An article in the Business section of the Weekend Herald caught my eye. It was a comment piece written by Bruce Cotterill. Cotterill is a company director and an adviser to business leaders. The question he asked was – Where are leaders as NZ crumbles? That’s what really caught my eye as under this Government this is exactly what is happening. A lot of what he says will resonate with those at the BFD. With that in mind, and for those who may not have seen the article, I will extract some salient points. He writes that empty promises from the top while infrastructure fails should have Kiwis furious.
He first points to the Auckland water shortage saying that it seems unthinkable that with so much rain we still only collect about four per cent of what falls from the sky. Who isn’t tired of smiling Phil Goff telling us how we need to conserve water. Well Phil, we don’t need your smiley face, we need to know what your plan is to avoid water shortages in the future. I suspect there isn’t one.
Cotterill then turned his attention to COVID saying the process has been fraught with mis-steps and errors. He cites blunders at the borders, no questions asked of incoming travellers early on, unexplained cases in isolation hotels, escapes from quarantine, and travellers found to have virus after arriving here. He says despite our propensity to pat ourselves on the back the reality is different. It certainly is. A total shambles.
Next on his radar is the Auckland central rail link that will cost three times the $2.8 billion we were originally promised. I might add, with no compensation for small businesses affected by the construction. Cotterill says then there was the $1.5 million report on moving the Ports of Auckland which went nowhere. In my view, it was purely a political exercise at the whim of Peters and Jones. It proves they have no conscience when it comes to wasting our money. A futile exercise to win a seat up north.
Cotterill goes on to talk about how the Government’s anchor policies of housing and poverty are in tatters as a result of their inaction following the promises. He points to Christchurch and the problems they’ve had to deal with. He says the operation of its DHB is a complete fiasco. Ten years on from the earthquake, the roads are still a mess, some old motels are only just being demolished and the Cathedral still lies in ruins in what was once the city’s heart. Hagley hospital took two years longer than planned to be completed and the city’s champion sports teams are still playing in a cold arena.
Cotterill comments that the crippling of the Auckland Bridge resulted in a bewildered transport official appearing on the evening news saying that they “don’t have a plan, and any plan that is developed would have to be peer-reviewed and therefore would take some time before it could be put in place” or words to that effect.
Who can recall Goff endlessly spouting the phrase that he wanted Auckland to be the most liveable city in the world. This guy is a joke. Auckland is just the opposite, creaking under ageing infrastructure, half the trains aren’t running due to track repairs, and there is no forward thinking on critical issues; only Twyford banging on about a stupid tram up Dominion Road.
Back to Cotterill. Yes, something’s wrong folks. It’s about priorities. It’s about what’s important. It’s about having the right talent in the right places and a system of accountability that ensures our public officials, both elected and employed, focus on the stuff that’s important to all of us. Some of these officials want us to pay more taxes or increased rates on our homes. I have to say I’m not impressed with what they’re doing with the money we’ve already sent them. We aimlessly throw billions of dollars around for political motives such as the Provincial Growth Fund and then tens of billions more in an unplanned and panicked reaction to a pandemic. They shouldn’t have permission to ask for more he said.
He finishes by commenting that we don’t need more promises and excuses. What we really need is action. Slogans are easy. We need good people, with clear plans, and strong leadership and we need them quickly.
Well, that eliminates the current Government. What this all illustrates is, that under Ardern’s leadership, we are on the road to Venezuela. This, as we know, is her plan. If she gets re-elected and needs support from the Greens, we’ll be in Venezuela quicker than a plane can fly there. They’ll be taxing us out of existence while at the same time we will continue to see all the important social and business indicators continuing to head in the wrong direction.
No way can we as a country afford that. The third world beckons.
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