Do NZ voters want a leader or an ostrich?

Scoopit!

Fran O’Sullivan was somewhat trenchant in her column in The Weekend Herald yesterday; rightly so in Adam’s opinion.

Ms O’Sullivan wrote:-

Somebody please use a laser on John Key’s forehead to tattoo the message: “This is not business as usual.”

Just 35 days out from an election in which Key will become Prime Minister – if the polls become reality – the National Leader has still not divulged his plan for preventing the economy heading for the knacker’s yard.

This is absolutely correct. Adam does not comprehend why Clark, Cullen, Key and English appear to have gone into ostrich mode over the Global Financial Crisis.

Tom Scott - Dominion POst - 3 October 2008

This crisis is not passing NZ by, there are profound implications for all sectors of the economy, yet our politicians far from exhibiting leadership are feeding us pap. Many in the media are not much better. When the crisis is covered much of the analysis is superficial.

O’Sullivan wrote that voters want to know, from John Key:-

whether he does indeed have a plan for New Zealand.

Or, whether he’s just another vanilla politician who wants to sleepwalk to victory instead of telling us just what hard calls his party would make to smash the big delusion that “everything’s OK”.

Yesterday the heat was going on Key and his finance spokesman Bill English that they must flesh out their proposals on Wednesday with their vaunted tax cuts to put an end to scathing criticism that the National leader has suffered over his ostrich-like response to the international credit crisis.

It was for this reason that Adam wrote a post Required:Leadership a couple of days ago. Amongst other comments in that post Adam wrote:-

Adam is not convinced at this time that either major party is facing up to what is going on. He is especially

Moreu - The Press - 30 September 2008

concerned with the prospect of Labour offering new electoral bribes such as more on student allowances for example, when Cullen is already outside his comfort zone. In the case of National he suggests they may have oversold their tax cut plan, plus their promises on existing programmes are such that if elected and hard choices have to be made because of the economic situation they will be seen as having broken promises.

That post referred as well to a mid week article by Fran O’Sullivan where amongst other comments she wrote:-

the two prospective prime ministers were continuing with their electioneering stances as if the New Zealand economy will weather the global credit crunch without any major impact.

Later in the same article she commented:-

Neither prospective Prime Minister seems to have grasped the nettle – at least publicly – that their plans to buy our votes at this year’s election also need to be urgently recast.

Continuing on their respective “default” modes (Clark promising more cash to Labour’s people and Key promising another round of tax cuts without compensating expenditure cuts) is questionable as will be obvious on Monday.

On that day, the parlous state of the Crown’s coffers will be confirmed as Treasury releases the pre-election economic and fiscal update.

In yesterday’s article, Fran O’Sullivan remarked in severely disappointed tone:-

As one of the first to put the boot into Key this week, I’d say about time.

I have been profoundly shocked at Key’s extraordinary failure to say anything meaningful, let alone outline National’s proposed responses, as many of us experienced nights of sleep deprivation as we watched on US television the extraordinary pressure on the US Congress to vote in a credible scheme to avert another Great Depression.

The international crisis is not just a business issue. What’s happening is remarkably like the conditions which gave rise to mass human misery during the 1930s.

Indeed this is the case. Adam has drawn attention to other articles on the crisis with an international flavour encompassing a range of views. Adam too has been dismayed and shocked at what to date appears to have been a leadership failing in National.

Adam repeats again what he wrote in his post of October 1, 2008 ‘Are these tax cuts really the right thing, now?‘ where he stated:-

Now is the time for National to take a hard look at the realities of the situation the country is in and consider whether any tax cuts are affordable.

The possibility of an extensive global recession should not be ruled out. Tax cuts may not be appropriate at this time. Hard decisions may be required, are any of our political leaders up to the task, or are they all wrapped up in their own importance and not looking at what needs to be done for the sake of the country?

There is no apology for returning to this subject. It is in times like these that we see the mettle of our politicians. To date both Clark and Key have been found wanting. Adam had no great expectations of Clark, but is disappointed by Key, given his background in international finance.

In her Saturday article O’Sullivan commented:-

The ostrich mentality is not just a Key trait.

Behind the scenes Finance Minister Michael Cullen is telling worried business people that it is just too volatile right now for the Government to judge an appropriate response.

Cullen knows tax revenues have already been hammered through three successive quarters of economic recession. But this is nothing compared with what’s coming down the track as Kiwi companies corralled by the current credit lines squeeze reverse investment plans and switch into headcount reduction mode.

But take a look across the ditch, Michael. Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is already into full-scale Keynesian pump priming. Rudd is mounting a raid on Australia’s multibillion-dollar infrastructure fund in an attempt to stave off the full effects of the global financial crisis.

He’s not going to dole out the cash directly to hard-pressed Aussies. Rather he will use it to bring forward a raft of infrastructure projects which will spark growth and employment.

As O’Sullivan notes Rudd has had a reality check.

In addition as she writes:-

If Key and Clark believe they can get through this campaign without directly confronting the issues they are reckoning without the Peters factor. The current international conditions provide an all too easy platform from which the New Zealand First leader can milk valid worries – particularly those of the elderly.

The NZ First leader will milk this for all he can. given the level of voter knowledge of the issues, coupled with the anti-business and anti-US attitudes of so many New Zealanders, which have been so assiduously cultivated by this government it is likely that he will be on fertile ground.

Truly the chickens of the past will come home to roost. This is not the time for a populist, anti-business xenophobe to be calling the shots, but there is a possibility he might.

As O’Sullivan comments:-

There is real anger out there in voting land. Those that put their savings in the Petricevic and Bryers companies are not alone. Plenty of retirees who lost a good deal of their savings in the finance companies’ implosion will not be able to make up the balance again.

Yes there is anger. Government deserves censure for not moving to ensure better regulation of the finance company sector years ago. National may well share some blame here. It will be all too easy though for a Peters to stir up foreign demons here. Though it must be said that many of these investors were motivated by the same facors which drove others, though on a larger scale elsewhere, that is greed. Surely it must have occurred to some that high interest rates meant high risk, or did they believe in fairies?

This though is one additional reason why they are fertile ground for Peters for he provides someone else for them to blame other than themselves and their all too human greed.

Ms O’Sullivan concluded her article sombrely and in a dark tone:-

We are not alone in seeking answers to this crisis which will see much overstretched bad loans and reckless lending exposed in coming months. But we are alone in not seeking solutions. Pathetic really.

Indeed it is pathetic.

Implicit in her closing remark is a call for leadership.

Leadership or perceived lack of it by Key was noted in Simon Collin’s article in the Herald on 2 October,

This leads Adam to again pose the questions he raised at the close of the Required:Leadership post, viz:-

• Can John Key grasp this opportunity and lead?
• Does he have the wherewithal to campaign on what is right, rather than what will win votes?
• Is the NZ electorate prepared to confront the painful realities approaching?

If this election is truly about trust, then now is the time for our politicians to trust the electorate and spell out the implications of the global economic crisis and the decisions that will need to be faced.

Perhaps we can distil it down to a simple question:-

Do NZ voters want a leader or an ostrich?