New Zealand political discussion thread

[Pericles]

The poll graphics above don't seem to be showing.

These are the numbers I posted:
Party vote
Labour-35.9% (down 2.1% from the last poll)
National-35.3% (down 1.3%)
ACT-10.8% (up 0.1%)
Green-8.1% (no change)
Maori-3.5% (up 1.7%)

Preferred Prime Minister
Hipkins-23.4% (up 3.8%)
Luxon-16.4% (down 2.4%)

In/out of touch (Luxon)
Out of touch-47.0%
In touch-37.2%

[Pericles]

The budget was released today. It was a good budget but pretty normal. It made public transport permantely half-price for under 25s, got rid of prescription fees and expanded childcare subsidies. The economic forecasts (while often useless) are good, inflation is predicted to return to 1-3% next year and we might avoid a recession (tourism and high immigration might save us). For a lot of people, there isn't much though to ease the immediate cost of living pressures, and there are many areas that did not get much help from the budget. It was not a splash the cash budget, but that might have gone down badly with inflation so high. There were no significant tax changes, and it's unclear if Labour will risk including them in their manifesto.

Politically though, this is the top headline in the news, so that's good news for the Government.

[Pericles]

New Zealand is in recession, with a 0.1% decline in GDP in the first quarter of 2023. This is technical and the economy seems to be doing ok with unemployment not having risen yet. It looks like the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle made the difference. Politically, the symbolic difference between a 0.1% fall and a 0.1% increase is a big boost for the National and ACT opposition. It remains to be seen what effect this has on people's actual living standards though.

[Pericles]

Transport Minister Michael Wood has been forced to resign due to having undisclosed conflicts of interests due to shares he held in Auckland Airport, telecommunications companies and the National Australia Bank. It's a real shame, he was one of Labour's most capable ministers and even rumoured as a potential leadership candidate. Hipkins has acted decisively, but it has been a rough few months for the government with distracting scandals (scandals by NZ standards, not real sleaze lol).

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Really astoundingly dumb conduct from an otherwise competent minister. Advised six times to sell, doesn’t do it, acts shocked when it’s public then guarantees his demise by not dealing with other shares.

Such poor political judgment kills any leadership ambitions, and getting back into cabinet could be a struggle.

[Pericles]

Really astoundingly dumb conduct from an otherwise competent minister. Advised six times to sell, doesn’t do it, acts shocked when it’s public then guarantees his demise by not dealing with other shares.

Such poor political judgment kills any leadership ambitions, and getting back into cabinet could be a struggle.

Twelve times actually. It's baffling, yeah. He has a good reputation otherwise so it isn't career-ending imo, maybe he's even better off not taking the leadership for a few years. Obviously damaging both to him and potentially to the government though.

[Pericles]

New Zealand and EU sign free trade agreement

This is great news for us, and is projected to result in a $1.8 billion a year boost to our economy. Well done to the government for getting this over the line. Admittedly, the effect won't be immediate as the EU still needs to ratify it though. Prime Minister Hipkins will also be attending the NATO summit in Vilnius (after Jacinda last year, only the second time a NZ PM has attended) and we are moving closer to them, but there are no immediate plans for a military alliance.

[NewYorkExpress]

Justice Minister Kiri Allan resigned after being criminally charged in a car crash in Wellington.

New Zealand's Justice Minister, Kiri Allan, resigned Monday after police charged her with reckless driving.

Allan was involved in a car crash on Sunday in the capital city Wellington, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said.

She was detained at the central police station and released four hours later.

Police have charged her with careless use of a motor vehicle, as well as refusing to accompany a police officer.

She was handed an infringement notice after breath analyzers detected excess alcohol content.

[Pericles]

In some lighter news, Wayne Brown is at it again.


He did another one in a week too, and got it handed back to him. Love this dig at him from Gore!

[MaxQue]

In some lighter news, Wayne Brown is at it again.


He did another one in a week too, and got it handed back to him. Love this dig at him from Gore!

Is he getting re-elected?

[Pericles]

This is the first week of the new National-ACT-NZ First coalition government.

