You may have heard of Laurence J Peter’s Peter Principle, which observes that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to “a level of respective incompetence”. Nothing epitomises the Peter Principle more than the modern state of political parties and the Labour Party in particular.
With the ascendancy of Chris Hipkins to the prime ministership, we have seen a clear-cut example of the Peter Principle in action. So too with the promotion of lacklustre ministers with a solid record of ordinary performance at best and abject failure at worst. Yet promoted they were.
Chris Hipkins was the minister in charge when this Government repeatedly broke the law in locking down and locking up its citizens, preventing us from availing ourselves of basic human rights enshrined in our Bill of Rights. MIQ was an unmitigated disaster for which there has been no apology. The vaccine rollout was draconian and inept as well as tardy and slow in comparison with other countries. The rollout of RATs was another utter failure, and the shaming and blaming of innocent parties for various outbreaks all happened on Hipkins’ watch. When he was Police Minister he saw crime run rampant, with daily ram raids, spiralling violent crime and retail crime more than doubling on his watch.
And yet, after all that failure, he rose to lead the country, after another abject failure finally realised that she too was incompetent and could no longer cover it all up with flapping arms, word salad, head tilting and frowny faces.
But perhaps the most egregious example of the Peter Principle in action is the meteoric rise of the rather oily and very ordinary Michael Wood. This is a man whose only experience in the workplace was measuring the inside seam of men buying suits at the now-defunct Hugh Wright. After rising to a position of being able to be trusted to fold suits, he then entered the hallowed halls of the union movement and started his rather long and tedious role as understudy to Phil Goff, along the way chalking up no less than 4 election losses: 2 in Pakuranga, 1 in Botany and another in Epsom.
Most recently he has been the Minister of Transport, now elevated to the front bench in the Hipkins ministry.
Andrea Vance outlines his long, long list of failures in that portfolio:
- Commuter services (buses, trains and ferries) in our towns and cities are under huge strain, making life a misery for anyone trying to get to work or children to school.
- The road network is collapsing.
- At the minor end of the scale, the country’s road surfaces are in dire shape. No need for the Government to officially lower speed limits; the potholes are bone-shakingly effective judder bars.
- More scary is that arterial routes are regularly compromised by slips and subsidence in severe weather.
- The problems don’t exist just on land. The Cook Strait ferry mayday had terrifying echoes of the Wahine disaster. As the Kaitaki drifted powerless towards rocks in heavy swells, it underlined that the fleet is aging and also raised questions about the capability of Wellington’s tugs.
- The aviation network is also under-performing. Delays, disruption and cancellations are now commonplace. Aviation security is under-resourced, leading to long lines and allowing a convicted rapist to bypass screening.
- The scenes of Auckland Airport, a critical piece of national infrastructure, overwhelmed with floodwater with passengers trapped upstairs were shocking.
- Likewise, the stories of passengers stranded overseas – worried about no option to return for days or even weeks.
And Vance points out just how dysfunctional Wood’s department is:
Waka Kotahi, the land transport agency for which Wood is responsible, is currently one of the Government’s most problematic departments.
It is under fire because the road network is in a mess, and it can’t seem to deliver major projects on time or on budget. Even the ones it finishes have to be redone.
The agency also has a deserved reputation for being wasteful. From the $51 million squandered on the abandoned cycling and walking bridge project across Auckland’s Waitemata harbour, to the $70m-plus spent on the doomed light-rail project.
Let’s Get Wellington Moving (which WK oversees with the local authorities) has spent $83 million – $47m on consultants – and delivered only a pedestrian crossing. In EIGHT YEARS. And the walkway cost an eye-watering $2.4m.
Despite all that failure, which leaves out the failure of the Hamilton-to-Auckland slow train that no one wanted or bothered to take, Woods has been promoted. Perhaps that was left out in order to save valuable column inches…what’s another failure when there are so many others to list?
Why have these dolts – the inept, the incompetent and the lazy – risen so far up the chain? It surely can’t be because they are good at their jobs: clearly, they aren’t.
If only modern political parties believed in a meritocracy, rather than embedding an ineptocracy.
Is this proof positive that the only principle Labour has is the Peter Principle?
I think it is.
Help Fund Our NewsDesk
We are building a NewsDesk, hiring journalists and taking the fight to the mainstream media. Will you help fund our NewsDesk?
- For security reasons, credit card donations require Javascript. Please enable Javascript in your browser before continuing.
Your Donation
Your Recurring Donation
Donation Period *
Your One-Time Donation
Details First Name * Last Name * Email * Address Address 2 City State Postcode Country Afghanistan Åland Islands Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belau Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo (Brazzaville) Congo (Kinshasa) Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba CuraÇao Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Republic of Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Ivory Coast Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island North Korea North Macedonia Norway Oman Pakistan Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Qatar Reunion Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Barthélemy Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin (French part) Saint Martin (Dutch part) Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines San Marino São Tomé and Príncipe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia/Sandwich Islands South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom (UK) United States (US) Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican Venezuela Vietnam Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Western Samoa Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Phone Number Payment Name on Card * .StripeElement { border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 1em; } #charitable_stripe_card_errors { color: #eb1c26; font-size: .8em; margin: .5em 0 0 0; } Credit/Debit Card Donate
Please share this article so others can discover The BFD.