Andrew Little’s pre-budget speech
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2:45 pm, May 22nd, 2016 - 170 comments
Categories: Andrew Little, budget 2016 -
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Thanks so much for coming along today, and for giving up some of your weekend.
Today, I want to talk about the type of Budget that New Zealand needs to see this coming Thursday.
As every Kiwi family knows, setting Budgets is about making choices.
It’s about choosing where the priorities lie.
For most Kiwis, our priorities are pretty simple.
People want a good job, a home they can call their own, a good school to send their kids to, and healthcare if they get sick.
They want to know if they put the effort in, they will have a decent chance to get ahead.
These are the goals most New Zealanders have for themselves and for their families. That’s the Kiwi Dream.
But right now, too many people feel like those goals are further and further out of reach.
It’s becoming harder for many people to get ahead.
Harder to find a good job or get a pay rise.
Harder to find a home, put some savings aside, or get the health care you need.
Parents are paying more for their childrens’ education, but our schools aren’t performing as well.
And for those who are already doing it tough, life is only getting worse.
What this means is that some of the things about our country that we are proudest of are slipping away.
Look at the headlines from the last couple of weeks:
Children sleeping in cars or forced to lives in houses that make them sick.
Plummeting home ownership.
Rising unemployment
Stalled wages for many people.
And while this is happening, look at who is doing well. The property speculators. The land bankers. The tax dodgers.
This isn’t who we are. It’s not the kind of country we want to be.
Today, I want to talk about why and how we got here.
And I want to talk about a different, better way of doing things.
I want to talk about the kind of Budget my government will deliver in our first year in office.
A positive plan that’s about rewarding effort and supporting ambition.
A plan to ensure that middle New Zealand is better off, not just the few at the top.
Let me start with why we need a different approach.
Our country is facing some big challenges right now.
In the economy, in housing, in health and education.
In all of these areas, things are going in the wrong direction, and the government just isn’t doing enough to set them right.
Let’s start with the economy.
It’s been pretty clear in the last few weeks where this government’s economic priorities lie.
Faced with multinational corporates who earn big revenue in New Zealand but pay little or no tax, our government says there’s nothing they can do.
Seeing an opportunity to attract the wealth of the world’s mega rich, the government did nothing to stop the explosion in foreign trusts that let the mega-wealthy dodge their tax obligations.
And while the few at the very top got to enjoy special rules that meant they didn’t have to pay their fair share – everyone else is paying the cost.
We’ve seen increases in unemployment. There are now 144,000 people out of work in New Zealand, 40,000 more than when National took office.
And it’s not just that more people are out of work – it’s that many more are out of work for longer.
Under this government the number of people unemployed for more than a year has tripled – up over 11,000 since they took office.
The situation is especially tough for our young people.
Under this government the number of young people who aren’t in work, education or training has risen by more than 26,000.
The truth is those are the young people this government has given up on – the ones they label as ‘pretty damn hopeless.’
For those in work, getting a pay rise has become harder. 43% of New Zealanders saw no increase in their incomes at all in the last 12 months.
With special rules for those at the top and a sluggish economy for everyone else, it’s no surprise that we are seeing a growing inequality in how the gains from economic growth are shared.
Under the last Labour government, the share of economic growth going to wage and salary earners was over 50%.
Today, it’s 37%.
The slice of the economy going to workers has fallen each year under National.
This year, that lost income works out to be fifty bucks a week for the average family.
That’s the real cost to Kiwi families of an economy that’s tilted in favour of those at the top.
This growing inequality means that even if economic performance does improve, the gains are more likely to go to the very wealthy, rather than middle New Zealand.
That’s only going to make it harder for people to get ahead.
And as incomes have failed to keep pace, private borrowing has shot up.
In fact, New Zealand’s level of private debt is higher now than it was on the eve of the global financial crisis.
An increase in interest rates or economic pressures from other parts of the world could cause real problem’s here.
When the Reserve Bank says it’s worried about the country’s financial stability, that’s what they are talking about.
As well as stagnant wages, the big driver of household debt is our runaway housing market.
Here’s the thing, we have a housing crisis in this country. And it isn’t just confined to Auckland anymore.
The Government doesn’t like to admit it buts it’s true.
When kids are sleeping in cars. That’s a crisis.
When families are crowded into garages. That’s a crisis.
When an entire generation is locked out of ever owning their own home, that is a crisis.
Instead of owning up to that and fixing it, the government is siding with property speculators and land bankers, while everyone else misses out.
Every initiative our bumbling housing minister Nick Smith has tried on housing has failed. Rather than go after the causes of the problems, he’s flailed around with gimmicks.
Remember special housing areas? Fewer than 1000 homes actually built.
Remember his gimmick from the last Budget? Releasing crown land? It turned out to include substations, cemeteries and even Government House.
While the government’s been tinkering, the problem’s gotten so much worse.
In March, the average house price in Auckland rose by over $2,200 a day.
Let me say that figure again. Over twenty two hundred dollars a day.
How on earth are you meant to save enough to keep up with that?
We can’t keep going like this.
If we do, we’re going to be left with a country where home ownership becomes the privilege of just a very lucky few, rather than a birth right for most Kiwis.
But if we don’t have a government that makes restoring widespread homeownership a priority, that’s what’s going to happen.
We can also see the problems the government’s misplaced priorities are causing when it comes to health.
Because while our Prime Minister speculates about fuelling his next election campaign with three billion dollars of unfunded tax cuts, the public services that middle New Zealand relies on are stretched to breaking point.
According to Infometrics, we’ve had $1.7 billion dollars cut in real terms from our health budget over 6 years.
That’s meant that 160,000 people in the last 5 years have been unable to get the appointment they need with a specialist.
And there are real people behind those numbers.
People like Ken Smith, a pensioner from the Hawkes Bay, whose knee was bone on bone, who was in agony, who was told he desperately needed surgery, and who saw a specialist only to be told “if I could do your knee tomorrow, I would, but there’s just no money.“
So Ken had to spend $20,000 of his own retirement savings. $20,000 gone.
That’s wrong. People like Ken are who our health system should be there for.
Instead of talking about giveaways to the very rich, our government should be providing a public health system that can look after every Kiwi.
We’re seeing the same issues in education.
At the same time as National has poured millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money into privately run charter schools, our public education system is struggling.
In the last year alone, National has cut funding for pupils by $150 each.
And so schools load more costs on to parents in order to fill the gaps.
Ask any parent and they’ll tell you the cost of uniforms, class activities, camps and of course ‘voluntary donations’ just keep on rising.
And what parent doesn’t want to do the best they can for their children.
No parent wants their child to miss out.
But here’s the thing: while costs are rising, standards are falling.
In 2006, we were ranked 5th in the world for reading.
Now we’re 13th.
We were 7th in science.
Today? 18th.
And in maths? We’ve fallen from 11th to 23rd.
We’ve got to do better.
Education is fundamental to our ability to provide opportunity for the next generation.
We know that education changes lives. It inspires and empowers people.
It is the single best way to lift people out of poverty and deprivation
Because while our economy may be delivering bigger gains than ever for the very wealthy, more and more Kiwis have found themselves struggling.
As a country, we pride ourselves on being compassionate and big hearted.
On looking after our mates and our neighbours.
On not leaving people out or leaving them behind.
But in the last few years, that’s been slipping away.
305,000 children growing up in poverty.
Sleeping in cars, going to school hungry.
42,000 children a year hospitalised because they are forced to live in poor quality homes.
That’s where we are today in New Zealand.
That’s the background to John Key and Bill English’s 8th Budget.
That’s the direction their first seven Budgets set us in.
More roadblocks that stop people getting ahead, fewer opportunities for our young people, a struggling health system, an education system in decline.
After 8 years in office, one thing is blindingly obvious this government has lost touch.
Their priorities are all wrong. They’re increasingly interested in looking after the few at the very top, and forgetting about everyone else.
We can see that in an economy where more of the gains of growth go to the mega-rich.
We can see that in a housing market that rewards speculators while locking out first home buyers.
In a health system where people miss out on the care they need because of a lack of funding, while our Prime Minister calls for more money to be given away to the already wealthy.
And we can see it in a public education system where achievement is falling while more money than ever is pumped into privately run charter schools.
That’s the plan our current government is delivering.
Focusing on the few at the top while it gets harder for everyone else.
But it doesn’t have to be like this.
We can do so much better.
This isn’t how a responsible government should be running a country after eight years in power.
Eight years in to the last Labour government, they had implemented significant and enduring changes such as Working for Families and KiwiSaver.
One of those policies responded to the failure of the labour market to lift incomes and avert poverty, especially for low income earners. The other lifted our national savings and deepened our pool of local capital.
These were big measures. They boosted incomes. They added to the country’s wealth.
They were nation building.
They were good for the economy. Unemployment fell. The government paid off debt. New Zealand prospered.
We expanded opportunity to more New Zealanders than ever. We lifted people out of poverty.
That’s the kind of approach we need again.
An approach that gives people opportunities, that helps them fulfil their ambitions.
That backs them to get ahead and make the most of themselves.
If it was Grant Robertson and me delivering the Budget next week, that’s where we would start and things would look very, very different.
We’d start with building an economy that works for everyone, not just the few at the top.
