Category: Politics

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Greens are calling out what they see as a double standard on strict English tests for immigrant bus drivers, but zero language requirements for wealthy migrants.

To get a skilled migrant visa, drivers needed to score at least 6.5 out of nine in the International English Language Testing System.

The government removed English fluency requirements for those investing $5 million to $10 million dollars in New Zealand for an Active Investor Plus Visa, known as the Golden Visa.

MP Ricardo Menéndez March said the English test was onerous and elitist.

“We’re putting countless bus drivers’ livelihoods on the line at the time of the fossil fuel crisis when public transport is more important than ever, and treating these drivers as disposable as opposed to essential,” Menéndez March told Checkpoint

He said the English test included writing an essay under time pressure, and had nothing to do with the work that drivers do.

“The requirements for migrant bus drivers are effectively higher than an international student wanting to go into tertiary education. It makes no sense.”

Menéndez March accepted there needed to be a level of proficiency in English – and said the bus drivers he had spoken to were all able to hold conversations in English.

He said the requirements needed to be lowered, or there would be hundreds of bus drivers with their jobs on the line.

The MP said there needed to be consistency across the board for migrants.

“When you create these onerous requirements for essential workers like migrant bus drivers and have no English test for multi-millionaires, it does smack of double standards.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Greens are defending their candidate for Māngere, saying now he has been selected he will be expected to meet different standards of behaviour.

Michel Mulipola was recently confirmed as the Green Party candidate for the South Auckland seat of Māngere.

Social media posts have surfaced showing him ripping up the New Zealand flag, calling police ‘pigs’, and a member of the coalition government as a “piece of s***”.

Former Labour MP Peeni Henare was also ordered by leader Chris Hipkins two years ago to remove reposting of Mulipola’s art depicting ACT leader David Seymour with faeces coming from his eyes, and depicting Simeon Brown as a baboon’s bottom.

Greens co-leader Marama Davidson said Mulipola had a history as an advocate exposing unfairness.

“He is a strong, outspoken advocate and has spent a lot of time exposing racism, injustice, unfairness for the communities he represents,” she told reporters.

“As an independent person, as a creator and an artist. He speaks and represents his communities and the South Auckland experiences for communities who have been undeserved for decades and decades.”

He would be expected to meet higher behavioural standards as a candidate, she said.

“As a Green candidate, he knows that we have a standard of approach and language … he is aware that as a Green candidate, we have a different approach. He wants to focus on highlighting how this government’s decisions have harmed Māngere and what the Green solutions are for people.”

She said she had not seen the video of Mulipola ripping up the New Zealand flag, but it was not “an approach that the Green Party would take”.

In New Zealand, destroying or damaging the New Zealand flag with the intention of dishonouring it is an offence, leading to a potential fine of up to $5000.

Davidson said she knew it was considered serious in law, but “I’m personally not attached to our flag, so I’m not passionate about the flag”.

She expressed a disinterest in changing the law to remove penalties, however, saying she had other things to focus on.

ACT Party leader David Seymour said the Green co-leaders defending Mulipola were encouraging a path towards political violence.

“How are Chlöe Swarbrick and Marama Davidson a good fit for Parliament when they defend that sort of behaviour on the basis that if you feel disadvantaged or if you feel angry, then anything is justified?

“That’s their argument… that’s the path to political violence, when you say ‘my feelings trump any kind of discipline that I might apply so our society can work together’.

“I think if somebody is going to say that someone is a POS, the least you can do as a party leader is say, yeah, actually, we don’t accept that as candidates.”

Labour’s leader Chris Hipkins said he had not looked at all the comments in detail, but it was the sort of language he would not condone or support.

“I would have an issue with that if any current politician was expressing those things.

“I accept people will have said things in their pasts, you know, in their previous lives, people are allowed to grow up, people are allowed to change their minds, they’re allowed to moderate and so on – but if they’re currently held views of people standing for Parliament I would have a problem with that.”

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he respected the flag, but it was a matter for the Green Party.

NZ First leader Winston Peters said it was “pretty much like the Green Party, they’re a disgrace”.

