Transtasman Political Letter – 23 August Digest

Thursday, August 23, 2007

The Govt feels the heat as a number of external issues - Air NZ, Iraq and apples go sour...
But at least it’s not worried yet over the global credit crisis...
Although it won’t be enjoying the latest OECD report on innovation and research here...
The Governor General’s house is causing some upset in the capital - which Minister may have to move?...
And the much vaunted inquiry into rates, while not yet released, is being classed as “weak.”

External Issues Dominate Tense Political Week

Ministers on both sides of the Tasman are counting the costs of this week’s scrap over Air NZ, Iraq and apples.

Air NZ’s Troop-Carrying Charter Bursts Boilers

Caught off guard and angry because Air NZ’s troop-carrying charter flights had derailed attacks on National leader John Key over his attitude to the Iraq war, Ministers flayed the airline before finding out it had told Foreign Secretary Simon Murdoch in January about its plans.

Airline The Loser In Political Spat

Air NZ’s week of woes has been compounded by Pacific Blue’s entry into the domestic market from November.

Apple Case Goes To The WTO, But It’s No Quick Fix

Ministers say they’re confident the WTO will back NZ’s bid to sell apples in Aust, but it’s not going to be a quick fix for a dispute that’s lasted 86 years.

CAPITAL TALK

Labour thinks National’s leader John Key is a media freak. Jill Pettis told Parliament “We’re running a sweep on how often he looks up at the press gallery when he makes a speech.

Play Of The Week: Howzat?! You Messed About, I Caught You Out…

When Aust Labor leader Kevin Rudd, staggered home back in the dark days of 2003, accompanied by the aroma of cheap wine and a three day growth, he can’t have imagined the incident would return, four years away, and dominate news and politics on both sides of the Tasman.

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