It's not about Father Christmas

Last week our Minister of Finance announced his ninth national budget. In it were the endlessly discussed and anticipated tax cuts. In the papers around the country were various comments, many not that varied at all.

I'm frustrated by the whole shebang. The tone of the newspaper (I looked at The Press, so highly likely it would annoy me, but equally it has the highest readership of any newspaper in the South Island, so pretty influential) annoyed me.

The cost of living has indeed risen sharply. Employment figures are down and indications are that rougher economic times are on the near horizon. The safety net which a government with any communal ethic provides is going to be needed more. The services which attempt to equalise opportunity, particularly for our young people, such as health and education, are going to be stretched.

So I was never a fan of any proposed tax cuts. We will benefit in our house personally, but it's the principle of the thing which is more important to me today.

A pile of people in the paper say they will vote National in the elections (our Tories) because the budget didn't offer them enough.

Like National will get in and they will find truckloads of money to throw at you? And if doctor's fees and hospital wait times and school staffing all suffer, then oops where did that come from?

I guess this comes across as a party political broadcast for our government. It's not my intention.

My intention is to express my frustration at a really blinkered mindset. Neither your government nor mine has any significant level of control over the international price of oil and grains. Good governance can reduce the harm of these two factors, particularly in my view by developing flexible and cheap public transport and encouraging local food production (for local consumption).

Father Christmas is a sweet idea. It's not healthy to assume he is real if you are an adult.