New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has denied accusations that her government has been soft on crime, saying that increased funding for the police had seen an increase in prosecutions. It comes after a 34-year-old worker, Janak Patel, of a local dairy store, otherwise known as a convenience store, was stabbed in an aggravated robbery…

New Zealand’s ACT Party Leader David Seymour said they would put work-ready Kiwis receiving welfare benefits under “income management” to encourage them to take up jobs. According to the Ministry of Social Development (pdf), of the 170,000 people receiving a Jobseeker Support benefit at the end of September, 98,900 were classified as “work ready.” Seymour…

New Zealand’s ACT Party has stood by its plan to use tracking ankle bracelets on youth offenders as young as 11 years old in response to escalating youth crime. In response to the Ardern government’s “Better Pathways” package announcement on Sept 6., ACT Leader David Seymour said the plan would fail because it lacked the…

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has raised the cash rate by 50 basis points to three percent and warned of risks associated with continued high levels of government spending. After inflation hit a 32-year high of 7.3 percent, the central bank made its fourth consecutive 50 points hike of the year, bringing the…