Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 7/11/23

Chippy stays as Labour’s leader (at least for now), and he is sticking to his Treaty position – but he does have a new deputy

While Point of Order’s monitors of the Beehive website were cooling their heels, waiting for Christopher Luxon to negotiate coalition governing arrangements with ACT and New Zealand First, the Labour Party caucus was putting its leadership to the vote.

The caucus was more forgiving of former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins than the electorate. Whereas voters threw him and his party out of office, Labour’s 34 MPs endorsed him as leader.

Garrick Tremain: Eggs

 Here is Garrick Tremain's cartoon commentary on the abundance of 'eggs' in the Labour Caucus! 

Point of Order: Caucus neophytes may be keeping the govt from knowing what Kiwis in their electorates are wanting

Labour backbenchers, conscious that recent polling shows their political futures could be cut short, will be looking to this week’s budget to replenish their party’s popularity with handouts to swing votes.

They could be disappointed, if the Budget’s programme does not tackle voters’ concerns.

BNZ economists last week warned that the chances of a recession are “increasing by the day”. Economist Cameron Bagrie says controlling government spending to tamp down the factors causing high inflation should be a priority for the government, but a big-spending budget is already locked in.