Tuesday, 24 August 2021 10:30

Value for money?

Written by The Hound

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OPINION: Your old mate is always sceptical about claims made by government, especially when it comes to spending our money and the value of said spending.

This justifiable cynicism is reinforced by figures recently released about the much-vaunted 'Jobs for Nature' programme announced in this year's budget.

According to budget documents, it is costing the taxpayer - that's you and me - $685,000 per person hired to control wallabies under this latest government programmre.

Now your old mate knows that wallabies are expensive pests and that it takes a skilled hunter to exterminate them, but $685k per person is an expensive way to do this.

Meanwhile, a report by the Primary Production Committee has found that the 'Jobs for Nature' programme is costing $200,000 per full time job created.

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True Reflection?

A fair question has been raised about how member-funded organisations should conduct themselves when taking a public position on any given issue.

The canine crusader always has his nose in the air for more media maleficence, so was pointing as soon as he saw the Stuff headline: ‘Wellington residents respond to PM saying he doesn’t need his job!’.

Civil Circus!

OPINION: It really is getting harder to lampoon government bureaucrats when they do such a good job of it themselves.

Anyone in the primary sector will know about the clowns covering the countryside in the red tape we all have to wade through.

Spare a thought then for media outfit Stuff who were threatened with fines up to $200,000 by a snivelling civil servant from the MoH for illustrating a quiz question with a photo of part of the cover of a 45-year-old copy Playboy.

As Stuff notes, “It wasn’t the Playboy cover which caused offence. No, it was the back page which… featured an advert for a cigarette brand”.

As Regulations Minister David Seymour notes, “The real scandal here is, well, no wonder we’ve got problems in healthcare when they’re doing the Stuff quiz during work time.”

Ewe Zealand First

OPINION: After all the criticism that Winston Peters leveled at the India/NZ FTA, it seemed just a trifle ironic to the Hound that the first NZ politician to visit India after Prime Minister Modi's visit was a member of the Ewe Zealand First party.

Wrong focus

OPINION: Your old mate reckons townie Brooke van Velden, the Minister of Workplace (or is it Woke Place) Relations is now showing how underemployed she is as a minister by initiating an investigation into whether young children should be banned from collecting eggs on farms and feeding animals.

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