TL;DR: The economy and housing market is sinking into a longer recession through the winter after a slump in business and consumer confidence in the March quarter, driven partly by abrupt freezes in Government funding for housing, transport, school and hospital investment.
That happened as an average of 166 New Zealand citizens left the country every day during those 90 days, which was up 54% from a year ago. They were replaced by almost the same number of people with temporary work and student visas from India, the Philippines and China.
Here’s my top six ‘pick ‘n’ mix’ of links to news, analysis and opinion articles, announcements, official reports, reviews and research in the last 24 hours or so to 8:59 am on Wednesday, May 15:
Stats NZ reported yesterday a record-high 52,496 New Zealand citizens left the country permanently in the year to the end of March. That equates to about one full A320 leaving each weekday, with just over half of those citizens going to live in Australia. They were replaced by people on temporary work and student visas (with work rights) from India, the Philippines and China, in that order.
Meanwhile, Australia included a A$300 discount off each household’s power bills and A$325 discount off each small business’ bills in its Budget last night, along with a 10% increase in subsidies for nearly one million renters. It also confirmed tax cuts and a A$32 billion plan to build 1.2m houses over the next five years. Australia's Treasury said the Budget’s measures would take half a percentage point off inflation. Economists said the Budget would not force the Reserve Bank of Australia to hike in response.
In another indication of Aotearoa Inc’s ‘housing market-with-bits-tacked-on-economy sinking into a deep freeze, REINZ reported yesterday the market was subdued in April, with rising inventories of unsold homes, falling prices in both Auckland and beyond, and rising numbers of days to sell.
Consenter-in-waiting Shane Jones didn’t declare a dinner at which he suggested an executive from coal mining company Stevenson Group approach a Cabinet colleague to enter the Government’s fast-track consenting regime, David Williams reported for Newsroom yesterday. He reported this morning that Bathurst Resources CEO Richard Tacon and Federation Mining VP Simon Delander were also at the undeclared meeting. Jones said the lack of declaration was a mistake.
There was no business case or reliable forecasts behind the Government's announcement last week of $1.9 billion of spending on a mega-prison, Laura Walters reported yesterday for Newsroom. (Link updated)
Environment Canterbury has reported more than half of the wells monitored in its annual survey last year showed nitrate levels were likely to be increasing, with water from 35 of the 349 wells having nitrate levels above the maximum acceptable value for human health. South Canterbury has the highest incidence of bowel cancer in New Zealand. Bowel cancer causes the second-most deaths from cancer each year, as this Vic Uni paper shows. The news comes after Selwyn District Council started investigating spending over $400 million to move away from nitrate-contaminated drinking water. The Press-$$$ Keiller MacDuff
(Paying subscribers can see more detail and analysis below the paywall fold and in the podcast above. We’ll open it up for public reading, listening and sharing if we get over 100 likes)
News links elsewhere from Aotearoa’s political economy
The top six:
Climate: Hazard-prone development likely under fast-track law, insurers and engineers warn RNZ Kate Newton
Scoop: Fist bumps and a ‘stoked’ minister: Inside the fast-tracking of a DJ’s passport NZ Herald Azaria Howell
Climate: East Coast mayors hold out hope for Budget as rebuild bills mount Newsroom Emma Hatton
Scoop: New misconduct allegations at EY, investigation launched. The ‘Big Four’ accounting firm plagued by workplace culture problems has another problem to deal with Stuff Paula Penfold
Cost of living: Reserve Bank accused of harming bank competition. The central bank got a mauling at the Commerce Commission’s banking market study conference, accused of stifling competition to the big four Australian banks. The Post-$$$ Rob Stock
Op-Ed by Consumer Advocacy Council chair Deborah Hart in The Waikato Times Electricity sector at another crucial crossroads. Should we continue with increasingly unaffordable and unreliable electricity, or reform the market settings?
