I generally enjoy listening to The Working Group, and I've been pretty impressed so far with the election debates they're co-hosting with the Taxpayers Union. Especially the Ilam debate, and the contrast between the candidates who blithely parroted talking points, and those who spoke in detail on policy areas they're passionate about.

https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2023/08/29/7pm-tonight-live-streamed-and-simulcast-freeview-200-taxpayers-union-ilam-election-debate-hosted-by-the-working-group/

But I gave up on last Tuesday's inter-party debate about 15mins in;

https://theworkinggroup.podbean.com/e/nz-taxpayers-union-and-working-group-election-debate-auckland/

#podcasts #TheWorkingGroup #Election2023

#FacePalm

"... if that's the only resource you've got - especially in Papua New Ginea, there's not a lot there - so if you've got oil, and gas, and coal, for godsake take it out of the ground and get the country going."

#LaurieTurnbull, #NZFirst candidate for Napier
https://theworkinggroup.podbean.com/e/nz-taxpayers-union-and-working-group-election-debates-napier/

#podcasts #TheWorkingGroup #ClimateChange

"... you want a second harbour crossing, you want light rail... you are not going to get that through the tax revenue, it's going to need private capital to do it."

#DamienGrant, 2013
https://theworkinggroup.podbean.com/e/the-working-group-with-shane-te-pou-maria-slade-and-damien-grant/

So... are you proposing to have our public infrastructure partially owned by these private capitalists? Or to pay back their private capital over time (plus a generous return on their investment, of course)?

(1/2)

#podcasts #Aotearoa #NZ #NZPolitic #TheWorkingGroup

The Working Group this week is short one Bomber Bradbury, so the host and panel are all on the right. This episode is a fantastic window into the many disagreements *within* the the NZ right.

Fascinating that none of them are as opposed to rebalancing the tax system as you might expect. So where is the anti-tax discourse dominating the news media really coming from?

https://theworkinggroup.podbean.com/e/the-working-group-with-matthew-hooton-brooke-van-velden-and-maria-slade/

#podcasts #TheWorkingGroup #NZPolitics #tax #NewsMedia

You heard it here first (unless you listen to The Working Group). If the NatACTs form a govt after the election, plastic-shopping-bag-free Aotearoa will be gone by lunchtime:
https://theworkinggroup.podbean.com/e/the-working-group-with-david-seymour-chris-penk-and-damien-grant/

Do you miss seeing the proud banners of our great supermarket brands floating past in a stiff breeze? Do you want to see them, once again, choking up the creeks and rivers of our great nation?

2 ticks for the NatACTs!

#MakePlasticGreatAgain!

#podcasts #TheWorkingGroup #Aotearoa #NZ #pollution

A National MP, an ACT MP and a right wing civil libertarian walk into a bar and see a bunch of gang members. How they react reveals some intriguing political differences between their varying 'tough on crime' approaches:
https://theworkinggroup.podbean.com/e/nicola-willis-brooke-van-velden-and-damien-grant/

#podcasts #TheWorkingGroup #Aotearoa #NZ #NZPolitics

"... polls are self-fulfilling prophecies. If everyone sees National are screwed, they can't win, and you're a National supporter, you just don't vote, you think 'what's the point, I've got better things to do."

#DavidFarrar

https://theworkinggroup.podbean.com/e/the-working-group-with-david-farrar-raf-manji-and-damien-grant/

#podcasts #TheWorkingGroup