as the campaign comes to a close, imnofox stood on the steps of parliament to issue a grand speech on the future of New Zealand, on the night before the election day, to the biggest crowd ever yet seen on parliament’s forecourt

“Kia ora, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. After two terms of National governance, the country is in a right state. Our environment has been neglected, if not actively degraded. More of our people are living in poverty, thanks to a government that cares more about war planes than vulnerable kiwis. Our child abuse and family violence statistics have not gotten better, in fact they’ve gotten worse, thanks to a government that slashed funding for child abuse prevention by almost a third. I sat in this house behind me for two terms, two terms opposing the broken agenda of the National Party and New Zealand First. I stood in there opposing the destruction of our social services, the destruction of our environment, and the destruction of our economy. And I heard the impacts on people, people’s back pockets, and people’s wellbeing. Families reliant on the benefit with less food on the table because their benefit was cut. Children going to school coughing and sick. Families unable to keep their houses warm. Their wages dropped. The costs of education rising. Kiwis saw it as they sold off our public housing stock. Farmers felt the impact of $621 million of cuts. Children felt it, most depressingly, when the government slashed funding for Oranga Tamariki.”

“After two terms of governance, the National Party has little to brag about. They’ve driven the economy into the ground, and most importantly, they’ve destroyed the future of this country. Thanks to their cuts, we have more people locked into poverty. Thanks to their cuts, it’s near impossible to prevent or even just mitigate catastrophic climate breakdown. National has been too focussed on the here and now, on their own back pockets- so much so that they’ve forgotten about the long term prosperity and wellbeing of Aotearoa New Zealand. It is shameful, and the textbooks will remember /u/toastinrussian and /u/Fresh3001 at the architects demise into extinction at the hands of growing inequality and unstoppable climate breakdown.”

“At the start of the last term, National slashed welfare entitlements until they just weren’t enough to live on- continuing on the legacy of Ruth Richardson and John Key. Under the last Green government, benefits were raised by 20%, set to a level that is actually enough to live on. We had introduced new working for families credits. Small steps, yes, but steps that lifted thousands out of poverty and into secure, safe lives, and often into long-term, stable employment- if that’s what they were looking for. There is something fundamentally wrong about the how we treat the welfare system and the way we treat the beneficiaries and families who rely on it in this country, and the National Party, along with New Zealand First, have only strived to continue that horror. The system, as it stands, drives people to violence against others and themselves. It keeps children in disgusting conditions, tents on the side of the road even, until they get sick. It tortures and harasses women who are grieving. It makes ordinary people suffer because they are fighting their necessary fight to survive. Beneficiaries are no different to anyone of us, and any one of us could be a beneficiary. We all deserve the basic dignity and respect that every other person deserves. That means a just system that ensures everyone has enough to live a safe, secure, meaningful life.” “Farmers are angry too. The National Party slashed $621 million of investment into sustainable farming last term, and have done nothing at all to remedy it since. That included $137 million towards helping farmers clean up their waterways. $484 million more available for afforestation grants. $20 million towards the sustainable farming fund. $7 million towards new transformational farming investment to research drylands, climate change adaptation, cleaner farming, and the like. And with a re-elected National-New Zealand First coalition, farmers will have to add a 10% export tariff onto any products that they export. Agriculture is the industry that will be hit hardest by climate change, yet the government parties are committed to making climate change worse for farmers and placing unnecessary taxes on them too. This government is committed to making life on earth hell for farmers, destroying their livelihoods, while simultaneously stripping apart the safety net they would otherwise have to rely on.”

“New Zealand First and /u/toastinrussian have been nothing but a catalyst for our terrible child abuse statistics. Together, the now Prime Minister and the New Zealand First Minister for Social Development slashed Oranga Tamariki’s budget by $250 million, about 30%. It is shameful and disgusting to be gutting the Oranga Tamariki budget, a Ministry solely purposed with ensuring the wellbeing of children at risk of harm, youth offenders, and children of the state. New Zealand has one of the worst rates of child abuse in the developed world. In 2012 we learned that 14% of youth had witnessed adults physically hurting children. In 2015 alone, there were 6,491 recorded instances of common and serious assaults on children, and another 1,982 recorded instances of sexual assaults on children. 20% of kiwi girls and 9% of boys in New Zealand report unwanted sexual touching or being forced to do sexual acts. And what did this government do in response? They SLASHED THAT FUNDING! It was outrageous, and no voter should forget this great betrayal of our most vulnerable kids. This government prioritised the numbers on a budget sheet more than the safety of our children. Well, if I must speak their language, child abuse already costs New Zealand $6 billion a year, just as a result of increased health costs, welfare payments, remedial education, justice expenditure and lower productivity. Then there’s the social costs you simply can’t put a dollar value on. Every year, 10 to 14 kiwi kids- bright, bubbly, beautiful children- are victims of homicide. What is the monetary value the government places on these children’s lives? The cuts /u/toastinrussian made as Finance Minister only prove that he is incapable and totally unfit to lead this country as Prime Minister.”

“The National Party has been nothing but destructive to our native birds. About 25 million native birds are killed by introduced predators every year, and we have on of the highest plant and animal extinction rates in the world. Stoats alone are responsible for 60% of kiwi chick deaths. Without predator control, 90% of kiwi chicks born in the wild die within their first year. This is why we need to be supporting conservation efforts up and down the country. Last term, the National Party halved the Department of Conservation’s baseline budget. They halved their predator control budget. And they halved the funding for Predator Free 2050. Despite immense public pressure, they’ve continued to allow mining in the habitats of vulnerable native creatures, a;ready threatened with extinction. The government had just 5 environmental promises. Five super simple low-hanging policies. How many did they even start on? Zero. Nothing at all. This government have been akin to ecological terrorists.”

“It’s time to kick the National-led government out. /u/toastinrussian is unfit to serve as Prime Minister, and he was unfit to serve as finance minister for the last two terms, if his record is anything to go by. We cannot let them continue to tear apart our already flailing welfare system. We cannot let them continue to sell off our state assets, including our national airline. We cannot allow them to destroy our primary sector, or to do nothing about the ecological catastrophes we face. The only way to ensure a better, progressive government that puts people and the planet first is to vote two ticks Green tomorrow. Thank you!”

the crowd erupts into a crazed applause, ready and enthused to reject the destructive National-led government