Uncomfortable reading for Key

Anthony R0bins
9 years ago
Categories: john key, Minister for International Embarrassment
Tags: thirdtermitis

Two opinion pieces yesterday make uncomfortable reading for Key. An anonymous editorial on Stuff:

Budgets and broken promises

The Government is preparing the voters for a dull, do-little Budget. There is nothing new in that, of course. But nothing can disguise the fact that this Budget also brings a big broken promise. It won’t supply the Budget surplus that National has promised for so long.

…

The Government also lacks the funds to do much about the issue of child poverty, a running sore and a disgrace which Key has promised to tackle. He knows that not only is there a serious need in this area; he also faces a very well-informed lobby.

Presumably, the Budget measures on child poverty will be small and disappointing. This might not damage Key much by itself. After all, his supporters are probably not personally much affected by the problem.

But, if more and more promises are broken and there is a slowdown in growth, the Key formula will begin to fray. The peculiar business about ponytails might also start to affect Key’s personal standing.

All this might prove harder to dismiss than the promise of a Budget surplus.

And (knock me over with a feather) John Roughan in The Herald:

Inaction on housing shows end is in sight

It is usually obvious when governments are coming to the end of their useful life. The good they’re doing becomes outweighed by glaring problems they have found too hard to fix and have decided not to see.

We will know in less than two weeks if the present Government is coming to the end of its useful life, when it reveals the first Budget of its third term.

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I don’t have high hopes for the Budget. If the Government was getting serious about the housing market at last, we would have had a hint by now.

Instead, we had another sideshow with the Auckland Council this week over the supply of services to outer subdivisions.

Unless we are in for surprise, the end is in sight for the Government’s natural life.

Plenty more in that piece on the unfairness of the Auckland property market.

Exposed on dirty politics and mass surveillance. Defeated in Northland. A laughing stock for his hair “habit”. Breaking his core economic promise. A growing narrative of third-term decline. No wonder Key’s heart doesn’t seem to be in it anymore.