Kate Hawkesby: I can’t predict which way the cannabis referendum will go

NewsTalk ZB 29 October 2020
Family First Comment: A perfect summary from someone IN the media…
“I’ll be disappointed if it’s a yes vote that wins. I’ll be disappointed because of the amount of misinformation that was spread like wildfire, the prominence of the pro-campaigners in mainstream media, the lack of balance. I don’t feel like it was a fair fight… There seemed to be an agenda early on to promote cannabis legalisation as a good thing – and anyone railing against it was labelled as some kind of moral crusader backing the wrong horse… I am crossing my fingers and toes that New Zealanders saw through the propaganda, and ticked no.”
So are we!

So tomorrow we get the preliminary results of the referendums.

If we believe the polls, Cannabis legalisation won’t pass and End of Life choice will.

But can we believe the polls?

And which polls? The main ones had support for the Cannabis referendum dropping, and opposition to it rising.

But then the week before we went to vote, Helen Clark and the Drug Foundation produced their own poll showing support for cannabis legalisation was up, it was ahead, that it was close, but that it would indeed get through.

So who do we believe?

Well after the election .. it’s anyone’s guess. I didn’t see Chloe Swarbrick winning Auckland central either. Many didn’t. Even she admitted there’s value in being under estimated. So have we under estimated support for cannabis legalisation? And has the swing left in not just Auckland Central but across the country, indicated a yes vote may indeed clinch it?

I’ll be disappointed if it’s a yes vote that wins. I’ll be disappointed because of the amount of misinformation that was spread like wildfire, the prominence of the pro-campaigners in mainstream media, the lack of balance. I don’t feel like it was a fair fight.
READ MORE: https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/early-edition/opinion/kate-hawkesby-i-cant-pick-how-the-cannabis-referendum-will-go-tomorrow/