“The party of [former Green co-leader Jeanette] Fitzsimons and others in the past is totally gone,” he said. “It’s an utter disgrace and the language is shocking, just revolting in the extreme.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Mike Hosking says TVNZ threatened legal action against NZME if it was to publish a story about its political editor allegedly using a homophobic slur.

On Tuesday, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said she shut down an event in her office last year after “offensive language” was used during a function she hosted for press gallery journalists.

Willis held pre-Budget drinks in her office in May where an incident between two journalists is alleged to have happened.

Political commentator Ani O’Brien wrote on her Substack page on Tuesday morning that TVNZ political editor Maiki Sherman allegedly used a homophobic slur against Stuff journalist Lloyd Burr.

On Wednesday morning, Newstalk ZB host Hosking told listeners his producer, Sam Carran, was pulling information together on a story about the alleged incident last year and had gone to TVNZ for comment.

It was at that point, Hosking said, TVNZ “threatened to sue us”.

“We got the big broad-based fat letter from the lawyers – it was one of those very wide-ranging letters you get from corporate lawyers basically encompassing everything.

“It doesn’t matter what you say, when you say, why you say it, how you say it, they’re going to go you for something. It was one of those letters.”

Hosking said such letters don’t faze him – but corporate lawyers do worry about them.

It had a “chilling effect” on the story and interest waned, he said.

That was until O’Brien wrote about it on Tuesday and the story went public.

“Should we have gone a bit cold on it ourselves? Personally, no, but we did, and you can ask NZME about that another time if you want to.

“The good news is that in this modern day and age, it was always going to come out in some way, shape or form.”

At Parliament on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour was asked about the possibility of legal threats to stop NZME publishing the story.

In response, Seymour said TVNZ are “supposed to be defenders of press freedom, not attackers of it”.

“I think if that’s what they’ve been doing against NZME, that’s really surprising. And frankly, this is for all you guys.

“I mean, you want people to trust the press. This behavior doesn’t help. There’s a lot of people here, good reporters, who are innocent of any of this, but you’ll get dragged down with it too.”

Seymour said when it comes to defamation there were long established legal tests regarding whether a reasonable person would have their reputation diminished, and the defence is there of truth.

“I can understand there might be a ‘chilling effect’ but if you’re certain that something’s true, you should be prepared to say it.

“I think it’s pretty clear from the reporting that’s gone on, no one’s denying the truth of it.”

Seymour said he wasn’t aware of the considerations Newstalk ZB had to make in regards to defamation, “somebody else has reported and hasn’t suffered any consequence, so there you go.”

On Tuesday, TVNZ responded to RNZ’s questions on the allegations made against Sherman, saying: “We do not comment on employment matters.”

In a statement, Stuff said: “Stuff Group stands by, and has complete faith in, Lloyd Burr’s account of the events and his conduct in Minister Willis’ office last May.

“We will continue to respect his wishes not to comment further on what occurred that night.”

On Tuesday on her way to Question Time, Willis told reporters she was “absolutely not” involved in what was published by O’Brien on Substack.

“I have absolutely not been involved in talking to that blogger, in being involved in any way – in fact, I have worked to keep it as private as possible due to my concern for the individual who was the subject of the slur and their desire for it not to enter the public domain.”

When contacted for further comment, TVNZ said it does not comment on employment matters.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Part-time and shift workers have told MPs they’ll lose money under proposed leave entitlement changes – but the minister in charge says that’s unavoidable.

On Wednesday morning, the Education and Workforce Select Committee heard submissions on the Employment Leave Bill, which would see both annual and sick leave accumulated based on hours worked.

A number of Public Service Association members told the committee how the changes would affect them.

Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden said she tried to create a law benefiting everyone but was advised it would make things worse – so she landed on a bill that would see employees worse off in some cases, and employers worse off in others.

Youth inpatient facility charge nurse Mary Becker said she’d be taking a $2700 annual pay cut because her shift and overtime allowances would not be factored into leave payments.

That meant she would have to consider whether she could afford to take leave “which doesn’t bode well, given the high rates of burnout in my field”, she said.