Labour would kick-start our economy, and deliver a sustained lift in living standards.
We know our economy does best when everyone has a stake in it and everyone gets a fair shot to make the most of themselves.
Our economic focus needs to be on the things that will deliver more good jobs, higher wages and stronger growth for everyone.
We’d invest heavily in new infrastructure to kick-start the economy, especially in our struggling regions.
We’ll work with businesses and with unions on lifting productivity and sharing the gains fairly.
We’ll diversify our economy with research and development tax credits and back our small businesses with simpler tax rules.
We’ll make a greater investment in skills training to make it easier for our businesses to find skilled staff.
And we’ll encourage more young people to start their own business, to be their own boss, with our young entrepreneurs policy.
We’ll provide mentoring and start-up grants to young Kiwis who might have the next great business idea but who just need a chance to get started.
In Labour, we know that the economy is there to serve people, and that it does best when all our people can succeed.
That will be the economic philosophy of the next Labour-led government.
And to help everyone succeed, the government I lead will address the real causes of the housing crisis.
We’ll roll out a comprehensive plan to restore the dream of home ownership.
We’ll crack down on the offshore speculators who are driving up house prices and locking families out of the market.
That’s why Labour will say to overseas buyers, if you want to purchase a house in New Zealand, you have to add to the stock, just like they do in Australia. It’s a commonsense solution that our current government has opposed for far too long.
The other thing that’s commonsense is that we simply don’t have enough houses.
That’s why Labour will launch a mass home building programme to deliver new, affordable homes in Auckland and around the country.
It’s why we’ll replace the urban limit in Auckland that has choked the supply of housing for too long, with a smarter way of managing Auckland’s growth.
We will also turn around the decline in health and education.
Under a government that I lead, our health and education systems will be amongst the best in the world.
Under Labour, Kiwis will know that if they get sick, the public healthcare system will be there for them.
That’s why we are committed to meeting the cost pressures that are depriving people of the care they need.
We know we can’t do it overnight but we will progressively restore the money National has cut from health, and give our doctors and nurses and healthcare professionals the tools to do their jobs.
That’s what’s going to keep Kiwis healthy.
Budgets are about priorities, and under Labour, health will be a priority again. We shouldn’t be spending money on $3 billion of unaffordable tax cuts when we could be fixing our health system instead.
We can use that money so much smarter. For example, Labour will introduce an early access scheme for the latest life-saving medicines purchased through Pharmac.
That will mean people with hard to treat diseases will be able to get new medicines early. It means when the latest medical breakthrough happens, when we have the power to save lives, Kiwis won’t have to wait.
On health our approach is simple:
Labour stands for a stronger public health system where everyone can get the care they need.
And the next Labour Government will recommit our country to the principle of high quality, free public education.
We’ll end the government’s practice of pulling money out of public schools to pay for profit focused charter schools, and we’ll put that money to work building great schools for everyone.
We’ll fund schools properly so parents don’t constantly have their hands in their pockets or feel ashamed they can’t afford to contribute.
We’ll restore 100% qualification requirements in ECE so kids get better teachers earlier.
And under Labour, the education system will support you throughout your working life. We’ll never give up on expanding opportunity and giving people the tools they need.
That’s why we are committed to three years’ free post-school education so that Kiwis can train and retrain across their working lives, without having to take on huge debt. That’s how we support our people and its how we tackle the challenge of the future of work.
If there is one thing I am clear on it is this: the next Labour government will not tolerate poverty in New Zealand in the 21st century.
Under Labour, our focus will be on lifting people up and giving people opportunity, instead of giving more money than ever to the people already doing well.
Our priority will be getting the building blocks of strong communities right. Good housing, good healthcare, good education and support when people need it.
We’ll introduce a dole for apprenticeships scheme to give young people the opportunity to get into paid work.
We’ll raise the number of hours people can work without having their benefit cut.
We will feed hungry kids in schools and when I’m Prime Minister, every Kiwi kid will grow up in a house that is warm and safe and dry. That’s what my Member’s Bill which is going through parliament is about and I hope all parties will support it.
We don’t have to settle for poor quality housing and we’re going to fix it.
Eight years into John Key’s government, there are too many areas this government is neglecting. Too many areas where people are struggling.
It isn’t economic success when thousands of people don’t have a roof over their head they can call their own, or a roof over their head at all.
It isn’t economic success when tens of thousands are missing out on healthcare they would have received just a few years ago.
It’s not economic success when we put more of the cost of education on families even as we tumble down the international rankings.
Right now, the government isn’t focused on these things and people are missing out.
That needs to change. If a Labour government was delivering the Budget this week it would.
So, this week, when you see the Budget, look past the gimmicks. Look past the spin.
Ask yourself, is this a Budget for middle New Zealand?
Will this help most Kiwis get ahead?
Will it grow our economy and give New Zealanders their fair share?
Will it fix the housing crisis and restore the dream of home ownership?
Will it restore our health system?
Will it help send our kids to better schools?
If it doesn’t do all of those things, then we need a new plan.
If it’s just another Budget that favours the few at the very top over everyone else, then we need a new approach.
We need a government that will build a fairer country, for everyone.
Because if we work together, that’s what we can deliver.
We can make sure everyone can get ahead and that everyone can fulfil their ambitions.
We can grow our economy and share the gains fairly.
We can restore the dream of home ownership.
We can have world-class public services again. Better schools. Better hospitals. Doctors and nurses with the resources they need.
That’s what a Labour government will deliver, with your support.
Together, we can restore the Kiwi Dream.
Thank you.
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3 days ago - What’s a life worth now?
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...3 days ago - Howling at the MoonKarl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...3 days ago
- Newshub is Dead.
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...3 days ago - Seymour is chuffed about cutting early-learning red tape – but we hear, too, that Jones has loose...Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...3 days ago
- Bryce Edwards: Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...3 days ago - Was Hawkesby entirely wrong?David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...3 days ago
- PRC shadow looms as the Solomons head for electionPRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time. A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...3 days ago
- Climate Change: Criminal ecocideWe are in the middle of a climate crisis. Last year was (again) the hottest year on record. NOAA has just announced another global coral bleaching event. Floods are threatening UK food security. So naturally, Shane Jones wants to make it easier to mine coal: Resources Minister Shane Jones ...3 days ago
- Is saving one minute of a politician's time worth nearly $1 billion?Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced ...3 days ago
- Long Tunnel or Long Con?Yesterday it was revealed that Transport Minister had asked Waka Kotahi to look at the options for a long tunnel through Wellington. State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the ...3 days ago
- Smoke And Mirrors.
You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...3 days ago - What is Mexico doing about climate change?This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...3 days ago
- State of humanity, 2024
2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...4 days ago - Govt’s Wellington tunnel vision aims to ease the way to the airport (but zealous promoters of cycl...Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...4 days ago
- The case for cultural connectednessA recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...4 days ago
- Useful context on public sector job cutsDavid Farrar writes – The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated. While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...4 days ago
- Gordon Campbell On When Racism Comes Disguised As Anti-racismRemember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...4 days ago
- Govt ignored economic analysis of smokefree reversal4 days ago
- True Blue.
True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...4 days ago - Who is running New Zealand’s foreign policy?While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...4 days ago
- 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #15A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 7, 2024 thru Sat, April 13, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week is about adults in the room setting terms and conditions of ...4 days ago
- Feline Friends and Fragile Fauna The Complexities of Cats in New Zealand’s Conservation Efforts
Cats, with their independent spirit and beguiling purrs, have captured the hearts of humans for millennia. In New Zealand, felines are no exception, boasting the highest national cat ownership rate globally [definition cat nz cat foundation]. An estimated 1.134 million pet cats grace Kiwi households, compared to 683,000 dogs ...
4 days ago - Or is that just they want us to think?
Nice guy, that Peter Williams. Amiable, a calm air of no-nonsense capability, a winning smile. Everything you look for in a TV presenter and newsreader.I used to see him sometimes when I went to TVNZ to be a talking head or a panellist and we would yarn. Nice guy, that ...5 days ago - Fact Brief – Did global warming stop in 1998?Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Did global warming stop in ...5 days ago
- Arguing over a moot point.I have been following recent debates in the corporate and social media about whether it is a good idea for NZ to join what is known as “AUKUS Pillar Two.” AUKUS is the Australian-UK-US nuclear submarine building agreement in which … Continue reading ...6 days ago
- No Longer Trusted: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.6 days ago
- Mortgage rates at 10% anyone?
No – nothing about that in PM Luxon’s nine-point plan to improve the lives of New Zealanders. But beyond our shores Jamie Dimon, the long-serving head of global bank J.P. Morgan Chase, reckons that the chances of a goldilocks soft landing for the economy are “a lot lower” than the ...6 days ago - Sad tales from the leftMichael Bassett writes – Have you noticed the odd way in which the media are handling the government’s crackdown on surplus employees in the Public Service? Very few reporters mention the crazy way in which State Service numbers rocketed ahead by more than 16,000 during Labour’s six years, ...6 days ago
- In Whose Best Interests?On The Spot: The question Q+A host, Jack Tame, put to the Workplace & Safety Minister, Act’s Brooke van Velden, was disarmingly simple: “Are income tax cuts right now in the best interests of lowering inflation?”JACK TAME has tested another MP on his Sunday morning current affairs show, Q+A. Minister for Workplace ...6 days ago
- Don’t Question, Don’t Complain.
