Political & Economic week that was: fallout over 'rapists' comments
Rob Hosking breaks down the political and economic week that was on NBR Radio and on demand on MyNBR Radio.
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The ‘noise’ of politics this week was dominated by one thing: the Christmas Island detainees saga; whether the government has shown sufficient (or any) guts over the issue, and whether Labour and the Greens are “backing rapists.”
And, bubbling under this, is rising concern about the Speaker’s ability to control question time in Parliament.
It was stunts galore, with Prime Minister John Key reverting to troll-mode and accusing the Labour and Green parties of backing rapists.
He might have been provoked but it was overkill. Mr Key’s role as the Jeremy Clarkson of New Zealand politics may yet come back to bite him.
It is not as though there wasn’t plenty of other, more substantive, things to talk about this week.
The IMF report on New Zealand gave the government a big tick for its fiscal management but, implicitly, a big cross for its lack of action in encouraging savings and trying to switch investment away from the overheated housing market.
The Reserve Bank, too, is worried about the savings and housing and said so, with increasing urgency, in its six monthly financial stability report.
Both those reports relate to long-term structural issues the New Zealand policymakers will have to deal with.
In terms of the short-term cycle, though, it was good news: both manufacturing and consumer surveys showed continued buoyancy.
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NBR Radio
Fri, 13 Nov 2015
Fri, 13 Nov 2015
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Political & Economic week that was: fallout over 'rapists' comments
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