- By Simeon Brown, MP for Pakuranga
Labour might have a new leader, but the same challenges face New Zealand and it will be the same team of people who have failed to deliver for the last five years now trying to say they have changed.
Chris Hipkins has been a key architect of the Government’s failures over the last several years as one of Jacinda’s top Ministers, so the idea that he’ll bring a fresh perspective is difficult to imagine.
Chris Hipkins has been responsible for the merger of our polytechs which has left an almost half billion dollar hole, he has been the Minister responsible for 13,000 more bureaucrats in Wellington while front line services are stretched, and has failed as Minister of Police to get bollards installed for our dairies which are at the forefront of the crime wave we are seeing.
It’s likely in the coming weeks and months that he will seek to win support by dropping proposed policies that were hugely unpopular.
But it’s going to take a lot more than that if New Zealand is to get back on the right track. Kiwis are not easily fooled, and they know that when it comes to the things that matter most, like the cost-of-living crisis, this Government has been missing in action.
Chris Hipkins claims his focus will be squarely on the economy and on addressing this crisis, but if words were all it took, his predecessor would have led us into a utopia by now.
If Labour knew how to solve this problem, why haven’t they taken any meaningful steps to address it by now.
The reality is that this Government is out of touch with New Zealanders and lost sight long ago of what’s important.
New Zealand is facing innumerable challenges at present, with falling literacy and numeracy rates, rising crime, increasing rent, food and fuel costs, roading infrastructure that’s literally coming apart, a health system that doesn’t deliver, and many others that need urgent attention.
It’s clear that only one thing can deliver the change our country needs and it’s not a new Labour Prime Minister, it’s a National Government led by Christopher Luxon.
National has a plan to address these issues and to reduce the cost of living by reducing taxes for hard working Kiwis, making it easier to run a business and by stopping the wasteful spending that we are seeing from this Government.
With the election date now set for October 14, New Zealanders will soon have the opportunity to decide which future they want: same old Labour, or a National Government with a new direction.