It has to start somewhereIt has to start sometimeWhat better place than here?What better time than now?So it turns out that I owe you all an apology.It seems that all of the terrible things this government is doing, impacting the lives of many, aren’t necessarily ‘bad’ per se. Those things ...6 days ago - Auckland faces 25% water inflation shock
Three Waters became a focus of anti-Government protests under Labour, but its dumping by the new Government hasn’t solved councils’ funding problems and will eventually hit the back pockets of everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 8:06 am today are:The Government ...6 days ago - Small accomplishments and large ironies
6 days ago - The Song of Saqua: Volume VII
In order to catch up to the actual progress of the D&D campaign, I present you with another couple of sessions. These were actually held back to back, on a Monday and Tuesday evening. Session XV Alas, Goatslayer had another lycanthropic transformation… though this time, he ran off into the ...6 days ago - Accelerating the Growth Rate?
There is a constant theme from the economic commentariat that New Zealand needs to lift its economic growth rate, coupled with policies which they are certain will attain that objective. Their prescriptions are usually characterised by two features. First, they tend to be in their advocate’s self-interest. Second, they are ...7 days ago - The only thing we have to fear is tenants themselves
1. Which of these acronyms describes the experience of travelling on a Cook Strait ferry?a. ROROb. FOMOc. RAROd. FMLAramoana, first boat ever boarded by More Than A Feilding, four weeks after the Wahine disaster2. What is the acronym for the experience of watching the government risking a $200 million break ...7 days ago
- Release: Dark day for Kiwi kids as a third of Govt cuts affect them
News that 1000 jobs at the Ministry of Education and Oranga Tamariki could go is devastating for future generations of New Zealanders. ...2 days ago - Release: Alarm as Government signals further blow to school lunchesMore essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...2 days ago
- Release: Quick, submit – stop Govt’s dodgy approvals billThe Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...3 days ago
- Government throws coal on the climate crisis fire
The Government’s policy announced today to ease consenting for coal mining will have a lasting impact across generations. ...3 days ago - Release: Public transport costs to double as National looks at unaffordable roading project insteadCancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...4 days ago
- Release: Cost of living in Auckland still not a priorityA laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...4 days ago
- Greens look to fast-track submissions on harmful lawThe Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...7 days ago
- Release: Govt should stop making people’s lives harder and build more homesThe National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...1 week ago
- Release: Melissa Lee missing in action on mediaThe action Melissa Lee promised to protect democracy and the media sector is missing, Media and Communications spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...1 week ago
- Landlord Government leaves little hope for rentersThe Government’s announcement on tenancy rules prove that it does not care about renters. ...1 week ago
- Opportunity to build a more sustainable economyGreen Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...1 week ago
- Significant step forward in fixing cruel and unjust pastA significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...1 week ago
- Missed opportunity but NZ will surely one day recognise the right to a sustainable environmentNew Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...1 week ago
- Release: Don’t cut our lunches – clear message sent to GovernmentTens of thousands of people are demanding the Government commits to fully funding free and healthy school lunches. ...1 week ago
- Release: Govt makes U-turn on Suicide Prevention OfficeLabour welcomes the Government’s U-turn on the closure of the Suicide Prevention Office, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...1 week ago
- CCC issues warning over further climate delayToday’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...1 week ago
- Luxon targets lame and lousy example of leadershipIf talk is cheap, Chris Luxon’s “targets” are bankrupt. ...2 weeks ago
- Luxon targets are lousy example of leadershipIf talk is cheap, Chris Luxon’s “targets” are bankrupt. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Commitment to disability communities missing from Govt prioritiesMinister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...2 weeks ago
- Methane target review is dangerous duplicationThe Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Government must commit to school building project for disabled studentsThe Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: National must take mental health seriouslyMental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...2 weeks ago
- Referendums for Māori wards a racist step backwardsThe Government's imposed referendum on Māori wards is a racist step backwards for Māori representation, and disregards Te Tiriti o Waitangi. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Job losses at Health not worth it for tax cutsNew Zealand will feel the harm of the National Government’s reckless cuts to jobs at the health ministry for generations, says Ayesha Verrall. ...2 weeks ago
- Press release: No Māori initiatives in Government’s nothing planMāori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...2 weeks ago
- Thirty six point PR spinThe Government’s ‘36 point’ plan for the next three months is as pointless as it is hollow. ...2 weeks ago
- Thirty six point PR spinThe Government’s ‘36 point’ plan for the next three months is as pointless as it is hollow. ...2 weeks ago
- Thirty six point PR spinThe Government’s ‘36 point’ plan for the next three months is as pointless as it is hollow. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Social housing off Government’s to-do listThe Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Less money in most people’s pockets this AprilChanges to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...3 weeks ago
- Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...8 hours ago - Government commits $20m to Westport flood protectionThe Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...13 hours ago
- Taupō takes pole positionThe Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...15 hours ago
- Cost of living support for low-income homeownersLocal Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...16 hours ago
- Government backing mussel spat projectThe Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...17 hours ago
- Government focused on getting people into workBenefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...20 hours ago
- Clean energy key driver to reducing emissionsThe Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...21 hours ago
- Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forwardThe Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...1 day ago
- Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic PartnershipPrime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...2 days ago
- Government consults on extending coastal permits for portsRMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...2 days ago
- Inflation coming down, but more work to doToday’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...2 days ago
- School attendance restored as a priority in health adviceRefreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...2 days ago
- Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sectorOceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...2 days ago
- Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International CongressAssociate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...3 days ago
- Removing red tape to help early learners thriveThe Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...3 days ago
- RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tapeChanges to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...3 days ago
- McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationshipTrade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...3 days ago
- Prime Minister Luxon acknowledges legacy of Singapore Prime Minister LeePrime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...3 days ago
- PMs Luxon and Lee deepen Singapore-NZ tiesPrime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...4 days ago
- Antarctica New Zealand Board appointmentsForeign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...4 days ago
- Finance Minister travels to Washington DCFinance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...4 days ago
- Pet bonds a win/win for renters and landlordsThe coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...4 days ago
- Long Tunnel for SH1 Wellington being consideredState Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...4 days ago
- New Zealand condemns Iranian strikesPrime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...4 days ago
- Huge interest in Government’s infrastructure plansHundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...7 days ago
- Health Minister thanks outgoing Health New Zealand ChairHealth Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...7 days ago
- Roads of National Significance planning underwayThe NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...7 days ago
- Navigating an unstable global environmentNew Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...7 days ago
- NZ welcomes Australian Governor-GeneralPrime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...7 days ago
- Pseudoephedrine back on shelves for WinterAssociate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...7 days ago
- NZ and the US: an ever closer partnershipNew Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...1 week ago
- Joint US and NZ declarationApril 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...1 week ago
- NZ and US to undertake further practical Pacific cooperationForeign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...1 week ago
- Government redress for Te Korowai o WainuiāruaThe Government is continuing the bipartisan effort to restore its relationship with iwi as the Te Korowai o Wainuiārua Claims Settlement Bill passed its first reading in Parliament today, says Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith. “Historical grievances of Te Korowai o Wainuiārua relate to 19th century warfare, land purchased or taken ...1 week ago
- Focus on outstanding minerals permit applicationsNew Zealand Petroleum and Minerals is working to resolve almost 150 outstanding minerals permit applications by the end of the financial year, enabling valuable mining activity and signalling to the sector that New Zealand is open for business, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “While there are no set timeframes for ...1 week ago
- Applications open for NZ-Ireland Research CallThe New Zealand and Irish governments have today announced that applications for the 2024 New Zealand-Ireland Joint Research Call on Agriculture and Climate Change are now open. This is the third research call in the three-year Joint Research Initiative pilot launched in 2022 by the Ministry for Primary Industries and Ireland’s ...1 week ago
- Tenancy rules changes to improve rental marketThe coalition Government has today announced changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to encourage landlords back to the rental property market, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “The previous Government waged a war on landlords. Many landlords told us this caused them to exit the rental market altogether. It caused worse ...1 week ago
- Boosting NZ’s trade and agricultural relationship with ChinaTrade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay will visit China next week, to strengthen relationships, support Kiwi exporters and promote New Zealand businesses on the world stage. “China is one of New Zealand’s most significant trade and economic relationships and remains an important destination for New Zealand’s products, accounting for nearly 22 per cent of our good and ...1 week ago
- Freshwater farm plan systems to be improvedThe coalition Government intends to improve freshwater farm plans so that they are more cost-effective and practical for farmers, Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay have announced. “A fit-for-purpose freshwater farm plan system will enable farmers and growers to find the right solutions for their farm ...1 week ago
- New Fast Track Projects advisory group namedThe coalition Government has today announced the expert advisory group who will provide independent recommendations to Ministers on projects to be included in the Fast Track Approvals Bill, say RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones. “Our Fast Track Approval process will make it easier and ...1 week ago
- Warning of death from a million cuts as Oceans Secretariat dissolved
Shane Jones says people voted for change, but opponents say small cuts such as ending a special oceans secretariat are starting to add up The post Warning of death from a million cuts as Oceans Secretariat dissolved appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 hour ago - Defence deal to counter Beijing’s aggression in South China SeaNew Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...1 hour ago
- Wellington’s ebb and flow of public servantsThe thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...1 hour ago
- New Zealand transport planning has gone off the railsOpinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...1 hour ago
- Daily crossword, Friday 19 AprilThe post Daily crossword, Friday 19 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 hour ago
- Brakes on transport and logistics sector as demand for freight slowsThe transport sector is currently in the slow lane The post Brakes on transport and logistics sector as demand for freight slows appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 hour ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 19 AprilLoading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 19 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 hour ago
- Financial literacy should be on all of usOpinion: With maths understanding at 42 percent for Year 8 students, there’s no doubt something has to be done. But how? The post Financial literacy should be on all of us appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 hour ago
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Very well said Andrew Little.
