Tough calls to be made to ‘build back better’
The prime minister says that we’ve underinvested in infrastructure and resilience for too long and ‘that has to change’. A resounding chorus joins him but what does it mean for this year's Budget?
Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Monday, February 20, by Anna Rawhiti-Connell. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: the latest on the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle; Calendar Girls dancers take on employer and lobby parliament; what’s happening with the boringly titled Content Regulatory Review; but first, significant and late changes to the Budget expected to ensure we “build back better” and quickly
“Some tough calls will need to be made”
In a briefing last night, prime minister Chris Hipkins said “We will build back better, but we will also need to build back more resilient than before” and “if we’re going to build back quickly, some tough calls will need to be made and I’m absolutely committed to doing it.” Hipkins was emphatic about the country’s underinvestment in infrastructure and resilience. Opposition leader Christopher Luxon has been equally firm over the last few days on the need to invest in infrastructure and climate change adaptation.
Finance minister estimated costs of recovery to be similar to Canterbury earthquakes
In an interview on Q&A yesterday finance minister Grant Robertson said that the cost of recovery will be in the billions. He expects the total cost to be similar to the Canterbury earthquakes “in the $13b region”, although some of that will be absorbed by insurance and the existing budgets of government agencies. Hipkins said last night that there were going to be some big calls on this year’s Budget and that the government will have to refocus and prioritise. Suffice to say, accommodating flood recovery and infrastructure investment will involve doing a bit more than ditching the TVNZ/RNZ merger which had an upfront cost of around $370m.
“Do the goddamn thing properly”
Hipkins will find many advocates for his clarion call on infrastructure investment in this feature from Stuff’s Kevin Norquay yesterday. He will also find that most are urging that the recovery and climate change adaptation work be done properly. “Cheapest is not always best. Sometimes it's going to be a case of doing the goddamn thing properly,” said economist Cameron Bagrie. Bagrie also said people thinking you can fund the work and do tax cuts as well, “are whistling dixie.” Robertson told an audience of business leaders this week that the country should not expect, as Simon Bridges put it, many “lollies” in this year’s Budget.
"We save for a rainy day, we happen to be having a lot of them at the moment”
All of this makes for some tricky days and weeks ahead for the finance minister. Hipkins said that reprioritising and refocusing after the cyclone mean the government will be making “some reasonably significant late budget process decisions”. The December Budget Policy Statement which lays out the government's priorities for the Budget, was firmly focused on the cost of living. Net debt was forecast to peak at 21.4% of GDP. Liam Dann’s column yesterday (paywalled) is worth a read for some perspective on the position we find ourselves in. He cites BNZ’s Stephen Toplis who says the government has the capacity to find $20b for rebuilding simply by shifting the projected peak for our debt track from 21.4% to 27%. As Robertson said on Q&A, "We save for a rainy day, we happen to be having a lot of them at the moment and we will respond."
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The latest on the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle
Cabinet will meet today to discuss more support for those with homes and businesses damaged and ruined by Cyclone Gabrielle. Yesterday it was confirmed that 11 people have died as a result of the cyclone and 28,000 people are still without power, with the bulk in Napier and Hastings. 6451 people have been reported to police as unaccounted for, while 3,216 people have registered themselves as safe. The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council is defending its decision not to order mass evacuations in the Esk Valley where a two-year-old girl drowned when floodwaters rose to the ceiling of her family house.
Fired Up Stilettos take on employers over unlawful termination, lobby parliament
Calendar Girls dancers told not to come back to work via a Facebook post after requesting better contracts are picketing outside their workplace and lobbying parliament over their rights as independent contractors. For the unfamiliar, Calendar Girls is a strip club. Unite Union legal officer Lauren McGee believes the dancers were subjected to "an unlawful termination" under the contract they had with the club. The 19 dancers have formed a group called the Fired Up Stilettos and are meeting with Green MP Jan Logie in March. There is currently a gap in the legislative framework for many types of contracting work and experts have urged that changes be made. If you’re a Billy Bragg fan, you might like to know he joined the workers in their protest after his Wellington show on Saturday night.
Where is the planned Content Regulatory Review?
I’ve written “due soon” about the planned Content Regulatory Review a few times in The Bulletin now. I’ve checked the uploaded PDF in the “next steps for the review” section on the Department of Internal Affairs website far too often. I had a whole Bulletin planned to explain it. Newsroom’s Marc Daalder correctly describes the title of the review as “anodyne-sounding” but the review was launched with the purpose of uniting the disparate regulatory frameworks (like the Broadcasting Standards Authority) for what we now call content under a single policy. It would also expand to cover currently-unregulated content, like social media. It would be a shot at providing some regulation of “Big Tech”. This morning, Daalder writes that while no decision has been made to scrap the programme, the lack of communication has troubled those who weighed in on the policy. I haven’t weighed in but I am going to keep refreshing that web page.
Click and collect
Potential for more virtual sittings of parliament
Fair to say there’s been a lot of news out of the North Island lately including the impact of the cyclone on crops and fruit-growers. Things look completely different in the South Island
Most Auckland beaches are now safe to swim at
Self-described Eeyore, Virgina Fallon writes about the practice of gratitude journaling. It’s a tonic — the column, not the journaling
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Sporting snippets
The Breakers have done it. They return to the NBL grand finals after a seven year hiatus, beating the Jack Jumpers last night.
“Flush it… and arrive in Wellington for the second test with some fresh ideas to counter the English.” Stuff’s Robert van Royen on what the Black Caps will, and need, to do after being thoroughly outclassed by England.
A must read and watch from TV1’s Sunday programme with the story of Justin Jennings, the first New Zealander to be diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy( CTE) - a degenerative brain disease increasingly connected to contact sports like rugby.