“It’s because we work such long and unsocial hours that the changes in this bill would decrease our access to leave and pay on leave.

“To me, this just isn’t fair.”

PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said the union would not give up fighting against the bill which she said would make workers’ lives “materially worse”.

“We really hope … that the report back from this select committee carefully considers in a granular way what this bill would mean for workers and declines to make the changes that will make working people’s lives worse.”

The meeting got heated when National MP Carl Bates stated some of them would have benefited from the government’s tax cuts.

“Just want to know if the union supported that direct support to these workers,” he said.

Fitzsimons replied: “Absolutely not, and it is a pretty sad day … if you are comparing your tax cuts with something you’re now proposing to take away, and I’m very surprised by that position, is that the official position? Because that is bizarre,” she said.

As the pair talked over each other, Bates said he was trying to ask whether the union was consistent in its support for workers.

Bill strikes a balance for workers and employers – Minister

Van Velden explained the intent of the bill was to make the rules easier to apply, give both workers and employers more certainty about entitlements, and reduce mistakes which had led to “widespread non-compliance and costly remediation processes”.

Labour MP Camilla Belich put the PSA members’ submissions to van Velden, asking how she could justify a bill that meant workers would lose money during a cost-of-living crisis.

Van Velden said she had initially tried to draft a bill ensuring no worker was worse off.

“The feedback that I had back on that draft was, ‘stop, this is worse than the current law’,” she said.

“The drafting to ensure that in no situation any worker could be worse off at any circumstance led to such technically difficult and impossible to implement clauses … for payroll systems themselves, many payroll providers said it would be worse for them.”

She acknowledged there would be “edge cases” and some people would see a difference in pay – but said in the transition to the new system, employers would “find other ways” to ensure their staff were not worse off.

Van Velden expected collective agreements would change to ensure that, too.

Ensuring no worker was worse off would mean that employers would suffer because the money had to come from somewhere, she said.

Van Velden believed a balance had been struck.

“Within the technical drafting that we’ve done, there will be some cases where an employer would be worse off, and in some cases where an employee will be worse off,” she said.

“It is not the case that there has been a win for business or a win for workers.”

She named a number of benefits for workers, including accruing leave from day one, and the opportunity to cash up 25 percent of leave in a year.

The bill would be a major change requiring a careful transition, the minister said.

Employers and payroll providers would have two years to prepare once the bill was passed.

Van Velden said she had encouraged stakeholders to point out technical issues, edge cases or unintended effects so they could be addressed before the bill becomes law.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand First leader and Rail Minister Winston Peters has hinted he won’t support a law change letting trucks carry more weight during the fuel crisis.

He was adamant: “It’s a no brainer, rail is the answer,” to the fuel crisis.

The government is considering cutting regulations for heavy vehicles in an effort to save fuel, including easing truck weight limits.

When asked whether he would veto that, Peters said: “Stand back and watch.”

He told reporters he was not on board with the idea.

“I’m not for these changes … these weight limits are put there for good reasons, because of potholes and bridge strength and what have you,” he said.

“We’re going to make sure we use rail.”

Peters’ opposition was put to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, who said his coalition partners’ comments were “a bit premature”.

The government was considering “all ideas” and associated trade-offs, and nothing had gone to Cabinet, he said.

Resources Minister and New Zealand First deputy Shane Jones agreed.

“The State at the end of the day has to deal with the impact on heavy traffic on our roads, but it’s really important that we keep the fuel flowing, and I’m imagining that a fair bit of freight may even go on to KiwiRail.”

The Prime Minister added: “I imagine a lot of freight will go on to KiwiRail.”

Shifting more freight to rail would not require any regulatory changes – companies can choose to do that if they wish.

KiwiRail publishes its available capacity online and said it anticipated that would be allocated quickly.

Trains were two-and-a-half times more fuel efficient than trucks and there were thousands of wagons available, Peters said.

Peters said the freight industry was using a crisis to get the law changed.

“This ain’t the first time the trucking industry’s tried this on.”

