Category: Politics

Source: Radio New Zealand

Solar advocates, electricians and consumer campaigners are among those calling on the government to ditch its plans for an LNG import terminal and consider other options.

The Sustainable Energy Association and six other organisations, including the Green Building Council, Master Electricians, and Consumer NZ, have joined together to present an alternative proposal to deal with the country’s winter energy problem.

The new Smart Energy Alliance says that includes rapidly rolling out rooftop solar, moving domestic users off gas, and better managing the country’s hydro lakes.

The government announced in February it would proceed with plans to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facility in Taranaki, with whole-of-life costs spread across all electricity users through a levy.

The proposal, widely criticised at the time, has attracted renewed opposition after Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz prompted the price of fossil fuels – including LNG – to spike.

Gentailer chief executives were the latest to express doubts at the energy sector’s conference last week.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) said in a statement last month that the LNG terminal was selected from a shortlist of five options that it considered “timely, feasible and of sufficient scale to meet dry year needs”.

It would also be beneficial to major industrial gas users, who had been forced to limit production or shut up shop altogether in recent years as domestic gas supply dwindled, the ministry said.

It said rooftop solar would support energy resilience in the longer term, but ruled it out as an immediate solution to the dry-year risk.

A Cabinet paper said distributed solar would not supply enough additional energy during winter, when the country was most likely to experience an energy shortage.

The options the ministry seriously considered – including more diesel and coal generation – were all capable of generating 1.5 terawatt hours of generation, no matter the weather, and could be deployed with a few years.

Smart Energy Alliance spokesperson Gareth Williams said the organisation did not accept the argument that solar was incapable of supporting the dry-year risk.

“It’s correct that solar isn’t the greatest resource in winter, but the modelling that we’ve done… shows that solar is really useful in terms of dry-year because it enables the [hydro] lakes to go into autumn and winter much fuller than they do currently,” he said.

“It was a very bold statement that it’s not relevant.”

What the country really needed was for politicians to agree on a cross-party energy strategy that properly weighed up all the options, Williams said.

“This constant change as to what we’re looking to do through every election cycle is just not going to lead to a good outcome.”

However, distributed rooftop solar was among the obvious solutions that should be rolled out straight away, he said.

Countries as diverse as Australia, Hungary and Pakistan have achieved massive uptake of rooftop solar and battery installations within a few years of rolling out government incentives.

A truly meaningful roll-out here would also need financial incentives.

“[Low-cost] financing by itself has some impact but the real acceleration comes when there’s some kind of rebate,” he said.

“Once it’s moving it has its own momentum and you don’t need [incentives] anymore.”

While solar capacity was built up, coal – which was already in the country – was capable of filling the gap that LNG would otherwise close.

“There is sufficient back-up from the Huntly power station using coal,” Williams said.

“Clearly we don’t want that to be the long-term solution… but as a temporary stop-gap for the next three or four years until those other projects can be accelerated, then we’re perfectly covered.”

Incentives could be particularly targeted at domestic gas users – which would have the additional benefit of saving limited gas supply for major industrial users who had limited alternatives, he said.

“The modelling we did looked for that 2TWh of additional generation, and we modelled it by reducing the amount of gas that was being used for electricity generation down to 45 percent of what it has been over the last three years.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

BusinessNZ has made its case to ministers as to why the food and grocery sector should be put in the highest priority level of any fuel rationing framework.

Top chief executives – from the organisation’s Major Companies Group – took part in an hour-long call on Thursday morning, featuring Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Associate Energy Minister Shane Jones.

BusinessNZ chief executive Katherine Rich told RNZ that attendees sought “greater clarity” from the government on how fuel rationing would be implemented if it activated the more extreme phases of its National Fuel Plan.

She said Willis encouraged business leaders to take part in the current consultation process and to keep sending through their on-the-ground insights.

Rich, who previously led the Food and Grocery Council for more than a decade, said she lobbied for the food industry to be given highest priority alongside other “life-supporting services” in Band A, like hospitals, courts and lifeline utilities.

“Feeding people is about supporting life and maintaining calm,” she said.

Under the draft framework published in March, food supply and distribution were categorised as “economically important services” and placed in the second highest priority level, Band B.

