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It seems like a long time since the election. But this week, our new government has finally been sworn in. They are now operational and, by all accounts, on a fast track of things to do by Christmas.

I’ve been impressed to date with their forthright communications and the directness of their message. In particular, the announcement of the 100-day plan was expert in its delivery. No nonsense. No waffle. Just 49 succinct points clearly stating what they are going to do.

Compare that with the language we have come to expect from the Beehive during the plast six years. We’ve become used to phrases like “we will look into that” or we will be “conducting a review”. The new line-up seems to be avoiding such language and instead preferring the direct approach.

Instead of saying they will “review the effectiveness of the Let’s Get Wellington Moving campaign” they have said that they will “withdraw government from” it. Where governments before would have suggested the need to “understand the impact of the new speed limit reductions and consider alternatives”, we now have an undertaking to “stop blanket speed limits reductions and start work on replacing the Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2022”. In the first 100 days.

The language implies directness, firmness and gives confidence. Suddenly we feel like we know what is happening. The thousands of people working in government communications should be worried about their jobs. The spin seems no longer necessary.

After too many years of talking about Auckland Light Rail to the airport, and the tens of millions of dollars spent with no outcome, the “will we or won’t we” debacle has stopped with a single sentence. Item 15 reads “Stop central government work on the Auckland Light Rail project”. Boom. Done. Just like that.

Such definitive decision- making means we don’t keep wasting money while we think about things or wait for consultants’ reports. Remember the outgoing Labour government, despite the polls telling us that they were most unlikely to win the election, despite the likely replacement government-in-waiting promising that the project would be discontinued, and despite having achieved nothing on the light rail project in the plast six years, found it necessary to spend $33 million to buy a property in Kingsland for that very project just five weeks before the election.

New PM, Christopher Luxon has stated that the property will be sold. My contacts in the commercial property sector tell me the resale will have to occur at a substantial discount to what was paid for the property. Perhaps this is the economic vandalism that Luxon and Willis are referring to.

But the good news is that such flaky decision- making appears to be a thing of the past.

I like the fact that the new coalition government have put out a definitive list. It makes accountability easy. We know what they’re trying to achieve and we’ll be able to see how they are going. And unlike our recent past, you can bet that the newly combative media will be holding them to account on the targets they’ve set themselves. And that’s a good thing.

If you look down the list of the 49 items in the 100-day plan, you might not agree with everything they say they are going to do. But, with just one exception, there are no surprises. The stated goals are all consistent with what was campaigned on and what we would have expected from the three- party coalition.

But none of us get everything we want. Even the new PM has to swallow the odd dead rat. And admittedly, the one exception is disappointing. Down at number 45 on the list is: ”Repeal amendments to the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990 and regulations.”

This column has previously featured views about our goals to become smoke free. It’s no secret that most of us don’t like smoking. Go sit in a European bar and remind yourself what it’s like. It makes our eyes water and our clothes smell. Being smoke-free is just a nicer way of life. We’re on the verge of something unique and special here, and sadly it’s going to take longer than we hoped to get there.

Luxon has been making it clear that all other aspects of our goals to become smoke-free will be maintained, and that it is just the most recent changes to the legislation brought in by the last government that will be affected by the collective decision to back away.

But it’s a bad look because it was a progressive policy that was easy to find favour with. It’s disappointing. So much so that, in future governments, we would hope that we can bring back those tactics to eliminate smoking. But it’s just one surprise in a list of 49. That’s not too bad. And in a world of compromises, I’ll take it.

So now we are set to observe the new government in action. There are plenty of challenges ahead for them. They’ve set out a tough line on pulling back public expenditure, gang- related crime, and the Maorification strategy of the last government. They’re not all about stopping things either. They’re talking about increasing efforts around renewable energy production, starting a new Roads of National Significance programme and improving the quality of regulation. They’re enhancing education with compulsory teaching of the basics and extending breast cancer screening.

In short, they’ve said that they’re going to do stuff, rather than talk about doing stuff. And they’ve told us what that stuff is. For the most part the list is what they campaigned on. Whether we voted for it or not, they are doing what the majority of voters asked of them to do.

It is a far cry from the secretive agendas of their predecessors.

Let’s watch closely, and hope that they can deliver.