This is a transcript of the Premium Politics newsletter. To sign up, click here, select “Inside Politics with Audrey Young” and save your preferences.
Welcome to Inside Politics.
Jim Bolger was a leader of substance, but one who was more appreciated after he was gone than when he was there. He presided over an era of great change to the New Zealand economy, electoral system, foreign policy settings, and Treaty of Waitangi settlements as Prime Minister from 1990 to 1997.
It is easy to forget just how contentious that change was at the time on all three fronts. His obituary (linked here and below), which was an absolute treat to write, sets out how difficult those historic times were and how his values shaped his politics.
There have already been some wonderful tributes paid to him and his wife, Joan, from former colleagues, including his nemesis Dame Jenny Shipley, former Finance Minister Ruth Richardson and former Prime Minister Sir John Key. There will be more today when the House sits at 2pm. The House is expected to forgo Question Time and rise early after the tributes to Bolger.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins abandoned plans for his first major economic policy release in Auckland and has headed back to Wellington. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will return early from a trip to Otago to lead the tributes.
Only two sitting MPs are veterans of the Bolger era: Speaker Gerry Brownlee, who was first elected in 1996, and NZ First leader Winston Peters, who was sacked by Bolger from the National Cabinet, then went on to become his Deputy Prime Minister.
Funeral plans will be announced later, when Mrs Bolger and the family have been consulted. By custom, state funerals are reserved for Prime Ministers who die in office and for sitting and former Governors-General. However, it is likely to have an official status, as befits such a statesman.
Bolger had been undergoing dialysis after kidney failure last year.
New MP Oriini Kaipara was not without fault in the events that led to Speaker Gerry Brownlee taking the drastic step of suspending Parliament a week ago, then announcing a review this week of the dress code, attendance record and leave provisions for MPs.
But it was almost certainly a culmination of events, including declining dress standards in the House, not just the length of her maiden speech, that led him to pull the plug.
As former Attorney-General Chris Finlayson put it last night on RNZ, “they’re a pretty scruffy bunch – half of them look as though they sleep in a haystack”.
Finlayson confessed he had tried to get rid of “casual Friday” when he chaired the Bell Gully law firm, because he took the view that it meant casual attitudes, which meant professional negligence. But the move was resisted.
Brownlee declared Kaipara’s failure to stick to the 15-minute time limit for her speech as “contemptuous”.
The trouble is that most Te Pāti Māori MPs would regard that as a compliment. But the failure was more of the co-leaders than Kaipara.
It was unrealistic to have expected her to have ended or edited her speech on her feet once Brownlee started ringing the bell on her – he did it three times. It was more unfair that the co-leaders put her in that position and allowed a celebration to be marred.
Another issue that may have grated on Brownlee was the fact that Kaipara chose to walk into the chamber barefoot for her swearing-in and her maiden speech an hour later. There is no rule that bans bare feet. It has simply not been an issue before. But nothing could illustrate the cultural clash better than going barefoot – a sign of disrespect for the traditions of the House, versus treating the debating chamber as a hallowed wharenui.
Brownlee’s tolerance at the start of the term was high. He has used humour to defuse many difficult situations and an increasing level of toxicity between Government and Opposition parties. But he has reached his limit.
“From this point I will more critically apply the limited measures available to a Speaker to ensure greater respect is shown from members, one to the other, and the dignity of the House and the processes of the House are upheld,” he said in a long ruling on Tuesday.
Kaipara went well over her 15-minute allocation for a maiden speech, but many have before her – including National’s Tama Potaka after winning a byelection in 2022, Grant McCallum in 2024, and Dr David Wilson, who was recently sworn in as a New Zealand First MP. Many go over by two or three minutes.
Kaipara’s speech went over by four minutes, and it was followed by a three-minute waiata and a haka. The haka is not an issue. Almost every new Māori MP’s maiden speech and the passage of every Treaty settlement bill has been followed by a waiata, then a haka. It is standard.
But the business committee, in allowing Kaipara to speak just after Question Time, had been assured that the speech and waiata would be done within 15 minutes. There was no guarantee that there would be no haka, but it was a commitment to do the whole thing within time.
Brownlee’s patience was tested because the overtime was eating into House business time and not into the dinner break, which happens when maiden speeches are unscheduled just before it.
The trouble is that Te Pāti Māori leaders are often absent and are so unfamiliar with House procedure that they probably did not make the distinction or recognise Brownlee’s sensitivities. Even if they had known, quite frankly, they would not have given a damn.
So much for the fresh start in Te Pāti Māori’s “reset” last Thursday after Kaipara’s maiden speech. Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer promised her party supporters that they would be “tightening the lashings, clarifying roles, front-footing communication, and you’ll see it and you’ll feel it”.
