Gone By Lunchtime: Really, really, really urgent
The shock pay equity reform, a curious social media ban bill, and the lessons of Australia and the Trump effect.
An overhaul of the pay equity process has been whisked through parliament under urgency in little over 24 hours. The changes, which tighten the criteria for making a claim for workers in female-dominated sectors and summarily halt 33 existing claims in the pipeline, have prompted a major backlash, in part for their substance and in part for the decision to push the reform through without the usual consultation under a select committee process or regulatory impact statement.
In a new episode of our politics podcast Gone By Lunchtime, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire discuss the unexpected announcement, the rationale for urgency, and whether it's too cynical to suspect the urgency might in truth be motivated by a a tricky budget a fortnight away, with suggestions these changes could save $10 billion over four years. And what of the response – is National risking the gains it has made among women voters?
Also on the pod: at around the same time the pay equity changes were announced, Christopher Luxon was enthusiastically backing another bill that would follow Australia in banning social media for under-16s. This wasn't government legislation, however, but a member's bill. What is with the surge in these bills as mechanisms for party campaigning? What is the polling telling politicians about young people and social media? And does Luxon know he's the prime minister?
Plus: Australians have returned Labor and Albanese to power in what is being called a 'bloodbath', hot on the heels of Mark Carney's big comeback in Canada. How big is the Trump effect, is it good news for the left or good news for incumbents, and how might New Zealand politicians look to seize upon the Trumpy moment?
Follow Gone By Lunchtime on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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Trump threatened on Thursday to go after Musk's business empire. "The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts," Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social. "I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it!" SpaceX, Musk's privately held space company, relies heavily on federal contracts, especially from NASA. SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet recently won business from the Federal Aviation Administration to help the agency upgrade networks used to manage US airspace. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, founder of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute, said the lesson is not about chief executives taking political positions. "The lesson here is that there is no honour among thieves. These are two mob bosses that have had a parting of ways. And now they are going to take each other down," Sonnenfeld told CNN. Harvard Business School's George noted that Musk and Trump had been acting like "best bros" just days earlier. "The lesson here is that you can either work in government or run your business," George said. "But you can't do both." - CNN
