Our PM Jacinda Ardern (and the government)

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Awrrr
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#2909972 4-May-2022 09:03

GV27:

I didn't realise I had to come up with a campaign manifesto for the opposition National Party before I could criticise the government in the thread we have specifically to talk about the PM and the current government.

Jeez, just asking. I assume those who criticise this government have a better option in mind. But if not, feel free to criticise away!

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GV27

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#2909976 4-May-2022 09:07

Rikkitic:

Jeez, just asking. I assume those who criticise this government have a better option in mind. But if not, feel free to criticise away!

I will, thanks for your specific approval to use the thread what it's actually for.

tdgeek

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#2909977 4-May-2022 09:07

GV27:

Your argument is we should not hold the government accountable for how it has chosen to do that because we are 'at the mercy of international events' despite the fact we have and always will be at the mercy of international events.

Dont twist my words. ALL I am saying is there are events that we cannot control. You can view that as an excuse or you can view it as a reality. If you feel that these two international events is no or little different than past international events (and that infers that like in NZ was great then), thats your opinion. Clearly you feel that the plight of Kiwis is quite avoidable and its generally local, and should not have happened. Thats fine.

GV27

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#2909980 4-May-2022 09:17

tdgeek:

Clearly you feel that the plight of Kiwis is quite avoidable and its generally local, and should not have happened. Thats fine.

Or I just expect the government to stop pretending our living costs issue is down to 'global events' while then talking about slugging taxpayers with another 1.4% increase in payroll taxes to cover unemployment insurance.

tdgeek

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#2909982 4-May-2022 09:21

GV27:

Rikkitic:

Jeez, just asking. I assume those who criticise this government have a better option in mind. But if not, feel free to criticise away!

I will, thanks for your specific approval to use the thread what it's actually for.

Nailed it.

I thought this thread was about the current Govt, and while that will clearly involve criticism, it should be constructive. Unless everything is bad, in which case I guess it will be all criticsm. But as your comment shows, its only about criticising, so its A vs B. Well this thread has always been like that, so that shows all its used for. If you criticise thats good. If you dont thats excuses. In short its about pushing barrows, and nothing else. But hey its a politics thread where its about each party its not about the issues. If every issue was an easy fix that would be great, but they arent, and never have been

If and when National wins the next election, that thread will be the same in reverse I assume. Not about the real issues but about criticising the "other" party

tdgeek

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#2909985 4-May-2022 09:30

GV27:

Or I just expect the government to stop pretending our living costs issue is down to 'global events' while then talking about slugging taxpayers with another 1.4% increase in payroll taxes to cover unemployment insurance.

Ok, we know that global events dont matter

"Despite the support from the main business lobby, National immediately attacked the scheme as a “job tax”.

Leader Christopher Luxon said it would make New Zealanders worse off over time."

So yes I see that the unemployment insurance which is effectively a redundancy type package for all, is a bad idea according to National. The Business lobby dont see it that way which goes back to my point. Do we pick apart an idea, and assess it, criticise it constructively, or do we just say hey its an idea by the other party lets bash it

GV27

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#2909986 4-May-2022 09:31

tdgeek:

In short its about pushing barrows, and nothing else. But hey its a politics thread where its about each party its not about the issues. If every issue was an easy fix that would be great, but they arent, and never have been

No, holding the government to their own campaign promises and standards is not 'barrow pushing'. That's literally how accountability works. And if they aren't apparently aren't that easily fixed then isn't that basically accepting that their totally unrealistic campaign promises were effectively just bait-and-switch and saying whatever it took to get elected?

I can assure you that for those of us absolutely copping it in terms of living costs and with no end in sight, the issues are very real and not going away.

So I make no apologies for criticism of a government that got elected, as I have pointed out, promising everything under the sun but ultimately delivering very little in close to five years now. The fact people like you rush to their defense every time someone tries to offer anything less than a glowing appraisal, or thinks 'BUT NATIONAL BAD' is some sort of get-out-of-jail-free card is how they've gotten away with it.

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tdgeek

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#2909989 4-May-2022 09:46

GV27:

No, holding the government to their own campaign promises and standards is not 'barrow pushing'. That's literally how accountability works. And if they aren't apparently aren't that easily fixed then isn't that basically accepting that their totally unrealistic campaign promises were effectively just bait-and-switch and saying whatever it took to get elected?

I can assure you that for those of us absolutely copping it in terms of living costs and with no end in sight, the issues are very real and not going away.

