National tacks right

Written By: - Date published: 3:35 pm, August 26th, 2019 - 44 comments
Categories: capital gains, Economy, national, paul goldsmith, same old national, Simon Bridges, superannuation, tax, trade, transport, Unions, workers' rights - Tags:

This morning National released its economic policies for discussion ready to go into the next election. And there are some doozies.  Like these:

  • Increase age of eligibility for superannuation to 67 although not until 2038.
  • Take the bright line test for land back to 2 years.
  • Get rid of 100 regulations in the first six months of office.
  • Attack the trade union movement by giving free loaders the benefit of union negotiated increases in wages and conditions.
  • Require big companies and the Government to voluntarily pay their bills on time.
  • Corporate tax cuts.
  • Moar Roads!

It is a strange collection of policies. 

The increase in the superannuation age is weak given how far in the future it is proposed.

The extended bright line test is working in Auckland and price increases have halted so why you would want to wind it back is beyond me.  

As pointed out by Thomas Coughlan the regulation bonfire is straight out of Trump’s America.

The attacks on the trade union movement are predictable but pitiful.  National clearly will not stop until the last Trade Union has withered and died.  Then what?

The voluntary payments policy is a joke.  What about free voluntary apple pie for everyone as well?

And National clearly still does not get climate change in its search for more road building.

At least we know where National wants to lead us.  Straight back to the early 1990s …

44 comments on “National tacks right ”

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  1. Muttonbird 1
    26 August 2019 at 3:51 pm

    It's a real kick in the guts for people around 50. They were entering tertiary education right when student loans started – no free education for you!

    They were still young when the worst of the 1990 reforms bit hard.

    And now, right when they'd retire, right on the day almost, the Nats are going to pull the rug and make them wait another two years for Super. It will cost this unfortunate bunch of lab-rats about $50K in entitlements the baby boomers have enjoyed on top of all their capital gains.

    This Gen X group have done the right thing and Kiwisaved but 50K of that has just been stolen by Simon Bridges today.

    Can't see many in the 40-55 age group being too happy with this.

    • weka 1.1
      26 August 2019 at 4:07 pm

      it is odd. Trade off is that the money will be spent on tax cuts and tax cuts will move people more than the retirement age?

    • Fireblade 1.2
      26 August 2019 at 5:24 pm

      "Everyone who can work, should work" say the Nats.

      Especially older people 65 to 67.

      • mac1 1.2.1
        26 August 2019 at 7:02 pm

        Grey Power president Mac Welch has called bull shit on thia one. National however have put in a olive branch to some GP members by advocating for a 20 year residency period pandering to a certain anti-immigrant group on sociery's ranks.

        Grey Power policy is for Super at 65. National's policy without offering any softening for a reduced amount at a younger age for example to physically damaged workers, and groups with lower age expectancies is policy made in Bulls behind the mascot on the town boundary……….

  2. Robert Guyton 2
    26 August 2019 at 3:55 pm

    It's One Huge Bonfire!

    National, Thinking Big!

  3. marty mars 3
    26 August 2019 at 4:06 pm

    I pretty sure the gnats will say ANYTHING to try and get votes – they float their toxic ideas – see which ones have legs (ie which ones are not gasped at as much as the others) and go with them, the others they change to the opposite view and pretend that was their idea the whole time.

    not. fit. to. govern.

    • Jimmy 3.1
      26 August 2019 at 4:56 pm

      All political parties say anything to get votes….Labour said they would build 100,000 houses.

      • marty mars 3.1.1
        26 August 2019 at 5:05 pm

        Good you agree with me about the gnats – ta

        • Jimmy 3.1.1.1
          26 August 2019 at 8:05 pm

          Yes I do agree with you. Look at what John Tamahere is saying?

          All opposition parties promise the world but when they actually get in, things change just like with this govt. that were not only going to solve housing but many other issues, but to date are coming up very short.

          • marty mars 3.1.1.1.1
            26 August 2019 at 10:44 pm

            yep so better to have a slightly more caring one for the vulnerable and that is this one – the gnats have shown that they are well below the caring level needed to govern and bridges is making a mockery of his gnat leadership.

