Don Brash has made his first speech today at AUT since he was appointed to his new role as the chair of the National/Act government’s 2025 Taskforce. Titled “Can we ever catch Australia” it gives an overview of the challenge according to Dr Brash. For those interested in this debate, have a look at it and let me know your views. Then I’ll tell you what I think!
Good post on the standard :- http://www.thestandard.org.nz/brash-speech-confirms-nationals-secret-agenda/
Not much has changed in Brashland – what’s the point of the Task Force if this is his unreconstructed and utterly narrow thinking?
It does seem that cuts to government spending and privatisation are on the agenda.
No it’s an hysterical post at the standard .. as soon as people bring out comments like
“nasty, bigoted far right radical” and ” I thought we’d left that kind of filth behind us in 2005″ and “It’s quite clear what’s happening here. National realised after 2005 that it couldn’t win a majority with its hard right agenda. So they gave us ‘Labour lite’ and that nice man John Key. They’d really changed this time, they promised us. Now they’re back in power it’s clear they were lying all along.
I hate to say we told you so, but, well, we fucking told you so.”
It becomes emotive cak that you’d expect from a fifth former ……. I think Jennie would get a C- at best.
“It does seem that cuts to government spending ” – how can cutting government spending be a bad thing ?
Why would we want your views Darien? Your views, and your party’s ideology, got us into this mess.
We know your views. They will be to strengthen unions; increase the minimum wage; increase the progressive tax scale and entrench middle class welfare to even more Kiwis.
This country is simply not wealthy enough to afford such policies.
I don’t get it. We want to catch Australia by being the exact opposite of them. What works for them, doesn’t work for us?
Course we cant catch them, they are mining most of their wealth we have to farm ours.
Its a ridiculous waste of money, why not another group to see if we can catch up with Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Brazil or who knows who else you pick a country.
Nothing wrong with being competetive and wanting to win but its a little more complex than a 100m race or a rugby test.
“This country is simply not wealthy enough to afford such policies.”
Nothing like the embittered blog commenter who bases their argument with the word “simply”.
The argument is based on the truth Angus as much as I don’t like to admit it. Now go bury your head in the sand somewhere.
That’s right gooner it was stronger unions and minimum wage earners that caused the credit crisis!
Someone should tell madoff – he could use it in his appeal.
Actually, strong unions had a very large part to play in the collapse of General Motors and Chrysler by way of their guaranteed pension and medical payouts that were set in motion 50 or so yrs ago. California has the same problem.
correct gooner.
Thats why Japanese companies slaughter American car companies , because they dont pay people more money when they retire than when they worked.
Yhis is apart from making awful cars.
The thing with Brash is he dosent seem to care about personal popularity he just gets on and does what he thinks is right.
Unfortunately politics is filled with people who know what is right but prefer what wins them votes.
Trevor supported Roger Douglas in 84 in sorting out the mess that National had created.
Now maybe its time for Trevor to support Brash sorting out the mess Labour created over the last 9 years.
Labour were working well on getting us closer to Australia and would have gotten us there way faster than National will ever do.
The only difference is their plan to get us there.
Labour were going to keep “whacking it on the bill” for all their grandiose (but un-costed) plans. Borrow, borrow, borrow were the words of the day. Dont cut anything – give it to all for free.
And when the country fell into bankruptcy, Australia would have come in and grabbed NZ for cents on the $.
National on the other hand have the plan of controlling expenditure and promoting growth and jobs. call me crazy – but I know what I believe will leave the country in a better position.
@ Gooner – BA is another company being strong armed by the unions that could end up collapsing because of them.
Bikerkiwi, tell us more about this audacious plan to close the gap, which incidently blew out under the last National administration? In detail, what are the key elements of the “plan of controlling expenditure and promoting growth and jobs”?
@ Jennifer – its pretty easy to find out for yourself – watch the news, read more, become informed.
People just prefer public owned providers.
Brash: National’s rising Tsar!
Does that mean you want fewer police Brian, will you tell Rodney to lay off Laura Norder then? I appreciate that are of view that less is always better, fine, noted.
Cutting spending also widens the skills and wages gap since we then have an inferior education and health system. We also have more difficulty attracting and keeping the sort of people that we need to increase productivity, since no one wants their kids to miss out on a education and risk a run down health system.
Australia seems to understand that, don’t know why we can’t see the obvious.
Don Brash wants to raise the living standards of Kiwis so I never thought that there would be those who disagreed. And then we have the Labour Party.
This man gave up a job earning $10,000 a week to go into politics so he could help make a difference. That would be a bigger sacrifice than any by the entire Labour Party.
Bikerkiwi, thanks for confirming there is no ‘plan’. Figured a much. Just a bunch of hot air and spin and slogans, oh, and a couple of expensive new committees to keep the ‘mates’ in clover.
Jennifer – I confirmed no such thing. I simply assumed that you had enough intelligence to read it for yourself as opposed to requiring another blog commenter to type it all out for you.
Guess I was wrong.
Hmm, if the Nats do actually manage to reduce government spending it will be the first time in its history in power. I really don’t know how you folk can tell Labour & the Nats apart in any substantive way?!?
