I was asked for some predictions for 2023.
One prediction I made was that there would be a new prime minister in 2023, and his name would be Chris. Well, that came true much earlier than I foresaw, and certainly not in the way I expected.
While the winds of change have blown through the personnel, apart from the prime minister, not a lot has changed. The highest ranked ministers and their portfolios haven’t.
Members of Labour have signalled they believe Auckland is more important to them than the regions that produce the lion’s share of New Zealand’s wealth.
The minister of local government has changed, but there is no word on whether or how the controversial Three Waters reforms, that I’ve described as state-sponsored theft, will change.
The new minister of health came to Dunedin to "listen and understand the concerns" of the community about the capacity cuts to the new Dunedin Hospital. That same minister was sitting around the Cabinet table when the Government approved the arrangements that led to those cuts.
What she could have done is announce a reversal of that decision and that the Government will build the hospital to the business case specification they had previously approved. I’m not holding my breath.
The new PM says he wants to focus on the "bread and butter issues". That would make a change.
In election year, voters will ask themselves: am I better off under this Government? Do I feel safer in my home or going out? Is housing more affordable for me and my children? Is my grocery bill less expensive?
The answers to all of these questions is emphatically no. No amount of reshuffling, rhetoric or resolve; no amount of blaming Covid or international factors will change the reality of people’s situation. They are worse off under Labour.
This election year there will be a lot of policy commitments. When thinking about them, think about delivery.
Labour promised an end to homelessness, 100,000 houses, a billion trees, child poverty reduction, Dunedin Hospital construction commenced by 2020. None achieved. Long on rhetoric, short on delivery.
We deserve better than this.
