The PSA just won an important case in the Employment Relations Authority against the Ministry of Education about collective agreements. There are significiant downstream implications to planned layoffs, legal fights, and Nicola Willis’s already tax cut strained budget.
As reports confirm that the Government intends to sell off Kiwirail ferries, the question has to be asked: “Why is the Government paying thousands of dollars to former National Party members for advice” and when is independent advice not reliable?
My ire was raised this morning when I read a pile of PR drivel from acting PM Winston Peters about the Interislander. If he wanted to be useful looking at “critical part of our infrastructure” – then there are number of better things he could usefully do – rather than chasing headlines.
Nicola Willis’s decision to cancel the Kiwirail i-Rex contract without a back up plan is coming back to bite. As costs pile up for the taxpayer, we have already lost half a billion dollars, but that won’t be the final bill. And there are still no ferries.
When the fabric of lies unravels the gaslighting increases.
* or is it?
National’s breaking of its election promise to fund 13 cancer treatments is cruel beyond words.
Early comments on the budget. Basically tax cuts are being paid by more borrowing. There is no way this can be described as being fiscally neutral.
Liz Truss’s short reign as UK Prime Minister foundered after her budget requiring borrowing to fund tax cuts was released. The budget tanked the UK economy and caused Truss’s resignation. This week amongst announcements of massive cuts it has emerged that the Government is also planning borrowing for tax cuts.
David Seymour has stated that funding for free school lunches will be cut by up to half.
Yesterday it was announced that Grant Robertson was leaving politics.
National has trashed its comment last terms that lobbyists should not have special access rights by handing out four swipe cards to lobbyists and refusing to say who they are.
The release from the Public Health Communication Centre Aotearoa around tobacco industry interference was a glimpse behind the curtain into a troubling reality.
This week there were two pieces of economic news showing a dramatic improvement credit for which should be given to the last Labour Government.
Don’t let anyone be fooled this Christmas dinner by what National is setting out today.
It may have been coincidental but the day after there were mass protests against the new Government’s actions in undermining te Tiriti o Waitangi it was announced that National would seek to remove bonus payments for Public Servants learning Te Reo. Not only is this petty and vindictive, it may also be a breach of te Tiriti.
Recent claims by Nicola Willis that the Governments Finances are full of fiscal cliffs is evidence either that National will cynically make baseless claims to attack Labour or that Nicola Willis has no idea about what she is talking about and has not been doing her most basic job of reading and comprehending previous budget documents.
There is every reason to believe National will be chucked out in 2026.
On Friday, three parties finally signed agreements to gain a slim majority in parliament. What this means is that some time on Monday Governor General Dame Cindy Kiro will be able to swear in the new ministers of the Executive Council. On Monday Labour and the Greens will have their constitutional muzzle removed. On December 5th parliament will lumber back into work. Then the fun begins for this political blogger.
National has suffered further damage to its credibility with its promise of a $250 tax cut per fortnight for an average family only being realised if that family spent at least $300 per week on childcare and was a two income family with each adult earning between $53,500 and $66,000.
National’s failure to adequately explain how its new revenue policies will work has seen its support sag. And its problem is that if it depends on Winston Peters for confidence and supply he has expressed major reservations about these policies and there is no guarantee he will support them. And a significant majority of New Zealanders understand this.
Nicola Willis has essentially confirmed that the design of National’s foreign purchase of land tax was and remains sufficient to be done on the back of an envelope.
National has reached new levels of excessive hyperbole in response to the PREFU release which was better than expected.
When the history of the 2023 New Zealand Aotearoa general election is written and if Labour gets up to win historians will point to the events of this week as the turning point in what has already been a dramatic year in politics. Because I cannot believe how bad National’s tax cut policy release has been researched and structured and how bad its release is going.
National’s Nicola Willis has claimed that Labour will soon announce policy to take GST off fresh fruit and vegetables.
Yesterday in Parliament National attempted to embarrass Carmel Sepuloni in question time by asking her detailed economic questions. But the attempt backfired.
According to National holding a modest shareholding can open a Minister to allegations of conflict of interest but owning seven investment properties and proposing beneficial tax treatment of landlords does not.
The focus groups have spoken. National has performed a complete reversal on the bipartisan changes to the Resource Management Act amendments designed to improve housing supply and introduced only 18 months ago.
National has hatched on its attack line which we will hear about a lot over the next few months. But it may have a problem. Because the phrase “coalition of chaos” clearly applies to its leadership team.
National has promised to reverse the removal of prescription charges even though it has a strong policy support and is an example of the state taking less of individuals’ private wealth.
Yesterday Statistics New Zealand dealt a rather large blow to National’s election chances when it announced that the latest rate of inflation was 6.7%, a significant drop below the previous rate.
Here’s my prediction: Labour will not just win the October election, but it will complete a landslide of similar proportions to the 2020 election. It has been Labour’s response to the cyclones that will be the decisive factor in October. Luxon’s low energy performance helps.
National Deputy Leader Nicola Willis said yesterday that it was a great shame that the minimum wage had increased by so much because it means the Government can’t do it now to help low-income Kiwis make ends meet without stoking inflation.
Mawkish sentiment running up to Christmas perhaps, but imagine Luxon or Willis speaking hours after the Christchurch massacre. Only Ardern of the entire Parliament has the ability to govern for calm in the name of the calm we all need.
Yesterday was a bad day for Chris Luxon. It is increasingly clear that he is not up to the job of being leader of the opposition and National’s senior management must be worried.
Yesterday National’s PR machine also known as Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB sprang into action to get the message out that National will not negotiate with Destiny Church over support. Even though eight days previously Chris Luxon pointedly did not rule this out.
