I had an epiphany whilst driving along the Southern Motorway.
Everyone was traveling a long distance, or carrying goods or freight, or fitting in a multitude of tasks in a day. What would be the most crazy, Monty Pythonesque solution to remove all these vehicles? I know, BIKES.
I then started thinking about some of the other ‘solutions’ politicians have been suggesting in their desperate bid for our votes and consulted my parliament of owls:
My all time Looney Tunes favourite – tax cuts. The fairest solution of raising the tax threshold, to at least align with Australia, then taking it back from the higher tax brackets – off the table! Instead the bribe of a few measly dollars that might buy two cups of coffee to the 'squeezed middle'. In the Government hands, that $10, multiplied out by the 3.38 million individual taxpayers, could actually buy something substantial like an operating theatre or some classrooms or school lunches. I know what I’d rather have, and it's not because I don’t drink coffee.
Medically, there are a few wild cards. Extending mammogram screening to 74 years instead of no top age limit, considering the incidence of breast cancer increases with age. Free prescriptions for those who can afford to pay instead of 13 cancer drugs added to the Pharmac list. Free dental for up to 30-year-olds when those with missing teeth tend to be older. Beneficiaries already get $1000 per year for dental. Why not restrict it to a similar amount or even charge a fee per visit similar to doctor charges?
Remember the KISS principle? ‘Keep it simple, stupid’. Well our GST system is so much better than similar complex systems in other countries that make you want to tear your hair out in the complexity of accountancy required. Taking the GST off fresh food is one of those doozies. Their meme shows five fruit and veggies saving about 40c per kilogram. If you bought a kilo of each, the saving was $2.53. Did that buy your vote? I made my own meme showing a can of tomatoes bought for $1 (in another lifetime) with the tomato content being about 5 cents.
ACT’s leader wants to stop benefits to drug addicts if they don’t choose rehabilitation, leaving no means to support their habit other than crime. Our Auckland Central MP wants to remove all cars from Queen Street, to replace them with crime as proven thus far. Two very different policies that are bound to cause the same result. Crime without consequences, but also being too tough on crime, will not solve this complex problem. The solution is tied into the cost of living. Remember this Government promised to break the supermarket duopoly (and the building industry supply duopoly)? The Grocery Commission ‘solution’ is not helping put food on the tables of children in poverty.
Most governments have failed to deliver on their promises. At the end of the day, the red team or the blue team seem to just rename things and only slightly shift the narrative. State Housing became ‘social housing’ under the blue team, as they sold them off. Then it became ‘public housing’ under the red team, as they demolished perfectly good native timber houses (instead of moving them) that had already been insulated, with cheap developer built ‘shit boxes’ (technical term) whilst selling off two-thirds of taxpayer-owned land. Meanwhile, both teams claim it’s about 'warm, dry homes', yet the only thing stopping warm housing is the sale of government-owned electricity. The ‘Winter Energy Payment’ is what is keeping them warm, but the yellow team wants to stop this.
As far as the environment is concerned, we have been asking to bring back Tree Protection since Rodney Hide removed it. The Natural and Built Environmental Act has given councils their own rules to protect trees. In the meantime, pekapeka, our endangered native bat that won ‘Bird of the Year’, has lost significant habitat. 100-year-old trees were felled, two pūriri in Parnell and many natives from the edge of a housing development in Pukekohe resulting from bad ecological advice. This area is part of the 4% of arable land suitable for growing crops that was also meant to be protected from development.
Then there’s the ‘Roads of National Significance’ instead of maintenance and pothole repair. Light Rail aka dawdle down Dominion Road isn’t being mentioned (thank goodness, it was a billion dollar sinkhole), yet a busway to West Auckland is common ground to most transport schemes. I’m still waiting for the Super City review and giving Auckland back the power to determine our own future, especially a ‘Future Transport Plan’.
I haven’t even touched on guns, co-governance, mental health or ‘toilet policies’ (aka women’s rights), except for the 112 likes from my Facebook comment, “Willie Jackson, women's safe spaces need to remain 'willie free' to protect all women – young, old, ethnically diverse. This doesn't take away from the [transgender] minority of 0.08% of the population. Remember women are 51% of your voters.” We all need to be safe.
There’s such a mixed bag of assorted sweet treats and duds like Hogwarts jelly beans, I just want to pick and mix my own, in a red, blue, yellow, green and black ‘Best Of’ Policy, and I might end up with purple, or going away hungry. (GAEL BALDOCK)
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Published: September 2023