Category: Politics

Source: Radio New Zealand

Analysis – Headline writers have had their fun calling it ‘Coster’s Last Stand’, and like the general’s doomed battle, it ended with a crushing fall.

The comparison falls apart pretty quickly after that. Yes, Andrew Coster leaves behind a mixed legacy, but the former police boss will never gain the folk-hero sheen of his near-namesake.

Public Service Commissioner Brian Roche struck a somewhat conflicted tone in his interviews on Wednesday.

Clearly he thought Coster’s resignation was the right and inevitable outcome, and named the former police chief ultimately responsible for the extensive failings set out in the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) report.

At the same time, he commended Coster’s performance at the Social Investment Agency and said he respected the man.

Roche even went so far as saying he did not believe Coster was personally guilty of wrongdoing.

That generosity goes a little too far. Even Coster, in his statement on Wednesday, acknowledged he had placed too much trust in deputy Jevon McSkimming and failed to properly interrogate the allegations about him.

“It was sobering to read of a number of missed opportunities which should have proceeded differently and more appropriately,” Coster wrote.

One of the most startling sections of the IPCA report described how Coster tried to shut down an official investigation, even contacting the IPCA directly to encourage a quick wrap-up.

“He sought to bring a serious criminal investigation to an unduly rapid conclusion so that it did not impact on a job application process,” the report found.

Sobering is an understatement.

Ministers, meanwhile, veered too far in the other direction. Judith Collins came close to branding the conduct corrupt, while Mark Mitchell marched across that line entirely before hastily retreating.

With rhetoric like that, it is little wonder some people may be wondering why Coster is not facing criminal charges.

The answer lies in that IPCA report. As both Coster and Roche pointed out on Wednesday, it did not uncover corruption or an intentional cover-up.

What it found was a colossal lapse in judgement and an almost inexplicable disregard for proper process. That is serious misconduct, but not criminal offending.

That nuance partly explains why the saga dragged on for three weeks. It is a fair question as to why it took so long when the conclusion felt obvious.

Roche’s explanation is that he had to tread carefully to ensure the process was lawful and defensible. It’s noteworthy that Coster’s failings occurred in a previous job, not his current one.

Certainly, the outcome would have been far worse had it ended up in the courts.

Coster leaves with three months’ salary in lieu of notice – roughly $130,000.

Roche insists the payout was required under the contract, though it’s not clear whether that would’ve been the case had Roche formally dismissed him, as he says he was prepared to do.

Again though, the situation could’ve been much worse for the taxpayer. Coster still had four years left on his contract.

In his statement, Coster began the work of repairing his reputation. There was no hedging, nor deflecting. He accepted “full responsibility” for police shortcomings and apologised both to the woman at the centre of the case and to the wider police force.

Coster ended with a simple admission: “I am prepared to take responsibility – I got this wrong.”

What we have not yet heard are those words spoken aloud. Coster has not fronted media or taken questions.

He closed his statement with a suggestion he might return to public service “at some point in the future”.

If he hopes to return to a leadership role, it will take far more than just a written apology to rebuild trust.

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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 Education Ministry says the English and maths curriculums introduced by primary schools this year have had a bigger impact than expected.

Appearing before Parliament’s Education and Workforce Select Committee, the ministry’s chief executive, Ellen MacGregor-Reid, said she was thrilled for children.

“The results have exceeded my expectations. We’d been working for some time on structured literacy as an approach, we’d identified for some time we had issues in mathematics teaching. The investment that has been made in recent years has outstripped my expectations in terms of what we are now seeing coming through for children,” she said.

Asked why it did not move faster, she said: “We took a while working with people, working with the sector getting buy-in. My reflection in hindsight is while that worked, a short amount of time in the life of an adult is a long time in the life of a child. So that’s my overall reflection is we need to get the right balance between getting changes to occur in the classroom but making it manageable for the teachers and leaders.”

Asked if introducing the new primary school English and maths curriculums quickly had been the right decision, MacGregor-Reid said “For maths and literacy, yes, it was the right decision and I think our teaching profession has done themselves proud”.

MacGregor-Reid said she had heard anecdotal reports of children telling their teachers and others that maths was their favourite subject.

