Audrey Young is the New Zealand Herald’s senior political correspondent. She was named Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards in 2023, 2020 and 2018.
OPINION
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Welcome to the Politics Briefing. We have a dilemma about election promises that breach the norm which the Auditor-General and the Waitangi Tribunal have shone a light on.
Voters rightly expect politicians to honour their election promises – although under MMP, there is a big in-built exemption because a party can drop its promise if a coalition partner objects in post-election negotiations. It can be a very convenient way to discard a promise that was easy to make on the hustings (such as National’s exemption of some agencies from spending cuts, or the foreign buyers’ tax).
The problem with this particular Government is that there were too few objections by partner parties. There was not a fine enough filter at the time of negotiations. Resources of government are not infinite, so it means the resources of this Government will be tied up for three years not only on policies that really matter, but also many policies that don’t matter much but made it into the Gospel – the coalition documents.
As we all know, policies not even supported by partners, such as the Treaty Principles Bill, got through. And a wave of policies aimed at Māori without any consultation were approved. Then there are rats-and-mice policies such as one manifested in an announcement yesterday in which Sport Minister Chris Bishop asked Sport NZ to review and update its Guiding Principles for the Inclusion of Transgender People in Community Sport. The principles are voluntary, are only two years old and Bishop expects the review will result in no fewer transgender people participating in sport. In short, it is a box-ticking exercise to satisfy a clause in the NZ First agreement that should not have got through.
Then there are the election promises that dish out cash, such as funding of specific drugs or funding of specific organisations. Such promises run counter to accepted practices for spending public money.
Auditor-General John Ryan highlighted one this week in a letter to the Director-General of Health, Diana Sarfati, concerning $24 million over four years allocated in the May Budget to Gumboot Friday/I Am Hope.
The organisation specialises in mental health services and was mentioned in National and NZ First’s election promises while they were in Opposition. It was therefore not surprising to see it get committed funding in the coalition agreement. But Ryan thinks health officials, who believed they had been directed by their minister, should have been explicit in their advice to the minister about flaws in the process.
Officials at the Ministry of Health have swallowed their medicine and acknowledged where their own processes could have been improved. Gallingly, however, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey has blamed his officials.
The Auditor-General has eschewed any criticism of the politicians or coalition agreements themselves, effectively saying they are out of bounds. That is letting them off the hook. Someone with independence and oversight should be telling the politicians why such promises are problematic to good practice. If not the Auditor-General, then who?
Former Press Gallery colleague Isaac Davison had a fascinating story yesterday (see below) after talking to two doctors who had been on the ongoing independent committee reviewing the assisted dying law. They went public with some of their concerns about some cases, including a lack of information provided by the Ministry of Health. They were also curious as to why there were more cases in rural areas. Both have been rejected for another term of oversight on the committee.
The operation of the act is under a statutory review at present but is being conducted by the Ministry of Health. Given concerns raised about the ministry itself, its review may need special scrutiny when it is released to see if the issues raised by the whistleblowers are addressed.
“Dunedin will get a great hospital for $1.9 billion... we will look at all options to make sure we can build a kick-arse hospital down south” – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon talking to Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB this week.
Helmut Modlik, who debated David Seymour this week on the Treaty Principles Bill, is the chief executive of which iwi’s rūnanga? (Answer below.)
Goes to Elon Musk for joking with Tucker Carlson about the low possibility of Kamala Harris being assassinated. Carlson called her a marionette and Musk said no one tries to assassinate a puppet. “She’s safe.” It was in a video interview for X (formerly Twitter).
Goes to health ministers Shane Reti and Casey Costello for yesterday announcing a $1 million immunisation training programme for Whānau Āwhina Plunket staff – although many of us thought that had been its core business for decades.
Assisted dying: Two members of a committee tasked with ensuring assisted deaths complied with the law have raised serious concerns about the oversight process.
Summit networking: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has locked in a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Laos.
Health shakeup: Newly released documents reveal key details about the Government’s dramatic intervention in Health NZ.
Charity funding: The Auditor-General has criticised the Government’s “unusual and inconsistent” procurement process in giving $24 million to Mike King’s Gumboot Friday initiative.
Prison expansion: The Government’s new fast-track project list includes a proposal to almost double the capacity of Auckland Prison.
Fast-track projects: Roads, mines, housing developments and a major revamp of Eden Park are among the 149 projects included in the Government’s controversial fast-track approvals legislation.
Conflicts of interest: The disclosure of the 149 projects that could be granted fast-track approval has thrown the spotlight on how ministers dealt with potential conflicts of interest.
Shane Jones profile: “There was a sense from Winston that he didn’t really want a 65-year-old larrikin” - Cabinet Minister Shane Jones on behaving better, Māori sovereignty and what nearly sent him broke.
Quiz answer: Ngāti Toa – based in Porirua and the top of the South Island.
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Expectations tempered around return to surplus in 2027/28.