Rich said ministers did not signal where decisions might land, but business leaders felt their views were valued: “We do feel heard.”

The session brought together representatives from some of the country’s largest employers, spanning sectors including banking, infrastructure, tourism and logistics.

As well as the ministers, it included senior officials from Treasury, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Officials also invited ongoing input from industry, Rich said, particularly around red-tape or practical challenges businesses might face if fuel supplies tightened.

She said that level of engagement marked an improvement on the Covid-19 response, with businesses now being given more opportunity to contribute to decision-making.

“We’re facing a very fast-moving situation, and the information flow is very important,” Rich said.

“There’s a lot here that business can do on its own to try and work around some of the international disruption, but we need to make sure we keep the government informed.”

Rich said attendees found it “valuable” to ask questions and share their views, and they left the meeting with confidence that ministers and officials were doing everything they could to ensure New Zealand was in a strong position to deal with any disruption.

Speaking from Nelson on Thursday, Luxon told reporters the government was “working really closely” with industry players, including daily contact with the fuel companies.

“We have worked well in partnership, incredibly well. And we’ve also put New Zealand’s Commerce Commission on watch from day one to make sure that fuel companies are not gouging New Zealanders, and we haven’t seen evidence of that.”

Asked about the latest developments in the Middle East, Luxon said the potential for a ceasefire was promising but very fragile.

“We’ve got a long way to go. There’s a lot of trust that needs to be built back between the US and Iran, and we… encourage everybody to put best efforts forward to get to that long, lasting peace that we desperately need.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A briefing shows former Defence Minister Judith Collins met US defence technology powerhouse Palantir in February on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference to talk about an ongoing “partnership”.

Palantir had become the go-to tech company for the Pentagon and its AI technology had been key for targeting missiles in the war in Iran.

But the government here on Wednesday said the NZ Defence Force had “no existing plans” to use the company’s emerging technologies.

Collins’ meeting was revealed in a one-page briefing released under the Official Information Act to AUT law lecturer Dr Marco de Jong.

Collins met Palantir’s international president Laurence Lee, a former senior official in the UK’s defence and intelligence agencies.

The meeting on 13 February was an “informal discussion”, her office told RNZ on Wednesday.

The briefing to her ahead of the meeting suggested two “key messages” from Collins – who is also space and spy agency minister – to Lee.

The first was blanked out while the second said: “I acknowledge the importance of an ongoing effective partnership.

“Do you see any upcoming opportunities of interest for New Zealand in new technologies and emerging capabilities in this sector.” [sic]

Several paragraphs of ‘background’ were blanked out.

Collins’ office passed questions about the partnership with Palantir on to Chris Penk who was taking over her portfolios soon. She did not address what if any “opportunities” she discussed with Lee.

Penk on Wednesday told RNZ, “The New Zealand Defence Force has no existing plans to use Palantir in the emerging technologies space.

“The NZDF uses Palantir as an analytics platform to aid with planning. The Government’s ongoing partnership with Palantir is led by the GCSB.”

Emerging technologies featured in the Defence Capability Plan to spend $12 billion by 2029.

The Palantir meeting did not appear in Collins’ ministerial diary because individual meetings overseas often changed so were not recorded, her office said.

Palantir’s Maven draws up strike lists

The US and Israel launched surprise airstrikes on Iran on 28 February.

Many of the thousands of targets hit were selected from a list produced by Palantir’s technology called Maven “after it analyzed information from drones, satellite imagery and other sources”, the New York Times reported.

On 21 March, Reuters reported that Maven was being adopted by the Pentagon as a “core US military system”.

Another report a few days ago by Defense Scoop said Maven would become the “cornerstone” of a fused network of battlefield sensors and weapons cross air, land, sea and space.

The network was called Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control or CJADC2, where “Combined” stands for US partners and allies. The NZ Defence Force had been helping build the network.

For instance, the NZDF had been helping plan the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise, RIMPAC 2026, where tech would be tested under Project Overmatch, the US navy’s core contribution to CJADC2, a navy report said.

Collins meets Amazon

At Munich, Collins also met with cloud computing giants Amazon Web Services (AWS) and with German multinational SAP, a separate 80-page briefing showed.

It said SAP’s latest “suite” of defence and security products “represents a timely and essential upgrade for the NZDF that will improve our organisational readiness and interoperability”.

