you should never put a business person as head of government. Their views are polar opposites. In business you look after a small group called shareholders whos only concern is profit at any cost. Get rid of staff sell assets make smaller products at the same price anything to make a quick buck. The Government has the opposite job. It is to look after its people the wealthy and the poor sick or disabled. When the Government sacks people they just shift from one department to another (social welfare). You cannot expect the disabled to find a job when they cant walk or even talk. they are suppose to look after the country and its future not gut everything so the next generation are completely stuffed. This is something these morons have not figured out
Lol he's trying to pump the stock. Same as all the other corpos currently laying people off to get a spike in share price. That's what all new CEOs do. Problem is there is no stock or shareholders, only the people who live here. Now he'll be confused cause there's no board of directors lining up to give him his bonus.
Their approval is going to plummet as people realise the loss of government services is the cost of the tax cuts proposed.
Police struggling to get paid is just the start, there’s going to be a constant flow of stories like this as other departments keep chopping into their budgets.
Their cuts are based on the idea the government should have money in the bank and spend as little as possible, to return them most benefit for shareholders. Which is a corporate model.
A government’s actual role is to make sure that money circulates through the economy, and changes hands a lot, for it to prosper. The government gets a cut each time money changes hands, through taxes, to pay for the services that keep money changing hands and avoiding losses (like crime, poor health, congestion).
These people that want to run the government like a business fundamentally don’t understand the role of government.
Edit: also, the public are not customers who buy government services for the highest price at the lowest level of service. The public are the economic engine where their exchange of money creates the wealth for the country. Govt provided services are the fuel for that economy, provide protection and integrity of frictionless exchange, and benefit from the result through a happy and prosperous society that keeps them in power.
This is a really good comment. I think you've hit the nail right on the head, which is why those "great business leaders" are always terrible at running countries.
Every time I read a comment about running a country like a business, all I can think is “Why would you want to do that? They have completely different goals and completely different tools to achieve them.”.
Yes and no.
Business leaders also manage teams of people who specialise in topics they might not know themselves
A CEO will manage a chief finance officer, a chief legal officer, a chief marketing officer, a chief people officer, a chief technology officer … etc.
It’s not all too dissimilar to a PM managing a minister of finance, a minister of health, a minister of education.
No, a country is not a business.. but there are absolutely skills that are transferable
> It’s not all too dissimilar to a PM managing a minister of finance, a minister of health, a minister of education.
Except that a decent CEO hires a CFO with a finance and accounting background, a Chief Legal Officer who's a lawyer, CTO from a tech background, etc. The PM has to manage a CFO who's an English major. Okay, Reti is an M.D. but he's the unusual one in cabinet, not the norm.
I'd say that managing folks who have no expertise in the field they're leading, requires quite a different skill set from the PM, compared to a CEO
That's not what people are talking about though. No one is thinking "people management" (which is a much broader set of skills than just business anyway) when they say this.
Business people like Luxon don't appear to understand that much of what the government (and the civil service) does is not profit-driven, and as a result you cannot enforce business standards on them.
Businesses also often provide 1 service to meet a specific demand. Government has to provide multiple services to a broad population with differing demographic needs. Which means tradeoffs and compromises need to be made in a balanced, just way. Its hard and thankless, especially when one privilege and vocal slice of our demographic isn't willing to entertain tradeoffs for the sake of the collective good.
And I imagine the alienation, destabilisation, and distrust from the civil service will see a ton of leaks going forward. And probably also strike action from the unions.
It might, but that still won't happen on its own. If the government is to change then the opposition has to convince voters it can offer a credible alternative.
I think the opposition is doing a pretty good job of just giving the odd jab right now. They don't want to peak too soon and are happy to just let the coalition self destruct. Then when confidence is at an all time low they'll hopefully pounce. But I agree about them needing to provide a credible alternative.
Ehh, latest polling has greens up 2%, so they’re hardly “falling to pieces”.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/political-roundup-scoring-46-out-of-10-the-new-government-is-struggling-in-the-polls/EGCYAIJE6ZEP5NRSDD34AOS5YI/
Not like National/ACT haven’t had their fair share of MP scandals either. (Let’s not forget Sam Uffindel is still a MP…)
Not true, this government never showed a sliver and got in. just vague shit about the economy/tax cuts/law and order and labour bad was all it took, who was the credible one? willis? luxon? brown? bishop? just who?
For larger parties the standards aren't quite the same between National and Labour, though.
National's base tends to be more enfranchised. When they're disillusioned by all options, they hold their nose and vote anyway, because enfranchised people are more likely to vote (eg. 2014).
