Pages

Monday, March 18, 2024

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 18/3/24



Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension looks like a SNAFU

Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today.

Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the government’s official website. Not news that the Beehive website has recorded, at least.

One new item that has been posted is Finance Minister Nicola Willis’s Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer

But we reported on that speech last Friday (before she had got around to posting it on the Beehive website) and Willis has been attracting significant media attention since then while responding to media questions on the matter of tax cuts.

She told RNZ she cannot confirm that the Government will be able to deliver tax cuts in July as outlined in the coalition agreement.

Willis told Morning Report the rollout is subject to Cabinet discussions so she cannot cast iron guarantee that it will happen in July.

She says the Government will not need to borrow to meet its tax cut commitment.


Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has posted a statement on the Beehive website to tell us his visit to Singapore rounds out his trip to South and South-East Asia.

But he made much certain he would feature in news bulletins by giving them an opportunity to report he is comparing co-governance to Nazi Germany.

At least, that’s what he is doing according to the headline-writers.

More particularly, in a robustly expressed State of the Nation speech in Palmerston North on Sunday, he claimed the Labour government had allowed race-based theories to emerge, based on Māori DNA making them “somehow better than others”.

A great deal of huffing and puffing has been generated since then as the many people who disagree express their outrage.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said Peters was using racism to divide the country.

Aucklander John Hubscher said his grandparents on both sides of his family were murdered during the Holocaust and Peters’ remarks were outrageous and hurtful.

But on Morning Report this morning, Peters did not back down.

“I’ve seen that sort of philosophy before. I saw it in Nazi Germany. We all did. We’ve seen it elsewhere around the world in the horrors of history.

“But here right in our country and tolerated, by people whose job was to keep the system”


Another statement we can’t find on the government’s official website is the U-turn taken by Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard, to record he was backing away from a statement which he did post on the website.

On 14 March, he posted a statement which trumpeted;


Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).

Significant Natural Areas – or SNAs – are places in New Zealand where rare or threatened plants or animals are found.

Their protection is required under the Resource Management Act 1991.

But hey – next day RNZ informed us:

Andrew Hoggard walks back SNA announcement experts say is unlawful

That was the headline on a report which said:

An associate government minister has walked back advice to councils that they can ignore a set of rules protecting the environment.

Legal experts have said the government is breaking legal precedent, and asking councils to break the law too, by suspending the requirements.

And:

On Friday, he [Hoggard] released a statement saying his comment had been misunderstood:

“To be clear, there has been no change to statutory and regulatory obligations on councils at this point. These obligations continue to apply until and unless amended.

“If my statement has been read in a way that suggested that the change had already come into effect, this was not the intention. The next phase is to give effect to Cabinet’s decision.”

Latest from the Beehive

Speech

16 MARCH 2024


Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone.

15 MARCH 2024


Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.

Let’s double check and revisit the Beehive press releases before Peters’ Singapore statement:

15 MARCH 2024


Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks.

14 MARCH 2024


Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.


Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.


Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders.


The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.


Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says.


Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).

Nope. There’s no statement from Andrew Hoggard in that lot to suggest his SNA statement might have been a SNAFU.

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

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

there is a lot of good information and yak yak yak on this blog. But who in the corridors of power or the sanctuary of the unelected lawyer's committees aka the judiciary either listens or cares?

For my part I have run out of steam making comments. It is easier to pack up and move to Aus.

Anonymous said...


Please consider delaying for a while.... a tipping point may be coming soon.

When laws ( including amendments and repeal) to protect the equality of
all citizens are blocked - e.g. by National - then, this might force a snap election.

Then National will be seen to be clearly promoting Maori privilege ( i.e.the He Puapua agenda). Perhaps the end of National?

Soner or later, the double speak must stop.

Anonymous said...

Re 18th. We’re told that CL is going to give WP a ‘talking to’ about civility in political discourse. I for one hope that WP puts some of his promised steel up CL’s spine instead. CL sorely needs it!

LFC