The Government Needs to Start Governing

This government, like any other democratically elected government, was elected by the people to govern for the people. If the polls are to be believed, Ardern and her Government are performing this fundamental task pretty well. The polls however, do not paint a true picture of people’s universal opinion of this government’s governance: far from it.

The polls are very much a reflection of how the government has handled the pandemic rather than their performance overall. They are illustrating the fear factor that the government has continued to push since March last year. This suits the Government rather well. It provides a coverup for all their inadequacies and allows them to introduce policies and laws that were not mentioned in the lead-up to the last election. In other words, with the Covid mandate they were given, they can govern largely for themselves.

If you recall, all Ardern spoke about in her election commentary was Covid. No policy of any consequence was discussed. To this day a significant portion of the population is so afraid of Covid that they are continuing to support her on that issue alone. However, since last year’s election, the polls show a closing of the gap between left and right, from 19% to 12%. There are two years to the election and as Covid fades, I’m picking that so too will Ardern’s popularity.

As the voters start to focus on the real issues, this government’s lack of success in areas that really matter will become strikingly apparent. Only yesterday the inflation rate was announced at 4.9%, the highest in a decade. Take out the GST component and it’s the highest quarterly increase since the eighties. This is going to hurt Labour’s core support, most of whom sadly will keep voting for them. There are others, though, who will be looking at it along with the government’s overall achievements: Outside of Covid – virtually none.

When it comes to governing on things that matter to voters, this government has been a total failure. Rather than concentrating on delivering in areas with huge problems, they have done nothing. Partly because they are incapable but equally, they have been too busy implementing their own agenda, which will do nothing to improve people’s lives.

Housing is an out of control shambles with an out of control market and supply chain problems holding up the building sector. Transport is turning into a debacle, with nice-to-have toys like trams, trains and a bike bridge all having millions of dollars spent on pipe dreams. Education is on an ever-accelerating downward slide, not helped by Covid closures of schools. Local government has been reduced to an argument over water rights. Child poverty under the Prime Minister is a complete disgrace and, with inflation on the rise, is set to get worse.

While all of this is going on, what is Ardern up to? Having an argument with the owner of what was to be her wedding venue. When the prime minister proves incapable of planning her own wedding it’s no wonder there’s no plan to deal with Covid. There is no pathway, no dates, nor any semblance of a time-frame. Businesses are left in ignorance, with no help from the government despite Grant Robertson saying otherwise. He seems to think a plan is turning up at the ‘pulpit of truth’ and lecturing us like naughty children for breaking the rules.

His other plan of course is printing money. I wonder if he thinks that has anything to do with a 4.9% inflation figure. He paints a glowing picture of the economy while racking up over $100 billion in debt. A reasonable question to ask is where has all the money gone? The answer is nowhere, at least nowhere to assist the economy. There’s nothing to show for it except wage subsidies and increased monetary sweeteners to encourage more people to have babies and end up under the umbrella of the useless Minister for Child Poverty.

This underwhelming pack of no hopers’ idea of governance, is to buy off the media to keep the Covid fear factor going and have every second word spoken or printed in Maori. Then it’s to strip councils of their water assets and give control to Maori. Next is to rewrite the school history curriculum in such a way that it tells only part of the story in relation to Maori, leaving out that which is unpalatable. Maori wards are being foisted on councils who don’t want them. A Maori Health Authority is being set up as part of the ridiculous centralisation of Health. Having some form of Maori ownership in your business will help you win a government contract.

We are increasingly being governed along racial lines. This will see the country in a parlous state if it is allowed to continue. It is in this environment that the government proposes introducing laws regarding hate speech. Heaven knows what they will entail. This Government is focused on all the wrong things. The economy doesn’t seem to matter to them.

Here are some questions we need answered:

• Where is the pathway out of Covid?
• Where is the pathway to businesses opening up?
• Where is the financial assistance for businesses beyond an employee’s wage subsidy?
• Where are the infrastructure projects as a result of the printing machines going full tilt?
• What is the time frame for opening Auckland up to the rest of the country?
• What is the time frame to get Kiwis home for Christmas?
• When can we restart international travel?

None of these questions can be answered without a plan. There is no plan and therefore there are no answers. At the ‘podium of truth’ yesterday it was just more of the same. As a result, we, the population, are left like a lot of Alices in Wonderland, waiting for some action from the Queen of Hearts. Until then the country is fast disappearing down the rabbit hole while the government continues to act like it’s permanently at the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.

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