www.mccully.co.nz - 28 September 2007
new-zealand-national-party
Fri Sep 28 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
www.mccully.co.nz - 28 September 2007
Friday, 28 September 2007, 12:52 am
Column: New Zealand National Party
www.mccully.co.nz - 28 September 2007
A Weekly Report from the Keyboard of Murray McCully MP for East Coast Bays
Kiwis Head Aussie Migrants List
Australian authorities confirmed this week that New Zealand under the Clark Government has registered a stunning achievement – we are now officially the largest suppliers of new migrants to that country. The last round of official statistics saw New Zealand knock the United Kingdom, established as the number one source of new Aussies, from the top spot.
The Australian statistics are merely the flip-side of a growing trend in the monthly numbers produced by our own Government Statistician. A trend that has been the subject of regular rants from the worldwide headquarters of mccully.co. And one that will continue to be the subject of such intemperance until the Government that is driving this alarming trend is dispatched to oblivion.
The Government Statistician’s figures for the month of August, just released, serve to underline the dismal story. For the year to August 2006 33,691 New Zealanders moved permanently to Australia (an average of 647 per week). The numbers for the year to August 2007 have jumped to an alarming 39,390 (and that would be an average of 757 per week). Yes, the numbers departing for Australia have, on average, increased by exactly 110 a week in the past year.
The official numbers record that this is a jump of 16.9% in the number of Kiwi’s moving to Australia in the space of one year. And remember, that’s just the numbers moving to Australia. In total 74,238 New Zealanders left New Zealand permanently in that year – an average of 1,427 per week. These are truly frightening numbers that pose a serious challenge for a future government looking to turn this place around.
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
The cause of the growing evacuation across the ditch is simple: the growing gap in after-tax incomes. When the Clark Government was elected the average Australian after tax income was 20% higher than an average New Zealand after-tax income. Now that gap has blown out to over 30%.
Exacerbating the problem for New Zealand has been the obsession of the Clark Government with wealth re-distribution at the expense of wealth creation. That has meant a blanket refusal to countenance tax cuts – until, of course, election year 2008. Meanwhile in Australia, Treasurer Peter Costello has cut taxes in each of the past five budgets, boosting the gap in after tax incomes between New Zealand and Australia, and fuelling the economic growth that now surges at twice the New Zealand rate in that country.
This is dismal, dismal stuff. But do you hear a murmur of concern from Clark, Cullen, or any of their minions? Of course not. They couldn’t be happier. By definition, those who are departing are aspirational, energetic, hard-working people. People who are determined to get ahead. And who are prepared to pack up and leave if that’s what it takes. And guess which clapped-out, visionless government those people will never be voting for.
Labour Cronies Dominate Commission
The appointment of a new chair and several directors raise interesting questions about the role and purpose of the Electricity Commission. The Commission is the government’s overseer of the electricity industry, dealing with such controversial issues as the need for new Transpower pylons through the Waikato.
Many many weeks ago, the worldwide headquarters of mccully.co informed its vast readership of the pending appointment of a Mr David Caygill as the new chair of the commission. This week, the Minister of Energy duly obliged by officially announcing the Caygill appointment. Said Mr Caygill is not completely unrelated to the David Caygill who was once the Labour Party deputy leader and Minister of Finance. Nor is he completely unrelated to the David Caygill who has been the Labour Party representative on the Electoral Boundaries Commission, and whose work on that body was completed with the release of the new constituency boundaries this week.
Also on the Commission is a Mr Stan Rodger. Mr Rodger is not completely unrelated to the former Labour MP and senior Cabinet minister Stan Rodger who has, since his retirement, been the Clark Government’s hatchet-man of choice in relation to more than one troublesome public body. Another Commissioner is a Mr Peter Harris. Mr Harris is not completely unrelated to the Peter Harris who was once one of the country’s most senior union officials, who migrated to become a senior advisor in the office of Finance Minister Michael Cullen.
So the Minister now has a chair and two other commissioners on the six person commission that he may confidently expect will see things from the Government’s point of view. That’s a locked in majority. Which raises the very good question: why go to all of that expense and bother? If that’s what the Government wants, why not just cut out all of the middle-men and make the decisions in the Cabinet room.
Terrorism Bill Reported Back
The Terrorism Suppression Amendment Bill 2007 was reported back to Parliament this week after consideration by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. The Bill, which streamlines some of the procedures for designating terrorist entities so that authorities can apply sanctions to their operations, was strongly supported by the National MPs on the Committee. But they took the unusual step of filing a minority report on a Bill they supported.
“The National Party members,” the minority report stated, “while supporting the bill, express strong doubts as to whether its enactment will result in a more vigilant stance against the risk of terrorism by New Zealand authorities.” Those members had repeatedly expressed deep concern that “the Prime Minister has yet to designate a single terrorist entity under UN 1373….At the same time Australia has designated 88 and Canada over 50 terrorist entities under similar legislation.”
The minority report describes the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002 as “an important toolkit for authorities to proactively protect New Zealanders against the threat of terrorism. The availability of that toolkit requires the exercise of a subjective judgment that a sufficient threat exists for the civil liberties of designated persons to be overridden in the interests of the security of the public. The National Members are satisfied that this responsibility should reside with the Prime Minister – normally the Minister for the Security Intelligence Service – who is regularly briefed by security officials.”
However, National MPs go on to describe the failure of the New Zealand Prime Minister to designate a single terrorist entity under UN1373, while Australia has designated 88 and Canada over 50 as “simply not credible.” They noted that “close questioning of officials led to a complete lack of any credible explanation of the fact that the Prime Minister has made no UN1373 designations.”
“Clearly counter-terrorism initiatives are being pursued with significantly differing degrees of force and diligence as between this country and Australia. National members are forced to the conclusion that New Zealand has been seriously negligent in this respect and, whilst supporting the bill, draw the attention of New Zealanders to the fact that, in the hands of the same decision makers it will change nothing.”
So, there’s a warning for you. Parliament has provided the machinery, which is all that it can do. If the current Prime Minister doesn’t want to use it, maybe it’s time we got a Prime Minister who does.
ENDS
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}
Using Scoop for work?
Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.
Join Pro Individual Find out more
Find more from New Zealand National Party on InfoPages.