Category: Politics

Source: Radio New Zealand

The government has announced the first organisations to receive funding from the Social Investment Agency.

Ministers in August announced the priority for the fund was to support children whose parents are in prison or have been in the care system, and children who have been stood down from school before turning 13.

The first round of $50 million in funding is going to seven programmes supporting children from newborns to 18-year-olds.

Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis said the successful organisations showed they could make the best overall impact for the target groups, and were able to measure that success.

They included:

• Te Hou Ora Whānau Services Limited: support for 120 children for individual and group sessions to reduce school drop-out rates and justice and care system involvement – Dunedin.
• Tākiri Mai te Ata Trust: support for counselling and trauma therapy for 200 young people in care, have parents in prison, or have been stood down from school – Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt.
• Te Puawaitanga ki Ōtautahi Charitable Trust: support for 200 children for health, safety and life skills – Christchurch and wider Canterbury.
• Ngāti Awa Social and Health Services Trust: support for 450 children, providing support for families dealing with historic trauma, and building specialist forensic nursing for child sexual abuse – Eastern Bay of Plenty.
• Barnardos New Zealand Incorporated: support for 100 for family mentoring, and parenting support to help children reach developmental milestones, such as early childhood education attendance – Māngere.
• Horowhenua New Zealand Trust: For more than 400 children for a behaviour change programme – Levin
• Kaikaranga Holding Ltd: support for 150 disabled and neurodiverse children who have been suspended or stood down from school. Services include tutoring, sensory tools and short-term behavioural guidance – Auckland.

They were selected by a panel of government and social sector leaders.

Budget 2025 allocated $190m for the Social Investment Fund, which is managed by the Social Investment Agency.

Chief executive Andrew Coster, the former Police Commissioner, is on leave amid an investigation into his conduct in handling allegations against former police deputy commissioner Jevon McSkimming.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

All three-storey homes, and any alterations costing $100,000 or more, will be required to get a home warranty under indemnity changes under the Building Act.

Architects, engineers and other building design professionals will be required to have indemnity insurance, and fines for Licensed Building Practitioners will also be doubled.

In August, the coalition government announced it was changing the building consent system to ease the liability load on local councils and speed up consenting.

Under reforms through the Building Amendment Bill, expected to be introduced in early 2026, councils will no longer be the last man standing dealing with building defects. Instead, under “joint liability”, each party will be responsible for repairs for their share of the work.

There have been concerns raised that under the new regime owners could be left vulnerable to costs if parties – such as the builder – disappeared.

On Monday, Building and Construction minister Chris Penk revealed the new consent system would require professionals contributing to building design – such as architects and engineers – to hold professional indemnity insurance.

It will also be mandatory for all new residential buildings three storeys and under, and for renovations over $100,000, to have insurance that covers a one-year defect period and a 10-year structural warranty period.

Disciplinary penalties for Licensed Building Practitioners (LBPs) will increase from a maximum fine of $10,000 to $20,000, and the maximum suspension period will increase from 12 months to 24 months.

“Home warranty schemes are already widely available across New Zealand, and the sector has assured me it can scale to meet new demand, allowing consumers to shop around to find coverage best suited to their build,” Penk said.

“Requiring professional indemnity insurance for building designers ensures these professionals are financially able to stand by their work, giving building owners confidence. This requirement does not extend to other building trades.”

Penk said these measures provided strong protections for the reform, while boosting consent productivity.

Earlier, the Insurance Council of New Zealand said there could be challenges for insurers with the new approach, and it looked forward to further discussions with the government.

A property lawyer had told RNZ it was not clear who would underwrite the insurance – highlighting that insurers had been reluctant in the past to insure for weather tightness defects.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

National’s policy to increase KiwiSaver contribution rates has been met with a big tick of approval by one provider, but with a call to make it compulsory.

National is proposing that, if re-elected, it would gradually increase contributions by employees and employers to 6 percent each, or 12 percent overall.

