So there's this small but growing
(but still small, viz a viz the size of the New Zealand market)
YouTube-based news channel hosted by a former Parliamentary press gallery journo, Duncan Garner. Tonight, he ran a segment in which he ranked the "10 Best Ministers" in the country's Cabinet.
But it occurred to me that his rankings were based in part on "results" (and whether he agreed with the desirability of those results or not) and in part on
(as I saw it)
public optics. How well the various portfolio holders came across in the theatre that is New Zealand politics.
I want to propose an alternative
(radical but shouldn't be)
method of ranking those with whom the buck supposedly stops for the performance and ethics of Ministries, Departments, Bureaus and Agencies in this country. I propose that,
"We, the People" rank these "Honourable" individuals based on the
actual "honourability" of the organisations bearing the name of their portfolios.
I know they'd scream in protest, saying that Ministers have no jurisdiction over the operations of their Ministries - but at the end of the day, that's a total cop-out. And I'm not sure at what point in the last few decades that cop-out got introduced - but when I was a Ministerial Press Secretary, I can tell you that NO head of a Department wanted to arrive in of a morning and find a "Ministerial" sitting on their desk. I suspect the accepted authority in place in those times gave way to the emergence of New Zealand's very own "Deep State" . . . in the form of the "Parliamentary Service" aka the Wellington Bureaucrat Mafia. (But don't tell them I know they're called that around the traps.)
Frankly, I think the neutering of Ministers in this power shift has not served this country or its citizenry well at all.
Let me count the ways . . . which I will do by way of my own ranking of our "honourable" Ministers . . . and again, I'll do it in terms of how "honourably" their Ministries operate. You're going to see in just how many cases that picture leaves a whole lot to be desired. On which note, it's therefore more appropriate that MY rankings will be a
"Worst Of" list. I''ll let the above-mentioned ex-Parly journo give out any "Best Of" Honours. (He struggled to get past No. 5 on his list.)
One last thing before I hook into it: I'm going to offer you my "Worst Of" list in
instalments.
The No. 1 Worst Minister in the New Zealand Cabinet
Without a doubt, the "Worst Of" award goes to
the (not so) Honorable Louise Upston, the Minister of "Social Development".
What an appalling piece of work she is, with
little care that her optics directly reflect her attitude, and her Ministry's culture, towards even the most under-privileged and vulnerable members of New Zealand society.
By way of example, the disabled and the sick (who may have been contributory and tax-paying members of society) are treated, in many instances, as grossly inferior to multi-generational dole bludgers. It seems to be a particular pet project of hers i.e. to target the already greatly struggling disability community and the various individuals within it.
She also appears to be perfectly happy to allow
rampant wokist, reverse racism prevail in her "Ministry".
And there are multiple case studies and interviews on this very publication to prove the green lighting of the heinous conduct of a serious percentage of the personnel of this frightful agency (here's just
ONE example), as well as the practices they enlist external service providers to engage in (who are only too eager to dip their ladles into the trough of taxpayer funds it "administers" to do its dirty work).
And No. 2 Spot Goes To . . . . the "Honorable" Mark Mitchell, Minister of Police.
An
indisputable buffoon in front of the television cameras, his media presence failure is exceeded only by his inability (or unwillngness?) to instil performance ethics into his own office staff - and certainly at street-level operations.
Here's one case that's simply unspeakable (whereby an out-of-control, off-the-chain, egomaniac bully boy cop cost a genuinely innocent young woman her life) . . . . with the usual "blind eye" turned to the whole affair, and to the deeply grieving parents, by government "watchdog" agencies, of course.
As far as even the most moderate respect for the public from his own office staff goes . . . I have my own story to tell:
When my car was broken into and burgled, I did what we New Zealanders have always done. I rang the police. But the jeering cop on the police "help line" told me,
"Nah, we don't attend break-ins."
So I did what a more proactive New Zealander would do, and I wrote to the Minister of Police, seeking clarification of this new policy. Of course, no answer ever came. So I sought the help of one of the few individuals I've happened across in the 'Hive who has integrity, who endeavoured, on my behalf, to prompt a reply from the Minister's staffers. The begrudged, prompted, one-sentence reply came:
"We will respond in due course."
Of course, more than six months later, "due course" has never arrived.
So, my Dear Readers (who are organically growing in number, and I'm honoured; thank you) . . . those are my Top 2 "Worst Of's" and why.
Spot No. 3 is tied between two Ministers who seem to have forgotten that New Zealanders might want a say in the major decisions their lobbyist mates would prefer they DON'T allow the New Zealand people to have a say in.
Stay tuned.
OH . . . and one last thing . . . this time, to the Ministers, the "Bureacrat Mafia" (i.e. the ones in the shadows that
actually
run the show), the MPs,
and those closely "monitoring" alternative media channels and publications at your behest . . . you know, the well-paid thugs you have lying in wait for an opportunity to meter out a bit of good old-fashioned (taxpayer-funded) reputational revenge. The ones who, err, "remove" "difficult" individuals (their words, not mine).
You might think YOU'RE watching US. Some of US are watching YOU.
So while you gasp in shock that I have knowledge of your behind-the-scenes "processes", please pass this on to those you retain to lurk in the shadows waiting for the nod to "execute your briefs" (I choose my words strategically, of course):
Karma can be a right bitch sometimes, and can hit you square in the face from the direction of those you (might wrongfully) assume are completely powerless to mount a defence.
ALSO OF INTEREST:
How Wellington REALLY Works: The '5 Ds' - A Series by Jordan Kelly . . . Learn the Plays & Ploys of New Zealand Government Agencies to Beat Them At Their Own Sordid Game
And . . .
Ministry of Social Development Staffer Sends Client's Personal File Information to Journalist
