Aotearoa / New Zealand

Ok reddit-esque echo chamber, here's a hot take - most of its pretty good and reverses several backwards trends.

• Nationals tax cuts are random and don't really do much. However reinstating deductibility on mortgage interest is a no brainer, since it's removing an arbitrary exception that makes tax law more complicated than it should be

• Treaty Principles Bill that everyone is complaining about - it's about clarifying things that are currently grey areas so there is certainty. We can't keep paying out for historical injustices forever. Besides, it's a bill that can still get shot down at select committee, not the referendum that ACT wanted

• Regional Infrastructure Fund aka Shane Jones slush fund - don't see anyone complaining about this. Last time they used it to upgrade and fix marae around the country, a good thing imo

• Removing the last of the covid BS - good. Throwing money at an inquiry about if the BS was justified - just move on already...

• ACT stopping large projects - some of those projects have been dragging on for too long and achieve very little (such as Let's Get Wellington Moving). Some are unnecessary (such as Three Waters). Not sure about the others but probably costing too much for what they're delivering. The need for some of the projects still exists, most likely those ones will be re-assessed, scope modified and relaunched under a new name

• Fees Free final year instead of first year - this would save a lot of money while also rewarding those who stick it out and finish instead of dropping out after a year. Maybe will result in more people actually graduating

• Retirement staying at 65 is just unsustainable, but this would have been Winston's doing. Thanks to the medical system people live longer and drag their lives out longer when they get terminally ill. Easy for Luxon to kick this can down the road though to get Winston onside

• Fair Pay agreements scrapped - good. These are compulsory unionism agreements. If you want to form a union then form a union, but don't make it compulsory for your entire industry to join...

...etc