Neither Chris Gets to Decide
Winston Peters says Luxon and Hipkins will not decide this election and the media is still running it like first past the post. Two more Chris-on-Chris debates are booked. The kingmaker is the story nobody is billing.
Chris Hipkins
Reality Wants Its Money Back
David Seymour has called the government’s path to surplus “heroic”, four days before National shows its fiscal plan. When the junior partner says that about your books, believe him.
Three Polls Say Split Your Vote
Tuesday’s three polls all show the majors bleeding to the minors. Neither Chris is liked. National’s list lift is a forlorn hope. Electorate National or best candidate; party vote ACT or NZ First.
Luxon Is Finished, So Split Your Vote And Save The Coalition
National 25.9 per cent, its worst since 2020. Neither bloc gets to 61. Luxon survived two recent confidence votes and the party is paying for it. Vote National in the electorate, party vote ACT or NZ First.
Quick Hit: Quarter-Trillion and No Books
Taxpayers’ Union puts Green promises at $236.7b, or $114,239 a household, after the passenger rail add. Swarbrick wants Finance. Full books still weeks away.
If the Plan Matches National’s, the Bill Is What Labour Is Hiding
Labour kept Willis’s $2.4b allowance, hit surplus in the same year, costed one pay equity claim, and parked the rest in $10.5b of “headroom”. Luxon v Hipkins is Tuesday. Ask who signed the IOU.
Quick Hit: The Number Chippy Won’t Name
Greens put about $1.1 billion a year, roughly $4.48 billion over four years, on care-worker pay equity. Hipkins called the 2025 change the most reprehensible thing he has seen and still will not cost the reverse. Moral fury without a price tag is not a budget.
Quick Hit: Own It, Both Of You
National pledges a digital trans-Tasman trial before the 2028 T20 World Cup. Hipkins says he and Albanese agreed it in 2023. Luxon says you need National to get things done. The row is about credit, not caution. Own it, both of you.
Hipkins the Hypocrite
Hipkins called Harry Mowbray’s split-vote campaign an absolute rort by wealthy entrenched interests. Under MMP an overhang is a feature, not a loophole. Chippy only hates it when his mates aren’t running it. If it is absolute fraud, rule Te Pāti Māori out. He will not.
Quick Hit: Family Farm Means the Invoice
Luxton could not define family farm on HDPA, then walked dairy accommodation into a proportionate CGT. National claims an $18.8b hole. Sold a farm exemption, taxed the cowshed.
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.
The Insanely Stupid Idea Is Two Ticks Blue
Greens on a record 16 per cent, National and Labour stuck on 28 per cent and Luxon calls the overhang an ‘insanely stupid idea’. The stupid idea is sticking with two ticks blue while the polls sink.
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.
Chippy’s Minder
Trevor Mallard kept Owen Glenn away from Helen Clark in 2008. On Saturday he was stepping between Chris Hipkins and a heckler at Ōtara. Some people never change jobs.
Quick Hit: Fifteen Questions. Roaming.
Hipkins dropped 15 written questions on Pacific roaming and SIM cards weeks from the election. Suit: some SIM cards at USD $35. Fifteen questions. Roaming. Country can wait.
Three Years Of Landlord Tax Cuts. Now He Keeps Them.
Hipkins spent three years calling interest deductibility a tax cut for landlords. Now he keeps it and sells a capital gains tax instead. The slogan was the policy. The policy just left the room.