National Government
National Government has no ideas
21/07/10 17:54 Filed in: Speeches
Jim Anderton’s speech in the General Debate in parliament
This is a government with no plan, no new ideas - but lots of smiles from Mr Key - who is starting to look like the Wizard of Oz.
A traveling magician who pulls out another trick every time the last trick fails.
But you can only trick Dorothy and the tin man for so long.
Because the people of New Zealand are starting to see - there is no plan. There is no way back to Kansas.
What has the Wizard of New Zealand pulled out of his bag so far?
We’ve had the 2025 Taskforce which was meant to show how we could catch up Australia.
What happened to that? Nothing. Don Brash failed to deliver - no surprises there - as the Kiwi kid says about the Aussie kid on that TV ad.
But Don’s still being kept on to give another report next year!
Yet he’s run out of money already; some trick for a former Governor General of the Reserve Bank in charge of New Zealand’s monetary policy!
Then we had the job’s summit.
How’s that going?
No new jobs and unemployment is on the rise.
We halved the rate of unemployment when we were in government to under 4%.
Under this government it has risen to 6% already- an increase of 50%.
Now It’s almost returned to what it was under the last National government
You can’t blame that on the recession.
Especially when the only idea to save jobs was the 9-day fortnight. That was meant to save thousands of jobs by getting people to work less, so they get paid less, and businesses stay afloat.
At the most it saved only about one hundred jobs.
But now John Key has come up with another wizard idea: you can sell your 4th week of annual leave.
So he thinks the solution is to get people to work for longer - and that will save the economy?
Which is it? A 9-day fortnight and work less - or sell your holidays and work more?
And what a magicians slight of hand to suggest that you have the choice to ‘sell’ your annual leave.
In my book, it’s just working for an extra week and getting paid for it! Nothing new about that.
John Key says you can even sell your sick leave and your public holidays.
Why not take Christmas day tomorrow - then decide to sell it - and work anyway?
Then we had the cycle way. That was meant to create jobs. Tourist industries were meant to pop up all along the cycle way.
All we’ve seen so far is pictures of John Key on a bike - smiling as always.
It’ll take more than a push bike and cycle way to grow New Zealand.
Mining is now meant to save the New Zealand economy.
What happened to that? Another flip-flop because this smiling Prime Minister doesn’t want to be unpopular.
So what’s the next big idea?
There isn’t one.
If John Key and his government were serious about growing the economy, they wouldn’t just pay lip service to the the farming sector.
The truth is - Agriculture makes up 43% of New Zealand’s exports, compared to tourism which makes up 17%.
And yet John Key didn’t mention farming in 2008 in the post-election speech from the throne.
Didn’t mention it in 2009 in his speech in parliament at the beginning of the year.
Nothing wrong with supporting tourism. But there is something wrong with ignoring farming.
If he thinks he can grow the New Zealand economy while ignoring the farming sector and building cycle ways - he’s dreaming.
What kind of mickey mouse economics smashes the Fast Forward Fund for research into the primary sector, and cancels the tax credit for businesses in favour of a cycle way?
That was a loss of over $2 and half billion for the productive, export earning sectors of the New Zealand economy.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that the farming sector belongs at the centre of any government’s economic strategy.
Previous governments had demoted it to a ‘sunset industry’.
John Key’s government is doing the same.
Instead of playing wizard tricks on the people of New Zealand, John Key needs to get serious.
New Zealand could be a global centre for food production; for IT and for good ideas that add value to what we already do well - grow and make food.
This government has no plans to grow the economy. No plans to create jobs.
Like the Wizard of Oz - Mr Key is hiding behind bright lights and all the tricks of the trade.
But New Zealanders are starting to see that there are no more tricks in the bag. The Wizard has no clothes
This is a government with no plan, no new ideas - but lots of smiles from Mr Key - who is starting to look like the Wizard of Oz.
A traveling magician who pulls out another trick every time the last trick fails.
But you can only trick Dorothy and the tin man for so long.
Because the people of New Zealand are starting to see - there is no plan. There is no way back to Kansas.
What has the Wizard of New Zealand pulled out of his bag so far?
We’ve had the 2025 Taskforce which was meant to show how we could catch up Australia.
What happened to that? Nothing. Don Brash failed to deliver - no surprises there - as the Kiwi kid says about the Aussie kid on that TV ad.
But Don’s still being kept on to give another report next year!
Yet he’s run out of money already; some trick for a former Governor General of the Reserve Bank in charge of New Zealand’s monetary policy!
Then we had the job’s summit.
How’s that going?
No new jobs and unemployment is on the rise.
We halved the rate of unemployment when we were in government to under 4%.
Under this government it has risen to 6% already- an increase of 50%.
Now It’s almost returned to what it was under the last National government
You can’t blame that on the recession.
Especially when the only idea to save jobs was the 9-day fortnight. That was meant to save thousands of jobs by getting people to work less, so they get paid less, and businesses stay afloat.
At the most it saved only about one hundred jobs.
But now John Key has come up with another wizard idea: you can sell your 4th week of annual leave.
So he thinks the solution is to get people to work for longer - and that will save the economy?
Which is it? A 9-day fortnight and work less - or sell your holidays and work more?
And what a magicians slight of hand to suggest that you have the choice to ‘sell’ your annual leave.
In my book, it’s just working for an extra week and getting paid for it! Nothing new about that.
John Key says you can even sell your sick leave and your public holidays.
Why not take Christmas day tomorrow - then decide to sell it - and work anyway?
Then we had the cycle way. That was meant to create jobs. Tourist industries were meant to pop up all along the cycle way.
All we’ve seen so far is pictures of John Key on a bike - smiling as always.
It’ll take more than a push bike and cycle way to grow New Zealand.
Mining is now meant to save the New Zealand economy.
What happened to that? Another flip-flop because this smiling Prime Minister doesn’t want to be unpopular.
So what’s the next big idea?
There isn’t one.
If John Key and his government were serious about growing the economy, they wouldn’t just pay lip service to the the farming sector.
The truth is - Agriculture makes up 43% of New Zealand’s exports, compared to tourism which makes up 17%.
And yet John Key didn’t mention farming in 2008 in the post-election speech from the throne.
Didn’t mention it in 2009 in his speech in parliament at the beginning of the year.
Nothing wrong with supporting tourism. But there is something wrong with ignoring farming.
If he thinks he can grow the New Zealand economy while ignoring the farming sector and building cycle ways - he’s dreaming.
What kind of mickey mouse economics smashes the Fast Forward Fund for research into the primary sector, and cancels the tax credit for businesses in favour of a cycle way?
That was a loss of over $2 and half billion for the productive, export earning sectors of the New Zealand economy.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that the farming sector belongs at the centre of any government’s economic strategy.
Previous governments had demoted it to a ‘sunset industry’.
John Key’s government is doing the same.
Instead of playing wizard tricks on the people of New Zealand, John Key needs to get serious.
New Zealand could be a global centre for food production; for IT and for good ideas that add value to what we already do well - grow and make food.
This government has no plans to grow the economy. No plans to create jobs.
Like the Wizard of Oz - Mr Key is hiding behind bright lights and all the tricks of the trade.
But New Zealanders are starting to see that there are no more tricks in the bag. The Wizard has no clothes
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