When National announced its subsidy to the Tiwai Point Aluminium smelter yesterday, Southland leaders were pleased. The smelter is a key driver of the Southland economy, and the subsidy would mean its jobs were safe.
Except it didn't. It turns out that National didn't include a clause protecting jobs at the smelter in their shoddy deal. So we're giving Rio Tinto that $30 million purely to clear the decks for the sale of Meridian to National's rich friends.
(And to add insult to injury, Rio Tinto has just announced a $4.2 billion profit. So why was the subsidy necessary again...?)
Its hard to find a better illustration of what matters to National. They don't care about jobs. They don't care about ordinary people. All they care about is the rich. And they're willing to shovel public money at them, while letting kiwi kids go sick and hungry.