Continued from Part One.
Damien O’Connor
- Agriculture – Minister
- Biosecurity – Minister
- Food Safety – Minister
- Rural Communities – Minister
- Trade and Export Growth – Minister of State
O’Connor has a background in farming and adventure tourism and is passionate about rural communities.
I’ve found the second one with outside world experience. If he is passionate about rural communities he needs to verbalise it better. Perhaps talk to his Boss about a degree in communications.
Carmel Sepuloni
- Social Development – Minister
- Disability Issues – Minister
- Arts, Culture and Heritage – Associate Minister
- Pacific Peoples – Associate Minister
Sepuloni worked across the health and education sectors before entering Parliament.
It’s getting repetitive. No outside world experience. Her goal is to keep welfare numbers up in order to maintain her party’s core support.
David Parker
- Attorney-General
- Environment – Minister
- Trade and Export Growth – Minister
- Finance – Associate Minister
Parker is another to attend the University of Otago. He qualified as a lawyer and worked in law.
Painful though it is to say it, no outside world experience. (These words are now appearing automatically on my screen).
Shane Jones
- Forestry – Minister
- Infrastructure – Minister
- Regional Economic Development – Minister
- Finance – Associate Minister
- State-Owned Enterprises – Associate Minister
- Transport – Associate Minister
Jones studied economics and politics at Auckland University. He also studied in Australia and at Harvard. He was Chairman of the Waitangi Fisheries Commission.
Here come those words again. No outside world experience. Does watching porn count?
Kelvin Davis
- Corrections – Minister
- Maori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti – Minister
- Tourism – Minister
- Education – Associate Minister
Davis is a former teacher and school principal.
This is getting boring. No outside world experience. Wants to reduce the prison population so as not to offend his party’s core constituency.
Eugenie Sage
- Conservation – Minister
- Land Information – Minister
- Environment – Associate Minister
Sage did law at Auckland University and journalism at Canterbury. Her first job was Information Officer for the NZ Fire Service on the West Coast. Next came a research position with the Labour Party and by the late 1980’s she was press secretary to guess who – Helen Clark. She was spokesperson for Forest and Bird and then an Environment Canterbury councillor before entering Parliament in 2011.
A lot to talk about there but no outside world experience. She is averse to job creation in case a snail might be killed or a kayaker might like to use a river.
Ron Mark
- Defence – Minister
- Veterans – Minister
Mark served in the Army before entering Parliament. He was also Mayor of Carterton.
Oh dear, no outside world experience. One could say he was well qualified for his portfolio though.
Julie Anne Genter
- Health – Associate Minister
- Transport – Associate Minister
- Women – Minister
Genter was born in Los Angeles. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA and then studied politics at the Sciences Po Paris. She graduated from Auckland University with a Masters of Planning Practice with First Class Honours and then worked as a transport consultant working in transport economics and urban design.
Shall we be kind to this lady and credit her with a smidgenof outside world experience. It appears her experience in transport economics has led her to believe that the most economic means of transport is a bike.
Willie Jackson
Jackson has worked in many different fields. He has been a trade union organiser, record company executive, radio talkback host and urban Maori advocate.
Okay, maybe a sniff of some outside world experience. Not too keen to get cuzzie Shane’s nephews off the couch though as they might get upset and remain on the said sofa on Election Day meaning lost votes for the party.
Winston Peters.
- Deputy Prime Minister
- Foreign Affairs – Minister
- Disarmament and Arms Control – Minister
- State Owned Enterprises – Minister
- Racing – Minister
Peters has a degree in law and worked as a lawyer.
I’ll abbreviate-NOWE. Masters degree in obfuscation with first-class honours.
So to sum up most have degrees which would appear to be their major achievement. It appears the country is being run mainly by either lawyers, unionists, teachers or civil servants. The Humphrey Appleby’s of this world minus his cleverness. We cannot let these persons, lacking in ability in terms of their portfolios, have another three years. A look at the above makes it all too clear why the current term of this Government has been the fiasco we have witnessed.
It has to be National and Act.