At a cattle sale in Te Awamutu, Arapuni farmer Owen Emmett and his niece Shirley Emmett are giving the Herald a morality lesson.
"I'm quite disappointed in the lack of support of family issues with things like civil unions," Mr Emmett says.
"It's deteriorating." He means the country's moral climate. "And it's supported from Government."
What Mr Emmet dutifully ignores is the fact that The Civil Unions Act was passed on conscience vote, NOT party vote. On that basis he should count EVERY Member voting in favour of the legislation as being immoral – not a silly idea I confess but then my thoughts on that would go much further than his…
From Kaitaia to Bluff, many New Zealanders in this election year are worried, as one Christchurch mother puts it, about a climate of "anything goes".
"I believe our society would be much better off if there was a real focus on family, because family is the cornerstone of a healthy society," she says.
"I don't believe this Government has a good sense of family. I don't believe they are very good role models."
Again, is it the party in power or the whole system that is coming for criticism here? I could not recommend any of the current crop of politicians as role models for anything other than pimps and prostitutes; but that is also a different matter.
The main institution which defines morality in New Zealand - like all societies - is marriage, which ties adults into caring for each other and their children.
But marriage in this country is weakening. In the 25 years to 2001, the proportion of families with children that still have two parents has dropped from 90 per cent to 71 per cent. Among Pacific Islanders it is 64 per cent; among Maori, 50 per cent.
Marriage defines morality? First time I heard THAT one. I thought morals were the whole bread-basket of one's conduct within society; why one should not be a thief or murderer, why some quite natural human processes and activities are not acceptable in public, and the caring should – if you follow that line – be for the whole society and not just the one to whom you might be married.
In the main street of Timaru, a white-bearded man in a suit who declines to be named believes we are losing a sense of responsibility to one another.
"It's the 'blow you Jack, I'm all right' syndrome" - exemplified, he says, by Labour's "blatant bribe" to students in offering to wipe the interest on their loans if they stay in the country.
"Every student has a signal to borrow as much as possible. I think that shows moral bankruptcy."
He believes the me-first tone has been set by the domestic purposes benefit for people who leave their partners, often even before their children are born.
Now I have to agree, this guy has the right idea. What a pity that he got things a bit muddled. I agree – any electoral bribe be it cancelling interest on loans to promising tax cuts of 9% to companies is immoral. I can hear Brash Donnie moaning in the background with “How else do we get our policies across and that is a valid point. I am vacillating.
But it is the first time that I have heard of men getting the DPB for running off and leaving the girl holding the baby…
"There are plenty around the town pushing prams at 17, and their consorts," he says. "I heard one of them refer to his partner as 'the mother of my baby'. That shows the casual attitude to procreation in this country, and the easy way the state will provide."
Obviously he has not noticed the pregnant 12 and 14 y-o’s. OH DANG!! I just opened the abortion box!!!
In Lower Hutt, a middle-aged civil servant called David laments "a generation with no discipline" in the wake of the exclusion of men from many children's lives.
"I believe the family unit is vital, but we seem to be going against it," he says.
He cites the Civil Union Act.
Well, perhaps I should introduce David to my son and his partner. At present they have been “living together” for some seven years. They now have a darling six-month daughter. They are THINKING about a civil union marriage. A traditional marriage? They would rather stay as they are. Neither of them have any religious pretentions.
Sorry David, you got it part right – there are many one parent families. The reasons are multitude. Some, you will be horrified to know, are single parent FATHERS!! To make matters worse, some of the baddest criminals that I know of come from “good, solid, traditional CHRISTIAN” two parent families. How else do you explain the likes of David Capill.
"I have nothing against homosexuals. But to say that it [a civil union] is a stable relationship for children - I say that's not what was intended."
See my earlier comment on my son and his partner. I know that there will be many more like them right through this country. They are not unique.
And I think that if you said that he was homosexual for wanting a Civil Union ceremony rather than Christian marriage he would give you the short and sharp fairly quickly.
Many are less generous. At Gisborne's Tairawhiti Polytechnic, where the Herald invited a group of students to discuss the state of the country over a pizza lunch, carpenter-turned-computing-student Joseph Brown, 49, believes simply that homosexuality is against God's law.
He's voting for the Destiny Party because it stands for "the morals of the country".
Fellow student and mother Monique White, 20, is also backing Destiny because it "addresses all the issues of today - prostitution definitely worries me".
And I make no bones – the political outlook of these people makes me really really afraid. The last thing that any country, not just this one, needs is a self righteous bunch of bible bangers forcing their standards on everyone else.
Down the road in Napier, bank officer Diana Moyle, 37, is voting National because her biggest concern is "the breakdown of families".
"It starts at the top - what their values are, what they stand for," she says.
"If you decriminalise prostitution, then it becomes normalised."
I have some sympathy for Diana. What she says is quite true. And “pimps and prostitutes” would always be a favourite for a politicians fancy-dress ball theme.
She has gone back to work after 15 years as a full-time mother and would like to see the Government encouraging mums to stay home.
"Childcare is not the best option for kids," she says.
"If Mum can stay home, that's the best."
Yep, more sympathy from me for her position. What is not clear – is she returning to the workforce by choice or not? Is the family finding Dad’s wage is not enough? Or is she going to work so that they can buy the “must haves” – wide-screen digital tv, playstation, boat, SUV, million dollar bach? It does make a difference to the demand that "the Government [should be] encouraging mums to stay home."
Dunedin home-maker Rachel Elder, 48, suggests one way to encourage mums would be to tax couples with children on their combined income.
That would cut the tax on a single income of $50,000 by $2000 a year, or about $40 a week.
Caroline Borger, a worker with special needs adults from Kumeu, suggests providing marriage counselling for all couples having troubles.
"If you provide more help, they would stay together," she says.
But, as Timaru's Aaron More, 30, points out, staying together may require giving up other things. Although he still has a $20,000 student loan for commercial studies, he has opted to set up a simple business as a window cleaner while his wife stays home with the children.
"It's about sacrifice," he says.
"You can't have everything, so you figure out what you do want, and what you can do without."
Ah, now there speaks a MAN with some common. Aaron you deserve to go far. Ever considered life as a politician? I’d vote for you in a blink on just that one statement.
Overall, moral issues are only a minority concern, mentioned by 7 per cent of the 600 people questioned.
But they matter because they are the major factor driving the votes of 19 per cent of the people shifting to right-wing parties in this election.
Such issues are more likely to be mentioned by Pacific Islanders and Maori, and by southerners.
Only 5 per cent of Aucklanders and 7 per cent of other North Islanders, but 9 per cent of South Islanders, raised concerns about family and moral matters.
"People down here have more time for each other," Mr More says.
"The further north you go, the more people are just into themselves.
"I'm not a rat-race person."
Right on, Aaron, and don’t you ever lose that thought.
“Overall, moral issues are only a minority concern, mentioned by 7 per cent of the 600 people questioned.
But they matter because they are the major factor driving the votes of 19 per cent of the people shifting to right-wing parties in this election.
Such issues are more likely to be mentioned by Pacific Islanders and Maori, and by southerners.”
Well I guess that can be explained in a number of ways, not least of which is the fact that it reflects the outlook of the people to whom you chose to speak. Nothing like a selected rather than random sample.
To be honest, the SST survey gives (for me at least) a far greater clarity to the moral/political connection in this country. Yes, there are defects in their survey. Those defects are disclosed in the accompanying articles. The validity of their results is supported by reference to ‘total population’ statistics.
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