WFF changes will be post-election

Bill English just confirmed in the House that any changes the Government may make to Working for Families, will not take effect unti 1 April 2012 – after the election. This means that once again National is behaving entirely correctly – as with SOE sales.

They gave a pledge for their first term, and have kept their word. They will go into the 2011 election with a different policy for their 2nd term. This is exactly as it should be. If people do not want changes to WFF, then they will be able to stop them by voting Labour, Greens etc.

Promises are generally for one electoral term only. That is why we have elections – to decide on policies for the next term. Only when a party or politican explicitly states a policy is for longer than one term, do you expect it to never change. The most well known example of that is John Key’s pledge on superannuation, which he said was for as long as he is Prime Minister.