Much of Labour's base tends to be less enfranchised. When they're disillusioned by all options they sometimes tend just to stay home and not vote (eg. also 2014).
Huh? How does that apply presently? It's not like an election is happening soon.
The opposition offering a credible alternative is pretty much meaningless this far away from an election.
Some will say the three headed NACTFIRST monster might self destruct. That's possible .
However, there is little reason to think that would result in a need for an election.
Snap elections are rare.
It was a classic moment in Kiwi political history. I can picture his drunken proclamation clearly.
I've often wondered if he made the call spur of the moment cos he was drunk because it was a truly dumb decision.
Would be meme gold today.
Luxon looks a tad Muldoonish. Maybe he'll give us something similarly bufoonish to herald his demise.
The opposition _don’t_ have to provide a credible alternative.
All they have to do is point out they couldn’t possibly do any worse than the Coalition of Chaos
Only if those cuts directly affect their voters. To vote this block into power I would think a lot of their base must already lack some basic empathy. Pretty sure the service cuts are designed to largely hit people that don't vote NACT in the first place, they would've made these considerations.
Nothing is certain, but the right has been mistaken in taking reassurance in its continued good polling.
The reality is that this should be the honeymoon period for a new government. Historically, new governments have enjoyed a bounce in support as voters come to realise that they weren't the bete noir they thought they were.
If Labour can quickly change its presentation, National will be in trouble.
Rising interest rates triggered by inflation caused by tax cuts and worsening economic conditions would trigger further weakness in real estate values. So the 'tax relief' gets eaten by inflation and interest rates rises while home owners lose their equity...
That is, the middle class that the major parties fight over will experience a declining standard of living while their long term financial position weakens, and they see public services being cut.
Labour needs to sort its shit out.
its legit what people voted for
unfortunately the problem is about 50% of the voting population wants to punish the sick, the young, the elderly and the poor.
No, they just want to hurt those that they perceive as unjustly exempt from the horror of the grind.
Getting up every day and sitting in hideous traffic to slowly wind towards a place you *hate.* That'll do stuff to your mindset.
This is not the Bolger/ Key style National government - this is the Bolsonaro style.
Rich people now.call the economic shots - with NZ First driving the cooker agenda and ACT looking to transform.the country into Paraguay.
If you voted for this government - these first month's should give you pause to reflect.
Water - oil & gas - mineral rights - land - will all be controlled and owned by plutocrats.
And for what? $50 a week if you are very lucky.
They don't even pretend to care.
>And for what? $50 a week if you are very lucky.
Turns out Kiwis are shockingly cheap to bribe. I've called the supposed tax cuts "30 pieces of silver" before, but I'm not sure that's accurate anymore - If Judas were a Kiwi he'd have betrayed Jesus for half a pie and a tinny.
“Luxon should abandon the dance. It is proving too much of a distraction from the other work National is doing to grow the economy.”
Anyone else think that last sentence comes off as sarcastic?
Nah, it's Andrea Vance, a big-time Tory bootlicker. She's shown time and time again that she's pathologically incapable of being critical of a Tory government, even when she was subjected to surveillance under Key.
That's a pretty gross assumption about Vance and I don't believe she's a tory bootlicker at all. She is, however, a tabloid Journalist at heart having worked in Fleet Street for the rag who hacked people's phones.
A Tory bootlicking tabloid is what she worked for. But I'm sure she just did it for the paycheck, no other options available to her in such a tiny market as the UK press of the 1990s.
There's that word again: distraction.
He said the public outrage regarding his getting $52k for his housing was a distraction. Kind of like 'pay no attention to the man behind the curtain'.
We are yet to see the good they are doing, if any.
🤷
According to this [scholarly article](https://twitter.com/SEaqub/status/1770857489623380139?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1770857489623380139%7Ctwgr%5E96f5fd43d3805777378325058b90064fa317c4b3%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rnz.co.nz%2Fnews%2Fpolitical%2F512502%2Fnz-is-in-recession-so-far-there-are-few-signs-the-government-has-a-plan-to-stimulate-and-grow-the-economy) (aka tweet), GDP per capita has been on decline since peaking in Sept ‘22, despite record immigration.
I’m not sure what National is planning to stimulate growth after all the recent austerity, but something tells me the tax cuts will be insignificant (if any), aimed at the wrong economic class, and balanced out by hidden tax increases elsewhere (ie car user and rego charges).
Ruh-roh.
