NZ Politics

A leaked document from tobacco giant Philip Morris says the company should target political parties including NZ First to get more favourable regulation for its Heated Tobacco Products (HTPs).

RNZ has obtained the 2017 document 'Designing a Smoke-free Future in New Zealand', a corporate affairs plan to lobby for HTPs and other smokeless nicotine products to be embraced as part Smokefree 2025.

The Philip Morris New Zealand (PMNZ) lobbying plan, dated August 2017, was drawn up as the National-led government of the day was legalising vaping products. The document maps out a path for HTPs to gain similar recognition.

"It is essential that we move proactively to control the narrative about PMNZ, our products and in particular, our potential contribution to harm reduction," the document says.

"We would like to force those opposing PMNZ's role in a Smokefree NZ … into a position whereby to oppose PMNZ's RRPs (Risk Reduced Products) is to oppose harm reduction, or be pro-harm."

Ground-breaking work on fairness and equity within New Zealand's police force has quantified for the first time the gap between Māori and Pakeha when it comes to how they're treated.

It comes from the world-leading project Understanding Policing Delivery, which granted a research team unrestricted access to police staff and data.

Controlling for all other relevant factors, including previous criminal history, youth and gang affiliation, Māori are still 11 percent more likely to be charged with an offence than a Pakeha person in the same situation.

Tougher rules are needed to combat the risk of political corruption in New Zealand, according to the Helen Clark Foundation.

In a report for the public policy think-tank, set up by former prime minister Helen Clark, author Philippa Yasbek set out 26 recommendations to strengthen the country's anti-corruption measures.

They included penalties for those who failed to comply with the Official Information Act, capping a person's political donations to $30,000 per electoral cycle, mandatory reporting of all gifts offered to politicians, and a three-year wait before any former politician could become a lobbyist.

"Corruption is an insidious cancer. It is not enough for democracies like ours to pay lip service to principles of transparency and steps which need to be taken against corruption," he said in a foreword to the report.

"New Zealand must critically examine these issues on a regular basis. That is why this article is so important and why it raises very serious questions about New Zealand's current commitment to transparency."

Yasbek said anti-corruption measures in New Zealand were largely governed by social norms, but laws were needed.

The government aims to test just over 3.3 million drivers a year in its plan to increase roadside tests for drink and drug-impaired drivers.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown is launching a $1.3 billion Road Policing Investment Programme which will run for the next three years.

He said 65 percent of breath tests will be done at high or extreme alcohol risk times.

The scheme will also have a target of carrying out 50,000 drug tests per year.

Brown said another priority will be speeding on open roads and at high-risk locations.

"This plan has a clear focus on outcomes and has clear targets to ensure police are focused on the most high-risk times, behaviours, and locations.

It follows Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Education Minister Erica Stanford's selling their new maths policy at the National Party conference over the weekend, claiming just 22 percent of Year 8 students were at the expected standard for maths.

However, Aotearoa Educators Collective on Monday raised concerns the 22 percent figure was not comparing apples with apples because it was benchmarked against a new curriculum which was not yet being taught to Year 8 children.

"The original implementation of the refreshed curriculum was to begin in 2026, with a logical expectation that, as students moved through the school years, their maths achievement would be advancing. Year 1 students starting with the refreshed curriculum in 2026 would be in year 8 in 2033," AEC spokesperson Prof Jodie Hunter said.

"We question the use of data based on assessments where student tasks are based on a curriculum that is not being taught.

"The result of around only one in five students working at the appropriate curriculum level in Year 8 seems questionable given it contradicts previous national and international studies, including NMSSA, TIMMS, and PISA, which all show higher levels of student achievement."

The truth is, political parties probably aren't getting a whole lot more in donations than they have in the past. It's just that they're now required to tell us much more about what's coming in.

For the first time, parties have been required to report on the value of donations they received under $1500 where the donor was known. Previously, they only needed to report on the value of anonymous donations of this value. This new reporting rule has brought to light huge amounts of donation cash which had previously been hidden to the public.

Victoria University of Wellington senior lecturer Max Rashbrooke said the change to require reporting of these smaller donations closed a "baffling loophole" which left people guessing how much parties had in their bank accounts to campaign with.

Rashbrooke said it also put a misconception to bed. "There was always a view that the playing field was a bit more level than it might seem," he said. "Because it might seem that National out-fundraises Labour massively in the big donations, but the argument was always made that Labour did very well in the small donations."

In fact, it was National, not Labour, that dominated the small donation rankings in 2023. Out of National's $10.3m donation total, $4m came from 44,000 smaller donations of less than $1500. Labour raised less than $3m from smaller donations.

This is just an amazing series of events, with the greens now being forced to threaten to use the Waka Jumping legislation in order to try and make her do the right thing.

Chris Penk is kind of a dumbass, isn't he? The amount of things he's been completely wrong about is a very long list.

What do we think, will she resign? Will the greens use the Waka jumping law?

And is there anything remotely useful she can accomplish as an independent MP without an electorate?

The NZ Media Council has upheld a complaint against a RNZ story on accuracy.

The story titled Florist says Julie Anne Genter exchange was a 'massive imbalance of power' was about a Wellington florist's claim of being bullied by Green MP Julie Anne Genter over a controversial cycleway project in Newtown.

The article incorrectly claimed that car parks were removed from outside the florist's shop to make way for a cycleway.

Complainant Tom Pearce provided photographic evidence showing there have never been car parks or a cycleway directly outside the shop on Riddiford Street.

On Saturday, Tauranga City Council will have its first election since 2019. In February, 2021, a central government-appointed commission replaced a dysfunctional mayor and councillors.

The best-case scenario this weekend, local government expert Dr Andy Asquith told RNZ, is that the country's fifth most populous city ends up with a council that is "marginally functional".