It also said public agencies were increasingly using Amazon – they spent $16 million with it last year – and though the NZDF’s partner was Microsoft, “this does not preclude the use of other suppliers, including AWS”.

Collins met with another Pentagon favourite, drone-and-software-maker Anduril, last July as Defence began work on its new capability plan. Drones were key to it, however defence leaders told MPs recently that most vital in future would be the data-synthesising software behind defensive and offensive weaponry.

Last month the Pentagon consolidated its AI projects with Anduril into a 10-year contract worth up to $34b.

Palantir’s partnership with the US government has been widely reported for years, especially since the firm co-founded in 2004 by NZ citizen Peter Thiel – who helped bring vice president JD Vance to power – in 2017 turned its powerful surveillance technologies to data crunching for the Pentagon.

Much less information was publicly available about the NZ-Palantir partnership. It was reported in 2018 the US firm got a contract in 2012 with the Defence Force covering software, hardware and training 100 staff. Its hardware was still in use by NZDF in 2024, an annual review showed. During Covid, Palantir pitched its pandemic-tracking software to the Ministry of Health.

The defence ministry last month told de Jong its strategic leadership team had not had any meetings in the last year with Palantir, or with Anduril, or with other major defence contractors L3 Harris and Hirtenberger, or with NZ drone maker Syos.

Maven and the network for US partners including NZ

Maven was central to Palantir’s fortunes and the firm and the Pentagon liked to show off online what it could do, outmatching the work of thousands of military analysts.

With NATO last year also acquiring the platform, critics have voiced fears the speed and scale of its target analysis would take the place of critical thinking.

Palantir said in 2024 that Maven provided the cloud infrastructure, software capabilities and AI that powered some CJADC2 initiatives.

The NZDF takes part in experiments and testing run in parallel by the US navy, army and air force’s CJADC2 projects.

New Zealand and its Five Eyes intelligence partners signed up 18 months ago to the US navy’s Project Overmatch.

Overmatch had been setting up a new US-based Cooperative Project Office that NZ personnel were expected to help man, alongside a “coalition lab” for testing shared tech, the navy reported.

“The coalition network enables resilient communication and network connectivity amongst the ‘Five Eyes’ (FVEY) in a distributed environment to close kill-chains and enable long-range fires,” it said.

The US Marines recently set up their own CJADC2 project, Project Dynamis.

The NZDF was embracing emerging tech underwritten by a much expanded budget at the same time its core partners Australia, the UK and the US had streamlined sharing military tech between themselves, and as US President Donald Trump had been issuing directives to speed up arms transfers and trade under ‘America First’ policies.

Many militaries were stressing the need for speed like never before.

Defence’s annual review to Parliament last month said, “There was a need to move to a different ‘risk appetite’ to keep up with quickly evolving technology, placing a higher value on speed of delivery” even if this involved a “fast fail, rather than be slow to act and left behind”.

The NZDF had $26m set aside to boost this including adding to its badly depleted workforce.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Corrections does not know how many people leave prison with nowhere to live or a reintegration plan, an Auditor-General’s report has revealed.

That information was crucial for preventing homelessness and reducing the risk of reoffending, it said.

But Corrections said “we don’t need to know” where people are going to be living – aside from those released on parole, or with conditions.

Corrections should do better at understanding that, to inform social services who could help those people, the report said.

But Minister Mark Mitchell said “Corrections is not a housing agency” and was not responsible for prisoners’ housing needs after they’re released.

‘We don’t need to know’ – Corrections

People are not obliged to tell Corrections where they are going or whether they have anywhere to live, and some did not want to share that information, the report said.

However, that data could ensure other agencies – like the housing and social development ministries – understand what support people need when they leave prison, and help prevent homelessness.

“This work would be particularly crucial given the importance of stable housing in reducing the risk of someone reoffending and returning to prison,” it said.

But Corrections’ reintegration and community services director Bronwyn Morrison said while it was concerned if people left prison without anywhere to go, it was only responsible for them if they were released on parole or with conditions.

“We don’t need to know, and they don’t need to tell us, where they’re going to be living,” she said.

“And it probably won’t surprise you to learn that most people would prefer we don’t know.”

