Transtasman Political Letter – 13 April Digest

13th April 2006

The Govt continues its battle to win the “hearts and minds” of Maori
... Great strides are taken on the way to getting new oil exploration under way in the Great South Basin
... New tax rules are announced for investors and the budget starts to be a talking point
... Water and Housing NZ are like chalk and cheese, but both have had a high profile for different reasons
... While the Govt suffers “mid term creep.”

Competing Visions For Maori

The Govt knows it is in a battle to win the hearts and minds of Maori, and both the Labour Maori Caucus, and Labour’s Maori Council, meeting at Ngaruawahia at the weekend, focused on how, as Labour president Mike Williams put it, they could “make more of an impression on the Maori electorate and getting organised and what resources does the party have to help with it.”

Great Hopes In Great South Basin

The Govt has completed what it believes is the first critical step to a bout of new exploration in the sub-Antarctic waters of the Great South Basin.

Audit Office Called In, Again

Yet again the Audit Office has been called in to probe a Crown agency, this time into allegations Housing NZ paid “hush money” to a contractor.

Govt Flush As Economists Pick Over Budget Entrails

When Michael Cullen presents his budget next month, he will be reporting on another successful year for NZ Inc, despite whatever slowdown the economy is experiencing.

CAPITAL TALK

“Clearly no one is listening up there” – PM Clark reaches a conclusion after claiming the Nats have been praying for economic recession and a drought.

Play Of The Week: Does Scandal Mongering Really Matter?

According to an opinion poll, slightly under half of us think the present Govt is honest, and fractionally fewer think it isn’t.

Transtasman is a subscriber newsletter published weekly and read widely in New Zealand and abroad. The above is a summary of this week's edition. To subscribe and read the full newsletter see.. http://Transtasman.co.nz

© Scoop Media