Speaker 1: Kyoda. I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page,
Speaker 1: a daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. The
Speaker 1: political year is ready to kick off. While Prime Minister
Speaker 1: Christopher Luxon may have got an early start with his
Speaker 1: cabinet reshuffle. Over the next coming days, we'll see a
Speaker 1: flurry of party caucus retreats, State of the Nation's speeches,
Speaker 1: and the annual visit to Ratna as politicians return from
Speaker 1: their summer holidays. And while central government has plenty to
Speaker 1: tend to this year, local politicians are preparing for the
Speaker 1: country to return to the polls in October to vote
Speaker 1: for our councils and mayor's we'll discuss that later with
Speaker 1: Newstalk zb News director Michael Sergel, but first on the
Speaker 1: Front Page, we're joined by news Talk ZEDB political editor
Speaker 1: Jason Walls for a preview of the year. Head in politics. Jason,
Speaker 1: what are some of the key political events and bills
Speaker 1: that are on your calendar this year?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean the first one. I mean, you can't
Speaker 2: really talk about twenty twenty five without talking about the
Speaker 2: Treaty Principal's Bill. So we're going to have about six
Speaker 2: months of Treaty Principles, Bill submissions before the Select Committee.
Speaker 2: So every single week we're going to be hearing from
Speaker 2: new people, new positions on a bill. And if you
Speaker 2: think this is finished just because it is being finished
Speaker 2: in the House, it's finished its first reading, you're solely mistaken.
Speaker 2: This is going to be one of the stories of
Speaker 2: the year, and then it is going to be voted
Speaker 2: down in the second reading. So ultimately this will all
Speaker 2: come to nought. But it's going to be a fascinating
Speaker 2: look inside New Zealand politics and race relations in this country,
Speaker 2: So that would be one that I'd definitely be looking
Speaker 2: out for. Another one this year, Probably the headline event
Speaker 2: will be the transition of power from Winston Peters to
Speaker 2: David Seymour when it comes to the Deputy prime ministership.
Speaker 2: It's going to be fascinating exercise because we've never seen
Speaker 2: anything like this before. We don't know whether we go
Speaker 2: back to Government House and watch them take a new
Speaker 2: oath or if it just happens at the stroke of midnight.
Speaker 2: We don't really know that. It's going to be an
Speaker 2: interesting one to watch. The budget every year is one
Speaker 2: to watch. This is probably going to be the most
Speaker 2: boring budget we've had in a significant amount of time,
Speaker 2: because Nicola Willis has suggested, well not suggested, she's outright
Speaker 2: said that there is just no money in the kitty
Speaker 2: for any new initiatives. They've got a waifer thin operating allowance,
Speaker 2: which is essentially the amount of new money that they
Speaker 2: chuck on every budget, so don't expect anything too exciting.
Speaker 2: Then we've also got to the return of Madame and Davidson,
Speaker 2: who has been away on sickly from Parliament after her
Speaker 2: cancer diagnosis and then she's been away for treatment, and
Speaker 2: how that impacts the Green Party and the fundament mental
Speaker 2: strategy that they have in the House and outside. And
Speaker 2: then of course the Prime Minister's Asia pivot. He's going
Speaker 2: to go to China this year, he's indicated as well
Speaker 2: as India. So quite a lot on the political agenda.
Speaker 2: But the best thing about Paul politics is that we
Speaker 2: probably will mention these things only in passing at the
Speaker 2: end of the year, because there'll be other things that
Speaker 2: come up that we have no idea what they are
Speaker 2: or what they'll entail. That's the beauty of politics.
Speaker 1: Prime Minister Chrisph Laxen faced criticism from all sides near
Speaker 1: the end of last year about his leadership and his
Speaker 1: approach with the media. I believe, Jason, you actually said
Speaker 1: that we saw an absolute abject disaster in his media performances.
Speaker 1: Do you think he's been dwelling on that over the summer?
