OPINION
David Seymour is currently on the radio telling listeners to ignore promises made by politicians. This is a strange thing for a politician to say, particularly as ACT has a considerable manifesto containing a large number of policies it will be hoping to get past National – and possibly New Zealand First. But he has a point. Many of the promises made during election campaigns never see the light of day. There is always an excuse – not enough money, not enough support – or in the case of minor parties, a (convenient) inability to persuade the major parties to go along.
But there has never been an election campaign quite like this one. National’s promises are mostly about returning to the status quo. And while in the past we have often criticised National for not making enough radical changes, this time, I think most of us hanker for a return to the status quo of six years ago like never before.
However, it is the promises made by Labour that are of particular interest in this election campaign. Let’s take a closer look at a few of them, and try to see them for what they really are.
Improving the Economy and Reducing Inflation
We would not be in the state we are in if the government, along with the Reserve Bank, had not driven down interest rates to historic lows and then, once everyone had borrowed to the hilt to buy an unaffordable house, had pushed interest rates up again with alarming alacrity. Most of this is Economics 101. If they were able to get inflation down wouldn’t they already have done so?
Free Prescriptions
Middle-class welfare. Those on really low incomes have Community Services cards, and those who have 20 prescriptions or more every year qualify for free prescriptions anyway. Much better things can be done with the money than by giving free prescriptions to those who can afford them.
300 Extra Police and Targeting Gangs
For the last couple of years, successive police ministers (!) have told us that there is no increase in crime, it is just that more crime is being reported. But when I see bollards in front of the bottle store in a small shopping centre on the Western Hills, Lower Hutt, it is obvious that this is not true. Crime is out of control. Gangs are out of control. Gangs are out campaigning for Labour! So, if we don’t have more crime, we don’t need more police. You can’t have it both ways.
Free Dental Care for Under 30s
We do have a crisis in dental care in this country, although the vast majority of children under 18 are entitled to free dental care anyway. This is not targeted healthcare. Once again, a lot of people will benefit who can already afford to pay for healthcare. I’d rather see older adults who cannot afford dental care better supported than wealthy younger people.
Building an Extra 6000 State Houses
Kiwibuild anyone?
GST Removed from Fruit and Vegetables
This is nothing more than a ‘feel-good’ policy. A few cents off fruit and vegetables is going to make little difference to anyone’s food budget. Don’t forget that not charging GST on fruit and vegetables will make those items zero-rated for GST purposes, so the saving is not 15%, as is implied. It will be the difference between GST paid by the consumer and GST paid by the seller. This will vary, obviously, depending on the margin charged by the seller, but it won’t be a 15% reduction and retailers will have to pay for software upgrades to handle the change. Leave GST alone. It is a simple system and should stay that way.
$4 Billion Extra for Pharmac (over four years)
Yes, please. We are way behind other countries in funding life-saving medicines. Just one thing though. The government is lobbied constantly for additional Pharmac funding by people who will die if they do not get the drugs they need. Grant Robertson has told us repeatedly over the last six years that there is not enough money to increase Pharmac funding. Suddenly there is…$4 billion of it. Which story do I believe?
It really is a joke. Labour has made a raft of electoral promises over the last six years. In 2017, they promised to be ‘transformational’ but the only people who benefited from this were consultants and public service pen-pushers. The rest of us have seen our living standards fall, and have found life harder and harder.
Government debt is higher than it has ever been, but we have nothing to show for it. We have a failing health system, an education system that is more interested in gender issues and pushing the Maori narrative than educating our children, and a bloated public service with people literally doing nothing all day and getting paid handsomely for it. I can hardly believe that Labour has the inanity to make these promises after their comprehensive list of failures over the last six years.
When you have no record to show for two terms in government and promises that you will never keep, fairy tales may be your only option. Give it up Labour. We’ve heard it all before.