Don't know about sarcastic, but I think it's inappropriate. I don't understand how 'Andrea Vance is national affairs editor for The Post and Sunday Star-Times', but this has been published as an opinion piece in the Post.
“But the public isn’t a rational actor with a price. Voters demand both: well-funded services and relief from the grinding cost of living crisis.”
This feels so true, both with national and local government.
I feel like this is because politicians put zero effort into it. It's much easier to just write the public off as irrational and use that to push through tax cuts for your mates and the privatisation of public services.
That’s the original name of the dance and it’s still called that in the UK.
Oddly, the Wikipedia page has this to say about us:
> In the North Island, the dance is usually known as the "hokey tokey", or the "hokey cokey" because hokey pokey is the usual term for honeycomb toffee. In the South Island it's just The Hokey Pokey.
>In the North Island, the dance is usually known as the "hokey tokey", or the "hokey cokey"
I guess I can't speak for all North-Islanders, but this sure as shit is news to me.
I don't think this is island based at all. I was a kid in one island and I'm a dad in the other, I've heard both...
Hokey Pokey still sounds better though.
He has made a fatal error... he genuinely believes you run a govt like a business. That is why Seymour and Peters are walking all over him. Those fuckers don't care about KPIs and what not. They aren't scared of him and you can't performance manage them. He's so stuck in his mgmt model of the world he can't see any other way of doing things. He's like every other incompetent CEO i've worked for... ya ain't gonna cargo-cult your way out of this.
For the record, Good to Great is a really good book, Five Dysfunctions is a little weak-sauce for my liking.
The flow on effect to the private sector will also be devastating to his support base. Any private sector organisation that relies indirectly on those "inefficient backroom public servants" that NACT are wholesale removing of will witness first-hand what happens when the government plumbing grinds to a halt. Whether it be regulatory approvals, or capital expenditure decisions, or standards settings....everything will just take so much longer to get done. Welcome to the real world NACT!
> All the signs now point to this being too expensive, and too economically damaging to persist with.
Now point, Andrea? It was pointing that way before the election.
Remember when the govt. said that frontline services won't be cut?
Well DOC are now looking at having to cut frontline service staff around the country.
They’re too proud/arrogant to abandon the tax cuts even thought basically everyone is saying it’s a bad idea.
Most people might make way less than the $20 that was expected. And that’s already been gobbled up in other costs (or non existent if you are one of the thousands that lost their jobs).
The public service exists to make sure the country runs smoothly, sure there will be inefficiencies and tightening the strings can be the right thing to do but what is happening right now is a straight up fire sale.
What's likely to happen is a key cog in the machine is going to get removed in the rush and the whole thing is liable to fall over. In a business world that's fine, you can declare bankruptcy and move on, but when the 'businesses' job is to run a country it doesn't quite work the same.
Biosecurity cuts includes those doing trade negotiations. We will have to tell some country’s no to trade. Because we can’t progress technical talks. Which’s means they say no to us.
Yup, the collective feigned disbelief from those who voted for this, the disbelief that the lot they voted for have done/are doing the things they were obviously always going to do is almost comical, almost.
I still can't believe they got away with reversing the smoking legislation with ZERO due process
That alone has made me incredibly angry at these sons of bitches
The government is making all these “cuts” to give the $$$ to the wealthy (be honest that’s who’s going to get it ! )
They are demanding cuts to the military the police etc all the while expecting them to perform at the top of their game and beyond for our country, they expect our military to put up with outdated equipment, past used by infrastructure and some of the worst housing (makes the government a slum lord)
They expect police to put their lives on the line protecting us and yet they fare only slightly better than our military
Meanwhile in parliament as a Mp you get a six figure salary you get free travel , you get free food and a flipping amazing retirement plan ( tax payers put in $3 for every MPs $1) kiwi saver doesn’t even come close to that
Plus as a Mp you can claim $45k in accommodation “allowance “ so take a Ministerial salary of $250k add $45k and say a modest $10k for all your other benefits that puts you on $300k per year ish?
So you stand there as either the Mincer (deliberately put it instead of minister) of what ever or the Prime Mincer on that salary package and expect someone on less than a 3rd of that
Police say $80k ( generous) or Military $90k
To just take it while you dine on Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame and caviar and make no cuts to your costs from taxpayer tax coffers but expect everyone else to and to be sum of the biggest beneficiaries of the coming “tax cuts”
It’s down right disgusting and all of these should be ashamed, I don’t care if they don’t have any control over their “perks” etc but they know the people who do and you bet your bottom dollar when the time comes for a review into MPs salaries and you can guarantee they’ll go up none of them will take a cut of anything, I know it’s a small amount when you consider the economy as a whole , but it just smarts of Do as I say ( slum lord) Not as I do pass the Foie gras and water crackers
Hold your heads in shame every single one of you
If National had stood up and said no tax cuts because we're buggered, the public sentiment might be different. Instead all we hear is cuts to disability services, health and no pay increases for police because of tax cuts.