Best of the rest:
Housing, Transport, Infrastructure & Population
Holiday park brought by Kāinga Ora for $4.15 million still vacant four years later. A former lodge and holiday park was sold for $4.15million four years ago. After it was briefly used as a quarantine facility it has sat vacant. Stuff Hamish McNeilly
The Block NZ gets the chop, houses sit empty RNZ
Homeless camp at Dunedin’s Oval visited by govt officials ODT-$$$ Mary Williams
Deep-dive: Part 1 - Supercharging social housing BusinessDesk-$$$ Nikitin Sallee
Deep dive: Part 2 - Private profit could fuel social housing boom BusinessDesk-$$$ Nikitin Sallee
Auckland's new electric ferries to roll out next year 1News
Some residents welcoming an end to free parking in Auckland CBD. It's "not realistic" to have a free public car park outside apartments, says the chairperson of a city centre residents' group. 1News
Climate, Energy & Environment
Residents return to flood-hit Auckland neighbourhoods. Some streets in Māngere have been like ghost towns since last year’s floods, but are slowly coming back to life. Stuff Torika Tokalau
Inequality, Poverty, Cost of living & Migration
Auckland rangatahi create space for at-risk homeless youth. When The Front Door opened on K Rd this week, a dream became reality for a group of young people seeking to make life better for others. Stuff Karanama Ruru
Health, education and justice
Government rejects plea to reduce salt in food. Researchers recently measured almost 7000 products on our supermarket shelves and found two thirds exceeded safe limits for salt — increasing the risk of stroke 1News Thomas Mead
Global salt benchmarks could help save many Kiwi lives ODT
Access to life-changing MS drug ‘snatched away’ by staff shortages. Bruce Street is eligible for a treatment that could help slow the progress of his MS, but because he lives in Canterbury, he can’t get it. The Press-$$$ Kristie Boland
Politics, Government, Councils and Te Tiriti
Ministry already preparing to hire consultants to do work of axed staff RNZ
Up to 35 public schools to become charter schools, will be exempt from phone ban RNZ
Govt ends funding to Christchurch Call, which will continue as a charity. RNZ
Christchurch mayor wants council to restore Dux de Lux building. Phil Mauger said the Dux de Lux “is heritage all day long”, and the council should fund the quake-damaged building’s repair. The Post-$$$ Tina Law
Alternatives to Aurora sale raised ODT-$$$
Business, Economics and Geo-politics
‘Glacial’ pace towards open banking criticised. Current open banking progress a “roadmap to Botswana”, Commerce Commission told. The Post-$$$ Rob Stock
Every household to get $300 credit for energy bills as government vows move will reduce inflation ABC Australia
What's in the budget for businesses? A lot, for those who can engineer a 'Future Made in Australia' ABC Australia
Biden sharply hikes US tariffs on an array of Chinese imports Reuters
Georgian parliament passes 'foreign agent' bill amid protests Reuters
A US-China EV trade war threatens Biden's clean-car agenda Reuters
Opinion links
Interviews, Op-Eds, Editorials and Columns
Column by Tova O’Brien in Stuff: The contradictory message on charter school. National has been steadfast in its view that all kids should gain the same “non-negotiable knowledge and skills”, but ACT's charter schools are carving out loopholes.
Column by Audrey Young for NZ Herald: State schools 'converted' to charter schools? Brace for controversy.
Op-Ed by renewable energy developer Jevon Carding in BusinessDesk-$$$: Big rewards for solar pioneers Lodestone Energy
Op-ed by Joseph Stiglitz in The Washington Post: Time is up for neoliberals. Democracy requires a new, progressive capitalism.
Op-ed by Auckland Uni’s Jodi Gardner in The Conversation: Why power should be subsidised for struggling households
Chart of the day
Tough times for retailers and hospitality
Cartoons of the day
‘Just triple the hourly rate’
Digging a deeper hole
Stick of the day
Mā te wa
Bernard
A generation is leaving at a rate of one A320-load per day