The latest GDP figures were released today, showing economic growth of 0.1%. We're not technically in recession, but we might as well be; the economy is stalled, and we're going nowhere.
For a government elected on promises of superior economic management and "closing the gap" with Australia, this ought to be shameful. Pretty obviously, they haven't delivered. And while they can make excuses about the global financial crisis and the Christchurch earthquakes, these are wearing very thin. The blunt fact is that National has bungled its response to both, by sitting back and letting the market sort it out, rather than intervening. And 154,000 unemployed are now paying the price for their "do nothing" ideology.
We need a change of economic direction. Which means we need a change of government. After three years of sitting on their hands and mouthing NeoLiberal platitudes, it is clear that National isn't going to do anything about this problem. Its time we voted for someone who will.