The Spinoff’s winners and losers of the week.
- It was a good week… for Auckland. Mayor Wayne Brown and prime minister Chris Luxon announced a new City Deal on Friday between the local and central government. Luxon said he wanted to “move this relationship to the next level” and make it an “adult-to-adult relationship”. These two need to get a room. And decide if that room will have a bed levy.
- It was a good week for… Christchurch. The long-awaited One New Zealand Stadium is finally ready to open. Many Cantabrians (including The Spinoff’s Alex Casey) are excited to get to know the new stadium and ask where it went to school.
- It was a bad week for… the proposed LNG terminal in Taranaki. A coalition of seven energy organisations called on the government to scrap the plan and consider other options. The terminal was pitched as a solution to New Zealand’s dependence on imported fuel. It would work by importing more fuel.
- A good week for… Simeon Brown. The newly appointed National Party campaign chair laid out his core argument for the election, which essentially boils down to: “remember how much you hated Covid-19?”. A bold strategy which assumes the internet hasn’t irreversibly fried the average voter’s attention span.
- It was a bad week for… newly-appointed ministers Cameron Brewer and Mike Butterick. They were officially sworn in at Government House on Tuesday but the ceremony got off to an awkward start when the prime minister and governor-general mistook them for ushers.
- It was a bad week for… central banking. The Reserve Bank responded to the on-again-off-again war between the US and Iran by holding the OCR flat at 2.25% for the third consecutive decision. The bankers are employing the Possum Strategy of economic management. By which we mean playing dead in the face of danger.
- It was a good week for… Winston Peters. With New Zealand First polling at 13.6% – which would be the party’s best ever election result – the foreign minister jetted off to Washington DC to shake hands with some of the top brass including secretary of state Marco Rubio. One day after Peters’ visit, the US and Iran announced a major ceasefire agreement. Coincidence??? (yes, probably).
- It was a good week for… Jono Ridler. On Monday, he completed an epic 1400km, 90 day swim down the length of the North Island from North Cape to Wellington. Has anyone told him about boats?
- It was a bad week for… the tourism sector. Air New Zealand cancelled 4% of its services in May and June due to increased fuel costs, and tourism operators reported a 77% cancellation rate from UK/European visitors during March and April. The industry is confident visitors will return once the global fuel crisis is over and there is no more war and the world returns to a rules-based global order based on free trade and open borders. We’ll keep waiting.
- It was a good week for… public transport. Auckland Transport’s patronage figures are up 10% year-on-year and it has recorded some of its busiest days since 2019. It turns out you don’t need green public policy, infrastructure, or massive advertising budgets to convince people to change their travel patterns. You need $4 diesel.
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