Top “NZ Politics Daily” stories today
Below are some of the more interesting and insightful New Zealand politics items from the last 24 hours.
1) “Omnishambles” is the best word to describe New Zealand’s infrastructure at the moment according to Stuff’s Tova O'Brien. Reflecting on the $1.2bn that has just been wasted on the deeply unpopular Three Waters reforms, she says that political dysfunction is to blame for the way that politicians keep ruining our daily lives – see her must-read column, Infrastructure omnishambles a matter of national shame
2) The new Government’s water reforms are being debated and argued over – but one thing is clear about the new system – it’s the local councils that are being forced to sort this out. The Post’s Thomas Manch reports that the Minister of Local Government, Simeon Brown is “now shifting the onus, telling councils and their ratepayers: the problem is now yours to fix” – see: Broken water services once again a council problem (paywalled)
Manch says the country might now face worsening water quality problems, as councils will have varying responses and abilities to fix the huge problems that they face, without central government help: “there’s a strong risk the Government produces an outcome similar to the status quo: a patchwork of council-controlled organisations that are fixing pipes at different speeds, and providing drinking water of varied quality, at different ‒ and maybe great ‒ cost to ratepayers.” And what happens when councils fail? Manch reports that the Minister is uncommitted to answering that question.
3) Looking at local government now, one thing is clear – there is little power in councils and citizens to control local affairs. The Standard blogsite has published a scathing critique of how subsequent Labour and National-led have gutted democracy at the local level: “local government used to be a place where people were heard enough to make a real change. Now most have lost faith in their capacity, since Councils have influence over a very, very narrow range of activities” – see: National and the Gutting of Local Democracy
4) Wellington City Council continues to be a case study of how rotten local government has become. With the council broke, and unable to fix basic infrastructure, many are angry about Mayor Tory Whanau’s proposal to spend $32m on buying a cinema complex off the Reading Cinema Chain, so that business can use the money to earthquake-strengthen the complex on Courtenay Place. It looks like more corporate welfare. And today Andrea Vance reveals details of the meetings that Whanau had when she first shifted from her job as a lobbyist to being elected mayor, including winning and dining the multi-millionaire bosses of Reading Cinema – see: $1400 seafood dinner sweetens Reading Cinema deal (paywalled)
Vance details how before Whanau had even been sworn in as Mayor, she carried out negotiations with the big business, also involving the council chief executive Barbara McKerrow and Finance Minister Grant Robertson. Vance concludes the story: “Secrecy has shrouded the deal, with the public shut out of any decision-making meetings by councillors. When details leaked of the proposal, Whanau initiated an investigation against five councillors, which failed to reach a conclusion and cost ratepayers $43,000.”
5) Before she was mayor, Tory Whanau, was a corporate lobbyist for Neale Jones’ Capital Government Relations firm, which worked for property developers around the country. The firm was also involved in setting up a Wellington advocacy-lobbying campaign called “City for People”, which favours property developers having fewer council rules for where and what they can build in the city. Now one of the local activists, Geordie Rogers is running as the Green Party candidate to replace Tamatha Paul on council (who jumped ship to Parliament by winning the Wellington Central election). If he is elected, the council is likely to be more favourable to property developers building more houses and against heritage protection. It’s a classic Nimby Vs Yimby battle. The Spinoff are running a campaign in favour of the latter, and for the latest, see Joel MacManus’ The election that could decide the War for Wellington
6) Vested corporate interests are also doing well in wining, dining, and giving political donations to those deciding on fishing rules in the new government. Newsroom’s Jonathan Milne reports today that “conflicts of interest” criticisms are being made about Fishing Minister Shane Jones’ close relationship with fisheries companies – see: Seafood industry donors lobby Jones over wine and oysters
Industry players are getting good access to the Minister, with Shane Jones explaining the necessity of championing these figures: “We have to recover lost ground. I fear that if the fishing industry doesn’t have a consistent champion, then … we are witnessing the complete drift towards outlawing New Zealand’s participation in international fisheries.” He says that the Government will also meet with environmental interests, but will delegate this to his associate minister, NZ First’s Jenny Marcroft.
As to what the industry wants from its lobbying, the article reports that Sealord head Doug Paulin “says the industry can’t afford all the increasing compliance costs heaped upon it, for research, observers, cameras on boats, and more.” But when another fish boss, Sir Peter Talley, was approached for comment, he simply said: “You can just piss off, cobber, piss off.”
7) With continued debate about the political right’s dominance of think tanks (especially about conspiracy theories about the Atlas Network), former Labour Party general secretary, Mike Smith, has blogged about how he set up the New Zealand Fabian Society, alongside The Helen Clark Foundation and the Institute for Public Policy at Auckland University of Technology – see: A sad lament from the serial left
8) The 30-year-old Companies Act is being reviewed by the Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly, and there’s debate about whether there should be more or less regulations for limited liability companies. The Post’s Rob Stock reports today that the ease with which such companies can be set up in New Zealand, and the protections that are given to company directors and owners could be reformed, as it can mean that all sorts of corrupt or anti-social outcomes are incentivised – see: Commerce Minister wants to update the Companies Act: What needs changing? (paywalled)
Susan Watson, a professor in corporate law at the University of Auckland is quoted: “Society is now starting to think that a forestry company can’t go into Tairāwhiti, harvest trees and leave behind the slash. There should be some responsibility for the impact the company had on the world”. And: “Why should they have this free pass to cause this harm? Are companies to be incorporated just for making money for shareholders, or do we put other duties on them?”
