Andrew Dickens: Let's stop with the announcement of announcements

Now I'm a bit of a policy wonk.

I don't care which party it is. If they come up with a policy, I like to break it down and see if it makes sense.

Now I know politicians are addicted to announcements, attention and media coverage.

Which means they sometimes say the first thing in their heads that sound like they’ll get votes. No matter if it’s deliverable or not.

Labour had a bad case of it.

Phil Twyford and his 100 thousand Kiwibuild fantasy. 

Michael Wood was the champion. Based on five minutes on the back of an envelope he announced a nearly $900 million bike bridge.

Faced with backlash from Dominion Road businesses he stuck the light rail project underground. Tripling the price to an unaffordable $18 billion dollars.

Now it seems like the National led coalition has a case of the same disease. 

Paul Goldsmith has it bad. This week he announced a change to citizen's arrest rules but had no idea of what the changes are going to be.

Classic announcement of an announcement.

But the king of wishful thinking is the prince of the provinces, Shane Jones.

First, he proposed a special economic zone for Marsden point begging the question why not turn the whole country into a special economic zone. The whole place needs a hand. 

Then he proposed repairing Marsden point refinery. A fanciful idea that was shot down in hours as the enormous cost of nearly $8 billion dollars came to light. 

The reason why no Government has repaired the refinery ever since it was sold 40 years ago. 

The thing about leadership is that you need to make adult decisions and proposals.  

If you’re a cabinet minister you can’t just let the first Walter Mitty like thought bubble pop out of your mouth, when you know there’s nothing there.  

That’s the lesson Labour learnt last term.  

Hopefully the Government figures that out soon. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay, So I'm a bit of a policy wonk. I
like policy. I don't care which party it is. If
they come up with a policy, I like to break
it down and see if it makes sense. And I'll
support any policy from anybody if it's a good one.
I also know that politicians are addicted to announcements and
attention at media coverage, which means they sometimes say the
very first thing in their heads that sounds like it
might get votes, no matter if it's deliverable or not.

(00:22):
Now we'll all remember that Labor had a very bad
case of it last term. Phill Twiford in his one
hundred thousand ki We Build fantasy Michael wood I thought
was the absolute champion based on five minutes on the
back of an envelope. He announced a nearly nine hundred
million dollar bike bridge and then face with a backlash
from dominion row businesses. He then casually stuck a light
rail system underground, tripling the price to an unaffordable eighteen

(00:46):
billion dollars. Now it seems to me that the National
Led Coalition has a case of the same disease. Paul
Goldsmith has it bad. This week he announced to change
to citizens' arrest rules, but had no idea of what
the changes are going to be. The policy has been
greeted with confusion and a mixed reaction. It's an idea
that needs a lot more work. That's what he was announcing.

(01:08):
In fact, he was doing a classic Labor Party announcement
of an announcement. But the king of wishful thinking in
the coalition is the Prince of the Province's Shane Jones.
This week he proposed a special economic zone for mars
and Point, begging the question why not turn the whole
country into a special economic zone? Shane? The whole place
needs a hand. And then he proposed repairing Marsden Point refinery,

(01:31):
which is a fanciful idea. It was shot down in
hours as they realized the enormous cost of nearly eight
billion dollars. Didn't Shane already know that? And the reason
why no government has repaired the refinery ever since it
was sold forty years ago is because it's impossible and expensive.
Did Shane not know that? But he said it anyway.

(01:53):
And the thing I think about leadership is that you
need to make adult decisions and proposals, and if you're
a cabinet Minister, you can't just let the first Walter
Mitty like Thoorpe bubble pop out of your mouth when
you know that there's nothing there now. That is the
lesson labor should have learned from last term, and hopefully
the government we have right now figures it out as
well and figures it out soon. For more from Early

(02:17):
Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live to News Talks it
Be from five am weekdays, or follow the podcast on
iHeartRadio