Category: Politics

Source: Radio New Zealand

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will announce this year’s general election date, as National MPs gather for their first caucus meetings of the year away from Parliament.

National MPs will meet in Christchurch, while Labour MPs will also hold a caucus meeting in Auckland.

Luxon is expected to announce this year’s election date at about 12.30pm Wednesday.

On Monday, Auckland Business Chamber chief executive Simon Bridges pressed him on whether it would be held on 7 November.

“You’re going to find out very shortly, my friend, very shortly,” Luxon responded, before asking Bridges whether he would put money on that date.

He also indicated his ministers would not be reshuffled at the retreat, repeating his stance that he would only reshuffle when he needed to.

“I don’t feel a compunction to do this political thing every year where it’s done. I do it when I feel there’s a need to sharpen up or to change the profile of the individual leading the assignment, or there’s a different set of tasks that we need to be done by a certain personality.”

Luxon earlier told Newstalk ZB that National “may have some retirements”, which would necessitate a reshuffle.

So far, the only National MP to announce they will retire at the end of their term is New Lynn’s Paulo Garcia, who is not a minister.

The MPs have been in Christchurch since Tuesday afternoon, gathering privately for a dinner at their hotel.

Luxon gave his State of the Nation speech on Monday, when he indicated National would shy away from any “extravagant” election promises this year.

He did not announce any policies, other than to speak about National’s previously announced pledge to raise the default KiwiSaver contribution rate, if re-elected.

Luxon is also not expected to announce any policies at the retreat.

Meanwhile, Labour is gathering in West Auckland for its own caucus retreat.

Leader Chris Hipkins has attempted to rebuild relationships in Auckland, after Labour lost key seats in the Super City in 2023 and saw its party vote fall.

Hipkins would not reveal what would be discussed at the retreat, nor would he be drawn on any reshuffles or departures.

While figures like Grant Robertson, Kelvin Davis, Rino Tirikatene and David Parker have retired over the course of the term, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb is the only Labour MP to confirm they will stepping down at the election.

Hipkins would not say whether any more had told him over the summer they would be leaving, saying it was up to his MPs to announce their plans.

“I’ve always been very clear that, where any MP indicates that to me, it’s their business to announce that and I always leave them the space to do that. Simply speculating on whether there had been or there hadn’t been would be unfair on anybody, had there been that conversation.”

Later this week, parties (minus ACT) will visit Rātana Pā for the annual commemorations, before Parliament’s first sitting week of the year next week.

The sitting block will last only a week though, with Parliament then breaking for a week and politicians heading to Waitangi.

The Prime Minister has yet to confirm if he will attend Waitangi this year, after opting to spend the occasion last year with Ngāi Tahu in Akaroa instead.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Forest and Bird is concerned government changes to the planning system will increase the risk of permanent damage to wildlife and native habitats.

The conservation organisation said the decision to weaken national environmental direction removes vital safeguards New Zealanders expect, with chief adviser Richard Capie saying the government is declaring a “war on nature”.

Last week, the coalition celebrated changes to the Resource Management Act coming into force that make it easier to consent to mines and quarries.

The government said the changes will help create jobs by ensuring essential materials for infrastructure can be produced.

Forest and Bird has criticised the removal of the criteria to show mining projects deliver a national or public benefit.

Capie said New Zealanders expect better from their decision-makers, and the push for economic growth “at any cost” wasn’t something New Zealanders voted for.

“I don’t think New Zealanders campaigned for a government that was going to declare a war on nature.”

He said the changes to the national environmental rules mean mining and quarrying can be approved in areas of significant native biodiversity “with fewer protections.”

The rules were put in place to stop permanent biodiversity loss, Capie said.

“Once that damage is done, it can’t be undone.”

He said New Zealand had around 4000 native species at risk of extinction, and these changes weaken protections that are going to make that crisis even worse.

“The bit that’s really concerning here is that we’ve got a precedent being set that economic activity can override environmental limits even in the most sensitive places.”

He said people will have an opportunity at the ballot box this year to decide who will “best provide for rivers that are safe to swim in” and “coasts that have actually got wildlife that we can go and experience.”

The Minister of Conservation has 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

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is expected to announce when this year’s election will be held tomorrow.

The first National Party caucus of the year gets underway on Tuesday afternoon in Christchurch, where Luxon is expected to announce the date of the election at the end of the retreat on Wednesday.

“It’s a chance to bring our team together and align on the year ahead,” Luxon told Morning Report on Tuesday.

While Luxon was tight-lipped over who was speaking at the event, he said he would be announcing the election date.

“I will announce the election date, and that’s just because that’s been a strong convention in New Zealand, I think it gives everybody clarity,” he said.

