Question Time 03.05.2023

I woke up around 1:15pm, so watching on TV again. Still planning the bearded lady idea for my next IRL visit.👍 - Te Pāti are absent. Woodhouse is asking why the waka jumping legislation wasn't applied re: Whaitiri switching parties. It's a fascinating discussion. Robertson and Bishop chimed in too. 15 minutes, and it's still going on. David Seymour has also made a point of order. Brownlee chimed in. - The microphone cut out briefly on the TV feed.

20 minutes of debate now... 🧠 Upsides of watching from home: I'm eating my birthday cake for breakfast. 🎂 - James Shaw is chiming in. The last 10 minutes have mostly been about Whaitiri's proxy vote. 2:24pm. - Question 1 - state of the economy: 2.886 million people in work. Our economy is 6% larger than pre-Covid. Our employment rate is 3rd in the OECD. Bloomberg says we're 70% likely to have a recession -- that's from the supplementary by Nicola Willis. - Question 2: Luxon harping on about Whaitiri... very boring. And some digs about Capital Gains. - Question 3: Cool, Ricardo has a question. 👋 Asking for amnesty for overstayers. Teanau doubled up on that with a series of supplementary questions. Factoid: 1,000 overstayers under 18, some of whom are NZ-born. - Question 4: Willis about tax. Robertson: 'tax cuts aren't free.' - Question 5: Oranga Tamariki. I'm cleaning my pipe for my post-Question Time sesh. 1600 fewer children in OT care since 2018. - Question 6: homelessness Four new initiatives in Budget 2022, which Marama said has been largely funded. Bishop said only 1% of the $70 million had been spent -- dunno if that's true. Marama's answer: the initiatives should be operating by July 2023. Fun: Marama's earrings are very cool. 👋 - Question 7: Passenger Rail The Government is co-funding a fleet of 18 hybrid trains for the greater Wellington region. This will double the peak service capacity = 1.5 million additional trips per year. Lowers carbon emissions by 0.5 million tons. I wonder how Restore Passenger Rail would respond to this news... - Question 8: Proceeds of Crime It's a good question - I didn't catch the numbers, but apparently very little of the Proceeds of Crime fund (round 6) has been used. - Question 9: Māori health equity $44 million for primary healthcare to deliver services for Māori and Pacific populations. The first payment will be paid by Te Whatu Ora this month. Equity adjustment: $80 per person for majority Māori health providers, $40 per person for providers with over half Māori/Pacific clients. - Question 10: Retail crime Labour's doubled the funding. An additional $9 million, bringing the total to $15 million. - Question 11: capital gains... again Parker was very good.