Eric Crampton • Dec 06, 2016 •
If outgoing Prime Minister John Key has any influence over the choices, and if Bill English wants the job, I expect English will succeed Key as Prime Minister and Steven Joyce will move to the Finance portfolio. More than anybody else in government, as best I’ve been able to tell, Bill English thinks in terms of incentives and institutions. He … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Jul 30, 2014 •
In my post at The Daily Blog today — Broken English, broken government, broken climate — I take a look Bill English’s unguarded comments on climate change. Apparently, it’s a non-issue. As you might expect, I am somewhat less than impressed… … Read More
Eric Crampton • Mar 03, 2014 •
NZ Finance Minister Bill English is awesome. I love every last bit of this."With respect to so-called urban sprawl, I think that's a nonsense. If you're against urban sprawl and that means lower to middle income Kiwis can't buy a house and you can't build an apartment in the middle of Auckland for less than NZ$600,000, then that's too … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Nov 15, 2013 •
Over the last few years I’ve documented the current NZ government’s lackadaisical attitude to climate change policy. They’ve gutted the emissions trading scheme and dismantled sensible initiatives, ensuring that NZ emissions are on course to grow steeply. Last night, TV3 News asked three senior cabinet ministers whether they believed in the reality of climate change, […] … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Mar 20, 2013 •
In this week’s column at The Daily Blog, I argue that the government is living in a bubble of unreality by refusing to take climate change seriously. …the government — in the shape of deputy PM Bill English and minister of everything and Novapay Steven Joyce — has done its best to avoid acknowledging [the] [...] … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Mar 14, 2013 •
Occasionally — but only occasionally — the political pantomime that is parliamentary question time throws up something interesting. Yesterday, NZ’s deputy prime minister Bill English managed to dig himself into a drought-ridden hole, only to emerge looking like a climate denier. Green Party co-leader Russel Norman tried to get English to expand on his earlier [...] … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Mar 11, 2013 •
Australia may have had an extraordinary “Angry Summer“, but New Zealand’s been having a bit of a cracker too. Prolonged warm and sunny weather over much of the country has driven North Island soil moisture deficits to levels not seen for at least 70 years (see map at left). Official drought status — which means [...] … Read More