Christopher Luxon, New Zealand Prime Minister 2023

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#3500835 6-Jun-2026 22:15

freitasm:

Not the decision but the time of the announcement of the process result.

This was a US state department announcement. It seems entirely routine and nothing to do with the dickhead who is secretary of war

https://www.state.gov/countries-areas-archive/new-zealand

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#3501217 8-Jun-2026 10:50

GV27:

Hospo is discretionary spend for many of us and the first thing to go when we feel we need to shore up cash reserves. A meal when I was a kid at the local takeaways for a family of four was $25 which gave you leftovers the next day and now we'll spend near $100 to feed four adults (and a couple of toddlers who refuse to eat anything we put in front of them so they don't count).

For us, it's just gotten too expensive. We don't go out as often. I don't even buy coffee everyday now

I'm not saying that prices are unreasonable. I'm sure with competition being so intense, if people could cut prices to compete they would. So ... if prices go up, demand goes down, and we have too many vendors competing for fewer dollars. A reduction in capacity is the end result of all that.

Mike

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#3501221 8-Jun-2026 11:05

freitasm:

ANZ hikes all mortgage rates above competitors, but leaves most savings rates as they are - NZ Herald

Good luck, National, winning a 2026 election after screwing with the country.

You're citing inflation caused by externally mediated fuel prices to criticise a govt with deflationary economic policy ...

About a month ago, I thought a change in govt was inevitable. Now, I'm not so sure. For govt to change (especially after one term), there usually has to be a credible alternative. I'm not sure there is, yet. There is still a lot of water to go under that bridge but ... I don't think it will be enough for the opposition to just criticise the govt on the economy, it will need to convince swing voters it would have done (and can do) a better job.

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#3501288 8-Jun-2026 12:49

MikeAqua:

You're citing inflation caused by externally mediated fuel prices to criticise a govt with deflationary economic policy ...

About a month ago, I thought a change in govt was inevitable. Now, I'm not so sure. For govt to change (especially after one term), there usually has to be a credible alternative. I'm not sure there is, yet. There is still a lot of water to go under that bridge but ... I don't think it will be enough for the opposition to just criticise the govt on the economy, it will need to convince swing voters it would have done (and can do) a better job.

*Shrug* The previous government was paying down the Key government's debts quite nicely till COVID came along, and National only criticised the government's strategy by arguing they didn't go far enough. This government has borrowed even more money than the Labour government did, and is still delivering way less with it. If anything, an honest assessment by this government would be that the actions of the New Zealand government have relatively little influence over inflation either way compared to international pressures. But it's a lot easier to just keep blaming Labour.

Having said that I don't think anyone I know took it for granted that a change at this election was inevitable.

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ezbee

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#3501305 8-Jun-2026 14:24

Luxon dogged by the lackluster execution.

The Government announced a three-day stay in maternity care for new mums. It didn’t fund the beds
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360988654/government-announced-three-day-stay-maternity-care-new-mums-it-didnt-fund-beds

""
The Government announced funding of $34.4 million to guarantee mothers would be able to stay in hospital for at least three days after giving birth but there is a major piece of the puzzle missing - actual beds.

The $34.4m announced is operational funding which pays for the increased demand in services, rather than the infrastructure needed to cater for the demand.

A submission from the Ministry of Health to the select committee considering the bill estimated the capital funding required to cover the cost of providing the extra beds necessary to meet increased demand at over $100m.
""

Its a bit like the cuts in healthcare and other departments that were not front line and front line now wasting resource doing back office.
Never mind front line is underfunded, underequipped and understaffed already.
I guess equipped wards and beds are not front line.

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#3501310 8-Jun-2026 14:36

SaltyNZ:

*Shrug* The previous government was paying down the Key government's debts quite nicely till COVID came along, and National only criticised the government's strategy by arguing they didn't go far enough. This government has borrowed even more money than the Labour government did, and is still delivering way less with it. If anything, an honest assessment by this government would be that the actions of the New Zealand government have relatively little influence over inflation either way compared to international pressures. But it's a lot easier to just keep blaming Labour.

