Transtasman Political Letter – 28 Feb Digest

28th February 2008
Voters’ Disillusion With Labour Deepens

Both the Fairfax-Neilsen and Roy Morgan polls, indicating Labour is trailing National by as much as 23 points, underline the trends of earlier polls this year.

Lifting NZ Onto Rudd’s Radar

Helen Clark’s mission to Canberra to get NZ more firmly on the Kevin Rudd Govt’s radar acquired some urgency after soundings taken by her key advisers, DPMC’s Maarten Wevers and MFAT’s Simon Murdoch who have done the rounds in Canberra over the last week or so.

New Gas Resource, But Minister Chills Out

More good news on NZ’s energy resources this week: Solid Energy says there could be 300 petajoules of gas, as big as the offshore Kupe gasfield, locked in coal seams in the Waikato.
Cleaning Up The Waterways

Environment Minister Trevor Mallard has ordered a new move towards sustainable management of NZ’s fresh water resources.

CAPITAL TALK

Condoleeza Rice might have scrapped her planned NZ visit (she has been in Africa and Afghanistan) but Winston Peters has a catch-up in Seoul this week where both are attending the inauguration of President Lee Myung-bak (nicknamed “the Bulldozer”). North Korea, where Peters paid a recent visit, is on the agenda.

Play Of The Week: Getting The Lead Out

The first stories about Helen Clark’s leadership have appeared. The general theme is, things look bad for the party, but no change of leader is likely.

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