Garth George

Garth George

I must admit to being disappointed. After a brief flurry of activity between the election and the holiday break, the new Government seems to have gone into hiatus.

I presume the ministers are beavering away in their offices over plans to correct the worst of the problems the nation faces, but that provides little reassurance to a concerned public.

If it goes on much longer one will have to suspect that the newbies are struggling and could well be out of their depth.

The economic situation is without a doubt the most urgent of predicaments to be dealt with, but so far this year all John Key and Co have offered us is a talkfest scheduled for next month.

Now we all know that the thing one does these days when one doesn't know what to do or wants to delay what has to be done is to call a meeting, allegedly to achieve "consensus".

Consensus is often a good thing - particularly after nine years of autocratic Labour-led administrations - but it is no substitute for strong and decisive leadership.

And politically it is deadly dangerous for a government to be seen as lackadaisical. The Prime Minister and his Cabinet need to be seen as proactive rather than reactive. The public needs constant reassurance that the Government has its duties under control.

Not since mid-December have we seen any of that, so we are forced to conclude that the running of the country is being left to the bureaucrats, which is the very thing I hoped that National-led Government would quickly put a stop to.

For, as broadcaster and columnist Michael Laws wrote late last year: "Like rust, New Zealand's civil service never sleeps. And like rust, it silently corrodes ministers' ambitions and aspiration. Forget the global credit crunch: this new Government's enemy is already within."

Laws should know: he has been both a bureaucrat and a member of Parliament.

The economy aside, there are several areas which require urgent remedial action and as yet we have seen no evidence of it.

Particularly pressing are the shambles of the NZ Police, the Corrections Department, the defence forces and the health service.

Take health: the Herald discovers that the three district health boards in Auckland are planning to cut 200 resident doctor positions. But when this is brought to the notice of Health Minister Tony Ryall he says he won't intervene because it is up to the boards to decide.