Well, New Zealand's in a mess, isn't it?
There's no overarching, "big picture" plan, no real strategy, pathetic politicians within what's actually really the "UniParty" (as in, two wings on the same bird; don't be fooled by the fighting for public optics' sake), corruption running rife especially within government agencies and local Councils, and much of our future hope heading off to Australia (and why wouldn't they?).
Here's a comment (with apologies if replicating all of this comment breaches any copyright, and if the commenter or
The Centrist instructs me to summarise it down I will do so immediately) on a
'The Centrist' news segment, that sums up the central theme nicely:
"'Where there is no vision, the people shall perish'. We are seeing this old proverb play out before our eyes. We have woke leaders from both sides of politics who just follow the prescribed path of Marxism. First the education system then the media, all used to nullify the thinking of the population whose apathy is key to slowly letting the economy succumb. Unless we can find a leader in the spirit of Churchhill, or even Trump, we will not be able to develop a shared vision, strategy and engagement of years of hard struggle to get this country back to where it should be (will be wasted,
I think they meant to add.)."
A Hotbed of Incompetence, Corruption, Low-IQ & Social Dissolution . . . Laced With A Big Helping of Complete Lack of Direction
There actually ARE plenty of opportunities in New Zealand, both at the individual level and at a more global level (as in, selling goods and services into the global marketplace). But everything about the way the current crop of politicians and the low-intellect, bureaucratic agencies, the internal corruption and near-complete incompetence they greenlight and protect, appears to be aimed at stifling those who recognise and would pursue those opportunities.
Let's take - at a higher, more corporate (as in organisational, multi-agency) level - the standard experience of anyone seeking approvals, announced and available funding, or general advisory information (you know, the most simple stuff that government agencies absorb billions of taxpayer dollars annually to provide). Dealing with many, if not most New Zealand government departments and their internal cultures is an exercise in peak frustration, patience for the toleration of impaired IQ and intentional maze-creation, and public service laziness and arrogance on steroids.
I'll give you just one example: Several years back, I approached the Ministry of Social Development and offered my services, completely free of charge, to any job seeker who wanted a high-quality CV formulated and written for them. I hotly pursued two lazy and avoidant characters in the local Masterton branch - the two senior-most managers, no less - with my offer, via them, to their client base. After telling me what a great offer I was making, they proceeded to stonewall me for the ensuing two years, each time I followed them up, to see if they wanted to take me up on my offer.
How many beneficiaries could have been in work as a result of that offer, by now? But how many of their buddies on the Ministry's payroll benefit hugely on an ongoing basis, from providing some sort of service to
those they seemingly wilfully
keepout of work, for the precise purpose of padding said consultants' pockets?
Can you just imagine the immense waste of money and internal corruption involved with the selection and administration of the pot of funds they have at their disposal for helping beneficiaries (of their private choosing) into "start-up ventures"?
Some of these clowns couldn't apply their own intellectual fire power to successfully exit a sodden paper bag.
And that's just
one government department. There are
so many more. Here's some more commentary - in book form - from
someone who's seen the clown show for what it is on the inside for three or more decades.
And every day, more and more of the general populace is starting to recognise the
dastardly "5Ds" formula government departments, government Ministers, and local government too, deploys against them.
On To the Politicians Themselves . . .
Take a look at what has now become
just another day in the New Zealand Parliament. It's too sickening to even make comment on . . . and all the while, their average constituent can't even afford the weekly grocery bill. You tea towel-draped, virtue-signalling, bar-coded morons - with most of the current in-power lot pretending, but failing, to represent some higher form of intellect.
If there were any true planning or strategising capacity between you, you'd approach your planning for the nation and its future like a competent corporate positioning strategy, with a solid plan for the execution thereof. And here would be some of your key considerations:
(These first four bullet considerations are firstly and solely for the purposes of getting a handle on whether New Zealand's internal workings and status quo are in any way approaching "adequate", as a
foundation.)
- What are the current sociographics and demographics of the New Zealand populace? What are the ways in which the current
(a) political planning processes, and
(b) bureaucratic structure, are serving them effectively and efficiently? With regard to the various needs of the populace at large, have these been accurately determined, and when were they last updated? Has the mission, structure and operational modus operandi of each relevant government agency been updated accordingly? What are the measures of this e.g. are they coming exclusively from a likely-biased internal assessment by that agency's own senior management?
- What is New Zealand's current performance, across all macro measures - social (including housing and employment but not limited to these factors), health, industrial/economic and word-stage-related - and what are our methods of making a judgement call for how acceptable these are? Are they trending up or down, and how do they compare with whatever other Western world countries it is appropriate to compare them to?
