Newsgroups: soc.culture.new-zealand
Subject: Re: Sir Robert Muldoon Dies
From: meachen@med.wcc.govt.nz
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1992 23:22:20 GMT
Reply-To: meachen@med.wcc.govt.nz
Organization: Wellington City Council, Wgtn, NZ

In article <1992Aug12.075038.280@csc.canterbury.ac.nz>, paul@cosc.canterbury.ac.nz (cantva) writes:
>From article <1992Aug11.014154.12792@peponi.wcc.govt.nz>, by meachen@med.wcc.govt.nz:
>> However given a choice Muldoon over these two people away, at least
>> people had a chance of secure jobs and full employment and a standard
>> of living.
>> 
>> --
>> Red
>
>[perhaps I should prefix all this with IMHO :-)]
>
>First, I don't think emplyment was anything like full under Muldoon
>(although certainly it was much fuller than it is now) - unemplyment
>has been a problem as long as I can remember.
>

There will always be unemployment, however having worked in a few
govt depts where restructuring and widespread staff cuts, redundancy,
employment contracts bill, collapse of the welfare state, I IMO was 
better off under a Muldoon government, where unions, tariffs, free
medical care etc protected the little people who were paying the taxes. 
Of course it was full employment.

I know quite a few people qualified and unqualified with Uni degrees 
or work experince, not to mention people who returned from overseas
who under the old rules, could still pick and choose a job according
to their needs, now you are lucky if you can find anything close to
being suitable.

Under Labour and National, the paying off the National debt has gone
too far in that our major assets (money spinners for NZ) are being
sold off to overseas interests which is destroying our future economic
growth. One example that turns my stomuch is the mining in the township
in Wahi, US offshore overseas mining companies are raping our landscape.
I visited friends on this weekend who have been sent a notice from the
mining company who want to drill under the land their freehold 160 year
old home sits on (you only own the top 5 inches of the section). In the
middle of the town there was a hill, now its a big ugly pit and a pile
of rubble.  

>Second, the reason that we enjoyed a better standard of living under
>Muldoon is simply because he borrowed huge amounts of money to keep
>us all in the style we had become accustomed to in the 50s and 60s - the
>simple "borrow and hope" startegy that is now costing us very dearly.
>Things like Think Big, SMPs, and the government soaking up unemployment
>through government departments (how many thousands did Railways used to
>employ?) spring to mind.
>
>Perhaps Muldoons biggest crime was the 1975 National Superann policy -
>an election bribe of enormous proportions.  This scheme was always
>unsustainable.  It also lead to many in the 60 to 65 age giving up work
>earlier than they otherwise would have, left people with the expectation
>that they didn't need to save for retirement, and gave people the
>unrealistically high expectations that they still have today.
>
>By 1984 things were in bad shape - the wage-price freeze a desparate
>arttempt to keep things under control.  I have been told that we had
>just about borrowed as much as we could without the IMF intervening in
>our economic management.
>
>I don't like many of the things that Governments since then have done,
>but many changes were necessary.  Also, both Governments have had
>very little room for maneuovre because of the debt left over from
>the Muldoon era (interest is the second largest budget item?).
>
>I wasn't glad to hear that Muldoon had died, but then again I wasn't
>particularly sad either.  Still, I can't help thinking that if he'd
>died 20 years ago we _may well_ be a lot better off today.
>
>
>--
>----- Paul Ashton ----
>Email: paul@cosc.canterbury.ac.nz
>NZ Post:        Dept of Computer Science
>                University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
Newsgroups: soc.culture.new-zealand