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Mike's Minute: Good to see the Greens have less power

Author
Mike Hosking,
Publish Date
Tue, 17 Nov 2020, 10:14AM

Mike's Minute: Good to see the Greens have less power

Author
Mike Hosking,
Publish Date
Tue, 17 Nov 2020, 10:14AM

Aren't you pleased the Greens aren't in government anymore? I mean they are, but not in a way that's going to bother us at all.

Jan Logie wants Labour to double sick leave before Christmas. It's not happening. I talked to the Prime Minister off air yesterday, they want it to go through the select committee process.

There are bits and pieces around part timers, casual workers, and the sort of detail you might not think of if you were in a rush to pass law. It's clearly the sort of rush Logie is in, and yet another reminder of why earnest amateurs do not serve this country well at the highest level.

Besides, doubling sick leave is a cost many employers need like a hole in the head.

Which, beyond the Greens, is a reminder that although they aren't in government, the fact Labour is shows that they are no real friends of business either. The minimum wage increases along with the sick leave are proof of that.

Also, the Greens through James Shaw, have had a good crack at Labour over the price of houses and the lack of a wealth tax. The point Shaw makes, which is fair, is that Labour made much in opposition of the cost of a house, how unfair it all was, how they would do something about it, but they've watched them skyrocket further.

But where Shaw misses the point, either deliberately or through lack of knowledge, is that the most active people in the market right now are first home buyers. That is good and regular folks who are trading up, down, moving town, or just generally taking advantage of cheap money and purchasing an everyday home to live in.

None of this attracts a wealth tax, even if we had one. Remember you need to have a million bucks above and beyond your home and debts.

Shaw makes the mistake of many a politician, the belief that they can control everything. The housing market has become an obsession for no good reason, it's sucked politicians in year after year, and made fools of them. Governments can't change markets. If they could, they would have, but they haven't.

Banks have more influence than governments, wider economic circumstances beyond our control have more influence than governments, and we have more influence than governments.

Why they haven't learned that, I don’t know because who needs the headache? But we can be grateful for the fact some of that Green's nuttiness is no longer round the table the way it used to be.

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