The Bull Ring

ℍ𝕠𝕨 𝕥𝕠 𝕄ℙ: 𝕋𝕚𝕡𝕤 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕒 ‘𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕟’ 𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕥 ℝ𝕠𝕓𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕝𝕖𝕗𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕖. 𝕋𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝟙𝟞 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕪 𝕖𝕩𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕙𝕚𝕞. 𝕊𝕠 ℝℕℤ'𝕤 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕨, 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℍ𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕖, 𝕞𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕚𝕡𝕤. O n his final day at Parliament, as his office was about to be packed away, Robertson sat with me in Labour’s caucus room to talk MP skills. He’s a good man to ask. Yes, he’s a former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister but he also shone in the House – politics’ gladiatorial ring. After his valedictory the previous evening MPs from across the House were buzzing. “Did you hear that?” one Nat said as I passed him in the hall, “What a great speech.” He was right, it was. Funny, touching, thoughtful and punchy. Introducing that final outing, the Speaker, a long time political foe, described Robertson as a ‘great parl

𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔸𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕝 𝟙 𝕥𝕒𝕩 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕓𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕗𝕚𝕥 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝔸 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕠𝕟 𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕚𝕥 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕦𝕤𝕦𝕒𝕝 𝕤𝕝𝕖𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥. H ere is what New Zealanders can expect come April 1. A minimum wage increase The adult minimum wage is increasing   by 2% on Monday – from $22.70 per hour to $23.15. The increase was revealed last month, with Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden saying the Government wanted to strike a balance between “protecting the incomes of our lowest paid workers and maintaining labour market settings that encourage employment”. Van Velden had initially proposed a 1.3% minimum wage increase, according to a Cabinet paper. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment had recommended a 4% increase. The training and starting-out minimum wages are still at 80% of the adult mini

𝔾𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕕𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 '𝕛𝕠𝕓𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕠𝕪𝕤' 𝕎𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕛𝕠𝕓𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℙ𝕦𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕔 𝕤𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕩𝕖𝕕. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕘𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕛𝕠𝕓𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕖𝕣 𝕄ℙ𝕤 T he Green Party has been calling for greater public scrutiny of the recent appointments.  Earlier this week, Education Minister Erica Stanford hired former National minister Murray McCully as an independent reviewer for an inquiry into the state of school buildings.  Before entering politics Stanford worked for McCully in his East Coast Bays electorate office and has previously described him as her political mentor.  For his work, McCully has been paid $2200 a day. . . The minister’s office says it’s a part time role, this payment is inline with previous payments for similar work and inline with Cabinet recommendations.  "He's an excellent candidate and I woul