Having said that I don't think anyone I know took it for granted that a change at this election was inevitable.

Govt's domestic expenditure can absolutely influence inflation. But, yes, international pressures are important too.

When you have an inflationary situation internationally, which we have had pretty much since Russia first invaded Ukraine, you should reduce spending domestically. It's damage control, which is better than adding domestic inflationary pressure by having a jolly good spend up.

Mike

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#3501315 8-Jun-2026 14:52

MikeAqua:

It's damage control, which is better than adding domestic inflationary pressure by having a jolly good spend up.

It's not damage control, it's a choice of different damage. If Labour hadn't done what they did, we might have had less inflation after COVID, but we also would have had a huge number of businesses dying right there because they suddenly had no cash flow but all their suppliers expected to still get paid etc. Or we might have had somewhere in the middle economically, but with thousands of deaths. They caused inflation, but they gave thousands of small businesses a fighting chance.

Right now National are choosing what they believe to be the path to low inflation. It's having a very limited effect at least partly because the main pressure is not that New Zealanders are all going on a massive spending spree the economy can't sustain, it's that 20% of the world's energy plus a bunch of other invisible but critical byproducts just went away. I already buy as close to 0 petrol or diesel as it is possible to get short of getting an electric lawnmower. Choking the economy isn't going to make me buy less.

On top of that, they have directly put tens of thousands of people out of work. Those people aren't spending money like they used to, and that means a shrinking economy as well as rising benefits bills.

Is it lowering inflation? Maybe. Is it causing other problems instead? Definitely.

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Handle9

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#3501325 8-Jun-2026 15:40

Inflation is only one part of the reason to reduce government spending. The other, in my view more significant reason, is the structural deficit and ineffective spending.

There is no problem borrowing money to invest in capital works that improve productivity, get paid for over generations or in a crisis. What you can’t do is perpetually borrow to keep the operating allowance funded. Equally borrowing huge amounts of money for ineffective or mismanaged capital projects (Auckland light rail / metro, the ferries, kiwibuild etc) isn’t sustainable.

The government isn’t a jobs program, it needs to deliver value for money with its head count. Equally if there isn’t enough money to fund everything then some programs have to go. It sucks for the people involved but the government has to provide value for money.

The world economy is in a pretty messy state at the moment. Coupled with the NZ real estate market slowly unwinding into something that should be more sustainable any government will struggle to keep the NZ economy going in a positive direction.

The big criticisms of the last governments economic management was never the initial Covid crisis itself, it was keeping the magic money tap turned onto 12 as it came out of the pandemic without delivering noticeable improvements.

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#3501330 8-Jun-2026 15:50

SaltyNZ:

It's not damage control, it's a choice of different damage. If Labour hadn't done what they did, we might have had less inflation after COVID, but we also would have had a huge number of businesses dying right there because they suddenly had no cash flow but all their suppliers expected to still get paid etc. Or we might have had somewhere in the middle economically, but with thousands of deaths. They caused inflation, but they gave thousands of small businesses a fighting chance.

Right now National are choosing what they believe to be the path to low inflation. It's having a very limited effect at least partly because the main pressure is not that New Zealanders are all going on a massive spending spree the economy can't sustain, it's that 20% of the world's energy plus a bunch of other invisible but critical byproducts just went away. I already buy as close to 0 petrol or diesel as it is possible to get short of getting an electric lawnmower. Choking the economy isn't going to make me buy less.

On top of that, they have directly put tens of thousands of people out of work. Those people aren't spending money like they used to, and that means a shrinking economy as well as rising benefits bills.

Is it lowering inflation? Maybe. Is it causing other problems instead? Definitely.

It's not govt's role to throw money out of a helicopter to help a bunch of small businesses limp along. They'll eventually go bust anyway, and it costs more to prolong that.

Govt's role in curbing inflation is to reduce its direct expenditure. Govt is doing that. And it involves some redundancies. The labour govt did go on massive spending spree, that will have contributed somewhat to inflation.

However, I agree with your point that the international driver is the big driver at the moment. But ... you pull the levers you can. Labour on the other hand were pushing the levers they should have been pulling.

