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. Some MPs spend parliamentary recesses catching up on electorate work and/or recharging their batteries, but this week’s recess has been used by the Government for some significant announcements, ready to roll out as soon as the Olympics was over.
They were trumped only by the Reserve Bank’s announcement yesterday that interest rate relief is on the way with a cut in the Official Cash Rate (OCR) – although it was such a volte-face on its May projections that, as Jenée Tibshraeny put it, it caused whiplash.
Disabilities Minister Louise Upston this morning revealed that the sorry state of Whaikaha – the Ministry of Disabled People will see it lose the ability to deliver services, which will be transferred to the Ministry of Social Development (MSD). Whaikaha will become more focused on policy and advocacy as a stand-alone agency.
In other announcements, we’ve seen Simeon Brown pave the way for congestion charging in conjunction with councils in cities where traffic moves too slowly, and they should be operating before the next election.
It has been talked about for years. Brown is doing something about it, with the caveat that it must be accepted by the public. It has been fairly widely welcomed by the right, who like the concept of user pays, and the left, who want incentives to get people out of cars and on to bikes or public transport.
The objections will come once it is in place from the non-ideological low- and middle-income earners who must travel by car and have no flexibility about the timing of their journeys.
Earlier this week, Upston announced greater benefit sanctions for the unemployed who don’t do the basics required of them by the MSD. Sanctions will kick in when, for example, beneficiaries don’t make appointments with their case managers or miss job interviews.
The harshest penalty is a money management card. That will see half of a benefit loaded on to a card for essential spending only. No smokes or booze. It has been condemned as cruel and unfair. Upston makes the point that it is for people who don’t meet their basic obligations and there will be warnings first.
Judith Collins has announced the end of the highly restrictive regime preventing genetic editing and scientific research that is normal in most developed countries. That has been met with overwhelming approval by most and cautious reluctance by those who need a little more convincing that it might actually help New Zealand reduce its greenhouse gas emissions through special grasses and fodder and get rid of predators destroying native forests.
Tama Potaka has announced decisions around Te Arawhiti and Te Puni Kōkiri that will reverse the respective powers of the two agencies.
Te Arawhiti, which was the creation of Kelvin Davis in 2018, took over the work of the Office of Treaty Settlements and became an influential agency within government for managing Māori-Crown relationships across all of government, including post-settlement relationships.
I well remember the day Te Arawhiti was launched, with invited guest Titewhai Harawira sitting next to then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern around the Cabinet table where the ceremonies were conducted. Ardern’s deputy PM, Winston Peters, avoided conniptions by staying away that day.
The longstanding Ministry of Māori Development, Te Puni Kōkiri, fell down the pecking order as Labour gave Te Arawhiti the job of making the public service better Treaty of Waitangi partners. That power imbalance looks set to switch, although the full impact of the changes isn’t clear. Te Arawhiti will continue the work of Treaty settlements and foreshore and seabed claims, but that is effectively gutting its former roles and transferring its name to the old Office of Treaty Settlements.
Responsibility for post-settlement work will shift to Te Puni Kōkiri. It will have a monitoring role over other Crown agencies and, with its current role overseeing Whānau Ora and a possibly expanded role in social investment, it certainly looks set to supplant Te Arawhiti as the more important agency in dealings on contemporary matters. The knee-jerk response by Opposition parties may be to oppose the move. But Te Puni Kōkiri is better positioned as an operational/ delivery ministry that could be expanded further.
Meanwhile, Shane Jones has had an active recess, putting heat on big power companies over wholesale prices and kicking off the first of his 15 regional development summits at the top of the South Island, Tauihu.
However, it should not be forgotten that despite his railing against the market-based system set up by Max Bradford in the 1990s, New Zealand First was in Government at time, had the associate energy portfolio and gave it the green light.
Foreign Minister Peters has led a cross-party delegation to the North Pacific, visiting the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau.
“Whāea June was a little different to her two friends though. Mum and Ti, while glamorous and charming like Whāea June, could turn into UFC hitmen if the occasion warranted it.” – Labour MP Willie Jackson’s tribute to Dame June Mariu, better known as “Aunty June”, who died last week, comparing her style to that of his late mother, Dame June Jackson, and veteran activist the late Titewhai Harawira.
Which former MP has been appointed Crown manager to sort out the problems between Wairoa District Council and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council over flood protection work? (Answer below.)
Goes to Christopher Luxon for not knowing how much the unemployment benefit was, not even approximately, when asked yesterday by RNZ, and for suggesting on TVNZ that 4000 more MSD staff would become frontline phone case managers when, in fact, 4000 more jobseekers would get case managers.
Goes to the Herald’s Jenée Tibshraeny for asking Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr the direct question – had he been bluffing in May when he suggested a cut in the OCR might be a year away? Orr denied it, of course, but he may have been bluffing.
Disability shake-up: Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced changes to Whaikaha – the Ministry of Disabled People after a scathing review found it had “no controls” on exploding service costs.
Analysis – OCR cut: Amid the high-fives after the Reserve Bank’s surprise OCR cut yesterday, the cynics were reaching for the backs of their necks to soothe the whiplash, writes Jenée Tibshraeny.
Explainer – benefit changes: The Government has this week announced a new “traffic light” system for people receiving the Jobseeker benefit. Here’s what you need to know.
Congestion charges: The Government is introducing “time-of-use” charges on some of the country’s busiest roads, Transport Minister Simeon Brown has announced.
Opinion – Auckland transport: The Government has hinted that it may move to run transport in Auckland. That’s unlikely to go down well with Mayor Wayne Brown, writes Simon Wilson.
Death of Dame June Mariu: Māoridom is mourning after matriarch and advocate Dame Mabel June Hinekahukura Mariu DNZM QSM JP – better known as “Aunty June” – died, aged 92.
State house sales: Kāinga Ora sold 167 state houses between 2019 and the beginning of 2024, bringing in more than $80 million in sales.
Emergency housing: The number of households living in emergency housing has been reduced by a third in the last six months, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says.
Quiz answer: Lawrence Yule, a former National MP for Tukituki and a former Hastings Mayor.
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Minister Andrew Bayly sat down with Tom Raynel to discuss his 2024, and what comes next.