“Front-footing communications” is one way of describing the dirt file dumped on party members on Monday night. “One step forward and five steps back” might be another. The reset seemed like a genuine moment of self-criticism that the party had not focused enough on the politics of presenting a viable alternative to the Government.
“The electorates are telling us one thing, and that’s ‘Get your act together because we do not want this Government to stay,’” said Ngarewa-Packer.
But a few days later, the Herald obtained the internal correspondence sent to all party members by the national executive on overspending by Te Tai Tokerau MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and alleged verbal abuse of parliamentary security guards by her son Eru.
My colleagues Adam Pearse, Julia Gabel and Jamie Ensor have been right on top of it and reporting developments closely. See the links below to their reports.
Labour’s Willie Jackson is right. Unless something dramatic happens in Te Pāti Māori, it is headed for a split, a deselection, a sacking – or all three.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon hosted a special dinner last week for Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. It was at his home, just the two of them – no officials or wives – and it was catered by the legendary chef Tony Astle, formerly of Antoine’s fame.
Luxon’s office reports that, given the PMs’ joint statement committed them to establishing a strategic partnership to deepen agri-food co-operation, “the PM took the opportunity to showcase New Zealand’s excellent produce at dinner”.
Entree: A selection of crayfish, scallops and scampi with avocado and fresh asparagus, Antoine’s vinaigrette and saffron mayonnaise.
Main: New Zealand lamb rack with broccoli and potato dauphinoise, lamb jus or minted bernaise.
To finish: Meringue roulade and fresh berries.
• Good news, bad news: The good news is that Police Minister Mark Mitchell was discharged from Wellington Hospital after a chest infection and headed north to his Whangaparāoa electorate. The bad news is that he has been admitted to North Shore Hospital with cellulitis, a serious bacterial infection. The good news is that he managed to keep his weekly appointment with Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB yesterday in a panel with Labour’s Ginny Andersen. The bad news is that Andersen didn’t have much sympathy. “I don’t know what that is. I thought cellulite was a fat bum,” she said.
• Global MPs galore: Finance Minister Nicola Willis is on a trip to Washington DC, Tokyo and Incheon, South Korea, for meetings of the World Bank, the IMF and Apec finance ministers. Defence Minister Judith Collins leaves today for Washington and what will be her first formal meeting with US Secretary of Defence, aka Secretary for War, Pete Hegseth. Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard will be in Chile next week at the World Dairy Summit, and Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi is in China for the International Folk Arts Festival at Foshan, in Guangdong province, with the kapa haka group Te Taumata o Apanui. Four more MPs are about to head to Geneva for a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly next week: National’s Stuart Smith, Labour’s Tangi Utikere and Rachel Brooking, and the Green Party’s Kahurangi Carter.
“Jim Bolger was a towering figure in New Zealand’s political life – a leader of conviction, a reformer of consequence, and a servant of the people whose legacy has shaped our nation in profound and lasting ways.” – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on the death of former PM Jim Bolger.
Health Minister Simeon Brown and the Minister for Women announced a staggered extension of free mammograms beyond women aged 45 to 69. Who is the Minister for Women? (Answer at the bottom of this article.)
Goes to the president of Local Government New Zealand, Sam Broughton, who plans to stay on despite losing the Selwyn mayoralty at the weekend. It might be within the rules, but it’s not right.
Goes to Labour’s Arena Williams for her detailed probing of Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith in the committee stages of the marine and coastal area amendment bill on Tuesday.
Remembering Jim Bolger: Jim Bolger left school at 15 and went on to become Prime Minister. His legacy is remarkable
Remembering Jim Bolger: Jim Bolger, New Zealand’s 35th Prime Minister, dies aged 90
Opinion – TPM tensions: How Te Pāti Māori collapsed into controversy and chaos – Adam Pearse
TPM tensions: Labour’s Willie Jackson believes Te Pāti Māori split ‘inevitable’ if issues not sorted soon
TPM tensions: Te Pāti Māori email to members alleges Eru Kapa-Kingi threatened Parliament staff at protest
TPM tensions: Te Pāti Māori’s Mariameno Kapa-Kingi allegedly warned of $133k office overspend, urged to take action so staff paid
Screening extension: New Zealand women aged 70 to 74 now eligible for free breast screening every two years
Tertiary fees: The failure of the fees-free tertiary education policy and how the Government reset might worsen equity
Charter schools: Act’s David Seymour announces three new charter schools to open in 2026
Polls: Approval ratings for Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins drop in new political poll
Literacy data: Education Minister Stanford hails jump in structured literacy results
PM interview: Christopher Luxon blames low election turnout on weak candidates, defends methane move
Emissions shift: Government to lower 2050 methane reduction target, order 2040 review
Quiz answer: Nicola Grigg
For more political news and views, listen to On the Tiles, the Herald’s politics podcast.