      • KJT 3.1.2
        28 August 2019 at 10:03 am

        Over time.

        Already thousands of houses ahead of National.

  4. patricia bremner 4
    26 August 2019 at 4:18 pm

    ( Sorry)Patricia…. Patricia Bremner here.
    National want their "Fire Sale Economy" back.

    So they will undo the brakes on housing in Auckland.

    Promote Roads of Importance and Oil and probably Coal.

    They will ignore studies and science to change the Retirement Age by two years.

    (That also pushes out the date people can access their Kiwi Saver Accounts.)

    They will alter the laws to harm workers again, while pretending to help Small Business

    They will limit the money going into Health and Education by their usual "Pruning"

    They call it "Slash and Burn". Go figure!! Never Build and Unite!!

    • Dirk.Dirkin 4.1
      26 August 2019 at 5:49 pm

      Trying to smother the unions, when politicians have the most extravagant working conditions and salary

  5. Fireblade 5
    26 August 2019 at 4:39 pm

    Is a "regulations bonfire" like a NZ version of the book burning ceremonies of the 1930s?

  6. Booker 6
    26 August 2019 at 4:55 pm

    His comments on regulations crack me up – getting rid of two regulations for every one passed? So soon we’ll end up a society with hardly any regulations? That’ll end well.

  7. adam 7
    26 August 2019 at 5:34 pm

    With the nzlp hold the ground on the right(economically), where were the tories supposed to go?

  8. aj 8
    26 August 2019 at 6:22 pm

    Name those regulations please Simon. Everyone of them.

    • bwaghorn 8.1
      26 August 2019 at 6:45 pm

      The clueless fool was on the news saying that immergrants who have only been here 6 ,7 or 8 years shouldn't get super . The law is 10 years minimum now

    • mac1 8.2
      26 August 2019 at 6:51 pm

      The way this is presented is saying that regulations in themselves are bad and should be got rid of, rather than saying there are regulations past their use by dates to be taken off the books,.

      Setting a number rather than a criterion seems to be nothing more than a PR sop to the less government brigade. Not beimg specific allows each brigade member the opportunity to mentally write in their own pet hates and be thankful to National.

      In a way clever politics, in the same way that Trump has operated.

  9. bwaghorn 9
    26 August 2019 at 6:43 pm

    I buryed a family member this week . Went into full time employment at about 17 and stayed there till 65 . He was 65 years and 9 months old .

    • In Vino 9.1
      26 August 2019 at 7:27 pm

      Sad.. I hope he/she enjoyed the work.

      Here I am nearly 73, still working part-time. I wonder how I will cope with no more work.

      But Simon should have starred in 'Clueless'.

    • mickysavage 9.2
      26 August 2019 at 10:34 pm

      My dad who was a boilermaker made it to 80. He was by far the oldest boilermaker around …

  10. RRM 10
    26 August 2019 at 7:36 pm

    And National clearly still does not get climate change in its search for more road building.

    In 20 or 30 year's time those roads will be mostly full of EVs and maybe a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle or two.

    That will do FAR more for the environment than a govt department dedicated to maintaining a web campaign of advertisements for cycling. Of any of the other vainglorious lefty environmental BS.

    • Psycho Milt 10.1
      26 August 2019 at 8:26 pm

      This faux climate change response is way more annoying than run of the mill denial. At least the deniers are honest.

      • RRM 10.1.1
        27 August 2019 at 12:11 am

        Why does calling people liars and resorting to strawmen come so easily to you?

        I happen to think that reducing pollution and cleaning up our collective act is a very good thing to do.

        But as usual the left's ideas about how to do it are completely wrong, and achieve very little, and have more to do with creating empires and power trips for little leftists than with making the world better.

        • Psycho Milt 10.1.1.1
          27 August 2019 at 5:37 am

          I happen to think that reducing pollution and cleaning up our collective act is a very good thing to do.

