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newsletter #38 for Sunday, August 6th, 2023

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Parties’ policies on transportation and roads

Labour reiterates support for Auckland Light Rail to Airport. National says they’d scrap the airport rail project along with most of Let’s Get Wellington Moving. Meanwhile, ACT’s David Seymour says no to Chinese government money. He’s leery about being bullied.

“Equity” and communism have a lot in common

Some now want equality of outcome (equity) to trump equality of opportunity. Equity justifies another large swath of people being made equal by the state. Like communism, pursuing equity can lead to a bloated bureaucracy and less reason for personal initiative. Dr Bryce Wilkinson worries that equity programs will lead to “very nasty” polarisation in the future.

Much talk about the Labour and Māori parties wanting to eliminate GST from some food

Labour is rumoured to be planning to remove GST from fruits and vegetables. The Māori Party policy is no GST on groceries. Experts, including Finance Minister Robertson previously, discourage the change as it will be costly to administer. Higher income families will see the most savings, and producers and stores may not pass on all they could.

What is the Progressive Home Ownership fund?

Progressive Home Ownership (PHO) is a Government scheme to provide pathways to home ownership for people in financial need. While the whole scheme is underperforming, to the extent the program has targeted Māori, it has been the least effective. Critics say there is too much bureaucracy and red tape. Perhaps making it easier to build homes is a better solution.

Economic update July 2023

RBNZ maintains OCR at 5.5%, citing its role in constraining inflation. Global growth is weak. RBNZ continues exploring digital currency. Government allocates $500M for currency market intervention. Consumer prices rise at 6%. Economists question world wide persistent inflation amid efficient production. Milk and property prices drop. Fonterra’s forecast lowered, housing market declines in July with record-low new listings.

Co-governance is a conspiracy of silence

The Government is reluctant to discuss co-governance because it means granting political power to Māori based on race. Polls show that those who understand co-governance proposals reject them. It’s questionable most Māori even want co-governance. Regular people are picking up the debate where the Government has failed to do so.

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.

-James Baldwin

NZ News Essentials Ltd.

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