Ele Ludeman: Do you want govt between you & your GP?

Labour’s policy to fund three GP visits for everyone has been criticised for many reasons, including that it would overwhelm already overstretched general practices.

Labour’s answer to that is to get between us and our GPs:

Ele Ludemann: Open letter to National MPs

Dear National MPs,

Your party members, the ones who support events, fundraising and you, hate disloyalty and leaks.

Voters punish both.

Ele Ludemann: Incompetence or worse?

Derek Cheng writes : Chris Hipkins says he never got the ‘unnecessary risk’ advice on teens and Covid vaccine. This Cabinet paper shows otherwise:

Then-Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins received advice about the potential risks of a second Covid-19 vaccine dose for teenagers at a time when tens of thousands of them had yet to get a follow-up jab.

Ele Ludemann: Growth vs grab

It ought to have been a good week for Labour in breaking its policy drought. It wasn’t.

The Future Fund failed by leaving a gaping hole with no explanation of how health, education and other necessities would be funded when the money currently going to them was funnelled into the Fund.

Ele Ludemann: Widespread weather woes

A friend from Southland told us last Wednesday that this spring was worse than last year’s.

He’d had a good lambing percentage but day after day of cold, wet weather had killed not just newborns but week-old lambs.

Then came the wind.

Ele Ludemann: Partisan problem

There’s a partisan problem with some unions.

In an interview with PPTA president Chris Abercrombie on Wednesday morning Ryan Bridge asked if the union was political from 32:40.

Abercrombie admitted it was and said, it was like Federated Farmers.

Ele Ludemann: Stop tolerating intolerance

The sign outside the airport lounge implored people to treat staff with good manners and respect.

I’ve seen similar signs in hotels, restaurants and shops.

A man in front of me at the supermarket checkout was very rude to the woman serving her. I asked her how often that happened, she said, “too often’.

Ele Ludemann: Lots of little bits saved add up

The Broadcasting Standards Authority received $859,000 from the government in the year to June last year.

The previous year it received $759,000.

Those aren’t large sums in the big picture of government spending but the Authority’s secret decision to claim jurisdiction over internet media has led for calls for it to be disbanded and leave dealing with complaints to the Media Council.

Ele Ludemann: If violence is answer

This is a very red flag:

A new Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll reveals worrying levels of support for political violence across the political spectrum. One in four Te Pāti Māori voters and one in five ACT voters agree that “New Zealanders may have to resort to violence to get the country back on track.”

Ele Ludemann: What’s not said

The first of the hostages held by Hamas are being released as I write this.

The news that President Trump’s negotiation for a ceasefire and the release of the hostages had a mixed reception.

Ele Ludemann: Don’t stop with Chorus

The government is considering selling the securities it holds in Chorus:

The Government is exploring ways to free up capital locked in its investment in Chorus, to redirect into capital projects of more use to New Zealanders.

National Infrastructure Funding and Financing (NIFFCo) will investigate the feasibility of selling the debt and equity securities it holds in Chorus.

Ele Ludemann: First steps closer

The first steps towards peace in Gaza are closer:

Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement for an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, a breakthrough in negotiations to end the devastating war in Gaza just days after it passed the two-year mark.

Ele Ludemann: In need of confidence

Yesterday’s announcement of a 50 basis point official cash rate reduction will ease pressure on households and businesses.

That ought to provide a boost to the economy which is sorely in need of the confidence which fosters investment which in turn leads to growth and more job opportunities.

Ele Ludemann: Local democracy is broken

The headline says local election votes significantly up from 2022:

Voting numbers so far for this month’s local body elections are significantly higher than what they were in the lead up to the last elections.

Figures as at 1 October 2025 – 10 days before election day – showed that 622,936 votes had been returned to date, representing just over 18 percent of eligible votes.

Ele Ludemann: The benefit burden

The superannuation burden as the aging population grows gets far more attention than the benefit burden.

The alternative to aging is death and some people receive benefits because of disability or illness which prevent them from working.

Ele Ludemann: Common sense on earthquake risk

The government is applying common sense to building regulations on earthquake risk:

The earthquake-prone building system will be refocused to reduce repair costs and reinvigorate communities, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says.

“While well intentioned, the current system for assessing and managing seismic risk in buildings places an overwhelming financial burden on building owners.

Ele Ludemann: Right focus

Dr Anna Breman, the First Deputy Governor of Sweden’s central bank, has been appointed as the new Governor of the Reserve Bank.

. . . She holds a PhD in Economics from the Stockholm School of Economics and has previously been group chief economist at Swedbank, a leading Swedish commercial bank. She has also worked at the Swedish Ministry of Finance, the World Bank and as an academic economist in the United States. . .

She is well qualified and has the right focus.

Ele Ludemann: It would be much easier

It would be much easier to have sympathy for the calls to free Palestine and end the suffering in Gaza if the people making them acknowledged the atrocities that Hamas committed in Israel on October 7th.

Ele Ludemann: “Appropriate” is the operative word

Plans to allow visitors 24 hour access to family members where appropriate is not universally supported:

. . .NZ Nurses Organisation kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku, who formerly worked at Hawke’s Bay Hospital and lives in the region, said the plans raised multiple issues.

“There are times when it is important for family to have access to their loved ones. There is no doubt about that,” she said.

Ele Ludeman:

Where are the protests?

Since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, girls and women have been subjected to increasing loss of rights.

They aren’t allowed to work.

Schools are closed to girls and women can’t go to university.