Two policies

Today, the Greens announced a billion dollar innovation policy, with tax credits and increased R&D spending, and incentives to study computer science or hard sciences at university. Its part of a sustained critique about what's wrong with the New Zealand economy, and the policy prescriptions are backed by some unexpected sources. No matter what you think of it, its clear that its a hefty policy and a serious attempt to solve some of our problems.

Meanwhile, Labour was announcing that would ban cosmetics tested on animals...

Its a welcome policy - but its like they're not even fighting on the same battlefield. Its that paucity of vision thing again: the Greens want to fundamentally change our economy and our society to make them more sustainable, both environmentally and socially. Labour wants things pretty much the same as they are now, only with less pointless cruelty to animal. An improvement, sure, but unless you're one of the animals concerned, one so mild, minor and unexciting that its barely worth voting for.

As we saw last week when they talked about education, Labour does well when it talks about big policy. If it wants to reconnect with the "missing million", it needs to do that more often, and promise people something different, not just more of the same with Trevor Mallard getting a ministerial salary.