A govt plane is headed for New Caledonia – here’s hoping the Kiwis stranded there get better service than the PM
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed a New Zealand Government plane will head to riot-torn New Caledonia in the next hour in the first in a series of proposed flights to begin bringing New Zealanders home.
Today’s flight will carry around 50 passengers with the most pressing needs from Nouméa to Auckland. Passengers for subsequent flights will be prioritised by consular staff.
Whether “a New Zealand Government plane” means it is a military plane is open to conjecture.
But Point of Order is mindful that just a few weeks ago an embarrassed New Zealand prime minister Christopher Luxon was forced to travel on a last-minute commercial flight to Australia for a summit after the country’s beleaguered defence force plane was once again grounded over maintenance issues.
The Guardian reported at the time:
The defence force loans planes to New Zealand leaders when they embark on international travel, but the ageing fleet has been plagued with problems in recent years – an issue that Luxon, the former chief executive of Air New Zealand, has previously labelled “incredibly embarrassing”.
Former prime ministers Dame Jacinda Ardern and Sir John Key have both been grounded during trips around the world after RNZAF Boeing 757s and Hercules aircraft broke down. Last year, former prime minister Chris Hipkins was forced to bring a backup plane on a trip to China, over fears the plane he was travelling on was unreliable.
In this case, Winston Peters said New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days – “and bringing them home has been an urgent priority for the Government.”
The announcement is to be found on the government’s official website with just two other new media releases.
One of these advised that the government will introduce legislation this year to enable roadside drug testing as part of the commitment to improve road safety and restore law and order.
Transport Minister Simeon Brown – speaking at the launch of Road Safety Week – said the legislation will be introduced this year to give Police the power to randomly screen drivers for drugs at the roadside using oral fluid testing devices, similar to drink-driving enforcement.
Legislation is expected to be introduced to Parliament by the middle of the year and passed towards the end of 2024.
The other media release – already given extensive news media coverage – was the Minister of Housing’s response to a review of Kāinga Ora.
The review makes two broad findings.
First, Kāinga Ora is underperforming and not financially viable without significant savings as well as funding and financing changes.
Second, the wider social housing system is not delivering the results New Zealand needs, and is lacking in transparency and accountability, coupled with a poor understanding of tenant outcomes.
Whether “a New Zealand Government plane” means it is a military plane is open to conjecture.
But Point of Order is mindful that just a few weeks ago an embarrassed New Zealand prime minister Christopher Luxon was forced to travel on a last-minute commercial flight to Australia for a summit after the country’s beleaguered defence force plane was once again grounded over maintenance issues.
The Guardian reported at the time:
The defence force loans planes to New Zealand leaders when they embark on international travel, but the ageing fleet has been plagued with problems in recent years – an issue that Luxon, the former chief executive of Air New Zealand, has previously labelled “incredibly embarrassing”.
Former prime ministers Dame Jacinda Ardern and Sir John Key have both been grounded during trips around the world after RNZAF Boeing 757s and Hercules aircraft broke down. Last year, former prime minister Chris Hipkins was forced to bring a backup plane on a trip to China, over fears the plane he was travelling on was unreliable.
In this case, Winston Peters said New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days – “and bringing them home has been an urgent priority for the Government.”
The announcement is to be found on the government’s official website with just two other new media releases.
One of these advised that the government will introduce legislation this year to enable roadside drug testing as part of the commitment to improve road safety and restore law and order.
Transport Minister Simeon Brown – speaking at the launch of Road Safety Week – said the legislation will be introduced this year to give Police the power to randomly screen drivers for drugs at the roadside using oral fluid testing devices, similar to drink-driving enforcement.
Legislation is expected to be introduced to Parliament by the middle of the year and passed towards the end of 2024.
The other media release – already given extensive news media coverage – was the Minister of Housing’s response to a review of Kāinga Ora.
The review makes two broad findings.
