Two Bermudas. That they exist in one form or another is not news. It’s sort of like ZBM reporting that Bermuda is in the hurricane zone. Everyone knows it.

Two Bermudas certainly did not come into existence in 2012, although Opposition leader David Burt would have you think otherwise. The very name my party took on, One Bermuda Alliance, recognised the history and defined the goal, which is to build One Bermuda out of two.

The real question is what’s to be done about it? What’s to be done to reduce divisions and inequities that prevent us from being One Bermuda?

More to the point, what did the Progressive Labour Party government do during its 14 years in power, and what has the OBA done over the past four years to narrow the gaps?

It is an important question because government is unique in possessing a toolbox that can help diminish the gaps that make for Two Bermudas, but, if the tools are mishandled, they can have the effect of expanding the gaps.

As finance minister, it is my job to build up an economy that narrows those gaps. That did not happen under the PLP. It translated a six-quarter recession in the United States into a six-year recession in Bermuda. This has had serious consequences for lower-income people because they are less able to withstand hardship than higher-income earners.

Let’s start with debt because it is a problem that roared to life under the PLP. The impact of allowing Bermuda’s debt to soar more than 700 per cent cannot be understated.

The huge costs associated with paying interest on that debt put unprecedented pressure on government finances, crowding out services, or the capacity to provide those services. This affected lower-income people disproportionately because they depend more heavily on government services.

The hardship that blossomed in the final years of the PLP government — most notably in across-the-board job losses — deepened the divisions and gaps, setting back national progress towards a more unified Bermuda.

But the problems started before that. Between 2001 and 2008, the PLP government mishandled the rapid economic growth during that period. It stood by and allowed banks to overheat the property market by providing 100 per cent mortgages on properties whose prices were already inflated. This was a formula for disaster, a disaster that crashed down later when the recession hit and people started to lose their homes. Many middle-class Bermudians found themselves slipping back because of the Government’s mishandling of the situation, widening the gap between the Two Bermudas.

I spoke out about that in Parliament and the Senate when in the Opposition, but was like a voice crying out in the wilderness.

The OBA’s record in contrast has been one of steady progress in reversing the inherited negative trajectories and momentum that enlarged the gaps between the Two Bermudas. Indeed, we have succeeded not only in pulling the economy out of a nosedive, but also in shifting the island towards greater opportunity in virtually every field of endeavour.

Just look at what is happening. Opportunity is expanding in construction through the new airport terminal. We are revitalising Bermuda tourism through hotel development, rejuvenated properties, more aircraft bringing more visitors, cruise ships returning to St George’s and Hamilton, and the America’s Cup.

This expansion of opportunity is particularly important for Bermudians who cannot find opportunity in international business.

The OBA government has slowed the growth in debt and is within sight of eliminating the deficits that have propelled the debt to unconscionable levels. This has slowed that crowding-out effect for services, positioning the Government to provide the support people need.

We introduced the principle of fairness into the taxation system, which has always been unfair to lower-income earners. Our reform of the payroll tax system now requires more from those who earn more and less from those who earn less. Progressive reform will continue next year. We are also broadening the tax base to include sectors that have not shouldered their fair share of the tax burden.

With growing employment, we have also reduced the number of able-bodied people on financial assistance.

Given the record of the two governments, I find it a bit rich for the former junior finance minister to express concern about Two Bermudas when he ignores his own part in a government that deserted the very people who elected it to power. And there is no mea culpa, or “Sorry, it’s on me!” It’s all somebody else’s or something else’s fault. That is not the hallmark of an organisation that has learnt from its mistakes. It is the hallmark of people who, given a chance, will do it all over again.

At the end of the day, you have to judge governments, not by their words, but by their actions. The OBA has not solved Bermuda’s age-old divisions — it’s a work in progress — but we’ve worked hard to get us moving again in the right direction.

It is why we exist: to move Bermuda forward together, not back.

• Bob Richards is the Deputy Premier, Minister of Finance and the MP for Devonshire East (Constituency 11)