Question Time 03.05.2023
- Amanda Riddell
- May 3, 2023
- 2 min read
I woke up around 1:15pm, so watching on TV again. Still planning the bearded lady idea for my next IRL visit.š - Te PÄti are absent. Woodhouse is asking why the waka jumping legislation wasn't applied re: Whaitiri switching parties. It's a fascinating discussion. Robertson and Bishop chimed in too. 15 minutes, and it's still going on. David Seymour has also made a point of order. Brownlee chimed in. - The microphone cut out briefly on the TV feed.
20 minutes of debate now... š§
Upsides of watching from home: I'm eating my birthday cake for breakfast. š
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James Shaw is chiming in. The last 10 minutes have mostly been about Whaitiri's proxy vote.
2:24pm.
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Question 1 - state of the economy:
2.886 million people in work.
Our economy is 6% larger than pre-Covid.
Our employment rate is 3rd in the OECD.
Bloomberg says we're 70% likely to have a recession -- that's from the supplementary by Nicola Willis.
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Question 2:
Luxon harping on about Whaitiri... very boring.
And some digs about Capital Gains.
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Question 3: Cool, Ricardo has a question. š
Asking for amnesty for overstayers. Teanau doubled up on that with a series of supplementary questions.
Factoid: 1,000 overstayers under 18, some of whom are NZ-born.
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Question 4: Willis about tax.
Robertson: 'tax cuts aren't free.'
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Question 5: Oranga Tamariki.
I'm cleaning my pipe for my post-Question Time sesh.
1600 fewer children in OT care since 2018.
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Question 6: homelessness
Four new initiatives in Budget 2022, which Marama said has been largely funded.
Bishop said only 1% of the $70 million had been spent -- dunno if that's true.
Marama's answer: the initiatives should be operating by July 2023.
Fun: Marama's earrings are very cool. š
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Question 7: Passenger Rail
The Government is co-funding a fleet of 18 hybrid trains for the greater Wellington region.
This will double the peak service capacity = 1.5 million additional trips per year.
Lowers carbon emissions by 0.5 million tons. I wonder how Restore Passenger Rail would respond to this news...
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Question 8: Proceeds of Crime
It's a good question - I didn't catch the numbers, but apparently very little of the Proceeds of Crime fund (round 6) has been used.
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Question 9: MÄori health equity
$44 million for primary healthcare to deliver services for MÄori and Pacific populations.
The first payment will be paid by Te Whatu Ora this month.
Equity adjustment: $80 per person for majority MÄori health providers, $40 per person for providers with over half MÄori/Pacific clients.
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Question 10: Retail crime
Labour's doubled the funding. An additional $9 million, bringing the total to $15 million.
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Question 11: capital gains... again
Parker was very good.