The government already announced it would lift the default rate from 3 percent to 4 by 2028, at this year’s Budget.

Denouncing “suger-rush” responses to tough economic conditions, National leader Christopher Luxon told party members in Upper Hutt the policy would support New Zealanders’ long-term financial security.

“If we’re serious about building the future, and I am, it’s time for us to increase our ambition for our individual retirement savings, and for our collective savings that can be invested in some of the most transformational projects in our infrastructure pipeline.”

Luxon said he expected KiwiSaver would play an even bigger role in supporting retirements, hinting National could once again campaign on raising the superannuation age.

Simplicity managing director Sam Stubbs said the policy could be a “turning point for economic growth” in New Zealand, as more saving led to more investment.

He said given National’s history of “chipping away” at the scheme, this was a positive step in the right direction.

“This is a really big endorsement of KiwiSaver by National, easily the biggest that they’ve ever made. It really does indicate to me that next year is going to be a KiwiSaver election, in the sense that you are getting parties differentiating themselves not by whether they do or don’t like KiwiSaver, but how much they want it to grow. And that’s a very positive thing for the country.”

New Zealand First has also promised to make KiwiSaver compulsory, with contributions from both employers and employees rising to 10 percent, but offset by tax cuts.

Stubbs said the onus was now on Labour.

“Not only are [National] now firmly endorsing KiwiSaver as a pathway to growth and prosperity, but they’re also serving it up to Labour and saying ‘OK, what are you going to do? This was your policy, are you going to grow it as fast as we do?'”

Labour leader Chris Hipkins welcomed National’s “conversion” to supporting KiwiSaver, given its historic opposition and recent cuts to the government contribution rate.

But Hipkins said there would need to be a credible transition plan to support people on low incomes to get KiwiSaver and maintain their contributions.

“At the moment, it’s tough going in New Zealand. People are just making ends meet. Increasing KiwiSaver contributions is a good thing, but without a plan to support people in the process of increasing KiwiSaver contributions, a lot of Kiwis are going to be hit really hard by it,” he said.

Financial writer Martin Hawes said National’s proposal was “reasonable” to bring New Zealand in line with Australia.

But he said people would struggle if they could not afford to take 6 percent out of their salaries.

“There’ll be definitely people who simply don’t join because they can’t. They can’t pay 6 percent now, they’d be better off joining and paying 2 percent or 3 percent or whatever they can afford, and having that matched, because it’s free money. It’s extra money from the from the employer.”

Unlike Australia, there are no plans to make KiwiSaver compulsory, with National saying New Zealand instead has universal superannuation.

Stubbs said making KiwiSaver compulsory should be the next step.

“Those people who aren’t saving into KiwiSaver are going to be much worse off later on in life. And so if we want to remove inequality in New Zealand, and we don’t like inequality in New Zealand, we have to make sure that everybody is saving for their retirement while they’re earning. And if you don’t have compulsion, that isn’t happening.”

The Retirement Commissioner Jane Wrightson welcomed any policy changes that strengthened New Zealanders’ ability to save for retirement, and the proposal could be a “positive step” towards improving long-term financial security.

“Higher contribution rates will help close the savings gap and ensure more people can enjoy a better standard of living in retirement,” she said.

However, she said it was essential the increases genuinely added to employees’ savings, rather than being offset through total remuneration arrangements.

National’s policy document states that “as has always been the case with KiwiSaver,” employer contributions may effectively for part of the wage negotiation process.

“The recent Review of Retirement Income Policies highlighted that total remuneration practices undermine the intent of KiwiSaver by reducing take-home pay and eroding the additional benefit of employer contributions. We strongly support banning this approach to ensure fairness and transparency,” Wrightson said.

Hawes agreed that the “loophole” should be closed off.

“There are some people who negotiate with their employer that the employer not pay the contribution that they’re expected to pay into KiwiSaver, but instead just put it as part of their total remuneration. So it goes to them in cash, and that means that they are effectively not saving for retirement.”

