Point of Order: Wood - Washington discussion, Robertson - look on the bright side and Tinetti tries to attract teachers

Immigration Minister Michael Wood – hurrah – has responded to a question we posed in a headline a few days ago.

Wood (readers might recall) was headed for the Five Country Ministerial in Washington DC, and our headline asked

“… but when he returns will he be asked about what was discussed?”

Today he pre-empted matters by releasing a communique from the meeting.

This was posted on the Beehive website along with news that our Ministers are …

* Urging us to be optimistic about the economy (and to put our faith in our Minister of Finance)

The urging was done by Grant Robertson in a speech to an audience which the speech notes don’t identify.

* Thrusting the state into the development of the digital economy

This was done in an announcement by David Clark as Minister of Digital Economy and Communications.

He was announcing a strategy

“… which sets out New Zealand’s vision and plan for harnessing the potential of the digital economy.”

When ministers produce a strategy for an industry, typically it entails them and the government playing a significant role in what takes shape. The digital industry should be nervous.

* Spending our money on teacher recruitment

In this case, Associate Education Minister Jan Tinetti announced a “$20 million dollar package to relight the fuse for learning”.

She should start by learning that when you put a “$” sign in front of a number, it tells us we are talking in dollars This obviates the need to put the word “dollars” after the number.

And rather than talk about relighting the fuse for learning, she might get straight to the point and say she is intent on tackling the formidable challenge of hiring many more reachers.

Point of Order intends looking further into Tinetti’s announcement in a subsequent post.

Grant Robertson’s optimism is worth a further look, too.

For now, let’s note that his urging us to look on the bright side coincided – more or less – with the release of figures showing gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 1.7 per cent in the June 2022 quarter, following a 0.2 per cent fall in the March 2022 quarter.

Robertson issued a statement to say the economy has rebounded strongly in the June quarter as the easing of restrictions and reopening of the border boosted economic activity, meaning New Zealand is well placed to meet the next set of challenges confronting the global economy.

But the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union (which apparently failed to read the optimism speech) said the figures are nothing to celebrate.

Executive Director Jordan Williams says: “The economy is in overdrive with inflation at a thirty year high. Kiwis are going backwards with costs rising much faster than incomes. Today’s figures illustrate that tax relief and reduced government spending are needed to ease the burden of the cost of living crisis.”

Fair to say, no-one expects the Taxpayers’ Union to congratulate Robertson for his economic management.

But what about the Council of Trade Unions?

Well, CTU Economist Craig Renney said

“… while this data demonstrates the strength of the economy currently, there is a weakening trend of growth. The risk of recession in this data has been averted, but annual average growth has fallen from 4.9% to 1% in just 3 months”.

He further said:

“However, growth was quite frothy, being driven by strong growth in travel and tourism, accommodation, and hospitality. Manufacturing and construction both saw falls, as did agriculture. There is a need to make sure that all areas of the economy are growing so that we can build a balanced recovery from the effects of COVID”.

And

“Making sure that the benefit of this growth extends to all Kiwi households and sectors will be the key to enduring prosperity. The next few quarters of growth will show whether the international factors currently slowing growth globally will continue to feed through to New Zealand”.

The statement was headed CTU – Underlying challenges in stronger GDP news show need for economic action.

The Five Country Ministerial Communiqué posted by Michael Wood was issued in the names of the Home Affairs, Interior, Security and Immigration Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States (the Five Countries).

They gathered in Washington, DC, on September 12-13, 2022, for the Five Country Ministerial (FCM) and declared they

“… stand resolute in our shared responsibility and commitment to confront evolving security threats, promote shared values, and protect our countries from dangers at home, abroad, and online.”

The communique sets out their agreement on a range of issues –

* Facing Emerging Crises Together

* Countering Foreign Interference

* Tackling Forced Labor and Human Trafficking

* Supporting International Norms and Rules Based Order

* Mitigating Violent Extremism in All its Forms

* Strengthening Cybersecurity in Response to Evolving Online Threats

* Combatting Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Online

* Preventing Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting

* Beneficial Ownership Transparency

It concludes:

Today we reaffirmed the importance of the Five Country partnership in addressing complex homeland and national security challenges. Our history of cooperation, our shared values, and our enduring friendship provide solid foundations to face the challenges and opportunities of the 21st Century together. We remain committed to 

building on this past cooperation and together pledge the commitments made today.

Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton