NZD Freefalls & NZ First Linked To Green Party Attack Ads

An excerpt of the headlines this morning from the Mountain Tui Substack.

1. Colonoscopy wait times increase, procedures drop under National

Wait times for urgent, non-urgent and surveillance colonoscopies all progressively worsened last year. Health NZ data shows the total number of publicly-funded colonoscopies dropped by more than 7 percent.

Health NZ chief medical officer Helen Stokes-Lampard blamed the longer wait times on the increase in referrals. But Bowel Cancer New Zealand believes the backlog is mainly the result of fewer colonoscopies being done.

They note the number of publicly-funded colonoscopies grew by an average of 6.6 percent each year between 2017 and 2023.

But last year, Health NZ, chose not to purchase so many. Cost cutting was also to blame, they suspected.

The article talks about how patients have developed cancer / troublesome polyps as a result of delays, and how private colonoscopies are frequently financially prohibitive for many.

Article: Colonoscopy wait times increase as Health NZ funds fewer procedures (RNZ) Journalist, Ruth Hill

2. New Zealand Has Joined The Arms Race And Is Tracking To Lethal

The 2025 Defence Capability Plan (DCP) outlines $12 billion worth of investment over the next four years, $9 billion of which is new money.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Defence Minister Judith Collins said New Zealand may be at the bottom of the world but [we] needed to be “combat-capable”.

University of Waikato professor Al Gillespie:

“I think we’ve joined the arms race…

“It’s a very difficult choice to make because every one of these dollars has an opportunity cost and all countries are feeling distressed right now because we could use that money for housing, for education or for health.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon aknowledged the DCP was a big spending plan but said the government had the money to do it.

“We can afford this. We know this is a big step up and a big commitment but in our current fiscal track, we can afford this.”

Newsroom tracks this plan against past defence plans, the last one developed by New Zealand First’s Ron Mark.

That one was framed as a necessity for community and environmental wellbeing, but –

There is no such reticence in the 2025 plan, which includes an emphasis on “enhanced lethality” and investment in enhanced strike capabilities through new missile systems.

Asked by one journalist whether the Government was moving from a humanitarian Defence Force to a more offensively-minded iteration, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon disagreed:

“We don’t see it that way. We want to improve the lethality of our Defence Force – no doubt about it. We want to improve the interoperability and the force multiplier, but we can do both.”

Articles:

New Zealand has joined the arms race – law professor (RNZ) Journalist: Anneke Smith

Govt’s defence spend comes with darker edge (Newsroom) Journalist: Sam Sachdeva

3. Australian & NZ Dollar Sell Off

Australia’s currency has shed 4.5% of its value in two days, despite it being on the receiving end of one of the lesser tariff rates, 10%. It’s the largest currency sell off since 2020 (Covid).

NZD is not exempt.

NZD Sharp Decline After Tariff Announcement

NZD Hits 10 Year Lows

4. Misleading Billboards Attacking Greens Appear In Auckland and Wellington Linked to NZ First

If there’s one thing to make me like the Greens more, it’s misleading ads from Sensible Sentencing Trust.

The resurrected Trust (it was shut down by Ball) is run by former NZ First Member of Parliament and NZ First’s Chief of Staff Darroch Ball.

A photo of Ball is also featured on the Israel Institute, NZ website, as well as Chris Bishop and Jacqui Dean.

That means, there’s every reason to think that these attack ads are directed by NZ First.

Readers here may remember my article: “Tamatha Paul Pile On Unjustified”

Paul’s meaning is clear in the video. But conrast it to National and the Coalition government who keep saying they support the police through words, while defunding them through budget and actions, and undermining morale.

I pushed out the full video of Paul’s comments on multiple channels that showed media narratives about her to be misleading, and afterward, Stuff published the same full video on their channel.

Don’t say small actions don’t matter.

5. Investment Banks & Billionaires Sound Warnings of “Economic Nuclear Winter”

JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon has warned that trade wars could have lasting negative consequences.

Dimon’s annual letter to shareholders on Monday said:

“The economy is facing considerable turbulence (including geopolitics)…

“We are likely to see inflationary outcomes …

“Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth….

“The quicker this issue is resolved, the better because some of the negative effects increase cumulatively over time and would be hard to reverse.”

Billionaire fund manager Bill Ackman, a passionate Trump supporter, said tariffs could lead to an “economic nuclear winter.” He also said businesses were fast losing confidence in Trump and asked the government to reconsider its decision.

Ackman has been lobbying hard via Twitter (X), including proposing different options:

Ackman has also accused the Commerce Secretary of an “irreconcilable conflict of interest”