We have been on the downward slide ever since the clueless Key and his henchmen came to power.
Such a destructive Government, we have never seen the likes of before, and it is only going to get worse until National are tossed in the rubbish bin.
Damn good speech really!
Hands up please if you are ‘middle New Zealand’. What…no hands?
The ‘Kiwi Dream’…(just to pick up on one constantly recurring aspect) – Home ownership. Has anyone got hard data on the number of people who actually want to own their own home regardless, as opposed to those who would be quite happy to rent if renting wasn’t such a rip off and so insecure?
And did I miss the bit where potential policies and programmes were couched in the context of actually existing reality? Or is it …
a) – just being taken as read that everyone knows it’s not the 1950s any more and to take half of what’s being promised with a sack of salt on the understanding that AGW/climate change changes everything, or…
b) a case that political parties (Labour in this case) have their heads under the blankets or hands over their eyes and are singing a loud lalalala tune to some song title about dreams and growth related prosperity along the tracks even though the air is filled with the rumbling roar of an AGW freight train?
Apologies to Labour party supporters or potential Labour party voters who might be upset because they want to believe that Labour offer a hopeful path forward. I’m not meaning to single Labour out or ‘bag’ them. I just think that their apparent disconnect is indicative of an entire political system or establishment being nothing but a bust flush these days.
Sort of, so I’d better put my hand up. I meet all of the usual criteria apart from having kids (my siblings and cousins did those instead) and having a rather higher education than was really required for my generation.
However I’m probably as eccentric as most of “middle New Zealand” are. At least of that large proportion whose families have been raising kids here for more than two or three generations. They are routinely kind of crazy individualists by the normative standards of statisticians. Their very diversity is their defining factor.
Perhaps he meant “immigrant middle New Zealand”. The first few generations here are rather (ummm) staid. Even distressingly boring even in the manner of their rebellions. Fortunately for statisticians and advocates of class wars, we do have a lot of immigration.
😈
So ‘middle New Zealand’ might be defined as something like middle aged with grown up children, a fairly high level of formal education and a good income….in other words a section of NZ society that kind of corresponds with a broad brush stroke idea of a typical politician?
I wasn’t trying to be provocative in the initial comment – I genuinely have no idea who is being addressed when the term ‘middle New Zealand’ is used and so can’t understand why it’s constantly used when (presumably) seeking wide appeal and ‘buy in’.
How about “middle New Zealand” being most of us – Pakeha and Maori – ordinary everyday people ?
All of us caught up in family matters (whether we’ve got kids or not), being undermined constantly by this National Government, worried about the future of public health, state education (especially when you see money siphoned off into private charter schools), the lack of affordable housing, and wondering where the jobs are for the future .
Well, if ‘middle New Zealand’ is “ordinary everyday people”, then what demographic is the term ‘middle New Zealand’ trying to separate “every day people” from? Why is it being used? Why not just use the term “people”?
Are there people in New Zealand who would be offended if they were referred to as people? Or who might not know it was they who were being referred to by the term?
It’s not a biggie beyond it the fact that it keeps coming up and, to my way of thinking, seems an effort to simultaneously refer to everything and nothing; to no-one and everyone, and so finally winds up creating an impression of something akin to unflavoured, somewhat unappealing, homogenised white milk.
Now if that’s what the intention is and the people using the term are happy enough with that, then fine. It’s just that I’ve always thought of New Zealand as a place that contained much more diversity and vibrancy than that.
” I’ve always thought of New Zealand as a place that contained much more diversity and vibrancy than that.”
I think that is the issue there Bill – middle nz is not too right, not too left, it is inclusive, not too smart, not too thick, average Joe and Jo, everyman and everywoman, and most importantly the term middle nz does not scare people, it is innocuous, it is neither tall or short poppy – so, as I’m sure you know, it is a slogan, a piece of propaganda, a message of oneness. It is not based on reality much.
I actually think it has a rather nasty underbelly that I’m not going to mention here but that I alluded to above. And I’m holding my wheesht now.
Hmmm this is what andrew little said in his email to me, “The reality is National doesn’t have a plan to fix these problems. They’re increasingly focused on the interests of the few at the top, while families in the middle struggle to get ahead and we see the emergence of inexcusable poverty in New Zealand.”
Now I feel I could pick the shit out of those sentences – eg what’s your plan considering CC? So the gnats go for the top and labs go for the middle and the bottom can sort themselves out? Struggle to get ahead – buy a house you mean – some of us have given up on owning a house mate, do you realise that, it is the kids of the ‘middle’ that aspire to that – what do others aspire to? Ask them and listen to their answers. No emergence just some visibility that those with eyes see. and so on – but what would be the point? Those that know know. Those that don’t want to know won’t let themselves know.
I got the same email with the same speech. He talks at length and with passion about how poverty is inexcusable and won’t be tolerated under Labour. This is basic Saul Alinsky stuff – unite the poor with the middle against the very rich. It’s good left strategy and its stunning to see there are people here who don’t get it. You have to win over the middle who don’t currently see Labour as standing for them.
yep and while the middle is being won over by whatever means necessary the bottom can sort themselves out. It is a myth that sorting the middle will sort the bottom. Sorting the bottom is sorting the bottom and this is well known – which is why the middle (votes) are targeted.
I have no idea what “middle New Zealand” is. It is a non-specific phrase.
However I suspect that it is generally viewed as one of those nice statistical phrases that looks at people in the main part of a normal distribution curve, and looks at people within one standard deviation of the norm – usually about 68% of the population.
So in NZ traditionally, if you blur your vision down to the level that stats (and most politics) people do, that means ‘middle NZ’ is
1. most likely heterosexual
2. most likely had some tertiary education in anything from apprenticeships to university
3. most likely to be or have been married
4. most likely been in a relationship that had 1 or 2 children with a smaller probability of 3
5. high probability of having or will have a separation or divorce
6. most likely to have brought property to live in, and almost certainly went heavily into debt to do so
7. most likely to have been in employment for the majority of any year except for periods of child-rearing and education.
8. likely to have been made redundant or lost a job because of business changes at least once.
9. most likely to have spent most of their life in NZ working in a urban area
etc…
This would describe the life pattern of over 70% of the NZ population between the ages of 30 and 65, and will describe the life prior to retirement of even more of the people over 65. They also happen to be the demographic group that most consistently votes, which is why politicians are interested in them.
Now of course within this, there is often considerable variation. However one characteristic that I always note is that the population of people who are interested in politics are usually quite a lot more skewed away from this group.
Oh well, that being the case, I guess I’ll just point out that no resurgent left (statist) party of late in the English speaking world has enjoyed a resurgence off the back of that muddle demographic. Them youngsters, who apparently don’t give a toss, seems to be where’s its at 😉
Hi Lynne, I see you were moved to type a comment on one very small part of Bill’s comment, (consciously, or unconsciously, diverting the thread), and ignored completely the central part of Bill’s comment.
Do you agree with Bill’s comment?
Should Andrew Little’s promise to tackle poverty be “taken with a sack of salt”, because Andrew Little pointedly doesn’t give the slightest hint of a mention to the other burning issue of our time?
Do you disagree, with Bill’s comment?
Are you more inclined to agree with your author, Te Reo Putake’s admitted, facetious comment, that climate change wasn’t mentioned by Andrew Little, because climate change is about as important as the condition of the foot path outside his house.
Lynne do you think that we can really afford to go through another national general election cycle where climate change is deliberately barely mentioned?
Do you think we should have another election, where because none will have to declare themselves on this issue, and no potential government will seek a mandate to act on this issue, that BAU will keep trundling on down a path into a very dark future?
Yup. Middle New Zealand here.
Far too early for more big policy.
Don’t expect the Labour party to be a one-issue wonder like you are.
Expect them to concentrate on people. And the country as a whole.
If you’re dissatisfied with even the Greens’ lack of extremism on global warming, you’re going to stay perpetually melancholic commenting on New Zealand politics.
Prepare to be disappointed then. There will be no major policy from Labour next year; there will be conventional policy however.
The reason being that Labour has utterly failed to set up its narrative about possibilities and options that NZ needs to discuss, and it has failed to follow on from that to actually start those conversations in the community.
Therefore – it has no room to move in terms of providing serious alternative policy.
Then again, your opinion could be completely wrong too Colonial Viper.
My comment was about how the context that policies will need to be rolled out in and that context being ignored, rather than about the policies themselves. If they were genuinely concentrating on people and on the country as a whole, then that context would have had to have been included.
