I’m listening to the excellent #juggernaut2 podcast series from #TheSpinoff about the 4th National Government.

The thing that has struck me the most so far is the absolute callous disregard that #RuthRichardson appears to have toward the vast numbers of Kiwis hurt in the welfare cuts she undertook.

#JimBolger has always been an empathetic figure given the way that he talks about his government’s cuts. He did what he believed was necessary and yet seems genuinely concerned about the wellbeing of New Zealanders.

Richardson on the other hand comes across as gleeful when talking about the enormous cuts to the welfare state. An absolute zealot who seems to not care about the human cost of pursuing “balanced books”.

And rather than being consigned to an unfortunate and socially damaging part of our history, she’s unfortunately now the chair of the astroturf “Tax Payers Union”.

https://thespinoff.co.nz/podcasts/juggernaut#6348 https://thespinoff.co.nz/podcasts/juggernaut#6348

How Ruth Richardson tested Reserve Bank independence with ‘red alert’ to Don Brash

Exclusive: In the year of the ‘mother of all budgets’, the finance minister sent an ’emissary’ to the…
#NewsBeep #News #Headlines #CommentsEnabled #DonBrash #Juggernaut2 #motherofallbudgets #NewZealand #NZ #Politics #RuthRichardson
https://www.newsbeep.com/243317/

"... the crisis is looming, as it is in many other countries in the west, we're not alone. You look at Britain, you look at the US, you look at France ... the West has a problem, and when is it going to ween itself off debt."

#RuthRichardson, 2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORHkxrYatEg

Um, no. What we actually need to ween ourselves off is oil. Finite, polluting, increasingly expensive fossil fuels. That's a problem. This "Debt crisis" is an invention and a distraction.

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#TV #TVNZ #QAndA #JackTame