What happens if you take a personal memoir and strip it of everything that made it unique? You get Hillbilly Elegy. The opening line of J.D Vance’s 2016 sleeper hit memoir Hillbilly Elegy is “I find the existence of the book you hold in your hands somewhat absurd.” While that’s a little hyperbolic – its … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Collins announces major reshuffle after two leading MPs quit, horror story of migrant worker abuse revealed, and Auckland’s emergency budget passes. So, there was a bit of incorrect information in yesterday’s Bulletin about departures from National. It turns out Amy Adams will also be quitting, meaning … Read more
With just over two months to go before the election, National suddenly, shockingly finds itself in need of a new leader. Who are the potential candidates? Late leadership changes before an election aren’t unheard of in politics. The current prime minister is living proof of that, taking over from Andrew Little as Labour leader just … Read more
Farmers on social media and National MP Amy Adams have responded with fury to an NCEA English exam question that included discussion of water quality. But what was the question actually asking? In 2017, NZ Geographic published a long feature about the impact of agriculture on the Taieri River in Otago. ‘Troubled Waters’, by vastly … Read more
In this new edition of Gone By Lunchtime, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas weigh reshuffles in senior ranks of both the big parties, as well as Oranga Tamariki and David Seymour’s End of Life Choice Bill. Plus: a desperate plea to listeners. Podding against the clock, aka Annabelle’s stopwatch, the Gone By Lunchtime … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Some win, some lose from National reshuffle, End of Life choice bill facing crucial vote tonight, and Luxon-ad supporter lobbies against predatory lending controls. In any reshuffle, for someone to move up, someone else has got to go down. So it has been with the National … Read more
In a surprise announcement, the shadow finance minister Amy Adams will leave parliament in 2020, and has stepped down from her frontbench roles with immediate effect. Alex Braae asks what happens now It could have all been so different for Amy Adams. True story: one of my first assignments at The Spinoff in 2018 was … Read more
Budget 2019: Opposition finance spokesperson Amy Adams on the rhetoric behind the first wellbeing budget, coming later this week. This week will see the Labour-led government produce their much hyped ‘wellbeing budget’. That of course raises the questions of what wellbeing means, how it is assessed and how this budget will be any different to … Read more
New Zealand’s tax debate is not helped by Government hiring Cullen as CGT booster, writes National’s finance spokesperson Amy Adams. New Zealanders deserve a robust debate about the taxes they pay when the Government is looking at re-engineering the tax system to reach further into their back-pockets. But the Government is avoiding debate by saying … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: It’s Budget Day. Also, the issue of unpaid overtime in retail has exploded, and Tauranga’s council is at odds with local MP Simon Bridges over the fuel tax. It’s Budget Day. After the political trench warfare of the last month, it will be good to see what’s … Read more
A UMR Research survey puts the polarising MP in the lead – but only slightly, and her favourability numbers are dismal, an area in which Amy Adams holds bragging rights. The tussle to lead the biggest party in New Zealand’s parliament will be a tight one, if polling conducted largely prior to Bill English’s resignation … Read more
Mark Mitchell and Steven Joyce have added their names to the ballot for the contest to succeed Bill English as party leader. With a week till MPs make their decision, here are five observations on the race. 1 The newbies What looked like a three-horse race featuring Amy Adams, Simon Bridges and Judith Collins has … Read more
As the contest unfolds, expect deals, departures and a determination to keep ructions away from public sight, writes former National government adviser Zach Castles. National’s leadership race has seen an endless stream of topline biographies on three heavy-hitting National MPs who want to lead the National Party and ultimately our country – Amy Adams, Simon … Read more
What are Amy Adams, Simon Bridges and Judith Collins trying to tell us? Manhire and Morris condense the National Party rivals’ messages In a fortnight, the New Zealand National Party will have a new leader, following Bill English’s very sensible decision not to get up again, again. The task for his successor, in combating a … Read more
Once ’twere inevitable, ’twere best done quickly, and so it has passed. Bill English is leaving the National leadership and leaving parliament. That departure triggers a period of intense electioneering within the National caucus – unlike the expansive processes in Labour and the Greens, for example, only National MPs get to vote on their leader. Who … Read more
Boot camps, parental fines… how on earth do these policies fit the social policy framework of the National government in 2017? Simon Wilson takes a look at what the prime minister and his cabinet colleagues have been saying this year. On 14 May, prime minister Bill English told a conference of the National Party faithful … Read more
This time next week John Key will be jetting to Hawaii, while a replacement measures the drapes on the Beehive ninth floor. But who are the likely contenders to succeed him? A thumbnail introduction, by Toby Manhire Amy Adams: Selwyn, 45 Pros: Unblemished by scandal, First on the alphabetical roll. New generation, signalling renewal. Cons: … Read more