100 days of chaos

Written By: - Date published: 10:58 am, December 1st, 2023 - 18 comments
Categories: act, auckland supercity, climate change, employment, national, nz first, science, unemployment - Tags:

So National has released its 100 day action plan.  In an effort to address what it says is an underperforming economy and a cost of living crisis it will do a number of things.

It will:

  • Increase congestion by starving Auckland of necessary funds through the Regional Fuel Tax.
  • Make workers poorer in the long term by repealing the Fair Pay Agreement legislation.
  • Make rents cheaper by giving retrospective tax cuts to landlords.  Yep that makes as much sense as it did the first time you read it.  Why would a landlord would cut rents after being given some extra money?  Market forces will again rule and the market will decide rents in the vast majority of cases.
  • Increase unemployment by changing the Reserve Bank’s focus on inflation and employment to one of inflation only.
  • Stop blanket speed restrictions.  Going slow must make you poor somehow.
  • Can Auckland Light Rail and Let’s get Wellington moving.
  • Make gas guzzling utes and large vehicles cheaper thereby undermining the previous Government’s attempt to make the country’s vehicle fleet more sustainable.

The only item that will contribute positively to the cost of living, at least for Aucklanders, is removal of the regional fuel tax.  But this will mean that there will be a significant hold in the budget needed to achieve goals that have been agreed to previously by the Government and Auckland Council.  And the effect will be minimal except for those who drive a great deal.

The rest of the list feels like something a group of angry old men who had been in a pub for too long would come up with.

The bullet points cut this, prevent that and roll back sophisticated reforms created over a long period of time.

Teachers get a slap down.  All they have to do is return to the halcyon days of the 1950s and use teaching techniques from then and everything will be fine.

And the financial crisis does not prevent the Government from establishing a billion dollar slush fund for Shane Jones to tour the country seeking political relevance by splashing the cash around.

The next hundred days will be rough.  Nicola Willis will show her complete lack of understanding of how Government finances work by claiming that the Government’s books are in bad shape and there are nasty financial surprises.  And this will give them justification for deeper cuts to be made.

The rhetoric about economic conditions is strong.  But I cannot see how any of the headline announced policies will help.

18 comments on “100 days of chaos ”

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  1. Stephen D 1
    1 December 2023 at 11:12 am

    It feels like a return to the mythical 1950s. A women’s place was in the home, kids were to be seen and not heard, and the males word was law.

  2. Ad 2
    1 December 2023 at 11:43 am

    The reduced speeds programme will be a particular loss that Simeon Brown should be held to account when the 2024 road toll is published.

    They have already measured any changes to journey times on the Napier-Taupo SH6 journey and it is negligible. As expected.

    Compare to Transmission Gully, designed for 110kmh, and not a single speed camera installed on the entire length.

    Simeon needs to be guided by facts. Sure hope he shows he's capable of absorbing the Briefings he's receiving. Not good reputation currently.

    • tc 2.1
      1 December 2023 at 1:06 pm

      IIRC during the campaign he was quite relaxed about not bothering to read reports when asked.

      Agenda at the ready he doesn't need pesky briefings

    • Christopher Randal 2.2
      1 December 2023 at 7:23 pm

      "Napier-Taupo SH6"

      SH5….

    • ianmac 2.3
      1 December 2023 at 7:56 pm

      The road speed Blenheim to Nelson has been lowered to 90kph for a year or two and in hilly parts 60kph. They published road records for that time and the rate of serious accidents had dropped by at least 40% or more.

      And it only takes a few minutes longer.

      And traffic seems to flow more evenly.

  3. Dennis Frank 3
    1 December 2023 at 12:32 pm

    Merely a wish list at this point. Credibility is based on cabinet decisions to action each point, right? So, at the end of their first week have they at least made a start?

    Not that I've noticed. Rightist media would be featuring the checklist with the first few items already ticked off, eh? Any rightist reading this, please correct me if I'm wrong. I'd rather give credit for achievement to be fair.

    So my verdict for performance thus far: 4 out of 10. That's just for actually having an actual action plan….