- With regard to the above, what degree of
(objectively speaking rather than politically speaking or in terms of ya buddies)
(a) competence,
(b) ethics, and
(c)
social consciousness are the relevant Ministerial portfolio holders imbued with? Are they truly competent enough, ballsy enough, and ethical enough, to look deep inside their agencies, rip them apart if necessary, and get them working . . . like, actually,
working for the New Zealand populace? (That right there has been a big obstacle to New Zealanders' trust and satisfaction with government and politicians . . . and is increasing as a measure of frustration and disillusionment.) When "reports" and Parliamentary reviews are conducted, are these done in a genuinely neutral and ethical manner, and
does anything ever come of the resultant reports and reviews
(answer: NO).. . . or are they shelved and referred to as infrequently as possible going forward (answer: YES). We have a public service in New Zealand that is anything but. In large part, it's a culture of corruption and contempt towards the citizenry, and in even larger part, Ministerial portfolio holders not only greenlight but actively encourage that culture.
- Are the consultants, sub-agencies and government programs currently absorbing large pots of government funding really
achieving anything, in specific measure, against
specific objectives (other than the bullshit little internal self-assessments they might be asked to generate once in a blue moon)?
Before we can build a really strong societal foundation, we have to
clean out the ROT in the existing foundations. And the current crop of Ministerial portfolio holders have nil incentive to do that, and don't have the spine to do it even if they did or knew how.
Future Vision . . . Or the Current Distinct Lack Thereof
What IS the vision for Brand New Zealand? Do you even have one, Luxon, Coalition & Co.? And, if so, does it represent more than bowing to your political donors and international behind-the-scenes string-pullers?
What did you
really achieve at Air New Zealand, Luxon . . . beyond the generalist PR perpetuated during and post-election?
- Is there cohesion between the many and varied industries that make up the New Zealand economy? What are
their individual visions for
their futures? Both at individual company, and at collective industry, level? Are you imposing some view and vision downwards upon them, or are you conducting exercises to listen intently to each industry's participants, in all tiers, and feeding these upwards? If so (and you're obviously not because you don't know how), how are you
reconciling and working with that intel?
- With the current level of unemployment and business failure in New Zealand, combined with the mass exodus of the populace, what specific use are you making of the above intel inputs to weave those human resources you have disenfranchised into this future vision, in an
active, meaningful, and effective way? In the immediate and short-term?
- Are the consultants, sub-agencies and government programs currently absorbing large pots of government funding really achieving anything, in specific measure, against specific objectives? Or is everybody giving everybody a nice fat salary and regular pay raises to take in everybody else's laundry, and ensure the dirty items are well-hidden from public view?
I've barely touched the surface, in terms of the way in which a competent macro-level, big picture planning exercise should be approached.
JUST IN: Taxpayers' Union reports new poll showing Government failing on five out of five key economic indicators (including creating jobs and reducing household spending), with more public servants now installed than when they came into office!
Local Government: The Incompetence, the Corruption & the Self-centric Ambitions
I barely know where to start with this cauldron of competence and corruption.
The biggest issue is that, for far too long, little people of low intellect and high personal ambition have been left to waltz into "elected representative" positions by a national populace who has had no real interest in Local Government and even less understanding of what it actually does. Most of the general populace's attention has been directed towards the national political stage, and looking to find someone with answers there (which, in large part, hasn't exactly worked).
And the corruption has run absolutely rife. One of the biggest enablers of the corruption is the fact that weak, self-serving, seat-warmers around Council tables are happy to simply be spoon-fed and directed by Chief Executives and their C-suite cronies who really run the show . . . many, to their own advantage.
I have a whole slew of articles coming up on that, but here's a few I've already published, just for starters:
MUST-WATCH: Citizen Journalist's Deep Dive into Unaccountable Local Government Spending;
Taupo Councillor Blows the Whistle: the 5Ds of Bureaucratic Sabotage At Work in Local Government;Auckland Council Imposes 'Giant Buddhist Monstrosity' Over Local Community - No Consultation;
Taxpayers' Union Repeats Call for Rates Capping After Tauranga Council Drops $67.7k for Graphics on One Bus Stop;
SHAME, Tararua District Council: The Story They Thought I Wouldn't Survive to Tell (Part One) . . . and I have an absolute beauty I'm about to publish on the antics of the ByLaws team at Masterton District Council.
And have a look at the eye-watering salaries some of these
Council CEOs (read: Town Clerks) are raking in here.
To end on some form of positive note, there's at least one Mayor who seems to understand the type of leadership opportunity that a Local Government role affords anyone who holds it. I've published a two-part interview with him across recent months,
here and
here -
with the third and final instalment (focused expressly on regional multi-industry economic development) coming soon. So stand by for that, too. Oh, and yes, there's also at least
one Councillor I've coincided with who understands fiscal responsibility concerning ratepayers' funds.