I don’t like generally like war analogies, but…
The Germans are massing an invasion force along the French coast circa 1939. The UK opposition party gives a pre-budget speech that, as though it’s still 1926, simply doesn’t mention that fact – and the speech makes no mention, or even hint of there being any contingencies in relation to the obvious, hugely important (yet unmentioned) context that will shape economic possibilities in the coming years.
Someone comments on the lack of context, and gets a response that the opposition is concentrating on people and the country as a whole (hence the lack of context) and that the context is a one issue wonder thing that only extremists would care about anyway.
Wouldn’t your eyebrows be raised just a tad were that argument made in relation to that reasonably parallel scenario? And yet, here you are…
Except climate change isn’t World War II, therein lies the problem. The public simply don’t see the urgency and the existential threat, and hence politically it falls flat. Labour and the Greens both have good policy on climate change. In government they can raise it up as an issue and take action to fix it. Right now focusing on climate change would just look out of touch to most people. It’s enraging but it’s how it is. It’s up to those of us who care about the climate to make it even register as an issue. That’s when the parliamentary parties will have the space to operate.
I would say that it’s up to Labour and the Greens to establish the links between climate and the economy in the public consciousness. I thought political parties were supposed to be at the forefront of formulating philosophical and ideological vision, and establishing the interconnectedness of issues in the minds of the electorate. That they are more concerned with chasing the whims of the existing mainstream consciousness in the short term is evidence that the system is broken.
I’m not suggesting that a pre-budget speech should have focused on AGW or climate change. What I’m saying is that the policies mentioned should have acknowledged the context and been tailored to meet the needs imposed by that context.
The house build policy is the most obvious. Houses stand for 30 years and more. Whatever we build right now is what we’re stuck with for decades to come. With no need to bang on a drum about it, Labour could have quietly (innocuously) signaled that any new houses were going to be built with mitigation and adaptation in mind.
Hey Bb8 thats exactly what the new republic thought about the first order and look what happened to them.
Looks like it’ll be up to the small time informal Resistance to save the day.
Except that in 1939 the public then, also simply didn’t see the urgency and the existential threat either. Most Britons for instance, couldn’t have pointed to Poland on a map of Europe, or even cared less.
The big political concerns of the day were; getting out of the Great Depression and jobs.
There was also a very strong antiwar feeling at the time, the horrors of the last British campaign in Europe were still a vivid living memory for most, and they didn’t want a repeat.
It took the remarkable leadership of Winston Churchill to alert his countrymen and women to the danger. And the need to take action.
Even for him, it was an uphill battle, many of Churchill’s own class and a big section of the British aristocracy were Nazi sympathisers.
Churchill didn’t sugar coat it. He promised the British people “blood, sweat, and tears” and then set about delivering on his promise.
Leadership was the key and that is what is missing now.
Churchill could have done what our leaders are doing now, and ignore the problem and kick it down the road for someone else to fix. By which time the problem would have been much worse or by then even insoluble.
Churchill gave a speech in which he warned of the dangers of such a strategy:
All the signs are that currently we are in stage two. If we don’t take resolute action against climate change now, it won’t be long before we are in stage three.
Yep I’m pretty happy to own my own house and as long as I can get any health issues looked after and can retire with out fear of the wolf turning up at my door I’ll be happy
But what about others? How many kiwis would love to own their own house but can’t, and struggle to pay for the health care they need and retire without too many worries?
The just of Bills post is that maybe middle nz doesn’t want these things , I would put my self at the lower end of middle class and I am happy with Littles pitch.
And I think a great deal of people who can’t get even to my level of comfort would be wrapped if they could
I was thinking of a couple of things, one being that I know people who have bought their home, at least partly off the back of realising that a mortgage was cheaper than rent (for them).
I was somewhat absently wondering how many others might have made the decision to buy off the back of similar considerations…considerations that would never have come up if rent levels and tenancy rights weren’t so screwed.
Then I wondered what promoting this supposed central pillar of the ‘Kiwi dream’ says to the growing numbers of people who will never be in the position to consider it as an option – no matter how high their rents become in relation to potential mortgage payments.
And I wondered, finally, if it really is a part of some ‘Kiwi dream’ these days, or whether it’s just assumed to be a ubiquitous aspiration or ambition.
If it’s more something being driven by circumstance (for those with enough income) rather than an actual desire that would exist no matter what, then it’s a talking point that misses the mark – the mark being to do some serious shit around rents and tenancy rights. (Stuff that should be done anyway)
“I was somewhat absently wondering how many others might have made the decision to buy off the back of similar considerations…considerations that would never have come up if rent levels and tenancy rights weren’t so screwed.”
If land prices and mortage levels weren’t so screwed, more people would buy I think. Partly for best use of money reasons, but also so many people are now tied into the idea of investment.
I don’t think much can be done about the cost of homeownership, but govt could pretty easily improve tenancy rights. Long terms leases might be trickier. As you say it should be happening anyway.
If land prices and mortage levels weren’t so screwed, more people would buy I think.
Maybe. But the point I was getting at was that in a situation where there was no financial benefit to buying, would people still buy? New Zealand seems a bit unusual on the whole house buying front when compared to quite a few other countries.
The changes around renting would have to be massive for people to give up the ownership dream, basic security plus use of money are big drivers then there is the fact that for a lot of use the money in our houses is all well leave for our kids.
I also find I enjoy my own home more than living in one I don’t own.
think its pretty obvious that “middle NZ” that Little is appealing to is that group who have supported National the past 2 elections but have misgivings about their and their offsprings future….if a relatively small number of them are convinced Labour can address those doubts without turning their world upside down then a coalition not of National will result.
Given what they have to work with its probably their best option
It might be obvious to you Pat, but I didn’t get the impression that Little singled out the group that supports National.
would you be happier if he had specifically named them?
Didn’t mean to offend you Pat because I didn’t agree with you that Little was singling out a group that voted National over the last 2 elections.
not offended at all…..everyone entitled to their opinion.
+1 Pat. The working poor are well aware of their situation, thank you very much. They are not the primary target audience of this speech. They are the subject
In short, Bill, he means people who vote.
I read it twice and still managed to miss what he had to say about climate change and the environment. Can someone point me in the right direction?
The rest of it was fairly accurate comment on the failings of the incumbents and nicely aspirational homilies, however.
I’m picking a basic response along the lines of “It’s a budget speech and budget speeches are about the economy” – as though the economy sits apart from, and need pay no heed to, the limitations and possibilities as presented by reality.
It’s a scary disconnect.
Not a disconnect, Bill – just being realistic. You cannot cram every subject into one speech. Ditto policies. Labour is not going to start talking about climate disruption or freshwater matters in a speech on the country’s economy – but in the end, these will all come together – with other important matters – in a rounded whole.
You just have to have a look at Labour’s Policy Platform – easily found on the web – to see what I mean.
I think it’s indicative of being anything but realistic.
The speech mentions issues around housing and health, poverty and whatever. Generally speaking, I haven’t any problems with the policies mentioned. But the speech assumes the policies they have, will be rolled out over time, and be contained within much the same context as has existed for the past however many decades. That’s the disconnect.
Andrew Little, and Labour, know we’re in a different world from previous decades – that’s what he’s been trying to point out for quite a time now. And Labour’s policies have to fit into this very different world – which they will.
Look up Labour’s Policy Platform. That’ll give you more detail on where we’re heading.
OMG you are dreaming.
Labour don’t understand anything. This is the party which is deathly afraid to scare the middle class horses.
And the voting public has been punishing them at the ballot box for being totally disconnected.
Disagree with you Colonial Viper, Labour understand a lot more than you will ever give them credit for. Labour always has to tread more cautiously. Corrupt msm and dirty politics from John Key’s office keep the public distracted and disconnected.
in other words National set the parameters of the box, and Labour cautiously stays within it.
And as a strategy, how is it working out for Labour?
That’s not what I meant Colonial Viper.
So I looked up the Policy Platform and scanned it. There are, as you say, some nods or acknowledgements that would seem to point somewhat in the right direction. There are also commitments or undertakings that would fly in the face of any supposed shift in direction.
Which is all fine. A 60 odd page policy document that involves multiple input is almost bound to contain contradictions.
As for which elements of the policy platform gain precedence and so set the course or general thrust of policy direction well, if the words or lack of signposts in speeches aren’t to be taken as anything to go by, I guess there’s no way to tell until various actions occur or fail to materialise.
Which is hardly a desirable state of affairs.
Labour are not going to promise to make everyone poorer. Fucksake.
What? Who said they should?
edit – and in case you hadn’t noticed, for election cycle after election cycle people have been being promised they’ll be better off…this time. And poverty widens and deepens….
Wrong party.
OK, then where are the policies on full employment?
Or is that the wrong party too?
Didn’t think Little’s pre budget speech was the platform for policy announcements.
You would have heard that if you’d been at the last party conference.
In regards to cracking down on offshore property investors, why are Labour still pushing this new build fallacy?
Can’t Labour see that forcing offshore property investors to buy new builds will merely drive up the price of land, thus, as a result, the price of housing?
The Chairman.
Have you got a better idea mate, if so don’t be shy, let it out.
