Child Poverty: We No Longer have a Welfare Net. Government Needs to Get a Move On

pn135

Janet McAllister* let's fly at our collapsed "welfare system" and Government sluggishness in tackling the child poverty problem.                                    
Here is what she has to say. For the full article,  click this link.

Due to inflation and rising rents, we do not currently have a welfare net; it’s more of a platform submerged so deeply in water that people who fall on to it can’t breathe, even standing on tip-toes.

Petrol Price Realities -- Jane Clifton in the NZ Listener, and Brian Fallow on fuel prices and inflation

Also -- Brian Fallow "How Petrol Prices will hit home." How Fuel Prices will Hit Home."

                                                                  ***

A PM made gassy with fuel-price billiousness lets rip with a good blurt.    By Jane Clifton

Not very flattering, NZ Listener.  pn139

It's hard to see how petrol prices can be brought down without Government regulation.
Most political leaders relish what might be called their “gutsful” moments – typified by Helen Clark, who used to preface drastic action with, “People have had a gutsful of …”

Not all gutsful moments are great “Build a wall/Drain a swamp” theatre. John Key’s were a bit yeah/nah, but you could tell he’d finally taken the hatchet to an issue when he omitted to say he was “relaxed” about it. Bill English struck without warning. He had such a gutsful of Housing New Zealand that it woke up one morning to the news that all its properties were to be transferred to private charities. This didn’t eventuate, as few charities wanted them either – which underlines that the key to a successful gutsful moment is to have one’s ducks in a row so that decisive action can follow immediately.

Thinking about "The Rotting Corpse of Daily Journalism"

pn127

"But my real suspicion was this: the stench was from the rotting corpse of daily journalism after it had finally, and deservedly, carked it from overdosing on clickbait, reporting speculation and breathless beat-ups." -- Greg Dixon, "On the (Carterton) pong track," NZ Listener, Oct. 13 .., pp 94.

John Armstrong's Advice to Jacinda. It's about changes but not nappies

pn109

Until recently, I thought NZ Herald columnist John Armstrong was just anti-Labour. Now I think he's more than that, he's also selling the  Herald, 
shifting this way and that as he anticipates changes in  the public mood.  From February to September there's been a remarkable change.

From his February article  headed cooing about  Jacinda "may not be able to walk on water. Not yet anyway. But give her time." This, when when most journalists were sharing in the Jacinda "honeymoon."  

To his most recent article headed, "Jacinda Ardern must stop the rot in 'drunken sailor' Government."  Now, that many journalists are sharing tales of division, gloom, incompetence and deception.  (my bold emphasis.)

By March, Jacinda "Looked like she was no longer in control during Labour's week from hell" and she "appeared flustered, even rattled, during the first crises to hit her Government." 

By May,  "Labour's record so far on affordable housing builds is pathetic" and "Row over 'waka-jumping law' puts stability of wobbly Government coalition to the test."

By June, "Ardern's baby leave gives her time to give serious thought to Labour's 'cannot be bothered' attitude to business sector."

By July, "Greens 'swallowing a dead rat' to vote for waka jumping law no great surprise."

By August, "Ardern's freeze on MPs' pay defused a political time-bomb - but praise was unjustified" and "Jacinda Ardern's handling of potential economic downturn has been ordinary."

And in September, "As Labour fast loses the plot, Sunday's moment of coalition unity was priceless" and "Jacinda Ardern's excursion to Nauru a PR disaster."

Some advice from John Armstong Now, in his 'drunken sailor' Government article  he offers  Jacinda eight pieces of emergency "to do" advice. Click on the link above for his advice in full.  He starts with :

"Stop the (supposed Coalition) rot — and pretty darned soon ... as its components stumble from one mini-crisis to the next minor scandal ... Viewed in total ... the various mishaps and miscues add up to a fair-sized catalogue of catastrophe." 

(This phrase alone shows how many of the so-called scandals and crises  are created or greatly magnified by the media.) 

His 1, 2 and 5 advice deal with the supposed coalition division,

His 3  advises her to stop mouthing about running and open and transparent government,

His 4 says stop apologizing for Peters, 

His 6 and 7 offer good advice (highlight the health of the economy and kill talk about a capital gains tax, 

And his 8,  rather lamely advises Labour should start taking Simon Bridges seriously. 


I look forward to Armstong and the NZ Herald publishing some fair, balanced and informed articles on the political scene. This was not one of them. 

--ACW

Video: the PM's Address to the United Nations General Assembly

Make sure your volume is turned on, Click on the arrow and switch to full screen.

Jacinda took a broom to them all - from The Strategist.

Cleared deck of the week: With the Beehive bathed in the first sunshine of the season, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was intent on a spring clean.

There have been plenty of niggling issues dogging her premiership lately - a cocksure Winston Peters, ministers behaving badly, and questions over the Government’s economic management.

pn93

This week, Ardern took a broom to them.

Bridges: He Needs to Use the Other Mic

Pn55

If Opposition leader Simon Bridges would take some advice, I'd suggest he comes up with something positive about what National would do if it were in government (or perhaps explain why it didn't do it when it was) rather than repetitively criticize everything the Labour-led coalition is trying to do.

Today's comment was to criticise the announcement of a working group to develop a fair pay framework. Bridges called this "more talk, more slogans (and) the 153th working group." If this sounds like too much consultation to Bridges, it could in part be a consequence of  the lower level of consultations under National that has led to the need for redress under the present Government.

One  wonders whether tomorrow he'll be criticising the government's plan to establish a Business Advisory Council to be chaired by former Air New Zealand CEO Christopher Luxon. The PM hopes the Council will provide Government with "high level free and frank advice on key economic issues and harness expertise from the private sector to develop government's economic.policies.' Free meaning open, not costless for, of course, the process is costly as ACT leader David Seymour has pointed out. Whether it would be more costly not to consult is another question.

An advisory council is different from a working party. It has direct, ongoing contact with Government while working parties are more typically one-off affairs with some ongoing contact, at the other end of the spectrum, that later may lead to the sort of relationship enjoyed by advisory councils.

Criticising Government is fine. That's a large part of an Opposition's job.  It keeps Government on its toes. . But it also needs to actually say something new. To show why it would be the better government. Repeated criticism is unlikely to have this effect..  

On what may appear to be a completely unrelated topic -- although an informed public is is an essential part of a democracy -- I had a quick check through today's 1 News Now items. Of the 40-odd listed, Simon Bridges was mentioned once, Jacinda Adern and Government four times -- the same as Australian mentions--,six were on crime, and 14 were on sports and sports personalities. Umm!
-- ACW