Category: Politics

Source: Radio New Zealand

The prime minister’s statements are doing little to hose down opposition claims his KiwiSaver policy is likely linked to a rise in the retirement age.

Unveiled on Sunday, National’s first substantive policy for next year’s election campaign would see employers required to match workers’ KiwiSaver contributions up to 6 percent of their wages.

While opposition parties were somewhat supportive, they raised some caveats.

The links to retirement age could also point to a brewing rift in the coalition.

Coalition partners

New Zealand First’s Winston Peters seemed to want the policy to go further.

He did not respond to interview requests, but in a social media post said it was good to see National agreeing with a policy he announced in September which would lift contributions to 10 percent each for employers and employees, and make them compulsory.

“NZ First said back in September we need to increase contributions to more than match Australia, make it compulsory, and have corresponding tax cuts for both individuals and businesses,” Peters said.

“As the saying goes…imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.”

The other partner, ACT stopped short of backing the policy saying they wanted to see more details.

Leader David Seymour said saving was a worthy goal and the policy would help with that, but it may also mean people putting less money into other investments and savings – including mortgages.

“Will it displace other kinds of saving? For example, will it mean people invest less in their small business, pay down their mortgage slower, or do less investment in other things outside KiwiSaver? Because it’s possible that most of the effect will be an effect of displacing other savings.

“We haven’t seen the policy in any detail. But the question we would ask before making a decision on supporting it would be, you know, how much other saving will this displace.”

Seymour said ACT only agreed to increase KiwiSaver employer and employee contributions to 4 percent in the 2025 Budget because government contributions were also halved.

“It’s always been our policy to reduce the government contribution, because the government is currently borrowing every extra dollar and borrowing money to put in people’s KiwiSaver so they can invest in the global share market – it’s bad economics. So that was our policy, and the increase in private contributions was a trade off for that.”

Opposition

Labour’s leader Chris Hipkins said increased retirement savings would be a good thing for New Zealanders and KiwiSaver was a “great scheme” introduced by Labour, but he was concerned National “haven’t done their homework here”.

“They haven’t worked out a transition plan, they haven’t worked out how to support people on low incomes, and they are the government right now, so they could have worked through all of these details already,” he said.

“The fact that they’re not doing that suggests that this is just a panicked ‘well, we need to announce something, come up with something on the hoof’ rather than a considered policy.”

He said Labour would announce its own KiwiSaver policy next year.

“I’m certainly not opposed to the level of contribution that they’re talking about … it will also need to be accompanied by support for people on low incomes, those not in the workforce, and some protections as well to make sure that employers can’t treat increased KiwiSaver contributions as part of your pay.”

Green MP Ricardo Menendez March said such support for those on lower incomes was the priority for the party.

“If the government does not introduce additional measures to address existing inequities for low income people, this policy will not provide cost of living relief for low-income people who right now just simply don’t even see themselves having a decent enough retirement by the time they get to 65,” he said.

“We’re seeing far too many families doing hardship withdrawals and being unable to meet their daily cost of living, so the Greens are calling for a guaranteed minimum income.”

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said the KiwiSaver policy would not work well for Māori.

“We are sadly often the ones that are receiving less income, we have work security issues … this policy, it assumes that everyone is in a position to be able to not only gradually give more, but that they’re coping with today’s situation, to be able to save – and that’s just not the reality.”

She said the policy was an indication that National would again be campaigning on raising the age of eligibility for superannuation.

“What it’s doing is signalling to us that there’s a whole policy shift and you can no longer rely on superannuation being there for you when you’re 65.

“For Māori, we spend more years working and fewer years able to access superannuation because of, obviously, the age difference of when Māori die compared to everyone else so there’s an equity gap.”

She said the government needed to think about how such a change would affect those going into aged care when it was removing support networks.

Retirement age could become key election battleground

National has previously campaigned on lifting the age from 65 to 67 – with gradual increases starting in 2044.

Christopher Luxon on Monday said the party would set out their approach closer to the election.

He committed to keeping the system universal, but indicated the stronger focus on KiwiSaver was likely to be used to balance out a higher retirement age.

“We’re not interested in the Australian model of deep asset testing and means testing, it’s important for New Zealanders to understand that it’s an entitlement that they will have. But equally we know going forward future generations of Kiwis are going to need to augment that retirement income with bigger, deeper KiwiSavers.”

All three opposition parties confirmed they would not increase the age of superannuation eligibility.

New Zealand First has also long vowed to stop any attempts to do so.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is speaking to media in Auckland.

It comes after he was forced to give reassurance the coalition government was “stable” following a public stoush between ACT Party leader David Seymour and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.

Last week, Peters vowed to repeal the Regulatory Standards Bill if re-elected, prompting Seymour, the proponent of the bill, to warn Peters could be preparing to jump ship to Labour.

Luxon was asked about the stability of the government on Morning Report earlier today.

“This is a strong, stable coalition government. We are operating in an MMP environment in which individual parties have their own policies.”

