John Armstrong is losing patience with the Nats:
John Armstrong: Age of Austerity? We’re still spending on plastic
So much for Bill English’s much-heralded Age of Austerity. The close to $2 million in taxpayers’ money for Auckland’s “plastic waka” suggests the Old Age of Waste is still with us.
National is certainly consistent when it comes to cutting spending. It consistently fails to practise what it preaches – be it the purchase of replacement chauffeur-driven BMWs for Cabinet ministers or this latest exercise in excess.
Bill English has entitlement in his genes. Cuts are for the little people.
If anything falls within the Finance Minister’s definition of a “nice to have” that can be lost then surely it is the waka on the waterfront.
You do not have to look far for more pressing demands. What about legal aid for the company that owns the Pike River mine so it has no excuse for not fronting up at inquiries? ….
Above all, the funding of the waka is nothing short of an abdication of fiscal responsibility on National’s part.
As Zet has pointed out, that $2 Million could have provided a lot of accommodation for Christchurch refugees. And as for “an abdication of fiscal responsibility” – isn’t that what a Tory government is all about? Tax cuts, and leave everything else to “the market”…
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