Election 2023

I tell you who should be feeling good this election campaign: political parties.  If the commentary and expectation I'm seeing so far is truly representative of where we are at in this country, as consumers we have slipped back into a gliding-on type world of the 1970's.  The supermarket scrap is stupid enough. But Labour yesterday yet again waded into the world of banking, promising to...

National's small business plan is being seen as practical, but not transformational.  The party's released a 47 point plan to cut red tape for small businesses, which it would implement if re-elected.   It features tweaks to non-trade barriers, employment relations, health and safety, and a review of the compulsory GST registration threshold.  ABC Business Sales Managing Director Ch...

THE BEST BITS IN A SILLIER PACKAGE  (from Thursday's Mike Hosking Breakfast) Underestimate Them at Your Peril/How MMP Works/Kiwisaver a Bit Too Optional/Still Surprisingly French See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Hipkins reckons there was no easy answer to this week's leaders debate question on whether it's okay to be a billionaire.  Former Prime Minister Sir John Key says it's "nuts" to think billionaires are "morally offensive".  Key told the Herald's Future of New Zealand debate last night that we should be celebrating business success like we celebrate sporting and musical success.&nbsp...

I'm Andrew Dickens and I'm the fill in guy, and I'm filling in for Ryan Bridge all week and three days next week, and three days the week after, and the reason for that is Ryan is preparing to do telly stuff with Herald Now.  Last night he was doing the first of the big ones and it was a 90-minute thing called 'The Future of New Zealand'.   It had politicians, but the big thing about thi...

Labour has suggested that if elected, everyone in the public service would be paid the living wage of $29.90 an hour - $6 more than the current minimum wage. Economists have raised concerns with this proposal and claimed this could likely lead to inflation going up. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explained further. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...

The Labour Party says their prospective Government won't be making similar cuts to National, as it outlines its plan for the books. Last week's pre-election look at the Government books shows the planned 2028/29 surplus will be nearly $2 billion dollars bigger than forecast, and the Crown will borrow less. Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds says cutting out the tobacco excise tax cut will...

So I reckon there was one moment in that leaders' debate that would have worried parents up and down this country, and it was this one. Chris Hipkins conceded that, if Labour were to win the election, he would scrap the one hour of reading, writing and maths for primary school kids. It's weird to me that Labour wants to do this because, anecdotally, I keep hearing from parents that they can see th...

The Education Minister says Labour's plan to ditch the mandated hour of reading, writing and maths is just 'ridiculous'. Chris Hipkins revealed he'd leave it up to the schools to decide - at last night's TVNZ leaders debate.  But Erica Stanford says the policy was based on a recommendation in the 2021 Royal Society Maths Report that Hipkins commissioned himself. She says it's not political or...

National's Chris Luxon and Labour's Chris Hipkins went head-to-head last night in the first main leaders debate of the campaign. Taxes, education, health, the cost of living, and crime were among the issues discussed in front of a studio audience of undecided voters. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper recapped the debate and noted that Luxon ruled out working with Opportunity a...

The union for public servants says morale is low, with the axe hovering over more IRD jobs. Chief executive Peter Mersi has told Inland Revenue staff by the 2028/29 financial year, the baseline budget will have been cut 20 percent. They've been told cost-slashing will include considering reducing jobs. PSA spokesperson Duane Leo says the future is uncertain and staff have endured years of cuts. "W...

A constitutional law expert suggests changing rules on enrolling to vote could benefit the current Government. A report by the Auditor-General's found pressures on systems led to mistakes in the vote count, such as a rushed final check of the official results. Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has proposed stopping people enrolling to vote on election day to slim down numbers of special votes. Otago...

Big numbers of special votes and enrolments took a toll on vote counters in last year's election. A report on the count by the Auditor-General has found the final check of the official result was done in a few hours, on the day it was announced. The rushed assessment failed to identify multiple errors. It normally takes two days. Chief Electoral Officer Karl Le Quesne says they're working at ways...