“That’s a big thing for this country,” she said.

MacGregor-Reid held out some hope for schools and early childhood services facing big bills for cleaning up asbestos contamination from colour sand.

She said the ministry was looking at “some options” but had not made any decisions.

Questions overs free lunch scheme

Later in the hearing, Associate Education Minister David Seymour appeared before the committee and Labour Party education spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime challenged him over complaints about the cut-price free school lunch scheme.

“At what point after a child has been burnt, another has bitten into plastic, bugs have been served up in lunches, will you concede that this programme has been a flop,” she asked him.

“About the same time as you get an Oscar for that performance,” Seymour responded.

Prime suggested Seymour bullied people who criticised the lunch programme.

“This is supposed to be an exercise in evaluating value for taxpayer money, if you’re looking for another career as an actor then I don’t like your chances,” Seymour said.

That prompted Labour’s Phil Twyford to interject.

“Give it a rest. Jerk,” he said.

Education Minister Erica Stanford also appeared before the committee and was challenged over the government’s decision to cancel schools’ legal obligation to uphold the Treaty of Waitangi.

She denied the 1500 schools that had since publicly affirmed their commitment to the treaty was proof the government got it wrong.

“We always said it is up to schools if they wish to confirm that. As long as they are doing the things that we ask of them which are very clearly laid out – raise Māori achievement, offer te reo Māori, and be culturally responsive. Over and above that, if schools wish to uphold the treaty as many have reconfirmed their position, then they are free to do so,” she said.

Stanford said the government’s reforms were having a positive effect and the biggest improvements were among Māori and Pacific students.

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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 is putting $15 million towards a United States and NATO initiative to supply weapons and equipment to Ukraine, the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL).

Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins revealed the decision in the early hours New Zealand time, calling the funding a significant contribution to support Ukraine’s defence.

“The defence of Ukraine has significant implications not only for the security of Europe, but also for the Indo-Pacific,” Peters said.

A written statement said the money would only be used for weapons and equipment that met New Zealand’s international obligations and domestic policies.

Collins said New Zealand stood in solidarity with Ukraine, which was entering its fourth winter defending itself from Russian aggression.

“The challenge for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to defend its cities and its people remains immense in the face of the ongoing and relentless bombardment of Ukraine by Russian drones,” she said.

Ukraine Ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko told RNZ he, his president and every Ukrainian was thankful for the funding.

“I was on a trip with Minister Judith Collins in Ukraine three months ago … she was able to come to some of the sites of the destroyed residential buildings.

“Even for me who had seen it before, that was extremely confronting especially realising that some of those residential buildings, they lost 22 people, 23 people in one go, and the kids were killed there in that same building.”

The PURL initiative sells US-manufactured weapons and equipment into Europe and other partners for the defence, in line with the needs identified by Ukraine.

Myroshnychenko said the country had huge demand for ammunition, artillery and air defence missiles to protect critical infrastructure as a fourth winter of fighting closed in.

“Winter is here and … it’s cold, and Russia’s hit our electricity distribution system, our power generation, our heating systems and many cities go through blackouts when they don’t have a steady supply of electricity. The same applies to heating.

“We estimate it is 150,000 war crimes committed, and lots of crimes against humanity, and the war is still ongoing. Russians control 20 percent of our territory. Ukrainians realise that they don’t have an alternative but to fight because if we don’t fight we are done. It’s the end of Ukraine. It’s end of our sovereignty. It’s the end of our identity.

“They just erase Ukrainian identity by rewriting curriculums, by forcing everybody to accept Russian citizenship – this is imperialism of the 19th century, and this is so brutal, and Russians are doing it at the moment.”

The $15m for PURL adds to the $26m already spent on weapons and ammunition, more than $12m for a NATO fund for other equipment, and $4.1m for satellite imagery.

It brings New Zealand’s total monetary contributions to more than $53m, more than half of it for weapons and ammunition.

Defence Force personnel have also been involved in training Ukrainian armed forces in the UK and Europe, as well as providing intelligence, logistics and liaison.

