Why would anyone want to subject the country to another term of a government led by Chris Hipkins and included Ayesha Verrall and any other MP who was a member of that governing party during the Covid 19 period?
Hipkins along with “She Who Saved Us From Covid”, Robertson and Verrall were the lead plotters and schemers in the Labour governments ham fisted efforts to eliminate Covid.
Obviously, those dullards had never heard the saying – “No plan survives the first contact with the enemy!”
These clowns scaled, never before known, heights of fiscal incompetence as they littered the floors of governmental, private and public company’s offices with billions of taxpayer’s dollars!
Hipkins along with “She Who Saved Us From Covid”, Robertson and Verrall were the lead plotters and schemers in the Labour governments ham fisted efforts to eliminate Covid.
Obviously, those dullards had never heard the saying – “No plan survives the first contact with the enemy!”
These clowns scaled, never before known, heights of fiscal incompetence as they littered the floors of governmental, private and public company’s offices with billions of taxpayer’s dollars!
All conducted under a “High Trust” model. FFS!
They were like crack heads who had found a drug smugglers hidden cache!
Sure, Hipkins’ and Verrall’s ineptitude and failings were partially judged at the ballot box in ‘23 but they still continue to earn very well. $300,000 in Hipkins case, Verrall $170,000.
But those salaries pale in comparison to Robertson’s $630,000 annual paycheck earned as he strode through the Otago University Vice Chancellor’s door, a door whose hinges he ensured were well oiled while still holding political office and what can you say about “She Who Saved Us From Covid” as she swans around the world teaching grandmothers how to suck eggs and evangelising her Kindness mantra! God knows what wealth she has amassed?
The Covid Inquiry MK11 has generated considerable debate on social media, a considerable number of columns written and now, a considerable number of questions are being asked of these highly remunerated, benighted illiterates about why they (without any collusion they claim) refuse to face questioning in the public forum of the inquiry.
Some of the most flawed, biased and injudicious fiscal decisions were made by these chumps during the Covid era.
One such decision, lesser known probably due to it comprising a good dose of ethnic favoritism and facilitated by a very compliant MSM, related to the Strategic Tourism Assets Protection Programme.
The Strategic Tourism Assets Protection Programme was conceived in 2020 by Ardern’s Government as part of a recovery package to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on the tourism sector, presumably with good intentions but absolutely zero planning and oversight. Why are we not surprised?
Strategically important tourism assets were going to be provided with financial support.
And what a bountiful indulgence this turned out to be. More akin to an endowment! Financial largess with taxpayer’s money, at its finest!
A group of Ministers, called the Tourism Recovery Ministers Group, were responsible for making decisions under the scheme, including establishing the eligibility criteria for funding. These ministers included the Minister of Finance, Minister of Maori Affairs, Minister of Tourism and Minister of Conservation. Other senior ministers were co-opted as needed.
Through the scheme, more than $290 million in financial support was committed to the tourism sector.
Surprisingly, there was actually a degree of uneasiness within the tourism industry regarding the scheme. Uppermost were concerns regarding the transparency of the scheme’s criteria, the clarity and uniformity of how the funds were being utilized and who were the main beneficiaries.
Because of those concerns and the need to ensure public confidence, the Auditor General looked into the robustness of the processes used by this cadre of government ministers as they doled out millions of taxpayer’s dollars.
Remember back in 2020 the astonishment and the many questions that arose when it was revealed that AJ Hackett Bungy received $10 million in support?
The Auditor General stated that his enquiry needed to confirm that “Clear and transparent processes” were used when the Ministers Group decided who received funding as “such decisions are a key part of maintaining the public’s trust.”
The “ high-trust” absurdity, as with so most other government Covid-19 response initiatives and applied to the Tourism Assets Protection Programme, predictably, required limited evidence and relied mainly on representations from the tourism businesses themselves to establish eligibility when applying for funding.
Unbelievable!
One key criterion was that tourism businesses applying for funding had to have “exhausted all other avenues of support”.
Inexplicably, there was no explanatory guidance, within the scheme’s procedures, about what steps are required to confirm all other avenues of support had been exhausted.
What this meant in practice was seemingly never made clear or even checked or adhered to.
No inquiries were made about tourism businesses’ equity position or parent company resources.???
The Tourism Recovery Ministers made a decision to fund all tourism businesses that scored more than 15 out of 30 points in the assessment process.
NOW HERE WE GO, it seems these government ministers, then, arbitrarily, decided to fund all eligible Māori tourism businesses, regardless if they scored less than 15 out of 30 points in the assessment process.
Unbelievable! Or maybe not, this was Ardern’s government after all.
So, even if you didn’t meet the criteria for funding, even if you weren’t eligible for funding, if you were a Maori tourism business you got the funding!!!
So, what The Tourism Recovery Ministers were saying is if you or your owners have the right ancestors, you got funding from the Government. Even if you scored 0/30!
