NZ Politics Daily: 1 April (liberation)

It’s class war. Today the new employment laws come into effect, and there finally seems to be an element of good old-fashioned left-right disagreement and debate in play in New Zealand politics. Depending on who you read and believe, the new laws are either an attack on workers rights – see: Widespread condemnation of employment law changes and Unions fear effects of law changes – or actually fairly moderate and normal by international standards – see: Employment law changes ‘nothing radical’ – lawyer.

In terms of the general economy, there’s some signs of potential ‘class war’ arising too. For a start, see: Treasury argues for lower tax. Corin Dann has some useful analysis – National's cuts on risky ground - saying that although most of this government’s reforms have been ‘pretty dull stuff’, ‘this week National's cutback push entered a new phase, one which has far more potential to upset some voters’. Of course, ‘Right when it should be turning up the heat and riding a wave of unease about the health of the economy, Labour has hit the self destruct button and got the leadership wobbles’.

To follow the on-going Labour Party doledrums, Matthew Hooton’s NBR column is a must-read: Labour at risk of total poll meltdown. He makes a very good argument: ‘to re-elect a government they have thrown out, voters need to see that parties have changed, almost as to be unrecognisable… A tweak here and there, better presentation and a gentle drift to the centre, is never enough’.

It seems that Judith Tizard was the main victim of today’s April Foolery – see: Tizard dismisses 'return to Parliament' as April Fool's joke. Other good efforts were also made on Kiwiblog, Frogblog, and the Dim-Post. My personal favourite was this one: Probation Period to be extended to Parliament. [Continue reading below for a full list of the highlights of NZ Politics Daily]

Below are the internet links to all the NZ politics material from the last 24 hours that are either informative, insightful, interesting or influential. This list and the links are taken from a fuller document, NZ Politics Daily, which is emailed out, Monday to Friday, to various researchers, academics, journalists, MPs and so forth. The document is purely for research purposes only, and if you would like to be on the subscription list, please email: [email protected]

Economy, government cuts and restructuring
Corin Dann (TVNZ): National's cuts on risky ground
NZPA: Treasury argues for lower tax
Mark Hucklesby, Grant Thornton (NBR): Budget 2011: Happily ever after?
Matthew Backhouse (NZPA): Clampdown on tax credits as changes kick in
Editorial (Waikato Times): Budget surgery looms
Duncan Garner (TV3): Cuts good enough for public service, but not MPs