Pre budget positioning for a government that says it is “doing all it can”

Written By: - Date published: 1:37 pm, May 22nd, 2017 - 10 comments
Categories: class war, national, useless - Tags: , ,

We often hear from this government that they are “doing all they can”, on emergency housing, on families in financial distress, on the impact of high interest rates, on the mess in Christchurch, on closing tax loopholes, on water quality, and so on.

“All they can” seems to be not very much.

It will be more of the same come the budget (Simon Wong on Newshub):

No Budget ‘waves of cash’ to fix NZ’s social problems – English

The Government is failing New Zealand’s “most complex” families, but the Prime Minister says there won’t be “waves of cash” in this week’s Budget to help them out.
…
He says the Government will be focused on meeting a number of its targets, including addressing New Zealand’s “long-running social problems”. But money isn’t always the answer, he told The AM Show on Monday.

Except when it comes to tax cuts of course. Always the answer then.

“The hard bit of that is reorganising Government – the way the Government works with our most complex families – because frankly, Government doesn’t do that good a job with people who have really serious needs.

If your government can’t manage it then perhaps we should get ourselves a government that can do a good job.

“So you shouldn’t expect waves of cash – that’s what everyone else is promising. We can tell you from years of looking at it hard, throwing money at intractable social problems won’t have an impact.”

Bullshit and lies. The state welfare system says otherwise. Working for families had a measurable impact on reducing poverty. Boosting benefits would do the same. Improving our mental health services would have an impact. Building more state housing would have an impact.

National does the bare minimum that it thinks it can get away with for those in need. This positioning is just preparing the ground for a budget that does more the same not enough.

10 comments on “Pre budget positioning for a government that says it is “doing all it can” ”

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  1. Steve Reeves 1
    22 May 2017 at 1:53 pm

    At least one very rich person clearly would think English is wrong…

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/may/22/andrew-forrest-fortune-huge-philanthropic-donation

  2. Muttonbird 2
    22 May 2017 at 1:57 pm

    The drip feeding of pre-budget announcements has been interesting. It’s like they are using the budget as a sustained National Party marketing campaign.

    • shorts 2.1
      22 May 2017 at 3:40 pm

      its their biggest election bribe to the electorate… so to be expected

      and the best bit is they’ll re-announce all the popular measures at least once more before the election…. cause no one notices

    • David Mac 2.2
      22 May 2017 at 5:02 pm

      Yes, it is the proven procedure for releasing any mass market product. Dip a toe in the water, see how it goes down. Movies are shown to small select audiences and modified to suit popular appeal long before you and I can see them. It makes sense to release policy in a similar way. I don’t think it’s cheating, it’s just being modern.

      If the left adopted a similar strategy egg on face could of been avoided. The Asian surname thing, right idea, really crap execution. Testing the market would of had alarm bells ringing before Twyford stepped up to the plate.

  3. Michael who failed Civics 3
    22 May 2017 at 2:35 pm

    In that respect, at least, National is indistinguishable from Labour.

  4. aerobubble 4
    22 May 2017 at 3:20 pm

    Parliament is for all the people, not just those with money, or those that pay tax (and aren’t superwealthy). People are fed up with over paid finance types tell us we dont matter coz they have more money than us… …that we’re fed up with people not pulling their finger out, when its the overpaid who are lazy and crap on the economy. Its bleedingly obvious capitalism is in crisis brought about by those who have made a bundle of money out of putting it in crisis… …often declaring how smart ty ate in not doing anything to interfere with the market… …worse, locking out govt from interfering aka TTPA, where govts have to pay out big corps if corps lose money… …geez has anyone heard of capitalism, insurance, risk taking, that invester protecting is socialism for global international corps.,

    • Michael who failed Civics 4.1
      22 May 2017 at 6:40 pm

      I think you might be mistaking fact for value in your post, when you claim: “Parliament is for all the people, not just those with money, or those that pay tax (and aren’t superwealthy).” Evidently, it is not, as the fatcats call the tune and the political caste dance hysterically to it.

      • aerobubble 4.1.1
        25 May 2017 at 9:58 am

        Yes. Let them eat cake, the pervailing methodology, leading to rent seeking behaviour being concentrated into fewer and few rent seekers. Sure parliament full of poor people would be worse, but thats not the point, we should reward smarter renteeking behavior that isn’t cannibalizing itself into fewer rent seekers.

  5. Keith 5
    22 May 2017 at 4:16 pm

    I have noticed Joyce throwing around millions, tens or hundreds pre budget, lots of lolly’s, most already announced months or budgets ago and now repackaged with most over a half decade or more.

    Then come the budget he will try to look all serious and frugal and non pork barrel politics, a lie of course. The Herald will love it.

    Nice to see asset sales continue unabated, with RNZ pulling up the floor boards to throw on to the fire to see out their budget freeze for just one more year, by selling their buildings then leasing them back. Brilliant short term National Party thinking that allows Nationals mates to buy them up and smash RNZ with rent before RNZ go more or less insolvent with overhead expenses in the short to medium term.

    But really the cupboard is bare, ask most public servants who have been doing less with less for years just to pay for the last tax cuts. And lets not mention debt!

    Anyway, we’ve got a “surplus” (extreme fairy tale imagination required here) and Aussie have a deficit. See what budget freezing does!

  6. greg 6
    22 May 2017 at 8:42 pm

    isnt that nationals plan steal all you can before the collapse then run like hell.