Julie Anne Genter, back in another Government when they gave her a portfolio, came up with the 'Road to Zero'.
That alone was one of the stupidest ideas going, for the simple reason that it set you up for immediate failure.
As much as she might have liked to have argued it was aspirational, more realistically it was unobtainable and everyone knew it.
Because every year since, the road toll it of course hasn’t been zero and, more worryingly, nowhere close to it.
In fact, it's getting worse.
It's getting worse for a couple of, I would have thought, astonishingly obvious reasons.
1) We have more cars than ever,
2) Our roads are rubbish and the weather has surely exposed that. Look at where the carnage is. It's not on the Waikato Expressway or the multi-lane highways; it's on the goat tracks they insist on calling State Highway 1 outside of the main centres.
And then,
3) The idiots.
That combination is all you need to know as to why we are where we are. And as such, no amount of advertising and pleading changes anything, therefore you can quickly conclude the $60+ million spent so far is wasted.
And it's wasted at a time when we can least afford it.
Reminding people about speed and seatbelts and driving dunk is only applicable to the sort of idiot who isn't susceptible to being told what to do.
Those who are, are already doing it. I am sure deep within the ad agencies they genuinely believe their latest piece of creative genius is the one to crack the code.
And to be honest, if the Government were writing the sort of cheques they are, what fool turns that down?
Which is why we need leadership. Someone at the highest level needs to break the ideology that spending other people's money for the sake of it makes some sort of difference, when it can be shown it doesn’t.
Michael Wood clearly isn't that man. He defends this nonsense; he inherited a mad idea and ran with it.
If you rounded up the hundreds of millions, if not billions, that has been spent these past five years on nonsense, we wouldn’t be talking about a tax for the clean-up.
We are only short of money because we wasted it.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings.
Because every year since, the road toll it of course hasn’t been zero and, more worryingly, nowhere close to it.
In fact, it's getting worse.
It's getting worse for a couple of, I would have thought, astonishingly obvious reasons.
1) We have more cars than ever,
2) Our roads are rubbish and the weather has surely exposed that. Look at where the carnage is. It's not on the Waikato Expressway or the multi-lane highways; it's on the goat tracks they insist on calling State Highway 1 outside of the main centres.
And then,
3) The idiots.
That combination is all you need to know as to why we are where we are. And as such, no amount of advertising and pleading changes anything, therefore you can quickly conclude the $60+ million spent so far is wasted.
And it's wasted at a time when we can least afford it.
Reminding people about speed and seatbelts and driving dunk is only applicable to the sort of idiot who isn't susceptible to being told what to do.
Those who are, are already doing it. I am sure deep within the ad agencies they genuinely believe their latest piece of creative genius is the one to crack the code.
And to be honest, if the Government were writing the sort of cheques they are, what fool turns that down?
Which is why we need leadership. Someone at the highest level needs to break the ideology that spending other people's money for the sake of it makes some sort of difference, when it can be shown it doesn’t.
Michael Wood clearly isn't that man. He defends this nonsense; he inherited a mad idea and ran with it.
If you rounded up the hundreds of millions, if not billions, that has been spent these past five years on nonsense, we wouldn’t be talking about a tax for the clean-up.
We are only short of money because we wasted it.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings.
5 comments:
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results" Good old Albert.
That covers this issue perfectly. Keep spending shitloads on advertising which clearly doesn't work.
This kind of policy is right up Labour and the Greens dead-end. It looks good...the public get bombarded with it....BUT it's been tried for years and it's not working.
Perhaps look at countries with a much lower road toll per capita and see what approach they take?
I just cannot for the life of me comprehend why anyone would even consider wasting their vote on a cult such as the greens. They achieve absolutely nothing, they contribute nothing, their policies are based on fiction, lies and misinformation. In fact they sound just like the labour cult. Another wasted vote.
The Greens, what a baseless lot of useless tosers, who long long ago gave up any pretense of being what the Party started out being, but wholly intent on reducing NZ, a once profitable pleasant land into another socialist Zimbabwe, with their dumb policies. (Just ask the farming community). JAA is a prime example of all that is wrong with the Green Party. There, that's MMP (not allowed word) for you, a bunch of UNELECTED tosers making decisions with no mandates and no allegiance to anybody or any electorate, just their 'dear Leader'. Our whole electoral system is an utter disgrace.
At last, or should I say "yet again" we have some common sense being spoken on these absurd policies backed up by even worse advertising promotions. The continued stupidity and waste makes me cringe. Well put Mike.
Genter would never have been a politician in the US where she was born, even after graduating from the University of California which is the most woke liberal outfit on the West Coast. Politicians over there have to be voted in by the people so she wouldn't have had a chance ; but come to silly NZ , be on a faceless list and Bob's your uncle, power to experiment with your wildest fantasies. No wonder our beautiful Country is stuffed with so many non New Zealanders having too much say in running the place. Kiwialan.
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