Briefly in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, December 1:
Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and Finance Spokesperson Barbara Edmonds gave cautious speeches at the Labour Party’s annual conference, signalling a limited approach to fiscal policy, without giving details.
Sensing the chance of an unprecedented win over National after just one term, Hipkins and Edmonds adopted a low-target strategy a year out from the election.
Hipkins said in a speech on Sunday that National didn’t deserve a second term: “One term is all they’ll get,” but he moved to limit expectations, saying: “We won’t be able to do it all at once. Some things will have to wait.”
Edmonds also crouched low in her conference speech on Saturday, promising to be a Finance Minister who ran the Government’s finances as she ran her household with eight children, where “every cent mattered.”
She added: “I know what it means to manage responsibly and make every dollar count. That’s the approach I will take as Minister of Finance. Getting the economy growing and balancing the books means we can’t say yes to everything - and I make no apology for that.”
Elsewhere in the news this morning, The NZ Herald led with opponents of densification in Auckland pushing for the ‘soft’ approach adopted by Christchurch to be used in Auckland.
The Government’s ‘Local Water Done Well’ reforms will cost $48 billion, officials have revealed. (NZ Herald)
Labour Foreign Affairs Spokesman Peeni Henare has told Tova O’Brien for Stuff that Labour is in early coalition-type talks with Winston Peters, which Chris Hipkins has denied is happening.
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