Category: Politics
Last Thursday, US President George Bush launched a vigorous defence of the free market, stating that the only long-term solution to the global financial crisis is sustained economic growth. He explained that the surest path to growth is the free market and free people:
The resolve in Europe to make meaningful emission reductions’ is crumbling by the day in the wake of the financial credit crunch sweeping the globe, bringing with it fears of a global economic recession.
Congratulations to our new Prime Minister, National Party Leader John Key, and his support parties Rodney Hide’s ACT New Zealand and Peter Dunne’s United Party, on a successful election outcome. In his victory speech, John Key stated that the election result showed that New Zealanders had voted for a safer, more prosperous and more ambitious country: “They voted for hope, they voted for action and they voted for results. They voted for a better life for all New Zealanders.”
With the closing days of the colourful US Presidential race upon us, New Zealand’s 2008 general election campaign has, in comparison, been particularly dull.
I dislike the Maori seats, which are both racist and undemocratic. Introduced as a short-term measure, they should have been abandoned decades ago. Why not allocate Asian, left-handers, Pacific Islanders or even homosexuals special seats.
One in six New Zealanders now live abroad, including an estimated 24 percent of our skilled workforce. This is the highest proportion of any country in the OECD. According to the Government Statistician, in the year to September, long-term departures from New Zealand reached 82,254, the greatest number since 1979. Of those, 42,316 Kiwis headed to Australia, the highest number in over twenty years.[1]
It would be nice to believe that the current election campaign would consist of well-informed debate on important issues. Ideally, there would be a good airing of the best alternative policies. Politicians, armed with the facts, would debate openly without being tied to agendas, hidden or otherwise. Let’s be honest, though. That is not what is happening. Nevertheless, according to some theories, the world is rational, everyone is logical, and there is no false information!
If it wasn’t for the fact that the general election is just around the corner, new home owners would be forced to install government approved showers that plumbers say deliver little more than a dribble of water. This is on top of government approved hot water cylinders - modified for heat pumps and solar panels - that cost $500 more than standard models.[1] For these nanny state interventions we have MMP and the Green Party to blame.
Engaging a panelbeater to design an intersection is unwise. It is equally silly to leave to arrogant and at times duplicitous parliamentarians unfettered control of the voting system of which they are beneficiaries.
It’s all a bit unreal, the credit crunch, but if there’s a message coming out of it, it’s engraved on the cover of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe: Don’t Panic.
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