MEDIA RELEASE
17 September 2014
Parties sent home with report cards
More than 2000 New Zealanders came together to run a full page ad in the Herald today asking all Parties what they will
commit to do to clean up politics. The answers are in, and ActionStation has graded Parties on their responses to those
questions and 11 others on inequality and the environment. Not all have fared well.
ActionStation - a member-lead campaigning organisation of over 7,500 people - surveyed their members on election priorities and used AskAway to engage with all political parties on the issues identified.
Parties who responded include National, Labour, Greens, NZ First, Internet Mana, Māori and United Future. ActionStation
then developed report cards, using Party’s answers to rate the responses as CAN-do’s, CAN’TS or CAN do better.
ActionStation hopes voters will use the report cards to feel more confident and informed when voting this election.
“The results may surprise some people,” says ActionStation National Director Marianne Elliott “we used whatever
information was available. So some Parties answers had to be taken at face value, but for others like National and
Labour, their track records formed part of our ranking.
“Given that our members were asking for proactive, progressive action on the issues that matter to them, there are some
predictable winners and losers, but it’s not always that clear cut and there are progressive policies and ideas across
the political spectrum.” says Elliott.
The cards are online [link] as of today, and being shared widely on social media and through the networks of allied
organisations on relevant subjects. As well as ActionStation members, NGO’s like Child Poverty Action Group and
Generation Zero got involved by asking questions on AskAway.
ENDS