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) The Prime Minister has explained that he had to agree in coalition negotiations to allow Act’s Treaty Principles Bill to be introduced to Parliament, or a second election might have been provoked by David Seymour. But he’s also now clarified, seemingly under pressure, that National will definitely not vote to support the Bill beyond going to the select committee – see Jenna Lynch’s Christopher Luxon finally rules out backing Treaty Principles Bill past first reading
2) Herald political editor Claire Trevett writes today that Luxon had previously been trying to avoid provoking angst from Seymour and Act by being more definitive about the inevitable death of the Bill. But now Luxon is trying to build trust amongst iwi, and wants to speed up the decline of the bill. Luxon is also resolute that he won’t support the bill even if it proves to be enormously popular with the public, or if the referendum element was removed – see: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon finally declares Act’s Treaty Principles Bill a dead duck walking but long headache ahead (paywalled)
Trevett says that Seymour isn’t so keen for the Bill to die quickly: “There is talk about measures such as releasing a draft bill to get public input on the proposed principles before the final bill gets put before Parliament to vote on. That would effectively result in two rounds of public submissions.” And regardless of this particular controversial Treaty issue, there are plenty of other fraught issues the government will be fighting on in this space: “the plan to scrap the Maori Health Authority, reform of the Waitangi Tribunal, a review of references to the principles of the Treaty in laws, paring back the use of Māori names for government agencies and plans to change programmes which are race-based rather than solely needs-based.”
3) Te Pati Māori’s vision for a future parallel Māori nation with a separate state apparatus continues to roll out. At Waitangi, the party’s new MP Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke spoke of their vision: “in 2050 we’re going to have Māori hospitals, we’re gonna have Māori banks, we’re gonna have Māori real estate; we’re gonna have Māori kura. Fifty years ago a Maori party was unimaginable; a Māori media was unimaginable; Māori kura was unimaginable. So believe in the unimaginable.” But it’s the idea of a separate Māori Parliament that is being pushed hardest by the party – especially by co-leader Rawiri Waititi. And today the Spinoff’s Tommy de Silva usefully outlines the history of such calls – see: Rawiri Waititi isn’t the first Māori leader to call for an indigenous parliament
4) Leftwing Stuff columnist Verity Johnson says she has some sympathy for the Prime Minister and his National Party, because they’re being closely associated with policies from their coalition partners: “for a bunch of people, this government’s tenure so far could be summed up with two main ideas; supporting smoking and questioning the Treaty of Waitangi. And there’s two big problems for Luxon with that. One, these are overly simplified impressions of what the policies are actually about. Two, neither of those distorted-but-prevalent perceptions actually stemmed from National’s ideas in the first place. They mostly came from ACT” – see: How is Christopher Luxon a bridesmaid in his own government?
A big part of the problem she argues is that Luxon doesn’t seem to stand for much himself, which has allowed the minor coalition partners to dominate: “If he had a strong personality, years of political savvy, and a clearly defined set of ideological principles for this Government, maybe he’d be ok. But the absence of both strong personality, and strong ideology, means he’s getting trampled over by the far more memorable and flammable Seymour and Peters.”
5) The Supreme Court has made a monumental decision to allow climate activists to sue some of the country’s biggest climate polluters. For the best explanation and analysis of this, see Olivia Wannan’s Will ‘huge’ court decision spur Fonterra, Genesis and Z Energy to go green?
As the article explains, environmental campaigner Mike Smith filed his private lawsuit five years ago, and “is seeking a court order, or injunction, for the companies to stop polluting activities or to rapidly transition to green energy and lower-impact agriculture. That might require the court to monitor companies’ progress.” Furthermore, he is seeking a “court declaration that the seven emitters were acting unlawfully.”
