Bob Jones: The Kris Faafoi beat-up

Cabinet minister Kris Faafoi surprised when he announced earlier this year that he was pulling stumps on politics after 12 years. Then 3 months later he announced he would form his own consultancy firm.

The pompous reaction from journalists, editorial writers and opposition politicians was uniformly pretentious nonsense.

Bryce Edwards: Faafoi’s lobbying position should be illegal

Probably the most corrupt and broken part of the New Zealand political system is the role of corporate lobbyists influencing policy decisions of governments on behalf of vested interests. This is a group of political insiders – usually former politicians, party staffers or senior Beehive officials – who work at the centre of power and then depart with inside knowledge and networks that they can leverage to help corporate clients influence government policy.

It’s known as a “revolving door” in which corporate interests can prosper through having insiders who move backwards and forwards in and out of the Beehive and other positions of influence. It’s a growth industry in Wellington.

Chris Trotter: Jacinda Ardern’s Radical Reshuffle.

Kris Faafoi's departure from Parliament has left the Immigration, Justice and Broadcasting portfolios in need of new ministers.

In the case of Immigration the Prime Minister’s choice of Michael Wood to replace Faafoi is a sound one. The issues of employment, migration, and workplace relations are closely related, so entrusting the portfolios of Labour and Immigration to a single, highly capable, politician makes a lot of sense.

When it comes to the Justice and Broadcasting portfolios, however, matters are nowhere near so cut and dried. Between now and the General Election issues with considerable potential for creating serious political division are likely to test the skills of the new ministers to their limits.

Before examining those issues in more detail, however, it is important to establish what the Prime Minister has, and hasn’t, done.

Bryce Edwards: What happened to the big “immigration reset”?

The Government promised a major reform of New Zealand’s immigration system, but when it was announced this week, many asked “is that it?”

Over the last two years Covid has turned the immigration tap off, and the Government argued this produced the perfect opportunity to reassess decades of “unbalanced immigration”. A “reset” was promised, and expectations built up that something quite significant was in the works.

Last year a “pathway to residency” was created for up to 165,000 existing visa workers. This had a hugely positive impact for those migrants, and was also a pragmatic solution when borders were closed, and labour shortages hit home. It was, however, a “one-off”, and the real issue has always been what will happen once borders fully re-open.

Bryce Edwards: Labour’s sensible taihoa on hate speech law

The Government has delayed the introduction of its fraught hate speech law reforms, and there’s strong speculation they’ll remain on ice until after the next election. In fact, they may never see the light of day again.

This is a win for those who have argued that the reforms are likely to be counterproductive, impinging on human rights, including political freedoms and speech. Although the Government’s motivation might have been good in wanting to clamp down on what people can legally say, in practice the reforms were badly thought through and would have a chilling impact on political debate. 

Famously both the Minister of Justice Kris Faafoi and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern were unable to adequately defend or explain their new rules last year, which gave weight to the argument that they were dangerous and knee-jerk.

HDPA: Why is Kris Faafoi reviewing the electoral laws in the middle of a pandemic?

 

What the hell is Kris Faafoi doing announcing a review of the country's electoral laws right now? 

We are in the middle of a pandemic. 

Right now Auckland has a Delta outbreak that is probably going to spread through New Zealand in the next few months.

Which means God-only-knows-how-long we’re dealing with restrictions and closed businesses.

Are electoral laws really so pressing that Faafoi needs a comprehensive review of the funding of political parties, the voting age and the length of the parliamentary term?

Karl du Fresne: Why we should be sceptical about Kris Faafoi's grand broadcasting project

In a previous life, I served for two years as a member of the Library and Information Advisory Commission (LIAC).

You’ve never heard of it? That’s hardly surprising. Not many people have. It was established by Helen Clark’s government for the purposes of, among other things, “maintaining a strategic overview of the library and information sectors” and “providing stakeholder perspectives on issues and proposals”. Make of that what you will.

Brent Edwards: Political Roundup - Should Kris Faafoi be sacked?

The latest allegations of a corruption scandal involving a Cabinet minister suggests this government is far too loose when it comes to providing access to power for friends and associates.

Kris Faafoi is in trouble because of his alleged role in helping a mate with an immigration matter when he was the Associate Minister of Immigration. On the face of it, the evidence is bad for Faafoi, as it looks like he has breached the Cabinet Manual rules which prohibit helping mates out by doing them a personal favour.