Health warning – Stand well clear of any lefties reading this headline or you’ll be in danger of becoming collateral damage from the exploding brains and loudly shouted abusive rhetoric with a high potential for deranged physical violence too.
Be under no illusion, what Trump’s administration is doing in the USA is sorely needed here as well, and it is needed right now. We need a clean out of the public service and government needs to operate within its means, focusing on the ‘must haves’ instead of embarking on feel-good vanity projects that achieve nothing and bring no value to New Zealanders.
As Nathan Smith so beautifully put it a few days ago in his article “Don’t Just Yell at Luxon, Demand Better Civil Servants”:
most of the shadowy civil servants are still in Wellington. Many will outlast the next two or three prime ministers, whomever they may be. These bureaucrats are ‘permanent’ – it’s their career. The politicians come and go, barely leaving a mark on this group of professionals.
Any political leader committed to genuine change must clean out the public service as Trump is doing. They must pay no attention to the mindless moaning and groaning from the mainstream media, trade unions, the left or the allegations of racism, destruction and apocalypse.
We elect the politicians and it is our expectation that they will appoint the right people to serve at the will of the elected government. Public servants are paid to carry out instructions from ministers without question and in a timely fashion. Those who don’t or who undermine their ministries should be unceremoniously escorted out the door with their personal belongings in a cardboard box, never to darken the door again.
The current government has had just on 14 months to implement some of the major changes we elected them to make. What have they actually achieved?
Well, I had to think long and hard about this one, though a couple of things really stood out:
· The prime minister has repeatedly made it clear that the Treaty Principles Bill will not get past its second reading.
· The Government has signed us up to further commitments regarding climate change.
· They’ve reduced the public service in Wellington but only by a minimal amount.
· They got rid of the Auckland petrol surtax. That’s a win for motorists in Auckland. It doesn’t help the rest of the country though.
· Ahh, yes, they canned the Auckland Light Rail project but it was self-cannable really. Only the stupid would have kept going with that one.
· They canned “Three Waters”, which was another self canning proposal.
· The two-tiered and racist health changes the other lot introduced have been canned – though it’s unclear to what degree or if they’re still happening with new titles.
· Something about banning gang patches and assorted other anti-gang legislation yet to be assembled.
There are probably other things I’ve missed, but it’s a pretty sparse list and I’m not sure it’s correct to list them as ‘achievements’.
I do have a sense that a Trump-like leader here might well look at the entire Treaty of Waitangi processes slightly differently than our prime minister. Judging by what’s happening in the US, I suspect that a very light scrape across the treaty ‘industry’ might quickly reveal many irregular transactions. A fearless leader would perhaps put all taxpayer funding to said ‘industry’ on hold pending an inquiry into just whose pockets the trails lead to. That same fearless leader would allow New Zealanders the democratic right to have a referendum on the Treaty Principles Bill.
Mr Luxon has not baulked at any opportunity to repeatedly state that the Treaty Settlement Bill, notwithstanding anything the committee recommends after submissions are completed or anything the electorate might want, is ‘dead in the water’ and will be voted down by National at the second reading. One might view that as, at best, somewhat undemocratic and, arguably, even dictatorial. One might also wonder where the mainstream media is on posing those questions.
Could our prime minister also be out of step with his electorate with regard to climate change?
Certainly he’s out of step with the USA. One of the executive orders signed by Trump on January 20 was the first step in the process to withdraw the US from all obligations to the Paris Climate Accord, arguing that the agreement is “unfair” to the US economy and stating that it would impose undue burdens while allowing other major emitters like China to continue polluting “with impunity”.
If it’s “unfair” to the US economy, which contributes around 13 per cent of the total CO2, while emitters like China are at around 33 per cent with no commitment to change; perhaps our prime minister could take a moment from his busy schedule (maybe skip a couple of social media recordings) to explain why the New Zealand economy, at approximately 0.09 per cent of emissions, is participating at all?
Much as we need a ‘Donald Trump’ here, we’re not going to get him, so we’re destined to continued mediocrity in government. But here’s a thought: You ain’t seen nothing yet.
Unless there is radical change to the positioning of our political parties, we could well arrive at the next election with no clear and useful options. The outcome could easily be a coalition of Labour and National. There’s so little difference between them that it almost looks like a natural and comfortable option. Somehow, I suspect I’m not the only one thinking this.