Labour’s Defence spokesperson Peeni Henare said the funding was a continuation of the kind of model started under the last government, and called for the matter to be debated by the full Parliament.

“Ministerial statements through the House allow the other parties to have a contribution in the debate, and it goes on public record, it allows questions to be asked of ministers … which hopefully gives us a little bit more comfort about what the plan is.

“The question is, how long is a piece of string? How much longer can New Zealand keep offering support here? Which is why I’d encourage the opportunity to have a debate … so that we can test the waters again in our democracy about where we stand.”

Labour’s de facto governing partner the Green Party’s spokesperson Teanau Tuiono said he supported the funding too – but there was a smarter way to use it.

“I support the deployment of funding, but I would prefer if it went into humanitarian aid, I would prefer if it wasn’t for procurement of weapons … there’s a role we can pay in terms of advancing the issues of peace and diplomacy, and I think those are the things that we should be putting our efforts into.

“And I note the enthusiasm for this government for the Trump administration – we’ve had them roll out the red carpet for the FBI for example; an increase of defence spending – which will further align us with the US and I think that’s a problem.”

Henare disagreed on that point.

“We were encouraging, even when we were in power, the role of the US in this whole thing, [that] has always been part of the negotiations and the discussions and the support that we offer around Ukraine.

“We were close with the UK as well – that’s why we sent our troops there – and I understand our troops are still there training people so I’m not surprised that the US is still heavily involved.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Housing Minister Chris Bishop is encouraging tenants to negotiate a cheaper deal as rent prices drop.

Rental prices fell their lowest level in two years in September, prompting some landlords to offer incentives to entice people to viewings.

Speaking after a Select Committee on housing on Wednesday afternoon, Bishop said renters should be taking advantage of the market.

“I’d encourage people to go and negotiate with their landlord and if they think they can get lower rent, they should, because that’ll be good for them and it will be good for their own back pocket.

“I had a guy say to me yesterday that he was paying $650 a week and in his apartment building he found two apartments for rent in the same building at $600, exactly the same apartment.

“[He] rang his landlord up and said, ‘oi, I’m on $650 these are going for $600, I could move’. Rent got lowered to $600 straight away.”

Bishop said the ever-escalating rents had been a cultural problem that had plagued the country for two decades.

“So the idea that it goes the other way, that the power is actually in the hands of tenants to go and negotiate with landlords, rather than what was been the status quo for too long, which is basically people lining up and fighting like a herd of cats to get into a rental property… those days, at the moment, anyway, are over, and actually the power is in the hands of tenants.

“That’s quite unusual. My message to tenants is, use it.”

Quizzed on 1500 more houses

Earlier in the Select Committee, Bishop was asked a question from Labour’s Kieran McAnulty about whether the government was on track to meet its promise of building 1500 new houses by June 2027, and 550 in 2026.

“Yes, that’s the advice I’ve had. Subject to the fact that things move around a bit, there’ll be some stuff that will inevitably slip. That’s the nature of construction,” the Minister replied.

“Some of the feedback that I’m sure Kāinga Ora may mention to you is that they are struggling with consenting, for example, with councils, and there have been delays in some projects because they are having difficulties with council consents.”

McAnulty pushed Bishop on this answer by presenting an aide memoire that showed officials warned the Minister about risks to his delivery timeframe in August this year.

McAnulty: “It quite clearly shows that only 337 are set to be delivered in the 2025/26 financial year, 609 in 2026/27 but 462 of those are after the deadline of 30 June 2027. It still doesn’t add up to the amount that you’ve funded.”

Bishop: “As I say, there’s always the risk of slippage. We’ll be working hard to make sure those houses are delivered but I don’t control consenting and I also don’t control the construction sector… all I can do is approve the funding and hold people’s feet to the flame and make sure they get on with it.”

Prisoners should get housing support after release – Bishop

The Green Party’s Tamatha asked Bishop what the government’s position on the role of public housing was, and if it intended on continuing to fund state houses.

Bishop said while one of his “driving ambitions” in government was to fix the housing crisis, it didn’t mean pulling back public safety nets.

“There will always be people with addiction challenges, people with mental health, people leaving prison, people exiting youth justice facilities and or just on the simple grounds of unaffordability, there will always be people who the government should step in to support.

