Analysis - On election night 2020 the sense of triumph around Labour was palpable, the grins as wide as the Waikato. Today s Budget is why. After years of compromise, contradiction and incompetence, this is the sort of Budget Labour party MPs and members have wanted to deliver. Labour s majority win in last year s election that allowed it to govern alone means Budget 2021 is dyed the deepest red.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Deputy Prime Minister - and Minister of Finance - Grant Robertson.
Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas
The headline announcement of benefit increases is, for once, a genuinely once-in-a-generation move. On top of the $25/week increases under National and then the previous Labour-led government, this increase of main benefit rates of between $32 and $55 by April 2022 is a significant reset of what New Zealanders can expect from the welfare state.
Auckland light rail facing huge hurdles to get back on track
16 May, 2021 05:00 PM
8 minutes to read
Artist impression of light rail on Ian McKinnon Drive heading towards Dominion Rd. Photo / Supplied The Labour Government s failure to deliver on light rail in Auckland last term has brought a new minister and a new plan to get the multi-billion dollar project back on track. Super City reporter Bernard Orsman explains Light Rail Mark II.
What is light rail?
Light right is the modern-day equivalent of trams, which once carried more passengers than today s combined public transport network of buses, trains and ferries. At the time, Auckland s population was 500,000 people. Today it is 1.7 million.
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Millions spent to bring home New Zealanders stranded during pandemic
9 May, 2021 08:15 AM
2 minutes to read
New Zealanders boarding a flight back home in 2020, after being stranded in Peru due to Covid-19. Photo / Supplied
New Zealanders boarding a flight back home in 2020, after being stranded in Peru due to Covid-19. Photo / Supplied
RNZ
By: Sarah Robson
The Government has spent more than $6 million bringing home New Zealanders who were stranded overseas at the start of the pandemic.
Between January and April last year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade chartered several mercy flights from places like Wuhan in China, India and Peru.