Speaker 2: Yes, I think. I say I used that phrase in
Speaker 2: reference to his interview with Jack Tame, rather than every
Speaker 2: single one of his media performances, and I think that
Speaker 2: one was an abject disaster just because he was unable
Speaker 2: to articulate his government's vision and position on a number
Speaker 2: of things and reverted back to talking points. I think
Speaker 2: he said the phrase what I'll say to you is
Speaker 2: twenty six times in one interview, so I think over
Speaker 2: the summer he will be reflecting on that. He might
Speaker 2: have even done some media training over the summer break
Speaker 2: if he was smart. I think that's exactly what he
Speaker 2: needs to do. He needs to refocus and get off
Speaker 2: his talking point page and start talking like a real
Speaker 2: human being. And I think if he starts to do that,
Speaker 2: he'll start to bring the public along a lot better.
Speaker 2: On the leadership front. I think he's been doing fine
Speaker 2: so far. I mean, he's had to manage a coalition
Speaker 2: as well, a coalition of three parties. That's never been
Speaker 2: done in New Zealand politics. It's just the media side
Speaker 2: of things. And if he nails that, if it even
Speaker 2: improves a little bit, I think it would be a
Speaker 2: good year for Christopher Luxon.
Speaker 3: I what I say to you, Jay, You're saying a
Speaker 3: lot of things to me, but you're surely we actually
Speaker 3: answered to be honest, and this is actually kind of
Speaker 3: important to actually if you want to have a conversation
Speaker 3: about economics and the plan and what we're trying to do.
Speaker 1: Do you think we'll see some changes in the coalition's
Speaker 1: dynamics after May thirty first, when David Seymour of course
Speaker 1: takes over as Deputy per I think.
Speaker 2: There will be some cosmetic changes in terms of the
Speaker 2: way that things are going forward. For example, David Seymour
Speaker 2: will take over from the Prime Minister in the House
Speaker 2: when the Prime Minister is away, so that's pretty much
Speaker 2: every Thursday. But that will be one of the main
Speaker 2: things because again going back to the Prime Minister's leadership,
Speaker 2: one of the things that he did well is he
Speaker 2: did a rock solid and air tight coalition agreement, which
Speaker 2: means that even if there is a change, which we're
Speaker 2: going to see that has been very well telegraphed from
Speaker 2: the beginning, and all of the policies, all of the
Speaker 2: commitments remain the same, So cosmetic changes maybe. David Seymour
Speaker 2: and Winston Peters are both very outspoken, and I don't
Speaker 2: think that's going to change on either side when they
Speaker 2: essentially change roles here. But I wouldn't envisage it being
Speaker 2: too different than it has been the past year and
Speaker 2: a half.
Speaker 1: Treasury opened up the country's books right before Christmas and
Speaker 1: it was a bit more Stephen King than Mills and Boone. Hey,
Speaker 1: with the economic outlook looking so grim, how do you
Speaker 1: think that will shape the government's priorities? Oh?
Speaker 2: Excellent metaphor. By the way, there was a fantastical worded question.
Speaker 2: I love that one.
Speaker 1: You could have laughed after I said, listen.
Speaker 2: I'm here to talk politics, not laugh at your jokes.
Speaker 2: I think it makes me less professional if I laugh
Speaker 2: at a question. But in seriousness, I think that it's
Speaker 2: there's a lot that they probably want to do that
Speaker 2: they won't be able to do now. The problem is that,
Speaker 2: as I alluded to before, they've got this waf of
Speaker 2: thin operating allowance, which means that any new initiatives they
Speaker 2: simply won't be able to do with new money because
Speaker 2: there's just nothing there to add insult to injury. The
Speaker 2: government's tax revenue has taken a massive hit because of
Speaker 2: the economic situation that we're in, so they are in
Speaker 2: between a rock and a hard place economically, which means
Speaker 2: that Nicola Willis has got the hardest job in politics.
