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Welcome to Inside Politics.
The competition between New Zealand First and Act is beginning to intensify.
It is easier when they are poles apart, as they were earlier this week on the partial lifting of the ban on foreigners buying houses.
Act never thought there should be restrictions in the first place, and NZ First has been persuaded to relax its complete opposition to such sales to land at a more sensible position of allowing investors to buy a high-end house worth more than $5 million.
It gets more difficult when Act and NZ First are on the same side of an issue, as has been the case with a lot of Treaty of Waitangi policy so far this term, and with the latest move by both parties to question New Zealand’s commitment to the Paris climate accord. That is when they push themselves to extremes to outdo each other.
And that is when it would be in National and Labour’s interests to join forces and co-operate more.
NZ First is holding its annual convention this weekend in Palmerston North, and one of the more interesting things to observe will be the role Shane Jones plays. He is playing an out-sized role at present, holding a series of packed public meetings around the country and carving a niche for himself as the unapologetic advocate for development, industry and intervention by Government where needed.
In that sense, it is the polar opposite of Act. Jones is often mistaken for the deputy leader of NZ First. He isn’t, but it is about time that Winston Peters recognised Jones’ contribution and formally recognised him as the heir apparent.
The psychological warfare of the Tāmaki Makaurau byelection has been in play this past week. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says Labour list MP Peeni Henare should hose in when the votes are counted on Saturday. It’s not that he really thinks Henare will or should win, but he wants Labour to appear as though it has failed, even if it scrapes in.
Henare’s chief rival, Oriini Kaipara of Te Pāti Māori, has gone overboard with her psychological warfare, suggesting he should be the Labour Party leader (it will never happen) and Prime Minister of New Zealand. The fact that she said those other responsibilities were why he didn’t need the added work of being an electorate MP may have been lost in the fine print. It just sounded like a big endorsement of Henare by her.
Before that, I would have put her in front, on the basis that he is already in Parliament.
Apart from Kaipara’s trainwreck of an interview with Jack Tame last Sunday, where she had a brain-fade about policies Te Pāti Māori had “repealed”, she has run a good campaign at short notice. Henare’s campaign has shown him to be the gentleman that he is, backed up by a big party apparatus. It may be closer, but I’d still be surprised if he won.
Despite being in Australia, Finance Minister Nicola Willis did not escape fallout this week from the Reserve Bank resignations, and she is likely to come under pressure from Labour when the House resumes next week. As colleague Jenee Tibshraeny pointed out in a hard-hitting critique, Willis raised no objection to misleading statements that bank chairman Neil Quigley initially gave about the resignation of former governor Adrian Orr.
Admittedly, it must have been difficult for Willis to appear above the employment dispute while knowing she was in the thick of it with significantly less funding than Orr wanted. Reading between the lines of a Treasury minute, Orr lost his cool at a pre-Budget meeting involving them all over the bank’s funding. It now transpires that Willis (perfectly legitimately) asked Treasury to make a minute of the meeting – a minute that Quigley thought should not have been taken or released.
But Willis wanted to draw a line under the sorry saga and clearly sought Quigley’s resignation last week. She went as far as saying she would have fired him if he had not resigned.
Willis has been in Canberra for the past couple of days attending the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum with her Australian counterpart, Jim Chalmers. Other New Zealand ministers attending were Trade Minister Todd McClay, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts, and Associate Defence Minister Chris Penk.
It was with the backdrop of transtasman co-operation that Australia’s leading neo-Nazi, Thomas Sewell, was making headlines. He was born in New Zealand but raised in Australia. His ugly behaviour in Melbourne in the past week has brought him before the courts. A petition to deport him to New Zealand is gaining support.
Sky TV host Andrew Bolt had the audacity this week to suggest that Australia ends up with the worst New Zealanders. We know how you feel, Andrew. Two words: Brenton Tarrant.
• It was a very family-friendly affair when the Prime Minister hosted drinks for the press gallery last night in the Beehive. Among the early arrivals were a couple of babies accompanied by their mothers: RNZ political editor Jo Moir, with Lily, and Three News senior political correspondent Jenna Lynch, with Eddie. Both mums are on parental leave at present. The PM spent a decent amount of time catching up with them and meeting their very well-behaved kids.
• As I was watching the brilliant finale of the secondary schools’ choral extravaganza, The Big Sing, at the weekend (you can watch it on YouTube here), I was thinking what a pity it was that there was no political angle so I could give it a plug here. I thought too soon, however, because who should pop up on screen to present the final prize for the biggest audience impact but the MP for Nelson, Rachel Boyack, a chorister from way back. She is also Labour’s arts spokeswoman. She gave the prize to the group Voicemale, from Westlake Boys’ High School, for their exuberant performance of An Old-Fashioned Song. Boyack, by the way, is one of those MPs who rarely make headlines, but just gets on with the job competently.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith reins himself in on Newstalk ZB after a judge returns a gang patch to a Mongrel Mob member: “I can’t comment on that, I’m not going to comment on that, so I’ll just stop talking before I do.”
Which leader said this yesterday on social media: “Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against the United States of America”? (Answer at the bottom of this newsletter.)
Goes to Orakei board member Troy Churton for pretending to shoot MP Paul Goldsmith in the back of the head with his fingers at a meeting on housing, and environmentalist Mike Joy, who joked on LinkedIn about hanging dairy industry CEOs. It’s not okay, not even to pretend.
Goes to Louise Upston, the Minister for Disability Issues, who has come up with a fair system for support funding for disabled people that will give flexibility to families and fiscal discipline for taxpayers. A job well done.
Auckland development: ‘This is urgent’: Seymour to face off with council, Bishop over changes to Auckland plan
Opinion – Auckland development: Simon Wilson: The new housing density rules – inside the Mt Eden shootout
Homelessness: Emergency housing grants plummet, more homeless turned away under new hard-line policy
ED wait times: Leaked data shows major hospitals failing emergency department wait-time targets
Foreign buyer change: NZ First leader Winston Peters denies loosening foreign buyer ban, expects party supporters will back them
Airline loans: Govt announces $30m loans to small airlines to support regional routes, approves funding for interlining
Tāmaki Makaurau byelection: ‘A surreal experience’ – Oriini Kaipara on going up against ‘Goliath’ Peeni Henare for the Tāmaki Makaurau seat
Tāmaki Makaurau byelection: A day on the campaign trail with Labour’s Peeni Henare
Climate deal: Act calls for NZ to leave Paris climate agreement without ‘realistic targets’
New ferries: Shipbuilder selected for two new Cook Strait ferries
Opinion – Orr resignation: Jenee Tibshraeny: Willis shouldn’t have delayed crackdown on Reserve Bank board
Orr resignation: Willis denies RBNZ cover-up; insists she pushed for transparency
Van Velden controversy: PM asked Attorney-General to warn Cabinet after Brooke van Velden’s controversial ERA comments
Political perk: National, Labour earn $200k+ from renting offices to Parliament, Christopher Luxon personally benefits
Quiz answer: US President Donald Trump to President Xi Jinping of China.
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