On the Tiles: Three Waters, political resets and retirements, and how the finances are looking

Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark has hinted at a possible retirement announcement coming next week. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The year is nearly over but that’s not slowing things down at the Beehive.

This week, the Water Services Entities Bill - one the three bills needed to implement the Government’s Three Waters plan - passed its third reading after weeks of controversy over an entrenchment clause that would have made it more difficult for future parliaments to alter the law.

The bill passed solely by Labour’s majority, as the Greens and Te Pāti Maori joined National and Act in opposition to the proposals.

It was another blow to the Government after a rough week, which started with a backdown over the entrenchment clause, back and forth over how the clause made it through Cabinet, and a “trainwreck” interview between Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson and Q&A’s Jack Tame over the TVNZ-RNZ merger.

The stream of bad news, topped off with a 1News Kantar poll which showed National and Act could comfortably govern on their own, saw Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern flag in her end of year interviews that a Cabinet reshuffle will come at the start of 2023, alongside a reprioritisation of spending priorities which could see some more unpopular policies dropped. She also reiterated that the Government will focus on addressing the cost of living crisis on a “rolling basis”, with a focus on tax credits over tax cuts she describes as being inflationary.

In amongst this, several Labour MPs are expected to announce retirement plans next week that could provide a chance for other talent in the party to come forwards.

For this week’s episode of On the Tiles, the New Zealand Herald’s politics podcast, deputy political editor Thomas Coughlan is joined this week by NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny and Newsroom political editor Jo Moir to discuss a packed week of politics. They discuss which MPs are likely to retire and what it could mean for the industries and portfolios they represent, the upcoming Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update coming out next week, the Prime Minister’s end of year interviews, and what went on in the Three Waters constitutional mess - including how one article Moir wrote may be responsible for it all.

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