“That’s not up for debate, that is government policy and always will be. The question is, what is the most effective form of that support and I reject the view that the government has to do everything.

“We can work with the Salvation Army, we can work with our fantastic community housing providers up and down the country, we can work with iwi, we can work with Māori land trusts, some of whom do a fantastic job.

“There’s a whole range of different people we can and should work with government money. It doesn’t have to be all delivered by the state.”

Bishop said he was particularly interested in how to better support newly-released prisoners, though he did not commit any policies or money to the idea.

“One of the areas I’m particularly passionate about is prisoners who leave prison and bounce out of the corrections facilities and often have nowhere to go and inevitably end up committing crime and end up back in the prison system.

“I would like to see us as a country do far more for those people, because the most expensive form of social housing the government provides is prison. It’s the most expensive roof over someone’s head.”

Ministers pushed on youth homelessness

Paul also asked Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka about youth homelessness, off the back of a State of the Street report that found rough sleeping was getting worse.

She pointed out there was no youth transitional housing in Rotorua, Napier, Taupō, Gisborne, Kaikohe, Whangārei or the North Shore, asking the Minister what his message to people in those areas was.

“There’s severe housing deprivation and quite a degree of homelessness in different places throughout the country and youth homelessness is not adjacent to that. It’s actually part of some of the severe housing deprivation that people are facing,” Potaka said.

The Minister said providers were doing great work and the government was funding placements for homeless young people, but challenges remained.

“Part of that is whānau disconnect and some other challenges, whether they’re mental health or otherwise. In the most recent announcements in December, some of that money got allocated out to Mā Te Huruhuru to help support with some transitional housing in Tāmaki Makaurau. Is it enough?

“Well, we’ll see how that goes but certainly, we’ve been really encouraged that they’ve got that putea allocated out to different entities and organisations who are there to support not just youths, but actually all whānau and others that are facing the severe housing deprivation.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Associate Health Minister Casey Costello has been back in the firing line on Wednesday over big tobacco’s influence, with a health select committee erupting into heated debate on government plans to roll out oral tobacco and nicotine products.

Last year, Cabinet agreed in principal to allow the sale of smokeless products (such as Swedish snus and nicotine pouches) – subject to the products meeting “safety requirements” and regulatory controls to stop youth access.

Costello – who has repeatedly denied allegations of an overly-cosy relationship with the tobacco industry – assured MPs she remained focused on achieving the Smokefree 2025 goals.

The question was how to get there.

“I think we can all agree we’ve got a real anomaly around the fact that we have greater levels of regulation around vapes than we do around tobacco, so I think there’s a lot of work around how we do that.

“I’m working through the advice from the [expert advisory] group to understand what is the next step, what are things we need to do to ensure there’s the appropriate level of regulatory control, and how do we move forward to ensure we don’t end up with a system where people go back to smoking.”

The Minister favours harm reduction: encouraging smokers to switch to e-cigarettes and oral nicotine products.

However, Labour’s health spokesperson Dr Ayesha Verrall noted Parliament had already struggled to get the vaping genie back into its bottle.

“Why would you consider introducing a new form of nicotine to New Zealand that will only create another pool of addiction in young people?” she asked.

Costello accused her of “conflating” different issues.

“We didn’t have any [vaping] regulation to start with… we went from no regulation to reactive regulation.”

Youth vaping rates were now decreasing – but other options were needed for that hardcore group of older smokers who were struggling to kick the habit, Costello said.

“There are two countries that have lower smoking rates than us, and they have other nicotine products.”

Verrall grilled the Minister repeatedly whether she would accept her expert advisory group’s recommendation to only introduce oral nicotine products if there was evidence they were safer than tobacco and reduced smoking.

“Why won’t you accept an evidence-based recommendation?”

Costello retorted she was not saying she would not accept it.

“But there are a number of recommendations in that report and we will work through as to how we can operationalise those recommendations and how it ultimately contributes to our….”

“We expect people to say ‘no’ to drugs every day – just say no to this!” Verrall interjected.