I hope the good Dr brings a whole range of ideas to the table. How can offering alternatives to what’s happening now be bad?
Loosen up people, it may not happen. The Nats will win the next election unless they drop real clangers and the following election should be up for grabs. Labour MUST change tack from the rubbish politics they are pursuing now.
I would LOVE to know what the new/young MP’s think of all the crap the older MP’s are active in.
Gooner. You’re statements claiming that the failure of the US big 3 (GM, Chrysler & Ford) could be laid at the door of the trade unions couldn’t be wider of the mark if you tried.
There were several factors contributing to the tough times those iconic companies have experienced since before the start of the credit crunch. The big one is the total inability for these companies to move with the times and demands of American and international car buyers. During the 80′s when most other countries car industries were responding to the increases in fuel prices and competition from more fuel efficient Japanese & european cars the US car firms refused to budge. The recession has just intensified the decline as people look to make savings in tougher economic times. Cars are ne of the biggest purchases most people will ever make with no financial return. Buyers want more for their dollar. Understandable. The decesion to design fuel efficient cars does not lie with the unions. It lies with the guys who run these companies.
Don’t be fooled by the rhetoric of the right when they attempt to equate low productivity to high trade union activity. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out that happier workers result in higher levels of loyalty and in turn greater productivity. The carrot and stick approach to industrial realtions of the likes of Dr Brash doesn’t work. As most of the time they just resort to the stick and conviently forget about the carrot. All that happens is you end up with an under valued and demoralised workforce. How does that benefit anyone?
I promised I’d tell you what I think, even if Gooner doesn’t want to know : Sorry haven’t had time, but will post tomorrow.
“how can cutting government spending be a bad thing ?”
er, when the spending is on a good thing. Pretty elementary stuff, Bryan.
Brash still seems as bitter and obnoxious as ever, and determined to turn the ‘productivity’ group into a partisan and divisive farce. Remember this is the sort of person who bemoans pay increases because they reduce productivity – think of the implacations of that for a minute.
Take your time Darian – Me & Jennifer are hanging on by the fingernails for bikerkiwi to give his highly intelligent analysis of the Government “plan of controlling expenditure and promoting growth and jobs”?
Having just read through the post – sounds as though he’s ‘hit the nail’ – I watched the news, read the blogs and I even studied Brash’s speech – watch his body language while he’s giving it (I suspect Crosby Textor wrote it just going by the fatalistic look on Brash’s face) then look at the body language of the audience) – sorry Bikerkiwi – we must all be thick – except you of course – what have we missed?
Brash and Whitehead both speak English as a second language. Bill English.
Most people seem to agree that Australia’s productivity commission has been successful because it has had cross-party support and has gone about its business in a non-ideological manner. That seems to be the opposite to what’s proposed here.
Heck even David Farrar said in a post that he didn’t think the appointment of Brash would be a good idea.
Here’s my comments folks :
The 2025 taskforce has started badly. Brash’s first outing on the topic, the speech that is the subject of this blog, was politically partisan and ideologically prejudiced. What I see in that speech are the old divisive lines that show just how little he has changed and how utterly unfit he is to lead it.
His speech was big mistake. As chair of the so-called “high-powered quality advisory group” facing what he describes as “arguably the biggest challenge New Zealand has faced since the Second World War” he needed to demonstrate that he was open to everyone’s good ideas. He should have shown an open mind and a willingness to consider everything.
Comments like “some go to (Australia) because of they’re sick and tired of the political correctness around race or gender” were completely unnecessary dog whistle politics.
It’s a speech that looks in the rear view mirror all the way. He blames increases in government spending, higher taxes, increased “rigidities” in the labour market, and even, “the refusal until this year to contemplate even a very short period during which an employer can dismiss a new employee without the risk of costly personal grievance action.” Yeah, well that’s created thousands of new jobs.
Brash doesn’t seem to realise that we live in a different environmental world now. Even the National Government no longer believes climate change is a hoax and New Zealanders want to see sustainability at the heart of economic policy. There’s no use improving our productivity if we’re constantly lashed by huge storms and half the country has disappeared under the sea.
He doesn’t mention skills or even what he used to call “edoocaishon”. There’s no talk about innovation or research and development. He says it’s not about working harder and longer, yet his National mates want to trade off the fourth week’s annual leave.
Sure, this speech wasn’t intended to be a comprehensive outline of what we need to do to lift productivity, but it was his chance to show that he was fit to lead this group. He failed. All I can think is that Act prevailed over John Key on this one.
But as an aside – Australia’s productivity has been in long-term decline. Kevin Rudd said just a week ago :
“Turning around the productivity collapse of recent years is at the heart of our economic strategy, The country can no longer rely “exclusively on the windfall profits of a mining boom, a property boom and a stock market boom.”
Well, well, well.
we cant catch up to aust,because they own so much of our businesses eg banks ,supermarkets,works infrastructure,the three telecon contracting co’s.the profits from these and the rest of the aussie owned co’s go to aust robbing us of our investment money.they treat us just like a gold mine.we must be dumb if we cant see that.
Someone should mention to Dr Brash that it is higher wages not ‘political correctness around wages and gender’ that causes most people to head accross. Can someone pull this guy back onto planet Earth.