The government is not trying to disguise the abysmal state of the government books and the need to make hard decisions. Nor should it.
The public must accept the seriousness of the many ills the government has inherited and that tough medicine is needed to treat them.
It’s not unlike the multiple problems the first Lange government faced in 1984 that enabled it to undertake much-needed radical reforms.
There’s a debate to be had over how those reforms were implemented and the pace of them, especially as they affected farming, but it’s difficult to dispute they were necessary.
The current coalition government faces a similarly serious situation and it must have the courage to get radical about sorting it out.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has called for all government departments to make cuts but that won’t be enough.
A close examination of every state-funded entity must be made. Some must be disestablished and all must justify every cent they spend and be accountable for the value they provide with public funds.
When core government areas like education, health and roads are in such a parlous state there is absolutely no money spare for anything but necessities.
That will be a radical approach when contrasted with the profligacy of the previous government but it’s essential if the government is to fulfil it’s promise to get the country back on track.
Ele Ludemann is a North Otago farmer and journalist, who blogs HERE - where this article was sourced.
There’s a debate to be had over how those reforms were implemented and the pace of them, especially as they affected farming, but it’s difficult to dispute they were necessary.
The current coalition government faces a similarly serious situation and it must have the courage to get radical about sorting it out.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has called for all government departments to make cuts but that won’t be enough.
A close examination of every state-funded entity must be made. Some must be disestablished and all must justify every cent they spend and be accountable for the value they provide with public funds.
When core government areas like education, health and roads are in such a parlous state there is absolutely no money spare for anything but necessities.
That will be a radical approach when contrasted with the profligacy of the previous government but it’s essential if the government is to fulfil it’s promise to get the country back on track.
Ele Ludemann is a North Otago farmer and journalist, who blogs HERE - where this article was sourced.
2 comments:
'Radical' is what's been going on under the last govt. What we are on about here is a return to sanity.
We build and do stuff at well over twice the cost of anywhere else. So lets conquer that and then reduce all budgets by 25% and deliver 50% more as an outcome.
If that sounds to hard, sell us to a grownup country to manage.
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