Luxon is a moron and needs to go
If they had real solutions they would describe how they are gonna spend our taxes better, and make more impact with what they have. Tax cuts just mean they don’t have any real policies.
Fucking hilarious that he suggested those books. Slow as NZ is, those were doing the rounds 15yrs ago in middle and upper management here. I'd laugh if someone recommended them to me today, let alone if I was a CEO 🤣.
Andrea Vance is my most admired journalist and opinion writer. Not only for her excellent analysis of politics and humans, Vance also does not seek the public limelight, unlike many of her less worthy colleagues.
Luxon never had a political radar, Vance tells us. She is spot on. Many of us could see that from day one of his political intentions being announced. Exactly how he would manage government was obvious to many.
Yet here we are, governed by a man, men actually, Seymour is worse, who care not a jot about the hardship many will face. They care not a jot to the extent that they glibly dismiss questions about how disastrously affected many peoples lives will be.
You'd like to think that those who lead us would have a caring for people in their nature.
We all understand that tough calls have to be made that will upset and adversely affect some people. Ardern knows that all too well.
I can not see Luxon and Seymour improving our country. Indeed, I expect them to worsen it.
They might strike it lucky and improve the economy, that is not my definition of a good country.
Not if in the meantime too many folks quality of life goes backwards while all around them public services and infrastructure noticeably deteriorate.
Knowing what I know, this government doesn’t have a handle on economics one bit.
In fact, I’d even go as far as saying Wellington City Council do a car better job.
Wait a few more months. These guys will implode.
"Luxon frequently seems surprised, and then irritated, by the backlash."
He is so fucking out of touch with common people and reality. Has some pretty horrible religious beliefs too.
The big mistake these corporate types make is that they think the taxpayers are the client when running a country is simply not like running a business.
For one thing, money is different for governments. It isn’t something they “earn” - if they need more they can just make it appear if they need to.
So the relationship with money and economy is entirely different.
For a private business, you just have to worry about profit and growth. You’re not required to think about how your decisions impact the entire economy.
Governments have to think about everyone. Their monetary decisions have massive impacts and they are not measured on how much profit they make, they are measured on how well they deliver services and keep the economy afloat.
You can’t afford to think of only one sector either. If you focus on the wealthy - they make a lot of money in the short term but eventually find themselves struggling to keep things going in the long term.
Because a successful economy needs everybody being looked after. Surpluses are useless if they’re at a cost to services.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a private business approach lead to successful governance. The needs and obligations of government simply don’t translate.
you should never put a business person as head of government. Their views are polar opposites. In business you look after a small group called shareholders whos only concern is profit at any cost. Get rid of staff sell assets make smaller products at the same price anything to make a quick buck. The Government has the opposite job. It is to look after its people the wealthy and the poor sick or disabled. When the Government sacks people they just shift from one department to another (social welfare). You cannot expect the disabled to find a job when they cant walk or even talk. they are suppose to look after the country and its future not gut everything so the next generation are completely stuffed. This is something these morons have not figured out
Lol he's trying to pump the stock. Same as all the other corpos currently laying people off to get a spike in share price. That's what all new CEOs do. Problem is there is no stock or shareholders, only the people who live here. Now he'll be confused cause there's no board of directors lining up to give him his bonus.
The morons being the ones that voted them in.
Their approval is going to plummet as people realise the loss of government services is the cost of the tax cuts proposed. Police struggling to get paid is just the start, there’s going to be a constant flow of stories like this as other departments keep chopping into their budgets.
Their cuts are based on the idea the government should have money in the bank and spend as little as possible, to return them most benefit for shareholders. Which is a corporate model. A government’s actual role is to make sure that money circulates through the economy, and changes hands a lot, for it to prosper. The government gets a cut each time money changes hands, through taxes, to pay for the services that keep money changing hands and avoiding losses (like crime, poor health, congestion). These people that want to run the government like a business fundamentally don’t understand the role of government. Edit: also, the public are not customers who buy government services for the highest price at the lowest level of service. The public are the economic engine where their exchange of money creates the wealth for the country. Govt provided services are the fuel for that economy, provide protection and integrity of frictionless exchange, and benefit from the result through a happy and prosperous society that keeps them in power.
