Economist Dr Martin Lally told The Platform that panic, politics, and flawed forecasts, not rigorous analysis, shaped New Zealand’s response. The economist said government officials “weren’t interested in doing cost-benefit analysis.
They were interested in doing what the public seemed to want.”
The National Party is facing a social media firestorm over its plan to introduce digital driver’s licences.
National’s cheery pitch proposed the move is a simple upgrade: “We’ve introduced legislation for digital driver licences, making it easier for you to have your licence on your phone instead of in your wallet.”
The Gene Technology Bill was meant to come back from the health select committee on 31 July. That got pushed to 22 August, and now again to 10 October.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon insists the delay is not political, just about “getting it right.” But Winston Peters says the issue is “far too complicated for a ten second reply” and has confirmed NZ First is still working through its caveats.
The Free Speech Union has slammed a court’s decision to grant permanent name suppression to a wealthy criminal convicted of importing and possessing objectionable material, calling it “an affront to everyone outside the elite groups permitted to know the truth.”
Chair Stephen Franks said the ruling erodes public confidence in equality before the law.
The government has announced a $2.7 billion investment in military hardware, including helicopters armed with Hellfire missiles and long-range Airbus aircraft, as part of a broader defence upgrade responding to what Foreign Minister Winston Peters calls a “sharply deteriorating security environment.”
The package includes five MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, equipped with anti-submarine torpedoes and precision strike systems, and two Airbus A321XLRs to replace the ageing Boeing 757 fleet.
Neither of New Zealand’s major party leaders is particularly popular, and that’s becoming a structural liability, argues former minister Peter Dunne in Newsroom.
Christopher Luxon’s support has fallen steadily since becoming Prime Minister and is now the lowest of any PM under MMP.
Since the election, Luxon has had only one brief improvement, now erased by ongoing dissatisfaction, including from Auckland business leaders who once backed him.