Lessons from Australia on what not to do

National’s Cameron Luxton had a less combative question for the Minister, asking whether she had been observing developments in Australia following what he called its “poorly designed and burdensome” regulatory approach.

Over audible mutterings from Verrall about that question coming out of the Taxpayers’ Union playbook, Costello said indeed there had been an increase in smoking rates in Australia.

“And the influence of organised crime into that space has been significantly damaging to communities.

“So well-intentioned, burdensome regulations have actually had an perverse outcome, is what you’ve told us?” Luxton pressed.

“Yes, that was the indication from the increasing levels of smoking that we’ve seen in Australia,” she replied.

“And decreased excise,” Luxton finished for her.

Big Tobacco targeting younger generation – public health expert

Otago University tobacco control researcher Dr Jude Ball told RNZ the risks from black market tobacco were well known and there were ways to mitigate them.

However, unleashing another whole class of addictive products would not further the ultimate goal of a smoke-free New Zealand.

“There’s no evidence that oral nicotine products can help people quit smoking. But there is quite strong evidence that these products are being marketed to and used by young people.”

Tobacco companies had “a foothold” in the vaping market – but it was dominated by Chinese manufacturers and local producers, she said.

“So they’ve all got these oral nicotine products and they’re lobbying and pushing really hard to get access to market so they can claw back their share of the nicotine market and expand it, by addicting young people.”

The reason smokers struggled to quit was because cigarettes were “incredibly addictive and available everywhere”.

Unfortunately legislation to cut the amount of nicotine in cigarettes and other measures were repealed by this government before they could be put into action, she said.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Ousted Te Pāti Māori MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi is taking the party’s president John Tamihere to court.

Kapa-Kingi was expelled from the party, alongside Tākuta Ferris, in early November after a period of internal conflict.

Iwi leaders had been hopeful the party’s two factions could patch things up at a hui in Wellington last month.

The party’s co-leaders instead announced the national council had voted to expel them, with immediate effect, over “serious breaches” of the party’s consitution.

In response to news of his expulsion at the time, Ferris issued a statement, saying the decision “is plainly unconstitutional”.

“I do not acknowledge the decisions and illegal resolutions made through unilateral measures.”

In a statement posted on social media, Kapa-Kingi also called the decision unconstitutional and said she intended to appeal it “in all respects”.

“In the meantime, I remain the duly elected Member of Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau and will continue to stand for, and show up for the people of Te Tai Tokerau to do the job I was elected to do.”

Te Pāti Māori more recently declined an offer by Te Rūnanga Ā Iwi o Ngāpuhi to meet in Kaikohe to discuss the expulson of Kapa-Kingi.

The now-independent Te Tai Tokerau MP is now applying for an interim injunction (a temporary court order halting a specific action) against president Tamihere and others.

While no details have been released, the hearing will likely be a challenge to the legality of the party’s decision to expel the Northland MP.

The hearing is set down for 10am on Thursday in the High Court in Wellington.

Kapa-Kingi and Tamihere have both been approached for comment.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche says he would’ve sacked former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster “if I had to”.

He’s also revealed Coster will receive three months pay as part of his contract.

RNZ revealed on Wednesday Coster had resigned as chief executive of the Social Investment Agency after the Independent Police Conduct Authority’s damning report into police’s response to allegations of sexual offending by former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming.

In an interview with RNZ, Sir Brian was asked if Coster’s role was untenable.

“His role would have been very, very challenging, and that was the matter that we were working through. I never had to get to the end, because he decided, for professional and personal reasons, to offer his resignation, which I have accepted. That is in his best interest, and I believe it to be in my best interest.”

He said he would have sacked Coster “if I had to”.

“But I didn’t have to. It’s a theoretical thing, because he did the right thing. He exercised the accountability that I would expect of a public sector chief executive.”

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

Coster was placed on leave following the IPCA’s report last month. Sir Brian said the pair had been engaged in conversations around his employment over the last three weeks.

“I had a number of questions that I needed to be satisfied on as to his ability to continue in his current role. Those questions came up from the IPCA. I had a number of them, as do many other people, I had the opportunity to put those directly to him and listen to his response, and I’ve done that without any level of predetermination, and as best as I could an open mind.”

