Transtasman Political Letter – 19 March Digest

19th March 2008
Renewed carnage on global financial markets sends shudders through NZ economy...
Govt holds firm on its “prudent” fiscal line...
Bean counters in IRD have a bad day, but it’s $600m of good news for Michael Cullen...
Health Board inquiry a vindication says Cunliffe, a whitewash say former board members...
Miners could rescue economy teetering on recession...
And Peter Dunne begins to distance himself from Labour.

Carnage On Global Markets - Will The Pain Deepen Here?

Renewed carnage in global financial markets sent a shudder through the local share market, raising fresh fears NZ is heading into a slump of the kind which followed the 1987 share market crash.

Consumer Confidence Haemorrhaging

The Govt may have gained a degree of confidence from the latest Colmar Brunton poll which shows the gap between National and its own ranking has closed by four points.

IRD’s $600m Cock-Up

In what appears to be the cock-up of the year, Inland Revenue has confessed to a $600m error in reporting January tax revenue.

Health Board Inquiry A Pointless Exercise?

The inquiry into management of conflicts of interest in the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board has left Health Minister David Cunliffe asserting he’s been vindicated, and the sacked Board claiming the inquiry was a “whitewash.”

CAPITAL TALK

Speculation Helen Clark might aim for the post of Director-General of the International Labour Office is way off.

Play Of The Week: Tibetan Tightrope

When the Soviets marched into Afghanistan in 1979 NZ’s protest was somewhat muted. As satirist Tom Scott acerbically noted at the time, there were a number of Russian troops wearing uniforms containing NZ wool, and quite a few of them would have been chowing down on lamb chops raised in the McKenzie Country.

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