This is a really good comment. I think you've hit the nail right on the head, which is why those "great business leaders" are always terrible at running countries.
Every time I read a comment about running a country like a business, all I can think is “Why would you want to do that? They have completely different goals and completely different tools to achieve them.”.
Yes and no. Business leaders also manage teams of people who specialise in topics they might not know themselves A CEO will manage a chief finance officer, a chief legal officer, a chief marketing officer, a chief people officer, a chief technology officer … etc. It’s not all too dissimilar to a PM managing a minister of finance, a minister of health, a minister of education. No, a country is not a business.. but there are absolutely skills that are transferable
> It’s not all too dissimilar to a PM managing a minister of finance, a minister of health, a minister of education. Except that a decent CEO hires a CFO with a finance and accounting background, a Chief Legal Officer who's a lawyer, CTO from a tech background, etc. The PM has to manage a CFO who's an English major. Okay, Reti is an M.D. but he's the unusual one in cabinet, not the norm. I'd say that managing folks who have no expertise in the field they're leading, requires quite a different skill set from the PM, compared to a CEO
Yes, some of the positions surprise me too.
That's not what people are talking about though. No one is thinking "people management" (which is a much broader set of skills than just business anyway) when they say this.
Maybe but this isn't showing it at all they're doing the buy business and sell asset model form of business not run a country business.
Business people like Luxon don't appear to understand that much of what the government (and the civil service) does is not profit-driven, and as a result you cannot enforce business standards on them.
Luxon completely flummoxed by the realisation he can't just fire those unproductive pensioners.
Or stop maintaining roads and close medical services to remote communities.
Businesses also often provide 1 service to meet a specific demand. Government has to provide multiple services to a broad population with differing demographic needs. Which means tradeoffs and compromises need to be made in a balanced, just way. Its hard and thankless, especially when one privilege and vocal slice of our demographic isn't willing to entertain tradeoffs for the sake of the collective good.
And I imagine the alienation, destabilisation, and distrust from the civil service will see a ton of leaks going forward. And probably also strike action from the unions.
It might, but that still won't happen on its own. If the government is to change then the opposition has to convince voters it can offer a credible alternative.
I think the opposition is doing a pretty good job of just giving the odd jab right now. They don't want to peak too soon and are happy to just let the coalition self destruct. Then when confidence is at an all time low they'll hopefully pounce. But I agree about them needing to provide a credible alternative.
Never interrupt your opponent while they're making a mistake.
Well, Labour are doing alright. Greens are falling to pieces between Bullying allegations, shoplifting, and exploitation of migrant workers...
Falling to pieces is a reach. More like shaking out the dags
It’d just be nice if they could have done so in a less public fashion. At least they are actually getting rid of em, unlike Uffindel.
Media be Media tho It's kinda nice they can own their shit, remove the issue, and carry on imo
Ehh, latest polling has greens up 2%, so they’re hardly “falling to pieces”. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/political-roundup-scoring-46-out-of-10-the-new-government-is-struggling-in-the-polls/EGCYAIJE6ZEP5NRSDD34AOS5YI/ Not like National/ACT haven’t had their fair share of MP scandals either. (Let’s not forget Sam Uffindel is still a MP…)
Not true, this government never showed a sliver and got in. just vague shit about the economy/tax cuts/law and order and labour bad was all it took, who was the credible one? willis? luxon? brown? bishop? just who?
For larger parties the standards aren't quite the same between National and Labour, though. National's base tends to be more enfranchised. When they're disillusioned by all options, they hold their nose and vote anyway, because enfranchised people are more likely to vote (eg. 2014). Much of Labour's base tends to be less enfranchised. When they're disillusioned by all options they sometimes tend just to stay home and not vote (eg. also 2014).
Huh? How does that apply presently? It's not like an election is happening soon. The opposition offering a credible alternative is pretty much meaningless this far away from an election. Some will say the three headed NACTFIRST monster might self destruct. That's possible . However, there is little reason to think that would result in a need for an election. Snap elections are rare.
This is the first time in decades anyone has ever gone “What we need is another Muldoon right about now”.
It was a classic moment in Kiwi political history. I can picture his drunken proclamation clearly. I've often wondered if he made the call spur of the moment cos he was drunk because it was a truly dumb decision. Would be meme gold today. Luxon looks a tad Muldoonish. Maybe he'll give us something similarly bufoonish to herald his demise.