6) The new Government’s resource management reforms could be another huge fight for environmentalists, as the politicians are planning to give themselves huge powers to fast-track developments, potentially without much in the way of checks and balances. For more on this debate see Newsroom’s article by David Williams: Brace yourself for Think Big II, warn environmentalists
7) The Wellington City Council is embarking on its new district plan for housing and development, and it could turn out to be a huge culture and economic war, mainly between planners and Nimbys on the one hand, and Yimbys and property developers on the other side. Some of the political alliances are proving to be quite interesting, especially with Yimby groups joining with market forces advocates, property developers, and well-placed journalists, to argue for greater density in inner city suburbs. For example, corporate lobbyist Neale Jones, whose firm works for property developers, has set up a Yimby group, “City for People”, which is battling for council zoning that will create more dense housing development. For more on what this group thinks about the latest urban planning report for Wellington, see Tom Hunt’s ‘At our wits’ end’: Group fumes at housing recommendations (paywalled)
8) Wellington’s Yimby political alliance is successfully drawing in politicians from across the political spectrum – see BusinessDesk’s article today by Dileepa Fonseka and Oliver Lewis: Act and Greens say 'absurd' Wellington housing report defies 'economics 101' (paywalled)
9) The Wellington Yimby alliance is especially reliant on pro-market economists, and especially the New Zealand Initiative. Its chief economist, Eric Crampton explains today in the Herald why the Wellington City Council should ignore the recommendations of urban planners and embrace more property development – see: The incapacity of development capacity (paywalled)
10) With the New Zealand Government becoming more closely aligned with the Anglo defence alliances, including Aukus, there’s a suspicion that our own country’s diplomatic mission is now to soften up Pacific allies to such changes. Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is currently on a quick trip to Tonga, Cook Islands and Samoa, where he is having to deal with leaders who are opposed to the Aukus deal in the region. But Peters denies that this is what the trip is about – see Bridie Witton’s Winston Peters in Tonga: Polynesia trip is not about Aukus
11) New Zealand foreign policy academics are increasingly dividing into “doves” and “hawks” in their orientation to New Zealand’s military alliances and activities abroad. For a good discussion of how these two sides view New Zealand’s latest overseas mission, see The South China Morning Post’s article, Is New Zealand risking ‘reputational damage’ by joining anti-Houthi coalition in Red Sea?
Dr Bryce Edwards
Political Analyst in Residence, Democracy Project, School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington
NZ Politics Daily – 8 February 2024
TREATY PRINCIPLES BILL, WAITANGI
Verity Johnson (Stuff): How is Christopher Luxon a bridesmaid in his own government?
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Christopher Luxon finally rules out backing Treaty Principles Bill past first reading
Newshub: Political editor Jenna Lynch reacts to Luxon's Treaty Bill comments on AM
Claire Trevett (Herald): Prime Minister Christopher Luxon finally declares Act’s Treaty Principles Bill a dead duck walking but long headache ahead (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): The political price National pays for its compromise with Act (paywalled)
RNZ: PM Christopher Luxon rules out support beyond Select Committee for Treaty Principles Bill
Stuff: PM Christopher Luxon rules out support beyond select committee for Treaty Principles Bill
RNZ: ACT launches Treaty Principles Bill information campaign
1News: ACT launches Treaty Principles Bill 'information campaign'
1News: PM says his repeated phrases in Waitangi speech 'deliberate'
Newshub: Paula Bennett hits out at Jacinda Ardern's 'vacuous promises' in 2018 Waitangi speech following Christopher Luxon's backlash
ODT Editorial: Māori not reassured at Waitangi (paywalled)
Bruce Cotterill (Newstalk ZB): Are we better together or better apart? (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): We can get through the Treaty Principles Bill like adults
Greg Presland (The Standard): Toitu te Tiriti
Carwyn Jones (Post): If we want our kids to have the best opportunities, embrace te Tiriti (paywalled)
Jack McDonald (Newstalk ZB): Luxon needs to discover real political leadership (paywalled)
James Mahoney (Herald): David Seymour speaks for the rich and is the voice of assimilation
Tim Wilson (Newstalk ZB): The treaty debate - what people are getting wrong
Kerre Woodham (Newstalk ZB): How glorious was Waitangi Day?
William Hewett (Newshub): 'Everyone can recognise a metaphor': Hipkins defends Henare's gun comment at Waitangi
Tommy de Silva (Spinoff): Rawiri Waititi isn’t the first Māori leader to call for an indigenous parliament
Denise Piper (Northern Advocate): Waitangi Day 2024 was ‘overwhelming success’ with crowd of 50,000
Adam Dudding (Post): What’s love got to do with it? (paywalled)
Michael Cugley and Tini Molyneux (Whakaata Māori): Tame Iti challenges te iwi Māori
Piripi Walker (Post): Let’s tend this language and keep it official (paywalled)
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