Do politicians and candidates think the public has collective Alzheimer’s with memories that just go back a couple of days?
I accept it is the opposition’s job to oppose, but I’d prefer sane dialogue and constructive policy. I want to be able to judge a political party by the strength of its policies and not the volume of its protests.
I’m also over the partisan negativity.
In the past politicians from both Labour and National have worked together for the common good, I can’t see that happening now.
An example of that cooperation was over the establishment of Fonterra. Labour Minister of Agriculture Jim Sutton and National Agriculture spokesperson Shane Ardern worked together to get a robust system established. It was a credit to both.
That Shane Ardern didn’t become a Minister of Agriculture was a travesty.
Currently, I wonder why Ian McKelvie isn’t National’s primary industry spokesperson. He is intelligent, approachable, knows agriculture backwards, is a big picture person, energetic and a top bloke. His roles are fisheries and racing, which is a waste.
Back to the election, Feds, DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb NZ have issued manifestos for the election.
Feds want better broadband in the provinces, advocating for free trade and opposing protectionism. They want regulatory and science systems that empower environmental gains rather than stifling enterprise and innovation.
In addition, they want more Kiwis working on farms and recognition of the importance of migrant workers, continual vigilance on biosecurity and pest management and ensuring local government concentrates on key services. They also want the right tree in the right place preventing good productive farmland being planted into forestry.
The full manifesto is excellent and a must read for candidates.
DairyNZ supports many of the Feds points with a greater scientific emphasis along with water storage. It is also a well-researched and reasoned document as is the B+LNZ/MIA manifesto.
What was interesting was the Local Government NZ manifesto.
Simply, it made the point that one size doesn’t fit all and there’s too much emphasis on top down solutions. They also want more of the central government money that’s collected from motorists to go to the provinces. I’d agree. I’d like a lot more resources put into rural roads.
So, while the rural sector has been constructive in its approach to the general election, there is a distinct lack of constructive elsewhere.
For the record, I believe the Government has handled the covid-19 response well and that Grant Robertson has done a good job over an extremely testing period. Bodice ripping over the debt being at 54% of GDP is ridiculous.
In the early 1990s, the figure was 54.8% of GDP and interest rates were 15%. We paid it off. In fact, at the end of Sir Michael Cullen’s time as minister of finance it was just over 5% of GDP. This allowed Sir Bill English some latitude to borrow during the Global Financial Crisis, which he did judiciously as did Grant Robertson pre-covid-19. We’ve had three good Ministers of Finance since the late 1990s in my view.
My issue with the Government is that their freshwater approach was flawed and impractical and the consultation process was a sham. I don’t like top down and one size fits all.
With the opposition, I believe the Collins-Goldsmith team is untested when it comes to finance.
I was also surprised when Judith Collins told me about our hi-tech future that “could be bigger than dairy”. It reminded me of the late David Lange’s statements in the mid-1980s. Lange went on to call agriculture “a sunset industry”.
So, here’s my wish list for the next government:
1. Insist that there is a strong practical rural presence in the Wellington bureaucracy. With some of the statements coming out of there, I doubt if the person involved would know a sheep from a tractor.
2. Have a proper stocktake of what has actually happened environmentally in the provinces. Again, I don’t think anyone in Wellington has a clue.
3. As has been already stated, don’t drop pearls to the swine from Wellington. Consult with the provinces and listen.
4. Do what’s recommended in the Feds manifesto and acknowledge the science and water storage recommendations in the DairyNZ document.
5. Free beer for the provinces on Fridays.
Finally, my problem with both Labour and National is that there isn’t a lot of difference between the two. Two of the wackiest pieces of legislation to be passed last term, in my opinion, involved Zero Carbon and Arms Control. The National Party voted with the Government on both. The only party that didn’t was ACT.
