Question Time 21.12.2023 - liveblog

The cricket was on yesterday, so I was following that instead. AMPP = 191 after the first three rounds. - 1. Hipkins to Peters. This is quite funny. Various quotes from Nats about Winston... 'privately he's a secret admirer of mine' - Peters on John Key. 🤣 CH 8/10, WP 6/10 - 2. Shaw to Willis 'Decisions will be based on data and evidence' - Nicola Willis. 'What data and evidence has she seen that raising bus fare will affect the living costs of low and middle-income New Zealanders?' - Shaw. Doesn't sound like she's seen any... 'We are a government that is committed to addressing the cost of living across a range of factors' - Willis. 'We don't need a silly bill that makes IRD write silly reports' - Willis on repealing the Taxation Principles Reporting Act 2023. JS 7/10, NW 6/10 - 3. Anderson to Willis 'Despite that challenging outlook, confidence in the economy is returning' - Willis. Of course it is; that's what happens when National is in power. They're the party of business. 'Interest rates will have to remain higher for longer to get the inflation genie back in the bottle' - Willis. 'Our Government is committed to reducing tax rates for hard-working New Zealanders' - What happened to 'low and middle-income New Zealanders?' Why weren't tax cuts dealt with in the mini-Budget? - Robertson. MA 5/10, NW 6/10, GR 5/10 - 4. Robertson to Willis. Does she stand by the coalition agreements? 'Yes' - Willis. 'Will the total value of savings and new revenue initiatives ... be used to fund the tax cuts in the coalition agreement?' - Robertson. 'We will be saving money, we will be reprioritising money, we will be raising revenue through new sources ... it will support income tax relief, it will support better books' - Willis. 'The Treasury have provided me indicative costings' for the tax cut plan - Willis. What elements of ACT's tax cut policy remain on the table? - Robertson. They're 'in discussions' ... that's a pretty vague answer. GR 7/10, NW 6/10 ... Grant can get an intentional laugh, while Nicola makes gaffes. - 5. Meager to Bishop 'I was just pondering the number of jokes I could make about demotions on the other side' - Bishop. It's quite a comprehensive-sounding review of Kāinga Ora. 'get under the hood' - Bishop. JM 6/10, CB 7/10 - 6. Woods to Willis Tough day for Nicola. She's been solid, but not spectacular. 'It is our intention that the climate dividend be used to fund income tax reduction' - Willis. 'Will the climate dividend scale with the carbon price?' - Willis. Vague answer... I'm enjoying that there are far fewer patsy questions so far; it seems more like a competition of ideas, although obviously that's not true, as the coalition have the numbers to pass whatever laws they choose. MW 6/10, NW 6/10. - 7. Ferris to Peters. Does the government stand by their statements on the Treaty of Waitangi? 'The legislation being passed under urgency is for everybody in this country' - Peters. TPM has some very strong speakers; Tākutu seems very confident. Debbie's made a point of order that Ngāta isn't relevant to Te Tiriti... it's a fair point, as the modern discourse on the Treaty starts post-WWII. It's good to see TPM using standing orders to critique the government; I can't remember them doing much of that during the previous term. 'Every Māori matters, especially those who have opinions' - Debbie. TF 7/10, WP 6/10, DNP 6/10 - 8. Stevenson to Seymour Pseudoephedrine... I realise my scores are typically higher for the opposition, but I think that most people would agree that they've started better than the government. TS 6/10, DS 6/10 - 9. Fleming to Reti On the $50 million Māori imunisation plan. Interestingly, Reti hasn't used the word Māori in his answer. I wonder if that reflects the National-ACT-NZ First brand? 'To make a difference for those who have the greatest need' - this is their messaging. This is an oddly socialist thing for a bunch of nationalist parties to say. GF 6/10, SR 6/10. - 10. Jackson to Potaka 'Has the minister indicated that the funding of the Waitangi Tribunal will be reduced?' - Jackson. I'd say that Ferris and Jackson speak Reo better than Potaka. That's a lay opinion, though. Willow-Jean Prime with a supplementary... 'Is the Minister, along with the Prime Minister, willing to front up to Waitangi in 2024?' - Jackson. 'I do not have any recollection of talking to anyone about cutting funding for the Waitangi Tribunal' - Potaka WJ 7/10, TP 5/10, WJP 5/10. - 11. March to Upston Welfare question. 'In April, main benefits will be increased' - Upston. 'The best route out of poverty is through paid employment' - Upston 'I agree with indexation of benefits to CPI' - Upston Will she implement any Welfare Expert Advisory Group recommendations? - Ricardo. 'Does she believe people receiving income support deserve to live in poverty?' - Ricardo. It very much sounds like she does... '60% of the children currently living in material hardship are in benefit-dependent homes' - Upston, who believes jobs are the answer. How many single mums have the time to work a job? RMM 6/10, LU 6/10, Hūhana Lyndon 5/10 - 12. Bidois to Watts 'The Government will be repealing the Taxation Principles Reporting Act' - Watts. 'This government is committed to making sure the tax system is as easy as possible to navigate ... the government is also committed to delivering tax relief for Kiwis' - Watts. These two are quite strong speakers. DB 6/10, SW 7/10 - Bonus: Some very funny quips about people saying Merry Christmas in various languages. 🤣 AMPP = 243 after four rounds. This was a weak day for me, scoring 52 points.