Former National Party Finance Minister Ruth Richardson attempted to bring those realities home late last year. The problem is the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union which she presides over was too cute by dishing out “Nicola’s fudge” to journalists and opinion leaders thus personalising their campaign against Finance Minister Nicola Willis. These are publicly funded, non-partisan bodies operating outside direct government control and designed to improve fiscal policy transparency, sustainability and accountability. Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson considered just such a proposal in 2018 when he endorsed a Treasury paper on the issue. “But public debt is at its highest point for 30 years.

NZ Herald Morning News Update | Trumps tariffs illegal, former home of former Prince Andrew searched, future of Mount Maunganui walking tracks remains unclear. Sign in hereAccess to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay says the US Supreme Court’s new ruling deeming Donald Trump’s global tariffs illegal is “welcome news” but acknowledges “considerable uncertainty” remains. In a major development, the US Supreme Court has ruled the widespread tariffs the US President imposed on almost every country in the world were illegal. The President imposed these tariffs on April 2 last year, which he called “Liberation Day”, by invoking a 1977 law meant for national emergencies.

NZ Herald Morning News Update | Trumps tariffs illegal, former home of former Prince Andrew searched, future of Mount Maunganui walking tracks remains unclear. Sign in hereAccess to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Police investigating serious assault in Te Puke, victim drove themself to hospitalA person injured in a serious assault in Te Puke drove themself to hospital to seek medical treatment. Despite their injuries, the victim managed to get themself to hospital, a police spokeswoman said. “The injured person self-transported to hospital for medical attention,” she said.

“The decision removes one of Trump’s fastest tools for imposing broad tariffs,” said ING bank’s chief macro economist Carsten Brzeski. But he also warned “this ruling will not bring relief” for long, as the Trump administration has been preparing to use other legal tools. Bret Kenwell, US investment analyst at eToro, said the best-case outcome would be a framework that’s clearer and more consistent. That data poured cold water on hopes US growth was holding up and inflation was contained despite Trump’s tariffs barrage, and complicated the outlook for more interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. British firms also boosted output in February, according to the purchasing managers’ index published by S&P Global.

In January this year, gold ETFs attracted $US19 billion, the strongest month on record, according to the World Gold Council. ETFs have made it easier to invest in gold, Dr Cheema says, as you no longer need to hold physical gold, but can instead buy and sell through an exchange traded fund just as you do with stocks and shares. "So, compared to holding physical gold, a gold ETF is very easy, you can invest even a very small amount." "Central banks throughout the world, especially China, Turkey, India, Indonesia, they are increasing their gold reserves," Dr Cheema says. Our government doesn’t hold any gold reserves, having sold off the last of it some decades ago.

Whakaari/White Island eruption survivor Kelsey Waghorn has released a moving and raw book. ‘Wow ... Look at that’: The moment when scenic trip turned to disasterWaghorn hadn’t intended to be on Whakaari/White Island the day it erupted. In Surviving White Island, Waghorn writes she “wasn’t overly concerned” by the alert upgrade. On December 19, 10 days after the eruption, Waghorn was moved from Hutt Hospital’s ICU to the plastic and burns unit. Hard hats and gas masks would be handed out about 9km before embarking on Whakaari/White Island.

The Supreme Court’s three liberal justices joined three conservatives in the ruling, which upheld lower court decisions that tariffs Trump imposed under IEEPA were illegal. A lower trade court ruled in May that Trump overstepped his authority with across-the-board levies and blocked most of them, but that outcome was put on hold as the Government appealed. “We urge the lower court to ensure a seamless process to refund the tariffs to US importers,” the federation said. EY-Parthenon chief economist Gregory Daco told AFP the loss of IEEPA tariff revenues for the US Government could amount to about US$140 billion ($234b). Constrained ambitionThe European Union said it was studying the court ruling and will remain in close contact with the Trump administration.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell's office has released documents about the Jevon McSkimming report. The IPCA said it did not make findings about the truth of the allegations against McSkimming. On November 10, the day before the report was released, the IPCA sent staff at police and in the Beehive a final press release. Among them was a template if accusations were made against the minister’s staff. The situation around the IPCA report and allegations against McSkimming caused outrage across the country.

The intersection of Princes St and South Rd beside the Oval in Dunedin looks set to be turned into a roundabout. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSHA new roundabout could be built beside the Oval in Dunedin next summer, as part of a proposed three-year programme of adjustments along Princes St. The work at the intersection of Princes St and South Rd, and connecting with Maitland St, is subject to confirmation by the Dunedin City Council. The three-year programme will start at the southern end of Princes St and finish at Moray Pl. The council said in 2023 a priority was to have one new signalised intersection in Princes St.

Households spending more than a third more on utility bills than they did a year ago do not have much money left for fun stuff, Kiwibank economists say. By Susan Edmunds of RNZThey have released new spending data, which shows a tough end to the year for shops, particularly fashion retail. The need for a fresh lick of paint or new furniture is often suggestive of increased housing market turnover. Even though we've seen the underlying details in the labour market showing some signs of strengthening, the average household only looks at that headline unemployment rate. She said it was also significant that the housing market was still soft because a lot of wealth was tied up in it.

As anyone with a mortgage will realise, these borrowers are wasting thousands in interest costs, which New Zealand borrowers do not. Aligning it with the fulltime minimum wage would put cash in the hands of all borrowers earning more than $24,128 – and anyone earning $48,800 and above would get nearly $3000 a year. Well, there are 504,000 New Zealand-based borrowers with outstanding student loans. Even if all of them earned over $60,000 (which they don’t), it would result in about $2.1 billion a year less being paid off in student loan balances. *Disclosure: I paid off my student loan years ago.

Eden Park says no complaints have been received from those requiring special assistance after last night's first Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo show. The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo's opening night at Eden Park drew about 25,000 punters. “As New Zealand’s national stadium and the country’s only venue capable of hosting crowds in excess of 50,000, Eden Park regularly delivers major international events at scale,” he said. Despite a history of touring New Zealand, the Tattoo has only ever been hosted in Wellington, making its three-stop tour of Eden Park unprecedented for Auckland. The second and third Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo shows will take place at Eden Park tonight and tomorrow.

Crowds gather to celebrate Auckland's Rainbow Parade last year. It’s as simple as that,” Woodcock said when asked about potential protesters, as seen at last year’s parade. It was all smiles on Ponsonby Rd at last year's Rainbow Parade. Destiny Church members disrupt the Rainbow Parade last year. Photo / Morgan HuffmanA group wearing T-shirts with words such as “Man-Up” and “Real Men” turned up to protest at the event.

File photo: Gregor RichardsonOtago Community Hospice is about to celebrate 40 years of working in palliative care and it is showing no signs of slowing down. The approach to hospice care had become more sophisticated, she said. The early years were defined by a passion for good care, Ms Green said. There have been a lot of changes in hospice care over the past 40 years, as attitudes towards it changed, Ms Green said. "I think that's probably the biggest change, is that it's less about a building and more about a package of services.

Photo: Peter McIntoshDunedin firefighters (from left) Simon Smith, Shane Melrose, Sam Shannon, Mark McEntyre and Danny Wassell take to the streets after walking off the job for the 12th time as part of ongoing industrial action. In August, the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) started nationwide industrial action after negotiations for a collective agreement with Fire and Emergency New Zealand failed. The talks centred on health and safety concerns, ageing equipment, staffing numbers and pay. NZPFU Dunedin secretary Senior Firefighter Mike Taylor said due to stalled talks, they were ramping up pressure and would increase their strikes to twice a week.