Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 21/9/23

That new hospital which Labour is promising – is it the same one which Sepuloni mentioned in May (before she backed off)?

Our busy ministers – desperately busy trying to whip up voters’ support as their poll support sags, among other things – have added just one item of news to the government’s official website over the past 24 hours or so.

It’s the news that the Government has accepted the Environment Court’s recommendation to give special legal protection to New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs, Te Waikoropupū Springs (also known, and better known, too, as Pupū Springs).

Preferring to give it the name favoured by local tribal leaders, Environment Minister David Parker said the springs, near Takaka in Golden Bay, have the second clearest water in New Zealand after Blue Lake in Nelson Lakes National Park.

The springs and their aquifer will receive the highest possible level of legal protection, under a new water conservation order.

The announcement is recorded HERE –

Latest from the Beehive

21 SEPTEMBER 2023

Highest legal protection for New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs

The Government has accepted the Environment Court’s recommendation to give special legal protection to New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs, Te Waikoropupū Springs (also known as Pupū Springs).

But Point of Order was prompted by politicking in Hawke’s Bay to go back to a statement issued by Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni on 24 May.

At that time construction was beginning on a new Jobs and Skills Hub in Hawke’s Bay

The Hub would support the building of $1.1 billion worth of homes in the region and support Cyclone Gabrielle rebuild and recovery, Sepuloni brayed.

Her statement began:

The Government were in the Hawke’s Bay today, ‘breaking ground’ to mark the commencement of upcoming construction on the new Building Futures Training Facility where the Jobs and Skills Hub will be co-located and will support local people into local jobs.

“This is a big win for the Hawke’s Bay,” Minister for Social Development and Employment Carmel Sepuloni said.

“Hawke’s Bay have been at the frontline of the extreme weather events which is why the new Jobs and Skills Hub, once built, will not only help support the region’s rebuild and recovery, but it’ll also help support major infrastructure projects long-term,” Carmel Sepuloni said.

And then came the bit we were looking for:

“The Hub will help find job seekers to help them build $1.1billion worth of homes in the Hawke’s Bay, and help with the build and construction of a new hospital for the region.”

A new hospital?

Was this the same new hospital that is featured in a New Zealand Herald headline today:

Election 2023: Labour promises up to $1.1b to build Hawke’s Bay Hospital

Reporter Hamish Bidwell tells readers:

Labour has pledged to build Hawke’s Bay a new hospital, should it be re-elected on October 14.

This seems to echo Sepuloni’s news in May.

But wait. On August 29 a New Zealand Herald headline said:

Hawke’s Bay Hospital: Minister Carmel Sepuloni distances herself from statement about new facility

This report kicked off:

Government minister Carmel Sepuloni has distanced herself from her own comments that a Jobs and Skills Hub will provide the labour and expertise to build Hawke’s Bay a new hospital.

But more important for an election campaign strategists, today’s announcement gazumps National.

On August 21, a New Zealand Herald headline declared:

Christopher Luxon promises more frontline health workers for Hawke’s Bay, ‘can’t commit’ to new hospital.

This report had a picture of National leader Christopher Luxon telling crowds at the Municipal Theatre in Napier about National’s plan to help fix Hawke’s Bay’s healthcare system.

The report started:

National will focus on getting more frontline medical staff into regional New Zealand hospitals, but leader Christopher Luxon is shying away from making commitments to a new hospital for Hawke’s Bay.

Obviously the need for a new hospital is glaring.

But regardless of when a new hospital is built, or under which government, there will be another challenge: doctors, nurses and so on.

And that will be true of any new hospital built in any part of the country, thanks to the medical staffing crisis which will be among many challenges for the next government.

UPDATE: Finance Minister Grant Robertson has added a new statement to the Beehive website:

There is no recession in NZ, economy grows nearly 1 percent in June quarter

The economy has turned a corner with confirmation today New Zealand never was in recession and stronger than expected growth in the June quarter, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said.

Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton