Labour’s Barbara Edmonds breaks through pre-Budget noise; David MacLeod’s error will blight his political career - Audrey Young

OPINION

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.

This is a transcript of Audrey Young’s politics newsletter. To sign up for this newsletter or Friday’s subscriber-only Premium Politics Briefing, click here, choose your preferences and save. For a step-by-step guide, click here.

Welcome to the Politics Briefing in yet another week of pre-Budget speeches. Wake me up for the actual Budget on May 30, please. How many pre-Budget speeches can a single budget sustain? Nicola Willis gave one in the Hutt about two weeks ago and has another one in Auckland later this week.

Christopher Luxon has had one in Auckland but then gave another three at regional party conferences. Chris Hipkins effectively gave a pre-Budget speech on Saturday and the Green Party co-leaders gave their reckons yesterday on what will be bad about the Budget. And this morning Labour’s finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds has given her pre-Budget speech - although, to be fair, Edmonds’ speech was the best of them.

It included more of her back story - having been raised by a solo father after her mother died when Edmonds was 5. It included more of her work history in insurance and tax law as part of building her credentials to take on Willis, who is not yet a formidable Finance Minister but is definitely a formidable politician.

It is an important part of the job for Edmonds. She is known universally as an extremely nice woman but she needs a lot more than that. Edmonds aligned herself with the values of the late Sir Michael Cullen. He was initially viewed with suspicion by the Labour left but came to be much admired by them, not least for spending his surpluses on social policies such as Working for Families and KiwiSaver and resisting tax cuts until his last year in office.

She set out Cullen’s four criteria for tax cuts: they must not require borrowing; services should not be cut to fund them; they should not exacerbate inflationary pressures; and they should not lead to greater inequalities. Needless to say, on May 30 Edmonds will pronounce a fail on all four measures. She ended it by saying: “I do not have a a juicy soundbite on wealth tax or capital gains tax.”

Mistake or not, mud sticks

National's David MacLeod had been one of the 2023 intake’s most promising MPs.

In other news, New Plymouth MP David MacLeod has been sacked as chair of the Environment Select Committee and as a member of the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee for failing to declare 19 donations. He says it was down to an inadvertent error and a belief his recent declarations were for the 2023 year, not 2022 as well. That error will blight his career. MacLeod had been one of the 2023 intake’s most promising MPs as a former chair of Taranaki Regional Council and a former director of Fonterra and Port Taranaki.

China’s ambassador takes aim at Aukus

Meanwhile, China’s ambassador to New Zealand, Dr Wang Xiaolong, has joined the debate on whether New Zealand should sign up to pillar two of Aukus, a technology-sharing adjunct to the main deal, Aukus pillar one, in which the US and UK will supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines as a deterrence against military aggression and expansion by China.

It is fairly unusual practice for diplomats to join highly contested public debates in their host countries, but Wang is doing no more than following the example of British High Commissioner Iona Thomas, who last week spoke in defence of Aukus and, incredibly, declared it wasn’t an alliance. Wang spoke against it at the China Business Summit yesterday and described it as a military alliance.

“China has always respected the sovereignty of other countries, which naturally includes the making of their foreign policies. However, it is one thing for a country to develop relationships with countries that are not alike or even don’t like each other; it is quite another to join a military alliance openly targeting other countries. From the painful lessons of human history, military alliances are better at winning wars than keeping the peace.

“By binding others or even entire regions to the war chariot of countries seeking hegemony, military alliances tend to exacerbate confrontation and trigger, escalate and expand conflicts, rather than the contrary.”

Foreign Minister Winston Peters went ballistic a few weeks ago at former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Car for sticking his nose into New Zealand’s Aukus business. He has not offered an opinion on Thomas or Wang’s contributions to the debate, but he has been preoccupied getting Kiwis in strife-torn New Caledonia back to New Zealand.

Quote unquote

“These past few days are a reminder that while we often disagree, Parliament is itself a community of colleagues trying to find ways to make tomorrow better than today, and that starts with family, empathy, and humanity” – Act MP Mark Cameron thanks MPs across the House for their condolences on the death of his son, Brody.

Micro quiz

Who has just been appointed to chair the board of Kāinga Ora? (Answer below.)

Brickbat

Actor Will Alexander.

Goes to former Shortland Street actor Will Alexander, who says his hunger strike in protest against the Israel-Hamas war is a cause worth dying for. Not that way, it isn’t. How about getting out of bed, doing some fundraising and sending money to one of the aid agencies feeding genuinely starving people in Gaza?

Bouquet

Hāngi master Rewi Spraggon and chef Simon Peacock next to Government's House's new pit. Photo / Visa Wellington On a Plate

Goes to Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro for getting a hāngi pit built at Government House in Wellington for special occasions. A great idea. Hopefully it will be used when King Charles and Queen Camilla visit later in the year.

Latest political news and views

Donation drama: National’s New Plymouth MP David MacLeod has been stood down immediately from his select committee roles after failing to declare 19 candidate donations.

Kāinga Ora: The Government has embarked on a major shake-up of Kāinga Ora after a damning report into the public housing agency raised questions about its financial competence.

Budget: Labour’s finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds has warned New Zealanders to beware of “smoke and mirrors” in the coalition Government’s first Budget.

Aukus: China’s ambassador to New Zealand, Wang Xiaolong, has issued a warning to the Government as it weighs up joining pillar two of the Aukus agreement.

Bridges ticket: Simon Bridges received a 120km/h-plus speeding ticket in 2018 which he had to disclose to NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi before being appointed as its new chair.

Opinion: Tax will be top of the agenda as Labour members gather for a series of regional party conferences, writes Thomas Coughlan.

MP probe: The ongoing investigation into suspended Green MP Darleen Tana has cost taxpayers $43,000 so far.

Official hāngi pit: Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro has had a hāngi pit built at Government House.

Oranga Tamariki: Oranga Tamariki officials have delivered a scathing rebuke of the Government’s upcoming law change related to Māori children in care.

Homelessness: A new paper from the OECD has shown New Zealand has one of the highest rates of homelessness in the developed world.

Medications: Cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine are now back on pharmacy shelves.

Fiery speech: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon compared the Labour opposition to arsonists in a fire-heavy speech to supporters in Palmerston North.

Hipkins’ plan: Chris Hipkins has unveiled his vision for Labour up to the year 2040 at the first of the party’s regional conferences.

Genter confrontation: Green Party co-leader Chloe Swarbrick says MP Julie Anne Genter’s intimidating behaviour was not comparable to a previous case involving National’s Tim van de Molen.

Quiz answer: Simon Moutter, former CEO of Powerco, Auckland International Airport and Spark NZ. Former chair Vui Mark Gosche resigned in February.

For more political news and views, listen to On the Tiles, the Herald’s politics podcast.