Hipkins seemed onboard with the call for a ban.

“If we’re going to make KiwiSaver better and bigger, we need to protect employees. And that means making it very clear that KiwiSaver contributions can’t be viewed as part of an employee’s overall pay packet.”

National’s finance spokesperson Nicola Willis said she was “nervous” that businesses would push back at the Budget announcement, but their support meant she believed they would be onboard with the further increases.

Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young said the challenge was “two-fold,” and there needed to be a balance between what was affordable for employers and employees.

“The big thing from a retail perspective is that whilst there’s a wide variety of roles that are available in retail, for many people that work in retail they’re not earning significant money,” she said.

“And businesses, right now, obviously are really struggling, so that additional cost is going to go onto the business, and could incur some price increases, depending on how that plays out over time.”

Willis was confident the phased changes, and the long notice, would provide “certainty and stability and clarity.”

Dennis Maga, from Workers First Union, says members were already struggling to contribute to KiwiSaver.

“We absolutely support any moves to increase workers’ retirement savings,” he said.

“I’m not sure that increasing an employer’s KiwiSaver contribution is great when the government can’t seem to get a handle the cost of living crisis right now.”

The union represents many lower-paid workers, and Maga said even if the increased contribution was phased in, it would be tough if basic needs like food, rent and fuel were still getting expensive.

Maga said the minimum wage needed to rise higher than inflation.

“There’s a big gap in terms of wages, comparing our wages or pay across the ditch,” Maga said.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

National is pledging to further increase the default KiwiSaver contribution rate if re-elected at the next election.

The policy is the first firm National policy ahead of the election, which is still around a year away.

At the Budget, the government confirmed an increase to the default contribution from 3 percent to 4 by 2028.

In a speech to National Party members in Upper Hutt, Christopher Luxon said even after those changes, KiwiSaver contributions would still be lower than Australia’s equivalent scheme and he wanted to aim higher.

“For Kiwis working in New Zealand, that means smaller KiwiSaver balances and less financial security than friends or family working and saving in Brisbane, Sydney, or Melbourne.”

Luxon said if re-elected, National would continue to gradually increase the default contribution rates by 0.5 percent a year until 2032, when both employees and employers would pay in 6 percent each.

As the government is the country’s biggest employer, it was estimated that the policy would cost around $90m a year for each 0.5 percent increase.

National said it expected that this would be met within agencies’ baselines, although some funding for cost pressures “could become available for certain agencies”.

Unlike Australia, the scheme would not be compulsory.

Also at the Budget, the government halved its annual contribution to a maximum of $260.72, and removed it for anyone earning more than $180,000 a year.

The speech was to mark two years of the coalition, with the anniversary coming up on Thursday.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is due to speak from the Silverstream Retreat Centre in Lower Hutt just after 11.30am today.

Policy announcement season has begun, with Labour last month proposing a capital gains tax on investment properties as part of its election campaign, following leaks to RNZ.

Luxon’s announcement comes on the same week New Zealand was given the ‘Fossil of the Day’ award at the COP30 global climate summit, for its decision to weaken methane emissions policies.

Earlier, the prime minister declared the soaring prison population to be a “good thing”, characterising it as the price of restoring law and order.

He also conceded the government was running behind on its promise to boost police numbers by 500, despite previously insisting the target would be met by next week.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Ngāpuhi’s general manager says they are insulted Te Pāti Māori leadership is refusing to participate in a hui after expelling its local MP.

A hui is taking place in Kaikohe on Sunday with Te Tai Tokerau MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi after she and Te Tai Tonga MP Tākutai Ferris were expelled from Te Pāti Māori last week.

Te Pāti Māori said they had been advised by “multiple rangatira of Te Tai Tokerau” not to attend “at this time”.

