The inexperience of this government is something that is constantly on show, even though they have been in power for a year now. They should be getting into their stride by now but it is not happening. Time and time again, they make silly mistakes that would have had the media screaming about incompetence if they had happened under John Key or Bill English. In contrast, this government gets a free ride all the time, although I suspect the free ride will be coming to an end really soon.
That may be just wishful thinking though.
A newspaper reports that, once again, Jacinda has no head for the numbers. quote.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s calculation of how much extra tax Kiwis are paying at the petrol pump on Monday did not include the recent excise tax or Auckland’s Regional Fuel tax.
National Leader Simon Bridges said the Prime Minister has got this “badly wrong,” and has made a “staggering mistake.”
But a spokesman for the Prime Minister said her comments were “based on the most accurate information Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) had compiled at that time.” end quote.
The “most accurate information” that MBIE can come up with does not include recently imposed fuel taxes? Gee, it is not just the politicians that are incompetent then, is it? quote.
Between October 27, 2017 and September 28 this year, petrol prices have risen 39c, according to MBIE data – Ardern said just 6.8c of that increase was due to “taxes and levies.”
That 6.8c increase is made up of a 1.77c increase in Emissions Trading Scheme (EST) taxes and 5.04c of GST over the same period, MBIE data shows.
But the 10c a litre Auckland Regional Fuel Tax and 3.5c a litre fuel excise tax, introduced on September 30, were not included in the “taxes and levies” side of Ardern’s equation. end quote.
This is so seriously incompetent that you cannot help wondering if it was deliberate. With a fawning media, they may have thought they would get away with it. The risk of that strategy is that, if caught out, they would look incompetent.
Nah. I don’t believe that theory. Too clever for this mob by far. They are just plain incompetent. quote.
In a statement to the Herald, an MBIE’s spokeswoman said: “current methodology does not accommodate regional prices or regional fuel taxes” in their fuel price calculations. end quote.
So we are being fleeced at the pump but the Auckland regional fuel tax is not part of the fleecing? Okay. I get it…
No. I don’t. quote.
Our current methodology does not accommodate regional prices or regional fuel taxes. We are developing a new methodology to replace our existing methodology that will include regional retail price differences in its measure.” End quote.
Sounds like something straight out of “Yes, Minister” doesn’t it? Obfuscation on top of inexperience just looks stupid and sneaky. Oh, and explaining is losing, as we all know. quote.
As for the 3.5c excise tax – that came into effect on September 30 and the MBIE data Ardern was referring to was taken from between September 21-28, meaning it was not included in MBIE’s data either. end quote.
I could have sworn she held this press conference, blaming the fuel companies for ‘fleecing’ motorists on Monday, 8th October? So the data was over a week out of date?
John Key would never have got away with this level of sheer ineptitude. I can’t help wondering if the standards have fallen so low in the past year that this level of incompetence is all we expect nowadays. She has misled and misinformed the public and by and large, she has got away with it. Whichever way you look at it, she had either lied deliberately or has no clue what she is talking about. I choose the latter. She simply has no clue.