TLDR & TLDL: The tripartite proposal for an income insurance scheme is under heavy attack from both the left and the right, including criticisms that it is too easily rorted, favours older, white salarymen, and disadvantages unpaid work by women and precarious work by Māori, Pasifika and recent migrants.
In my view, it simply doubles down on the widening of inequality in favour of home owners with salaries in the wake of Covid, and does nothing to narrow that gap in both incomes and wealth. See more on that below the paywall fold.
Also in the news this morning:
Tiwai Point pledged it wants to remain open beyond the end of 2024, blowing an enormous hole in the Government’s climate change strategy;
the Ministry of Health was forced to admit it did requisition RATs, contradicting Ashley Bloomfield’s assurances to the public that it did not; and,
Australia is reopening its borders fully from Feb 21, going straight to only a day or two of self-isolation and not waiting until October for all types of arrivals.
Coming up today, I’ll be covering the first day of Parliament for the year and various news conferences and standups around the Beehive. I welcome the pointers and suggestions for questions below from paid subscribers.
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