Earlier on Tuesday Transport Minister Chris Bishop said the industry had been advocating for weight limit changes for some time, and the crisis was an opportunity to expedite that work.

Transporting New Zealand chief executive Dom Kalasih told Morning Report loosening the weight restrictions would unlock extra productivity and save several million litres of diesel.

He urged the government to make the changes immediately.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The government is considering easing weight restrictions for heavy vehicles in a bid to save fuel amid the global crisis.

Four changes are being worked on in case of a move up to Phase 2 of the national fuel plan.

This included allowing more weight on some trucks to facilitate fewer trips, allowing normal licences for heavy electric utes, relaxing time and access restrictions for over-dimension vehicles and removing some restrictions on the routes that over-dimension vehicles could travel.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Finance Minister says she shut down an event in her office last year after “offensive language” was used during a function she hosted for press gallery journalists.

Nicola Willis held pre-Budget drinks in her office in May last year where an incident between two journalists is alleged to have happened.

Political commentator Ani O’Brien wrote on her Substack page on Tuesday morning that TVNZ political editor Maiki Sherman allegedly used a homophobic slur against Stuff journalist Lloyd Burr, which led to the drinks in Willis’ office being shut down.

Nicola Willis told RNZ in a statement on Tuesday that she was “out of the room for a few minutes and returned to hear offensive language being used”.

“I ended the event at that point,” she said.

“The following day I checked in on the welfare of the reporter at whom the language was directed. He advised me he did not want to take the matter any further. I respected his decision.”

In response to the allegations a spokesperson for TVNZ says, “we do not comment on employment matters”.

Stuff has also responded to the allegations in a statement saying, “Stuff Group stands by, and has complete faith in, Lloyd Burr’s account of the events and his conduct in Minister Willis’ office last May”.

“We will continue to respect his wishes not to comment further on what occurred that night,” a spokesperson told RNZ.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand’s Trade Minister has signed the free trade agreement with India in New Delhi.

Todd McClay said the deal would deliver thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in additional exports, and was being signed at a time of high global uncertainty.

“Creating opportunities for our businesses to diversify and create strong trading relationships provides economic security for New Zealanders – and that is crucial in these times of global unrest.”

Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal told those present that, as two countries who love cricket, the deal represented a shared pitch.

It was the first time an agreement has been signed in front of a large delegation of business partners, he said.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said in a media release the benefits of the FTA would be widespread.

“In signing this FTA we are setting businesses up to succeed, boosting Kiwi jobs and enabling economic growth – and that means more money in Kiwis’ pockets,” Luxon said.

McClay was in the Indian capital with a delegation of MPs and about 30 business representatives.

Labour confirmed last week it would back the deal after New Zealand First refused to do so.

The signing marked the end of 16 years of attempted negotiations and brings New Zealand greater market access to India’s 1.4 billion customers, McClay said earlier.

It also included up to 5000 temporary work visas for Indian professionals.

McClay said despite it being the second-fastest agreement New Zealand has negotiated, it has not been rushed.

The Council of Trade Unions, meanwhile, has slammed the deal, saying it risks enshrining exploitative labour conditions.

Watch the signing on the livestream at the top of this page.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand’s Trade Minister will soon sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with India in New Delhi.

Todd McClay is there with a delegation of MPs and about 30 business representatives.

He is set to sign the agreement at about 10pm NZST.

Labour confirmed last week it would back the deal after New Zealand First refused to do so.

The signing marked the end of 16 years of attempted negotiations and brings New Zealand greater market access to India’s 1.4 billion customers, McClay said.

It also included up to 5000 temporary work visas for Indian professionals.

McClay said despite it being the second-fastest agreement New Zealand has negotiated, it has not been rushed.

The Council of Trade Unions, meanwhile, has slammed the deal, saying it risks enshrining exploitative labour conditions.

Watch the signing on the livestream at the top of this page.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Council of Trade Unions (CTU) says keeping unions and the public in the dark on the India-New Zealand Free Trade agreement means the deal risks enshrining exploitative labour conditions.

The deal will be formally signed on Monday night in New Delhi, with the full text expected to be made public on Tuesday.

