Daily review 28/10/2026

Written By: notices and features - Date published: - 15 comments
Categories: Daily review

Daily review is also your post.

This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Don’t forget to be kind to each other …

15 comments on “Daily review 28/10/2026”

Comment numbers have changed to permanent references. Older quoted numbers may no longer identify the same comment.

  1. 1

    The kids are doing well at school, thanks to the previous Labour Government and education Minister Chris Hipkins. National’s achievement(s) in this space remain(s) to be seen, despite some wishful thinking (think: seeing green shoots).

    https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/10/27/luxon-says-hipkins-was-nzs-most-abysmal-education-minister-was-he/

    Massey University senior lecturer in mathematics and Pacific education, Dr Jodie Hunter, says National has run an effective marketing campaign in education. “What’s been created is a really good public narrative, which is not borne out by research and evidence.”

    There is political consensus that equity in achievement is an issue, evident in both national and international tests over years, but solving it requires New Zealand evidence, she says.

    Any supposed turn around in results needed more time to embed, to indicate a change in achievement.

    “The data looks very, very similar, and depending on who’s telling the story, it can be either a crisis or a victory, and it can be the same score.”

    Reply
  2. 2

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/2186343/start-up-companies-attracting-larger-investments-amid-record-growth

    Sure, it takes 20 years of Labour policy, but the major reason NZ tech startups can find money when they couldn't before is $130 Billion in Kiwisaver funds(including high growth local fund choices), $100 Billion in NZSuperFund, far more in NZVIF, and a decade of breakout successes like Xero, Halter, and Rocketlab.

    All it takes is hard consistency turned into institutions, and of course very motivated savers.

    Reply
    1. 3.1

      NZ councils used to own and manage council flats by the tens of thousands. But the rule that council flats were ineligible for allowances and state funded upgrades has seen them mostly liquidated. Pretty simple eligibility tweaks would enable Councils to rebuild somewhat.

      Tenure security and healthy home stndards were what Labour brought in last time.

      What they need this time is to build back the public housing sector as public, not just third sector.

      Sure start small, but maybe bigger than microscopic.

      Reply
      1. 3.1.1

        Sure start small, but maybe bigger than microscopic.

        Labour and I are trying to pre-empt the obvious attacks & accusations – Labour will want to avoid mistakes of the past and it has learned a valuable lesson. I also think that now* is not the time for big & bold (aka promise Heaven on Earth).

        *during a very tight election

        Reply
        1. 3.1.1.1

          A minor funding policy tweak with rapid results for thousands is not promising Heaven on Earth.

          The subsidy eligibility reversal is far smaller than a revised Healthy Homes or tenancy tenure rule. Its just a minister -level decision away from our failed Third Way public housing shambles.

          Every party other than Act encourages us to be bolder on housing, so there's nothing stopping Labour.

          If Labour lose government through timidity the membership will roast them in the media and to their face.

          Reply
          1. 3.1.1.1.1

            This policy is aimed at improving conditions for renters, not at housing per se. However,

            Part of our bigger plan for housing

            Making renting better is part of Labour's wider plan to make sure homes are affordable to buy, rent and live in.

            Labour will expand First Home Loans so more Kiwis can buy with a 5% deposit, and introduce a rent-to-buy pathway so eligible families can build up a deposit while renting. See Making it Easier to Buy Your First Home.

            We'll also restart Kāinga Ora's building programme (see Start Work Now). We'll back community housing providers with a Crown guarantee so they can borrow more cheaply and build more homes.

            In other words, many small steps/changes can lead to something bigger & better.

            This is Labour’s election strategy, like it or not. It seems that you’re thinking of deep & large structural reform rather than winning the election as if the two are or should be inextricably linked together, but they’re not. Whether that’s a fatal mistake or not, I don’t think we’ll ever be able to answer definitively.

            Labour on cost of living

            Labour leader Chris Hipkins says "no one thing" will make families feel better off in the cost of living, but an accumulation of things.

            "I'm not promising that we're going to wave a magic wand and solve every problem immediately.

            "But we are going to go to work every day with the cost of living front of mind, doing everything we can to increase people's incomes and contain their costs."

            https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics_election-2026/2197838/as-it-happened-election-campaign-28-october

            Reply
    1. 5.1

      Had a lot of respect for Ron Mark; thought he was notably better than his party – until he pulled this contemptible stroke.

      Reply
    2. 5.2

      Very good article by McConnell. Nice to see some proper journalism, checking the historical record rather than just providing a platform for unchallenged smears.

      Mark is no.16 on the NZF list, so he probably won't make it back into Parliament, unless the "pro-coalition anti-Luxon" vote gives Winston a late boost.

      Reply
  7. 7

    Exactly, those idiotic statements by Ron Mark and Peters, are just so out of touch with reality. They have no idea what they are talking about.

    In the early 80s I was serving in Def HQ on the Naval Staff, in personal planning. It was obvious from demographic forecasting that the services could no longer continue recruiting traditional intakes because there wasn't the numbers of young boys coming forward. Whether we liked it or not the services had to open up to recruiting more women across all roles.

    Reply
  8. 8

    The Military Analyst at bluesky believes that '..there seems no doubt now that the [ME] regional governments have decided they do not want another outbreak of hostilities with Iran…Iran seems to have convinced all the Gulf states in general they can all work together, and no more damage will occur to disrupt their economies if they agree to Iran's division of authority over the straits. Nobody is particularly happy about continued American presence, and its value is now largely seen as expired…they all recognise now that it’s incapable of securing the area in the way everyone long accepted it would and could. It’s time to move on.'

    On meeting with Iran in Tehran, 'Turkey's intel chief, Pakistani Military Chief and Saudi Arabia's high representative met to determine that peace will only come from [ME] regional powers settling the situation – without Israeli or American intervention. Indeed they said they wanted America out of the region and Israel out of Gaza.'

    Trump's really screwed up the US hold on power in the ME. Just like Trump's meddling in European politics has strengthened its desire to disentangle from US armaments and web services. I wonder with the US less in the picture, if the alliances Trump encouraged between Israel and Gulf nations will wither away?

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *