July 22, 2011

What on earth is happening here?

Some days it is hard to believe that we are living in New Zealand in the 21st century.

At times like this it seems more like some topsy turvy land with everyone in denial about what is actually going on.

The country is in the grip of a giant “con” trick with severe reality covered by a smokescreen of soothing spin.

All over the country people are bewildered because what is actually happening is part of a separate reality – like the one that used to be produced when desert dwelling central Americans distilled cactus juice.

Let me explain further.

This week there was a fuss over the amount of money being paid to the people who oversee the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority.

For some strange reason the former National prime minister Jenny Shipley was selected as one of the people needed for this responsible job.

And she is getting a thousand dollars a day to bring her particular expertise – whatever that may be – to the people of Christchurch.

Surely they have suffered enough without having to watch Jenny Shipley feeding from the public trough, at the rate of a thousand dollars a day.

Christchurch needs compassion and a relentless commitment from central and local government to rebuild the city and the lives and hopes of its people.

Those people are the priority and they do not need the distraction of an overpaid sideshow coming to town.

Some people might actually say that Mrs Shipley should be paid to keep out of the earthquake zone area because it is yet another area in which she has absolutely no experience or expertise.

Her main focus these days is acting as an agent for companies owned by the communist state of China.

Surely this must be one of the greatest ironies in the history of New Zealand politics.

A former conservative leader working for a communist government.

And what's more this conservative government in NZ is happy about the situation!

It makes you wonder what else is afoot.

Everything has suddenly gone quiet about state asset sales and the sale of farmland to foreign buyers.

The asset sales are on hold with the mirage of a mixed market approach but glimpses of what's happening show that power stations owned by the people of New Zealand will end up in foreign hands.

All along the government planned to sell state assets to Foreign interests while the public relations spin spun by the prime minister raved on about “Mum and Dad” investors.

The Mum and Dad investors were never going to be the target.

Treasury papers reveal that foreign investors were going to be targeted from the start,

The finance minister was already hawking New Zealand's family silver overseas and the mums and dads were an afterthought.

Let me warn you here and now that selling New Zealand's electricity generating system overseas is such a stupid idea that there must be other driving forces at work.

Don't think for one moment that it's just a few power stations going on the block.

Power stations need water. They need a lot of water.

The water has to be controlled to make the power stations work.

New Zealanders own these public waterways. They are part of our heritage.

But, selling the power stations means control of our waterways – our rivers and our lakes – will eventually end up in the hands of foreign owners.

It is that simple. Water is our most precious commodity.

Citizens should be marching in the streets over this one.

And the appalling stupidity does not end there.

There are all sorts of other commercial deals just waiting until after the election.

Like the sale of the Crafar dairy farms.

We know that commercial interests – again owned by the communist state of China – are bidding to buy this prime land.

And once again the National Party's former leaders and cheerleaders are donkey deep in the deals.

Just look what happened to Wrightsons – the main farming supplier – that is now in foreign hands.

The list goes on and on.

The tactics for the sellouts and further clampdowns on social services are as clear as crystal to anyone who cares to take a close look.

One of the places to look is the electorate of Epsom.

There the National Party's former leader Don Brash has selected the former National cabinet minister John Banks to take over the former Act leader Rodney Hide's seat.

Then National selected the biographer of both Don Brash and John Banks to get the party vote in the seat and not upset the whole sordid jack up.

What they are busy stitching up – before anyone has a chance to vote – is a new government led by John Key and Don Brash that slashes social spending and sells assets.

Don’t let anyone assume that they will be safe in this scenario.

It will be a good cop bad cop approach.

Brash will come up with something drastic like lifting the pension age to 70. Key will tone it down to 67 and expect everyone to heave a sigh of relief.

Brash will try to slash the pension – even though it is already pretty low. Key will reduce it just a few percent like National did once before in the 90s.

Once again they will expect a sigh of relief from the electorate.

A Key/Brash government will further splinter our society.

The gaps will increase between the haves and have nots.

Warner Brothers can walk into New Zealand and in an afternoon our prime minister will give them big tax breaks and change our labour laws to suit the Americans.

National has made an art form out of grovelling to the rich and powerful and unscrupulous.

New Zealand First is not here just to point out what is wrong and rotten in the round building called the Beehive.

But we will point out that we are prepared to stand up to these people who are prepared to sell our nation and our people down the river.

We are a party made up of ordinary New Zealanders who have strong views about traditional values and patriotism.

We do not believe that government is only for the rich and powerful.

We believe in a fair deal for everybody and that means equal opportunity for all our young people wherever they come from.

Our young people leaving school must have the chance of training and employment.

There is further stupidity in bringing in skilled Labour from outside when we fail to train and look after our own people.

There is further stupidity in creating social and economic conditions that drive families offshore to make their way in Australia, leaving behind their elderly parents.

We have to stop and really look at what is happening and do what we can to reverse these trends.

It is obvious that lack of jobs and low wages are a serious problem.

This week on television viewers have been regaled with images of the social dislocation of Kawerau.

They even had a panel on Close Up giving their views on the situation. However, in all the controversy it seems to be forgotten that Kawerau was set up as a forestry work town but now there is no work.

This when timber is New Zealand’s third largest export. These commentators miss the most obvious fact which is that the timber is being exported in its most raw state for hundreds of thousands of jobs overseas, mostly Asia, and billions of profits to mostly Asia.

What chance have the people of Kawerau got under this climate of economic stupidity and commentator ignorance.

If you want to see poverty and despair just got to areas where there is high unemployment and low incomes.

Inevitably these will be areas of high rates of childhood illness, alcohol and drug problems and crime.

These places are breeding grounds for our prison population and yet there is great potential if a caring government took a strong interest and worked on community based solutions.

Whatever the protestations and posturing, there is a common thread running through the corridors of power and that thread is the corrosive influence of indifference.

It is the duty of all of us to change this. We are lost as a civilised society if we succumb to the politics of indifference.

We in New Zealand First advocate a government for all New Zealanders. Citizens have an obligation to their communities and their countries.

Their governments share these obligations.

New Zealand First understands its obligations.

That is why I suggest you give your Party Vote to NZ First at the next election.

ENDS

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