Remand prisoners most at risk

Corrections case managers work with people in prison to plan for their rehabilitation and return to society.

Prisoners who have served more than two years are generally well supported to find accommodation, because that was often a condition of parole, the report said.

But remand prisoners – 40 percent of the prison population who are awaiting trial or sentencing – are most at risk.

Staff told the Auditor-General’s office many were not getting sufficient support, largely because their release can be hard to predict.

Most people on remand spend less than a month in prison, though it can range for a day to more than a year, and they can be released at short notice without a plan for housing.

“As a result, they risk falling into, or returning to, an unstable housing situation that could lead to them reoffending and returning to prison.”

Morrison said some people on remand were dealing with mental health and addiction challenges, coupled with the stress of upcoming court dates.

“A lot of people aren’t actually with Corrections very long and there is an element of being in and out of custodial remand as people really struggle to retain their time in the community, without either re-offending or causing a risk or perhaps losing accommodation,” she said.

“So it is quite dynamic and our concern is always going to be focused on community safety.”

Corrections does not track how often case managers meet with prisoners, or the quality of that support, the report said.

Morrison said that work was variable by nature, and prisoners were prioritised based on their re-offending risk.

“We are always focused on making sure those people at high risk of re-offending do have stable accommodation, because that is what’s core for us, achieving community safety outcomes as well as reduced re-offending.”

Corrections had a better grasp on the living situation for people who were being released on parole or with conditions.

Of those, 12 percent – about 6000 people – were recorded in 2024/25 as having no fixed abode, said Morrison.

But that data was not necessarily accurate because often those people found accommodation soon after their release, she said.

Corrections’ role in helping prisoners find homes

Corrections was responsible for ensuring people being released could find “secure, safe and long-term housing”, relying on the wider housing system including social service agencies, the report said.

There are barriers: “A lack of available suitable housing, landlord reluctance to offer tenancy agreements to people with previous convictions, and community safety concerns can make this difficult.”

Corrections contracts accommodation providers to provide homes for up to 1200 people (across 300 beds) each year, at a cost of $27 million (2024/25).

It also funds a service called Out of Gate, which connects people released from prison to different supports, including support finding accommodation.

The department also has accommodation on prison land for high-risk people who have nowhere to go.

They typically stay more than two years, but in some cases, their stay could be indefinite because of the lack of suitable housing.

‘Corrections is not a housing agency’ – minister

Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell said the agency was not responsible for prisoners’ housing needs after they’re released.

“That is for our social service agencies and the wider housing system,” he said.

“What I do expect from Corrections is that they connect prisoners with relevant support services, including referrals to housing agencies, doing everything possible to ensure there is stable accommodation for them to go to once they leave prison.”

Corrections assured him that was happening and was doing everything it could do ensure people had a place to live, he said.

“While some areas can be strengthened, I am pleased to hear there is work already planned and underway which is in line with the intent of the report’s recommendations.”

Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka said the report’s findings reinforce the importance of agencies working together to help prisoners into stable housing.

“That includes improving information sharing and targeting support more effectively to reduce the risk of homelessness and reoffending,” he said.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has welcomed news of a ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran – but is warning New Zealanders of ongoing economic effects.

Speaking to reporters after the Reserve Bank on Wednesday confirmed a decision to keep the official cash rate steady, Luxon said the news of a ceasefire was “a really promising and really encouraging move, I mean it’s the most encouraging news I think we’ve had in this conflict, absolutely”.

But he repeatedly warned against people getting too comfortable, and said the best case scenario for fuel prices coming down was probably “a matter of weeks”.

“This as a complex conflict, it’s been unpredictable, it’s been volatile, and we’re going to do everything we can to actually exhort the parties to actually use the two weeks to get to what we need to see which is an enduring solution here.”

It was “too early to comment” on the specifics of the ceasefire, he said, and while it could see a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to shipping – including fuel tankers – the economic impacts were likely to continue for some time.

“It was running at 125 [ships through the Strait] a day, we’ve been running about four a day… but I just want to be really honest there’s a long way to go here.

“There’s no escaping the fact there will be a hit to inflation and economic growth, and that means real impacts for Kiwis beyond the price of petrol. As we’ve repeatedly said, New Zealand has learned the lessons from Covid the hard way and we will not repeat the mistakes made at that time.”