RNZ spoke with others who said that's all most local authorities can hope for, these days.

Across the motu, local government representatives are making headlines for being in trouble, or causing trouble, or both. This is against a backdrop of ballooning council costs, and the fastest rates increases in decades.

An independent review of local government, commissioned by the previous government and released last year, found communities were not well-served by the relationship between central and local government.

The coalition government rejected its recommendations, saying they were a distraction from the key issues [...], such as the need to reform funding and financing, and planning for long-term economic growth, housing, and infrastructure.

I must admit, I don't fully understand the green party's objection to this piece of legislation, a party is elected with a mandate to represent the wishes of the people who voted for them. If an MP doesn't want to do that, then they should indeed resign, at least as a list MP.

Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters has alleged a cover-up at KiwiRail over the grounding of the Aratere last month.

There were allegations from coalition government partner New Zealand First earlier this week the accident last month happened after "someone put the autopilot on, went for a coffee, and then couldn't turn the autopilot off in time when that someone came back".

Party leader Peters on Thursday morning appeared to distance himself from the claim, before doubling-down on it.

"But here's the point - at the moment we heard this story, it was clear as daylight that something dramatically had gone wrong, that shouldn't have gone wrong, and we find out it was on autopilot." Peters said the party had sources on the boat itself, which relayed the 'coffee break' claim.

"I am the acting prime minister, and the reality is that we are wanting to hear the truth, but we don't want to delay any longer. And in a way, you can say I'm asking KiwiRail [to] front up - right here right now."

Labour leader Chris Hipkins was unimpressed with New Zealand First posting the claim to social media, rather than sharing whatever information it had with investigators.

Housing Minister Chris Bishop has told real estate agents that the government wants to "flood the market" with opportunities for housing development.

It has agreed to a range of changes that would free up land for housing, and, the government hopes, make housing more affordable.

My rough summary of proposal:

• Most cities will be required to have zoned enough land for 30 years of housing demand all the time
• These cities won't be allowed to determine urban/rural boundaries
• Must intensify, especially around major public transport routes. If they decide not to for character reasons, then equivalent capacity must be opened up in another area
• cafes, dairies, etc (mixed use) must be allowed in residential areas
• appartments not allowed to have minimum floor area or requirement for balcony set by council
• councils already intensifying under a previous agreement (MDRS) will keep this, but if they change it then they have to move to using new rules

Let me know if I've got something wrong!

The government has announced mandatory reading, writing and maths tests for primary schools.

From next year, schools will be required to test the ability of five year olds to link sounds and letters at 20 and 40 weeks of schooling.

From years 3-8, schools would have to test children's reading, writing and maths twice a year using either e-asTTle or Progressive Assessment Tests (PATs).

The 41-year-old man was initially charged with unlawfully being in a building and on 1 March, he appeared in the Nelson District Court before a community magistrate who convicted and discharged him.

Uhh, what the fuck? How did anyone think letting this person go was a reasonable thing to do?

Former Green MP Golriz Ghahraman has given her first in-depth interview after her arrest for shoplifting and subsequent resignation from Parliament, telling 1News it was an act of "self-sabotage."

so I just read this and I'm absolutely disgusted. honestly who do these pricks think they are?? how do we show them this is not to be tolerated in a welcoming safe public space, or anywhere for that matter! fucking bigots spreading fear and hate and misogynistic bullshit. just fuck these guys we need to get an exclusion order against them from being within 100m of a library. we need to stand up to these bullying cunts how? writing to Rachel Boyack hardly vents my spleen enough thanks for listening 🤬🤬🤬🤬

Paying people in cash, hiring workers not allowed to work for them on the visa they have, paying people late, there's a lot of dodgy stuff here actually.

What got me the most was:

"I am really comfortable with asking government agencies to consider, are there ways that you can innovate to deliver the same level of service while taking less taxpayer dollars to do it."

"In fact, that should be how we conduct ourselves every day, not just in the lead up to a Budget"

Honestly, we've been doing that every year for decades, now!

So two points here, first, didn't this dingus promise to take commercial flights to save money anyway?

Second, this is getting embarrassing for NZ that this keeps happening.

The infrastructure minister wants more private sector financing, such as public-private partnerships (PPPs), to pay for major projects.

In a speech to Local government New Zealand on Thursday night, Chris Bishop said he wanted government grant funding to become a last resort for councils.

"Infrastructure has to be paid for and at the moment, it's largely paid for by the Crown - which is taxpayers - or it's paid for by ratepayers. And what we're saying is that user-pays has a role to play here as well. Things like water metres, things like congestion pricing in our major cities and things like toll roads.

Analysis - "Boot camps" for young people who commit serious offending are coming back. The coalition government has promised to pilot "military-style academies" by the middle of the year - despite a wealth of international and New Zealand evidence that boot camps do not reduce reoffending.

It has been encouraging to see this evidence receive extensive media coverage and expert analysis. Less encouraging, however, has been the minister for children's reported rejection of expert advice that the boot camp model is flawed and ineffective.

So, why do we keep returning to interventions that don't work? For boot camps, there are at least three possible explanations.

First, they appeal to politicians who want to appear tough on crime, while also saying they are encouraging rehabilitation options.

Second, boot camps seem to have a strong appeal to common sense: people want to believe structure and military discipline can turn around young people's lives, and this belief outweighs contradicting evidence.

Third, boot camps can take different forms, so evidence of their ineffectiveness can be avoided by claiming, as the minister has, that improvements will be made this time.

This seems unlikely, however, when the core features that characterise boot camps - strong discipline in particular - are a main reason they don't work. To understand why, we need to look at the psychology of punishment and behaviour change.