Ryan Bridge: We need to break away from coalition governments

Yesterday was MMP in action.

It was exhibit A of a coalition government.

Without a single party with a clear mandate, you end up with piecemeal positions. You get a report done then you cherry pick which options are palatable to everybody and effective for nobody.

In this case they picked just two of the ten options.

Seymour would have liked the option of flogging off the 51% of energy companies we do own, but on the other hand, Matua Shane wanted the buy the rest back. 

It’s what we call a political halfway house. 

Critics on this side say we needed more intervention, critics on that side say less.

What we voters need decide is whether this country needs bold action or incrementalism. Do we need radical, or do we want to comprise?

In 2020, Jacinda scored the first single party majority since 1993 (first under MMP) then burned the reputation of absolute power.

Let’s be real - nobody’s going to give National carte blanche come 2026.

So if the polls, Mood of the Boardroom, and talk on the street actually reflect reality, then we need to decide which side we want National pulled towards - economic nationalism in New Zealand First or free market libertarianism in ACT.

Until then, we'll get more reports firing out blank recommendations. More decisions that appease everybody but fix nothing. 

This decision basically went down like any three-way. Messy. Hard Work. Took ages. And nobody really leaves completely satisfied. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yesterday was MMP in action. It was exhibit a of
a coalition government without a single party with a clear mandate,
you end up with piecemeal positions. You get a report done,
then your cherry pick which options are palatable to everybody
and effective for nobody. In this case, they picked just
two of the ten options in the report, which they
ordered two. Imagine ordering a pizza and eating two slices.

(00:24):
Waste of money. Seewar would have liked, of course, the
option of flogging off the fifty one percent of the
energy companies that we do own. But on the other hand,
Martua Shane wanted to buy the rest back. It's what
we call a political halfway house. Critics on this side
say we needed more intervention. Critics on that side say
we need less. What we voters need to decide is

(00:45):
whether this country needs bold action or incrementalism. Do we
need radical or do we want compromise. In twenty twenty,
Jacinda Adjourns scored the first single party majority since nineteen
ninety three, first under MMP and then burn the reputation
of absolute power. Basically, let's be real, nobody's going to
give national carte blanche come twenty twenty six. So if

(01:06):
the polls and the moods of the board rooms and
the talk on the streets actually reflect reality, then we
need to decide which side we want national pull towards
economic nationalism in New Zealand first, or free market libertarianism
and act. And until then we'll get more reports firing
out blank recommendations, more decisions that appease everyone but fix nothing.

(01:30):
This decision basically went down like any three way messy,
hard work took ages, and no one really leaves completely satisfied.
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