Making overseas buyers build new would seem like a very good idea to me.
Builders would get work, painters, roofers, landscapers, concrete workers and all the suppliers and more.
How can that be a bad thing ?
Open the other eye sir.
No offence intended, but fuck off with that BS mate.
This idea is going to fall flat on its face with the electorate.
As for a better idea – ban all foreign non-resident ownership of NZ housing and of NZ residential land; give foreign non-resident owners 5 years to divest themselves of their current holdings.
😆
Speaking of falling flat on your face with the electorate 😆
For those who don’t know what OAB is referring to, in 2011 I stood for Labour in Clutha Southland against the Deputy Prime Minister, Bill English. Good fun too. He was a great debate and town meeting opponent.
And as OAB inferred, I was unable to beat English at the polls.
I didn’t know that CV. I just assumed OAB was talking about Andrew Littles attempt to win an electorate seat in The Naki.
Anyway, good on you CV, as least you didn’t just sit back and be a keyboard warrior like some people.
Appreciate that, thanks.
When you campaign in a deeply blue electorate, it is a steep learning curve indeed.
One thing which really opened my eyes as the candidate was when I met some of the former officers who ran the long-defunct Mataura Mill Labour Party branch.
They were all going to vote for NZ First, and told me so without hesitation.
Jeez, I’m a bit shocked to hear that.
You mean you weren’t able to overcome English’s tiny, wafer-thin 2008 Majority of 15,000 + votes, CV ??? (English took 68% of the Candidate-Vote at the 08 Election – 22,600 – to the Labour candidate’s 7,100 (21%) ).
I mean, OK, Clutha-Southland’s one of the Bluest seats in the Country, but still …
it was ripe for the picking … surely ? And at a 2011 Election in which Labour otherwise did so brilliantly !!!
Chur, lol 🙂
Well, some people think I shamed the party by not falling straight on my sword after my unexpected and shocking loss.
The newly announced Labour candidate for Invercargill, Liz Craig, will win that seat against Sarah
DowagerDowie. Liz stood in Clutha/Southland in the last round and won great respect across the board. The votes however, as Colonial Viper points out, don’t cross borders easily.Craig has a 10% or less chance of overturning Dowie’s 7,500 majority, and will need a very high list placing if she is to get into Parliament this round.
This is nothing personal against Craig, but as an unknown against an incumbent local, the odds are highly stacked against her.
I don’t know Liz Craig but she reads as a credible candidate. For mine a huge issue for Labour is refreshing their list with some fresh talent. A feature of Key’s leadership is the smiling assassin ruthlessness to cut dead wood. Littles biggest liability is the perception that he is leading a reheated and talentless caucus. Labour need to be bold and allow merit and renewal to take its course and freshen up its line up. Cosgrove has gone ,Goff odds on as well but the likes of Dyspn and Mallard teal need to go.
I don’t know Liz Craig but she reads as a credible candidate. For mine a huge issue for Labour is refreshing their list with some fresh talent. A feature of Key’s leadership is the smiling assassin ruthlessness to cut dead wood. Littles biggest liability is the perception that he is leading a reheated and talentless caucus. Labour need to be bold and allow merit and renewal to take its course and freshen up its line up. Cosgrove has gone ,Goff odds on as well but the likes of Dyspn and Mallard etal need to go.
Wow +1
And also for “chur”
We know oab is a douhe bag
+ 100
what is this, kindergarten?
You can only speak for yourself, and I disagree with you Infused.
good for you.
Inferred or not, what I’m saying is that your opinions of what will or won’t “fall flat”, whatever they were in 2011, are distorted by your personal bias against the Labour Party you’re a member of.
@Jester, your snide put down is well wide of its mark.
+1 OAB
To VP.
And who or which political party is going to do that ?
Maybe Winston, but cant see any others going for your brain wave .
It’s a better idea, it would be highly popular with the electorate, and it’s also one that Labour is incapable of running with.
Good stuff, CV, now that’s a policy I can vote for!
Another thing about this bullshit about needing to hawk our land and resources off to foreigners in order to get a few little dollars off them.
We have all the money and demand for housing internally to keep every builder in the country busy for years.
If Labour would finally come to the party re: social housing like the First Labour Government did, and not like its recent neoliberal incarnations.
“”That’s why Labour will launch a mass home building programme to deliver new, affordable homes in Auckland and around the country.””
Sounds like kiwi build will still be there next election, its a policy that the head of master build said was do able.
Those Kiwi Build Auckland homes, who will they be “affordable” for exactly?
Will Kiwis earning less than $80K pa get a look in?
Nope. It’s a really stupid idea. Just as stupid as allowing foreign ownership at all in fact.
Foreign ownership has never done any country any good.
We really don’t have any need of foreign money to utilise our own resources. It is nothing but a delusion to believe so.
@ Simple Simon
An outright ban would have the desired effect (reducing property demand, thus alleviating upward pressure on the price of land and houses).
Builders etc.. will be required for Labour’s KiwiBuild policy.
Boiler plate Labour appeal to its social democratic heritage. From the party dead sure that NZ Super must be cut for our own good. Election in 15 months.
Great speech. Now soon we will see the words as clear, easily understood action plan.
A clever & deliberate speech that allows room for a coalition partner or two to speak on areas he over-looked.
Good speech.
FAIL.
Hey Andrew, you acknowledge the level of poverty many of us face living (and trapped) at the bottom of society but you conveniently dodge the things that matter to the downtrodden.
How about reversing the worset of National’s welfare reforms so there is a safety net?
How about acknowledging some of us have fallen through the cracks but that we still matter too.
Your speech sounds like you care about Middle NZ and the Working Poor but you have forgotten the Underclass — those of us who are unemployable because of the scarcity of jobs at the bottom, those with mental health conditions, those with physical disabilities.
Go for it, suck up to Middle NZ, but if you ignore your grass roots you won’t win the next election. You need us too. You need to be inclusive not selective.
Until then, you don’t represent me.
Did you even read the speech? He talks at length about poverty and the need to make eliminating poverty a core priority of the next govt.
Thats nice talk. Will Labour reverse the Ruthanasia benefit cuts? Will Labour write off unrepayable student debt? Will Labour make it easier for beneficiaries to work part time and earn without losing their benefit?
You will have to wait and see Colonial Viper.
I won’t be holding my breath.
Hmmmm….
“We’ll raise the number of hours people can work without having their benefit cut.”
well that’s something positive, thanks for pointing that out, because at the moment any beneficiary who gets more than 3 or 4 hours work a week is likely to face an effective ~90% income tax and/or risk losing their benefit altogether.
He obviously didn’t bother Bb8 !!!
So you see yourself as part of the “”underclass”” (John Key’s description of the people his government have targeted and persecuted over the last 8 years), whilst you support National then Slumbergod?
hold on hold on – this is dribble and I will tell you why
Where is the DETAILED reference to Future of Work – OMG I have written so often on here this is the most important document Labour is to produce in November this year.
His reference to Grant and I was producing this budget – does this mean all this Future for Work stuff is dead or standard catchphrases better health better houses better education .
I am really annoyed there is no DETAILED or some ground breaking reference which is suppose to be the ground breaker for NZ by Labour
How can this be – vote NZF and Greens everyone!!!
Or have I turned up at the wrong tent and listened to the wrong Andrew Little(lol)
To be fair, he’s probably better off leaving the “future of work” stuff to its scheduled announcement. Fairly anodyne speech, though. It’s basically what any one of us on here would have come up with in any given year since 2009 if asked to predict what a budget speech by the Labour leader would look like.
I find phrases like “middle New Zealand” and “the Kiwi Dream” absolutely nauseating.
I dunno that those phrases are nauseating, Hanswurst. Didn’t most NZers aspire to owning a home one day? It used to be a realistic dream for people to work towards. And under this Government, that “dream” disappeared for many.
Especially for most younger people – and especially for those working and trying to rent a reasonable place in Auckland (and, so I’m told, in Wellington as well).
All NZers are exactly the same and have exactly the same dream din’t ya know?
Disagree with you Hanswurst “middle New Zealand” and “the Kiwi Dream” are NOT nauseating.
It’d be nice if the rabid Labourites would let people express opinions here. So you and Jenny don’t find all this “middle New Zealand” malarkey nauseuating – Hanswurst does, it’s his comment. Jumping on every single negative thing anyone says about Labour just makes you look desperate and insecure.
That’s a petty, desperate, insecure jump you have made yourself Wainwright, I’m expressing an opinion here, aren’t I allowed to disagree with opinions I disagree with ?
These are opinions:
“I find that language nauseating.”
“I do not find it nauseating.”
This is not opinions:
“I find that language nauseating.”
“No it isnt so you can’t!!!!!!!!”
I would like to experience this Kiwi Dream, if it’s not too much trouble. Thank you very much
“Kiwi Dream” sounds like some sort of unsustainable, meat-flavoured icecream.
The details will come later, upnorth. You know a political party doesn’t spell out all the detail until much closer to the election : especially when the Nats cherrypick the best bits out of Labour policy and use them for their own.
This is old FPP thinking and irrelevant now.
You need to give the electorate time to understand and digest what you want to do and why.
And if Labour announces policy that National can so easily steal, then the policy was clearly too centrist or even right wing friendly to start with.
