One issue which caused me to never seek to stand for Parliament was that I would be expected to comply at all times with what the whip tells me to do/say. In other words, being prepared to leave my brain and values at the door of parliament. What we witnessed this past week was every MP from coalition parties who were not in Cabinet were told "this is how you will vote". There would have been no chance for any personal ethical or moral disagreement on this topic. Our system requires morons who will comply with the instructions of the leaders of their parties. I feel that alongside your suggestions above, Bryce, I would also suggest an all-parties agreement for the opportunity for an MP to exercise their personal ethics on issues, as we do on a few matters like abortion.
The base issue is that with high debt left by Labour, we need to stop borrowing. These settlements would have created a huge contingent liability in the country's finances. Not possible to proceed until inflation and debt are lower.
But if that was what they thought, the Govt should have put the Bill through proper process, so that people could have their say. They're also forcing groups in the middle of claims to go back to square one. This was not compaigned on either. That's why so many women feel betrayed. I'm a constituent of van Velden, and there's hardly a positive comment among hundreds of social media posts on her page.
This is a myth perpetuated by the right. We retained one of the lower debt to GDP ratios in the OECD. Credit ratings agencies increased our credit rating, which determines the cost of our debt, during Labour's tenure. And maintained it through and post Covid.
The debt was used to keep the economy chugging along, businesses open, people employed.
It worked. As at November 2023, Treasury said the new govt had inherited "better finances than expected". All projections for forecast and growth were positive, with a soft landing expected.
Then comes Mr "We are so fragile" Luxon with his sidekick Nicola Willis. First point of order for them was to grant tax cuts to landlords, borrow $12b to fulfill an election promise that everyone from John Key (per reports) to NZME reporters were telling them wasn't a good idea
Finally, they display a strikingly poor economic competency. After causing the construction sector to significantly stutter, and lose over 12,000 construction jobs over the last year, and faced with stagnating/falling productivity, depressed economic conditions - they persist in austerity and economic myth.
Thanks Bryce, completely agree with you on this one. There is no good reason for legislation passed under urgency except in disasters such as war, deadly pandemics and natural catastrophes such as large earthquakes. The rest can almost always be dealt with by other temporary means until appropriate legislation is passed .. or not, depending on proper democratic process. Where the latter could easily be paired down to a few time boxed months at minimal cost by utilising readily available technology, if only there was the will. Thereby providing opportunities for much more democracy there rather than less as we are experiencing now.
Your fix list Bryce makes a lot of sense but I would also add the need to significantly speed up and reduce the cost of proper process.
One issue which caused me to never seek to stand for Parliament was that I would be expected to comply at all times with what the whip tells me to do/say. In other words, being prepared to leave my brain and values at the door of parliament. What we witnessed this past week was every MP from coalition parties who were not in Cabinet were told "this is how you will vote". There would have been no chance for any personal ethical or moral disagreement on this topic. Our system requires morons who will comply with the instructions of the leaders of their parties. I feel that alongside your suggestions above, Bryce, I would also suggest an all-parties agreement for the opportunity for an MP to exercise their personal ethics on issues, as we do on a few matters like abortion.
"This is how you will vote" is appropriate to oligarchy rather than democracy.
The base issue is that with high debt left by Labour, we need to stop borrowing. These settlements would have created a huge contingent liability in the country's finances. Not possible to proceed until inflation and debt are lower.
But if that was what they thought, the Govt should have put the Bill through proper process, so that people could have their say. They're also forcing groups in the middle of claims to go back to square one. This was not compaigned on either. That's why so many women feel betrayed. I'm a constituent of van Velden, and there's hardly a positive comment among hundreds of social media posts on her page.
This is a myth perpetuated by the right. We retained one of the lower debt to GDP ratios in the OECD. Credit ratings agencies increased our credit rating, which determines the cost of our debt, during Labour's tenure. And maintained it through and post Covid.
The debt was used to keep the economy chugging along, businesses open, people employed.
It worked. As at November 2023, Treasury said the new govt had inherited "better finances than expected". All projections for forecast and growth were positive, with a soft landing expected.
Then comes Mr "We are so fragile" Luxon with his sidekick Nicola Willis. First point of order for them was to grant tax cuts to landlords, borrow $12b to fulfill an election promise that everyone from John Key (per reports) to NZME reporters were telling them wasn't a good idea
Finally, they display a strikingly poor economic competency. After causing the construction sector to significantly stutter, and lose over 12,000 construction jobs over the last year, and faced with stagnating/falling productivity, depressed economic conditions - they persist in austerity and economic myth.
Thanks Bryce, completely agree with you on this one. There is no good reason for legislation passed under urgency except in disasters such as war, deadly pandemics and natural catastrophes such as large earthquakes. The rest can almost always be dealt with by other temporary means until appropriate legislation is passed .. or not, depending on proper democratic process. Where the latter could easily be paired down to a few time boxed months at minimal cost by utilising readily available technology, if only there was the will. Thereby providing opportunities for much more democracy there rather than less as we are experiencing now.
Your fix list Bryce makes a lot of sense but I would also add the need to significantly speed up and reduce the cost of proper process.