Clive Bibby: Who pays the Piper!

Recent efforts by the current Government to balance the Nation’s books were, as you would expect, received unfavourably by the parties of the “Left.”

No surprises there because the job of the Opposition is to oppose moves that are perceived to be not in the best interests of those they represent.
However, one of the reasons why there is a resurgence in support of Right-wing political parties throughout the Free World is because the Left-wing woke policies failed to deliver the benefits they promised when they were in government.

The only exceptions to this universal movement for change has been where the opposition parties failed to present a united front highlighting the priorities and benefits of their alternative budget - Australia’s coalition being the best example of this failure and the consequences will probably see them in opposition for at least another two terms.

Here in this country, at the last election, voters overwhelmingly rejected the clandestine moves to introduce what were deemed to be socially acceptable policies such as affirmative action in Health Care delivery and local body representation plus other forms of welfare intervention that were designed to excuse many able-bodied individuals and families from taking responsibility for their own actions. In the process the amount of government expenditure on these woke policies increased the National debt to a level that has become unsustainable.

Clearly this Government has a mandate to return our hospitals, schools and electoral systems back to the relatively efficient, politically neutral institutions that had been in place for more than a century.

But it isn’t that easy when it comes to making the changes without appearing insensitive to real needs.

For example, David Seymour’s attempts to cut excessive spending on School lunches has been labeled a draconian measure when in fact the whole scheme is something we did without when our priorities were on spending that actually saved lives.

Living in a low decile community, l know where the priorities should be and I am confident that, should the “School lunches” scheme be dropped entirely in favour of funding extra doctors and nurses to service these remote rural areas, support for such a policy would be overwhelming.

My understanding of my fellow constituents is that they will accept reductions in costs associated with unnecessary spending should the savings be put to good use in other departments where shortages are having a real negative impact on desirable outcomes.

We can’t have it both ways.

My guess is that the opposition parties would have a greater chance of returning to the Treasury benches if they listened to the people’s suggestions of where those high priority problems are and where any discretionary spending should be re-allocated.

Voters are the best people for deciding who pays the Piper.

Clive Bibby is a commentator, consultant, farmer and community leader, who lives in Tolaga Bay.