“Once announced, we get back to the job of getting on with the show and getting the country sorted.”

If announced at the National Party’s annual retreat, it would continue the tradition in recent years of setting a date at the start of the political year.

The decision of when to hold the election is up to the prime minister, who can pick any date at any time, as long as it’s called before the end of the current three-year parliamentary term.

The last possible legal date for this year’s election to be held is 19 December.

Several pundits are picking the election to be called for after the American mid-terms set for 3 November, which will be a key indicator for how US President Donald Trump’s remaining two years in office will fare.

Saturday, 7 November has been mentioned most frequently as a likely date.

Every general election for the past 30 years, since the introduction of MMP in 1996, has been sometime between September and November, except for one.

It comes after Luxon delivered his State of the Nation speech, hosted by the Auckland Business Chamber, on Monday.

There were also no policy announcements during the speech, though Luxon repeated National’s pledge to raise the default KiwiSaver contribution rate if re-elected.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Explainer – Only one person can decide when Election Day 2026 is. How is it picked, and when is it likely to be?

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is set to announce a date this week, continuing the tradition in recent years of setting a date at the start of the political year.

It’s the starting gun that fires off a year-long sprint to determine the next Parliament, but how does the PM make this decision? Here’s how it works.

Who decides when the election will be?

It’s all down to the prime minister’s call.

The Cabinet Manual which guides central government states that “the Prime Minister alone” has the right to advise the governor-general to dissolve Parliament and call a general election.

However, in the current National-led coalition government, Luxon would definitely be consulting partners New Zealand First leader Winston Peters and ACT leader David Seymour before announcing any date, said Massey University professor of politics Richard Shaw.

“The decision won’t be one that the leader of the National Party takes without having had extensive conversations with the leader of the two coalition parties,” he said.

“The prime minister will front this, but it will be an announcement on the part of the government.”

Luxon on Tuesday morning would not be drawn on the exacty date, but confirmed to RNZ he would be announcing the date this week.

“I will announce the election date, and that’s just because that’s been a strong convention in New Zealand.”

When are they required to make that call?

They can pick a date any time, but an election has to be called before the end of the current three-year parliamentary term.

The last possible legal date for this year’s election to be held is 19 December.

What can we expect? When could it be?

Several pundits are picking the election to be called for after the American mid-terms set for 3 November, which will be a key indicator for how US President Donald Trump’s remaining two years in office will fare.

Saturday, 7 November has been mentioned most frequently as a likely date.

“My money is on” that date, Victoria University of Wellington professor of law Dean Knight said.

Every general election for the past 30 years since the introduction of MMP in 1996 has been sometime between September and November except for one.

How does a PM make that decision?

The date of an election is a symbolic beginning for the months of electioneering and campaigning ahead.

It’s not required that election days be on a Saturday, but that’s the longstanding convention which allows for greater turnout.

When choosing a date, prime ministers want to avoid things like public holiday weekends, major central bank decisions, the start of Daylight Savings Time or other major events. In 2011, Key made sure to pick a date after the Rugby World Cup final which was hosted in New Zealand.

“You narrow things down,” Shaw said. “It’s an art as much as a science.”

“There are very few rules for how all this happens. It’s largely vibes-based, really.”

Are elections always about the same time?

It’s pretty typical now for an election date to be named for Spring and to be announced early in the year.

While it’s not required, Knight said that at this point, the early call is quite bedded in.

“I have no doubt that the practice that the prime minister announce the election date well in advance, in the first or second month of an election year, has now crystallised into a constitutional convention.”

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on 19 January the 2023 election would be on 14 October, and in 2020 she announced on 28 January an election for 19 September.

Back in 2017, Prime Minister Bill English announced on 1 February the vote would be 23 September, while in 2014, Prime Minister John Key didn’t announce until 10 March the 20 September election date. In 2011, Key announced the election on 2 February, and it wasn’t held until 26 November.

“The rhythm of parliamentary terms means a general election for a full-term Parliament usually falls in October/November; an announcement in January/February gives folk 9 or 10 months’ advance warning – unlike the old days when it was often only a couple of months’ advance notice,” Knight said.

Prime Minister Helen Clark tended to call elections later – not until June, July and September in 2002, 2005 and 2008, respectively. But that seems to have gone out of vogue.

“An early announcement, as seen in the last five elections, is no longer merely a good idea but is now obligatory and would be met with political heat if ignored,” Knight said.

“You generally get a reasonably early announcement for all kinds of reasons, some of which have to do with stability and predictability,” Shaw said.

