What we need are Policies of National Significance

I’m pretty sure we like to think of ourselves as a modern first world nation. We often point the finger at others for having ‘‘third world’’ infrastructure – we may laugh about it. But maybe it’s time we looked in the mirror.

In comparison with others, we may think we have great jobs, reasonable incomes, good roads, modern hospitals, houses that are OK, and a crack education system.

But let’s truly test that, and I think we come up short in the reality test.

So it’s time we got the basics right. And, only once that is sorted, then hand out the billions from the Shane Jones Pork Barrel Fund to the one legged market gardeners, the students’ nationwide drinking and free fee unit, and the niche organic frog tourism operators.

Here are the basics.

HOUSING

Up to 600,000 houses are considered to be sub-standard. That is they are poorly designed, unhealthy, damp, cold and uninsulated. I know of one family living in O’Donnell St, Mt Roskill, Auckland, whose state house that they have lived in for 30 years, is close to resembling a houseboat on a river for six months every year.

When it rains it pours, and in O’Donnell St the heavens open and the water hangs around to form the unofficial waterway known as Lake Mt Roskill.

Like the bad smell it is, it soon becomes an unwelcome visitor. When Auckland rains, it’s more of a case of O’Dear in O’Donnell. I seriously worry a small child could drown in their own backyard.

Despite years of complaints, the drainage is clearly broken and it floods across numerous houses. The house where my mate’s family lives effectively floats.

Why is it so hard for Housing NZ to be a good landlord? With 50,000-plus state houses on its books, it’ll struggle to have even a fraction pass a warrant of fitness test. Outrageous fail. Are we really this devoid of money, skill, creativity and know-how?

POWER

There are still some Aucklanders who will wake up this morning in the dark, despite the sun shining outside. And, the thought of a hot shower is so 10 days ago because the Super City ain’t so superb after all.

Last week the big storm that didn’t come with a simple name like Daniels instead came with a punch resembling Tyson, and all the fury it could muster.

Mother Nature forgot to knock on Auckland’s front door with a warning. No-one was ready before the wind pulled the trees from the ground and, afterwards, if that was all the resource we had, then incompetent planning springs to mind. As do a few expletives.

Yes, the winds were category one when the storm struck, but the response could be categorised as F10. That’s F for fail and 10 for the number of days people were waiting to be back on the grid.

Our nurses deserve better pay and much improved conditions. I hope they strike.

If this wasn’t a state of emergency then what was it? And, what certainty does anyone have that the Super in Auckland City might not make it if a proper review is done?

I think Acting Prime Minister Kelvin Davis promised a review earlier in the week, but when I pushed him I wasn’t so sure, and he seemed even less certain.

Don’t worry, in a true state of emergency, Davis won’t be acting prime minister. It may well be Winston Peters. So start praying now. Any intervention is better than last week.

NURSES

Our nurses deserve better pay and much improved conditions. I hope they strike.

Their poor pay is a result of a historical sexist bias in which this was women’s work and they served the doctor, thank you very much.

Life has moved on, it’s not 1960 and it’s not acceptable.

How can they care for a country if their work is making them sad, stressed and sick?

Put this right then backdate it by a few years. I’m not joking. How on earth can giving students free tertiary education in year one trump nurses’ pay? Our priorities are wrong.

CHOPPERS AND AMBOS

Essential and emergency services should not have to shake the bucket to save lives. They need to be equipped to save lives, not trained to run telethons.

Our ambulance services need to raise tens of millions of dollars a year to stay on the road, and rescue helicopters in places such as Taupo and Rotorua face the chop due to the Government taking the letters p, e and r from chopper.

Does it feel like we have a social deficit when it comes to funding the basics and the truly needy? You bet it does. And don’t even get me started down the road of our highways.

Once again, we are cutting corners there too. Cheap solutions are slapped on when big and bold is needed on behalf of a nation that loves to drive.

Our problem is we drive fast and furious, forgetting our state highways are goat tracks with delusions of grandeur.

I could go on and mention we don’t have a train service from any CBD to the local airport, or mention we’re 700 teachers short because those in charge of planning forgot to wake up.

But, if I carry on, I might not stop. There’s mental health . . . the list goes on. Maybe we just hand out too much to people that either don’t need it or would still be OK without it.

Welfare for all of us makes us all sick. Some things simply must be too big to fail, so should be funded.

Maybe we should have a thing called Policies of National Significance. Fund them properly, and the rest if we can afford it.

I don’t envy Grant Robertson this upcoming Budget. Stick to the basics, Grant, leave the champagne and caviar to the pretenders.