  4. Adrian 4
    1 December 2023 at 1:36 pm

    I think reality might be dawning for Willis in particular. It’s patently obvious that she really doesn’t know how government finances work and/or has real trouble comprehending official papers, but more telling is the body language and facial expressions. Now I’m not an expert by any means but I have had 73 years of studying people in an attempt to understand them, currently the hunched body shape, the tucked in legs and arms and in particular the facial gurning expressions becoming more and more pronounced ever day, give to me a clear insight that the bearer of such is a very worried and disturbed person. Has it only now become obvious to her what the rest of us have known all along and it’s that nothing adds up? I’d be shitting myself too if it were me responsible for the mess she has herself in.

    • Ad 4.1
      1 December 2023 at 2:00 pm

      Her time to shine is just days away now.

      She is going to have a grand time against Robertson with the initial reveal – which I would expect would be drip fed for maximum damage.

      Then to the mini-budget.

      The momentum is all hers.

  5. Adrian 5
    1 December 2023 at 1:38 pm

    I think reality might be dawning for Willis in particular. It’s patently obvious that she really doesn’t know how government finances work and/or has real trouble comprehending official papers, but more telling is the body language and facial expressions. Now I’m not an expert by any means but I have had 73 years of studying people in an attempt to understand them, currently the hunched body shape, the tightly tucked in legs and arms and in particular the facial gurning expressions becoming more and more pronounced ever day, give to me a clear insight that the bearer of such is a very worried and disturbed person. Has it only now become obvious to her what the rest of us have known all along and it’s that nothing adds up? I’d be shitting myself too if it were me responsible for the mess she has herself in.

    • ianmac 5.1
      1 December 2023 at 8:01 pm

      I Think so too Adrian. A look of, "What have I got myself into. He said it would be fine. Help."

  6. outofbed 6
    1 December 2023 at 1:55 pm

    So scrapping fair pay agreements must mean that they want unfair pay agreements. Which of course we know , but to be so blatant about it FFS.

  7. Binders full of women 7
    1 December 2023 at 4:29 pm

    Mahareys gone. Better to resign than be sacked by Seymour I suppose.

  8. Mike the Lefty 8
    1 December 2023 at 5:06 pm

    Why didn't they make Simeon Brown The Minister of Roads? That's all he ever seems to talk about.

  9. observer 9
    2 December 2023 at 5:58 am

    This is significant. Sir Ian Taylor was critical of the previous government for various reasons, and wrote numerous opinion pieces getting stuck in. You may have read about them on here, it was a regular feature, pre-election.

    He voted National. Already he has buyer's remorse. From the conversations I've had since the Coalition of Cave-In was announced, he's not alone.

    'Reductio ad absurdum' and the unintended consequences of the new government | Stuff.co.nz

    This is not about lefties who never vote National, it's about the swing voters who voted for Ardern in 2020 and switched to National this time. Or previously voted for John Key. His 2008 honeymoon lasted all the way through the term. Luxon's may be over before Christmas.

    Once those vital swing voters decide he is not up to the job, his future is finished. National MPs will sack him long before the voters do.

  10. Thinker 10
    2 December 2023 at 6:40 am

    MickeySavage, you've missed a couple of equally-important points to note:

    1. Yes, removal of the Auckland regional fuel tax, but replaced by some kind of congestion pricing that will have the effect of penalising workers (the fuel tax spread the load). Boomer Nat Voters are reaching retirement age and can choose what time to travel.

    2. The impact of the return to a single focus for the Reserve Bank – ie inflation – is another way of saying increasing unemployment and interest rates, because those of us who can remember Rogernomics will know that unemployment and interest rates are the blunt instruments that are used to achieve the holy grail of low inflation. For New Zealanders with a mortgage, any $25 benefit from the tax cuts will be overwhelmed by interest rates that remain high for longer and, in my opinion, a return to a time of high unemployment, both as a means to get inflation down to please net investors.

  11. roblogic 11
    3 December 2023 at 5:07 pm

    i found the L/G govt quite frustrating with their endless working groups & opinion polls & studies & incremental changes — but they did things by the book

    the Nats’ shock and awe campaign of unilateral Cluxon-fuckery is hugely undemocratic by comparison