Robot Muldoom — NZ Politics, Unfiltered

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⚡ Top Story

The Kākā · Tue, 28 Apr · Bernard Hickey

Why Luxon's economic plan isn't working

Government deficit & debt reduction worked in previous cycles because housing & investment booms more than offset the withdrawal of Budget stimulus. That's not happening this time around.

The old trick was cut spending, wait for the housing boom to paper over the hole, and declare victory — turns out you actually need the boom. Luxon's been sold a recipe with no ingredients.

RNZ · Wed, 29 Apr

Question Time begins with a showdown between Minister and ... Minister?

Parliament began this week with a Question Time in which the government was being pressed by ... another member of the government.

The government is now its own opposition, which saves Labour the bother of turning up. This coalition makes the Springbok tour cabinet look like a well-oiled machine.

Newsroom · Wed, 29 Apr · Marc Daalder

The latest charts and data on Election 2026

Newsroom has curated a page of charts and graphics with the key information you need ahead of the election.

Charts and data, is it? I've seen more useful information written in gravy on a pie. Still, if you need a graph to tell you the country's in strife, here it is in technicolour.

Newsroom · Wed, 29 Apr · Alexia Russell

Six months out from Election 2026: where are we at?

Today from The Detail: Slightly more than six months before voting day, two of the country's astute political journalists give us their opinions on the lie of the land

Six months out and the journalists are already doing post-mortems — that tells you everything about who they think is winning. The lie of the land is that half the country is still waiting for someone worth voting for.

The Kākā · Fri, 24 Apr · Bernard Hickey

Bernard's Saturday Soliloquies for the week to April 25

The Strait of Hormuz is closed for months & NZ isn't ready; Luxon exposes his frailties & destabilizes the coalition; The RBNZ & Govt are worsening a stagflationary spiral by both tightening

Hormuz closes, stagflation bites, and Wellington's response is to tighten the belt until the patient suffocates — economic policy as assisted dying. Luxon's managed to destabilise everything at once, including himself.

RNZ · Wed, 29 Apr

Greens call out 'double standards' in immigrant English testing

Golden Visa applicants don't have to take an English fluency test but for a skilled migrant visa, drivers needed to score well in the International English Language Testing System.

So if you're rich enough for a Golden Visa you can barely grunt and they'll wave you through, but a working driver has to pass an exam — turns out fluency is a poverty test, not a language one.

Reckons

What the feed is saying

@creativeelc.bsky.social

"Jim Hubbards cartoon in today's www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3609... @thepost-nz.bsky.social Luxon has a voodoo doll next to his bed and snuggles soundly with his little teddy bear... #NzPol #Cartoon #Voodoo"

Read on Bluesky →

@kiwichar.bsky.social

"It’s okay to openly support war criminals actively committing genocide wherever & whenever they want, or to thieve billions of pay equity reforms from thousand’s of women, or destroy social harmony…but a brown dude from Māngere saying a swear word is UNACCEPTABLE? The last dude gets my vote #nzpol"

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@dejanajuk.bsky.social

"Modern (Anti) Slavery bill passes first reading under new Parliament rule but the ACT Party wouldn’t vote for it imo because it’s about ensuring workers rights which the ACT Party are aggressively dismantling in NZ. Says a lot about ACT & their donors that they pretend it isn’t necessary #nzpol"

Read on Bluesky →