In contrast, he said a possible Left bloc coalition was “a mess”, with a mix of Labour, Green, Te Pāti Māori and now two independents after the party expulsions.

“I think New Zealanders will think clearly about the options. They will look at our coalition and see a stable government, then look across to the other side and see a mess,” he said.

Watch the press conference live in the player above from about 3.30pm.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

As New Zealand gets set to rollout roadside drug testing, an Australian expert says it’s a scattergun approach that doesn’t reliably pick up impairment.

Wellington will next month become the first location to see police use a saliva test on drivers, with the rest of the country set to follow by mid-2026.

The tests will screen four key drugs: THC, which is found in cannabis, methamphetamine, MDMA or ecstasy and cocaine.

Dr Michael White, an adjunct senior fellow at the School of Psychology at the University of Adelaide who’s researched road accidents involving cannabis, says the tests are nearly worthless when it comes to picking up if someone is impaired.

One of the main issues he pointed out was that the tests detected the drugs but did not reliably assess impairment.

He said the problem was not just with the length of the detection window but how many people are actually impaired after taking drugs like cannabis.

“There’s a lot of research that says regular cannabis users are not impaired even if immediately after taking it so that produces a sort of questions of justice.

It is a scattergun approach, many people who are regular users won’t be impaired even if they test positive”

The government said 30 percent of all road deaths now involve an impairing drug – and that greater screening will improve road safety.

“We know that they’re [drugs] a major factor in many road deaths and serious injuries,” Transport Minister Chris Bishop said earlier this year.

“We’re now making sure that police are equipped with roadside oral fluid screening as a road safety tool to enable the enforcement,” he said.

Director of road policing Superintendent Steve Greally announced earlier this month that Australian-based company Pathtech Pty Ltd would supply the Securetec DrugWipe 3S devices, as well as oral fluid collection kits to collect samples to be sent for laboratory analysis.

“Many countries, including New Zealand, have seen a rise in the number of drivers testing positive for drugs in recent years, and the direct correlation to the number of people being seriously injured or killed on our roads,” he said.

The DrugWipe detects the presence of drugs in saliva at or above a threshold that detects current or recent use.

Dr White pointed out there had been no robust evidence as to whether roadside testing has reduced drug impaired driving or accidents.

“Australia has been quite negligent on actually trying to evaluate roadside drug testing.

“They’ve got a very passive approach, they simply say RBT (random breath testing) for alcohol has been successful, RDT (roadside drug testing) for drugs looks a bit like random breath testing and therefore it ought to be successful. There’s never been any evaluation in Australia that clearly shows that roadside drug testing actually works.”

He said there were differences between how drugs and alcohol impairs drivers and testing should be based on the crash risk.

“I think policy should be based on crash risk, the crash risk from cannabis is relatively low its less than for a BAC of 0.5. So cannabis might increase your risk of crashing by up to 50 percent, alcohol at a BAC of 0.5 doubles your risk so it increases it by100 percent”

For methamphetamine, Dr White said it was more difficult as it might not actually impair a person but instead make someone more aggressive and increase their thrill seeking

The other key issue he had with the testing was with legal drugs such as benzodiazepines and opioids which he said can also result in fatal car accidents.

“Some Australian research has said that benzodiazepines account for twice as many road crash fatalities as Cannabis and opioids account for twice as many, now both of those are legal drugs.

So that’s one thing that neither Australia nor New Zealand really takes into account is the damage done by legal drugs.”

Pharmacist and senior lecturer in Biosciences at AUT Dr Catherine Crofts had also previously said she was worried about the lack of information on what the new testing could mean for people with prescriptions like dexamphetamine.

Dr Crofts said about 50 percent of people with ADHD in New Zealand are taking dexamphetamine or lisdexamfetamine, which is becoming increasingly popular.

“We know that some of the tests that are out there in the community do cause some cross reactivity, and I’ve just found that there are some that don’t,” she said.

“But we haven’t seen anything about what the police are going to do or how it is going to be managed when somebody who is cross reacts, who is legally on these medicines.”

Dr White said for subtle levels of impairment some have suggested using phone applications to assess people’s reaction times.

“I’m not convinced that those apps are particularly good but at least they’re trying to measure impairment which is a step in the right direction rather than measuring presence”

He also noted Australia and New Zealand did not efficiently take human rights into consideration when it came to people getting taken off the roads without showing any good cause.

“In most other countries the drug testing is associated with some sort of test of impairment, the police have to have some sort of good cause to take you off the road.

The Attorney-General’s report into the legislation, written in July 2024, found it was inconsistent with parts of the Bill of Rights Act, specifically the right to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure, and the right not to be arbitrarily detained.

Minister of Defence Judith Collins had found the intrusion on privacy was not proportionate to the public interest objective.

“The intrusion on an individual’s privacy that arises from the taking of a bodily sample for the first oral fluid screening test appears disproportionate where there is no basis to suspect the individual driving is under the influence of an impairing drug,” she wrote.

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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 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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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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