imnofox loves chatting with voters, so walked through the suburbs of Greymouth to chat with voters about the issues they care about

“Kia ora, my name is imnofox, your local MP for Aoraki. How are you today?”

”Oh, hi. Yeah, I’m Sarah. I think I voted for you last time. Hey, I saw on the news that most of our plastic waste is ending up in developing countries like Malaysia, where a significant amount just ends up dumped in the streets. That doesn’t seem fair?”

“Sarah, you’re right. I’ve seen the Greenpeace reports showing that blatant regulation violations in waste disposal in countries like Malaysia, uncovering obvious dumping and open air-burning and other illegal practices that causes greater pollution and health problems for locals. Malaysia and Thailand have accepted more and more plastic waste since China shut the doors. It’s clear we can’t recycle the waste problem away, and we have to start reducing our plastic waste immediately. We’ve also got to stop outsourcing our problem to developing countries like Malaysia for it to be illegally burned on the side of the road. The Greens are calling for New Zealand to immediately stop exporting our plastic waste overseas for poorer countries to deal with. There is no ‘away’ for plastic. We’ve got to immediately create the infrastructure and the incentives to deal with all of our recycling on shore, and reduce plastic waste production in the first place. That’s what it means to be responsible global citizens.”

”Wow, glad politicians are listening. Thank you for chatting!”

“Thank you Sarah, I hope I can count on your vote!”

imnofox walked to the next house, slapping his knuckles on their door

“Kia ora, I am imnofox, your local MP for Aoraki. How’s it going?”

“Hello mate. Aye, you’re that Green fucker aren’t you? Hahaha! Good lad. Y’know, I don’t know too much about politics and all that, but I do have some of my own- uh- concerns, I guess you’d say. My mate, good guy, loves his family- he told me about this shit called ‘1080’. He says this shit kills the fish in the area, he says it does next to nothing to save birds, and he says that the government is in the pocket of the 1080 manufacturers. I mean, fuck man, that shit’s not okay.”

“Well, everyone has the right to be concerned about poisons, but I can assure you that 1080 is fine. It’s an important tool in the conservation toolbox for dealing with introduced pests that prey on our native birds. The evidence shows that there’s no danger to fish in water where 1080 drops, and even in the flesh of longfin eels no 1080 residue was found. What’s in the 1080 bait is 99.85% cereals and stuff, with the 1080 poison just making up 0.15%. That stuff dissipates in the water real quick, instantl diluted and breaks down into totally harmless substances. We really do need 1080 to manage pests. I think it was further down south during a mast season, they used 1080 on one area and didn’t use it in another. And after the mast season, 45% of the mohua in the 1080 area survived, whereas 0% of the mohua population survived in the area. So obviously we haven’t managed to turn around the decline of our native birds yet, but without 1080 we’d be up shit creek. The real issue for our bird life is the lack of funding the Department of Conservation has been granted over the years, totally inadequate for the work they need to do. The last National government actually halved the Department of Conservation’s budget, and New Zealand First did nothing to restore it. Doubling the Department of Conservation’s funding this last term was one of the best parts of being in government, able to actually put the money where it’s needed.”

”Wow bro, you certainly know your shit. I didn’t vote last time, but dude, I like you! This 1080 shit is confusing, I think I might just leave it up to the experts, ya’ know? Have a good one, I gotta get back to the kitchen.”

“Thanks, have a good one dude!”

pleased by that positive knowledge-sharing encounter, imnofox briskly skipped across the road, waving at a cyclist

“Hi there, I’m imnofox, your local Green MP for Aoraki. What’s on your mind?”

”Well, last election we had fascists marching through Nelson at the behest of the New Zealand First leader, and that still bothers me, there are people who share these views here. I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Well, just like your dollar has weight, so does you vote. I think it’s important that we all send a message to politicians that we reject this kind of bigotry and intolerance, and that we reject politicians who do not also reject bigotry and intolerance. Last election, after a term in government with them, National still endorsed New Zealand First candidates. Over the last term, we’ve seen both the ACT Party and National MPs proudly collaborating with New Zealand First and their disgusting politics, and we've even seen United Future and ACT endorse New Zealand First candidates this election. The sad thing is, only the Green Party is the party capable of leading the next government with history of rejecting New Zealand First’s brand of racism and is the only party that consistently and unanimously rejected New Zealand First’s racist dog whistle politics in the house. So I really do implore voters to send a message to the crypto-fascists, to send a message to the politicians that enable the crypto-fascists, by ticking two ticks Green on their ballot paper.”

”Wow, it’s unfortunate that so many other parties fail to reject this kind of politics that really is a blight on our political landscape. Thanks for chatting!”

“No worries, enjoy your evening!”

imnofox continued traipsing round the town for the next wee while, knocking on as many doors as he could and chatting with as many voters as possible, eager to hear their views