Wednesday 16 April 2014

“…and the intelligence of a caravan site”

Photo: There’s nothing Kiwis like more than getting on the road and going on holiday. But public holiday fun can quickly turn to frustration. 

Today Labour committed to make things easier and safer on our roads. https://labour.org.nz/EasierDriving

Yeah, it’s a strange one, for sure.

Labour leader David Cunliffe hires alleged hotshot organiser Matt McCarten as Chief of Staff, all ready for a big election year. The decision is roundly endorsed by the commentariat. Smart, they say. Linking with the base. A big move. The start of a big campaign.

imageSo what exactly was the big idea behind what was going on yesterday?  A big interview cancelled and a big parliamentary opportunity forwent in favour of a big policy announcement that turned out be something not so big at all about trucks and caravans and something confusing about regos and the fast lane. (I can’t say I’ve got my head completely around the idea, if we can call it that, and it’s so trivial it’s hardly worth bothering.)

This satire from Imperator Fish seems as accurate as the announcement, or lack thereof, and a whole truckload funnier:

A statement from David Cunliffe
Labour’s leader talks about the issues that matter.

Mind you, Stephen Berry and others reckon it is at least great to see Labour “advocating less taxation.” So there’s that.

Pity it is on a small insignificant area that will be cancelled out tenfold by the other taxes Labour promises to introduce.

Yeah, okay. And Mark Ormandy says1

I don't get why when they propose one policy that is perfectly agreeable everyone still feels the need to give them shit for it. I wonder if actually encouraging them when they talk about eliminating red-tape might have a more beneficial result.

Which is true too.

But for crying out loud, can’t they at least make it about something goddamned important!

Bear in mind, we do need a strong opposition – not to keep the buggers honest, since the whole bunch of them are venal thieves. We need it to make the pricks in power stop feeling so bloody entitled.

Here’s R.L. Burnside:

1. And, yes, it’s true, I’ve been trawling Facebook.

2 comments:

paul scott said...

So good to have a stable base in New Zealand,
living in a house, seeing other people., and knowing we can do

MarkT said...

I think they're doing it precisely because it is so unimportant. Small things matter to small minds - which pretty much sums up your typical Labour voter. If you want to gain the most votes by offering a tax break, whilst conceding as little as possible and still keeping overall taxes high - then this would be it.