Transtasman Political Letter – 4 May Digest

Thursday, May 04, 2006

The Clark Govt gears up for a new-style themed budget...
Parker makes it back to Cabinet, but with a lighter load...
Annette King shows she’s hungry for work and takes on Transport...
The Nats embrace the Maori Party (yeah right), and John Key bides his time...
And keep an eye on those Finance Companies...
NZ and the US still struggle to find common ground...
And who is the Telecom leaker?

Budget’s Key Themes For Third Term Success?

The Budget in a fortnight will have three key themes, economic transformation, family opportunity and security, and national identity.

Hunger Still Missing In Nat’s Performance

A death rattle for the ambitions of Don Brash to be Prime Minister was detected following last weekend’s National Party Auckland divisional conference.

Parker Back, But With A Lighter Load

David Parker regained the Energy and Climate Change cabinet responsibilities this week, and took on Land Information, a role previously held by Pete Hodgson.

NZ And US Struggle To Codify Relations

NZ and the US need to find a “new equilibrium point” to codify relations. Speaking to the US-NZ Business Council session in the US capital, Washington’s Under Secretary for International Trade, Frank Lavin called for “architecture or mechanisms” between the two. In one of the strongest public signals since former Secretary of State Colin Powell told PM Clark, the two were “very very good friends."

CAPITAL TALK

Dame Silvia Cartright should learn next month whether she gets her post-Governor General part time job.

Play Of The Week: Nice Doggy

Auckland’s traffic system is as clogged as our obese kids’ arteries will be by the time they are 30. The country’s transmission lines are going to fall over if Transpower can’t get enough bailing twine to hold the Cook Strait cable together and get enough landowners to lie down and allow a couple of lines of new pylons in the north Waikato and South Canterbury.

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