Indefensible New Zealand

In this episode, we begin the discussion of the eight major and minor parties contesting the New Zealand General Election 2020. Taking them in alphabetical order, we start with the ACT New Zealand Party. For each of the eight parties, we provide a brief history, look at the key people involved and where they sit on the political spectrum. We also talk about their websites, slogans and what they're offering in the upcoming election in terms of policy. We finish with an assessment of what we might expect if the party was to be in government following the election.

This episode is an introduction to the 18 parties registered to contest the New Zealand 2020 general election as well as a brief examination of the 10 "micro-parties." (i.e. those currently polling under 1%. There will be a dedicated episode for each of the other 8 parties. This episode has been posted on the day New Zealand discovered its first community transmission after 100 days COVID free. Watch this space!

We welcome questions from VoterTorque listeners sent via the contacts page at Torquepoint.co.nz . This episode is the first round of questions covering Parliament's Speaker, media treatment of political polls, big versus small parties and the terms 'Right Honourable' and 'Honourable.'

Many people want to support a new or small party but are concerned that their vote will be 'wasted' if the party doesn't reach the 5% threshold or win an electorate. In this episode, we discuss how we suggest people approach this and what happens when votes are re-distributed. The episode also covers different coalition combinations and Ministers in or out of Cabinet.

New Zealand's Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system is loved, hated and often poorly understood. This second episode in the VoterTorque MMP series discusses the pros and cons including different types of MPs, reaching consensus, diversity, the 5% threshold and 3 year electoral term.

Despite having had the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system for New Zealand general elections since 1996, many are still unsure about how it works. In this first of several episodes on MMP, we discuss the basics of proportionality in Parliament.

Media tend to provide a lot of coverage to political polls and many people are influenced by them. This discussion is about political polls in New Zealand and how to find and interpret them.

In this first episode, we discuss the range of topics that we will be covering between now and the New Zealand General Election on 17 October 2020. The election was originally set down for 19 September but, due to a COVID-19 outbreak in Auckland, the date was moved to Saturday 17 October.

When you see or hear something you feel is misleading, you’re entitled  to complain. But, with four agencies responsible for different aspects  of election advertising it can be a little confusing. In this episode,  we explain who looks after what.

This episode links with podcast 3 and describes how you can use a simple  questionnaire to determine where you lie on the political spectrum.  This is useful for working out which parties and policies you are most  closely aligned with.