Category: Politics

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Prime Minister has told Newstalk ZB he is ‘absolutely not’ considering standing down after a poll result putting National in the 20s.

“The only thing I am considering is the future of our children and grandchildren.”

And said he has the skills to lead the National Party and the country.

His comments come after speculation about his leadership following a Taxpayers’ Union Curia poll today had National on 28.4 – down nearly 3 points from its poll last month.

Labour is up at 34.4, while the Greens, ACT, and Te Pati Māori are all up on 10.5, 7.5, and 3.2 respectively.

New Zealand First has taken a slight drop to 9.7.

On those results it would give the centre-Left bloc 61 seats, enough to govern, while the coalition government bloc would fall short on 59 seats.

Luxon said none of his Cabinet colleagues have told him to reconsider his future. He said “all of them” back him.

He said the only polling he takes note of is his National’s own internal polling which gets processed in the United Kingdom.

“I would reassure you – if there was a problem, I would be doing something about it. But we are long way away from what we’ve seen published in a TPU poll today.”

Luxon said he has “not thought about” what polling level would be the threshold for him to step down as prime minister.

“I have the full support of my team and my caucus.”

The poll comes at the end of a week where Christopher Luxon struggled to communicate clearly on the Iran conflict.

Speaking on NewstalkZB, Luxon acknowledged failings with his personal communication: “I’ve freely admitted, I’m not a career politician. I’m not always going to have the perfect most tidy soundbite like someone who’s been there 20 years would do.”

Luxon said the media had gotten carried away in its reaction to a public poll over the course of the day.

“The whole world seems to have got very exercised… the reason I’m going on your show is to clarify to people, no, I’m not doing that [considering my future].”

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

Analysis – If anyone is going to convince Christopher Luxon it’s time to step aside from the prime ministership, it’s his forerunner and friend Sir John Key.

The pair are close, and throughout Luxon’s time at the helm he has checked in almost weekly with the former prime minister.

One of Luxon’s weaknesses in the top job has been his inability to take feedback from colleagues, staff or officials. That has even extended to Key on occasions, where it’s understood Luxon has been keen to do most of the talking while Key has been left to do the listening.

Another Achilles’ heel is Luxon’s complete lack of self-doubt.

It’s understood those two personality traits have more recently extended to him not reading focus group reports because much of the criticism is that it’s Luxon who is the problem.

Key and Luxon usually catch up at the weekend, and while their chat in the next 48 hours is more likely to focus on what Luxon needs to change to reclaim the narrative, if he has had any doubt seep in about his future in the job then Key would also be first port of call for how best to manage his exit.

Their talks come after a disastrous week for Luxon bookended with woeful interviews on Monday and a poll sliding National below 30, to 28.4 percent, on Friday.

That Taxpayers’-Union Curia poll would see the centre-left bloc slide into power, but only just, with 61 seats to the coalition government’s 59.

This is the second public poll to have National below 30 since October last year – the same pollster had National on 29.6.

Luxon says he doesn’t read into or comment on polls, but the fact the two sliding National below that red line of 30 were conducted by their own internal pollster makes it more difficult for the prime minister to ignore.

If National is going to hit the nuclear button on a new leader it needs to consider the political landscape at play.

For a start, a change of leader does not always lead to a change of fortunes.

Secondly, a new leader will be coming into the job at the exact point in the electoral cycle where the coalition parties are trying to present a strong and stable government while simultaneously trying to distinguish themselves from each other.

The step-up from minister to prime minister is enormous on its own, let alone when it also requires that person to work both with and against experienced and politically savvy operators David Seymour and Winston Peters.

National MPs were already spooked before Friday’s poll landed.

Luxon’s failure to articulate a clear message on Iran early in the week had some commenting that his communicating to the public, via the media, had got worse over time rather than better.

At this point the National Party looks to be sitting on an orange alert, but it wouldn’t take much to slide into red. The triggers for that will be either Luxon deciding he’s had enough (the least likely of scenarios), those closest to Luxon (his wife Amanda, and Key) convincing him the best path is stepping aside, or the caucus and his staff making it clear on Tuesday when Parliament is back sitting that he no longer has their confidence.

