Let 'em Eat Cake
Financial literacy, bare cupboards, the Trump effect, and Luxon plays the tough guy.
'Cause you know and I know
It'll be fluctuating forеver yeah yeah yеah
It's the way it go
High tide and then it's low
You build it up and the wind blows and blows it down down
down down down
Song: Casual Healing.
Morena folks, this morning, we're taking a lighter look at some of the good and bad that happened this week. So get your boos and hisses, your oohs and ahhs ready, and if you own a Vuvuzela maybe see if it’ll go in the recycling.
Just kidding. I doubt they’ll take it.
Right to matters at hand, how are you this Friday? I hope you’re warm and drying out down Ōtautahi way and haven’t been blown out into Te Whanganui-a-Tara if you’re near the capital. Lyall Bay in particular - sheesh, what a wind yesterday!
Becoming financially literate.
Meanwhile, Wellington’s favourite neoliberal daughter announced that financial literacy was critical—no word as to whether the preparation of her forthcoming budget had prompted such a thought.
Understanding “wants” vs. “needs” is a great idea. Although I doubt Nicola means the country needs to spend more on health, but some people want a tax cut.
Reader Mark was unimpressed and commented on her post:
“Wait. You weren’t financially literate enough to know that you shouldn’t have imposed austerity on the tail of unprecedented RBNZ tightening and that your tax cuts would just ADD to the debt, and now you want to tout that we’re gonna TEACH financial literacy?! That’s too, too rich. Your actions as Finance Minister reveal that you should be kept as far as possible from any conversation of “understanding finances.” The hubris! Gobsmacking.”
Mark is entirely correct, but breathtaking hypocritical irony aside, this is a good policy, and as Leonie pointed out, one that Labour announced before the last election.
It's good that young Kiwis learn to make the best of what they have because Ms Willis has declared the cupboard bare, and warned that there will be no treats in her upcoming budget. This is a time for patriotism, and sacrifices have to be made.
Preferably, by someone else.
In terms of sacrifices, Denise asked, “Can we sacrifice this government to save money and what's left of NZ? I’m sure most didn’t vote for the annihilation of our medical system.”
“Not landlords, said the little red hen. Not the rich, said the little red hen. Oh dear, it must be the poor and the struggling, said the little red hen,” said Mary.
While Nicola is keeping expectations low, a bare cupboard sounds like an improvement on how she described things after the election in 2023:
“What I've now learned is it's not just that the cupboard is bare, it's that there are snakes and snails and all sorts of things in there, nasty financial surprises that we as an incoming government are going to have to deal with.”
Yoiks, I hope those financial lessons cover the appearance of reptiles on the balance sheet. Nicola must be glad to have those low-bellied varmints out of her hair.
Oh Canada.
On a bright note, the Canadian electorate that had previously been moving to the right with Conservative candidate Pierre Poilievre poised for victory, had a change of heart. Having witnessed Trump’s unwelcome overtures, they decided that Trump-lite was not for them and returned to the centrist Liberal party.
It made me wonder: how many other elections will shift to the left around the globe while Trump is in power?
What about the Aussies? Could they see the same anti-Trump sentiment lure voters away from the dark side? Hmm, perhaps that’s the wrong movie franchise…
Turning on the radio this morning to Paddy Gower and then Pauline Hanson. I silently cursed the kids for changing the station, but no, it was RNZ - seriously, people, what’s going on? No offence to Paddy, as they say he’s got a great face for radio, but unfortunately, that’s about it.
I’m sure he’d be fine on commercial radio, heehawing away with catch phrases, but RNZ? C’mon - what the heck’s going on? This used to be the preserve of smart people.
Am I aware how elitist that sounds? Yes, I am, I’ll wear that one, there are plenty of stations for stupid, even beyond ZB.
After a while, Corin Dann came on—thank goodness, a welcome charge from the woke brigade—and suggested that Labor were on course to win, which is fantastic for our mates across the Tasman but made me wonder…
Renee countered, “Or maybe they have been looking over the ditch for the last 15 months and noticing what’s been happening here …”
Forget about sporting conquests and moral victories. Harking back to the underarm incident will ring pretty hollow if they still have Labor, where we have an underarm deodorant sales guy running the country.
Especially one that doesn’t care
“I don’t care.”
Our Prime Minister said that this week, addressing human rights concerns about removing voting rights from those serving short sentences. I thought it sounded familiar and remembered where I’d heard it before. It was the same phrase Mr Luxon used when asked about concerns over sending kids to boot camps.
What a guy, eh? Wouldn’t you think it was in his job description to care?
Far from being concerned, Christopher was doubling down. I posted the following clip with the comment: “OMG, he thinks he's a tough guy. Do up your top button, Christopher; you look like a complete sausage.”
I enjoyed Kirsty’s comment: “Advising people of losing their voting rights from the backseat of your car. How crass. We need to dump him via text.”
Or perhaps Winston could do his best Donald Trump impersonation, he’s really been working on that, and tell him, “You’re fired!”
Clean Air in Schools.
Something much more positive to end. A few days ago, reader Julia emailed me about Aotearoa Covid Action’s (ACA) campaign for measures to cut down on Covid transmission in ECE and schools.
Now I intended to chat with the good folks from ACA and write a newsletter on it, but Emily Writes has beaten me to the punch with a great explainer, and it seems a bit pointless to reinvent the wheel when she’s done such a good job. You can read Emily’s newsletter about that here:
If you agree with ACA’s initiative, please make your mark on the Clean Air in Schools petition.
This edition is open to all; it didn’t make sense to ask folks to sign a petition and then put a paywall in front of it, so you’re most welcome to share it if you’d like to. 🙂
Subscribe to Nick’s Kōrero to access all my newsletters, help fund them for others, and join in discussions with awesome people.
To end today, the majestic sound of Aotearoa, Casual Healing with Up and Down.
Arguably, the most economically ILLiterate Finance Minister that I have ever witnessed thinks we better get cracking on educatin’ the yung’ins on financial matters. The only way I can make any logical sense of this is that she is actually PROJECTING and confessing that she never got any of the education that one would surely think would be minimally required to be the Finance Minister.
This woman…
Wellington’s wildly windy weather worked wonders with wacky witch Willis’s worryingly weakened wand waving wizardry woes.
Sorry, couldn’t resist the opportunity….
Have just sent the below to the Herald in the probably vain hope it will get published. It’s like Willis happened to come across a loose copy of Jan’s work, crossed out her name and replaced it with her own. Is plagiarism allowed in the halls of power these days? Does anyone in National’s assembly care? I doubt it on both counts. Letter below….
I am glad to see that Nicola Willis is introducing a policy, apparently very dear to her heart, to make “financial literacy” for school children at all levels compulsory so when they leave they will know how to make the best decisions about all things fiscal. Would this be the same bill, virtually word for word, that Jan Tinetti tabled in August 2023 but was unable to realise due to the change in government? It certainly reads very much like it, (exactly in places). I hope Jan Tinetti will be mentioned in the credits if Willis’s version of her very good idea is passed. I also hope that National will come up with at least one original plan to leave as their legacy for future generations. It would help us to believe their three years in power wasn’t entirely wasted.