The issues facing the Government and Labour as politicians return for 2024 - The Front Page

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has brought a good mood and a message on discipline as the political year gets under way. Photo / Marty Melville

The Government is more than halfway through its first 100 days as politicians return from their summer breaks, leaving no time to lose to tick off everything promised in its ambitious 49-point agenda.

National is fresh from its caucus retreat last week where, as Herald deputy political editor Thomas Coughlan tells The Front Page, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon brought a good mood and a message on discipline.

“A large part of the caucus has never done the job before, they don’t know how to be an MP,” Coughlan said.

“So he’s just trying to instil that discipline message in them because obviously when you have a large caucus of new MPs, things can go a bit awry like the Gaurav Sharma situation last term.”

After being sworn in last year, Luxon revealed the Government’s 100-day Action Plan which he insisted would make a difference to people’s wallets as they continue to navigate the cost-of-living crunch.

Coughlan said the Government had until early March to get the 49 actions in the plan ticked off.

“They don’t have much time to do it. Fortunately, the plan looks sort of ambitious on the surface in terms of what it actually asks the Government to do but it’s probably less ambitious in substance.”

That’s because a lot of the plan is repealing legislation or introducing it to the House, Coughlan said.

The Government has already officially cancelled Auckland’s light rail project, the Let’s Get Wellington Moving transport plan, the Clean Car Discount, and Fair Pay Agreements.

One of the things left on the Government’s list is to repeal Labour’s controversial Three Waters legislation.

Coughlan said the first few weeks of the political year tend to be dominated by Māori issues due to Waitangi commemorations, Rātana, and this year Kīngi Tūheitia’s Hui-ā-Motu at Turangawaewae Marae over the weekend.

Luxon will attend Waitangi and could expect some protests given the Government’s agenda around renaming government departments, te reo Māori, and Treaty Principles legislation, Coughlan said.

Last week a leaked paper from the Ministry of Justice said the coalition Government’s proposed legislation to define the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi could be “highly contentious”.

Listen to the full episode to hear more from Thomas Coughlan about his bold prediction for the year and how Labour is settling into its new role in Opposition.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. This episode was presented by Georgina Campbell, a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.

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