It’s been a big week in politics, as a host of Labour's policies have been tipped on the scrap heap as the new coalition Government starts passing laws at pace. Finance Minister Nicola Willis joins the Weekend Collective to share who her politician of the year is, as well as what we can expect from the mini-budget. Plus, Jason Walls joins the show to discuss the key moments from the year that's be...

This week on the Sunday Panel, Coast day host and Victoria University Senior Law Lecturer and columnist Morgan Godfery joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more!  We started the year with Jacinda Ardern resigning and ended it with a completely different Government - how are we feeling about 2023 as a year? And how are we feeling heading into 2024? Are we in a good p...

On our first Sunday back at the beginning of this year, the Labour Government confirmed who our new Prime Minister would be.    So much has happened since then.    When Chris Hipkins took on the role, it felt like he went straight into election mode, aware he had only 9 months to convince us he had the vision, leadership and relatability for the job, and that he understood what New Zealanders need...

About now most of us are on the countdown. The countdown to Santa Claus’ brief visit and the end of the year. The countdown to some time off, a chance to stop and reset. Or perhaps it’s the countdown to returning home to spend quality time with family. It may just be the countdown to the end of Christmas music for another year.    You get the picture.   But while many of us are ready to slow thing...

The Labour Party leader says National's throwing away years of work for ideological reasons. Chris Hipkins has unveiled his shadow cabinet, and vows they're ready to hold the Government to account. Prime Minister Chris Luxon's revealed his 100-day plan, which includes reinstating the Resource Management Act- which Labour repealed. Hipkins says it won't take the country forward. "They were banging...

Despite some setbacks, Luxon has unveiled his Government's 100-day plan. The plan features 49 action points, including repealing the Auckland Regional Fuel Tax, the Clean Car Discount scheme, and Fair Pay Agreement legislation- and setting new targets for the health system. Political commentator Grant Duncan says the Government's next phase will need to do more to fix the issues they planned to ad...

Winston Peters has doubled down on conspiratorial comments about the media, and gone further. Yesterday, he called a $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund a Government 'bribe'. Today, ahead of the Government's first Cabinet meeting, Peters asked media to tell the public what criteria had to be signed up to- to get the money. ZB political editor Jason Walls says Luxon will likely be annoyed w...

The Government's plan to slash the public sector is having an adverse impact on Wellington's property market. According to ANZ's latest property report, Wellington's housing market is lagging behind the rest of the country as people brace for job losses. ANZ economist Andre Castaing says housing markets all over the nation are expected to go sideways within the next year. "The housing market in We...

Congratulations to the new coalition Government, which was sworn in today by Governor General Dame Cindy Kiro. And as our new Prime Minister says- they're ready to get stuck in. But things are already getting better. Some say it's just because of the vibe. But don't discount plain good luck and timing. The so-called hermit kingdom is over. As we heard a week ago, nearly a quarter of a million peop...

This week on Politics Central, Nicola Willis joins the show to explain why she has the political chops to be our new Finance Minister- and how her English Literature degree plays into that. Later, ACT Leader and incoming Minister for Regulation David Seymour explains what his new roles entail- and why so many public sector jobs need to be slashed. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...

The incoming Minister for Regulation is promising to make real change. ACT Leader David Seymour picked up the role during coalition negotiations alongside Associate Health and Education ministerial roles. Seymour says there's a 'disease of over-regulation' plaguing New Zealand. "We'll change the way Government regulates, delete a lot of bad regulation and start getting people spending more time pr...

Tonight on The Huddle, Neale Jones from Government relations firm Capital and Infrastructure NZ CEO Nick Leggett joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! After 40 days, we're finally on the verge of reaching a coalition deal. ACT, National and NZ First have agreed on policies, ministerial positions, processes and the new Deputy PM. Will it all be worth the wait? O...