The hilarity of National now announcing $6b in infrastructure after destroying the construction industry
I just could not believe this bullshit announcement of $6b in infrastructure after data showing National’s own policies had destroyed the construction industry in just one year…
Centrix reported this month that 758 construction businesses have gone into liquidation in the last 12 months, thanks in part to the Government’s freeze on transport, housing and hospital investment spending at the beginning of 2024, meaning Construction jobs have fallen by 12,723 in the last year while 30 000 Kiwis have left NZ – this Government believes if you amputate the state, the market will step in and do it cheaper – how’s that ideological experiment working out for Kiwis?
…the announcement isn’t just a joke in light of that, the whole thing is a bogus spin dr job as Bernard Hickey devastatingly points out today…
Performative politics in high viz. Again.
The Government announced what appeared to be $6 billion in fresh infrastructure spending yesterday, but it turns out much had already been previously announced, and some of the total was still vapourware, as this caveat in the statement made clear:
“This list excludes a small number of significant projects which will begin construction before the end of 2025, but cannot yet be named for a range of commercial reasons. The value of these projects is included in the $6 billion total. Announcements will be made about them in the coming weeks and months.” Chris Bishop.
They key report to check when assessing if the Government is increasing infrastructure spending or not is the Treasury Crown Accounts for the latest month. That shows commitments are down nearly $3 billion from last year.
The other document to check is Budget 2025’s Economic & Fiscal Outlook (page 53), showing falling capital investment over the next four years.
Further reading: RNZ: Govt accused of recycling projects in $6b infrastructure push
…I honestly think the Government believe we are fucking stupid and won;t see through the falsehood that is this announcement!
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister Nicola Willis said through the first six months of the year their Government and Budget 2025 was focused on ‘growth, growth, growth’, but the Crown Accounts for the 11 months to the end of May actually show the Government invested $6.4 billion less than last year and $3.6 billion less than forecast.
Where is the growth?
The services sector joined the manufacturing sector in contracting in June. BNZ downgraded its Q2 GDP forecast to a contraction while Stats NZ also reported yesterday another 0.2% fall in total spending with electronic cards in June, which means retail sales have fallen 7.5% in inflation-adjusted terms in the last two years.
Where is the economic growth we were promised from this Government?
The Government portrayed the 0.8% rise in the first quarter as the beginning of a recovery. We were told, Growth, Growth, Growth but it’s the Government’s own amputation of State spending that has stunted that for ideological reasons – are there any Keynesian’s left on the Political Right or is it all DOGE Chainsaw Taxpayers’ Union wet dreams now?
We are 3 huge sparsely populated islands, free market dynamics don’t work when you have such low population density, which is why the State in NZ has always needed to be the 35% to 40% foundation stone, so why is this Government hellbent on rescinding the State’s obligations and simply leaving it to the free market?
They are lying to your faces while continuing to amputate the State because they believe on an almost religious level that the market will step in and do the job cheaper!
This isn’t an economic policy, it’s an idealogical experiment, yet you the voter have your nose so out of joint over vaccines, Trans people and Māori that you would prefer to mutilate the country to ‘own’ the left and bend the knee to National’s donors!
None of us should bend the knees to corporations and spite the way this hard right Government have.
Dita De Boni reports that The Government is trumpeting the fact that 215 applications have so far been received for the rejigged Golden visa categories, with $1 billion in new money landing this year if all those who applied are approved.
Is this what we have become is it?
A country selling citizenship to multi-millionaires?
Is that how far we have fallen?
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I presume that RNZ don’t read your columns as they had another tame interview with Cluxon this morning where he was allowed to repeat his lies with impunity. It appears that a significant part of the population does not want evidence if it conflicts with their feelings, so I don’t expect any immediate improvements.
Luxon (a.k.a Clusterfuxon), Willis, Bishop, Penk…..all just so utterly stupid….beggars belief!!
Given National and the CoC have created rampant inflation 6b will only be worth 4b and once again will be an underinvestment in infrastructure…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/360764144/inflation-predicted-hit-12-month-high-june-quarter
“Our job is to do the best we can to deliver growth, growth, growth” says Christopher Luxon this morning. Then repeats the statement for emphasis.
No, Mr Luxon. You are not a four year old in pre-school. Whatever your job description may be, it is not to “do the best you can”.
“Doing the best you can” is an attitude. A rather woke attitude which will not convince the majority of voters. As a job description it does not cut the mustard.
A proper job description specifies required material outcomes. If that material outcome is to deliver “growth” then so be it. It is a very low bar to set, because growth is assumed to happen naturally in a capitalist economy, even without input from government. As a goal it also allows one to achieve success by various cheating strategies, such as bringing in masses of unskilled migrants to created demand on the back of cheap labour. Then there is the fact that “growth” is a strangely delusional goal for any government to follow. It is reminiscent of the assumption of the Soviet Union that economic growth itself would guarantee stability and social well-being.
But Christopher Luxon is not even suggesting that “growth” as we all understand it is the actual goal. Why “growth, growth, growth”? Why not simple “growth”? Because “growth” in the singular would be a goal of sorts. “Growth, growth, growth” is just a slogan. Therefore Luxon will be able to claim that he has achieved his target if there is some growth here and some more over there, even while the economy as a whole is stagnating or declining.
So Christopher Luxon has gone over to the woke. He is trying to argue that results don’t matter. All that counts is an attitude, and the slogan is proof of his attitude.
Read between the lines and you will find an admission of failure.
yes his 0.8% growth for the year has been eaten up by the 2.7% inflation already .In fact that inflation is the result of increased export prices which he is claiming as growth .I would doubt we have produced more of anything material in the last 12 months compared to the period before.I know of a high end exporter who was over run with work in 2021/2022 and is now cutting workers and production to 3 days per week .They got what they voted for .
Ah, yes. National trying to take credit for Labour’s homework again. Quelle surprise! After slashing funding and delaying everything from the Dunedin hospital to the Otaki-Levin expressway, they now expect the dull-witted peons that comprise the general population to give them a round of applause. And many of them will because people don’t pay attention.
Now that you’ve decided to build something, how are you going to do that with a construction industry you’ve allowed to atrophy like a diseased appendage?
National – lying to the plebs since forever.
All soooooo true…well articulated!
None of the projects are new .They were all under way in some form under the last government .This is just another of Luxons back flips that he made famous before the last election .This government has no policy of their own and realize they have to stop the austerity shit before the country completely implode inti a major depression .So now they have started up the new schools ,hospital builds and rebuilds ,and roads that were supposed to star last year under the previous government hence all of these projects are shovel ready .The problem now is who will build them ?Most of our construction workers have moved off shore and we will have to pay double what they earned before they left to get them back .No one will be interested in training new people and this government will not invest the millions the last government did to train new builder plumbers and sparkies .Luxon and co are looking more and more incompetent every day .NOW watch them blame JACINDA because there are no trades people to do the Mahi .
Yes Martyn the govt do think we are f’ing stupid and the polls reinforce they are on to something. This constant “we couldn’t carry on borrowing”, “doing what is needed for the recovery” bullshit.
They have borrowed more for zero impact for the majority. Total liars.
Then they turn up in high viz and more less say government spending creates jobs! No shit Sherlock.
Yeah, but the CoC have provided us with a huge pool of cheap labour and under their policies one builder can be on a building site with many labourers. And the builder can inspect his workers own work and pass it just tape up or over any shortcuts so no one will know or see the shoddy workmanship until the shit hits the fan like leaky buildings. And by then all the wankers who passed the bill will be long gone and the homeowners left to fix the mess. Geez have we not learnt.