He said the government’s domestic focus remained on the risks to inflation and growth in the economy, which meant securing fuel to protect jobs, livelihoods and the wider economy.

Fuel suppliers had not reported any issues with future orders or shipments, and New Zealand remained at phase 1 of the fuel response plan, he said.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis said markets had reacted positively to the ceasefire news, with crude oil prices falling and global equities up.

“As of 1pm – by one measure, West Texas, crude oil is down around 16 percent – and Brent crude down 12.5 percent to $USD95 a barrel.

“SMP futures are also up and the New Zealand stock exchange is up, gaining 1.7 percent. The New Zealand dollar has also appreciated against the Greenback (USD).”

She said despite the ceasefire development, it remained unclear how fast cargo would begin to move through the Strait of Hormuz should the ceasefire hold.

“Oil and gas facilities have also been damaged or shut down across the region and these will take time to bring back online. New Zealand is also a long way from our fuel suppliers, but prices here typically respond quickly to oil market moves – usually within a week or so but this may take longer in this instance given the heightened volatility in markets and residual uncertainty about the geopolitical situation.”

She noted the price of oil was not the same as that of refined fuels, and refineries had an extended disruption to crude supplies – so it could take extra time to flow through to lower prices for petrol and diesel.

Luxon said questions about potential tolling of the Strait were “way too premature”.

He said Trump’s earlier comments that a civilisation could die were “incredibly unhelpful” and “unprecedented for a US president period”.

“But I don’t think reiterating that rhetoric is helpful either, but equally we’ve got to deal with what we’re dealing with now, and what we’re dealing with now is an opportunity and the question is whether the parties will actually step up to the plate and realise it.”

Pressed on the matter, he refused to use stronger language than that Trump’s comments were “unhelpful”.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The Finance Minister says she’s “alarmed” at “unprecedented” rhetoric by the US President Donald Trump, while the Foreign Minister says concern would occur if “people keep on heightening the effect of a comment like that”.

Early on Wednesday morning, Trump warned “a whole civilization will die” in Iran if the country does not heed his cutoff time to open the Strait of Hormuz, as Tehran reported US-Israeli attacks on its infrastructure were already underway.

Peters met with his counterpart, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio just hours after Trump posted on social media, but Peters wouldn’t be drawn on Trump’s comments.

“I don’t comment on what presidents and prime ministers and secretaries of state and other people say, which are not part of the conversation that I was in,” Peters told RNZ.

He said there had been numerous comments in the past that have “changed dramatically” within one or 24 hours.

“So it’s time to be experienced. It’s time for cool heads and to not make a rush to judgment that we will regret. That’s what’s important now.”

But speaking on Morning Report’s Political Panel a short time after, Nicola Willis said the comments were “alarming for the whole world”.

“We are all very concerned with the trajectory of this conflict, and it is really unprecedented to see a US president using that sort of rhetoric, which obviously would have massive implications for the people of the Middle East and for the world,” she said.

She called for de-escalation saying New Zealand wanted to see the “basics of humanitarian law upheld, and that does not include endorsing attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure”.

“I don’t like waking up in a world where what the US president says on Twitter will actually affect the fortunes of billions of people,” Willis said.

She did however acknowledge Peters’ comments around not rushing to a judgment.

“As Winston Peters said, we do need to see whether there’s any bite behind these tweets today. We won’t know till midday whether these are words or threats or actually will result in actions.”

Labour’s deputy leader Carmel Sepuloni said the government needed to be calling out the comments made by the US president.

“They are outrageous” and would “further inflame” what was already a “horrific situation”, she said.

Peters and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon needed to be “much stronger and resolute” on what New Zealand’s position was and “what we deem acceptable and what we deem to be absolutely unacceptable”.

“I don’t think we’ve seen that strength of voice so far,” Sepuloni said.

She hoped Peters was “being a bit stronger” in his language “behind the scenes”.

The call for de-escalation from Willis echoed the Prime Minister’s comments in his post-cabinet media conference on Tuesday, in which he said the US and Israel had undertaken “unilateral, independent action without engaging any of their partners”.

