CoveragePost
June 19, 2019
The sudden departure of ANZ CEO David Hisco this week has been sold as the bank having high standards of accountability. The intention is obviously to reassure the public, customers, shareholders, regulators and the politicians that all is well, and the local board of ANZ has everything under control. But not everyone’s convinced. And there ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Dodgy banks under scrutiny" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/06/19/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-dodgy-banks-under-scrutiny/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Dodgy banks under scrutiny">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
June 18, 2019
Shock, horror! An extremely wealthy CEO has been using chauffeur services, and the bank that he runs has been paying for it. Furthermore, that bank has been paying for the storage of his wine in Australia because they re-located him to New Zealand to be the CEO of their local operations here. For the full ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Banking elites get a taste of the Zeitgeist" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/06/18/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-banking-elites-get-a-taste-of-the-zeitgeist/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Banking elites get a taste of the Zeitgeist">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
June 6, 2019
Should we really care about the “Budget hack” that has been consuming a lot of politicians and political commentators over the last week? Is this really, as John Key used to say about scandals involving his own Government, one of “the things that matter”? I made the case yesterday in my column, The Budget ‘hack’ scandal ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Who cares about the “Budget hack”?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/06/06/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-who-cares-about-the-budget-hack/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Who cares about the “Budget hack”?">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
June 6, 2019
Can we trust government departments? Can we trust Treasury not to lie to us? What about the Minister of Finance? Have they lied for political advantage? These are some of the questions that naturally come out of last week’s abysmal Government handling of National’s early release of budget details, in which senior officials and politicians ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: The Budget “hack” scandal reveals some big accountability problems" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/06/06/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-the-budget-hack-scandal-reveals-some-big-accountability-problems/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: The Budget “hack” scandal reveals some big accountability problems">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
May 31, 2019
For each Budget, the government of the day spends huge amounts of resources getting its message and branding across about its spending decisions. Careful attempts at framing their Budget are made, and all of this largely gets reported. This year is no different, and so you can read, watch and listen to hundreds of media ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: The other side of the Budget story" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/05/31/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-the-other-side-of-the-budget-story/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: The other side of the Budget story">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
May 15, 2019
When politicians win votes on the basis of heroic promises to fix intractable problems, but then break those promises, the public quite rightly feel they’ve been ripped off. That’s exactly what has happened with KiwiBuild. Labour politicians largely won office in 2017 on the basis of their scathing critique of how badly the National Government ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: The KiwiBuild betrayal" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/05/15/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-the-kiwibuild-betrayal/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: The KiwiBuild betrayal">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
May 10, 2019
Last week was a big one for the media. Not only did New Zealand’s biggest newspaper launch a new paywall, but Thursday was “World News Day”, and Friday was “World Media Freedom Day”. All of this prompts the question, how well is New Zealand society and democracy served by the media in 2019? The World ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: The State of the NZ media" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/05/10/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-the-state-of-the-nz-media/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: The State of the NZ media">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
May 6, 2019
by Dr Bryce Edwards Have the political left and supporters of the Labour-led Government been conned again? Big changes were promised in welfare reform, but with the response to the just-released working group report on the welfare system, it looks like very little is actually going to be delivered. Of course, the left has already ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Expediency rather than transformation on welfare reform" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/05/06/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-expediency-rather-than-transformation-on-welfare-reform/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Expediency rather than transformation on welfare reform">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
April 23, 2019
Political Roundup: What will Labour do about inequality now? by Dr Bryce Edwards What is a leftwing political party and government for? Ultimately, they exist to ameliorate inequality, making the world better for working people, the poor, and marginalised. The point is to transform society – restructuring in favour of the powerless, against the wealthy. ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: What will Labour do about inequality now?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/04/23/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-what-will-labour-do-about-inequality-now/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: What will Labour do about inequality now?">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
April 21, 2019
Political Roundup: Why the CGT had to be ruled out by Dr Bryce Edwards The soul-searching and blame-game over the surprise demise of the capital gains tax proposals continues to occupy politicos and commentators over the long weekend. Allegations of betrayal continue, while some are also pointing to the inevitable problems with the proposals – ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Why the CGT had to be ruled out" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/04/21/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-why-the-cgt-had-to-be-ruled-out/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Why the CGT had to be ruled out">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
April 21, 2019
Political Roundup: Progressives despair over the CGT decision by Dr Bryce Edwards It really was a shock for the political left. The capital gains tax, in some form or another, was accepted as a major part of the battle to create a more equal New Zealand. It had come to symbolise the struggle against much ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Progressives despair over the CGT decision" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/04/21/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-progressives-despair-over-the-cgt-decision/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Progressives despair over the CGT decision">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
April 15, 2019
Analysis by Keith Rankin New Zealand has a ‘fiscal responsibility’ clause in its Public Finance Act; a clause that began its life in 1994 as the Fiscal Responsibility Act. As a result, New Zealand has an effective ‘Balanced Budget policy’. A similar policy has been adopted this decade by the European Union (EU). Balanced Budget ... <a title="Keith Rankin’s Chart of the Month: Fiscal Balances Compared – Public Deficits offset Private Surpluses" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/04/15/keith-rankins-chart-of-the-month-fiscal-balances-compared-public-deficits-offset-private-surpluses/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin’s Chart of the Month: Fiscal Balances Compared – Public Deficits offset Private Surpluses">Read more</a>
