Quick Hit — Political Intelligence — Chris Hipkins — Pay Equity — Labour — Nicola Willis — Mike Hosking — Barbara Edmonds — Election 2026 — NZ Politics
Quick Hit: We Have Room
Day after PREFU, Hipkins tells Hosking there is room for pay equity in Labour's fiscal plan but will not put a line item on it. The costing is a vibe. The spend is a promise.
Related
Quick Hit: Willis’s Better Books Came Partly Out of Your Trolley
Treasury has the deficit at $6.8 billion and next year within $0.8 billion of surplus. It says that is partly inflation lifting the tax take while spending allowances stay fixed, which is how Willis got there with no new taxes.
Quick Hit: Tradies Pay the Lawyers’ Loans
Labour will take 10 per cent off eligible student loans and wipe balances of $2000 or less entirely, at $583.4 million over five years. The debt moves to taxpayers and a doctor gets nearly four times what a teacher does.
Quick Hit: Don’t Write It Down
A curriculum lead was filmed telling staff the minister’s feedback was “OIA-able” and should stay out of writing. Now the chief ombudsman is formally investigating, and Erica Stanford says it’s a matter for her chief executive.
Quick Hit: Three Point Four Billion. Familiar Labels.
Fonterra’s $3.4 billion year came with a $1.2 billion one-off from selling Anchor and Mainland to France’s Lactalis. Farmers banked the cheque, and the butter still costs what it costs.
Latest
Key and Luxon Don’t Get It?
Key and Luxon do get it and using words like ‘dumb’ and ‘insane’ bring to mind another word: panic.
And So the Blobudsman Resurfaces
The buffoon creature from the public sector lagoon pops up (again).
He Puapua Never Left
Hipkins would not rule He Puapua out on Te Ao with Moana. He said the work is already under way, just not under that name, and that UNDRIP means it has to continue. He renamed the programme and called that leadership.
![[The Good Oil] October 2026 Political Poll](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1540910419892-4a36d2c3266c?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=webp&ixid=M3wxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDk1fHx2b3Rpbmd8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzIyMzkxNTI4fDA&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=1304)
[The Good Oil] October 2026 Political Poll
Take our Monthly Political Poll and then share the poll on social media. By sharing the poll you will help even more readers to discover The Good Oil.