Politik had a photo of Jacinda Ardern addressing the Labour Party Congress at Te Papa. If you haven’t seen it she was dressed like some waif who had just done the rounds of the Wellington public rubbish receptacles looking for scraps of food. A lot of the attendees didn’t look much better. According to Richard Harman of Politik, the Congress was Labour’s red glow. Well we all know where red glows are normally found and it’s not at Te Papa.
Speaking after her speech she said the wage subsidy couldn’t continue indefinitely. She’s since announced that it’s ending in September. I think from memory there’s an election in September. Is she assuming that those of us who have something between the ears came down in the last shower? Instead, the Government will offer other schemes to compensate workers who have lost their jobs.
Ardern said the main tool would be the COVID Income Relief Payment which pays $490 a week to anyone who loses their job as a consequence of COVID-19 between March 1 and October 30. It only lasts twelve weeks and is $95.80 less than the wage subsidy. That’s not a scheme, it’s just another welfare handout. These people have absolutely no idea when it comes to jobs and the economy.
Her only ‘new’ announcement was the extension of the Small Business Loan Scheme. Even though it’s not at all satisfactory, in that the loans have to be repaid, the reaction to the announcement from the 600 odd waifs and strays was fairly subdued. No applause. This lot are so thick they can’t work out that without businesses there are no jobs other than working for the state. And there’s your answer. They’d prefer everything run by the State.
Evidently what got the audience going was her promise not to repeat Rogernomics. Again they’re so thick they fail to work out you can’t repeat something we’ve already got.
She said she was a child of the 80s and 90s (forgot to mention the 2020s also) and has seen responses to troubled times that have left people behind. Poverty, inequality and persistent unemployment are with us still, she said, conveniently forgetting that she was supposed to have fixed it. In truth, they’ve gotten far worse.
According to Ardern, Labour is the party that puts people first. “It’s in our DNA”, she said. That probably stands for Do Nothing Always. This got thunderous and prolonged applause. Richard Harman described it as a carefully crafted speech. I wonder who wrote it. Maybe Heather Simpson. There appeared to be no ideas in the speech on how to get the borders open or the economy moving.
But none of that mattered, said Harman. All that mattered was that Ardern was there for selfies and hugs. What was on show was “kindness” which he thinks will become a major part of their election campaign. He’s probably right because that’s all they understand. What a hopeless hapless no-hoper bunch of simpletons.
Six hundred odd groupies went along and lapped up virtually every word she said, which, in terms of getting the country out of the canyon she has dropped us in, was a BIG FAT NOTHING.
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