Moving discussion of the new government to this thread, now that the election is over. The first item on the agenda is the mini-budget that the new Finance Minister Nicola Willis has promised to bring in before Christmas, which aims to cut the size of government agencies by 6.5% (supposedly only the 'back office'). Winston Peters has dominated the news by accusing the media of being bribed by the previous government for receiving a Covid support fund that was authorised when he was Jacinda Ardern's Deputy PM. The unexpected repeal of Labour's smokefree legislation has also gained attention, with concern from the health sector though it does give Willis billions more to play with (which was the motivator). Labour has also reshuffled its frontbench, those who didn't lose their seats largely kept the same rankings they had pre-election.

[Pericles]

The new Finance Minister Nicola Willis gave us her second lewd gaffe of the year when she declared "What New Zealanders care about is the size of the sausage, not how it’s delivered." That at least brought the whole House together in laughter.

Her mini-budget was not so funny though. The government clearly showed its priorties by giving property investors a tax cut now and paying for it by diverting climate funding and slashing infrastructure funding like Wellington light rail and new Interislander ferries. Actual cost of living relief, assuming their tax cuts count, isn't coming until the middle of next year.

The government hasn't had much of a honeymoon, but to be fair its controversial policies like switching department names to English and restoring oil and gas exploration were all promised before the election. The NZ economy hopefully will have a better year next year, but is still experiencing the same economic problems as most countries as growth remains low with a risk of a double-dip recession, and inflation is also sticky at 5.6%.

[CumbrianLefty]

The new government not having so much of a honeymoon rather suggests to me that the last election was a winnable one for Labour, and it was a case of them losing it rather than National winning it.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

The coalition is really the first in NZ's MMP history with a (relatively) united policy agenda, so once the cabinet seats were meted out they've clearly calculated to move fast and break things now, get every unpopular decision out of the way so they can settle down and be ready for the 2026 election cycle. It helps that unlike Rogernomics and Ruthanasia "NACTZF" can truthfully say the people voted for this, they haven't been deceived or swindled by false promises.

[Cassius]

Can’t really understand how switching department names back to English in an overwhelmingly English speaking country could be controversial amongst ordinary Pākehā people could be controversial, but that’s just me.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Can’t really understand how switching department names back to English in an overwhelmingly English speaking country could be controversial amongst ordinary Pākehā people could be controversial, but that’s just me.

Not dissimilar to how the overwhelmingly English speaking Ireland and Wales still support language revival efforts. Many people like the idea of having some unique culture to differentiate from the Anglo roots.

[Pericles]

Auckland light rail has been officially cancelled

A gutting decision that locks in future congestion and car dependency for our largest city. It also is embarassing for Labour that they were working on this for 6 years and failed to even get contracts signed and construction underway. The lack of easy public transport from the airport to the CBD, through densely populated and growing suburbs, is a disgrace. New Zealand continues to lag behind actually strong public transport networks in Europe and Asia, with dumb American-style urban planning.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Auckland light rail has been officially cancelled

A gutting decision that locks in future congestion and car dependency for our largest city. It also is embarassing for Labour that they were working on this for 6 years and failed to even get contracts signed and construction underway. The lack of easy public transport from the airport to the CBD, through densely populated and growing suburbs, is a disgrace. New Zealand continues to lag behind actually strong public transport networks in Europe and Asia, with dumb American-style urban planning.

Let's be clear here -  this is 100% Phil Twyford's fault. It was all ready to begin construction in Q4 2018 (and would be up and running by now!) if he hadn't been hoodwinked by the scam the Quebecois pension fund cooked up with NZ Super.
Then to top it off Michael Wood got obsessed with tunnelled because as the local member for Mt Roskill he was far too influenced and biased by complaints of local nimbys and business owners. Which blew out the budget from 6 billion to 14 billion.

[Pericles]

Auckland light rail has been officially cancelled

A gutting decision that locks in future congestion and car dependency for our largest city. It also is embarassing for Labour that they were working on this for 6 years and failed to even get contracts signed and construction underway. The lack of easy public transport from the airport to the CBD, through densely populated and growing suburbs, is a disgrace. New Zealand continues to lag behind actually strong public transport networks in Europe and Asia, with dumb American-style urban planning.

Let's be clear here -  this is 100% Phil Twyford's fault. It was all ready to begin construction in Q4 2018 (and would be up and running by now!) if he hadn't been hoodwinked by the scam the Quebecois pension fund cooked up with NZ Super.
Then to top it off Michael Wood got obsessed with tunnelled because as the local member for Mt Roskill he was far too influenced and biased by complaints of local nimbys and business owners. Which blew out the budget from 6 billion to 14 billion.

