John MacDonald: Has Labour kept Hipkins in case there's another election?

“I’m back.”

That’s what Chris Hipkins said to media after being reaffirmed as leader of the Labour Party. Kelvin Davis has stood aside as deputy and Carmel Sepuloni is now 2-I-C.

Chris Hipkins is going to be accused left, right, and centre of an enormous flip-flop in relation to a wealth tax and a capital gains tax. Because, remember how he said before the election, that neither of those would happen?

Today, he’s saying both of those things are back on the table. And what good is a mind if you can’t change it?

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 7/9/23

How Labour is trying to buff its image on the law-and-order front and woo farmers with tax changes

A raft of media headlines over the past few days highlights the challenge for a government hoping to be re-elected on the strength of its performance when it comes to keeping the community safe from criminals.

Among them: