Henry thanks for a good column. It bought back memories of Bernard Ingham's *Kill the messenger* and the scramble to anticipate the PMQs of the day. Something that's puzzled me about this you might enlighten me and others: Parliament has a Regulation Review Committee. It's usually chaired by a member of the Opposition (David Parker at the mo I think). Why isn't what Seymour is claiming needs to be done already done by this committee?
The power of Treasury already makes us prone to state capture, and this proposed bill seems to not just move that risk from Treasury to the new ministry, but also amplifies the risk of state capture rather than reduces it.
So I can’t really wrap my head around how Seymour is thinking this works strategically. Sure he’ll have 1.5 years with a lot more power. But wouldn’t he be ideologically opposed to a powerful bureaucracy like this when it’s eventually controlled by a Labour minister?
If a property developer wants to build a piece of Manhattan or Vancouver on Epsom/Remuera, or an iwi drills for oil & gas on Jenny Gibbs' lawn without asking or sharing the profits, let's see how quickly David Seymour personally intervenes in a way that makes a mockery of his own pet ministry.
Henry thanks for a good column. It bought back memories of Bernard Ingham's *Kill the messenger* and the scramble to anticipate the PMQs of the day. Something that's puzzled me about this you might enlighten me and others: Parliament has a Regulation Review Committee. It's usually chaired by a member of the Opposition (David Parker at the mo I think). Why isn't what Seymour is claiming needs to be done already done by this committee?
Another example of the real negotiation skills and foresight of our PM?
Seymour is usurping unfettered power with this Bill. He is the Snake in the grass!
He is driving forward in his attempts at a Coup, with unrestricted access to every other Minister's Portfolio and pre-empting actions.
Next will be a Coup de tat! He will unseat Clucks-on in order to assume the PM status and Clucks-on will do a swan dive and step aside.
Interesting column Henry – thanks look forward to your future pules.
That’s a very good insight!
The power of Treasury already makes us prone to state capture, and this proposed bill seems to not just move that risk from Treasury to the new ministry, but also amplifies the risk of state capture rather than reduces it.
So I can’t really wrap my head around how Seymour is thinking this works strategically. Sure he’ll have 1.5 years with a lot more power. But wouldn’t he be ideologically opposed to a powerful bureaucracy like this when it’s eventually controlled by a Labour minister?
If a property developer wants to build a piece of Manhattan or Vancouver on Epsom/Remuera, or an iwi drills for oil & gas on Jenny Gibbs' lawn without asking or sharing the profits, let's see how quickly David Seymour personally intervenes in a way that makes a mockery of his own pet ministry.
Further reading:
https://publicaddress.net/hardnews/the-ides-of-epsom/