“New Zealand’s position is clear, this is not a time for escalating rhetoric or actions. It is critical that the parties find a way to de escalate and come to a negotiated solution quickly,” Luxon said.

“New Zealand expects all parties to comply with international law and international humanitarian law, which includes the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure,” he said on Tuesday.

No response to PM’s views from Peters

On Wednesday morning, Peters wouldn’t be drawn on Luxon’s previous comments, in which he stated New Zealand had the same position as Australia in regards to the attack that started the war.

“If you’re talking to the Prime Minister, please question him about his comments,” Peters told RNZ, “I’m not going to respond to what the Prime Minister said.”

He said he was responding to what he knows as the Foreign Minister, and the information he was briefed with “by a seriously good team”.

“That’s what drives my answers, not what some other person said, dare I say it was the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, or anybody else.”

During the meeting between Peters and Rubio, there was no discussion about the legality of the United States and Israel’s strike on Iran, which began the war.

Peters told RNZ New Zealand had never expressed support for the war.

The purpose of his trip to Washington DC was not to declare support in any way. The US did not seek for New Zealand to express support, and made no requests for rhetorical or material support for its actions.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The Finance Minister says she’s “alarmed” at “unprecedented” rhetoric by the US President Donald Trump, while the Foreign Minister says concern would occur if “people keep on heightening the effect of a comment like that”.

Early on Wednesday morning, Trump warned “a whole civilization will die” in Iran if the country does not heed his cutoff time to open the Strait of Hormuz, as Tehran reported US-Israeli attacks on its infrastructure were already underway.

Peters met with his counterpart, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio just hours after Trump posted on social media, but Peters wouldn’t be drawn on Trump’s comments.

“I don’t comment on what presidents and prime ministers and secretaries of state and other people say, which are not part of the conversation that I was in,” Peters told RNZ.

He said there had been numerous comments in the past that have “changed dramatically” within one or 24 hours.

“So it’s time to be experienced. It’s time for cool heads and to not make a rush to judgment that we will regret. That’s what’s important now.”

But speaking on Morning Report’s Political Panel a short time after, Nicola Willis said the comments were “alarming for the whole world”.

“We are all very concerned with the trajectory of this conflict, and it is really unprecedented to see a US president using that sort of rhetoric, which obviously would have massive implications for the people of the Middle East and for the world,” she said.

She called for de-escalation saying New Zealand wanted to see the “basics of humanitarian law upheld, and that does not include endorsing attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure”.

“I don’t like waking up in a world where what the US president says on Twitter will actually affect the fortunes of billions of people,” Willis said.

She did however acknowledge Peters’ comments around not rushing to a judgment.

“As Winston Peters said, we do need to see whether there’s any bite behind these tweets today. We won’t know till midday whether these are words or threats or actually will result in actions.”

Labour’s deputy leader Carmel Sepuloni said the government needed to be calling out the comments made by the US president.

“They are outrageous” and would “further inflame” what was already a “horrific situation”, she said.

Peters and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon needed to be “much stronger and resolute” on what New Zealand’s position was and “what we deem acceptable and what we deem to be absolutely unacceptable”.

“I don’t think we’ve seen that strength of voice so far,” Sepuloni said.

She hoped Peters was “being a bit stronger” in his language “behind the scenes”.

The call for de-escalation from Willis echoed the Prime Minister’s comments in his post-cabinet media conference on Tuesday, in which he said the US and Israel had undertaken “unilateral, independent action without engaging any of their partners”.

“New Zealand’s position is clear, this is not a time for escalating rhetoric or actions. It is critical that the parties find a way to de escalate and come to a negotiated solution quickly,” Luxon said.

“New Zealand expects all parties to comply with international law and international humanitarian law, which includes the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure,” he said on Tuesday.

No response to PM’s views from Peters

On Wednesday morning, Peters wouldn’t be drawn on Luxon’s previous comments, in which he stated New Zealand had the same position as Australia in regards to the attack that started the war.

“If you’re talking to the Prime Minister, please question him about his comments,” Peters told RNZ, “I’m not going to respond to what the Prime Minister said.”

He said he was responding to what he knows as the Foreign Minister, and the information he was briefed with “by a seriously good team”.

“That’s what drives my answers, not what some other person said, dare I say it was the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, or anybody else.”