Speaker 2: I mean, forget the opposition being the hardest job in politics,
Speaker 2: try being a finance minister off the back of a recession.
Speaker 2: She does have the fact that interest rates are coming
Speaker 2: down will be a bit of a boon for her,
Speaker 2: but at the end of the day, that's the Reserve
Speaker 2: Bank and she can't have her cake and eat it too.
Speaker 2: She can't consistently blame the Reserve Bank when she was
Speaker 2: in opposition for keeping interest rates high. But as soon
Speaker 2: as they start coming down, start talking about how that's
Speaker 2: a win for the government, people will start to see
Speaker 2: through that. What Nicola Willis has to do now is
Speaker 2: make some very tough decisions when it comes to cutting
Speaker 2: spending within the public service. And I think that you know, frankly,
Speaker 2: public spending got out of control the last couple of
Speaker 2: years of the Labor government, and it needs to be
Speaker 2: rained in. But it's not an easy task to do,
Speaker 2: and she's going to have to cut deep in some
Speaker 2: areas to actually be able to just keep the government running.
Speaker 1: You've already touched on the Treaty Principal's Bill, which of
Speaker 1: course will be a headline this year, but it's dead
Speaker 1: in the water. So the government do you see it
Speaker 1: actually even trying to reset Crown multi relations at this
Speaker 1: point or is that ship sailed well?
Speaker 2: I mean, the government will say that it is about
Speaker 2: outcomes for Marty rather than something like a policy like this.
Speaker 2: They will say that what we're doing for Marty is
Speaker 2: we're helping Marty get into housing, We're helping reduce the
Speaker 2: Marti unemployment rate, we're helping with some of the appalling
Speaker 2: stats that we have around healthcare for Marty. And that's
Speaker 2: their focus. The Treaty Principle's Bill. It's ultimately meaningless because
Speaker 2: the Government will not be vote well, the National Party
Speaker 2: and New Zealand First will not be voting for it
Speaker 2: in the second reading and you know they haven't. Well,
Speaker 2: no other party apart from the Act Party will as
Speaker 2: far as we know at this stage, so in so
Speaker 2: far as the fact that you know that is what
Speaker 2: the government is planning to do. They are very outcome orientated,
Speaker 2: and I think that's commendable for them to have those
Speaker 2: outcomes or those goals, but the outcomes need to match
Speaker 2: the rhetoric. And if they can match the outcomes to
Speaker 2: the rhetoric, I think that we're probably in a good place.
Speaker 2: But if they are not, and some of these key
Speaker 2: statistics for MARTI continue to go backwards or even stagnate,
Speaker 2: then they're going to have a problem because they've lost
Speaker 2: the pr war and they're going to be losing the
Speaker 2: policy war as well.
Speaker 4: I do spend a lot of time reflecting on the
Speaker 4: accidents that I take and whether I'm the best person
Speaker 4: to be doing this job and you know, how I'm
Speaker 4: navigating it. And I don't just do that alone with
Speaker 4: these thoughts kind of knocking around my head in the
Speaker 4: deed of night, but also talk to a lot of
Speaker 4: people who I admire own trusts, which includes people who've
Speaker 4: been in this institution in the past and those who
Speaker 4: are so far removed from it that I think they
Speaker 4: have a very valuable perspective. I can tell you that
Speaker 4: I feel confident that we've done the best that we
Speaker 4: possibly could with those circumstances, with our values as are guiding.
Speaker 1: Starts and Labor's gearing up to start getting their policies
Speaker 1: out there, and the Greens can't possibly have a worse
Speaker 1: year than last year. I suppose what are your predictions
Speaker 1: for the opposition parties?
Speaker 2: Well, my prediction is never count out the Greens when
Speaker 2: it comes to having a worse year than they've had before.
Speaker 2: They could come out and do something way worse. Could
Speaker 2: they could blow us all away with another year of incompetence.