As I said, both parties are at fault. Simeon is the one who has cancelled this and other public transport projects, someone who clearly thinks Transport Minister is just Minister for Roads. While National is reflexively anti-public transport, Labour wasted time and money rather than taking the opportunity to actually improve the network.

This is a prime example of Labour's failed 'delivery' of promises that hurt their credibility.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Auckland light rail has been officially cancelled

A gutting decision that locks in future congestion and car dependency for our largest city. It also is embarassing for Labour that they were working on this for 6 years and failed to even get contracts signed and construction underway. The lack of easy public transport from the airport to the CBD, through densely populated and growing suburbs, is a disgrace. New Zealand continues to lag behind actually strong public transport networks in Europe and Asia, with dumb American-style urban planning.

Let's be clear here -  this is 100% Phil Twyford's fault. It was all ready to begin construction in Q4 2018 (and would be up and running by now!) if he hadn't been hoodwinked by the scam the Quebecois pension fund cooked up with NZ Super.
Then to top it off Michael Wood got obsessed with tunnelled because as the local member for Mt Roskill he was far too influenced and biased by complaints of local nimbys and business owners. Which blew out the budget from 6 billion to 14 billion.

As I said, both parties are at fault. Simeon is the one who has cancelled this and other public transport projects, someone who clearly thinks Transport Minister is just Minister for Roads. While National is reflexively anti-public transport, Labour wasted time and money rather than taking the opportunity to actually improve the network.

This is a prime example of Labour's failed 'delivery' of promises that hurt their credibility.

I imagine the Nationals will parrot the $228 million (!!!) spent on the project without a single contract signed for years to come. A shining example of Labor’s expensive failed delivery.

[Pericles]

Chloe Swarbrick set to replace resigning James Shaw as Green Party co-leader

Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick has announced she will run for the Green Party’s leadership.

Swarbrick confirmed she would contest the co-leadership position from Parliament today, saying that in the three days since James Shaw announced he was stepping down from the role, people had asked her to put her name forward for it.

“I’m stepping up,” Swarbrick said, after acknowledging she’s had conversations with all of her caucus alongside family and friends.

Swarbrick is the only declared candidate so far. Green MP Julie Anne Genter, who ran for the co-leadership in 2018 confirmed to the Herald, she would not be running. Other members of caucus had not put their hands up.

The co-leadership is decided by Green Party members. By convention, MPs do not say who they are supporting or endorse particular candidates.

She promised to grow the Green Party and revealed her ultimate goal: “the nation’s first Green-led government.”

“I am a proud member of the Green Party. More than any other party we understand that there is far greater leadership out there in the community than there is in the so-called halls of power. I am here to serve my communities. Over the past three days, they have asked me to stand up and put myself forward for this role,” Swarbrick said.

Swarbrick noted her wins in Auckland Central and other electorate wins in the latest election as examples of the party’s achievements, and that “bad things happen when good people stand idly by.”

She's a talented politician, who has long been hyped as a future party leader. She is more of an activist than Shaw, but that there are pros and cons to it. As a 29 year old she fits the party's target demographic, but her two electorate wins in Auckland Central (which National held from 2008-2020) show she isn't toxic to the general public. I'd already expect Green support to surge with them having done well in the election and Labour sinking into opposition, but this probably pushes ahead a poll-based panic within Labour.

[Sestak]

Chloe Swarbrick set to replace resigning James Shaw as Green Party co-leader

Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick has announced she will run for the Green Party’s leadership.

Swarbrick confirmed she would contest the co-leadership position from Parliament today, saying that in the three days since James Shaw announced he was stepping down from the role, people had asked her to put her name forward for it.

“I’m stepping up,” Swarbrick said, after acknowledging she’s had conversations with all of her caucus alongside family and friends.

Swarbrick is the only declared candidate so far. Green MP Julie Anne Genter, who ran for the co-leadership in 2018 confirmed to the Herald, she would not be running. Other members of caucus had not put their hands up.

The co-leadership is decided by Green Party members. By convention, MPs do not say who they are supporting or endorse particular candidates.

She promised to grow the Green Party and revealed her ultimate goal: “the nation’s first Green-led government.”

