CoveragePost
July 12, 2019
Is this part of the Labour-led Government’s long-promised “nuclear-free moment”, alluded to by Jacinda Ardern when she promised radical action on climate change? The announcement this week of a proposed “feebate” which will make more environmentally-friendly cars cheaper while making the gas-guzzlers more expensive is one of the long-awaited plans for how New Zealand will ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Will the Government’s nudge make our cars greener?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/07/12/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-will-the-governments-nudge-make-our-cars-greener/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Will the Government’s nudge make our cars greener?">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
July 10, 2019
The plight of welfare beneficiaries came into focus last week with a photo taken outside an Auckland Work and Income office, of clients who had been queuing from 2am in order to apply for emergency hardship payments. This has sparked a debate about whether the Labour-led Government is doing enough to provide for this group ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: What’s changed for welfare beneficiaries?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/07/10/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-whats-changed-for-welfare-beneficiaries/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: What’s changed for welfare beneficiaries?">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
July 9, 2019
There’s increasing doubt about how transformational the Labour-led Government is turning out to be. In all sorts of public policy areas the new administration is struggling to make the changes and produce the outcomes it promised. Perhaps expectations are too high? Maybe voters and commentators are too impatient? Or, could it be that the political ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: How to achieve transformational change in politics" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/07/09/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-how-to-achieve-transformational-change-in-politics/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: How to achieve transformational change in politics">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
June 26, 2019
Will KiwiBuild minister Phil Twyford lose his portfolio in tomorrow’s Cabinet reshuffle? That’s the big question, given that the Government’s flagship housing programme has been so heavily discredited, and the accompanying debate about Twyford’s role in the debacle and whether he’s to blame. It seems unlikely that Twyford will get the sack. Although Prime Minister ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Who’s accountable for the KiwiBuild debacle?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/06/26/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-whos-accountable-for-the-kiwibuild-debacle/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Who’s accountable for the KiwiBuild debacle?">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
June 26, 2019
I was in Ontario for a week in May. The premier of Ontario is Doug Ford, leader of the ‘Progressive Conservative’ party; brother of the late (and somewhat notorious) Mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford. Ford is indeed the leading right wing personality in Canadian politics. The chart shows what we in New Zealand would call the ... <a title="Keith Rankin’s Chart of the Month – First-Past-the-Post in Action: Ontario 2018" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/06/26/keith-rankins-chart-of-the-month-first-past-the-post-in-action-ontario-2018/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin’s Chart of the Month – First-Past-the-Post in Action: Ontario 2018">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
June 13, 2019
How much trust do you have in politics and public institutions? It’s one of the most important political questions of our time. All over the world there has been a decline in trust, which is leading to a sea change in our politics – from Trump and Brexit through to the emergence of radical progressive ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Who does the public trust in 2019?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/06/13/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-who-does-the-public-trust-in-2019/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Who does the public trust in 2019?">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
June 11, 2019
Political commentators are divided over whether the Government’s terrible handling of the so-called “Budget hack” is a “cockup” or a “conspiracy”. It’s still not clear which, and nor is it clear who is responsible. But there is growing agreement that the Government’s handling of the issue was in error, as it was a bizarre mistake ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: The Budget hack “cockup or conspiracy” debate continues" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/06/11/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-the-budget-hack-cockup-or-conspiracy-debate-continues/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: The Budget hack “cockup or conspiracy” debate continues">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 30, 2019
Budget 2019 Commentary & reaction Corin Dann (RNZ): Some meat in Wellbeing Budget 2019 but will it satisfy? Bryce Edwards (RNZ): A status quo Budget when transformation was promised Matthew Hooton (Herald): This Government’s Wellbeing measures are total BS (paywalled) Audrey Young (Herald): Wellbeing Budget is different, but it isn’t radical (paywalled) Bernard Hickey (Newsroom): What the Wellbeing Budget should have been ... <a title="Newsletter: New Zealand Government Budget Special Round-up – May 30 2019" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/05/30/newsletter-new-zealand-government-budget-special-round-up-may-30-2019/" aria-label="Read more about Newsletter: New Zealand Government Budget Special Round-up – May 30 2019">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
May 20, 2019
The stars seem to be aligning in favour of the establishment of a socially conservative Christian-based political party, making it more than just a vague possibility. However, some big hurdles remain in place before the National Party can be hopeful that it has a new coalition-friendly party to help it into office at the next ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Stars aligning for a Christian Party" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/05/20/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-stars-aligning-for-a-christian-party/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Stars aligning for a Christian Party">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>
