Of course, it is impossible to know what the the people who didn't vote actually think about the whole deal...they didn't, or were unable to, express a preference one way or the other. Claiming them for one point of view or another point of view is disingenuous. There are a number of reasons that people failed to vote only one of which is claimed by Alex and Vic.....Polls, under the legislation, were only open 1600-2100, so everyone working on a 1400-2200 shift was unable to vote (in Dover that is approx 5000 people, no one can claim their views one way or another).....under the legislation there were no postal or proxy votes allowed (many of the elderly and infirm were unable to get to polling stations, so there's another few thousand people who cannot be claimed either way).....add to that the very large number of people who contacted me to see if they could somehow manage to register a vote even though they had to be away on the day due to work related travel or holiday and the assertion made above that 15000 people failed to vote because they did not agree with the option posed in the question looks increasingly ridiculous.
Those that were able to vote, voted against privatisation Alex. That was absolutely clear. What they voted in favour of was community ownership and a structure that guarantees that community ownership in perpetuity, a guarantee not afforded by Trust Port Status. What they voted for was a Port that cooperates with and serves its stakeholders, not one that dictates to them.
When independent organisations polled their members outside the strict rules imposed by the Local Government Act and were therefore able to ask questions separately...Do You Oppose DHB privatisation? Do you support community ownership? Do you want the port to stay as it is? 90% plus were against DHB privatisation, 88% were in favour of community ownership and only a very few believed that continued Trust Port Status was the best option. I'm sorry to burst the bubble, but from all the evidence, the views espoused above purporting to represent the majority would appear not to do so