Te Tumu Whakahaere, or general manager, of Te Rūnanga-ā- iwi o Ngāpuhi Moana Tuwhare told Saturday Morning, there had been a lack of transparency from those opposing Mariameno Kapa-Kingi.

“We don’t know who those people are. We didn’t know who the ones were saying Mariameno is a no-show on the ground up North, which was a complete lie.

“We have seen her turn up time and time again to support kaupapa in Te Tai Tokerau.

“Whichever of these so-called Te Tai Tokerau iwi leaders who have been complaining that she doesn’t show up, I’m not sure who they are or what events they’re talking about. But she’s certainly at Ngāpuhi ones on a regular basis.”

Tuwhare said a change in the party’s leadership was needed to have the iwi’s support moving forward.

“It’s hard to reconcile the fact that they’re called Te Pāti Māori but are refusing to turn up to hui Māori.

“The contradictions are rife at the moment from our perspective, and we were not happy about it, to be frank.”

Tuwhare believed Te Pāti Māori had “some massive problems in the hierarchy.”

“The way that this whole issue has played out has shown that there is a lack of constructive leadership and that some of their processes also look pretty wanting from what we have seen in the written record that has been well and truly out there.”

Tuwhare said she was unsure if the fault lies with the Parliamentary leaders.

“The layers in terms of the decision making here, it seems to have got quite blurred. I just think there needs to be a reset.

“It’ll be for certain people within the party to really state clearly who is responsible for which decisions, and how those decisions have come about.

“From where we are sitting it looks like a shambles.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Former Labour cabinet minister Michael Wood has confirmed his re-entry into politics, announcing he will stand again in the Mt Roskill seat at the next election.

In 2023, Wood lost the electorate to National’s Carlos Cheung, the first time Labour had lost since the seat was created in 1999.

In a video posted to his Facebook page, Wood said 2023 was a “difficult” year for him, and he made some “real mistakes”.

Those mistakes ended his ministerial career.

Three years ago, Wood was stood down as transport minister for failing to disclose shares in Auckland Airport.

He then resigned from his remaining portfolios, including immigration, after it was discovered he had shares in Chorus, Spark, and National Australia Bank through a trust.

The incidents saw him referred to Parliament’s privileges committee, and he was ordered to apologise to Parliament.

“I own my mistakes from that period. The approach I take is that if you mess something up you don’t shift the blame to others, you own it, you take responsibility, you try and improve yourself and then come back and keep contributing,” Wood said in his video.

In a statement posted alongside the video, Wood said he understood people would have had concerns about his resignation, which he understood.

“I made an error and there are no excuses. I apologised, accepted the consequences, and I’ve taken that lesson seriously.”

Wood first won the seat in a 2016 by-election, defeating National list MP Parmjeet Parmar by 6852 votes.

He increased his margins in 2017 and 2020, with Parmar not placed high enough on National’s list to return in 2020.

Parmar returned to Parliament in 2023 with the ACT Party.

Wood said he was standing again because he felt many people in the electorate were feeling “forgotten and neglected,” and needed someone “experienced and hardened enough” to fight for them.

The Mt Roskill boundaries have been redrawn ahead of the 2026 election, with parts of Wesley and Balmoral going to Mt Albert, while it gains Blockhouse Bay from the New Lynn seat (which is set to be disestablished for the election).

Wood is currently a director at union E tū.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The Defence Force has released more details of its new planes, including what they will look like.

The Airbus A321XLR planes will replace the Boeing 757 fleet.

The planes are primarily used as transport, for military personnel and equipment, as well as for diplomatic and trade missions.

The investment was announced in August, following the release of the Defence Capability Plan in April.

The planes have been acquired on a six-year lease to buy arrangement with the US-based Air Lease Corporation, with $620 million in capital costs and $80.86m in four-year operating costs.

The new planes can travel further than the 757s, carry around 9000kg of cargo, and accommodate around 120 passengers.