First, Kāinga Ora is underperforming and not financially viable without significant savings as well as funding and financing changes.
Second, the wider social housing system is not delivering the results New Zealand needs, and is lacking in transparency and accountability, coupled with a poor understanding of tenant outcomes.
Latest from the Beehive
Release
21 MAY 2024
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed a New Zealand Government plane will head to New Caledonia in the next hour in the first in a series of proposed flights to begin bringing New Zealanders home.
20 MAY 2024
The Coalition Government will introduce legislation this year that will enable roadside drug testing as part of the commitment to improve road safety and restore law and order.
The Government has announced a series of immediate actions in response to the independent review of Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says.
In his statement, Winston Peters acknowledged the support of relevant authorities, both in Paris and Nouméa, in facilitating the flight.
The situation in New Caledonia remains dynamic, and New Zealand officials are continuing to work with French counterparts and other partners especially Australia to understand what is needed to ensure the safety of our people there, Peters said.
In cooperation with France and Australia, the government is working on subsequent flights in coming days.
Simeon Brown, announcing legislation to enable roadside drug testing of motorists, said alcohol and drugs are the number one contributing factor in fatal road crashes in New Zealand.
In 2022, alcohol and drugs were contributors to 200 fatal crashes on our roads- but only 26 percent of drivers think they are likely to be caught drug driving.
Chris Bishop said Kāinga Ora has assets of $45 billion and over $2.5 billion of expenditure each year. It owns over 70,000 homes and is the country’s biggest landlord, providing accommodation to people often in great need. Its performance has a material impact on the Crown’s fiscal position.
“The review makes it clear that Kāinga Ora’s financial situation is very worrying. The operating deficit at the time the review was undertaken was forecast to grow from $520 million in 2022/23 to over $700 million in 2026/27, driven by interest on the debt-financed capital investment programme. Debt is forecast to increase to $23 billion. Kāinga Ora’s forecast cash requirement from the Crown is $21.4 billion over the next four years. This is equivalent to every New Zealander paying about $4,000 for this activity.
“The review found that Kāinga Ora has had easy access to debt but insufficient focus on fiscal discipline, and low levels of accountability have led to growing annual losses and a deteriorating financial situation.
“We are also concerned about the findings in the review about the governance of Kāinga Ora. The review noted evidence that there has not been a clear separation between the board’s governance role and operational management, and that they saw evidence that the board has been acting more as an advisory function rather than governing.”
In the May 2023 board budget pack, there was no Statement of Financial Position. The budget assumed that new lending of several billion dollars from the Government would be approved, the build pipeline included a line entitled “Zero Net Growth” describing disposals of an indeterminate kind of over 3,000 homes per year, and did not provide a budget scenario where Kāinga Ora is limited to the funding agreed by the Government.
The review has made seven major recommendations to the government which propose significant changes to Kāinga Ora and the wider social housing system.”
Cabinet has agreed to four of the recommendations today, which are:
- Recommendation 4(a): Aligning contractual arrangements across Kāinga Ora and Community Housing Providers (CHPs)
- Recommendation 5(a): Refreshing the Kāinga Ora Board
- Recommendation 5(b): Issue Simplified Direction to Kāinga Ora
- Recommendation 6: that Ministers set an expectation that the Kāinga Ora Board will develop a credible and detailed plan to improve financial performance with the goal of eliminating losses.
A new board is expected to be in place in July. Ministers will then issue a new Letter of Expectations which emphasized government expectations regarding Kāinga Ora’s focus on fiscal sustainability, value for money, and a ‘back to basics’ approach for their essential functions.
The first task of the refreshed Board will be to present a Kāinga Ora turnaround plan to Ministers by the end of the year, which focuses on returning Kāinga Ora to financial sustainability and eliminating losses.
The other changes proposed by the review, including moving to a model where the government becomes an active purchaser that takes a social investment approach to cost-effectively improving housing outcomes, will be considered in the coming months.
Supporting this Press Release are:
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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