I thought decisions to spend public money came with an obligation to ensure that the decision-making is consistent and transparent. Silly me!
No doubt questioning on this and similar issues regarding shameful fiscal management would be playing a significant part in Grant Robertson’s disinclination to front a public forum of the Covid MK11 inquiry.
Further evidence of, demonstrably known, financial ineptitude and quite possibly, chicanery, was that minimal or no records were kept of this decision making??? I wonder why?
Without records, those who have made the decisions are not able to adequately explain why funding was provided. “This was not acceptable practice, regardless of the circumstances…” said the Auditor General.
The Auditor General was saying that he was unable to discern if Ministers possibly gave out money to their associates and relatives as there was no documentation made for their reasons.
Slick work there guys!
It was also revealed the decisions the ministers made diverged from officials’ advice, they overrode the recommendations of neutral officials, without any explanation and proceeded to hand out money to, what looks to be, their connections and relations.
Apparently, these tossers decided to fund Whale Watch Kaikōura by providing a $1.5 million funding grant.
Surprise, surprise, no records were kept as to why that decision was made!
So, Whale Watch Kaikōura got $1.5 million of taxpayer money from Ministers on the basis of no criteria and no advice.
Has there ever been a political clique more deserving of disdain and denigration?
Pee Kay writes he is from a generation where common sense, standards, integrity and honesty are fundamental attributes. This article was first published HERE
11 comments:
Come on Mr Luxon....
We promoted you to find out who got our $200b?
We promoted you to uncover the many obvious financial irregularities in the covid response and who profited from the H Clark advised Arderns unprecedented largesse?
We promoted you to find out why nz had the most expensive covid response in the oecd?
We promoted you to uncover why hundreds of millions were spent on consultants to work on government projects which were never going to come to fruition?
And we promoted you to find out what happened to the millions mysteriously gifted to the maori kings family?
You could start by replacing the agenda ridden illingworth.
If lawmakers knew they were going to be held accountable then they would be more careful about their decisions. We no longer live in a world where accountability is a factor. Even the enquiry commissions set up, supposedly to provide justice to the people, do not hold irresponsible people accountable. Not only do we not have politicians looking after our best interests, even our fellow citizens now who are empowered to provide answers, are not conscientious and usually provide a whitewash as well.
What a dilemma, no punishment for wrongdoing, no accountability. This is a dramatic change in our social order and acceptable behaviour. We can be injured, have assets and land taken and have unjust, undemocratic laws passed and have no redress. It will only get worse as time goes on and people thumb their nose at authority.
Well said Balanced ………. Better still, kick Luxon to touch and give NZ a leader. But, who ????
When the “game” is rigged, then “game” is up, so with that orange felt pen write across “their” ballot paper, I do not consent. This is a valid vote against their rigged system.
This reality makes most politicians very arrogant when dealing with voters.
Anon hits the nail on the head.
Luxons leadership is our best chance of morally righteous solutions to the nz cartels robbing kiwi battlers of their lifestyles.
If Luxon turns out to be as crooked as the Clark advised Ardern, and the covid inquiry farce is not a great sign, then who do we turn to?
That said, there is a chance we're wrong and the covid inquiry may produce overdue prosecutions and the recovery of our money!
And we may just get an honest and clever National party finance minister after the next election.
At least lets give former Finance Minister Grant Robertson his dues for being undeservedly appointed Vice Chancellor at Otago University and then using his past two years there to not even do the job but instead write his memoirs to top up his $630,000 salary. All on the back of his third rate BA in politics & disastrous stint as Worst Finance Minister Ever in NZ history. Why I bothered studying for 12 years to get a whole bunch of qualifications in economics and 10 more years acquiring international work experience is beyond me when its value here is zero. I should've "done a Grant", never moved north of Wellington, and just been consistently useless .. and rewarded for it time and again.
"No doubt questioning on this and similar issues regarding shameful fiscal management would be playing a significant part in Grant Robertson’s disinclination to front a public forum of the Covid MK11 inquiry."
Honestly, I have no confidence that the inquiry has the intelligence to know about this to even ask about it.
Whale watch Kaikoura got taxpayer funding even though they don't pay anything in corporate tax.
It is difficult to believe that Mr Illingworth had collaborated with the Covid Cowards. He had the power to summons them but refused to do so. saying they could get the info by other means. If that is the case, why bother with all the others to turned up to the Commission of Enquiry -- he could have gotten tnat info by "other means". By his refusal to summons the Covid Cowards he has jeopardised the fact-finding the truth of what went on. If he cannot be forced to recerse his decision, he should be replaced by a Commissioner who will summons them. And of course he should not be paid for a job that he did not do, nor should he ever be appointed to any other Commision nor given any work by any public body, including government.
Also under Ardern et al ........
No comment anywhere about the Options Development Group where the objectives of the mostly Maori members are to hand most of our Crown land back to Maori.
Come on, someone in charge of NZ tell us what's going on !!
You have stopped it haven't you ?
Haven't you ????
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