The Bull Ring

𝔹𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 ℂ𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕚𝕝 𝕠𝕗 𝕋𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕌𝕟𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕠𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒 𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕗𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕗𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕥 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥 $𝟛.𝟛-𝟝.𝟚 𝕓𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪’𝕤 𝕥𝕒𝕩 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕤. T he true gap is likely to be even larger, as many of National’s publicly stated policy commitments were either uncosted or were too vague to be included in the analysis. NZCTU Economist Craig Renney says the shortfall raises concerns about the impact on crucial public services that New Zealanders rely upon. “Our costings show National has spent around two dollars for every dollar available over the next three years. Further billions are likely from the policies that they have not yet costed or will likely announce on the campaign trail. . ...

ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕄ℙ 𝕥𝕠 𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕨𝕖𝕣 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕠𝕟 '𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘' 𝕓𝕖𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕣 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕄ℙ 𝕋𝕚𝕞 𝕧𝕒𝕟 𝕕𝕖 𝕄𝕠𝕝𝕖𝕟 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥'𝕤 ℙ𝕣𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕤 ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕖 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕒 𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕞𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥 𝕙𝕚𝕞 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 "𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘" 𝕓𝕖𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕥𝕠𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕒 𝕃𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕄ℙ.   In the House at the beginning of today's session, Speaker Adrian Rurawhe said he had received a letter from Boyack raising a matter of privilege regarding the Waikato MP's conduct towards Halbert on June 29. I t is understood Tim van de Molen "stood over" Labour MP Shanan Halbert which led other MPs to place themselves around Halbert out of concern for his safety. Van de Molen said the facts were "contested". Halbert was the chairman of Parliament's Transport and Infrastructure Committee on June 29 when...

ℂ𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕤 ℍ𝕚𝕡𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕝 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝔸𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕨𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕠𝕗 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝'𝕤 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕒𝕩𝕖 𝕚𝕥 𝕃𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕝 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝔸𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕'𝕤 𝕗𝕦𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕒 𝕃𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕣-𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕘𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕠𝕠 𝕤𝕠𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖, ℙ𝕣𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 ℂ𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕤 ℍ𝕚𝕡𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕤𝕒𝕪𝕤. C hris  Hipkins has also expressed his frustration over the progress of various projects that make up the Let's Get Wellington Moving banner. National has promised to dump both Let's Get Wellington Moving and Auckland's light rail project if it is elected later this year. Instead it is proposing  a rapid transit network  with public transport corridors in the North West (at a cost of $2.9 billion), Airport to Botany ($2.1b), and completion of the Eastern Busway ($717 million). Hipkins told  Morning Report  a process has begun to determine ...

𝕃𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕞𝕤 $𝟚.𝟠𝕓 '𝕡𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕖' 𝕚𝕟 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕤' 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕟 𝕋𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥 𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝔻𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕕 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕜𝕖𝕣 𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕞𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪'𝕤 "𝕋𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔽𝕦𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖" 𝕡𝕠𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕪 𝕚𝕤 "𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕓𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕕𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕣𝕥" 𝕚𝕟 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕔𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤. N ational leader Christopher Luxon has previously said he is  "very comfortable"  with the cost estimates. Parker said the National Party was being "breathtakingly misleading" about how it would fund its roading plans. The plan, revealed by 1News  yesterday , would build four-lane highways between Whangārei and Tauranga, as well as other transport links around the country. It would also cancel Let's Get Wellington Moving. It has been costed at  $24 billion . . . Today, David Parker said the sh...

𝕃𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟛 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕃𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕣 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟛 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟, 𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖-𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕕 𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕦𝕡. T he list confirms candidates vying for electorate seats, and - depending on the party vote in the election and the number of electorate seats already taken - determines who can also get into Parliament, based on their ranking. All the current Cabinet ministers and the Speaker of the House are either in safe seats or have been given winnable list placings, on current polling. The most dramatic changes include former Cabinet minister Michael Wood - who may now be relying on his electorate or a lift in the polls to get back in - and bringing Willow-Jean Prime to the front bench. Wood has dropped from being ranked 30th to 45th after exiting Cabinet over  failures to declare and sell shares  related to his portfolios despit...