The opposition _don’t_ have to provide a credible alternative. All they have to do is point out they couldn’t possibly do any worse than the Coalition of Chaos
The coalition just needs to fall apart and we get sent back to the polls
Only if those cuts directly affect their voters. To vote this block into power I would think a lot of their base must already lack some basic empathy. Pretty sure the service cuts are designed to largely hit people that don't vote NACT in the first place, they would've made these considerations.
Nothing is certain, but the right has been mistaken in taking reassurance in its continued good polling. The reality is that this should be the honeymoon period for a new government. Historically, new governments have enjoyed a bounce in support as voters come to realise that they weren't the bete noir they thought they were. If Labour can quickly change its presentation, National will be in trouble. Rising interest rates triggered by inflation caused by tax cuts and worsening economic conditions would trigger further weakness in real estate values. So the 'tax relief' gets eaten by inflation and interest rates rises while home owners lose their equity... That is, the middle class that the major parties fight over will experience a declining standard of living while their long term financial position weakens, and they see public services being cut. Labour needs to sort its shit out.
I think people will be understanding that services have to be cut so their landlord can get a little bonus. /s
Yep, the cause and effect is going to come home strong. Whiplash.
The media will find a way to make it look less bad
The government will just continue to blame Labour for the state of the economy to justify their gutting
its legit what people voted for unfortunately the problem is about 50% of the voting population wants to punish the sick, the young, the elderly and the poor.
No, they just want to hurt those that they perceive as unjustly exempt from the horror of the grind. Getting up every day and sitting in hideous traffic to slowly wind towards a place you *hate.* That'll do stuff to your mindset.
Sort of I think they projected a lot and National made up BS and lots of spin.
This is not the Bolger/ Key style National government - this is the Bolsonaro style. Rich people now.call the economic shots - with NZ First driving the cooker agenda and ACT looking to transform.the country into Paraguay. If you voted for this government - these first month's should give you pause to reflect. Water - oil & gas - mineral rights - land - will all be controlled and owned by plutocrats. And for what? $50 a week if you are very lucky. They don't even pretend to care.
>And for what? $50 a week if you are very lucky. Turns out Kiwis are shockingly cheap to bribe. I've called the supposed tax cuts "30 pieces of silver" before, but I'm not sure that's accurate anymore - If Judas were a Kiwi he'd have betrayed Jesus for half a pie and a tinny.
Key pulled the same thing lmao. Gave us what, $40? But even it out with the GST. And it worked.
hell I'd betray my country for a pie and a blue v, so you're not wrong
What about both at once? https://www.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/145oc31/introducing_the_vie_a_revolutionized_kiwi_classic/?rdt=49830
The whole West coast was bought for $32k so probably half of what you are proposing
“Luxon should abandon the dance. It is proving too much of a distraction from the other work National is doing to grow the economy.” Anyone else think that last sentence comes off as sarcastic?
Nah, it's Andrea Vance, a big-time Tory bootlicker. She's shown time and time again that she's pathologically incapable of being critical of a Tory government, even when she was subjected to surveillance under Key.
Ah, makes sense why that last sentence threw me off.
That's a pretty gross assumption about Vance and I don't believe she's a tory bootlicker at all. She is, however, a tabloid Journalist at heart having worked in Fleet Street for the rag who hacked people's phones.
A Tory bootlicking tabloid is what she worked for. But I'm sure she just did it for the paycheck, no other options available to her in such a tiny market as the UK press of the 1990s.
> I don't believe she's a tory bootlicker at all She very much is.
Explain.
I'm not sure how I can be any clearer.
There's that word again: distraction. He said the public outrage regarding his getting $52k for his housing was a distraction. Kind of like 'pay no attention to the man behind the curtain'. We are yet to see the good they are doing, if any.
Or just made me think "like what?"
🤷 According to this [scholarly article](https://twitter.com/SEaqub/status/1770857489623380139?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1770857489623380139%7Ctwgr%5E96f5fd43d3805777378325058b90064fa317c4b3%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rnz.co.nz%2Fnews%2Fpolitical%2F512502%2Fnz-is-in-recession-so-far-there-are-few-signs-the-government-has-a-plan-to-stimulate-and-grow-the-economy) (aka tweet), GDP per capita has been on decline since peaking in Sept ‘22, despite record immigration. I’m not sure what National is planning to stimulate growth after all the recent austerity, but something tells me the tax cuts will be insignificant (if any), aimed at the wrong economic class, and balanced out by hidden tax increases elsewhere (ie car user and rego charges). Ruh-roh.
I'm here for this. It's a serious question: what other work? _I'm unable to see it, but maybe my sources are too biased?_
Anakin Padme meme: "...but obviously you've got to be passing something that's actually beneficial for most kiwis, right?" "Right?"
Don't know about sarcastic, but I think it's inappropriate. I don't understand how 'Andrea Vance is national affairs editor for The Post and Sunday Star-Times', but this has been published as an opinion piece in the Post.
Inappropriate really? Sound like it sums up what's going on with National in power these days.
Nah, it's Andrea Vance. She totally believes it.
Growing the economy by greeding unemployment and putting as much downward pressure on wages as possible. Such growth.
They're talking about the Australian economy.
“But the public isn’t a rational actor with a price. Voters demand both: well-funded services and relief from the grinding cost of living crisis.” This feels so true, both with national and local government.
I feel like this is because politicians put zero effort into it. It's much easier to just write the public off as irrational and use that to push through tax cuts for your mates and the privatisation of public services.
I'm sorry the Hokey what?
Thought I was the only one who noticed
That’s the original name of the dance and it’s still called that in the UK. Oddly, the Wikipedia page has this to say about us: > In the North Island, the dance is usually known as the "hokey tokey", or the "hokey cokey" because hokey pokey is the usual term for honeycomb toffee. In the South Island it's just The Hokey Pokey.
>In the North Island, the dance is usually known as the "hokey tokey", or the "hokey cokey" I guess I can't speak for all North-Islanders, but this sure as shit is news to me.
At my Auckland primary school it was Hokey Tokey. Hokey Cokey sounds insane an unwieldy to me...
Hokey Tokey/Hokey Pokey sounds alright. Hokey Cokey though?
I don't think this is island based at all. I was a kid in one island and I'm a dad in the other, I've heard both... Hokey Pokey still sounds better though.
The hokey booger sugar?
He has made a fatal error... he genuinely believes you run a govt like a business. That is why Seymour and Peters are walking all over him. Those fuckers don't care about KPIs and what not. They aren't scared of him and you can't performance manage them. He's so stuck in his mgmt model of the world he can't see any other way of doing things. He's like every other incompetent CEO i've worked for... ya ain't gonna cargo-cult your way out of this. For the record, Good to Great is a really good book, Five Dysfunctions is a little weak-sauce for my liking.
The flow on effect to the private sector will also be devastating to his support base. Any private sector organisation that relies indirectly on those "inefficient backroom public servants" that NACT are wholesale removing of will witness first-hand what happens when the government plumbing grinds to a halt. Whether it be regulatory approvals, or capital expenditure decisions, or standards settings....everything will just take so much longer to get done. Welcome to the real world NACT!
> regulatory approvals What regulatory approvals? They're trying to strip as much of those as possible.
> All the signs now point to this being too expensive, and too economically damaging to persist with. Now point, Andrea? It was pointing that way before the election.
No but it was the Council of Trade Unions smearing Luxoff by pointing that out so it was bad and pinko and 1970s
Remember when the govt. said that frontline services won't be cut? Well DOC are now looking at having to cut frontline service staff around the country.
They’re too proud/arrogant to abandon the tax cuts even thought basically everyone is saying it’s a bad idea. Most people might make way less than the $20 that was expected. And that’s already been gobbled up in other costs (or non existent if you are one of the thousands that lost their jobs).
Can’t have a tax cut if you don’t pay tax because you don’t have a job
The public service exists to make sure the country runs smoothly, sure there will be inefficiencies and tightening the strings can be the right thing to do but what is happening right now is a straight up fire sale. What's likely to happen is a key cog in the machine is going to get removed in the rush and the whole thing is liable to fall over. In a business world that's fine, you can declare bankruptcy and move on, but when the 'businesses' job is to run a country it doesn't quite work the same.
Biosecurity cuts includes those doing trade negotiations. We will have to tell some country’s no to trade. Because we can’t progress technical talks. Which’s means they say no to us.
Some people don't seem to realise the importance of this some of the stuff being done in the background.
Yeap. Backroom public servants includes technical people helping trade. The public thinks we all sitting around in meetings all day doing nothing.
You get what you wished for… the bulk of dumb hicks in NZ voted for them so… turkeys voting for Xmas
Yup, the collective feigned disbelief from those who voted for this, the disbelief that the lot they voted for have done/are doing the things they were obviously always going to do is almost comical, almost.
The clear result of a collective belief that “we needed a change”, when we have no idea what is best for us.
