Phil Conroy
Phil Conroy is a North Waikato farmer with over 20 years’ experience working along the Waikato River.
They did it with no fanfare and no press conference, just a quiet line in the repeal schedule: Marine and Coastal Area Act amendments? GONE. The one that was set to hand our coastline to private claims, locking Kiwis out of beaches their grandkids played on. Scrapped.
That single move told you everything: National, ACT and NZ First aren’t here to tinker. They’re here to burn the rubbish – just as fast as TPM burn bills and bridges.
Look, I know it feels like nothing’s moving. Petrol’s still a kick in the guts, the supermarket bill makes me swear under my breath and every time I open Facebook it’s someone crying ‘where’s my tax relief?!’
But mate, Labour left us in a HOLE. Six years of printing cash like it was Monopoly money, slapping co-governance on everything, and telling us the country was broken unless we all spoke te reo in the checkout line. They had us at 7.3 per cent inflation, two recessions in a row and a public service that grew faster than my waistline after lockdown.
You don’t fix that in 18 months. You just don’t.
But here’s what has happened and I’m not making this up: I’ve got the receipts:
– Three Waters? Dead. Councils keep their pipes and no more iwi boards telling us how to flush.
– Fair Pay Agreements? Gone. My mate who owns the panel shop can breathe again.
– Auckland fuel tax? Scrapped. That’s real money back in your tank.
– Māori Health Authority? Axed. One health system for every Kiwi: no more two-tier nonsense.
– RMA? Repealed. Remember when Labour said ‘build 100,000 houses’? Yeah, they passed laws that made it illegal to build. Coalition tore that rubbish up and brought in fast-track consenting, with 149 big projects already green-lit. Houses, roads, mines. Jobs.
Law and order?
– Three Strikes is back. Career crims are shaking.
– Gang patches banned in public. I saw two gang members peel theirs off outside The Irish Pub last week: priceless.
– Boot camps open. Not holiday camps, but actual discipline for the kids who’ve been let down.
Inflation?
Labour handed us over 7.3 per cent.
Now? It was 2.7 per cent last quarter. That’s inside the Reserve Bank’s target. How? They cut 7,000 paper-pushers from Wellington, slashed $7.5 billion in waste and gave us $14 billion in tax cuts. My family’s getting an extra $40 a fortnight – that’s a tank of gas or a small shop.
One New Zealand?
Winston’s pushing the flag bill – one flag on government buildings. Simple.
ACT kicked off the Treaty debate. Yeah, it got messy, but the message stuck: one law for all.
Every race-based policy Labour snuck in? Getting scrubbed.
I’m not saying it’s perfect. Rent’s still high, interest rates bite and I’d love the Roads of National Significance built yesterday. But Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a country after six years of economic vandalism.
It takes time.
But we’re moving.
So next time someone moans ‘nothing’s changed,’ hit ’em with this. We’re halfway out of the ditch Labour dug.
Keep the faith. Back the coalition. One people, one flag and one bloody awesome country.