Speaker 2: But you would have to be pretty bad to have
Speaker 2: a worse year than they had last year, So the
Speaker 2: bar is extremely low. I would say the bar is
Speaker 2: pretty much on the floor. So all the Greens need
Speaker 2: to do is come out with some even some really
Speaker 2: just quintessential Green policy to shift the narrative a little bit.
Speaker 2: And I think that they'll be in a position to
Speaker 2: do that when Manama is back to take a little
Speaker 2: bit of stress off Chloe Swarbrick, who I think, even
Speaker 2: though the Greens had a really really chaotically bad year,
Speaker 2: Chloe Swarbrick actually nailed her colors to the mass in
Speaker 2: terms of her leadership, and I think for in a
Speaker 2: lot of places she handled it quite well. She's talked
Speaker 2: very openly about diversifying the Greens base. When I spoke
Speaker 2: to her before the end of last year, she was
Speaker 2: talking about going to see West Coast minors to try
Speaker 2: and bring them into the Green Party fold, which is ambitious.
Speaker 2: But this is the woman who started her tenure as
Speaker 2: co leader by saying she wants to overtake the Labor
Speaker 2: Party as the main opposition party in New Zealand, which
Speaker 2: is incredibly ambitious. But you've got to be ambitious in opposition.
Speaker 2: That's all you have is hope and ambition and maybe
Speaker 2: sprinkle a couple of policies on there as well.
Speaker 1: Isn't that a bit James Shaw esque? It is?
Speaker 2: I mean, she's taken James Shaw's vision and ran to
Speaker 2: a place where I don't think that he ever thought
Speaker 2: he would go. I mean, James Shaw, at the heart
Speaker 2: of it, was a pragmatic man and he would have
Speaker 2: never said anything like we're going to overtake the Labor
Speaker 2: Party because he knows, frankly, it's just not going to happen.
Speaker 2: Bar something chaotic in the Labor Party. And if that happens,
Speaker 2: it's bad news for the Greens anyway, because they need
Speaker 2: the Labor Party to form a coalition to get into government.
Speaker 2: So the Greens have got a bit of soul searching
Speaker 2: to do this year. But as I say, bars on
Speaker 2: the ground for them in terms of the Labor Party.
Speaker 2: I mean, you can't talk about the Labour Party without
Speaker 2: talking about tax. That is going to be a big
Speaker 2: focus for them this year. If it's going to beat
Speaker 2: the capital gains horse, are they going to flog that
Speaker 2: horse again, or if they're going to saddle up more
Speaker 2: to the Greens and talk about a wealth tax. That's
Speaker 2: all questions that they have. But you don't want to
Speaker 2: pick early. You can talk about policy, but you should
Speaker 2: probably wait till an election year to start unveiling some
Speaker 2: otherwise it becomes quite stale.
Speaker 1: And what are your boldest political predictions across the board
Speaker 1: this year.
Speaker 2: I don't know if it's bold, but I am predicting
Speaker 2: a clean transition of power between David Seymour and Winston.
Speaker 2: I think the thing that Winston does well as he
Speaker 2: sticks to an agreement. He is the king of a coalition.
Speaker 2: He knows if it's written down in the agreement, they're
Speaker 2: going to stick to it, and he knows that if
Speaker 2: any party falter from that, they'll be given hell by
Speaker 2: the man himself. So I think it's going to be
Speaker 2: a clean transition of power there. As a journalist, I'm
Speaker 2: hoping for a little bit of Argibarji, but that's just
Speaker 2: because I like something fun to write about. I actually
Speaker 2: think it probably is good for the country that we
Speaker 2: would have a good, clean transition of power. I think
Speaker 2: the government will be forced to do something quite radical
Speaker 2: with its finances. I think the boring budget is going
Speaker 2: to be a little bit more exciting, not because they're
Speaker 2: going to throw a whole bunch of lollies around, but
Speaker 2: they're going to have to announce some deep systemic cuts
Speaker 2: into some areas because you just can't continue to be
Speaker 2: he sent to write government reading the way that this
Speaker 2: government is in terms of the finances. There needs to
Speaker 2: be some tough decisions made and they need to be
Speaker 2: quite bold in the way that they cut things or
Speaker 2: else that future generations of New Zealanders are going to
Speaker 2: be feeling the effects for long to come. So I'm
Speaker 2: expecting something bold at some point don't know what it is,
Speaker 2: but we might see it in the budget. I think
Speaker 2: now it's just about capitalizing on some of the wins
Speaker 2: and making sure the rubber hits the road from early on.
