The U-turn that the Government performed over taxing KiwiSaver fees was spectacular. First, as is common with this Government, they tried to sneak it through without anyone noticing… but they didn’t manage to get away with that. Financial and political reporters quickly woke up from their slumber and pointed out that the Government had already been warned about the consequences of this action, but it went ahead anyway. Then, once caught red-handed, the Government tried to shrug its shoulders and say they were just trying to tidy up an anomaly… but the same reporters refused to let them get away with that too, pointing out the effect such a move would have on people’s retirement savings. That $220 million per year may not seem like a lot, but over a person’s working life, they would potentially lose $20,000 every year of their retirement savings. That is a big loss to someone on a low income, saving a meagre amount now for their retirement, and for once, the media pointed it out.
It took less than 24 hours for the Government to abandon the tax. A Government as paranoid as the current one would have looked at their polling and realised that this was a very unpopular move. After the event, media continued to put the boot in, pointing out that the bad reaction should have been expected and claiming that the only reason they didn’t see it coming was because the Government is hopelessly out of touch with ordinary people.
Whoa. Let us just step back a moment. The New Zealand media did this? The team of $55 million? Those drinking deep at the font of the Public Interest Journalism Fund actually criticised the government?
Yes. They did. And look what happened. The sneaking, the lies, the ‘nothing to see here’ attitude was all exposed for the falsehoods that they were… and the people were made aware of the Government’s penchant for trying to force things through without anyone knowing about them. Just look what the media can do when they actually hold the Government to account. By exposing this Government’s attempted sleight of hand over KiwiSaver tax, the media exposed it as an organisation that cannot be trusted… and the voters are unlikely to forget that.
Why did they not do this with Three Waters? The fact that Jacinda kept the He Puapua report from the former deputy prime minister, hoping that his party would not make it back in 2020? The fact that she promised to govern for all New Zealanders while she had this report in her back pocket? What about the ‘nothing to see here’ sexual assault at the Labour summer camp a few years ago? And why did the mainstream media allow Jacinda to get away with the lie that Avi Yemeni was prohibited from entering the country because of a criminal conviction, when that was simply untrue? That was the media we all know and hate; those who allow the Government to get away with everything, while attacking the opposition. And yet… yet... just for once, they did their job… and the results were spectacular.
Is the worm turning?
It is interesting that everyone nowadays is talking about the end of the current Government. One year out from the next election, only diehard Labour supporters believe that this Government will do a third term. All those rural seats will go back to their roots. All previous safe National seats, such as Wairarapa and Ilam, will return home. Most of the marginal seats will go blue. And like it or not, the media is beginning to sing from the same songsheet. They know that this Government is done for.
Overseas, the whole Covid narrative is unravelling. It is going to get really ugly for many governments, and ours is no exception. We are still suffering restrictions, unlike most of the rest of the world. Once the truth starts to come out, there will be nowhere for the Government to hide… and the media, intent on saving itself, will expose the Ardern Government’s approach for the despotic, divisive and cruel scheme that it always was.
Just for the record, the KiwiSaver tax was never a matter of tidying up an anomaly. It doesn’t matter what other managed funds do; KiwiSaver was always different. It was intended as a superannuation scheme for the masses, so that ordinary people on low incomes could save for their retirement. It has been a huge success, but that does not give any government the right to start pillaging it now. Once people lose trust in the KiwiSaver system, they will stop saving for their retirement, and that will create big problems for future governments.
This Government does not care about future governments. Led by a narcissist, with a bunch of incompetent fools in support, all they think about is their own demise. They know it is coming. We know it is coming. And the mainstream media, so full of praise for the Government for so long, also know it is coming. They are trying to save their own miserable skins. I cannot wait until there is no Public Interest Journalism Fund for them to rely on. Because we have all lost respect for them, and most of them are now on borrowed time.
Never forget though. Never let them get away with it. These people need to pay the price for the betrayal of their profession. Let us continue to find new sources of information. Those who lied to us, particularly throughout the pandemic, deserve to pay the price. Let’s make sure they do.