PM Midterm Report Card, Part II

Limited Efficacy of Government

We continue our series giving our Prime Minister a mid-term report card. We are in the bouquet section; brickbats will come later.

A second tick for our PM is his apparent awareness of the limitations of government power and efficacy. His instincts appear to be that he believes there are limits to what the government can do and accomplish. Now this is not something to be taken for granted. The previous socialist administration, under the aegis of Clark and Cullen, instinctively believed the opposite. Government in their minds was omni-competent. There was no problem, social or economic, which could not be solved by passing more laws and regulations, inseminated with repeated ejaculations of tax-extorted money.

Now, it is true, at times John Key has veered and wavered away from this commendable instinct. (We call it an "instinct" because we do not believe it is philosophically or ideologically grounded in his world-view. Rather, we suspect that his scepticism over government competence probably comes from his practical experience in the real world of commerce. He will have seen plenty of examples of government incompetence and asininity. Unlike Clark and Cullen he has actually lived and succeeded in the real world.) We think, for example, of Key's bombastic "jobs summit", full of promise and wind, signifying nothing or very little in the end. National cycle tracks, anyone? We think also of his decision that tourism was an industry with huge potential to effect New Zealand's economic development and his, insistence, therefore of trying to push it along by selecting it is personal portfolio.

But such peccadilloes we can live with. We don't like them, but we accept that in this fallen world, imperfections will always exist. But, on the whole, Key veers away from acting as if the government must solve every problem. He has commendably been quite candid about it with the country.

Key does not see this as a sign of weakness in his administration--as some kind of political embarrassment that must be kept from the people. Rather, he appears to see limited government competence as a necessary virtue. Thus, he has focused to an extent on getting government "out of the way", reducing regulatory burdens, reducing personal income tax rates, encouraging rather than picking private sector winners. We wish he had done more to reign in Molech, but at least it is a start, and far more healthy that the socialist administration he ousted.

It has been interesting to watch the breathless mainstream media run to Key for comment about this or that scandal, outrage, faux pas, or misdemeanour only to be met with completely relaxed and innocuous responses--almost as if he refuses to be drawn. It must be frustrating for the headline gold-diggers. His response over the Paul Henry scandal is a good example. Contrast this with the way Helen Clark used to wade into court cases and employment disputes, take sides, ignore due process, and thump the table--as if the office required it. It would be tiresome to list the names of all those whom she constructively dismissed. (The media, of course, loved this. Scalps. Scalps. Scalps. Don't worry about the illegality of it all. Don't worry about the contravention of natural justice.) John Key is a far, far better Prime Minister than his predecessor in such things.

Prime Ministerial Bouquet, No 2: a realistic scepticism about the competence of government .