question time tomorrow should just be listing foods that have been served to kids through the lunches programme and asking Seymour to rule which are woke and which are permissible.

I reckon, when you've had a prima facie win by continuing a popular programme for less money (albeit with an approach experience shows leads to more waste & fewer kids getting nutrition)... probably don't wreck it by making the news all about whether 'foreign' food is 'woke'

whether it's social bonds or PPPs, there's a lot mythologising that it takes costs off govt (so it can do tax cuts for landlords)

But the truth is, private investment only happen if govt offers attractive returns. PPPs & social bonds end up costing more than just normal funding

govt water reforms cheaper than 3 waters because it doesn't include one of the waters - doesn't seem like the win the govt is saying it is.

a move to disenfranchise people. pure and simple.

every same day enrolment has to go through proper verification that they are entitled to vote before their vote is counted.

It allows people who are less connected with government systems to realise their right to vote.

they're cutting $3m out of budget advice services -a frontline service if ever there was one- even as demand skyrockets

No problem finding a cheeky $3b for landlords, though, eh?

Why does anyone need budgeting advice? Just become a landlord & the government will look after you

Honestly Macklemore’s “Hind’s Hall” is the most Rage Against The Machine song since Rage Against The Machine.

HIND’S HALL. Once it’s up on streaming all proceeds to UNRWA.

The govt line on this will be Parliamentary Service decided to do this, not Luxon

Just like the 'automatic' housing allowance that it turned out he had extensive correspondence over

Parliamentary Service doesn't force office upgrades on MPs. It offers & follows instruction

cuts for thee, spend ups for me

incredibly out of touch

I don't get why they are being coy about this. these are numbers Cabinet signed off on. they're not commercially sensitive and they waived budget sensitivity with the announcement.

is he really just unprepared, or are they being tricky with the figure?

So funny how this dashboard just shows all the PM's talk about 'half of kids not going to school' is wrong

Attendance is around 88% on average

Seymour says schools 'need to aspire to reach an average daily attendance rate above 94%' What does that actually mean? What changes?

Not a fan of politicians performatively donating their salaries. Makes politics a rich person's game. Just resign rather than donate the money.

Tax revenue down from businesses, individuals, GST= slowing economy

Spending lower than forecast, not from 'back office' cuts, but delays in capital investment (housing, water, regional grants, cyclone recovery). Easy not to spend if you're not delivering
treasury.govt.nz/sites/default/…

I just wonder what's going on behind the scenes

Mitchell should've been working on the Cabinet papers for this for months. Luxon had signed off on the $1.9b spend hours before the press conference

They had their spin lines down but didn't know what they were actually announcing

notice the sleight of hand that implies there would have been a 26% increase in water charges under 3 Waters. that was really the number after the govt repealed 3 Waters.

Water charge increase was going to be 2% under 3 Waters. Instead, Auckland is getting 7%.

hmm. so a bespoke law, denying watercare any council or central government support & saying it'll be privatised if it gets into financial trouble.

Remember how National was so opposed to entrenching public ownership of water services - insisting they would never privatise them?

The rates increase will be 3x larger than it would have been under Labour's model

TPU's praising higher rates

Also, so called 'co governance' was the Watercare model. Watercare board is appointed by the Mayor, a Councillor, & Chair of the Independent Maori Statutory Board

govt trying to run away from its promises with absurdity like this

fact is, they promised to lower the cost of living, fix the economy, and reduce crime

it's not that they haven't fully achieved those promises yet, it's that they're actively pushing NZ in the opposite direction