Climate policies burn on the bread and butter bonfire

Chris Hipkins won media plaudits for his political strategy after scrapping or deferring some of Labour's policy in his latest policy bonfire, including ones to reduce emissions. But a poll released just hours after his announcement showed voters want more climate action, not less. Chris Hipkins won media plaudits for his political strategy after scrapping or deferring some of Labour's policy in his latest policy bonfire, including ones to reduce emissions. But a poll released just hours after his announcement showed voters want more climate action, not less. Prime minister Chris Hipkins was well-prepared when a journalist at his post-Cabinet press briefing asked about the actual cost of bread and butter."If you go to Pak 'n' Save in Upper Hutt to buy a loaf of Molenberg toast bread, you'd be paying around $4, maybe $4.50. If you're looking for a block of butter, it'd be around $7. Can I give you others? Two litres of milk: you might be paying around $4.50 for two litres of milk, depending on whether you're buying a branded version or a no frills version," he said."I do my own shopping so I can tell you these things,"Hipkins was getting that 'gotcha' question because wheat and dairy products have been - at least metaphorically - a kind of north star for his government's policy agenda.When he announced his Cabinet, the press release said it would be focused on bread and butter issues. When he announced a cost of living package, it was bread and butter support. The relentless focus on supermarket staples hasn't pleased everyone, especially in the media. "These constant references to 'bread and butter issues' from the government are going to turn me into a coeliac... Come up with a new line! Please, I cannot hear this 100 more times between now and the election," Newsroom's national affairs editor Sam Sachdeva pleaded on Twitter.It's a credit to Sachdeva's optimism that he only believes he'll hear those words one hundred more times before the election.Saying "bread and butter" is Hipkins' bread and butter. The phrase has come up seven times in this article alone.But bread and butter isn't the only catchphrase getting repeated in the media this week. On Monday, Hipkins ditched a second tranche of government initiatives, including a so-called cash for clunkers car scheme, in what he dubbed a policy "reprioritisation".The media however has found a much more exciting name.1News described it as a "second policy bonfire with eight casualties".Newshub went further, saying the "bonfire of the policies has grown into a towering inferno"…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details