OPINION
The media has reported on a number of occasions the crisis unfolding in the water network in New Zealand. Various parts of the country are struggling with ancient pipes, leaks (most notably in Wellington) and catastrophic failures. The cost to upgrade the water network is well into the billions. The blame for the water woes sits squarely at the feet of Sir Roger Douglas.
The whole 1980s “don’t intervene in the economy, let market forces rule” dogma, which saw numerous infrastructure projects canned and numerous others never started, is entirely down to Douglas and his mad followers. Water is an obvious example of where that has failed. Oh and you can add in things like Auckland motorway gridlock, inadequate state highways and a lack of electricity supply, and it really is the most appalling mess.
It has taken forty years but what some of us were saying back then has now come home to roost. And the big winner in all of this is Sir Robert Muldoon who, like me, knew Douglas was a “wrong ‘un” with a road-to-ruin ideology which would only lead to disaster and has been proven correct. It saddens me to say this, but the proof is spraying out all over Wellington streets as we speak.
How could people have been so crazy? How could it have happened? How could people who were basically mad – blinded by theoretical concepts which didn’t even work particularly well in the Victorian era, be allowed to run amok and destroy a once great nation? How could so many in the electorate swallow it whole and vote for these lunatics? It brings tears to the eyes, especially when the scoresheet makes such sad reading; it’s difficult to think of a single Rogernomics policy which was a success of any sort.
Difficult for so many to accept is the best form of government throughout history are those where the Cabinet consists of middle-aged males from conservative political parties; competent men who govern for the majority; act pragmatically, and accept that ideological straitjackets often don’t apply. This annoys everyone from feminazis to left-wingers to wimpy wokists, but is a fact just as 2+2=4 is a fact. Government undertaken by anyone else, other sorts of people, has been a disaster everywhere it has been undertaken. Compare the current UK Tory Government with a Cabinet filled with third-world escapees with, say, the Cabinet of Harold MacMillan. Once again – a fact.
Left-wingers, urban liberals, feminazis and oddball types of all sorts, are simply unfit to govern and should never, ever be allowed to do so. They only succeed in politics, the public service, or the private sector, based on gender or skin colour rather than merit – something which quickly leads to disaster.
And now we’re in a situation whereby such a fellow – middle-aged, conservative and male – Christopher Luxon, has inherited decades-long disasters in a large number of areas and is seeking to find a way out of the mess. Water pipes are the least of his problems when compared with teenagers unable to spell their own name (but can do a perfect haka), potholes, homelessness, a weak dollar, a third-world health system, crime at nightmare proportions due to certain ethnic groups being indulged for decades (rather than simply ignored as Sir Keith did), and the list goes on. Sad reading.
The blame rests solely with Roger Douglas and ACT but, being an optimistic fellow, I have a lot of confidence in the future. I have confidence our new Government will deal with these problems successfully.