Political and economic week ahead: Labour party reshuffle
Rob Hosking gives his in-depth analysis on the big stories to watch out for this week - with special audio feature.
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Rejigging Labour’s line up kicked off the political week and will put some pressure on National.
Labour leader Andrew Little’s long awaited reshuffle saw promotions for performers Phil Twyford, Jacinda Ardern, Kelvin Davis and Megan Woods, and the return of previously effective MPs such as David Parker and Stuart Nash.
That will put a bit of pressure on National: Prime Minister John Key is planning his own reshuffle sometime in the New Year. Current Trade Minister Tim Groser is off to Washington and the question is how far any rejigging will go.
The most obvious shift is former trade official and current Revenue and State Owned Enterprises Minister Todd McClay steps into that role.
The question then is whether this triggers a more wholesale recalibration of Mr Key’s ministry or whether he just moves Mr McClay, makes another couple of minor changes, and promotes one promising backbencher.
The issue of whether former cabinet minister Judith Collins is reappointed to the ministry hovers over Mr Key’s deliberations, although her return now looks less likely than it did a few months ago.
Economically, there is today’s business mood data which shows a continued upturn in the outlook. Not only is the headline optimism on the economy on the rise, but also firms’ investment and hiring intentions are running strong – in the case of investment intentions, well above the long-term trend.
Tomorrow sees the quarterly terms of trade data, which can be expected to drop mostly on the back of a weaker New Zealand exchange rate over the third quarter.
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Mon, 30 Nov 2015
Mon, 30 Nov 2015
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Political and economic week ahead: Labour party reshuffle
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