#nzpol Another excellent column from Simon. In this year's Budget Lockup I heard Willis respond to this issue by saying "Yeah, we could double benefits, but we think it's better for parents to improve their circumstances through work", conveniently ignoring the 50,000 jobs lost on her watch. 🤬

“The answer to ‘Where’s the money coming from?’, that neoliberal catchcry raised against every demand to improve the welfare state - not to mention paying for infrastructure or addressing climate change - is pretty obvious.

It comes from ending poverty.”

A great read from @simonbwilson.bsky.social

This election, the issue of child poverty has been swallowed up by "no new taxes". How did that happen and what should we do about it? New Substack post at Hopetown substack.com/home/post/p-...

This election, the issue of child poverty has been swallowed up by "no new taxes". How did that happen and what should we do about it? New Substack post at Hopetown substack.com/home/post/p-...

'This culture manifests in many ways:

fiscal irresponsibility, crony capitalism, “petromasculinity” (hat tip to George Monbiot for the phrase), climate denial, culture wars, performative nonsense.'

@simonbwilson.bsky.social #NzPol

The Prefu’s defective, Opp’s got bottom lines and Luxon’s got “balls”, but Chloe doesn’t know finance? ICYMI my Hopetown post on Substack over the weekend simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/theyre-los...

Next up in the city centre that residents will be interested in for the general elections debate - Foreign Policy - something we haven't heard much about yet.

6.30pm Sat 18 October
Ellen Melville Centre
MC @simonbwilson.bsky.social

National's culture of not caring + what Luxon's "we've got the balls” really means, Opp's bottom lines, the defective Prefu, super-intelligent Trump and why is everyone losing their shit about Chloe Swarbrick wanting to be finance minister? New Substack post at Hopetown substack.com/home/post/p-...

My Listener column on rough sleepers, move-on orders and the wonderful Helen Robinson at the Akl City Mission is now online ($) but you can also read it in the magazine in shops this week www.nzherald.co.nz/the-listener...

Along with others, I've had a bit to say about Simeon Brown's deranged 2024 Transport GPS. But this is actually shocking. It was altered *after the consultation period* to make the books look better – in a way that wrecks the National Land Transport Fund. www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2026/09/29/t...

At the heart of Nicky Hager’s book is a tale of how a group of cynical hard-right ideologues made racism a winning political platform, not because they’re white supremacists, but because it suited their interests. My Hopetown post is here #nzpol

simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/dirty-work...

At the heart of Nicky Hager’s book is a tale of how a group of cynical hard-right ideologues made racism a winning political platform, not because they’re white supremacists, but because it suited their interests. My Hopetown post is here #nzpol

simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/dirty-work...

simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/dirty-work...

“Ruby Tui belted out Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi at Eden Park, and 40,000 fans sang with her. Four months later, Harry Styles sang the first line of the song at his concert in Auckland and the crowd sang the rest back to him. This was who we were.

And this is what Jordan Williams set out to destroy.” #nzpol

The new book #DirtyWork by #NickyHager is the story of how Jordan Williams and the Taxpayers' Union orchestrated the use of racism in the 2023 election. Here's my take on what we lost as a result, free to all on my Hopetown substack now simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/dirty-work...

The new book #DirtyWork by #NickyHager is the story of how Jordan Williams and the Taxpayers' Union orchestrated the use of racism in the 2023 election. Here's my take on what we lost as a result, free to all on my Hopetown substack now simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/dirty-work...