Mike

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#3501332 8-Jun-2026 16:01

MikeAqua:

It's not govt's role to throw money out of a helicopter to help a bunch of small businesses limp along. They'll eventually go bust anyway, and it costs more to prolong that.

Govt's role in curbing inflation is to reduce its direct expenditure. Govt is doing that. And it involves some redundancies. The labour govt did go on massive spending spree, that will have contributed somewhat to inflation.

However, I agree with your point that the international driver is the big driver at the moment. But ... you pull the levers you can. Labour on the other hand were pushing the levers they should have been pulling.

Small and medium-sized businesses make up 95% of the New Zealand market. There's a very small number of large businesses/enterprises. And these are already well-established.

I don't think people expect the government of the day to give money away. But creating a plan, with focused investments to grow specific sectors that can either benefit the majority of the population by creating jobs or by designing incentives for education and training, is not too much to ask.

The current government is not even doing this. But let's not talk about the energy, tobacco and landlords.

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#3501850 10-Jun-2026 22:41

Laser-focused on the cost of ~~living~~ car parking.

Newly released expense records, first reported by The Press, show Chhour spent $16,686 on parking at Auckland Airport between February 2024 and February 2026, with her vehicle parked there for a combined eight-and-a-half months.

Chhour has defended the spending, telling Stuff she prefers to "self-drive" because it is "almost always cheaper" than using Crown cars or taxi services, particularly given the extensive travel required in her role and visits to remote communities.

...

According to The Press, one parking bill totalled $630 for a 15-day stay in a short-stay car park. The newspaper reported there were 11 other occasions where Chhour's vehicle remained in the same parking area for five days or more, each costing more than $300.

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#3501903 11-Jun-2026 06:53

I don't understand how that's possible. Surely at some point it would have been cheaper to simply lease a carpark there? Don't tell me it was just constant drive-up parking with no actual bookings.

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#3501907 11-Jun-2026 07:38

freitasm:

I don't think people expect the government of the day to give money away. But creating a plan, with focused investments to grow specific sectors that can either benefit the majority of the population by creating jobs or by designing incentives for education and training, is not too much to ask.

The current government is not even doing this. But let's not talk about the energy, tobacco and landlords.

The giving away of money, during already inflationary condition is what I was objecting to.

The govt does have a strategy to promote certain sectors. The Fast-Track scheme (inherited from labour and adapted) is approving housing, transport and clean energy initiatives (it's easy to see what has been approved on the fast-track site). There is clearly signalled support for particular outcomes and sectors in R&D. Tech is one of the sectors the govt wants to see develop. The replacement of the RMA will make life easy for bunch of sectors in the tangible economy. Things have been dramatically improved for the seafood sector.

I hated the repeal of the smokefree changes as well.

The electricity market does need addressing, it's a long-standing issue. Govt owns 51% of three gen-tailers and collects dividends, which is probably why successive govts have been reluctant to address the market structure in any meaningful way. Labour's foolish regulatory tinkering made electricity more expensive as far as I can tell, and the winter power payments seem to be a token gesture and not particularly well targeted.

Most of our energy isn't electricity, and there's very little the govt can do about fuel prices (23.85/L for diesel yesterday!). Labour's clean car scheme had negligible impact while subsidising new car buyers.

House prices and rents are heading down, overall. I'm not sure I'd attribute that to any govt. I suspect the decrease is driven by economic conditions.

Mike

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#3501914 11-Jun-2026 08:27

MikeAqua:

Things have been dramatically improved for the seafood sector.

Well, at least until they finish killing off all the fish, anyway.

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#3501915 11-Jun-2026 08:35

MikeAqua:

Most of our energy isn't electricity, and there's very little the govt can do about fuel prices (23.85/L for diesel yesterday!). Labour's clean car scheme had negligible impact while subsidising new car buyers.

A side effect of this was a huge amount of clustering of cars at the $80K price point that subsequently fell to well below this number through market forces as newer and better staff came onto the market.

There's some light FBT relief coming for EVs but really zero-rating it will help; but our low dollar probably isn't helping distributors get competitive local prices on new models.

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