Nonsense CV – the Nats just pick up on anything their focus groups tell them is a “goer” and many of Labour’s policies are just that !
Then why has Labour’s party vote numbers in general elections been declining since 2005.
It’s the perception of competency issue. The policy is probably not a problem for most centre voters.
I would argue that it is more a cultural and political disconnect.
People don’t want more of the same neoliberalism. That’s the political disconnect.
People don’t think that Labour selects and promotes MPs representative of them. That’s the cultural disconnect.
If you asked the average Joe in the street what neolibrilism is you’d get a blank steer, its not relevant , people want security for them and theirs
You’re under estimating these same people if you believe that they don’t understand or suspect where this insecurity has come from.
They might not know the term “neoliberalism” (although many do) but they do know that both Labour and National have been part of the problem.
Promising not to let 65 year olds retire probably didn’t help.
Yes, that might have made working Kiwis feel more insecure, not less.
well said.
Besides which, if the policy were left enough and National stole it, why should I care whether Labour or National were in power?
bang on. And it is an opportunity for Labour to move further left. Except they don’t want to.
I disagree, we do want to. It was crystal clear at the regional conference and it’s crystal clear at every LEC Meeting I attend. The issue is that anything outside the normal economic orthodoxy gets absolutely shredded by the government and the lapdog media. Ask Russell Norman about QE some time…
Your opinions as a member don’t count for anything much. One reason is that the caucus sincerely believes that they know better than you, and they believe that the general membership is too left wing for the good of the party.
And did Labour back him up? Or did Labour just stand aside and watch Russell turn into road kill.
With friends like that, do you wonder why Labour is alone.
As for Russell, he made a lot of mistakes around his QE comments, not the least of which was not sticking to his guns, and not having his MPs and membership on side with the concepts before hand.
Be nice if the caucus decided to reflect the actual party, wouldn’t it?
If the policy was Left and National uses it is the policy that they make also Left?
Calm the farm dude. Future of Work announcement is at the November conference.
“How can this be – vote NZF and Greens everyone!!!”
If you want to risk National getting a 4th term, vote NZF. I’ll just keep saying it.
I think most nzf voters would not have an issue with that They are conservative in nature, thus see nzf just bringing national home in thier slightly deluded rationale
I was thinking more about the lefties that think party voting NZF is a relatively risk-free strategy.
(besides, doesn’t research show that most NZF voters want NZF in a left wing govt?).
The evidence suggests that former Labour voters comprise a disproportionate % of NZF’s current support-base – people who appear to have little love for the current PM. (although, if the last few Polls are anything to go by, the Party may now be making greater inroads into National’s heartland).
NZ First would do well to position itself as the protest party of increasingly impoverished rural towns and cities that have known nothing but decline since 1984…. The new feudalism of the provinces, where among a new squatocracy a web of corruption based on nepotism, patronage and cronyism is flourishing in the complete absence of any media scrutiny (when i was a lad in Hawke’s Bay, we had two full newspapers, and a local ZB station. All gone now.) needs to be challenged. If the nod and wink, back scratching corruption that anyone who is in the know knows about in HB is any guide to the rest of provincial NZ, the acceptance of the casual corruption of the Key government instantly becomes a lot more understandable. Neoliberalism has basically created in provincial NZ a third world economy of a mass of low paid service and seasonal workers lorded over by latifundia elite. Amongst those excluded low paid provincial NZers I reckon NZ First’s anti-establishment message could reap a huge number of votes.
It’s MMP Upnorth. I will be voting Labour. NZ First and the Greens on their own is not enough to kick the Nats out. You still need Labour. I would rather a Labour led coalition government with the Greens and NZ First than what we have now under John key’s regime with his partners in crime.
If Labour give the public something different and distinct to vote for, that would be nice.
And Labour will have to spike back above 30% (and stay there) if it wants to lead anything.
Labour are offering a far better alternative to National.
Jeezuz Little!, where is the exciting, stimulating, encouraging speech? Labour are pulling a hard line negative campaign… Voters will align Little with poverty, homelessness, charter schools, health, low wages etc, because its all he talks about.
This strategy is so fucking painfully unsophisticated.. there is no light in that speech…
Well it resonated with me 100% salsa, that is because it was full of net grits and authenticity, neither of which I hear from the travesty of a government we have atm.
Celebrity politics don’t akshully work in case you haven’t checked outside in the real world.
Um really? how bout Trump?
um, Trump is getting a protest vote, and it doesn’t mean celebrity voting is working either.
A protest vote against what exactly?
missing the point, Trump is a product of celebrity politics, reaping the benefits of the quick fix, hero worship that goes with it. People not actually stopping and thinking about consequences of anything Trump says.
Now Bernie on the other hand……
So according to you he’s not attracting a protest vote, he’s attracting the vote enamoured with celebrity stars and easy answers.
On the other hand, Trump has demonstrated a clear understanding of the Middle East, the declining status of the USA, and the debt based financial system.
I will give it to you that he is a showman who was very able at riling up the liberals and bringing onboard conservative voters.
lol, good one. Especially that middle paragraph.
Most of us, and the numbers are increasing daily, are still waiting for the ‘Brighter Future”
Cooked the books for a shiter future those poster’s should have read.
Integrity not net grits…..
lol, nice spell check.
http://www.qsl.net/grit-net/
What is it with the cost of living in NZ???? The cost of food is insane, power prices are a scandal, water bills in Auckland are sky high, and lets not even start on housing…
The cost of DIY stuff is 400-600% higher in NZ than almost anywhere else. WTF is going on??
It is utter madness.
Food in NZ ought to be about the cheapest in the world, and power from hydo schemes long since paid for ought to be cheap as well. NZ consumers are being gouged by corporate greed, rampant profiteering and monopoly pricing at every turn and not a single politician has even mentioned it, let alone proposed to do anything about it…. Where is a policy of government subsidised supermarkets offering food at cost? Anyone planning on reigning rampant power price rent seeking?
Actually we all know why nothing will be done. These massive rorts are a form of hugely regressive taxation via SOE dividends that allow the government to cut taxes to the salaried class and the rich. Our government is the mafia boss to a giant standover racketering operation that uses monopoly utility pricing to shake down the population and provide fat incomes for it’s corporate mates in the private sector….
At first, I really struggled with this speech; it contained a lot of good points, but it wasn’t clear (to me) how they were supposed to be connected or realised.
I also felt that many important issues and ideas were notable by their absence, e.g. immigration, environment, UBI, (foreign) trade, to name just a few. Yes, I do realise it is the pre-budget speech by the Leader of the Opposition and not (yet) a full-blown election campaign manifesto.
Instead, the focus was only on (the) core issues: the economy (of course), housing, healthcare, and education. Not too many truly controversial things were mentioned.
I was looking for a clear vision with an accompanying mission statement and possibly a hint of a strategic plan but the language was remarkably (but see below) ambiguous with ill-defined terms such as “middle New Zealand” and a reference to “the Kiwi Dream”. [Note the capitalisation; the word “dream” appeared five times in the speech] The way I see it, there is nothing uniquely Kiwi about the Kiwi Dream anyway.
In short, the heavy rhetoric seemed more of a plea to or for common sense and an emotive appeal to people’s sense of fairness, equality, mateship, and hope!
So, I was scratching my head and felt a little disappointed with the whole speech to be honest; the first 100 or so comments here didn’t make me feel any better …
However, a different way of looking at the speech is to assume that it is trying build a realistic counter-narrative to National’s eternal and illusionary optimism that all is (very) well in New Zealand and that we can be reassured, confident even, that the management of our economy is in good hands and that our country is led by the best possible leaders of the highest ethical standards – this is Tui-ad territory.
So, now I’d like to think that this speech is looking well beyond Budget Day and is, almost subliminally, trying to re-frame the issues that are most compelling to the voting New Zealanders. It did so without being overtly negative or resorting to personal attacks (e.g. on John Key).
If this was indeed the intention of the speech it certainly worked on and for me! Well done, whoever wrote it!
If you go to public address and read Rob Salmond’s latest post on welfare, Little’s speech makes sense. Labour is intellectually bereft and hopelessly behind the times. Its ability to formulate policy is constrained by it’s continued adherence to out of date third way principles and a talentless and co-opted caucus whose members are selected primarily because of horse trading amongst factions, rather than an ability to formulate good policy or mount effective opposition to the government.
You may be correct but I think that such an objective misses the mark strategically.
The people who are most likely to switch their vote to Labour from National are people who are already notably disatisfied with National in one way or another. They are people whose lives are not going as well as has been promised and they are concerned that National is not managing the direction of the country well.
For these people, the kind of “re-framing” in Little’s speech falls short because the voters which you want to reach are not voters who need to be convinced that something is amiss – psychologically they are already there.
What they are looking for is why Labour is going to perform differently to National, and what Labour is going to offer in terms of concrete changes to demonstrate that difference.
This speech did little of that. So I would classify this event as a major wasted opportunity.
And with Labour sitting consistently under 30% approx 15 months before the election, missing an opportunity such as this is a big problem.
it was a speech that reasured those wavering National voters that Labour will not seek to create upheaval….and note that it must potentially be a winning strategy as M.Hooten was peddling (not pedaling) like mad today on RNZ to discredit it…what more recommendation is needed?
