Diagnosis: disaster, as Covid forces Hipkins off campaign trail
It really couldn't have come at a worse time.
Mōrena, and welcome to The Bulletin for Monday, October 2 by Catherine McGregor. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: More bad news for leading theatre company with ‘toxic’ staff culture; Low-deposit buyers out of luck as shared ownership scheme closes; Property industry votes with its wallet, data journalist finds. But first, the Labour leader’s packed schedule – including a leaders’ debate – is in tatters this week. But how much will Hipkins’ disappearance from the campaign trail affect the final outcome?
Leader laid low by lurgy
There’s no good time for a prime minister on the campaign trail to come down with Covid. Still, as Claire Trevett writes in the Herald (paywalled), “it’s hard to think of a worse time than the first week of advance voting”. And that’s exactly what has happened to Chris Hipkins who announced on Sunday that he’d tested positive for Covid and would be self-isolating for the next five days. In an election where turnout will be key to Labour’s chances, not having the PM around this week to rally voters to the polls could be potentially devastating. Hipkins, who is apparently “feeling the full effects of the infection”, was due to debate National leader Chris Luxon again on Tuesday; contingency plans being considered include “alternative dates or a Hipkins substitute”. Then there’s the big question of whether party morale, up the upswing after Hipkins’ impressive performance in the Newshub leaders’ debate, can bounce back from this weekend’s disappointing news. Supporters can perhaps take heart from Australian PM Anthony Albanese – he took a week off the campaign trail after testing positive and went on to decisively win last year’s general election.
Education the focus of Labour manifesto launch
Hipkins’ illness meant his deputy Carmel Sepuloni stood in for him at the launch of the Labour manifesto on Sunday. While most of the policies had already been announced, the manifesto also included new announcements – almost certainly the final ones of Labour’s campaign – on education and youth job training. Labour will offer two million free hours of maths and literacy catch-up learning to seven to 13 year olds, provide 20 hours of early childhood education for two-year-olds, and continue the free school lunches programme. It also plans to establish a maths and literacy training fund for teachers, and put a further $43 million into training for young people who have dropped out or been expelled from school. Here’s where I jump in to recommend the handy online tool Policy, where you can see how Labour’s policies on education – and everything else – stack up against those of its rivals.
Fiscal plans and policy priorities unveiled by National and Greens
National and the Greens also had more plans to announce this weekend. The Greens held an event to highlight their policy priorities – namely the income guarantee tax plan; “a warm, dry, affordable and accessible place to call home”; and climate action – and a fiscal review by Infometrics (the same company that reviewed Labour’s plan) showing that “everything adds up”, according to leaders Marama Davidson and James Shaw. Meanwhile National released its 100-day action plan featuring the policies it plans to put in motion (and the Labour ones it plans to repeal) during its first 100 days in office. Among the first to go would be the clean car discount scheme and the “ute tax” used to fund it, transport spokesman Simeon Brown said. On Friday National released its own fiscal plan setting out the calculations behind policies including its controversial tax plan. The biggest saving announced was $2b on benefits, achieved by indexing benefits to inflation rather than wages, which is likely to significantly limit benefit increases.
Peters accused of ‘astonishing abuse’ of TVNZ interviewer
He had no new policies to announce, but NZ First leader Winston Peters gave the two most talked-about interviews of the weekend. On Saturday his sitdown with Newshub Nation’s Rebecca Wright turned confrontational when she raised allegations of race-baiting by right wing parties including NZ First. In response, Peters described Te Pāti Māori as “a bunch of racists and superior people who say they have better DNA than European people”, reports Alice Neville for The Spinoff. The next day it was the turn of Q&A’s Jack Tame. The result was an interview “that made yesterday’s… look genial in comparison”, Neville writes. Peters told Tame he was “being exposed for the dirt merchant you are” and said Tame was making “a good case for us to make sure we get the broadcasting portfolio after this election”, prompting Tame to ask: "Is that a threat, Mr Peters?" Broadcasting minister Willie Jackson later criticised Peters’ “astonishing abuse” of Tame, and said it showed how dangerous NZ First would be in government.
More bad news for leading theatre company with ‘toxic’ staff culture
Christchurch’s Court Theatre is running out of cash and has a “reasonably short horizon” before the situation becomes critical, according to leaked audio from a recent staff meeting. Today’s report by Shannon Redstall of The Press (paywalled) is a follow-up to Saturday’s story (also paywalled) on CEO Barbara George, who has been accused of bullying, “mind games”, and mismanagement at the theatre company, New Zealand’s largest. Of 22 current and former employees spoken to for that story, “Twenty said she needed to go. Six felt they were victims of bullying. At least five went on stress leave.” One former employee said the theatre was “the most toxic environment that I've ever worked in”. After being approached by The Press for comment last week, George went on “medical leave” until mid-October. Court Theatre Trust Board chair Steve Wakefield said the board was “sincerely very sorry to hear how people are feeling” and agreed that “strong action” was needed.
Low-deposit buyers out of luck as shared ownership scheme closes
Surging demand has forced a government shared ownership scheme to close its doors to prospective borrowers, Newshub’s Zane Small reports. The Kāinga Ora-backed First Home Partner scheme, which offered a path to home ownership for prospective first home buyers with low deposits, is now fully subscribed. It has more than 410 signed agreements, exhausting the $187m funding for the scheme. Kāinga Ora says it saw a 450% explosion in monthly applications after eligibility requirements for the scheme were relaxed earlier this year. Neither National nor ACT are committed to continuing shared ownership schemes after the election. The fund closure comes as CoreLogic data shows that first home buyers’ share of the market is now its highest ever, at 26.4% – and that’s despite interest rates that are already high and could go even higher.
Chris and Chris: The honeymoon ends
It was a real love fest a week ago when Chris Hipkins and Chris Luxon first debated on live television. But on Wednesday night, with Paddy Gower moderating, their relationship took a turn.
Property industry votes with its wallet
RNZ data journalist Farah Hancock looked at where political donations from the property industry are going, and what she found will likely come as no surprise. Almost all donations went to National, Act and NZ First, with Labour receiving just 2% of funds donated by people or organisations with connections to real estate and property investing. Since 2021, people aligned with the property industry have donated more than $2.5 million to political parties, Hancock finds. The biggest single donor from the property industry was Trevor Farmer = who has given $480,000 in total, including $215,000 each to National and ACT and $50,000 to NZ First. The only property-related donor to give to Labour since 2021 is Mark Todd of Ockham Residential, who donated $50,000. "'A representative from the company said Todd believed legislation ‘which reins in the lord bit of landlord’ was a good thing,” Hancock reports.
Click and Collect
More strong winds are forecast for much of the country this week.
Ten years on, the introduction of a speed limit for ships in the Hauraki Gulf is one of New Zealand’s greatest conservation success stories.
Eight months after his family announced he was entering hospice care, former US president Jimmy Carter has celebrated his 99th birthday.
Click and Elect
Kieran McAnulty’s been touted as a future Labour leader. He’s not having a bar of it.
Act are promising to end the 2 January public holiday in order to “absorb the cost of Matariki”.
What it’s like to be a key campaign staffer in the final run-up to election day (paywalled)
In the battle for best-dressed, Luxon is scoring an easy victory over Hipkins, writes the Sunday Star-Times’ Zoe Walker Ahwa (paywalled).
Former Wellington mayor Andy Foster is back, and he wants to be an MP. Joel MacManus spoke to him about standing for NZ First and what went so wrong at Wellington Council.
As advance voting gets under way, the signs point to a significant drop in participation, reckons Toby Manhire. None of New Zealand’s commercial French vanilla ice creams contain the crucial ingredient, finds reporter Dylan Jones. Sam Brooks uncovers the complicated truth behind the “audacious” return of the Pop-up Globe. Venetia Sherson pens (no pun intended) an ode to proper paper. And Gabi Lardies writes about the small joys of growing things in pots.
Sporting snippets
Hawke’s Bay Rugby say they are “devastated” to have damaged the Ranfurly Shield, which broke into two pieces after being accidentally dropped on a concrete floor.
Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz.
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It’s come at the perfect time. It shows up the fraud and deceit at a time when they have been trying to sweep it under the carpet till after the election.
Is it a "disaster"? Most people I know would have made up their minds by now about party vote, so how much difference does it make to see the PM out & about? Local MPs can still carry on regardless. Could it be balanced by the "sympathy vote" or a reminder how cool calm & collected he was during COVID (& how responsible to isolate when others might not?) Many of us have lived through genuine "disasters" - this is not one ...