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May 27, 2022
Bryce Edwards: : Was the Government’s climate plan watered down by lobbying?

Bryce Edwards: : Was the Government’s climate plan watered down by lobbying?

Was last week’s major climate change announcement a case of vested interests getting their way? The sweet deal that agriculture and dairying got from the Green Party Minister for Climate Change certainly struck many as extraordinary. Writing today in the Herald, lobbyist and commentator Matthew Hooton reflects on the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan, and says …

May 26, 2022
Bryce Edwards: Major shakeup of electoral rules could be coming

Bryce Edwards: Major shakeup of electoral rules could be coming

Get ready for a big debate on how to improve democracy in New Zealand. On Tuesday, Justice Minister Kris Faafoi announced the review panel that will oversee a once-in-a-generation overhaul of electoral rules, including how political parties are funded. The announcement contained details of some significant changes to elections and Parliament to be considered. The …

May 25, 2022
Bryce Edwards: Grant Robertson’s “sweet moderation”

Bryce Edwards: Grant Robertson’s “sweet moderation”

Grant Robertson is a big fan of British socialist folk-punk singer Billy Bragg. The finance minister even wrote an opinion column last year that started and ended with lyrics from Bragg’s iconic song “Between the Wars”, with its key line “Sweet moderation; Heart of this nation”. Robertson titled his column, “We can be a nation …

May 23, 2022
Geoffrey Miller: Albanese’s Australian election victory and Biden’s trip to Asia set the scene for Ardern’s US trip

Geoffrey Miller: Albanese’s Australian election victory and Biden’s trip to Asia set the scene for Ardern’s US trip

Jacinda Ardern’s trip to the United States this week has been months in the making. A stop in Washington DC is already locked in, but the Prime Minister’s recent positive test for Covid-19 has delayed the official announcement of a meeting with President Joe Biden. Reports now suggest Ardern is likely to call at the …

May 19, 2022
Bryce Edwards: A Conservative Budget for volatile times

Bryce Edwards: A Conservative Budget for volatile times

Finance Minister Grant Robertson has delivered a Budget that will many asking “Is that all there is?” There is a myriad of initiatives and there is increased spending, but strangely it doesn’t really add up to much at all for those hoping for a more traditional Labour-style Budget. The headline $350 “Cost of Living Payment” …

May 14, 2022
Bryce Edwards: What happened to the big “immigration reset”?

Bryce Edwards: What happened to the big “immigration reset”?

The Government promised a major reform of New Zealand’s immigration system, but when it was announced this week, many asked “is that it?” Over the last two years Covid has turned the immigration tap off, and the Government argued this produced the perfect opportunity to reassess decades of “unbalanced immigration”. A “reset” was promised, and …

May 12, 2022
Bryce Edwards: How long until National wants Simon Bridges back?

Bryce Edwards: How long until National wants Simon Bridges back?

Could it be a case of not appreciating what you’ve got until it’s gone? The National Party lost Simon Bridges last week, which has reinforced the notion that the party still has some serious deficits of talent and diversity. The major factor in Bridges’ decision to leave was his failed bid to regain the party …

May 11, 2022
Bryce Edwards: Massive Wage Subsidy and Covid spending is under scrutinised

Bryce Edwards: Massive Wage Subsidy and Covid spending is under scrutinised

In the lead-up to the Budget, the Government has been on an offensive to promote the efficiency and quality of its $74 billion Covid Response and Recovery Fund -especially the Wage Subsidy Scheme component. This comes after criticisms and concerns from across the political spectrum over poor-quality spending, and suggestions that vested interests and business …

May 9, 2022
Bryce Edwards: Politicians talk tough on law and order

Bryce Edwards: Politicians talk tough on law and order

Crime is becoming a key debate between Labour and National. This week they are both keen to show that they are tough on law and order. It’s an issue that National has a traditional advantage on, and is one that they’re currently getting good traction from. In response, Labour is keen to counter this by …

May 6, 2022
Bryce Edwards: Have the Greens become too woke for their own good?

Bryce Edwards: Have the Greens become too woke for their own good?