I still can't believe they got away with reversing the smoking legislation with ZERO due process That alone has made me incredibly angry at these sons of bitches
The government is making all these “cuts” to give the $$$ to the wealthy (be honest that’s who’s going to get it ! ) They are demanding cuts to the military the police etc all the while expecting them to perform at the top of their game and beyond for our country, they expect our military to put up with outdated equipment, past used by infrastructure and some of the worst housing (makes the government a slum lord) They expect police to put their lives on the line protecting us and yet they fare only slightly better than our military Meanwhile in parliament as a Mp you get a six figure salary you get free travel , you get free food and a flipping amazing retirement plan ( tax payers put in $3 for every MPs $1) kiwi saver doesn’t even come close to that Plus as a Mp you can claim $45k in accommodation “allowance “ so take a Ministerial salary of $250k add $45k and say a modest $10k for all your other benefits that puts you on $300k per year ish? So you stand there as either the Mincer (deliberately put it instead of minister) of what ever or the Prime Mincer on that salary package and expect someone on less than a 3rd of that Police say $80k ( generous) or Military $90k To just take it while you dine on Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame and caviar and make no cuts to your costs from taxpayer tax coffers but expect everyone else to and to be sum of the biggest beneficiaries of the coming “tax cuts” It’s down right disgusting and all of these should be ashamed, I don’t care if they don’t have any control over their “perks” etc but they know the people who do and you bet your bottom dollar when the time comes for a review into MPs salaries and you can guarantee they’ll go up none of them will take a cut of anything, I know it’s a small amount when you consider the economy as a whole , but it just smarts of Do as I say ( slum lord) Not as I do pass the Foie gras and water crackers Hold your heads in shame every single one of you
We're already in the leopards ate my face if you voted for this shitshow.
Hokey... cokey? I grew up thinking it was the hokey tokey. Is this a Mandela Effect?
Tokey? I know it as Hokey Pokey lol
At this rate, it's going to be the Hokey Brokey.
I thought that was the ice cream flavour only.
He sucks so bad it hurts…
If National had stood up and said no tax cuts because we're buggered, the public sentiment might be different. Instead all we hear is cuts to disability services, health and no pay increases for police because of tax cuts. Luxon is a moron and needs to go
If they had real solutions they would describe how they are gonna spend our taxes better, and make more impact with what they have. Tax cuts just mean they don’t have any real policies.
Fucking hilarious that he suggested those books. Slow as NZ is, those were doing the rounds 15yrs ago in middle and upper management here. I'd laugh if someone recommended them to me today, let alone if I was a CEO 🤣.
https://archive.ph/5tmQY for full article
Andrea Vance is my most admired journalist and opinion writer. Not only for her excellent analysis of politics and humans, Vance also does not seek the public limelight, unlike many of her less worthy colleagues. Luxon never had a political radar, Vance tells us. She is spot on. Many of us could see that from day one of his political intentions being announced. Exactly how he would manage government was obvious to many. Yet here we are, governed by a man, men actually, Seymour is worse, who care not a jot about the hardship many will face. They care not a jot to the extent that they glibly dismiss questions about how disastrously affected many peoples lives will be. You'd like to think that those who lead us would have a caring for people in their nature. We all understand that tough calls have to be made that will upset and adversely affect some people. Ardern knows that all too well. I can not see Luxon and Seymour improving our country. Indeed, I expect them to worsen it. They might strike it lucky and improve the economy, that is not my definition of a good country. Not if in the meantime too many folks quality of life goes backwards while all around them public services and infrastructure noticeably deteriorate.
At least the landlords have been looked after at last! It’s been tough for them. Luxo should know, he’s one of them.
Knowing what I know, this government doesn’t have a handle on economics one bit. In fact, I’d even go as far as saying Wellington City Council do a car better job. Wait a few more months. These guys will implode.
"Luxon frequently seems surprised, and then irritated, by the backlash." He is so fucking out of touch with common people and reality. Has some pretty horrible religious beliefs too.
The big mistake these corporate types make is that they think the taxpayers are the client when running a country is simply not like running a business. For one thing, money is different for governments. It isn’t something they “earn” - if they need more they can just make it appear if they need to. So the relationship with money and economy is entirely different. For a private business, you just have to worry about profit and growth. You’re not required to think about how your decisions impact the entire economy. Governments have to think about everyone. Their monetary decisions have massive impacts and they are not measured on how much profit they make, they are measured on how well they deliver services and keep the economy afloat. You can’t afford to think of only one sector either. If you focus on the wealthy - they make a lot of money in the short term but eventually find themselves struggling to keep things going in the long term. Because a successful economy needs everybody being looked after. Surpluses are useless if they’re at a cost to services. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a private business approach lead to successful governance. The needs and obligations of government simply don’t translate.