A Reminder

Scoop today has an interview with documentary-maker Alister Barry on what Don Brash would do as Prime Minister. While it's good reading, the most potent reminder of what Don Brash stands for is the picture heading it:

That's Ruth Richardson he's shaking hands with. For people who remember the horror of the 90's, he might as well be shaking hands with Satan himself. As finance minister, Richardson oversaw policies which deliberately set out to lower the living standards of the poorest members of our society for the advantage of the rich. An example of this is the 1991 benefit cuts, which reduced core benefit payments to below starvation levels in an effort to "incentivise" the poor to work. But when macroeconomic policy was creating unemployment, and the Employment Contracts Act was pushing wages down to the level of the dole, all it did was create misery. Because of Ruth Richardson, we got an underclass in New Zealand, and foodbanks became a growth industry. This is not something that she will be forgiven for.

I think that this photo is the best weapon in Labour's next election campaign - and it has the advantage of truth. As Alister Barry points out, Brash would take up where Richardson left off. That's something the public should be reminded of.