CTU president Sandra Gray said there had been a complete lack of consultation with unions and the public.

A deal of this size warranted a tripartite approach from unions, business and government, she said.

“In this case, we have seen absolutely nothing. It’s being signed without unions even seeing the text, let alone contributing to the conversation.”

The Labour Party – whose support the government required to get the agreement through parliament – agreed to back the deal just days ago.

Asked if that was premature, given the CTU’s concerns about the deal’s contents, Gray reiterated the importance of including international labour standards in the agreement.

“I think we get very wound up in this idea that larger governments are going to walk away from free trade agreements with us if we don’t just get in and sign on the dotted line. I think we need to hold on to our sovereignty and say New Zealand needs to make sure it is acting ethically and rightly when it comes to workers’ rights.

“We’ve been really, really strong defenders of international law for decades and decades. We should not give up on that, and we should make sure that we use proper scrutiny of anything we sign and that includes unions being at the table.”

The organisation accepted the need for free trade agreements, but wanted confirmation international labour agreements were being adhered to, Gray said.

“My fear around this trade agreement because unions have not been involved is that we’re going to end up buying products and exchanging goods and doing free trade with really, really hostile work environments in India that really exploit workers.

“We don’t know, because we haven’t seen the agreement, but why are they hiding it from the public? Why are they hiding it from unions if it’s a good, fair trade agreement?”

The Maritime Services Union (MSU) last week called on the government to hold off signing the deal until it publicly released the text.

National Secretary Carl Findlay said the government’s secretive approach was an insult to workers.

He also raised concerns about 5000 temporary skilled work visas included in the deal, given high unemployment and infrastructure and housing deficits.

Sandra Gray said the CTU was less concerned about the temporary work visas than secrecy surrounding the deal, which made it impossible to know what labour standards had been agreed to.

Findlay’s comments came as New Zealand First minister Shane Jones made racist remarks on the deal’s immigration implications.

Gray would not be drawn on whether the MSU should be focused on the visa issue amid heightened xenophobic rhetoric.

“The Maritime Union has a stronger idea of what’s right for their members and for their union.”

Political parties should be cautious with their comments, Gray said, noting New Zealand First’s opposition was “built on a moment in time we have to be very careful not to get drawn into”.

“Government parties in particular need to pay real attention to the tone they’re setting for our country around migrants, immigrants and anyone who is coming to work here.”

Temporary migrant numbers ‘relatively small’

Immigration consultant Paul Janssen said New Zealand had agreements, that included visa programmes, with a number of countries and the figures in the India-New Zealand deal were comparatively low.

“In terms of the number of temporary migrants we bring in, it’s a relatively small number, given it’s 1667 per year, capped at 5000 for three years.

“That represents a small number of people and given the skill level they’re aiming for, I think it’s a drop in the bucket, really.”

The vast majority of the visas in the deal were for occupations on the Immigration New Zealand green list of in-demand, hard-to-fill roles, Janssen said.

An Indian government press release said the visas would be in “sectors of interest to India which include Indian iconic occupations (AYUSH practitioners, yoga instructors, Indian chefs and music teachers) and other sectors of interest – IT, Engineering, Healthcare, Education and Construction.”

AYUSH stands for traditional medical systems Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy.

The 1000 working holiday visas paled in comparison to other countries, such as the United Kingdom, which New Zealand offers 15,000 working holiday visas, or the 3000 places offered to young Koreans a year, Janssen said.

“This isn’t new – this is something we’ve done and do quite often, so it’s interesting we get different levels of commentary depending on which country we’re dealing with.”

He said Immigration NZ had rigourous processes.

“We go through quite a lot of work to make sure the people coming into the country are well vetted, so it isn’t simply submitting an application and away you go.

“There’s a lot that goes into the background, particularly when you’re looking at temporary visas where Immigration assesses the applicant’s genuine intent to come for a temporary purpose, whether they have the right skills – there’s a lot of hoops to jump through… and it isn’t a cheap exercise, there’s a lot of investment on the applicant’s part.”

New Zealand needed to recognise the added value and improved productivity provided by skilled migrants, he said.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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