pn771. Bernard Hickey hits the nail on the head: Where is Labour's "TRANSFORMATIONAL change?"

My view is that Bernard Hickey is a truly independent journalist, giving praise and criticism when due. I think he has a strong point against Labour in this article.  We know not everything can be done at once (see Jane Clifton in pn769) but Labour must choose between "transformational change" to reduce poverty and social and inequalities, or cruise on, maintaining low debt levels, while incrementally"tickering" with these issues —which surely should be at the root of action by a truly Labour party government. -- ACW  

Bernard Hickey writes: 

pn769. So many problems all at once for NZ Government, and they can't all be solved immediately

 

Credit. Michele Marconi, The Guardian.

"It's hard to think of a modern government that has faced as many socially divisive issues at once —some of its own making — while remaining popular: housing shortages, gang shootings, unhappy farmers, multitudinous local councils, vaulting electricity charges, new car taxes, He Puapua Māori governance, labour shortages, building product scarcity, mistreated immigrant hopefuls, hate-speech controversy and wage-growth pressure." -- Jane Clifton,  "Covid Roulette,"  NZ Listener, July 31-August 6 2021. Then add Covid to the equation!

pn762. Letter from Grant Robertson: By the numbers

 

Hi Crosbie, As the second half of the year gets underway, I wanted to send a quick update on our COVID recovery and in particular, how our economic response is tracking. The recent outbreaks in Australia and Fiji have highlighted that the global pandemic is far from over, and COVID-19 is still the biggest threat facing New Zealand. That’s why our number one priority continues to be keeping New Zealanders safe. Precautions like pre-departure testing and managed isolation remain an important line of defence at our border, and our vaccine rollout is ramping up, with more than half a million people now fully vaccinated. We are well on track to ensuring every eligible New Zealander has the opportunity to be vaccinated by the end of the year.

pn569. No Evidence National Voters voted Labour to keep Greens Out

Henry Cooke in Stuff says there's  no evidence  that a significant number of National voters voted Labour to keep the Greens out. The article shows how journalists' opinions often becomes news, and how fact is sometimes supposition.

Election 2020: There is no evidence National voters backed Labour to keep the Greens out 

OPINION: One of the problems with being a pundit or reporter is the fundamental impossibility of understanding why millions of people do what they do.

We are all mostly stumbling around in the dark, with occasional illumination in the form of polls or election results.

But because it is boring to only talk about these scientific measures of society, we latch on to individual anecdotes.