The Budget – now long behind us – was delivered, and as usual, many people and organisations complained that there was nothing in it for them. Tough, that’s the way it is, so get used to it. Wait until next year – election year – I am sure there will be plenty of pre-election giveaways.
However, something that has intrigued me in recent years is the number of pre-Budget announcements policies that, in previous years, would be reserved for the day. Perhaps it’s time for all the hype around the release of the Budget to be reduced to save money. Just how much does it cost to lock reporters and analysts up in a room for four hours or more – and feed them? It would not be cheap. As usual, following the Budget, we had talking heads popping up and sharing their view of what it meant. But who is paying them and where they reside is anyone’s guess.
This country has had enough of talking heads, we want to see working hands getting on and fixing things.
IN THE MEANTIME, poor old Aratere is to be retired – not because of her condition, apparently, but because her berth in Picton is part of the major works required to accommodate the new ferries when they finally get here. What will happen to Aratere when she is withdrawn from service is yet to be revealed, but I don’t think there is a ready market for this sort of ship. Sadly, she may be destined to end her days in a shipbreaker’s yard. If so, let’s hope it is not one of those that run ships up on the beach and break them up almost literally by hand, such as Alang in India.
LAST MONTH, I commented on a book I had just finished, The Mother of all Departments by Michael Bassett, which traced the history of the Department of Internal Affairs. I have now just finished another one in a similar vein, 100 Years of Motoring in New Zealand by John McCrystal, published in 2003. As its title suggests, this traces the history of motoring in New Zealand and its trials and tribulations along the way.
One thing that stands out to me is the amount of government interference over the intervening years. It clearly did not take long for successive governments to realise that the motoring industry, including the freight-carrying sector, was (and is) a cash cow that could be milked as much as they like without it drying up.
It was also interesting to read that it was not long after fuel started to be delivered to retailers in bulk instead of four-gallon tins – about 1926 – before concern was expressed about the growing cartel of major retailers and the demise of smaller ones. Just after the war, the government of the day decided to take action to break this cartel and ease the way, including amending legislation, for another major overseas company to enter the market. This saw British Petroleum (BP) enter New Zealand, with the government holding 49% of BP’s capital, which it sold in 1955.
Did the entry of BP break up the cartel as expected, ask yourself? Should we not be taking lessons from the past about what this style of government interference actually achieves?
MOVING ON FROM fossil fuels … Another vehicle transporter carrying a number of battery-electric and hybrid vehicles has caught fire while at sea and abandoned by its crew. Unfortunately, this is becoming all too common. Surely it will not be long before the marine insurance industry raises premiums on this sort of cargo? If it has not done so already, when this happens, we all know who will end up paying, don’t we?
AND SO, with the colder months ending and Christmas not all that far away, let’s hope spring brings physical signs that the economy has at last turned for the better – and we’re not left having to listen to more burble from the talking heads.
The Accidental Trucker
