Vacuums forming without a sworn-in Cabinet

The promised ‘getting back on track’ remains snarled up in negotiations, while the ministerial in-tray starts to pile up. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The Kākā

TL;DR: Vacuums are now forming in Government where there would usually be decisions by ministers and the Cabinet about ongoing issues. Public servants are now having to second-guess what they think potential ministers might want, going from their manifestos.

Elsewhere in the news this morning:

• Auckland’s rent inflation was the second-fastest in the world behind Sydney in the September quarter;

• Consumer NZ has launched a campaign against retailers over-charging for card fees by pocketing some of the $105 million in regulated cost savings supposed to be passed on to consumers; and,

• An official report find 2.2 gigatonnes of carbon is stored on the seafloors around Aotearoa, raising fears it could be disturbed and released by fishing boats bottom-trawling.

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At least two days longer than it took in 2017