New Zealand General Discussion: PM Jacinda

[Simfan34]

According to government statistics, the average hourly wage in New Zealand was NZ$23.50/hr in 2016. This means the current minimum wage is equal to 67% of the average wage vs 35% in the United States, 41% in the UK, and 45% in Australia. Assuming constant wage growth (as per the OECD statistics), the average wage would reach NZ$25 in 2021, meaning the minimum wage would now be a whopping 80% of the average wage. Even the most progressive observer must admit this will have serious distortionary effects.

New Zealand has tried to ignore economic realities before. It did not end well.

[NewYorkExpress]

http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/31/news/economy/new-zealand-foreigners-property/index.html

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What are your thoughts on this new policy?

[mvd10]

I hate Jacinda Ardern

[Lord Halifax]

http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/31/news/economy/new-zealand-foreigners-property/index.html

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What are your thoughts on this new policy?

Very sensible, but it should apply to all land and Australians shouldn't be exempt.

[Pericles]

It's a great triumph for Labour that after National's doomsaying that banning foreign buyers would doom the TPP, Labour managed to do it easily by classifying existing housing as 'sensitive'. It appears National tried to design the TPP to obstruct Labour and acted in bad faith by never even investigating the idea. However Labour has reduced competition for housing and will start lowering house prices, or at least stopping the increases, all while keeping the TPP and winning a political victory. This is just the start of Labour's 100 day plan, and it's a good one.

[Simfan34]

Is this a different TPP from the Trans-Pacific Partnership?

[Pericles]

Is this a different TPP from the Trans-Pacific Partnership?

It's TPP 11, which is without the US and so is being renegotiated. Jacinda has said that she will also seek to remove the investor-state dispute clause in it that has inflamed a lot of people.

[Kingpoleon]

I would love to see specifics for "eradicating child poverty"...

[JonHawk]

Lol this government is already a damn circus

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/98638163/government-forced-to-do-a-deal-with-national-after-failing-to-have-the-numbers-in-the-house

[freefair]

The husk of United Future has disbanded. I fully expect their few hundred members to join National.

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

Bill English resigning as both National Party leader and MP

[An American Tail: Fubart Goes West]

Bill English resigning as both National Party leader and MP

We will miss Bill! Please don't go!

Pity that he's a list MP so there's no by-election.

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

Simon Bridges is the new Opposition Leader - from what I've read, he's not the preferred choice. Any NZers here care to elaborate?

[Mazda]

Simon Bridges is the new Opposition Leader - from what I've read, he's not the preferred choice. Any NZers here care to elaborate?

He was the preferred choice of the National caucus, which is all that really matters thus far.

His policy positions, however, belie the optics of 'generational change'. He voted against SSM and euthanasia and isn't a fan of abortion liberalisation. He's also trying to pitch himself as a blue-green, which isn't really working because he was formerly an attack dog for deep sea drilling enthusiasts.

There's also some racial stuff around the fact that, despite his Maori heritage, he hasn't engaged with that until it became electorally valuable, has never peeled spuds on the marae, and only started learning Te Reo when it looked likely that he would become Leader. But some of the critics used lines about him only being 3/16 Maori, which led to the point on passing privilege shifting to a discussion on how blood quantum is really incredibly outdated, guys. But at the end of the day, the fact that every party has at least 1 person of Maori heritage in a leadership position except the Greens is a positive stat.

As to the general public, there's no doubt that he'll see lower Preferred PM polling than his last couple of predecessors simply because he hasn't been around for that long. There was a UMR poll on preferred National leaders before the vote which confirmed that the old guard candidates, Collins and Joyce, had much stronger choice among the public and National voters, but this is purely because they've been on the news every day for nine years and Bridges hasn't.

But all in all, the general take is that Jacinda doesn't have a whole lot to worry about.

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

Simon Bridges is the new Opposition Leader - from what I've read, he's not the preferred choice. Any NZers here care to elaborate?

He was the preferred choice of the National caucus, which is all that really matters thus far.

His policy positions, however, belie the optics of 'generational change'. He voted against SSM and euthanasia and isn't a fan of abortion liberalisation. He's also trying to pitch himself as a blue-green, which isn't really working because he was formerly an attack dog for deep sea drilling enthusiasts.

There's also some racial stuff around the fact that, despite his Maori heritage, he hasn't engaged with that until it became electorally valuable, has never peeled spuds on the marae, and only started learning Te Reo when it looked likely that he would become Leader. But some of the critics used lines about him only being 3/16 Maori, which led to the point on passing privilege shifting to a discussion on how blood quantum is really incredibly outdated, guys. But at the end of the day, the fact that every party has at least 1 person of Maori heritage in a leadership position except the Greens is a positive stat.

As to the general public, there's no doubt that he'll see lower Preferred PM polling than his last couple of predecessors simply because he hasn't been around for that long. There was a UMR poll on preferred National leaders before the vote which confirmed that the old guard candidates, Collins and Joyce, had much stronger choice among the public and National voters, but this is purely because they've been on the news every day for nine years and Bridges hasn't.

But all in all, the general take is that Jacinda doesn't have a whole lot to worry about.

Sounds like my kind of guy (especially on life issues), but maybe a bit too right-wing for some swing voters. Then again, Ardern is easily the most left-wing PM since before Lange from what I've read, and would be even more left in government if it wasn't for Mr. Peters.

[Kingpoleon]

Nikki Kaye would be a pretty good leader.