The two men had a number of meetings in person and online.

“I was negotiating under my employment contract with him about his ability to perform the tasks that he had been recruited for as chief executive of the Social Investment Agency, all of the matters I thought relevant to that were considered in the process, and they were considered in my satisfaction to the point that he decided to offer his resignation, which I have accepted.”

Asked if there was ever a discussion about Coster returning to work, Sir Brian said “all options remained on the table”.

He said that it became apparent in his engagement with Coster last week that he was intending to resign.

“We have been engaged for three weeks in a process around employment. It was backwards and forwards between us. I had to make a decision. He had to make a decision, and all options were on the table. He took a view late last week that it was his intention to resign. I respect that, and we finalized that over the last few days.”

Sir Brian said Coster’s apology to those affected, including police and the woman who raised allegations about McSkimming was “extremely honourable”.

“I’m not sure what more he can do.”

Asked what Coster told him, Sir Brian said he acknowledged he realised after reading the IPCA report “how extensive the failures had been”.

“And although the IPCA found no evidence of corruption or collusion, if you look at it, there were failures in the systems, the processes and the delegations. And he was accountable for that. He’s accepted that accountability.”

Sir Brian said he was “really disappointed at a personal level that we’ve had to do this”.

“It’s been a very challenging process that needed to be done, but it’s had very high consequences for a person who, in his current role, was performing well, and the fact that he’s accepted accountability and responsibility speaks volumes for his values.”

He said no concerns had been raised with him about Coster’s leadership while at SIA.

Asked if he believed Coster should have got the job in the first place, Sir Brian said he believed he was “very well qualified for that role”.

“He had done a good role, but we’ve got to the point we have, and that is the way it is. I think it’s a very sad day for him and his family.”

[ h] Coster breaks silence

In a statement to RNZ, Coster said his resignation was “a result of my acceptance of full responsibility for the shortcomings” identified in the Independent Police Conduct Authority’s report.

“I regret the impact on the young woman at the centre of this matter and sincerely apologise to her for the distress caused.

“I accept that I was too ready to trust and accept at face value Deputy Commissioner McSkimming’s disclosure and explanations to me. I should have been faster and more thorough in looking into the matter.”

Coster acknowledged he should have more fully investigated the allegations when they were brought to his attention, “rather than assuming that their previous disclosure to senior Police staff a few years earlier would have resulted in an investigation if necessary”.

“It is clear that Police’s handling of the whole matter was lacking and that I was ultimately responsible for those matters. It was sobering to read of a number of missed opportunities which should have proceeded differently and more appropriately.”

Coster welcomed Sir Brian’s acknowledgement that the report made no finding of corruption or cover-up, nor did the IPCA find any evidence of any actions involving officers consciously doing the wrong thing or setting out to undermine the integrity of the organisation.

“I made decisions honestly. I acted in good faith. I sought to take all important factors into account with the information I had at the time. While it is not possible to alter past events, I am prepared to take responsibility – I got this wrong.

“I want to apologise to all members of the NZ Police. They work hard every day to keep our communities safe. I know they have been adversely affected by these events.”

Coster said it had been a “very challenging time” for his family and himself.

“The support we have received has been deeply appreciated. I have devoted my professional life to the service of others – it is my intention to do so again at some point in the future.”

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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 Greens say the number of applications for advanced support being denied has “skyrocketed” during the last year and people are being denied assistance for basic essentials.

But the Minister for Social Development Louise Upston says there’s been no policy change and she’s not concerned because “advances create greater hardship down the track”.

Data provided by the minister shows the number of declined applications for payment advances to help with clothing has doubled and declines for help with electricity costs has more than doubled compared to the quarter ending June 2023.

Advance payments of a benefit is a one-off payment to help pay for essential or emergency costs. MSD can help with costs such as electricity, dental treatment, essential home repairs, glasses, washing machines, car repairs and more.

