Punishing our saviours

The Prime Minister has just announced that she, her Ministers, and all public service chief executives will be taking a 20% pay cut "as a sign of leadership".

This is bullshit. The government is working through this crisis, doing their jobs probably harder than ever. They deserve a flat white, not a pay cut. As for "leadership", the message the PM has just sent to predatory employers is that its OK to cut the pay of people who are working their arses off to keep us safe and fed during this crisis.

And, to put a face to this: Dr Ashley Bloomfield leads the agency that has saved New Zealand, and the lives of tens of thousands of New Zealanders. And the Prime Minister, to show "leadership", has just cut his pay by 20%. That is not just or right, and if that is her style of "leadership", to punish those who have worked so hard to save us, I think we need a new leader.