Thus said Elizabeth Bennet to William Darcy, as she rejected his proposal. For younger readers, imagine Bridget Jones delivering a similar line to Colin Firth.
Decisions are hard, and New Zealand faces a choice as compelling and consequential for our nation as that which confronted Bridget Jones as she weighed the merits and limitations of her two suitors.
I get it. The lack of enthusiasm for the coalition. Christopher Luxon appears inauthentic. At times befuddled by the responsibility of his office and uninterested in the lives of his subjects. And for the critical question: are you better off today than you were three years ago?
Christopher Luxon leads the coalition Government into the election with 13 days remaining in the campaign. Photo: Hannah Warbuton/Stuff
On a per-capita basis, no. You are not. Many of us have slipped backwards and every time we visit the petrol station is a cause for anxiety, and our frustration at the price of groceries makes taking a mallet to the duopoly appealing.
But, if I may, let’s consider the merits of our Mr Darcy before we decide to jump back into bed with our past paramour.
Yes. The Prime Minister can be grating. I’d rather doom-scroll the Paris riots than spend an evening listening to a Luxon speech. But, New Zealand, we are not electing a drinking buddy. We are electing, or re-electing, a Prime Minister.
Let’s compare and contrast.
Under the last government the prison roll fell to under eight thousand. Law and order was, in some polls, the second most important issue facing the electorate. Today, no one cares. And no one cares because Mark Mitchell has done his job. The prison muster is over eleven thousand and rising. The bad guys are locked up and crime is down.
On a per-capita basis, no. You are not. Many of us have slipped backwards and every time we visit the petrol station is a cause for anxiety, and our frustration at the price of groceries makes taking a mallet to the duopoly appealing.
But, if I may, let’s consider the merits of our Mr Darcy before we decide to jump back into bed with our past paramour.
Yes. The Prime Minister can be grating. I’d rather doom-scroll the Paris riots than spend an evening listening to a Luxon speech. But, New Zealand, we are not electing a drinking buddy. We are electing, or re-electing, a Prime Minister.
Let’s compare and contrast.
Under the last government the prison roll fell to under eight thousand. Law and order was, in some polls, the second most important issue facing the electorate. Today, no one cares. And no one cares because Mark Mitchell has done his job. The prison muster is over eleven thousand and rising. The bad guys are locked up and crime is down.
The columnist argues voters should judge Luxon’s Government on competence and outcomes rather than personality. Photo: Hannah Warbuton/Stuff
In health, Simeon Brown has not wasted his ministerial talents and, although the sector remains troubled, Brown has been effective. He has instructed the ministry to put ideological reservations aside and pay the private sector to sharpen their scalpels to cut into the waiting lists.
The problem is a single-payer model where there is no cost to the end user is flawed and will always suffer from excess demand and insufficient funding. The failure to confront this structural reality is frustrating, but New Zealanders are not ready to accept any alternative.
Erica Stanford claims credit for the successful implementation of structural literacy, although it is important to remember that it was under Hipkins’ tenure as education minister that trials for this approach were commenced, and he has committed to maintaining it.
However, Stanford implemented this change, along with a requirement for three hours a day of core learning on reading, writing and mathematics, a development the opposition leader will leave to individual schools rather than a mandate from the centre.
Education is improving under this government because, if you can forgive some subjectivity from this columnist, the minister is prioritising teaching students over pandering to the education unions.
Inflation, especially in domestically traded goods and services, is back under control as the finance minister has narrowed the Reserve Bank’s mandate. The ruinous multi-billion cost of the pending pay-equity claims was avoided thanks to the work of Minister Brooke van Velden, something the opposition has promised to reinstate.
The heroic efforts of Messrs Bishop and Court have resulted in a reworked land management framework that has the potential to unlock enormous wealth as construction projects are liberated from the molasses of the certification and objection regime.
And let us not forget the now overlooked but economically significant Indian trade deal.
This government is tackling serious issues. They have yet to address the fiscal deficit and the rising pension costs, but they acknowledge this is a problem. National will be trapped into a coalition with David Seymour, certainly with a larger caucus, who will want to make deficit reduction a priority and who has a policy to raise the pension age.
The alternative ensemble to the dour Mr Darcy is full of charming, funny, and considerably more photogenic individuals than the phalanx of grey men representing the status quo. We can understand why Bridget Jones fell, briefly, into the welcoming embrace of the winsome Hugh Grant, if you allow me to continue the analogy.
But this is not a movie. We should remember the past performance of a Labour-led government: rising inflation, increased concerns about crime, falling education attendance and economic malaise.
I prefer the Bridget Jones version of Pride and Prejudice to Elizabeth Bennet’s. The chaotic, shambolic and awkward stumbling towards the obvious choice represents how most of us live and decide, rather than the cool objectivity that only exists in high English literature.
In a matter as serious as government, we should assess performance, not personality. Competence, not charisma. Outcomes, not intentions. Luxon leads an effective government that warrants a second term.....The full article is published HERE
Damien Grant is an Auckland business owner, a member of the Taxpayers’ Union and a regular opinion contributor for Stuff, writing from a libertarian perspective
In health, Simeon Brown has not wasted his ministerial talents and, although the sector remains troubled, Brown has been effective. He has instructed the ministry to put ideological reservations aside and pay the private sector to sharpen their scalpels to cut into the waiting lists.
The problem is a single-payer model where there is no cost to the end user is flawed and will always suffer from excess demand and insufficient funding. The failure to confront this structural reality is frustrating, but New Zealanders are not ready to accept any alternative.
Erica Stanford claims credit for the successful implementation of structural literacy, although it is important to remember that it was under Hipkins’ tenure as education minister that trials for this approach were commenced, and he has committed to maintaining it.
However, Stanford implemented this change, along with a requirement for three hours a day of core learning on reading, writing and mathematics, a development the opposition leader will leave to individual schools rather than a mandate from the centre.
Education is improving under this government because, if you can forgive some subjectivity from this columnist, the minister is prioritising teaching students over pandering to the education unions.
Inflation, especially in domestically traded goods and services, is back under control as the finance minister has narrowed the Reserve Bank’s mandate. The ruinous multi-billion cost of the pending pay-equity claims was avoided thanks to the work of Minister Brooke van Velden, something the opposition has promised to reinstate.
The heroic efforts of Messrs Bishop and Court have resulted in a reworked land management framework that has the potential to unlock enormous wealth as construction projects are liberated from the molasses of the certification and objection regime.
And let us not forget the now overlooked but economically significant Indian trade deal.
This government is tackling serious issues. They have yet to address the fiscal deficit and the rising pension costs, but they acknowledge this is a problem. National will be trapped into a coalition with David Seymour, certainly with a larger caucus, who will want to make deficit reduction a priority and who has a policy to raise the pension age.
The alternative ensemble to the dour Mr Darcy is full of charming, funny, and considerably more photogenic individuals than the phalanx of grey men representing the status quo. We can understand why Bridget Jones fell, briefly, into the welcoming embrace of the winsome Hugh Grant, if you allow me to continue the analogy.
But this is not a movie. We should remember the past performance of a Labour-led government: rising inflation, increased concerns about crime, falling education attendance and economic malaise.
I prefer the Bridget Jones version of Pride and Prejudice to Elizabeth Bennet’s. The chaotic, shambolic and awkward stumbling towards the obvious choice represents how most of us live and decide, rather than the cool objectivity that only exists in high English literature.
In a matter as serious as government, we should assess performance, not personality. Competence, not charisma. Outcomes, not intentions. Luxon leads an effective government that warrants a second term.....The full article is published HERE
Damien Grant is an Auckland business owner, a member of the Taxpayers’ Union and a regular opinion contributor for Stuff, writing from a libertarian perspective
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