Between June 2023 and June 2025 there has been an increase in declined applications of:

• 72% for appliances: 327 applications declined in June 2023 compared to 564 declined in June 2025
• 91% for bedding: 366 compared to 699
• 82% for beds: 375 compared to 684
• 65% for car repairs: 1551 compared to 2556
• 102% for clothing: 1515 compared to 3060
• 36% for dental treatment: 1317 compared to 1785
• 160% for electricity: 300 compared to 780
• 83% for essential home repairs: 54 compared to 99
• 52% for fridge/ freezer: 219 compared to 333
• 86% for furniture: 342 compared to 636

Some of the most common reasons these applications are denied include whether the circumstances could have reasonably been foreseen, the person had already received help for the same or similar need in the past, or that it wasn’t a qualifying need.

The reason advances were declined because circumstances could have been reasonably foreseen, and declined because it was not a qualifying need, have both doubled compared to June 2023.

Upston appeared before the Social Services Committee during Scrutiny Week, where Green MP Ricardo Menendez March asked why the decline for advances for assistance like clothing and electricity had “skyrocketed” under the past financial year.

He asked whether the minister was “comfortable” with increased unemployment and hardship in communities while decline rates had doubled.

Upston said she was aware there had been an increase in the number of declines, but confirmed there had been no policy change in regards to granting advances.

Her key concern though was the nature of advance payments themselves, because it meant people had less than their benefit in the weeks from then on.

“I’m not sure that benefit advance is necessarily a good idea when people turn up to MSD with challenges.”

Upston said she would be surprised if Menendez March was advocating for a larger number of advances because “that pushes people into more financial hardship in the weeks and months ahead”.

Menendez March said people access advances because they “just simply cannot make ends meet and cover the costs in front of them”. He said advances were one of the few tools to prevent people losing access to electricity, for example.

Upston acknowledged “we’ve got very challenging times,” and “no one around this table would be surprised” there are people who are finding the cost of living challenging at the moment, “which is why it is the primary focus of our government to get it under control.”

“We need to stick with our plan focusing on reducing inflation and reducing the cost of living, but I accept that there will be households who are finding it tough right now.”

Asked by reporters after the Scrutiny Week hearing why there had been an increase in declines, Upston said that was a question for MSD. RNZ has approached MSD for comment.

She said she wasn’t concerned about the increase, and when asked why she wasn’t concerned, repeated that “advances create greater hardship down the track in the weeks and months ahead”.

“It may well have been that they were too lenient in the past, but as I said, there have been no policy changes around any form of hardship.”

Asked whether MSD was taking cues from the government’s rhetoric of getting tougher on beneficiaries, Upston rejected that assumption.

“We are focused on reducing the number of people on job seeker benefit and supporting them into work.”

Menendez March told RNZ under Upston’s watch more people were being declined assistance for “basic essentials.”

“At a time of a cost of living crisis, it’s morally corrupt to run a regime where more people are being declined for assistance.

“Advances are often a last lifeline for people in hardship unable to cover the cost of bills, clothes and bedding which allows them to live dignified lives.”

Government target ‘at risk’

The chief executive of the Ministry of Social Development, Debbie Power, also appeared before MPs for questioning.

NZ First’s Jamie Arbuckle asked whether MSD was on track to meet the government’s goal to reduce Jobseeker numbers to 140,000 by 2030.

Power responded that it was “fair to say” the target was “probably a bit at risk”.

“That’s what you would expect given the economic conditions. But what I can say is we are absolutely committed to ensuring that New Zealanders and our clients get access to jobs as they come up.”

Power said 42 percent of people who came on a benefit last year in New Zealand were “really highly skilled”, so it was important to make sure they get access to jobs in the labour market.

“And when the economy turns making sure our clients are at the front of the queue to take advantage of their economic recovery is something that we are absolutely committed to.”

Power was also asked by Labour’s Priyanca Radhakrishnan whether changes to jobseeker payments for 18 and 19 year olds would get the government closer to that target.

From November next year, young people wanting to get Jobseeker Support or the equivalent Emergency Benefit will have to take a parental income test, to see whether their parents can support them instead of the taxpayer.

Power said she didn’t think that was the “intent” of the policy, but acknowledged MSD was expecting 4000 18 and 19 year olds to be impacted by the change.

