April 29th, 2010
Labour leader Phil Goff grudgingly admitted this week John Key is a “slick operator.” In damning his opponent with faint praise Goff was seeking to explain Key’s popularity, as distinct from his own lack of it. The latest TVNZ-Colmar Brunton poll rated Key at 48% against Goff’s 8%, suggesting even some Labour supporters prefer Key […]
April 29th, 2010
National is displaying a brutally realistic interpretation of realpolitik under MMP in seeking to consolidate the support of the Maori Party. By contrast ACT appears to be increasingly marginalised within the coalition (John Key dismissively waved away ACT’s call for a statutory cap to be put on Govt expenditure in the Budget). The prevailing strategy […]
April 28th, 2010
Rodney Hide savaged National this week for breaching the spirit of the “no surprises” element of its coalition agreement with ACT. He attacked the “covert” action of the Govt in affirming its support for the UN’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. ACT was “shocked” and “appalled” to find itself a supporting a Govt […]
April 28th, 2010
Rodney Hide savaged National this week for breaching the spirit of the “no surprises” element of its coalition agreement with ACT. He attacked the “covert” action of the Govt in affirming its support for the UN’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. ACT was “shocked” and “appalled” to find itself a supporting a Govt […]
April 22nd, 2010
In the budget next month Bill English may have to exercise the skill of a Jeremy Clarkson in driving the economy, putting his foot on the accelerator to speed up economic re-balancing, stamping on the brake in holding Govt spending. He’s got to avoid putting it into a tailspin and sliding into the ditch. The […]
April 22nd, 2010
The Govt will be looking to confirm John Key’s new-found status on the international stage when he gets a White House invitation for a one-on-one with President Obama. This will fill out the dimension any NZ leader needs as he seeks a second term. Key’s popularity at home continues to surprise commentators, but playing an […]
April 22nd, 2010
NZ’s stocks with the Obama administration are on a new level. The US president told John Key NZ had “well and truly earned” a place at the table of the nuclear security summit in Washington. The forum is Obama’s attempt to forge a global consensus about what is unarguably the most pressing issue of the […]
April 15th, 2010
December quarter GDP (+0.8%) was the third consecutive quarter of growth. Finance Minister Bill English says this suggests the recession, which began in early 2008, bottomed out in the first half of 2009, and since then the economy has grown again at a moderate rate. This is consistent with a range of other indicators, and […]
April 15th, 2010
In the GDP figures for December, the Govt sees some early signs of the shift in the NZ economy it wants. A shift it believes can be accelerated by tax changes in the budget. Housing and consumption have not taken off as expected before Christmas, Govt administration has shrunk for the first time since 1999, […]
April 14th, 2010
John Key’s Govt is marching into the Easter break confident it is back on top of the political agenda. The budget is practically locked down, planned tax changes got the big tick from visiting IMF scrutineers, and where in 2008 it looked as if it would be ten years before the Govt’s accounts moved from […]
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