A quiet revolution in capital and control

Barbara Edmonds pledged spending restraint when she took to the stage at the Labour Party conference on Saturday. (Image: BusinessDesk)

Dileepa Fonseka

Mon, 01 Dec 2025

When Barbara Edmonds stood up at Labour’s conference on Saturday and said New Zealand “can’t pay for everything”, she was doing more than lowering expectations for the political left.She was joining a small but growing group of politicians telling business, investors and voters that the era of easy promises is over.A few weeks earlier, Transport Minister Chris Bishop gave a similar exhortation to realism, this time over the Government’s proposed roads of national significance.“The Government is committed to t...

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