hundred votes and placing second to last on the list of all political parties who ran is hardly a glowing success.
Although if RAM does run next election and poll similar they do stand the chance of polling in thrid to last place - that is, if the National Front can do the unlikely and actually gain 500 paid members
Re: RAM's Oliver Woods on election result
I voted for MMP instead of the rest in the referendums in the early '90s because it's easy to use. Thanks for the memories and the internet links as I didn't know that there are many different ways to vote.
And good luck to RAM in 2011!!!