Andrew Dickens: The Government's rush has the smell of a pay day for lawyers

Opinion

Gosh, this Government is making some big promises, and some of their ministers are more ambitious than others.

Obviously the trick with promises is making them come true, and that depends on not over-promising - and not being in too much of a hurry.

Housing and transport minister Phil Twyford was first off the rank, getting stuck into fuel taxes and saying he'd build 10,000 houses.

He's been saying that in opposition forever, but now he's the guy in charge and so it's time to make the promises true. This weekend he was quoted as saying we have to scrap urban boundaries, and build up and out. Now, wasn't that exactly what National said for quite some time? I get the feeling that the longer he's in the job, the sooner Twyford will start realising how big his promises are and how difficult the problems he's facing.

Then there's Chris Hipkins, who's education minister. In the past week he said he'd change NCEA and drop national standards. Changing NCEA will be a big job - one that could take months, if not a year

But that wasn't enough for Hipkins.

The first year of free tertiary education will start next year.

It's November.

The tertiary year starts at the end of February.

Students are being told to apply for the loans, allowances and admissions just like they would have under the old system and at sometime between now and Christmas they'll figure out how it will work.

The universities don't know how it's going to work, and it's fair to say they're a bit worried about what might happen. Hipkins himself has said it may result in 15 per cent more admissions. If that's the case, how will our already stretched universities cope?

Then, in the past few days, Hipkins has said the contracts for some charter schools are over. Again, it's November and schools start in February. Two contracts were signed in June, and are to open in February; another four opening in 2019. Of the schools starting in February, the process goes back to May, 2016.

People have been employed, buildings leased, money laid down and promises made. These are contracts that were signed by the Crown - and defaulting on a Crown contract is something that doesn't go down well. Ask Maori about the Treaty of Waitangi.

It has, for me, the smell of a bit of a pay day for lawyers.

And here's my point, whether you're a supporter of free tertiary education, no charter schools or urban boundaries - or not. There is a process, and just because you're all of the sudden the government doesn't mean you can break the promises of the previous government because you don't believe in the theory.

I think that in a transformative government you can be a bit too transformative a bit too quickly, and that's when mistakes can be made - often very costly ones.