Inflation, crime clouds
burgled recently. The clouds parted as Ardern arrived at the southern Victoria St site of the new Waikato Regional Theatre.
The project has received $12 million of Provincial Growth Fund support and was visited by Ardern a little less than a year ago when she turned the sod.
Visible yesterday was the concrete raft foundation upon which the $76.3m theatre will sit and the remnants of a beer cellar unearthed during excavations.
After Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr’s announcement on Wednesday that the central bank would increase the official cash rate by 75 basis points to 4.25%,
Ardern stopped short of warning Kiwis not to spend up big in the lead-up to Christmas.
‘‘Individual families will be making their own choices.
‘‘Our job is to support them through what is an internationally turbulent time.’’
A perfect storm of inflation, an engineered recession and interest rate hikes could prove bruising for a Labour Government coming into a by-election in which they are the incumbent.
Waiting for Ardern outside, it