The Defence Force said the livery had been designed to match the RNZAF’s current livery.

“A range of options were considered before settling on the grey with a prominent Kiwi roundel, sending a clear signal that they are military aircraft and are also instantly recognisable as being from New Zealand, no matter the environment,” a statement said.

Air Vice-Marshal Darryn Webb, the chief of Air Force, said the new planes would play a key role in ensuring the Air Force could deliver on government tasks, and maintain the “highest levels” of interoperability and dependability.

“Strategic air transport plays a vital role for a country like New Zealand – responding to events of any description, whether humanitarian recovery, defence personnel deployments or important trade delegations will continue to enhance New Zealand’s interest,” he said.

“The extra-long-range capability of the Airbus A321XLR will also improve our ability to conduct key missions to Antarctica with greater safety and surety.”

He expected the planes would be fitted out and ready to operate soon after they arrive in 2028.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Analysis: New Zealand politics has long acknowledged a truth of coalition life – sooner or later, everyone swallows a dead rat. Less examined is the art of spitting one back up.

This term has already delivered its fair share of deceased squeakers. National had to stomach the Treaty principles debate. ACT swallowed some corporate subsidies. And now NZ First has gagged its way through the Regulatory Standards Bill.

Expired vermin are a built-in feature of MMP, as every party makes compromises for the greater governing good.

In 2018, the Green Party found itself voting for the waka-jumping bill despite years of opposition because of an agreement secured by NZ First during coalition negotiations with Labour.

(Ironically, the Greens later used the law to eject one of their own, but that is beside the current point.)

As the 2020 election grew closer, then-co-leader James Shaw sensed an opportunity. He pledged a new intention to repeal the law and then teamed up with National in an unsuccessful attempt to do just that. NZ First leader Winston Peters was furious, labelling the Greens “unstable and untrustworthy”.

In response, Shaw said his party had kept its word by voting for the legislation, but had never promised not to later revoke it if the opportunity arose.

Asked whether he was playing political games, Shaw grinned: “I learn from the master.”

Five years on, the master is performing his own version of rodent regurgitation.

Peters initiated the disgorgement on Thursday, suddenly announcing NZ First would campaign next year on repealing the Regulatory Standards Act – the very law the party had voted for just a week earlier.

The position was not entirely a surprise. NZ First had not been quiet about its disquiet over ACT’s flagship bill, believing it to be anti-democratic.

And the bill’s critics were aware of the dynamic too. Greenpeace last week issued a statement headlined: “Winston Peters and NZ First hand victory to ACT over corporate Bill of Rights.”

Still, the speed of the turnaround was stunning.

Just days earlier, NZ First’s Casey Costello had stood in the chamber to deliver the party’s votes, declaring “no hesitation” in supporting the bill.

With hindsight, she should’ve perhaps demonstrated a hint of hesitation.

“No hay problema,” Peters told reporters on Thursday. “We’ll fix it.”

But ACT’s leader David Seymour certainly regarded it as quite the problema. Speaking to media shortly after the news broke, Seymour fired back, reviving memories of the old acrimony between the two.

It was not quite the venom of name-calling past – not crook, nor cuckold – but it does not get much more serious than an allegation of coalition disloyalty, or at least future disloyalty.

“It sounds like he’s getting ready to go with Labour again,” Seymour said. “He seems to be lining up for a different kind of coalition.”

The sharp rebuke should be seen in light of recent polling. In recent months, NZ First has surged past ACT in popularity, each trending in opposite directions.

Both parties are hunting a similar pool of voters: those frustrated with the status quo but not prepared to entertain the left.

It does Seymour no harm to remind those voters that Peters has gone with Labour before, and could do so again. Just the seed of doubt could be enough to win some over to the ACT camp.

The prospect is not entirely outlandish either.

Yes, Peters has said he will not work with Labour under its leader Chris Hipkins. Asked about the prospect on Thursday, Peters chuckled: “Don’t make me laugh.”