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us, Jason, No problem at all. For
Speaker 1: the majority of the country aside from Todonger, local council
Speaker 1: elections will be running across September and October. To discuss
Speaker 1: what to expect, we're joined now by Newstalk ZB News
Speaker 1: director and local government reporter Michael Sergel. Michael, I can
Speaker 1: just predict now what the local elections will be about,
Speaker 1: and that's rates, right.
Speaker 5: Oh, absolutely, yeah. Every local council in the country has
Speaker 5: been hiking rates higher than inflation, some raising them by
Speaker 5: like five or six times more than inflation. We've had Gore, Central, Hawks, Baying, Napier,
Speaker 5: Upper hut Widoer, Wellington, Westland, Central Otago, Puddydoer and Dnedin
Speaker 5: all hiking local rates by between seventeen point five and
Speaker 5: twenty one point four percent. These are really high rates
Speaker 5: rises by anyone's books. A lot of factors to consider here,
Speaker 5: the cost of government reforms, changing government policies, particularly around
Speaker 5: freshwater and three waters. Also licensing fees not increasing, and
Speaker 5: also lots and lots of increases that councils just can't avoid.
Speaker 5: I've had a look at some of these reports, and
Speaker 5: I mean the cost of bridges going up thirty eight
Speaker 5: percent in three years, sewage systems going up thirty percent
Speaker 5: in three years, roads thirty percent in three years, water
Speaker 5: supplies thirty percent in three years, are pool chemicals twenty
Speaker 5: five percent in two years, food for dogs at the
Speaker 5: local pound twenty percent to two years, quarrying ten point
Speaker 5: seven percent in just one year, concrete twelve point five
Speaker 5: percent in a year, sand for pavements fifteen percent in
Speaker 5: a year, funger side up thirty one percent in just
Speaker 5: one year, fertilizes up fifty seven percent in a year,
Speaker 5: insurance premiums up about a third, and interest rates also
Speaker 5: increasing lately as well.
Speaker 1: So they really don't have any other option other than
Speaker 1: rates rises, Right, will they be though? The death knell
Speaker 1: for mayors? Do you think?
Speaker 5: Yeah? I mean it's a difficult one. I mean, I
Speaker 5: mean there's no getting around the fact that the councils
Speaker 5: will have to be charging more and actually doing less.
Speaker 5: And I think that the big question will be, you
Speaker 5: know what they cut and what they don't cut. I mean,
Speaker 5: we've had lots of debates recently, this huge debate in
Speaker 5: Auckland and Order to do about whether or not to
Speaker 5: move from weekly to fortnightly rubbish collections. That's something that
Speaker 5: many other cities are already doing. Also the debates about
Speaker 5: rubbish bins, removing the local rubbish bins from the parks,
Speaker 5: letting the grass grow longer, and if you've been to
Speaker 5: a local park lately but the grass is pretty well,
Speaker 5: haven't the grass is pretty long. I mean they're talking
Speaker 5: about inches longer than they used to be. The boom
Speaker 5: debate and live in lots of councils no longer mow
Speaker 5: the burns. Also the ongoing debate about cycleway speed bumps,
Speaker 5: pedestrian crossings that really get people going. And I suppose
Speaker 5: what do you cut and what don't?
