Luxon tells FT NZ ‘very open’ to AUKUS II

Luxon has told a Financial Times’ correspondent he would openly call out China’s spying in future and does not fear economic retaliation from Aotearoa’s largest trading partner.File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The Kākā

TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Tuesday, July 16 are:

1. PM Christopher Luxon has given his most hawkish comments yet on China, saying he would not shy away from calling it out again on spying, that he saw China as a strategic competitor, and that New Zealand’s military could be a ‘force multiplier’ in that contest with China;

2. Councils are gearing up their opposition to Chris Bishop’s ‘Going for Growth’ plan, saying there’s not enough Government financial help on infrastructure and public transport to go both up and out;

3. In solutions news, there’s a growing case for Aotearoa to take advantage of China’s subsidies for electric batteries, solar panels and electric vehicles, despite what Europe and the United States think of as unfair competition;

4. The economy slumped into contractionary territory in June, a new survey of the services sector shows in our Chart of the Day;

5. Building climate resilience is actually about building connections with each other to rely on each other, rather than going it alone, an author writes in our Quote of the Day; and,

6. Our Climate Chart of the Day shows the close connection between inequality and climate emissions.

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Top Six Things to note on July 16:

1. Luxon very hawkish on China in FT interview

PM call outs China’s spying & sees NZ as AUKUS ‘force multiplier’