During the meeting between Peters and Rubio, there was no discussion about the legality of the United States and Israel’s strike on Iran, which began the war.

Peters told RNZ New Zealand had never expressed support for the war.

The purpose of his trip to Washington DC was not to declare support in any way. The US did not seek for New Zealand to express support, and made no requests for rhetorical or material support for its actions.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Foreign Minister Winston Peters has outlined the significant negative economic impacts the conflict in the Middle East is having on New Zealand, and Pacific neighbours, during his meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Peters met with his United States counterpart on Wednesday morning in Washington DC, where he expressed New Zealand’s desire to see dialogue and de-escalation.

Rubio outlined US progress towards ending the war with Iran.

On the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, they both stressed the importance countries around the world attach to international law in regards to freedom of navigation.

The Minister was invited to visit Washington DC this week by US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.

They met on Tuesday morning (US time), and discussed:

– US/NZ bilateral relations. The Secretary and the Minister traversed the warm, wide-ranging, and longstanding relationship… pic.twitter.com/tEUFs460Tb

— Winston Peters (@NewZealandMFA) April 7, 2026

Before the trip, said the current global context was the most challenging New Zealand had faced in the past 80 years.

Waikato University Professor Al Gillespie told RNZ ahead of the meeting that Peters would be trying improve a relationship with the US that had been challenged in recent times, “because of the unpredictability” of the US President. But he also acknowledged the countries were good friends.

During the meeting, Rubio and Peters discussed the longstanding relationship between the US and New Zealand, including on defence and security and trade and economic matters. They talked about the issue of tariffs and continued discussions on critical minerals cooperation.

Peters pointed to the Pacific Islands Forum next year, which New Zealand’s is hosting, and invited Rubio to attend. He encouraged the US to continue playing a fulsome role in the region.

They discussed matters in the Pacific, including energy supply chain issues and transnational organised crime. They also discussed shared strategic interests of the two nations in the Indo-Pacific region.

Ahead of the meeting, Rubio was asked for a message to other nations like New Zealand impacted by the war.

He responded by saying the whole world had been impacted “unfortunately” because Iran was violating “every law known” by striking commercial vessels in the Straits of Hormuz, “and it’s a big problem for the world.”

Peters also met with Rubio early last year, ahead of the Liberation Day tariffs. After that meeting, Peters said the pair had made “serious arrangements” to keep dialogue going in a meaningful way.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The prime minister is reluctant to say whether there will be any further support for New Zealanders during the fuel crisis, but believes New Zealanders will “understand.”

Ministers will meet with major businesses later in the week to get their perspectives on what may be required, should fuel supply become disrupted further.

The government has so far temporarily boosted the in-work tax credit to $50 a week for around 143,000 lower-income families, while also expanding eligibility to a further 14,000 families, to receive the credit at a reduced rate.

It has also temporarily increased mileage rates by 30 percent for home and community support workers.

Over the last few weeks, the government has repeated that any support would be “timely, temporary, and targeted”.

On Monday, Christopher Luxon would not commit to expanding support, saying while it “will look” for support for those that are “most vulnerable,” the government could not afford to do “everything for everyone,” and that most New Zealanders would understand.

“We cannot alleviate the pressure for everybody, but we do have a framework around timely, targeted, temporary support, which I think most New Zealanders would understand and appreciate. And they also appreciate and understand that we have a job to do to protect their long-term interests and that of the economy too.”

Luxon said the support offered so far was about protecting the the most vulnerable, without driving up inflation.

“I have to protect the long-term future of New Zealanders as well, and actually making sure that we actually aren’t running up inflation and interest rates.”

The government is unlikely to take measures similar to Australia, and cut the fuel excise tax or road user charges for heavy vehicles.

While saying diesel was the “lifeblood” of the economy, and sectors like farming and construction relied on it, Luxon stopped short of saying whether there would be any support, but pointed to meetings the government was having and would be having with high diesel users.

“It is understandable that diesel users want relief from rising prices, and we are acutely aware of the pressure that all Kiwis are feeling. But seeking to alleviate that pressure for everyone would be unaffordable and irresponsible.”

One thing the government is likely to do is abandon plans to raise the fuel excise tax. A 12 cent increase is due to come in January, but the transport minister, finance minister, and prime minister are signalling it will be postponed, or dropped altogether.