I am so reassured that Labour is committing to not upsetting the proper order of our society; after all it’s going mostly good as it is but simply needs a bit of minor tinkering here and there to improve.
ah but you are not the target CV…and they do not seek your reassurance for to do that would, they believe frighten the middle voter and see them sink even lower in the polls…..Labour has a shrinking base and I suspect this is the least bad option….they are fighting for survival, not seeking to sell a grand new vision.
i believe for this reasons CC will be a very low key part of their campaign and you will have unlimited ammunition to assault them with…they will remain unconcerned of the criticism …those concerned with cc will vote green by default in the main and those concerned about globalization will vote Winston….and the missing million will continue to be missing….whos left to vote Labour?
Labour has always been one of those guys who prefers to eye up the next pretty girl on the dance floor instead of giving their long time loyal partner their full attention.
The results of such behaviour are predictable.
think Labour is more the destitute old man who is aware that his charm and looks have waned with the years….trying to attract the eye of the next pretty girl.
Still expect the long-suffering girlfriend to be their doing the dishes when they get home, too. And get outraged when she’s decided to find a better man.
Unsurprisingly, Claire Trevett really liked AL’s speech http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11643048 [sarcasm alert]
Yep, Bradford and Trevett competing to be Andrew’s best girl
A good speech I thought, but I want more of a framework on the economic rebuild before too long. NZ has been stagnating for thirty neo-liberal years, there is much to be done. Fastrail. Coastal shipping rebuild. Housing. Decorporatising land and stolen public assets like water and electricty. Restoring credible MSM media – even if there have to be right and left channels. And that’s before education and infra reform.
I’d also like an outline on the punishment detail – trust fund tax fiddles: a year in chokey for every x amount springs to mind. Punitive reform of OIO, Charter School admin, Serco contract holder and Winz. Clear rules opening cabinet club and restricting donor secrecy and privilege – with tangible penalties. The Keystone cop who raided Hager out on the street in disgrace.
And fisheries and aquaculture reform – we can do much, much better.
Is this is a political speech for our time?
Don’t get me wrong, I think that it is admirable that Andrew little is taking the government to task over the government’s Housing Crisis Denial. But what about the government’s Climate Change Denial.
I think it is great that the Labour Party leader has pointed out the failures in our health and education systems.
But Andrew Little’s speech has one glaring omission
Andrew Little’s speech does not make one single mention of the biggest threat to humanity or the biosphere that sustains us, that we have ever had to face. (But which our political leaders resolutely refuse to face)
Is this what we should expect from our political leaders in the age of climate change?
This is not saying that social justice is not as important as climate justice.
The exploitation of the natural world and exploitation of the human world have the same roots, social injustice and climate injustice are closely linked.
To omit one is to do disservice to both.
Politicians will only be fiddling around the edges of both issues until they can muster the courage to grasp this nettle.
Until politicians of the Left can start weaving these two burning issues together, then it is my opinion that they will never make real progress on either.
The reality is, a degraded climate will make poverty worse, and impact the poor the hardest, increasing social inequality.
As the Pentagon describe it, “Climate Change is a force multiplier”.
And still not one single mention.
Addressing unemployment, Andrew Little promises heavy government investment in building new infrastructure, to kick start the economy (especially in the struggling regions). But stubbornly refuses to make the obvious link to the massive job opportunities involved in building sustainable and renewable infrastructure, like investing in public transport and railways instead of urban motorways, or moving away from fossil fuel extraction to renewables. This obvious connection is not made. And I have to ask why?
What is behind Labour and Andrew Little’s climate change ignoring?
I invite anyone to try to explain or rationalise this.
I note Little also failed to mention the dismal state of the footpath outside my house. This is an issue the Labour Party have been silent on for far too long. Sure, some people will say that the explanation is that this was a speech about the upcoming budget, but try telling that to my ankle. It really hurt when I stood in that hole. C’mon, Labour, lift your game!
Yawn, really the belittling argument.
And did not someone say…???
Say what? If a commenter wants to write disingenuous dribble, then it’s going to called for what it is. Engage your brain, cobber.
Dear Te Reo Putake,
Great to see that you have lifted your criticism of my commentHere from, “disingenuous dribble”, to “beautifully crafted strawman argument”.
But I can’t see how you can justifiably claim that I deliberated twisted Andrew Little’s budget speech?
No twisting here.
That Andrew Little has omitted any mention of climate change in his pre-budget speech is a pure simple statement of fact.
What you are objecting to, is that I have dared to point out this fact.
Because this is not just an objection to Andrew Little’s Pre-Budget speech, but an objection to Labour’s obvious decided strategic response to climate change in the lead up to the 2017 election.
Which is: Not to mention it.
I am not the only one to comment on this glaring omission.
While ably addressing the issues of poverty and inequality, Andrew Little glaringly refuses to comment on the other equally pressing, (and linked), social justice issue of our time, climate change.
As Bill comments at the top of the thread.
Andrew Little’s speech is a progression of the Labour Party’s policy toward any mention of climate change in the lead up to the elections.
Case in point: ‘The Future Of Work’ is an example of Labour’s strategy toward climate change, now continued in Andrew Little’s speech.
Just like Andrew Little’s pre-budget speech, ‘The Future of Work’ also had zero mention of climate change. And this despite the huge potential for jobs to build the required renewable infrastructure that could free us from our reliance on fossil fuels.
This silence was deafening in the face of recent big redundancies in the fossil fuel industry, particularly the coal industry, both here and overseas. (even during the period of the conference).
Dark day as coal mines shuttered
Solid Energy confirms job losses
More jobs lost at Solid Energy on the West Coast
Job losses ‘catastrophic’ for Huntly
Continuing the same strategy of silence on climate change Labour’s Ten Big Ideas, which came out of the Future of Work, has zero mention of Climate Change.
Ten Big Ideas
Labour’s fifth Big Idea probably comes the closest, When Labour say they are for “Establishing a just transition”. Which begs the question, Establishing a just transition, from what? To what?
The Labour Party doesn’t say.
This talk of a “Establishing a just transition” has faint echoes of Green MP Gareth Hughes famous statement in relation to the government’s failed quarter $billion bailout of Solid Energy, “This money would have been better used to pay for a just transition for these workers to jobs that don’t fry the planet”.
(In hindsight Gareth Hughes statement has been proved absolutely correct).
In relation to the sentence in Labour’s fifth big idea t is like an East German era censor, armed with a pair of scissors hacked into this sentence, cutting out the offending words they didn’t like. “Establishing a just transition, [from a carbon economy], (snip) [to a post carbon economy], (snip) and left this sentence without meaning or context.
Dear TRP, despite your objections none of which bear any weight. It is my intention, to keep hammering away at Labour’s Berlin Wall strategy of silence on climate change, leading up to, and during the election until Labour start taking this issue seriously.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTsz0n7YXdw
Dear Te Reo Putake,
If the hole in your footpath was a vortex sucking millions of people to their deaths along with much of the world’s biota, including the Great Barrier Reef….
And the government of the day was ignoring it. (Or even quietly enlarging it.) Then I think, Yes! the Leader of the Opposition should mention it.
In fact I would go further, and suggest that the leader of the opposition would be morally and ethically bound to demand that the Government free up assets in the budget to fill it in. And that, to not make such comments shows some level of complicity with the government in allowing the vortex to continue killing and destroying.
Talking hypothetically, I would be tempted to go even further (but I won’t) and suggest that for you, and the leader of the opposition, not to demand that the hole in your footpath be filled would be a moral failing, or even an act of cowardice in the face of this hypothetical disaster.
I suppose I could be wrong and that for some technical reason related to vortexes beyond my simple understanding of them, this very important speech has to be left to closer to the election.
And God forbid I suggest that it will never be made at all.
But it increasingly looks like the next Labour government will tolerate climate change in in New Zealand in the 21st century.
I could be wrong and that Andrew Little’s hard hitting, timely and well researched speech on poverty and social justice, will be followed up by an equally hard hitting, timely and well researched speech from Andrew Little on climate change, and climate justice.
But I have been assured by those who know, that this speech will never be made, or delivered.
Amazing post
Really?
A quick google search shows that a barely a week later Andrew Little’s speech is not remarked anywhere. Except at the Daily Blog. (And then not very flatteringly). Apart from that, Andrew Little’s speech has dropped below the surface of public discourse having hardly left a ripple.
As I asked in my rhetorical question, “Is this is a political speech for our time?”
Well obviously not. If it is still not being remarked upon anywhere.
So what could have lifted Andrew Little’s speech above the humdrum churn of political speeches and really made it a speech for our time?
What could have convinced the commentators that Labour was serious about facing up to and tackling the issues poverty and inequality raised in Andrew Little’s Pre Budget Speech?
Citing a study by New Zealand scientist Luke Harrington and his colleagues at Victoria University.
Nature the world’s most well known and respected international scientific journal gives us a clue.
Now if Andrew Little had only woven into his speech about poverty and inequality as related to the budget, the issue of climate change, citing Luke Harrington’s study. And wrote that properly addressing poverty needs to be part of the vital fight against climate change…..
Then this truely would have been a speech for our time, repeatedly remarked on and referred to.