Thursday 21st December, 2000

Happy holidays!

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Editorial: Till next year

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Well, a full on, fascinating year it has been. Young Labour and the Labour Party share with the rest of the country a warm and pleasant glow as we wind down into the holiday season. The economy is set to take off in the new year; the current account for the year ending September is better than it was in 99; the Labour Party is attracting 6% more in the polls than it gained on election night; the hot weather has finally arrived; Jenny Shipley is still leader of the National Party -- truly, things could not be better.

As I said last week, it's been a year of ups and downs. Future Lefts has reflected some of that, so for our view of the year in review have a look at the archive (under the news link on http://www.younglabour.org.nz). From seemingly being under seige four months ago, some good news on the economic front and simply outstanding political leadership from Helen Clark have turned things around - not only for the Labour Party and the government, but for the country as a whole. This is important. There's no point in having your party doing ok if everyone around you is grumpy. The joy of it is that optimism is at record levels, the economy is straightening itself out, and everyone's looking ahead to 2001.

Next year will see the Government in quite a different part of the cycle. Gone are the big changes this year brought; implementation will be the name of the game for 2001. Important decisions are coming up on the future shape of the tax system, the tertiary education system, local government and a whole host of other areas. The steady bedding down of the reforms from this year will play a large part in the year's events. We can expect to see a slower, more measured pace of policy progression from a Cabinet that has largely now found its feet.

Future Lefts will return towards the end of January, as long as we can find something to write about! There will probably be some more format changes and maybe a regular publishing day (though that has been the intention before, with little luck).

Anyhow, until next year, have a safe and peaceful holiday season if you're getting a break, and we at Future Lefts wish you well for the coming year.

Till next time,

Jordan

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