“I am a proud member of the Green Party. More than any other party we understand that there is far greater leadership out there in the community than there is in the so-called halls of power. I am here to serve my communities. Over the past three days, they have asked me to stand up and put myself forward for this role,” Swarbrick said.

Swarbrick noted her wins in Auckland Central and other electorate wins in the latest election as examples of the party’s achievements, and that “bad things happen when good people stand idly by.”

She's a talented politician, who has long been hyped as a future party leader. She is more of an activist than Shaw, but that there are pros and cons to it. As a 29 year old she fits the party's target demographic, but her two electorate wins in Auckland Central (which National held from 2008-2020) show she isn't toxic to the general public. I'd already expect Green support to surge with them having done well in the election and Labour sinking into opposition, but this probably pushes ahead a poll-based panic within Labour.

This one could be seen coming from light-years away, yes. I am, curious, though -  I thought the Green's co-leadership was split by gender as a matter of rule, yet she's replacing Shaw?

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Chloe Swarbrick set to replace resigning James Shaw as Green Party co-leader

Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick has announced she will run for the Green Party’s leadership.

Swarbrick confirmed she would contest the co-leadership position from Parliament today, saying that in the three days since James Shaw announced he was stepping down from the role, people had asked her to put her name forward for it.

“I’m stepping up,” Swarbrick said, after acknowledging she’s had conversations with all of her caucus alongside family and friends.

Swarbrick is the only declared candidate so far. Green MP Julie Anne Genter, who ran for the co-leadership in 2018 confirmed to the Herald, she would not be running. Other members of caucus had not put their hands up.

The co-leadership is decided by Green Party members. By convention, MPs do not say who they are supporting or endorse particular candidates.

She promised to grow the Green Party and revealed her ultimate goal: “the nation’s first Green-led government.”

“I am a proud member of the Green Party. More than any other party we understand that there is far greater leadership out there in the community than there is in the so-called halls of power. I am here to serve my communities. Over the past three days, they have asked me to stand up and put myself forward for this role,” Swarbrick said.

Swarbrick noted her wins in Auckland Central and other electorate wins in the latest election as examples of the party’s achievements, and that “bad things happen when good people stand idly by.”

She's a talented politician, who has long been hyped as a future party leader. She is more of an activist than Shaw, but that there are pros and cons to it. As a 29 year old she fits the party's target demographic, but her two electorate wins in Auckland Central (which National held from 2008-2020) show she isn't toxic to the general public. I'd already expect Green support to surge with them having done well in the election and Labour sinking into opposition, but this probably pushes ahead a poll-based panic within Labour.

This one could be seen coming from light-years away, yes. I am, curious, though -  I thought the Green's co-leadership was split by gender as a matter of rule, yet she's replacing Shaw?

Before the last election they changed it to enhance progessivity, now requiring requiring one woman and one person of any gender, and a requirement that one must be Māori. This is how Marama Davidson is somehow still relevant in spite of her foot in mouth syndrome and hilariously ineffectual term as minister.

[Pericles]

Obviously James and Chloe would be an amazing team. It's partly just bad luck that he has already done 9 years as leader, and partly that he is not as popular with the Green base-his pragmatic image maybe gives off a vibe of him being an effective Labour MP.

[Pericles]

Luxon claiming $52,000 taxpayer allowance to live in apartment he owns

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is claiming $52,000 - provided by taxpayers - for his mortgage-free apartment in Wellington, while leaving Premier House vacant.

A spokesperson for Luxon today confirmed the prime minister was claiming the expense, which is an annual payment and on top of his $471,000 salary for the top job.

Premier House is the official residence for the Prime Minister of New Zealand but has been in a deteriorating state of repair for many years, most prime ministers avoiding renovations in part due to fear of negative press about it.

The spokesperson said Luxon's expense claim for his Wellington home was "in accordance with the rules".

He said the Premier House Board Report suggested Premier House required "a significant amount of work".

"So the Prime Minister is considering that before making any decisions around residing there."

Luxon is the first prime minister in at least 34 years to claim the expense, with many former prime ministers residing in Premier House while in Wellington.

I'm not sure if this will get cut-through, but personally I find this insulting as a taxpayer and it makes him look really bad. Every day practically there's news about some new government spending that is getting cut, typically not spending benefiting millionaires like him either.