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December 13, 2023 2 mins

Is it just me or are the growing number of reports about the ineptitude of the last Government an ever-larger indictment on what might be the most useless collection of buffoons in the modern political age? 

I mean we all knew they were trouble, hence the election result, and as I mentioned at the start of the show no one held them to more account than this programme. 

But then there's this new report from the Auditor-General John Ryan on the shovel ready projects. 

How big of a nail in the coffin of economic credibility do you want? How big a laughingstock do you want to be? 

"How to blow $15 billion" was one headline. 

It talked about the advice they got and the advice they ignored. By the way, the members of the media who wet themselves the other week about the new Government ignoring Treasury advice, I hope you read this report and I hope you report on the report. 

Because no one ignored more advice than Labour 2017-2023. Also, the report covers some activity of the first Labour term, the one with New Zealand First. So, if you are one of those that thought Winston was on top of his brief, read up. It was a shambles. 

Everyone was telling them they didn’t have the money, they didn’t have the planning, and they didn’t have the workforce. The risk of blowouts were all over the place, none of it was set to go, or dare we suggest, shovel ready. 

But so desperate were they to appear to be doing something to drag the economy out of the post Covid hole they had engineered, they weren't listening. And so, we end up with yet another reminder of the great calling card of Labour - non-delivery. 

Say a lot, do nothing. Announce it, then do nothing. Trumpet it for the news, then watch the crickets chirp. 

It is all there. Billions upon billions of dollars, of ideas and disaster, of no planning and even less listening. 

Nicola Willis is right, and we will hear all about it next week. The shambles she has been left is almost criminal. 

Luxon is right as well, when he said the other day, this lot should not be let within a million miles of the cheque book ever again. 

Read the report. If we hadn't lived through it, you wouldn’t believe it. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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