Parliament typically runs for the entire three-year term, but there’s actually no law requiring the election to wait until the term ends. An election can be called even earlier – what is known as a “snap” election. Perhaps the most famous snap election was Robert Muldoon’s call in 1984 for a vote that was held one month later.

The only election in recent years that came far earlier than expected was the one Helen Clark called in 2002 for 27 July. Clark called that election in mid-June, after Labour’s coalition with the Alliance party fell apart.

Once the election is called, it’ll still be some time before the regulated period for election advertising begins – it runs the three months before the election date. Before the election, Parliament must officially dissolve and on Writ Day, the governor-general will issue formal direction to the Electoral Commission to hold the election.

This year, the election will take place under changes in the new Electoral Amendment Bill that passed Parliament just before Christmas. Among other things, it requires people to enrol at least 13 days before the election and ends same-day voter enrolment. The government said the bill would improve the timeliness, efficiency and integrity of elections, but the opposition said it would suppress voting.

Do other countries decide election dates like this?

It’s fairly common in many parliamentary democracies, unlike places like America where the date of Election Day is always the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November (typically, around 2 to 8 November).

Australia, the UK and Canada all have similar processes where the PM must call an election before their term ends, or earlier if they want a snap election – sometimes to confirm a new leader’s power base.

Last year, when long-standing Canadian PM Justin Trudeau stepped down, his replacement Mark Carney called a snap election for the very next month, which he easily won. Japan’s new prime minister Sanae Takaichi, who just took office in October, has also called for a snap election as soon as February.

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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 says “tariffs are not the way forward”, as the United States and the European Union go head to head over Greenland.

“We don’t want to see a downward spiral of tariffs and tit-for-tat tariffs, it’s just not acceptable” Luxon told media, after his State of the Nation speech on Monday.

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump threatened eight European allies with a 10 percent additional tariff for opposing his plans to buy or annex Greenland.

The EU was reportedly considering retaliatory tariffs worth about 93 billion euros, the equivalent of about NZ$187 billion.

Luxon said it was in New Zealand’s interest to see a “healthy trans-Atlantic relationship in place”, through discussion, debate and dialogue.

“If the US has genuine concerns around Arctic security, we’ll have those conversations.”

He wouldn’t say whether it was appropriate for the EU to retaliate with tariffs.

“That’s a decision for them to make.”

His comments were the first time Luxon had spoken publicly about international events, following the summer break.

He said events in Iran were “incredibly concerning” and “worrying”.

“When you actually see a government using its own forces to kill its own citizens – utterly unacceptable.”

Luxon was also asked about the strike conducted by the United States on Venezuela, in which President Nicolas Maduro was captured.

He said he didn’t have “a lot of time for Nicolas Maduro” and the New Zealand government hadn’t recognised his government – “We saw it as illegitimate” – but he expected every country to be “compliant with international law”.

Ultimately, he said, it was “up to the US to demonstrate that they were compliant with international law”.

“That’s up to them to demonstrate that, as it is for every individual country, to say that they’re operating with an international law.”

Asked why he didn’t speak about the issue earlier, he said Foreign Minister Winston Peters summarised the situation “superbly well” in his statement.

“I didn’t need to add anything more to it.”

On Monday, Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the government could have been “more visible and more principled” on all those issues.

“Standing up for international laws [and] international rules is something New Zealand has taken very principled positions on in the past, and we should continue to do so.”

Labour condemned the US attack on Venezuela as a “breach of international law”.

Hipkins said he had “no time” for the previous government of Venezuela, “but going and effectively taking over a country with no international law behind you is a very, very big step for the United States to take”.

“For New Zealand to say nothing about that, I think, has been an abrogation of what has previously been a very principled foreign policy position by New Zealand.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Prime Minister says he isn’t worried about being offside with National MPs who have supported more housing intensification in Auckland, as he responds to questions about a potential u-turn on the issue.

Speaking to reporters after his State of the Nation speech, Christopher Luxon says the conversation in Auckland was about “how much densification” and “where it happens.”

He said he’d told Aucklanders “we know it’s a sensitive issue” and he plans to “listen” and “digest” the feedback.

“I don’t think there’s a problem when you actually say, I’ve listened to feedback and I’m going to do something different about it on the basis of that.”

RMA Minister Chris Bishop had directed Auckland Council to allocate up to two million homes in the coming decades, but last week he confirmed the coalition was considering weakening housing intensification laws in Auckland.

Luxon dismissed the idea he and Bishop weren’t on the same page, saying they’d had a “very dynamic conversation” well before Christmas.

“It won’t surprise you, but in our government, we actually talk to each other a lot, and quite dynamically and consistently.

“It’s regular. It’s not formalized. We’re just very open and transparent.”

Luxon said the Council should go through its feedback process, and the government would look and “be prepared to listen” to that feedback.