National’s Paulo Garcia also asked for an update on the government’s traffic-light warning system, which sets out clear consequences for beneficiaries who fail to meet certain requirements.

Jobseekers will have to reapply for the benefit every six months – instead of annually – and any transgressions will remain on their record for two years, twice as long as they do now.

The law change will also allow new sanctions, such as mandatory community work or money management payment cards.

Power said currently, 98.5 percent – 345,000 people – were in the green setting, meaning “no problems, meeting obligations, all good”.

There are 0.6 percent – 1,953 people – in orange, and 1 percent – 3,189 people – in red. She acknowledged that was a small number of people. Power said what she’d heard from the front line was that staff and clients appreciated the transparency of the colour arrangements to better understand what was expected of them.

In regards to the mandatory community work or money management payment cards – the non-financial sanctions MSD had been able to apply in the last six months since the law came into force – Menendez March asked how many had been applied.

Power said there’d been about “a dozen.”

Menendez March said the minister often spoke about these sanctions as being a “better alternative”, and questioned why only 12 had been applied while financial sanctions had remained the majority.

Power said there was particular criteria in terms of accessing non-financial sanctions, such as being in case management, having dependent children, failing an obligation then attending an appointment with the case manager.

“It significantly reduces the size of people where those sorts of sanctions will apply.

“So it’s a tool that we can use for the right circumstances.”

Menendez March pushed back, asking “if only 12 people have been given a non-financial sanction, does that say that the circumstances are almost never right?”

Power rejected that saying it was because “we’re just starting.”

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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 ACT Party’s chief of staff has announced his resignation, after more than a decade in Parliament.

In a LinkedIn post, Andrew Ketels said he felt “very fortunate” to have worked at Parliament for 12 years, for five ministers, and as ACT’s chief of staff for five years.

“There really is no place like it, but I’m looking forward to making a bit more time for my two boys,” he said.

Ketels said he was “extremely proud” of how far the party had come over the last eight years, “from a party struggling to make the 6pm news and polling below 1% to a caucus of 11 MPs and sitting at the Cabinet table”.

Ketels said he would be finishing up this month “to move on to my next challenge”.

Prior to joining David Seymour’s office in 2017, Ketels had worked for National MPs Louise Upston and Maggie Barry.

Ketels is not the only party chief of staff to step down this year, after the Greens’ Eliza Prestidge-Oldfield resigned in September.

She was replaced by former Green MP Kevin Hague, who started in the role last month.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster has broken his silence after resigning as chief executive of the Social Investment Agency.

RNZ revealed on Wednesday Coster had resigned after the police watchdog’s damning report into police’s response to allegations of sexual offending by former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming.

In a statement to RNZ, Coster said his resignation was “a result of my acceptance of full responsibility for the shortcomings” identified in the Independent Police Conduct Authority’s report.

“I regret the impact on the young woman at the centre of this matter and sincerely apologise to her for the distress caused.

“I accept that I was too ready to trust and accept at face value Deputy Commissioner McSkimming’s disclosure and explanations to me. I should have been faster and more thorough in looking into the matter.”

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

Coster acknowledged he should have more fully investigated the allegations when they were brought to his attention, “rather than assuming that their previous disclosure to senior Police staff a few years earlier would have resulted in an investigation if necessary”.

“It is clear that Police’s handling of the whole matter was lacking and that I was ultimately responsible for those matters. It was sobering to read of a number of missed opportunities which should have proceeded differently and more appropriately.”

Coster welcomed Sir Brian’s acknowledgement that the report made no finding of corruption or cover-up, nor did the IPCA find any evidence of any actions involving officers consciously doing the wrong thing or setting out to undermine the integrity of the organisation.

“I made decisions honestly. I acted in good faith. I sought to take all important factors into account with the information I had at the time. While it is not possible to alter past events, I am prepared to take responsibility – I got this wrong.

“I want to apologise to all members of the NZ Police. They work hard every day to keep our communities safe. I know they have been adversely affected by these events.”

Coster said it had been a “very challenging time” for his family and himself.

“The support we have received has been deeply appreciated. I have devoted my professional life to the service of others – it is my intention to do so again at some point in the future.”

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