The Greens have been almost invisible since the 2020 election. Despite massive crises impacting on people’s lives, such as climate change, housing, inequality, and the cost of living, they’ve had very little to say. On this week’s highly contentious issue of politicians being banned from Parliament by Trevor Mallard, the Greens have demurred, saying it’s …

May 5, 2022
Jack Vowles: Te Tiriti – A Briefing for Chris Luxon

Jack Vowles: Te Tiriti – A Briefing for Chris Luxon

National party leader Chris Luxon has been reported as giving some badly uninformed responses to questions about Te Tiriti o Waitangi. As a potential Prime Minister, he needs to get up to speed. Te Tiriti is the Māori language version of the Treaty of Waitangi – the version that is given greater weight in international …

May 4, 2022
Bryce Edwards: Trevor Mallard’s petty fiefdom

Bryce Edwards: Trevor Mallard’s petty fiefdom

Is Parliament just the fiefdom of Trevor Mallard and his colleagues? That’s the impression the public might take from yesterday’s news that the Speaker of Parliament is issuing trespass notices to political opponents who visited the protest in March on the lawns of Parliament. Speaker Mallard has the absolute right to decide who can and …

May 4, 2022
Geoffrey Miller: Jacinda Ardern continues to forge a more US-friendly foreign policy

Geoffrey Miller: Jacinda Ardern continues to forge a more US-friendly foreign policy

International analyst Geoffrey Miller reads between the lines of Jacinda Ardern’s speech to this week’s US business summit in Auckland Jacinda Ardern is slowly but surely shifting New Zealand’s foreign policy towards the West. That was the underlying theme of a keynote address by New Zealand’s Prime Minister this week. Ardern mentioned China only once …

May 3, 2022
Bryce Edwards: Why Labour won’t introduce a radical wealth tax

Bryce Edwards: Why Labour won’t introduce a radical wealth tax

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been perceived as “softening her line on wealth taxes” – and therefore being open to the introduction of a new type of progressive taxation on the rich. This was the description published yesterday by leftwing wealth researcher Max Rashbrooke, who was reporting on the fact that Ardern would not rule …

May 3, 2022
Philip Temple: Nothing to fear? A response to Willie Jackson on fairness and co-governance

Philip Temple: Nothing to fear? A response to Willie Jackson on fairness and co-governance

On 24 April the Minister for Māori Development, the Hon. Willie Jackson, stated on TVNZ’s Q+A programme that government plans for Māori co-governance were part of MMP. It meant ‘shared decision-making’, ‘partnership’, ‘diversity, about minorities working together’. ‘Co-governance is based on the principles of MMP, this is a consensus type democracy now’, ‘not the tyranny …

May 2, 2022
Bryce Edwards: Is Three Waters really about water infrastructure or iwi co-governance?

Bryce Edwards: Is Three Waters really about water infrastructure or iwi co-governance?

On Friday the Government made some announcements about their Three Waters programme that were meant to assuage public concerns about the reforms. Instead, the announcements merely reinforced that Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta is determined to push the reforms through in the face of strong public opposition. The gist of Friday’s announcement was that, following …

April 29, 2022
Political Roundup: 29 April 2022

Political Roundup: 29 April 2022

THREE WATERS Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Three Waters reforms: Nanaia Mahuta and Grant Robertson announce next steps Thomas Manch (Stuff): Government accepts Three Waters recommendations, councils to have shareholding, aspects of co-governance to remain Cameron Russell (Stuff): Three Waters reaction: Mayor Phil Goff says Auckland is being penalised, LGNZ welcomes ratepayer certainty Stephen Ward (Stuff): Updated …

April 28, 2022
Bryce Edwards: Could inflation lead to a voter backlash?

Bryce Edwards: Could inflation lead to a voter backlash?

The current cost of living crisis in the New Zealand economy could yet have severe political consequences. Warning signs could be seen in Monday’s French presidential election result – in which the nationalist-populist Marine Le Pen upset the status quo by getting through to the second round and winning an incredible 42 per cent of …

April 27, 2022
Political Roundup: 27 April 2022

Political Roundup: 27 April 2022

TAX REFORM AND WEALTH Luke Malpass (Stuff): What are Revenue Minister David Parker’s new tax principles really all about? Bridie Witton (Stuff): Revenue minister has ‘virtually no idea what rate of tax is paid by the very wealthy’ Bernard Hickey: David Parker’s long, long game towards a fairer tax system Thomas Coughlan (Herald): David Parker …

April 26, 2022
Political Roundup: 26 April 2022

Political Roundup: 26 April 2022

PARTNERSHIP POLITICS (CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM, CO-GOVERNANCE, THREE WATERS; MĀORI WARDS) Morgan Godfery (Guardian): In New Zealand, Māori co-governance is already underway – referendum or not Damien Grant (Stuff): The shaky claims and untested ideology underpinning Three Waters John Weekes (Herald): Willie Jackson says democracy has changed, co-governance is good, Act leader is a ‘hypocrite’ 1News: Willie …

April 23, 2022
Political Roundup: 23 April 2022

Political Roundup: 23 April 2022

  INFLATION Bernard Hickey: The dirty little secrets inside our nation of inflation Bridie Witton (Stuff): Poorest hit harder by inflation with benefit hikes now linked to average wage Luke Malpass (Stuff): High inflation a lose-lose for the Government, but it won’t be panicking – yet Janet Wilson (Stuff): Robertson must come up with a …

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