Likewise, Hipkins has said such an arrangement would be “very unlikely”.

But the polls are tight, and if voters deliver a hung Parliament on election night, be sure all sorts of conversations will be happening between all sorts of parties.

Reinforced narrative

For National, the coalition contretemps are a more serious problema. They reinforce the narrative that Prime Minister Christopher Luxon lacks firm control over his warring offsiders.

As well, it undercuts National’s arguments that a Labour-Green-Te Pāti Māori arrangement would be chaotic, when its own side is hardly serene.

Visiting New Plymouth on Thursday, Luxon waved away RNZ’s questions about the infighting, suggesting it was simply normal pre-election positioning. The coalition was “absolutely not” falling apart, he said.

But the increasing feuding does put National in an awkward spot.

On Thursday, campaign chair Chris Bishop refused to say whether National would or would not repeal the Regulatory Standards Act in future, a bizarre spectacle given it had just voted it into law.

“Peters has set out his stall,” Bishop said. “We will set out our stall in due course.”

This is not what National wants to be talking about right now. Like the rest of us, its MPs saw the latest IPSOS survey.

They need to be talking about the economy, the cost of living and health if they are to win back the public’s trust. Coalition squabbles only muddy the message.

None of it bodes well for an easy final year of governing. Both Peters and Seymour need to take care. They can exchange a few blows here and there, but neither can afford to burn the relationship.

All signs are that all three coalition parties will need each other again if they are to hold on to power next year.

And no dead rat is as hard to swallow as a return to the opposition benches.

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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 coalition says its tough on crime approach is working as a new survey reports 38,000 fewer victims of serious violent crime.

The figure is close to double the government’s target of 20,000 fewer victims of assault, robbery or sexual assault each year by 2029.

The Justice Ministry’s latest Crime and Victims Survey has reported 147,000 victims of serious crime in the 12 months to August.

That’s 38,000 fewer than the last year, and 9000 fewer than the last update in May.

The government banned gang patches in public places and gave police more powers to disrupt gatherings this time last year.

Justice Minster Paul Goldsmith said decreasing victim numbers showed the coalition’s tough approach to law and order was working.

“That’s 38,000 families and individuals that don’t have to go through the trauma and horror of violent crime, so it’s good,” Goldsmith said.

“We’ve made good progress but obviously there’s still a long way to go.”

Quick statistics since the Gangs Act (2024) came into effect:

• 182 patches seized
• 643 insignia items seized
• 178 firearms seized
• 856 charges for Prohibited Display of Gang Insignia in Public Place
• 255 finalised charges, 188 convictions.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell said he made no apologies for getting tough on law and order.

“One year ago, gangs were confronted with a new harsh reality – one where they can no longer behave as if they’re above the law by taking over our streets, intimidating the public, and making a mockery of our criminal justice system,” he said.

“This is tough legislation. That is the point. Gang members make up less than one quarter of one percent of the New Zealand adult population, yet are linked to about 18 per cent of serious violent crime.”

“The few examples where patches have been returned to gang members is not at all representative of just how successful these laws have been. The numbers speak for themselves.”

Goldsmith said the changes to gang laws were part of a broader crime strategy.

“The most important thing about the gang patch ban is that it has greatly reduced the intimidation and presence of gang members in public.

“There was a sense of them taking over some parts of the country, some small towns, and a sense of their presence was concerning to many New Zealanders.

“So, that’s helped on that front but the gang patch is one part of many different tools we’ve given the police to deal with gangs, which is also one part of a broader strategy, which is about restoring consequences for crime and holding people to account.”

He said victim numbers were still too high for his liking.

“I’m extremely mindful that we still have far too many New Zealanders being a victim of crime so we want to keep going much further and keep driving that level of crime down so that New Zealanders feel safe in their communities.”

Asked if it was time to set a new target, Goldsmith said it might be something he considered in the New Year.

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