Any decision to change leader will need to consider what impact it could have on National’s coalition partners.

Peters and Seymour wouldn’t tolerate any change to the coalition agreements and commitments already made by Luxon, and if a fresh leader had desires to do so then it would be game-on for New Zealand First and Act to renegotiate and ask a high price.

While all of these considerations go on in the background, those fancying themselves as the next prime minister will be spending the weekend weighing up the pros and cons.

Education Minister Erica Stanford has long been tipped as a future leader, while Housing and Transport Minister Chris Bishop will also be doing the maths.

He’s on his way to India to watch the T20 Cricket World Cup final between New Zealand and India in the wee hours of Monday morning (NZT).

If things start moving fast back home at the weekend, it wouldn’t be surprising if he got back on a plane before the first ball was bowled.

Luxon’s last engagement with the press gallery was on Wednesday at Parliament.

RNZ bumped into him briefly on Friday afternoon on the streets of Botany, but our questions all went unanswered.

He currently isn’t scheduled to front media again until his Monday morning regular slots, which is a very long time in politics.

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

Pressure is mounting on the Prime Minister with a bad poll result putting National in the 20s.

A new Taxpayers’ Union Curia poll has National on 28.4 – down nearly 3 points from its poll last month.

Labour is up slightly on 34.4, while the Greens, ACT, and Te Pati Maori are all up on 10.5, 7.5, and 3.2 respectively.

New Zealand First has taken a slight drop to 9.7.

On these results it would give the centre-Left bloc 61 seats, enough to govern, while the coalition government bloc would fall short on 59 seats.

The poll also asked whether Labour or National were better managers of specific policy areas.

National is ahead on the economy and spending, while Labour led on health, poverty, inflation, education, safety, housing, environment, and not increasing taxes.

The poll of 1000 New Zealanders was conducted between Sunday 1 March and Tuesday 3 March and has a margin of error +/- 3.1 percent.

Luxon trips up on Iran

The poll comes at the end of a week where Christopher Luxon struggled to communicate clearly on the Iran conflict.

Curia is National’s internal party pollster and the dismal result for the governing party follows a low of 29 by the same polling company in October.

Luxon has had to correct the record twice this week after misspeaking on the US-Israel attack on Iran.

It’s prompted chatter amongst his caucus and coalition partners that the Prime Minister is struggling to articulate the government’s messages, and could be hindering the party’s chances of election success in November.

Foreign Minister and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters put in his two cents from Brazil on Friday morning.

“It is not good, is it?

“You can’t say anything else. It is not the end of everything. But those of us who are not in the National Party, on this matter, on the outside, it is not good, no,” he told Ryan Bridge TODAY.

Judith Collins, a senior minister in Luxon’s cabinet who is retiring in the coming months, told the same show that the public shouldn’t be “spooked” by the poll.

Collins, a former leader who took the party to a crushing 25.58 percent result at the 2020 election, told Ryan Bridge TODAY it was a “tough job” being Prime Minister when the world was facing so much uncertainty.

She said other leaders were facing similar polling results and she saw it as a “temporary thing” for Luxon.

National MPs have been rattled by the Prime Minister’s performance this week, and concerns have been raised about whether Luxon was getting worse, rather than better, at communicating with the public via media interviews.

‘Not a good number’ – Willis

Finance Minister and National deputy leader Nicola Willis has shared her thoughts, telling Newstalk ZB, “it is not a good number” ahead of the poll’s release.

“If that was the number National got on the actual election, that would not be an acceptable result. We have to do better than that.

“I am not happy with that number. I don’t think our National Party team would be happy with that number. I don’t think the Prime Minister would be satisfied with that number,” Willis told Newstalk ZB.

The Prime Minister was in Wellington this week as Parliament was sitting, and headed to Masterton on Thursday to the Golden Shears.