So I make no apologies for criticism of a government that got elected, as I have pointed out, promising everything under the sun but ultimately delivering very little in close to five years now. The fact people like you rush to their defense every time someone tries to offer anything less than a glowing appraisal, or thinks 'BUT NATIONAL BAD' is some sort of get-out-of-jail-free card is how they've gotten away with it.

No issue with that at all. If they wrote policies that they KNEW would not work, I could not agree more that thats poor to say the least. If you feel they knew exactly that, thats fine.

The fact people like you rush to their defense every time someone tries to offer anything less than a glowing appraisal, or thinks 'BUT NATIONAL BAD' is some sort of get-out-of-jail-free card is how they've gotten away with it.

Thats BS. Turn it around the other way ans see if that fits. Not helped by the repeated exagerations such as glowing appraisal, NATIONAL BAD and so on

I get you feel aggrieved. I hope National is elected so these things can be tidied up nicely. Not sarcastic, but that's the impression I get from todays posts. Totally avoidable. I dont see it that way, if I am allowed to offer my opinion

Rikkitic

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#2909994 4-May-2022 10:10

GV27:

I can assure you that for those of us absolutely copping it in terms of living costs and with no end in sight, the issues are very real and not going away.

Honest question. What do you think would have to be done to fix things as well as they could be fixed? Not what the government has done wrong or not done at all, just what any government could and should do from this point to make things as good as they can be made?

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sen8or

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#2909999 4-May-2022 10:19

But they were only the Government since 2020, prior to that, they had "it was Winston's fault" to fall back on when their "lets do this" campaign promises fell on its ass

sen8or

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#2910002 4-May-2022 10:27

Given our Government includes the Greens -

Green Party leaders 'proud' of constitution changes (msn.com)

Why was it 1 woman and 1 gender non specific / neutral, why not 1 man and 1 gender neutral or 2 gender neutral positions? Is the constitution even legal, after all, we aren't meant to be able to discriminate on the basis of sex.

Including 1 of them being required to be Maori I could take or leave as a policy, personal opinion is that the leadership roles should just go to the most qualified, those most qualified could well turn out to be within the bounds of their new constitution, but it also might not and then they are stuck.

This looks to be a way to oust James Shaw for whatever reason, and it really is saying "white males need not apply".

White males may not be part of the parties core support group (really don't know, I could be well wrong), but this just ostracizes them further in my opinion

GV27

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#2910020 4-May-2022 11:28

Rikkitic:

Honest question. What do you think would have to be done to fix things as well as they could be fixed? Not what the government has done wrong or not done at all, just what any government could and should do from this point to make things as good as they can be made?

Inflation-index tax brackets. Kiwisaver taxed upon withdrawal, not year-on-year. Align student loan repayment thresholds and rates with Australia.

Three simple changes. Instead we have inflation indexing of tax brackets couched as 'tax cuts' even though the Government mandates inflation and doesn't do anything when the Reserve Bank blows its PTA target.

There will also need to be major scrutiny of RBNZ and the Government's approach to its mandate, which still includes considering employment factors, why it left the OCR on the floor for so long and why LVRs were lifted (especially for investors) at the same time as banks got given super cheap money to lend - most of which made its way into property loans. There's serious questions about whether Kiwis can have confidence the RBNZ is equipped to fulfill its mandate around 'financial stability'. That needs to be addressed as we move into a higher interest rate environment.

Fantasy-level stuff? We should have had a structured walk-back on house prices. We should have let them fall during Covid, bailed out owner-occupiers and given investors the chance to sell to HNZ to cover their equity shortfall. You know, an actual plan to bring house prices down. Like they campaigned on.

Rikkitic

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#2910079 4-May-2022 12:19

Thanks for the informative response. A lot to work through.

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GV27

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#2910116 4-May-2022 13:21

Rikkitic:

Thanks for the informative response. A lot to work through.

The student loan stuff is def. worth a look at - whatever/whoever the government is after the next election, it's clear requiring workers to pay back house-deposit sized loans in a low-wage economy is a pretty crappy move.

Not sure a write-off would be acceptable but restructuring the repayment thresholds and rates could be a sensible middle-ground.

Rikkitic

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#2910135 4-May-2022 14:25

Personally I think all education should be free. It is an investment in our future. On condition successful graduates spend a specified portion of their post-graduate years living and working in NZ, their loans should be forgiven or converted into Kiwisaver assets or the like.

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