“Get the Government off the Couch” – Build the Nation

Build The Nation’s Richard McIntosh today called for politicians to get serious about rebuilding essential national capacity.

“The era of privatisation, contracting out and selling off has seriously weakened the nation’s ability to defend its interests. Complacency and lack of will from political parties of the left, right and centre has translated into degradation of services essential to the security of the nation. Whether biosecurity incursions, transnational crime or pressure from Communist China, New Zealand now lacks the capacity to respond effectively to external threats.”

Politicians like to sound tough by telling people to get off the couch and get a job. But they are failing to do the most important job of all: keeping the nation safe and secure.

“The fact is we need to get the government off the couch and doing something useful. Doing nothing, or thinking you can pay people to do everything for you, just isn’t healthy. Governments need to start doing something for themselves, like building things and doing things that strengthen the nation and that we can all be proud of. That’s their job,” said Mr McIntosh.

Build the Nation is the start of Mr McIntosh’s journey to create New Zealand’s new centre party. He is contesting the Northland seat in this year’s general election. Build The Nation says the time to rebuild New Zealand has arrived and that the benefits of doing so will flow to citizens in rural and urban areas alike.

“But,” Mr McIntosh added, “first things first, we need to put the era of privatisation firmly behind us.”