Our Opinion – Look beyond the election promise

Election season is well underway, with just over two months until voting day, and with it comes the usual flood of promises about tax cuts, better services, tougher rules, cheaper this, more of that and plenty of warnings about what will happen if the other lot gets in.

Some of those promises will be good policy, some will be carefully costed and some will be more about attracting votes than delivering something that will genuinely make a difference. So perhaps this election we need to look a little harder at what we are actually being offered.

Rather than simply asking whether we like a policy, we should be asking whether a party can realistically deliver it, what it will cost, who will pay for it and whether there is any evidence it will work. We also need to understand the difference between an aspiration and a promise, particularly under MMP, where smaller parties often campaign strongly on policies they know they will need the support of much larger parties to achieve.

That does not mean those policies should be dismissed, because minor parties can, and do, influence governments but voters deserve to know what is really achievable and what is more likely to become a negotiating position after the election.

It is also worth looking backwards as well as forwards. What did parties promise at the last election, what did they actually deliver and what quietly disappeared once they were in government? Just as importantly, what significant policies or decisions were introduced afterwards that received very little attention during the campaign?

There are often perfectly reasonable explanations for governments changing direction, especially when economic conditions, coalition negotiations or unexpected events, such as the war in the Middle East, intervene, but politicians should still be expected to explain those decisions.

We have some responsibility in this too, because it is easy to rely on social media, campaign advertising or whatever turns up in our feeds, particularly when it confirms something we already believe. With AI making false images, video and audio increasingly convincing, checking where information has come from is becoming even more important.

This is also a good time to think about which policies actually matter to you and your family, whether that is health, housing, education, superannuation, transport, crime, the cost of living or something else entirely, and then look properly at what each party is proposing in those areas.

And if you get the chance, go along to a candidates’ meeting and ask the difficult questions yourself. Keep checking our What’s On pages as we head towards the election, because we’ll be listing local candidates’ meetings as they are confirmed.

You do not have to agree with the people asking for your vote, but before ticking the box, it is worth making sure you understand exactly what they are asking you to vote for.

Adrienne Kohler, editor