Bernard's Picks 'n' Mixes for Thursday, June 5

Labour/Green/TPM jump ahead of coalition parties in RNZ-Reid poll; Luxon says he doesn't recognise numbers; Stats NZ forecasts migration to average 42k/yr to 2073, lower than last decade's 50k/yr

Briefly, here’s my ‘Picks ‘n’ Mixes’ of news and other links¹ from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, June 5, including:

1. RNZ/Reid Research’s poll taken straight after the Budget showed the Labour/Green/Te Pāti Māori bloc jumping ahead of National/NZ First/ACT, with PM Christopher Luxon’s personal popularity falling to fresh record lows and voters seeing the country back on the wrong track. See more in Quote of the day and Chart of the day below.

2. Stats NZ has upgraded its migration projections for the next 50 years to seeing average annual net migration of 42,000, up 67% from the 25,000 per year it projected three years ago. The is below the 50,000 net migration average of the last decade. It included a 100,000 per year scenario that would see the population rise to 11 million by 2070, which is when most of the hospitals, roads, pipes and houses being built now will be still running and needed. See more in number of the day below.

3. IRD appears to be finally cracking down on the double-cab ute tax break. See more in My Top Pick ‘n’ Mix Six of Scoops and Deep-dives below.

4. In more administered inflation news, Deputy PM David Seymour says New Zealanders will almost certainly face an insurance levy hike from the Natural Hazards Commission and the Lower Hutt Council plans big parking fee hikes and a large rates increase to offset set capital grants freezes by the Government. See more in My Top Pick ‘n’ Mix Six of Scoops and Deep-dives below.

5. In news the Commerce Commission may take more serious action to restrict the actions of the supermarkets duopoly, it looks set to ban the secret payments suppliers must make to Foodstuffs and Woolworths to get on the best shelves. See more in My Top Pick ‘n’ Mix Six of Scoops and Deep-dives below the paywall fold, and in Politics news.

6. Today’s must-read deep-dive is from

   Nicholas Carr
   on the myth of automated learning.

My Top Pick ‘n’ Mix Six at 6.30am on Thursday June 5