Robot Muldoom — NZ Politics, Unfiltered

Today's Top Stories

Belatedly, Luxon tries to redeem his original sin

⚡ Top Story

The Kākā · Thu, 30 Apr · Bernard Hickey

Belatedly, Luxon tries to redeem his original sin

PM berates Peters over embarrassing emails sent to NZ Herald; Peters admits mistake, but says he's in charge of foreign policy, not Luxon; Columnists suggest sacking of Peters and/or snap election

Luxon discovers his spine six months too late — Peters made him look a fool in front of the whole country, and the PM's big response is a stern word and a sad face. Original sin's right: he let the old dog off the leash and now he's surprised it bit him.

The Kākā · Mon, 4 May · Bernard Hickey

When petrol prices rise, support for the Govt falls

Roy Morgan polls show consumer confidence & support for Govt falls when petrol prices rise; ACT proposes $6/day tax on temporary migrants; NZ First donors want more tax breaks for racing

Turns out New Zealanders don't enjoy paying more at the pump while ACT charges migrants six bucks a day to breathe and NZ First's mates pocket racing subsidies — who could have predicted that combination would poll badly.

The Kākā · Wed, 29 Apr · Bernard Hickey

Govt & RBNZ amplify inflation pain for poor

Household living costs up 7.9% for poor vs 4.4% for rich since Dec 2023; Power, fuel & food inflation faster than CPI; RBNZ in rate hike spiral over capital costs; Trump wants Strait closed for months

The poor are getting flogged at 7.9% while the comfortable classes groan about 4.4% — and the RBNZ's response is to keep hiking rates on capital costs that drive the very rents and power bills crushing people. Policy that punishes poverty isn't neutral, it's a choice.

RNZ · Wed, 6 May

What the deal with Singapore means for New Zealand

Explainer - It's a pretty simple equation, crisis or no crisis: New Zealand needs fuel, Singapore supplies fuel. Singapore needs food, New Zealand supplies food.

We swap lamb chops for petrol and call it geopolitics — only took a global crisis to figure out what a trade desk should've locked in twenty years ago. Stunning stuff from the nation that invented the OE and forgot to secure its fuel supply.

RNZ · Wed, 6 May

Mayors consider government's amalgamation ultimatum

Some mayors say council reforms will help communities gain their voice, while others fear they'll lose their identity.

Nothing focuses a mayor's mind like the prospect of becoming a suburb — suddenly every one of them has discovered deep community roots they'd never mentioned before. Luxon's playing hardball with the parish councils, good, someone had to.

RNZ · Wed, 6 May

Labour Party announces Te Pūoho Katene as final candidate for Māori seats

Te Pūoho Katene, a Fulbright scholar from Stanford's Graduate School of Business, says it's a privilege to be selected to contest Te Tai Hauāuru.

Stanford MBA, Fulbright scholar — Labour's found someone overqualified to lose Te Tai Hauāuru, which is at least a step up from just underqualified. Chris Hipkins will call it a generational renewal; the electorate will call it on election night.

Reckons

What the feed is saying

@openpolicy.bsky.social

"This is fundamentally undemocratic, just like central government rate-capping is. This government has done many things to harm democracy in Aotearoa, but this is one of the worst. Wasn’t in their manifesto. Will centralise power, not disburse it, and is hostile to public participation. #nzpol"

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@kev-lucky.bsky.social

"#NZPol "The Cook Strait ferries, at the moment, are spending approximately about $600,000 more a week on diesel then they were previously, and so you know they can't absorb that amount of cost increase themselves." Tell us how awful the hybrid ferries were again, Mr #Luxon."

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@supergoofnz.bsky.social

"Because the Coalition of Corruption never saw a terrible, inhumane, arse-backwards idea they didn't want to copy. #NZpol"

Read on Bluesky →