A writer despairs

The current crop of political parties inhabiting Fort Bumble down in Wellington seem to be always rearranging deck chairs and consequently, hardly ever making much progress.

Decision-making seems to always be based on long-winded reviews and simplistic modelling that is rarely, if ever, accurate.

Policies that have demonstrably caused many of the issues we have today just get rehashed, given another name, another tranche of managers and a hefty budget increase (spread over multiple years), then rolled out and ramped up with much fanfare.

Every time a subsidy is announced the Government is admitting that all is not well with the current policy settings.

Whether it is for child care, food banks, school lunches, winter heating, working for families, accommodation supplements, public transport or fuel taxes, each one is only papering over a large crack in an earthquake prone wall.

Meanwhile, National is ploughing ahead with their own rearrangement of their deck chairs with their tax cuts that disproportionately increase the wealth of those that actually don’t need it.

The amount paid to some sections of our society has been totally out of whack when you compare their contribution to the smooth running of our society to that of those on struggle street who do the real dirty work.

This income discrepancy has been increasingly causing stresses and strains that are now showing up on the streets of despair.

A country like New Zealand should be a great place for everyone to live but with each party pulling in a different direction I fear that I may no longer have long enough to live to be able to see order restored.

Geoff Orchard, Ohaupo