          No shit – whaddaya want, a medal? The comment was about climate change, not pollution. They're different things.

          • RRM 10.1.1.1.1
            27 August 2019 at 7:57 am

            Why are you like this?

          • Incognito 10.1.1.1.2
            27 August 2019 at 8:02 am

            The major cause of ACC is man-made pollution, isn’t it?

            • Psycho Milt 10.1.1.1.2.1
              27 August 2019 at 8:32 am

              If you class CO2 as a pollutant, I guess. I wouldn't, myself – plants do breathe it, after all. But my comment was prompted by the term "pollution" in the context of National supporters' disingenous climate change comments being about a vague "cleaning up the environment a bit within our existing BAU," not substantive action against climate change.

              • Andre …
                27 August 2019 at 8:47 am

                Given the harm done by the massive amounts of CO2 we have been emitting, I certainly consider CO2 emissions to be hazardous waste.

                But yeah, given a certain amount of CO2 is necessary for our biosphere, and even for for keeping the average temp at a comfy 14ish degrees instead of a chilly -19 we'd have with no greenhouse effect, I too struggle with calling CO2 a pollutant.

                But methane, CFCs, HFCs, aerosols and other hooman related climate-altering shit we've been dumping in the atmosphere that have no natural role certainly are pollutants to my mind.

              • Incognito …
                27 August 2019 at 10:28 am

                Understood. In the context of ACC, I think it is considered a pollutant (greenhouse gas) but there is more to it than just CO2. In this sense, limiting CO2 or CH4 emissions, for example, could be considered as “cleaning up the environment”. I agree that disingenuous comments are hard to swallow.

                • Incognito …
                  27 August 2019 at 12:47 pm

                  I’d like to qualify my last sentence:

                  I agree that seemingly disingenuous comments are hard to swallow.

    • greywarshark 10.2
      26 August 2019 at 8:39 pm

      Pity you can't put brain into low gear before blasting off at the mouth at high revolutions per minute. Boy racers don't make good policy makers.

      • RRM 10.2.1
        26 August 2019 at 11:33 pm

        Can you use your words and say how I'm wrong? Or is it all as homs with you?

        • greywarshark 10.2.1.1
          27 August 2019 at 1:02 pm

          Aren't you into homs yourself RRM? Except that you go for everybody on the left, and try and destroy discussions about changes. You say that the roads will be good for EVs, which of course misses the point about whether we should have the roads and the EVs which are not reducing our emissions in total, just affecting those from fossil fuels as now.

          Don't pretend to be an innocent and somehow superior to everyone else. That is such a preachy response and so right wing – break the mould, e.g. 'Of any of the other vainglorious lefty environmental BS.'

          If you haven't anything more than projecting the present into the future without attempting to incorporate facts and trends into your (lack-of) analysis why don't you add to the IQ on right wing sites?

          This is your fine thinking:

          In 20 or 30 year's time those roads will be mostly full of EVs and maybe a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle or two.

          That will do FAR more for the environment than a govt department dedicated to maintaining a web campaign of advertisements for cycling. Of any of the other vainglorious lefty environmental BS.

  11. greywarshark 11
    26 August 2019 at 8:37 pm

    If the medical profession were like National, we would still have blood-letting as a therapy for sick people.

  12. aj 12
    26 August 2019 at 10:56 pm

    Paul Goldsmith on Q & A tonight and when pressed could only come up with one regulation he would bin. The need for someone to get planning consent for a carport. Yeah, right.

    • Jimmy 12.1
      26 August 2019 at 11:56 pm

      yeah Goldsmith sounded very unconvincing

      • AB 12.1.1
        27 August 2019 at 7:43 am

        Paul Goldsmith is Jair Bolsonaro without the psychopathic aggression. Makes sense, if you want to do nasty things, get someone drab and lifeless to do it for you.

  13. Hooch 13
    27 August 2019 at 11:02 am

    I think this is just a huge pile of raw meat to shore up the nats 40ish percent in polls. I can’t see it pulling voters their direction, in fact it could have the opposite effect.