Seymour is chuffed about cutting early-learning red tape – but we hear, too, that Jones has loosened our coal-mining rules
David Seymour and Winston Peters today signaled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today.
Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be established and for existing services to operate.
Winston Peters, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced he has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner.
Fair to say, there’s news, too, that Shane Jones digs coal and is relaxing the rules to enable the extraction of more of the stuff.
That would have the great benefit of reducing the demand for coal imports.
Most of the ministerial statements posted on the government’s official website in the past 24 hours tell us where in the world the PM and several of his colleagues can be found.
Chris Luxon was in Singapore saying nice things about that country’s soon-to-retire Prime Minister.
Fair to say, there’s news, too, that Shane Jones digs coal and is relaxing the rules to enable the extraction of more of the stuff.
That would have the great benefit of reducing the demand for coal imports.
Most of the ministerial statements posted on the government’s official website in the past 24 hours tell us where in the world the PM and several of his colleagues can be found.
Chris Luxon was in Singapore saying nice things about that country’s soon-to-retire Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East Asia.
“Prime Minister Lee is rightly esteemed as a leader of the highest order the world over. He has also made a significant contribution to the close ties between New Zealand and Singapore over many decades. He is a true friend of New Zealand,” Mr Luxon says.
Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will take over as Singaporean Prime Minister on 15 May,
Luxon also announced that he and Lee had met to deepen Singapore-NZ ties.
The two leaders committed to strengthening cooperation in the next phase of the relationship under the Singapore-New Zealand Enhanced Partnership and agreed to elevate the relationship by the end of 2025.
The Prime Ministers agreed to streamline flows of critical supplies between Singapore and New Zealand during times of crisis. This reflects both countries’ shared core interests in building resilient supply chains that protect food and energy security, and wider national security interests.
Moreover, as New Zealand and Singapore mark the 50th Anniversary of New Zealand Defence Forces in South East Asia, the two countries will continue to strengthen defence and security cooperation.
New Zealand and Singapore also agreed to continue cooperation on green economy initiatives, including on energy and transport technology, and finance and investment including carbon markets.
The Prime Ministers agreed to green economy business missions to identify opportunities in those areas.
Todd McClay, Minister of Trade, Agriculture and Forestry, is in Beijing where (we trust) he is pulling out all the stops to promote the economically vital NZ-China trade relationship.
His meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao “reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its core,” McClay says.
They discussed progress made on implementation of the 2022 FTA Upgrade provisions, and areas of bilateral cooperation including in support of business environment reforms in China and intellectual property rights protection.”
Regional and multilateral trade developments were also discussed, following on a previous meeting on the margins of the WTO Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi.
McClay reaffirmed that China’s requests to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) are for members to consider collectively, and that consensus will guide these discussions.
He also met with Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs Tang Renjian.
“I welcomed the opportunity to meet Minister Tang to discuss our cooperation programmes, and to underline my commitment to strengthening the collaborative programme of work between our countries’ agricultural sectors.”
McClay’s meeting with the Administrator of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Guan Zhi’ou was an opportunity to advance the bilateral forestry relationship, including areas of cooperation under our refreshed bilateral forestry cooperation arrangement.
China is the top export market for New Zealand forest products, and New Zealand remains a strong supplier of softwood logs and wood products for the Chinese market.
McClay was to travel to Harbin and Shanghai to meet more Chinese big-wigs and do his bit for our trade links.
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is in Adelaide, promoting NZ’s wool sector at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress. He also is outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector.
“New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government is aiming to boost that figure to contribute to our target of doubling exports by value within 10 years,” says Mr Patterson.
The International Wool Textile Organisation Congress is the pre-eminent annual meeting for the global wool industry, bringing together wool growers, traders, processors, manufacturers, designers, and others in the global supply chain.
Patterson will also be meeting Victorian Agriculture Minister Ros Spence in Melbourne for bilateral talks, as well as discussing rural mental health with the National Centre for Farmer Health in Hamilton, Victoria.
He will return to New Zealand on Saturday 20 April.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis is travelling to Washington DC today to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
While in Washington, Willis will also attend the Spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
The annual meetings gather worldwide finance ministers, treasurers, central bankers and relevant stakeholders to discuss the global economy, development, and shared challenges and opportunities.
Willis will also engage in bilateral meetings with ministers from South East Asia and small advanced economies, before returning to New Zealand on 21 April.
Harking back to Christopher Luxon’s statement from Singapore, let’s note that New Zealand and Singapore agreed to continue cooperation on green economy initiatives, including on energy and transport technology, and finance and investment including carbon markets.
We have been looking for an official statement from Shane Jones, to see how he squares his news with Luxon’s statement on green economy initiatives, after learning this from RNZ:
Shane Jones announces easier coal mine consenting
Resources Minister Shane Jones has announced changes to coal mine consenting he says reduce barriers to extraction and bring it into line with other types of mining.
The government’s first Resource Management Amendment Bill, to be introduced next month, will make changes to the Resource Management Act, freshwater environmental standards, and the National Policy Statements for Freshwater Management and Biodiversity.
It will remove additional controls for coal mining introduced by Labour that were set to end the consenting pathway for existing thermal coal mines from 31 December 2030.
Jones, in a statement, said the government’s planned changes would ensure New Zealand’s access to locally sourced coal so processors would “not be forced to rely on imported coal to meet their needs”.
He said the impacts of extracting coal were “similar, if not the same, as those occurring in mining other minerals” and the changes would enable a wider range of consent applications for coal mining.
Whatever Jones might have said or done has yet to be posted on the government’s official website.
Latest from the Beehive
16 APRIL 2024
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector.
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says.
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship.
15 APRIL 2024
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Having sorted out the comings and goings of our globe-trotting ministers, what’s Seymour got to tell us?
His changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service and stopping the introduction of new certification requirements for staff that were to take effect in August.
“Providers and parents are best placed to decide where early learning services should be established. Where there’s demand from parents providers will follow,” says Mr Seymour.
“Current network approval provisions introduced by Labour give government the right to decide where services should be. They also make setting up new services complex and inhibit competition.
“This gets in the way of early childhood professionals delivering effective, affordable and accessible services to parents and their children. We have to understand what the purpose of regulation is, and ensure whether, on balance, regulation is the appropriate tool to use.”
Seymour is also proposing to revoke the National Statement on the Network of Licensed Early Childhood Services as soon as possible, to make granting approvals for new services faster, while the legislation is repealed.
Consultation on this proposal opens today and runs until 5 May 2024.
The Government also intends to make it easier for service providers to ensure key supervisory roles are filled. Removing the new requirement for a higher level of certification will mean that persons responsible will not need to obtain a Full (Category One or Two) Practicing Certificate.
The requirement had the potential to result in increased fees, reduced operating hours, or even closure for some services, due to a lack of fully certificated teachers Seymour said.
Services in rural areas and lower socio-economic areas were most likely to suffer due to staffing and funding challenges.”
Teachers will still need a recognised teaching qualification and a practicing certificate, and all early learning services will still need to comply with current licencing requirements including all relevant health and safety regulations
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
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