The Big B, little b budget bind
Grant Robertson has reiterated his commitment to health in next week’s budget but cost of living headwinds aren't easing
Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Friday, May 13, by Anna Rawhiti-Connell. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: DGL board to conduct review; charges laid over protests at parliament; media funding shake-up; but first, Robertson remains set on budget focus.
Food costs have risen 6.4% in the last year (Photo: Getty Images)
Future focus, present day pain
As we wind down a big week of government announcements, the “n” and “m” keys on my laptop worn down, the government has been set on casting forward, beyond Covid, ahead of next week’s budget. We’ve had big announcements on immigration and climate change policy. Meanwhile daily headlines remain trained on the very present day cost of living. Nicola Willis delivered her first big speech on the economy as National’s finance spokesperson this week and she stayed focussed on what could be done to help the squeezed middle.
Robertson sticking to guns on budget
At a speech in Wellington yesterday, finance minister Grant Robertson said he was “well and truly over” Covid. Next week’s budget will be the first of a “new normal” following the “crisis” budgets of the Covid-19 era, he said. Robertson was also adamant that the focus of the budget will be health saying “If we decided against reforming our health system, we would not see lower petrol prices; we would just have both high petrol prices and a health system that was not set up to meet our needs.”
Cost of living headlines won’t quit
A few hours after Robertson finished his speech, Stats NZ dropped its April food price index figures showing a 6.4% rise in the cost of food over the last year. In good news, vegetables are getting slightly cheaper. The speed at which I hit that link was bested only by the frantic triple tap on the mouse to get to this one which had the words “supermarket” and “discount” in the headline. After conversations about petrol prices were neutered for a bit by the fuel excise tax cut, everyone is dusting off their “how to save on petrol” tips again.
The Budget, your budget
This tension reminds me of a conversation I had working in a comms and marketing job. We were trying to make the Budget (big B, we’d say) relevant to people who were probably more worried about their own circumstances and budgets (little b) and we ended up sharing household money-saving tips on budget day. What was an inconsequential comms conundrum in different times, feels like a very real one for the government right now. It’s not that people don’t care about the big B budget, the health reforms or climate change, it’s just that you can see why a former adviser to the Labour and Green parties might be asking whether Labour will be bold enough to seize back the cost-of-living narrative. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas also discuss this in the latest episode of Gone by Lunchtime.
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DGL board to conduct independent review after Nadia Lim comments
It’s been ten days since Madeleine Chapman brought DGL CEO Simon Henry’s comments about Nadia Lim in an NBR interview (paywalled) to wider public attention. Last night the news broke that the DGL board is going to appoint an advisory firm to conduct a "thorough, independent" review of its culture. No mention of reviewing its courier service. Since last week we’ve had a leaked memo saying an apology from Henry had been couriered to Lim and disclosure of a two-line apology sent a week after his comments made headlines. Chris Schulz talked to publicist Chris Henry about what Simon Henry (no relation) should've done because so far, none of this has been “it”. DGL shares closed at $3.20 last night on the NZX, down from $4.13 on May 3.
Arrests made over protest at parliament
Police issued a statement last night saying they arrested three people yesterday on charges relating to violence on March 2, the final day of 23 days of anti-mandate protests at parliament. That day started with police launching an operation to restore order to the area and ended with fires on the lawn, bricks being thrown at police and scenes most of us never expected to see on the front lawn of parliament. One man has been charged with intentional damage and doing a dangerous act with intent and a woman has been been charged with doing a dangerous act with intent and rioting. Another man appeared in the Nelson District court yesterday charged with assault with a weapon, doing a dangerous act with intent and rioting.
Historic decision from church
The Presbytarian church has reached a decision to offer iwi first right of refusal on any future sale of church-owned land. The church owns a lot of land in New Zealand and its assets are estimated to be worth $1.5 billion. Much of their land was acquired through land sales and gifts, but as Te Aniwa Hurihanganui reports for 1 News, other areas are thought to have been inherited by the Crown following the New Zealand Land Wars. Land was confiscated from tribes who had rebelled against the government and from those who had fought alongside the government. Religious historian professor Peter Lineham said "Those confiscations are a very black mark against the New Zealand Government and all that inherited the land."
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TVNZ-RNZ likely to be detached from NZ On Air in biggest media reforms since 1989
Several well-placed sources have told The Spinoff that the public media entity (PME) to be created via the merger of TVNZ and RNZ will be funded directly by the government to commission major dramas, comedies and other content for the first time since NZ On Air was set up in the late ’80s. RNZ’s Russell Palmer has a good explainer on the merger here. The move is based on recommendations from the establishing board of the PME and if followed, the impact on NZ on Air’s budget will be revealed in next week’s budget. Duncan Grieve writes it should mean more New Zealand content gets made.
Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz
Reweti Kohere finds out what exactly it is Simon Henry's company DGL actually does; Toby Manhire watches Australia’s ‘Final Showdown’ election debate; Te Kuru o te Marama Dewes remembers te reo advocate, political activist and journalist Anaru Robb; we look back on the iPod era as Apple announces it's finally ceased production.
Basketballers dominate highest paid list in sports
LeBron James comes in at number one with combined salary and endorsement earnings of US$126.9m (NZ$201.6m). 35 other NBA players are also on the list. Tennis player Naomi Osaka is the first woman on the list at number 20. Serena Willams is the only other woman on the list at number 52. One cricketer, India’s Virat Kohli, makes the list. The full list, from 1-100, is available at Sportico if you’re feeling aspirational and/or keen to feel bereft about a lack of lucrative sporting prowess.
It’s Friday so…
Possibly too early in my run as editor to reveal a weird interest in animal taxonomy but I loved this story. A new study by researchers at the University of Otago has found that of 596 parasitic worms named after scientists, only 18.6% were named after female scientists. They say it reveals a gender bias in the naming the creatures on this good earth. I am not sure I’d want a parasitic worm named after me but there are bound to be plenty of scientists who do. They also found that incidents of taxonomists naming worms after friends or family had increased in the last 20 years. Perhaps more understandable?