Luxon said while legislation would need to be passed, Cabinet had not made a decision.

“We recognise that there’s going to be elevated fuel prices for some time, and it just seems like stalling that or deferring that will be probably the wisest course of action,” he said, while acknowledging a deferral would cause challenges to the National Land Transport Fund.

“If there is a fall-off in revenue that’s being raised, the reality is we have to be straight with New Zealanders and say we might have to make some choices and trade-offs, and I think that’s OK to do that.”

Sectors such as farming, construction, and aviation have been warning of the impacts of the fuel crisis on their businesses.

Asked whether there would be support for businesses affected by the crisis, particularly any that were facing going under, Luxon said many businesses and households were doing it tough, but the government would not be spraying around money “in a cash bazooka.”

Ministers to meet with major businesses this week

Luxon said there had already been lots of industry engagement, and there would be more over the coming week.

The government had been talking to the aviation sector over jet fuel, as well as high diesel users, and the finance minister has spoken to banking chief executives with an expectation they “stand by” companies that may be high consumers of diesel in the short term.

Ministers would also be talking to the Major Companies Group (MCG), which RNZ understands will happen on Thursday.

The Major Companies Group is an advocacy group, under the BusinessNZ umbrella.

It represents over 170 companies, including the likes of Spark, Foodstuffs, Vector, Zespri, and Fonterra, as well as ports, airports, construction firms, fuel companies, and major banks and insurance companies.

“We don’t want to repeat the mistake where we happen to industry. We want to work with industry, because in many ways we see them being quite critical for actually solving some of the challenges we may incur should we get a fuel disruption in the future,” Luxon said.

“It’s just about making sure that we all have a common understanding of what’s required. We know it’s incredibly difficult, particularly for our diesel users, in particular. That means that many of them, frankly, are having to put fuel surcharges in place and pass those costs on to their customers.”

BusinessNZ’s chief executive Katherine Rich said the “situation update” between ministers and the MCG would provide an opportunity to ask questions and share direct business perspectives.

Rich said businesses wanted to see a level playing field when it came to timely and accurate information from the government.

“It has been positive to see early planning, strong consultation with relevant firms, clear phases, and a continued reliance on market settings and supply chain expertise before intervention. That discipline matters, particularly for business continuity and economic stability,” she said.

BusinessNZ’s fuel company members were working closely with suppliers, and Rich said they currently did not see it as a supply problem, but a price issue.

“Many have been reluctant to pass on higher costs in the short term, in the expectation that the situation may stabilise,” she said.

Under Phase Three of the government’s National Fuel Plan, critical transport services like road freight for supermarket and grocery supply chains sit in Band B of the priority bands.

Phases Three and Four are still under consultation, with the finance minister on Monday saying she would make further announcements in the next few weeks.

Rich suggested the fuel plan would be strengthened further if the food and grocery sector was elevated to the ‘life-supporting’ Band A, recognising its “critical role in maintaining continuity of supply for households.”

BusinessNZ’s director of advocacy Catherine Beard has also been seconded into the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment’s response team, which Rich said would “contribute real-time business insight and supply chain expertise” to ensure operational realities were well understood as decisions were made.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The government’s new newest ministers have been sworn in at Government House in Wellington.

Both first term National MPs, Cameron Brewer and Mike Butterick were made ministers outside of Cabinet.

Brewer, the MP for Upper Harbour, has been made minister for Commerce and Consumer Affairs and minister for Small Business and Manufacturing, as well as an associate Immigration minister.

He was most recently chairing the Finance and Expenditure committee, sometimes seen as a proving ground for potential future ministers.

This term, he had also been a member of the Justice committee, and the deputy chair of the Governance and Administration committee.

Butterick, meanwhile, has become minister for Land Information and associate Agriculture.

The Wairarapa MP spent some time as deputy chair of the Environment committee, was a member of the Education committee, and was most recently a member of the Primary Production committee.

Brewer and Butterick’s move into the Executive was part of last week’s reshuffle, which was prompted by the retirements of Judith Collins and Dr Shane Reti.

With Chris Penk and Penny Simmonds moving into Cabinet, it opened up two spots for ministers outside Cabinet.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand