Labour's Ten Big Election Lies

After trolling through recent Government announcements and statements, I can reveal, exclusively to InsolentPrick readers, the ten great lies that Labour is spouting this election*.

1. That there is no government surplus. The Government will tell you that this surplus is a freak accident of modern accounting. This lie is repeated to draw attention away from the fact that there is an actual surplus of $8 billion, but the Government doesn't believe that taxpayers should receive any of the benefits of their industry and effort, and should rather be grateful that the Government is dishing out money to its special interest friends.
2. That despite yesterday's announcement of $300 million to reduce the interest payments of students who are too lazy to work during their studies, or who do not make voluntary repayments, there is no money for tax cuts. This lie speaks for itself.
3. That National has made $7.5 billion in spending promises. No calculations have come from any of the Labour candidates who have made these claims. Despite this, the claims have continued to fly. Repeating lies does not make those lies real.
4. That the National Party has a "secret bagman" who is an American. Trevor Mallard made this extraordinary allegation on Saturday, and to date has made no attempt to back the lie up with any evidence. He has retracted his statement, slightly, but has not made any apology for it. Nor has Helen Clark, despite her office lying about her being furious that the statement was made. In the real world, Helen Clark's fury at one of her ministers is followed by a public dressing-down. Given that Helen Clark hasn't made any comment, it's a sure sign that she was happy that Trevor dragged politics into the gutter. Again.
5. That the Labour Government is responsible for the strong state of the economy. This lie is debunked by every reputable economic analyst, including the OECD, which in its most recent report stated that New Zealand's current strong growth is a direct result of macroeconomic reforms of the 1980s and 1990s, which Helen Clark and Michael Cullen have tried to distance themselves from, without fundamentally changing. The purpose of this lie is to try and make voters feel grateful towards the Government for dishing back bribes to voters in the form of miscellaneous gifts to special interest groups, rather than returning that money to the taxpayers who have created that wealth.
6. That Labour cares for the interests of middle New Zealand. This lie is shown up by the facts: middle New Zealanders face the burden of sending their children to increasingly expensive public schools, put them through tertiary education, primary healthcare (remember free doctors' visits for under 6s? Doesn't exist anywhere in reality), higher petrol prices, higher interest rates, no choice in local schooling, lower quality tertiary education services, and substantially higher taxes, to name just a few. Meanwhile, beneficiaries, the Maori elite, Pacific Island broadcasters, former Labour MPs, hip-hop academics, and the public service--among other fringe groups--roll in the taxpayer-funded slush-fund.
7. That National will change New Zealand's nuclear-free status. Another smear, which is not borne out by the facts. Don Brash has made it clear that he would not change New Zealand's nuclear-free status without a clear public mandate to do so, and that he does not expect to get that mandate. No change going to happen, yet Labour is lying when it claims that he will.
8. That core health and education services would need to be cut to fund tax cuts. Another desperate lie from a desperate government, defrauding itself out of office. Figures speak for themselves. $8 billion surplus, plus a Labour Party contingency slush fund of almost $2 billion to fund promises it hasn't yet made.
9. That there is no money to be saved by reducing public service expenditure. Wananga. Long-Term Unemployed Who Don't Want To Work. Public Service Consultants. Tertiary Education Commission. Miscellaneous Tertiary Education Providers Providing Shoddy Courses. Health Sector Bureaucrats. Business Welfare That Gives Jim Anderton Much-Needed Headlines. Kyoto Protocol Commitments That Don't Benefit The Environment, But Merely Give Cash To Highly-Polluting Russians. Ministries for the Environment, Maori Affairs, Pacific Island Affairs, Women's Affairs, Race Relations Conciliator, and the Human Rights Commission. To name just a few, among the $16 billion in further money that the Government is spending in 2005, over and above 1999.
10. That the Government has listened to New Zealanders' demands that society deal harsher punishment to criminal offenders. Graham Capill will be released on parole after three years of a nine-year sentence, after raping and molesting children. Yet again, the Government shows that is not interested in protecting lawful, hard-working citizens, and will continue to lie its way through its next three years of Government if voters are stupid enough to vote Labour again.
    
    

*Note: Not an exhaustive list. This list is current to 27 July, 2005, and excludes any inevitable further outrageous lies that Labour Party ministers, MPs, candidates and officials make before Election Day.