“There is genuine change that’s going to be needed, and we’re up for doing that.”

He said it was for Auckland Council to make decisions about specific suburbs, but he wanted to get the balance right between densification in the CBD, greenfields growth, and what was needed in various suburbs.

He wouldn’t budge on whether the two million figure would be decreased or not, saying the government would have more to say soon.

He said Bishop had been “working hard” on it for a couple of months, “he will come forward with his views and explain that shortly.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has called the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation address a “whole lot of management speak mumbo jumbo”.

Christopher Luxon has delivered his first speech of the year, to the Auckland Business Chamber.

Luxon launched a defence of his government’s progress and reform programme, and promised there would be no deviation from its plan should it win a second term.

He said National would continue with its savings programme at this year’s Budget, and that there would be no “extravagant” election promises from National this election, saying any party that wanted to increase spending would need to increase borrowing or taxes.

Hipkins said Luxon’s adddress had shown he had no vision and no plan for New Zealand’s future.

“We need a vision. We need a plan for the future and it’s clear only Labour can deliver that.”

In terms of Labour’s plans for the upcoming election, Hipkins said the party had plenty to talk about and would do so.

“Luxon should focus on delivering on the political promises that he made,” Hipkins said, which he said included fixing the housing crisis and making healthcare more accessible.

“Things are getting harder for Kiwis not better.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Labour leader Chris Hipkins is responding to the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation address.

Christopher Luxon has delivered his first speech of the year, to the Auckland Business Chamber.

Luxon launched a defence of his government’s progress and reform programme, and promised there would be no deviation from its plan should it win a second term.

He said National would continue with its savings programme at this year’s Budget, and that there would be no “extravagant” election promises from National this election, saying any party that wanted to increase spending would need to increase borrowing or taxes.

Hipkins is expected to speak at about 3pm.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The prime minister will outline his plan for the year ahead and New Zealand’s future in a State of the Nation speech in Auckland today.

Speaking to a business audience, hosted by the Auckland Business Chamber at the new International Convention Centre, Christopher Luxon will also take the opportunity to outline some of the government’s progress in areas such as law and order, education, and cutting red tape.

The prime minister will be using his first election year speech to highlight what he considers wins by the coalition, and will likely reference the India Free Trade Deal announced shortly before Christmas last year.

NZ First immediately signalled its disapproval of the deal, and Luxon will likely speak today about maintaining a stable coalition with a focus on domestic affairs.

Clarification around a potential weakening of housing intensification laws, as well as plans for tackling homelessness in the Auckland CBD, may be discussed today, but will likely be revealed later in the week.

It is the first political event in the New Zealand calendar, and will be the first public appearance by Luxon following the summer break, in which international events dominated headlines.

Luxon has yet to release statements regarding the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro by the United States, as well as anti-regime protests in Iran, and will likely be asked after his speech for his position on both events.

He was also yet to comment on New Zealand’s Reserve Bank governor writing in support of her counterpart in the US, and President Donald Trump’s push to take over Greenland.

There are no major policy announcements expected in the annual scene-setting speech, and the election date will not be revealed today either.

On Wednesday, both National and Labour will hold their first caucus meetings of the year, and later in the week, political parties will gather at Rātana.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The government is making moves to stop people stripping rock pools of sealife in north Auckland.

On Saturday, more than 100 Whangaparāoa residents protested against what they say are busloads of people plucking out everything from crabs to sea cucumbers.

Local iwi Ngati Manuhiri is seeking a two-year ban on harvesting shellfish along the city’s eastern coastline to allow marine life to recover.

Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones told Morning Report he’s considering bans and an education campaign to stop the practice.

“It’s grown into an issue that’s certainly generated a lot of passion thanks to the local community,” he said.

Jones said most of the people beach-combing were migrants, hence the need for an educational campaign.

He has sought urgent advice from Fisheries New Zealand on how to respond to over-harvesting at the site, which was currently being prepared. He said a rāhui, a temporary ban on access, could be enforced by the state.

“We need to ensure that when we introduce these prohibited measures, that not only are they going to be effective, but we don’t create too many unwanted consequences because this particular problem is attributable to unvetted immigration,” Jones said.

University of Auckland marine biologist Andrew Jeffs earlier told RNZ as the country had become more ethnically diverse, it had put pressure on species that were not always harvested here.

“People have different tastes in what they like to eat and enjoy, and harvesting from the shore of fresh seafood material is something that they enjoy.

“It’s about managing that activity so it doesn’t damage the environment, and whoever, whether it’s the community or government, needs to work with those people to make it possible for them to have some of that enjoyment, but without damaging the environment.”

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