On the other hand, some are lobbying for the Government to reduce the burdens on such company directors. And the Institute of Directors is lobbying for more privacy to be afforded to business owners under the Act.
9) The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) regional development portfolio is under scrutiny at the moment, with the Herald’s Kate MacNamara asking questions today about how efficiently the government department has invested its $3.17 billion in the country’s regions over the last six years – see: MBIE’s magical thinking about the value of pouring $3b into regional development (paywalled)
Looking at investments such as the $10.5m given to Christchurch’s Riccarton racetrack, the government agency appears to have a highly questionable methodology for determining success. But MacNamara says the corporate welfare fund established under Labour seems destined to continue under National: “the regional development bandwagon will roll on, if for no other reason than the minister who established it as a condition of making Labour’s Jacinda Arden Prime Minister in 2017, NZ First’s Shane Jones, has now been restored to the post by National Prime Minister Chris Luxon. And through a Government coalition agreement promise of $1.2b for regional infrastructure, he’s about to shoulder a big sack of money.”
10) The Green Party activist that is challenging Chloe Swarbrick for the co-leadership has a very interesting background, both in New Zealand and the UK, which the Herald’s Thomas Coughlan delves into today – see: Son of British baron Alex Foulkes challenging Chlöe Swarbrick for Green Party co-leadership
11) Coughlan has also taken a closer look at the latest Curia poll results, which show that race relations are becoming central in the public’s mind about what the government should be prioritising – he says, “Treaty issues, so long dormant, have become a top-tier political issue” – see: Treaty leapfrogs education to become one of top three issues for voters (paywalled)
The Curia poll asked people for the “most important issue” influencing their vote, and the top results were: cost of living 24%, the economy 11%, the Treaty of Waitangi 7%, and health and law and order also 7%.
So will Treaty issues continue to bubble away, and perhaps even become more important in NZ politics? Coughlan says: “One poll isn’t a trend, it’s a single data point. But it is an interesting data point nonetheless, and it’s one worth jotting down. It might be nothing. The electorate may move on to other, more conventional political issues, or it may be the start of a trend that sees a relitigation of the Treaty become a bigger part of our day-to-day politics… National has decided to say, fairly explicitly, that it won’t be backing that bill. That is almost helpful to Act, whose fortunes seem to improve the more the bill is talked about. It’s still hard, from the vantage point of February 2024, to see Treaty issues become so significant National is forced into backflipping and granting Act its referendum, but then again, issues such as UK’s Brexit referendum bubbled away in the fringes of politics for decades before suddenly becoming mainstream. The Treaty is a similar issue, in that it cuts across so much of what the Government does. Grumpy about the state of education? Three Waters? Health? The economy? All can be blamed on the Treaty, if you so choose.”
Dr Bryce Edwards
Political Analyst in Residence, Democracy Project, School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington
NZ Politics Daily – 14 February 2024
INFRASTRUCTURE, WATER, TRANSPORT
Tova O’Brien (Stuff): Infrastructure omnishambles a matter of national shame
Thomas Manch (Post); Broken water services once again a council problem (paywalled)
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Minister points to 'backstops' if councils refuse Three Waters amalgamations
Mark Quinlivan (Herald): Chris Hipkins: 'Race card' from political parties killed Three Waters
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Labour’s $1.2 billion Three Waters spend revealed (paywalled)
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Government, Labour blast each other's plans as details emerge of where Three Waters money went
Thomas Manch (Post): Labour scathing as Three Waters dismantled (paywalled)
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): 3 Waters, a shameful waste of money - not just by Labour
Newshub: Government's new take on Three Waters ruffles some feathers
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): What is Local Water Done Well, the new not-quite-Three Waters?
RNZ: Water tanker sent to Aucklanders after three pipes break
Hanna McCallum and Conor Knell (Post): School staff member videos a cascade of leaks in Thorndon (paywalled)
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Timothy Welch (The Conversation): Axing the Auckland fuel tax reveals the lack of a real transport plan for NZ’s biggest city
Benjamin Plummer (Herald): Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown formally requests Auckland Transport to cease work on projects funded by regional fuel tax
1News: Auckland fuel tax: Mayor orders halt on funded projects
Trent Doyle (Newshub): Mayor Wayne Brown hits out at transport bosses after Auckland trains cancelled again due to heat
Jonathan Killick (Stuff): Auckland Mayor issues ‘stop work’ on major transport projects
RNZ: Auckland mayor Wayne Brown demands stop to transport projects paid for by Regional Fuel Tax
Finn Blackwell (RNZ): Next generation will pay the price for critical transport projects, councillor warns
Lauren Crimp (RNZ): Councils say they can't afford to fix cyclone damaged roads
Rachel Maher (Hereald): AT, KiwiRail, Auckland One Rail in for ‘bloody good bollocking’ from Wayne Brown
RNZ: 'Unacceptable': Auckland mayor Wayne Brown demands answers over cancelled trains
Erin Johnson (Stuff): Why were 80 train services cancelled in Auckland when it wasn’t that hot?
Matthew Hansen (Stuff): Death of Clean Car Discount ‘a shame’, EV market now ‘stalled’
Krystal Gibbens (RNZ): Motorcyclists face parking charges in Wellington
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