Announcing off the cuff

Helen Clark has announced that Labour will remove restrictions on the unemployment benefit as part of a $50 million transitional assistance package for those who lose their jobs as a result of the faltering global economy. This comes after another multimillion dollar announcement of new spending from a government that is not announcing new spending.

Someone needs to tell the staff at the Ministers office. They know less than I do on this announcement.But Helen Clark said the package was fair, applied to everyone and was simple to administer.

How can a package be deemed fair when it is obvious no one has given any thought to it? It's not a package, some would say it is a policy.But it's not, as nothing has been formulated. Perhaps it is a plan? But nobody knows what that plan is. No planning has been done. So it can't be a plan. So it must be an announcement. But nobody in the Ministers office knew she was going to announce it.

So what is the announcement based on? Something Helen Clark dreamed up over lunch?
Its not applicable to everyone as Helen Clark said. Will the next development be that to be eligible, recipients will have to be in the workforce continually for five years, or in the same job for five years?