Luxon is often in the regions on a Thursday, as are other party leaders, but unusually did not hold a media conference and currently has no plans for one on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

It means by the time of his Monday morning weekly media round it will have been five days since he faced reporters’ questions.

At the end of last year Luxon came under pressure when National received low ratings in the Ipsos Issues Monitor Poll – losing the economy to Labour as an issue it could best manage.

It triggered rumblings in the National caucus and speculation the numbers were being done and soundings were being taken as to whether senior minister Chris Bishop would do a better job in election year.

The chatter ultimately came to nothing, and with Luxon back under scrutiny by his caucus this week Chris Bishop is nowhere to be seen having boarded a flight to India today.

It means he won’t be in Wellington when his caucus meets on Tuesday, unless he chooses to return early.

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

Pressure is mounting on the Prime Minister with a bad poll result expected to land shortly.

It comes at the end of a week where Christopher Luxon struggled to communicate clearly on the Iran conflict.

A Taxpayers’ Union Curia poll due to be publicly released shortly is expected to have National polling in the high 20s.

Curia is National’s internal party pollster and the dismal result for the governing party follows a low of 29 by the same polling company in October.

Luxon has had to correct the record twice this week after misspeaking on the US-Israel attack on Iran.

It’s prompted chatter amongst his caucus and coalition partners that the Prime Minister is struggling to articulate the government’s messages, and could be hindering the party’s chances of election success in November.

Foreign Minister and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters put in his two cents from Brazil on Friday morning.

“It is not good, is it?

“You can’t say anything else. It is not the end of everything. But those of us who are not in the National Party, on this matter, on the outside, it is not good, no,” he told Ryan Bridge TODAY.

Judith Collins, a senior minister in Luxon’s cabinet who is retiring in the coming months, told the same show that the public shouldn’t be “spooked” by the poll.

Collins, a former leader who took the party to a crushing 25.58 percent result at the 2020 election, told Ryan Bridge TODAY it was a “tough job” being Prime Minister when the world was facing so much uncertainty.

She said other leaders were facing similar polling results and she saw it as a “temporary thing” for Luxon.

National MPs have been rattled by the Prime Minister’s performance this week, and concerns have been raised about whether Luxon was getting worse, rather than better, at communicating with the public via media interviews.

‘Not a good number’ – Willis

Finance Minister and National deputy leader Nicola Willis has shared her thoughts on the expected bad poll result, telling Newstalk ZB, “it is not a good number”.

“If that was the number National got on the actual election, that would not be an acceptable result. We have to do better than that.

“I am not happy with that number. I don’t think our National Party team would be happy with that number. I don’t think the Prime Minister would be satisfied with that number,” Willis told Newstalk ZB.

The Prime Minister was in Wellington this week as Parliament was sitting, and headed to Masterton on Thursday to the Golden Shears.

Luxon is often in the regions on a Thursday, as are other party leaders, but unusually did not hold a media conference and currently has no plans for one on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

It means by the time of his Monday morning weekly media round it will have been five days since he faced reporters’ questions.

At the end of last year Luxon came under pressure when National received low ratings in the Ipsos Issues Monitor Poll – losing the economy to Labour as an issue it could best manage.

It triggered rumblings in the National caucus and speculation the numbers were being done and soundings were being taken as to whether senior minister Chris Bishop would do a better job in election year.

The chatter ultimately came to nothing, and with Luxon back under scrutiny by his caucus this week Chris Bishop is nowhere to be seen having boarded a flight to India today.

It means he won’t be in Wellington when his caucus meets on Tuesday, unless he chooses to return early.

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 coalition has passed legislation to legalise long-standing MSD policy of clawing back welfare payments from ACC claimants.

The law change – passed after the High Court ruled the policy illegal – means ACC claimants, including sexual abuse survivors, state abuse survivors and those with birth injuries, will incur debts for supplementary supports they sought while waiting on an outcome with the Accident Compensation Corporation.

Advocates have already launched a petition to change the legislation to “ensure equity, fairness and also remove the retrospective elements inserted by the Amendment Bill.”

