Richard Shaw: Coalition leadership is hard. Luxon’s ‘nuclear option’ of electoral reform is not the answer

Much to everyone’s surprise – including, it seems, his National Party colleagues – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has committed to offering voters the chance to revisit their electoral system. Again.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised – National has form when it comes to constitutional change.

Geoff Parker: New Zealanders Aren’t “Leaving the Government Behind” - They’re Pushing Back

Jack McDonald says voters are “looking forwards, not backwards.” He’s partly right. New Zealanders are looking forward — but what they’re leaving behind is a decade of cultural and ideological overreach that crept into public policy with little public consent.

JC: We Are Well and Truly ‘Browned’ Off

The more the discontent with this government by its supporters grows, the more it seems the government is determined to show us the middle finger. Much of the issue surrounds the ‘Māorification’ of this country because what they promised they would do is not what they are in fact doing. It would appear that they are taking every opportunity to find pathways to incorporate a Māori perspective into legislation on any flimsy pretext.

Peter Williams: The Nats are considering keeping Te Mana o te Wai

The Taxpayers' Union has been alerting supporters about the "Te Mana o te Wai" (literally meaning the mana of the water) requirements, which are still applicable to local councils' environmental planning/consenting.

It is becoming clear that the Coalition Government is continuing down Labour's path of undemocratic and costly co-governance due to pressure from the Wellington bureaucracy, LGNZ, and the various special interests who are "experts" in tikanga.

Simon O'Connor: Is a second term likely?

I address the one question constantly put to me over the summer break - can the current government get a second term of office?

As 2025 begins, I thought I would start the Substack year with some reflections on the year ahead in light of a question that kept being put to me over the summer – will this be a one term government?

Professor Richard Shaw: Election anniversary - a year into 3-party coalition government, can the centre hold?

Nearly a year on from its formation, it’s clear a three-party coalition is not quite the same as the two-party versions New Zealand is accustomed to.

Normally, the primary dynamic has been clear: the major party sets the pace while the smaller governing partner receives a bauble or two for supporting the lead act. There may be occasional concerns about tails wagging dogs, but the dog is clearly in charge.

Peter Dunne: Coalition Government performance

Last week’s Budget marks the final stage of the political transformation that began with the election and the change of government. Until now, the coalition government had been working on the budget set by the previous government for the 2023/24 Budget. That is why so much of the new government’s activity has focused on the obliteration of the previous government’s record and reputation.

NZCPR Newsletter: Coalition Promises

 

The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour.

One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance policies that seek to ascribe different rights and responsibilities to New Zealanders on the basis of their race or ancestry.”

Heather du Plessis-Allan: National will hope tomorrow's protest crowds stay small

I'll tell you what's going to be really telling tomorrow with those Te Pāti Māori protests- it's how big they are.

It's basically going to be an indication of how much pushback and resistance the new Government's going to get on its plan to roll back the Treaty out of law like they plan to do.

Point of Order: Don’t accept Human Rights Commission reading of data on Treaty partnership

Wellington is braced for a “massive impact’ from the new government’s cutting public service jobs, The Post somewhat grimly reported today.

Expectations of an economic and social jolt are based on the National-Act coalition agreement to cut public service numbers in each government agency in a cost-trimming exercise “informed by” head counts in 2017.

National campaigned on a 6.5% reduction in spending across the public service.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 25/11/23

“Revolution” is the threat as the Māori Party smarts at coalition government’s Treaty direction

Having found no fresh announcements on the government’s official website, Point of Order turned today to Scoop’s Latest Parliament Headlines for its buzz.

This provided us with evidence that the Māori Party has been soured by the the coalition agreement announced yesterday by the new PM.

“Soured” somewhat understates things.

Richard Shaw: Three parties, two deals, one government

It might have taken six weeks to decide the shape of New Zealand’s next government (or three if you count from the final results), but in the end that is the nature of proportional representation. Compromise, trade-offs and haggling are the price of an MMP electoral system designed to avoid single-party rule.

So, after some intermittently passive-agressive political posturing and much striding through airports, the deals were done and signed off in Wellington today. Both the ACT and NZ First parties have agreed, with exemptions, to National Party’s fiscal plan, tax plan and 100-day plan.

Richard Shaw: Winston Peters back in the driver’s seat for coalition negotiations

Here go again. The final results of this year’s election have delivered two more seats to te Pati Māori, thereby increasing the size of New Zealand’s 54th Parliament to 123 seats (once the Port Waikato by-election has taken place).

The double effect of this “overhang” is to erase the narrow election night majority held by National (who have lost seats via special votes for the seventh election on the trot) and ACT, and to hand the balance of power to NZ First.

The irony that te Pati Māori’s performance forces three parties who are, at best, lukewarm on the idea of Māori seats into formal negotiations won’t be lost on anyone. The larger point, however, is that the results fundamentally change the dynamics of the process required to form the next government.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 4/11/23

Hipkins congratulates another second-placed team – the one that he captains – and promises it will provide tough opposition

Within 30 minutes of Point of Order posting its Buzz yesterday, the mainstream media were bursting with news of the final count from the 2023 General Election.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 3/11/23

Less than 30 minutes to go before the final 2023 vote count is announced

This Buzz is being posted not too long before we hear the final results of the 2023 General Election, to be unveiled at 2pm when we will learn whether National and Act will need the support of NZ First to form a government. This, in turn, will influence the appointments of the new ministers whose announcements – when they get down to governing – will be recorded on the government’s official website.

Kate Hawkesby: Special votes are finally out tomorrow

So tomorrow we finally —after such a ridiculously long wait— get the final vote count.

Specials will be done, duplicates checked, ballots finalized, we will know where we’re at, and more importantly, what form the new government might take.

The fact we’ve had three weeks in limbo is completely ludicrous and at least the incoming PM has acknowledged that and claims he’ll do something about changing it. Which as far as I understand involves changing the law and the way the electoral commission operates, and I hope they do that.

Adrian Beaumont: Special votes mean National and ACT will likely lose their majority

This Friday at 2pm (12pm AEDT), New Zealanders will find out the final results of the October 14 election. This tally will include the estimated 567,000 special votes not reported in the preliminary results on election night.

Special votes tend to take a long time to count because they include votes cast outside a voter’s home electorate. These votes need to be posted back to the home electorate and checked against the electoral roll before they can be counted.

Brian Easton: Are things falling apart?

Coalition government reflects a nation’s diversity. Electoral arrangements show it.

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

W. B. Yeats The Second Coming