Speaker 1: Forty three councils will be having referendums on keeping Muorti wards,
Speaker 1: which will be voted on at the elections. Do you
Speaker 1: think that will color how the local elections go?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think definitely. I mean, obviously we had these
Speaker 5: forty five councils establishing or moving to establish mighty wards
Speaker 5: after that twenty twenty one law change. Then we had
Speaker 5: the new government come in and say, you know, we
Speaker 5: have to hold a public referendum in twenty twenty five
Speaker 5: to keep them. So forty three of the forty five
Speaker 5: councils voting to keep them, and we had the two
Speaker 5: councils that decided not to keep them, a Kipita District
Speaker 5: Council and Upper Hut and we had quite angry debates there.
Speaker 5: But these votes are going to cost councils millions of
Speaker 5: dollars and those that support Mighty Wards, so that's a
Speaker 5: waste of money because most of the councils sort of
Speaker 5: overwhelmingly support the Mighty Wards. And then on the other side,
Speaker 5: we've got people saying that's a waste of money because
Speaker 5: the councils should have just accepted that and maybe voted
Speaker 5: not to have a public vote and voted to scrap them. So,
Speaker 5: you know, definitely a lot of frustration from I suppose
Speaker 5: both sides of the debate here about the fact that
Speaker 5: there are there is even you know this many councils
Speaker 5: deciding to have referendum on this issue.
Speaker 1: Now we can't get into all sixty seven city and
Speaker 1: district councils and their individual issues. I wish we could
Speaker 1: mike when I know that you'd love to. But are
Speaker 1: there any other major concerns across the board that affect
Speaker 1: a few of them?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, I think definitely it comes down to
Speaker 5: rates primarily, and the question of what we cut and
Speaker 5: what we don't. I mean, rates are going to go up,
Speaker 5: They're probably going to keep going up higher than inflation,
Speaker 5: just because the costs that councils are facing keeps increasing.
Speaker 5: But the question is what do they cut and what
Speaker 5: don't they cut? And I think there's no getting around
Speaker 5: the fact that we're going to end up having councils
Speaker 5: doing less and charging us more. You guys have given
Speaker 5: me a lot of feedback.
Speaker 6: Some of it's quite supportive, some of it's quite negative.
Speaker 5: There's some of the shows that some of you people
Speaker 5: are nuts.
Speaker 6: Here we go, you arefinably disappointing. It's just for me, Well,
Speaker 6: you're a bit of a dick, mate, Alex Ratzor says,
Speaker 6: my rates ball keeps going up. Side was my desire
Speaker 6: to leave Aucklane, New Zealand too well, Goodbye Top Bounder,
Speaker 6: Wellington and gone.
Speaker 5: Up twenty five percent, Darth vaded.
Speaker 6: I used to dislike you, but now I think I
Speaker 6: like you. Mayor Brown well got on your dar's vaded.
Speaker 1: Looking at candidates, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has bounced back
Speaker 1: over the last year after his i'm going to say,
Speaker 1: disastrous handling of the Auckland floods. Are there any candidates
Speaker 1: coming for his job or is he pretty safe at
Speaker 1: the moment.
Speaker 5: It's a really interesting race. I mean polling from about
Speaker 5: eight months ago showing some bridges is about the probably
Speaker 5: the most popular potential candidate. We're still not sure if
Speaker 5: he would stand. Wayne Brown in second place, he formerly
Speaker 5: hasn't decided whether or not he will run for me. Obviously,
Speaker 5: his popularity has sort of recovered a bit after taking
Speaker 5: that major hit now almost two years ago with his
Speaker 5: handling of the floods. And then Paula Bennett also very popular.
Speaker 5: She's confirmed she's she's thinking about it's also telling us
Speaker 5: she's very seriously considering it, deepening. Mere Desley Simpson also
Speaker 5: very popular, sort of across the political spectrum, but all
Speaker 5: in cations are she won't stand. And they're also seeing
Speaker 5: a number of the regular candidates starting to put their
Speaker 5: name forward. Again, the conservative Ted Johnson confirming in recent
Speaker 5: days that he will definitely be running as well.
