to kick off the Waitematā campaign, popular minister and Greens co-leader imnofox went doorknocking throughout Henderson, discussing important issues with local voters in this interesting by-election

knock knock

“Kia ora, I’m imnofox, co-leader of the Green Party. There’s a by-election coming up, and we’re out doorknocking in support of BHjr132. How are you today?”

“Hi! I’d heard there was a by-election. I’m currently on a benefit, so I voted for trippytropicana in the general election. Isn’t the Socialist Aotearoa leader standing? I’m not voting for ACT, they want me on the street. I think I’ll vote for the Socialist dude.”

”Yeah, it’s important that we don’t let the radicals in ACT win this by-election, which is why I implore you to vote for BHjr132 this by-election. He’s the only candidate who can realistically beat ACT, and is already working in government to deliver better health outcomes for all New Zealanders, alongside my work in government to increase benefit levels, scrap unfair sanctions that punish people for being poor, and to design a budget that works for everyone, especially those struggling to get by. A vote for BHjr132 secures that policy programme, a vote for anyone else could give the opposition parties all the power.”

“Oh wow, I’d heard a thing or two about your work regarding benefit changes. That’d be quite useful. It’s quite hard, I left my ex-partner a few months ago, he’d got abusive, and it’s been quite challenging raising my son on my own since then. The DPB just isn’t enough, and the last National Government seems to have made the process and working with WINZ fucking impossible. I just want to stay safe, keep my kid safe, and have enough to live.”

”I hear you, and I really empathise with your situation. I’m working really hard to reform WINZ, with the support of the Greens, BHjr, and the rest of the government, to fix the system so it treats people with respect and dignity. It’s bloody shameful that we have an economic system that forces people onto these social support services, then treats them like an absolute burden when people do rely on these services. It was quite good when we passed the bill to provide flexible working arrangements for people affected by domestic violence, but even that came with much opposition from the National-ACT alliance. We need to do so much more to support people and families escaping from abusive relationships, because it’s not easy, and the systems to support these women- it’s mostly women and their kids- are designed to be as counter-intuitive and difficult to access as possible. And that needs to change, it’s what we’re working to change, and we can’t let that work be held up by an ACT MP holding the balance of power.”

“I’m really glad there’s people in government who actually understand the challenges we face. You’re right we can’t let the ACT Party win this seat. I’ll vote for BHjr132, he seems quite committed to solving the challenges we face, yes.”

”Thank you for your time, have a great afternoon.”

imnofox walks along to the next house

”Kia ora, i’m imnofox, co-leader of the Greens. How are you today?”

“Oh hi, I’m well. Is there an election or something?”

”Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, there’s a by-election for the seat of Waitemata following trippytropicana’s disappearance. I’m out here shilling for old mate BHjr132, as the strongest and best proven candidate for Waitemata.”

“Oh, well, that’s all well and good- but who else is standing?”

”ACT are standing, alongside the leader of Socialist Aotearoa. We’ve got to keep Waitemata from falling into the radical hands of ACT, who want to cut the social services and infrastructure investment we all depend on. Unfortunately, Socialist Aotearoa can’t stop ACT here, only BHjr132 can be trusted with keeping Waitemata in a pair of safe, dependable, and local hands.”

“I’m quite concerned about family violence, actually, in this electorate. It may not be very obvious, but you can definitely see it in the community. I just want something to be done.”

”The ACT candidate has the support of New Zealand First and National, in the most peculiar alliance imagined- the two parties that slashed the budget of Oranga Tamariki by 29% last term. That was mostly funding used for early intervention and prevention services provided by Oranga Tamariki to keep our kids safe. As you know, we have some of the worst child abuse stats in the world, yet you often just don’t see it. We’ve already committed to restoring Oranga Tamariki’s full funding, to ensure all kids get the safe and secure start in life that they are entitled to and that they deserve. Our changes to employment law have given victims of domestic violence greater safety and more flexibility in their working arrangements so that they have a real opportunity to leave, a task that is so difficult, ensuring they maintain financial independence. So that’s a lot of the work we’ve already done, work that remedied the wrongs of those parties, and work that half of those parties wouldn’t even vote for. And there’s a lot more work to do. BHjr132 and I are already working hard to reform the social support system to kick out those root causes of domestic violence: poverty and insecurity. So that work to raise benefits and scrap sanctions that punish the poor is still ongoing, and i’m looking forward to delivering those reforms.”

“Wow, that’s quite an impressive body of work. You’re right, the record of the political right means we can’t let ACT win this seat. They really have no plans for the betterment of our electorate and remedying the challenges dear to Waitemata.”

”Thanks for your time, have a good afternoon!”

imnofox jumped over a power line and skipped over a hedge, landing by the neighbour’s doorstep

”Kia ora, I’m imnofox, Greens co-leader and potentially the sexiest politician of this decade, according to The Spinoff. How are you?”

“Hello- uh, I’m alright. Is this about the by-election? I’m probably going to vote for the ACT candidate, like I did a few elections ago.”

”What’s making you vote ACT?”

“Well, me and my wife moved here a few years ago from South Korea, back when you were Prime Minister, and we’ve settled here, want to bring up a family. The plan is to bring my brother and our parents over, so we want a representative that supports and welcomes new immigrants, you see?”

”That’s interesting. As you may well remember, the last government, led by National and New Zealand First, slashed our immigration intake and radically increased english language proficiency requirements in what was essentially a racist and exclusionary move. New Zealand First want to slash annual immigration down to just 20,000 a year, and seriously restrict the ability for new immigrants to settle and gain citizenship. New Zealand First also want to restrict that immigration to a maximum of 500 from one country, a policy clearly designed to disproportionately restrict immigration from high populous asian countries. We don’t know too much about ACT’s views on immigration, but they’re being supported by New Zealand First in this race, and ACT’s backing the leader of New Zealand First in the Northland race. We all know that slashing immigration to that degree would cripple our economy, and pretends immigrants, who bring a lot to New Zealand, are a burden. The Greens reject that, BHjr132 rejects that, and we’re working with our government parties to not only reverse the cuts National made on behalf of New Zealand First to immigration, but we’re working to expand intake with new regional workers’ visas to welcome more immigrants in with valuable skills.”

“Hmm, I never really thought much about that relationship. I was definitely quite astounded by the changes National made last term, was clear New Zealand First were pulling all the strings, which I personally found quite offensive. I thought ACT would be above those kinds of politics, but evidently not. I’m not voting for a Socialist, we had enough of that back in Korea. I’ll have to give it some thought.”

”No worries, thanks for your time, have a good afternoon.”

imnofox walked to the nearest Lime Scooter and scooted away into the sunset