The legislation passed yesterday afternoon with support from National, ACT and New Zealand First.

Labour – which withdrew its support for the bill after Select Committee stage, voted against it with the Greens, Te Pāti Māori and independent MPs Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Tākuta Ferris.

Third reading

Minister for Social Development Louise Upston wasn’t there for the final reading of the legislation.

Standing in her place, National’s James Meager told the House the High Court ruling meant those who received backdated ACC payments were better off than those who received the same payments at the time they requested it.

“These decisions highlight inconsistencies between legislation and long-standing policy but they do not reflect the principles of a targeted welfare system that provides assistance based on need.

“They also create inequities across ACC recipients in the welfare system.”

Labour’s Willie Jackson – who had called for changes such as a carve out for state abuse survivors – said the Minister had made a “real attempt” to find bipartisan buy-in for the bill but parties could not find a way through.

“It’s with disappointment we were unable to find a way through…we had a couple of meetings with the Minister, we put up some options in terms of where we should go, particularly with some of the people who were being hurt by this bill.

“She was particularly sympathetic to some of the examples that we were given but it seems that her officials find it all just too impossible, I’m not sure why they find it so impossible sometimes to actually worth things through, given these were officials who have worked with both National and Labour governments through the years.

The Greens’ Ricardo Menéndez March said the bill was a joke.

“How can this be a bill about fairness and equity when it entrenches a practice that puts some of our most injured and traumatised people in large debts?

“This government may be making it legal but it does not make it right.”

ACT’s Parmjeet Parmar said it was good the bill was being rushed through.

“It’s a very important issue. We have to. Otherwise we will not be doing justice to those who are going to be affected.”

New Zealand First’s David Wilson said the bill was not easy but his party supported MSD having discretion “to look at these cases”.

“It would be fair to say that our party has wrestled with some of the issues here, quite a lot.”

“We want to ensure that any complainants to ACC are not unfairly disadvantaged.”

Te Pāti Māori’s Orrini Kaipara said the bill would deepen hardship for survivors of sexual abuse, state abuse and those who suffer most.

“It represents a profound breach of justice, fairness and the Crown’s obligations to protect the wellbeing of whānau under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.”

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

A human rights organisation is backing calls for the government to set up an independent regulator for online safety.

A parliamentary select committee on Thursday released its report following an inquiry into social media harm for young people.

Among its recommendations to the government and the private sector was a ban on social media for under-16s, the creation of a national regulator to ensure platforms were safe, and regulating deepfake technology.

Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand’s Lisa Woods said it was vital there was a watchdog in place.

“It’s really important that we’ve got a regulator that is continually monitoring what’s happening, continually monitoring ‘do we have the right laws in place? Are they effective, or do they need to be changed’.”

Woods said it was critical any regulator would need to be able to impose penalties against social media companies for it to be effective.

The New Zealand government had explored options of a social media ban after Australia implemented one, with National keen to progress with one before the end of this term.

Woods said Amnesty International New Zealand opposed a social media ban for under-16-year-olds, because it did not address the root causes of harm.

“Platforms are being designed to promote content that drives engagement, regardless of harmful effects, so just removing someone from social media, is not taking care of platform design.”

Woods said banning social media for young people placed the burden of safety on young people and parents while allowing platforms to continue their business models.

National’s committee lead on the inquiry Carl Bates said the committee’s report was a step towards “ïmportant, timely action”, and that lead Minister Erica Stanford would now consider the recommendations.

He said the report made clear the harm young New Zealanders were facing from online platforms was “significant”, “fast-moving” and occurring on a global scale.

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

Senior government minister Louise Upston says she did not see anything on a visit to Gloriavale that caused concern about children’s safety at the West Coast Christian community.

The Social Development Minister visited Gloriavale on 30 January where she met Overseeing Shepherd Stephen Standfast, senior leaders and other Gloriavale members.

Photos of the visit seen by RNZ show Upston speaking to parents, holding a baby, visiting a family home and touring the school art room.