Speaker 1: And Wellington Mayor Tory Farno probably the most at risk,
Speaker 1: isn't she.
Speaker 5: Oh, definitely yes, and I mean you only have to
Speaker 5: listen to some of her recent interviews to see the
Speaker 5: situation she's in. We've got a number of candidates putting
Speaker 5: their name forward. Ray Hung has told us he's definitely standing,
Speaker 5: quite an outspoken critic of the mayor, got an ice
Speaker 5: cream shop owner Carl Typhon Bucker and an entrepreneur Luke Pearson.
Speaker 5: I've got a number of councilors considering running as well.
Speaker 5: A number of left wing figures have confirmed they're definitely
Speaker 5: not running. And Mark Sainsbury, who many people will know
Speaker 5: from TV and radio, he's been quashing rumors that he
Speaker 5: might stand. Definitely. It's going to come down to probably
Speaker 5: two main key issues, the Wellington Airports hearsl and the
Speaker 5: Golden Mile talking point as well, and also those ongoing
Speaker 5: race rises the city has been facing.
Speaker 1: What are some other councils you'll be keeping an eye on.
Speaker 1: I'm thinking Ben Bell down and Gore or not b
Speaker 1: Clark and.
Speaker 5: In Bicago, Yeah, definitely, I mean gor Mia. Ben the
Speaker 5: country's youngest mayor, has really faced a really tough time
Speaker 5: in the last three years and often fraught relationship with
Speaker 5: both counselors and the council staff. Obviously that particularly that
Speaker 5: issue with the CEO in vicargo with Nobby Clark. He's
Speaker 5: faced a lot of controversy for using the N word
Speaker 5: at a public event, using racist and homophobic slurs during
Speaker 5: a TV interview with a comedy show, and then over
Speaker 5: his conduct at a public event fulling heart surgery as well.
Speaker 5: The other interesting one christ Church, christ Church mayor film
Speaker 5: major facing a challenge from Sarah Templeton. He's promised to
Speaker 5: keep his rates rises under four percent. At the last election,
Speaker 5: Ben delivered rates rises of six point four and nine
Speaker 5: point nine. I don't know how good at maths you are,
Speaker 5: but both of those numbers are over four So so
Speaker 5: facing that challenge obviously things a bit more complex than
Speaker 5: perhaps he imagined they were heading to the last election.
Speaker 5: Also important to note Todonga won't be having any election
Speaker 5: this year. Marhi Dreysdale will remain mayor until twenty twenty eight,
Speaker 5: just to let that new council sort of bed After
Speaker 5: the commissioners were replaced with the council.
Speaker 1: And finally, Michael, we love a prediction here on the
Speaker 1: Front Page. What's your big prediction for how these elections
Speaker 1: might go.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, we already saw a big swing to the
Speaker 5: right at the last election three years ago, something we've
Speaker 5: been seeing in local and central government elections right around
Speaker 5: the world over the last three years in the sort
Speaker 5: of pandemic post pandemic era. Since then, we've had some
Speaker 5: real cost of living pressures with high inflation driven by
Speaker 5: the non tradable inflation like rates. So the things that
Speaker 5: people can't avoid not paying, and rates are a big
Speaker 5: one of those. And so we're probably going to see
Speaker 5: more support for candidates who promise to contain rates increases,
Speaker 5: even if that means further spending cutbacks. Expect rates increases
Speaker 5: to be a really big issue at this year's election.
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us, Michael.
Speaker 5: Thank you.
Speaker 1: That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You
Speaker 1: can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage
Speaker 1: at Ensad Herald dot MZ. The Front Page is produced
Speaker 1: by Ethan Sills and Richard Martin, who is also a
Speaker 1: sound engineer. I'm Chelsea Daniels.
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