Former Gloriavale member Virginia Courage has criticised the visit, saying the minister would not have seen the reality of life at the sect and should meet leavers rather than community leaders.

On Thursday Upston said the visit was important because she was responsible for an Abuse in Care Royal Commission recommendation the government take all practicable steps to ensure the ongoing safety of children, young people and adults at Gloriavale.

“I thought it was really important for me to be able to meet the key leaders, to be able to see for myself, and to ensure that I was well-informed,” she said.

Asked if she thought Gloriavale children were safe, Upston said “there was nothing that I saw that led me to think they weren’t”.

“What we’re working on is a community plan. I have to give them the benefit of the doubt and I am at this stage confident that they are engaged in the process, that they are working with the government agencies on the ground, that they’re working on an outcomes plan. That is very much anchored around the safety and care of children,” she said.

Government agencies were at Gloriavale working with the community on a regular basis, Upston said.

“Clearly there have been issues in the past. We are focussed now on the safety of children. There was nothing that I saw that led me to be concerned about it but regular contact with agencies on the ground will continue to happen and, because we are now looking at it as a group of agencies collectively, if there was anything that happened we would get to see it and know about it quickly,” she said.

Upston said she met a large group of Gloriavale leaders and attended a community gathering with a question-and-answer session.

“Then I did a walk-around like I usually do, I just wander off and go and talk to whoever I want to talk to and that’s exactly what I did,” she said.

Gloriavale’s leaders were concerned about education and schooling but Upston told them decisions about Gloriavale Christian School were a matter for the Secretary for Education.

The minister was unable to meet leavers in Wellington on a previous occasion but said she was happy to do so in future.

“I’ve said I’m happy to and the ball is in their court so when they’re back in Wellington, happy to catch up,” she said.

Upston was accompanied by National’s West Coast-Tasman MP Maureen Pugh, Ministry of Education deputy secretary Geoff Short and Regional Public Service Commissioner Craig Churchill.

Pugh said she had nothing further to add to the minister’s comments, except to say that she was there as the electorate MP to support Upston’s visit.

RNZ has approached Short and Churchill for comment.

Courage earlier told RNZ the minister should not have gone to Gloriavale.

“What she’s seeing is not reality, it’s crafted, it’s practised. Them going there and not being informed, not knowing what they’re dealing with, not having talked to leavers, not having gotten facts about the level of harm, really all you’re doing is giving Gloriavale air-time,” she said.

Upston would have met members hand-picked by Gloriavale’s leadership, Courage said.

“I’m highly, highly suspicious that this was just a PR event to make it look like they care. ‘We’ve been there and visited’ – and you didn’t see any abuse that day so it’s all okay? Of course you didn’t see any abuse, you were talking to the people who do the abusing,” she said.

“It actually upsets me to think that she went there and talked to the leadership. It’s the leadership who are responsible for the teachings that this community is suppressed and dominated by.”

Countless visits from police, politicians and government departments had failed to expose wrong-doing at Gloriavale, Courage said.

“None of them figured out what was going on, it had to be from ex-members going to court and proving it in court without a shadow of doubt the level of abuse, neglect, coercion, manipulation, deception even. You cannot go and visit Gloriavale and know what it’s about. You do not see the real thing,” she said.

The High Court quashed Temple’s jail sentence on Tuesday following an appeal. The 85-year-old will instead serve 11 months’ home detention at a property in Greymouth.

A Gloriavale spokesperson said the minister came to see the community first-hand and meet a cross-section of members including the school board, mothers, managers and leaders.

It was a short visit including a brief inspection of the school, main building and accommodation, and a meeting with a homeschooling family, the spokesperson said.

The minister and senior leaders discussed “concerns about the registration of the school, success of our policies regarding abuse and continuing plans to support leavers”, they said.

Standfast took on the role of Overseeing Shepherd last December following the resignation of Howard Temple, who was sentenced to two years and two months’ jail for indecently assaulting young women and girls over 20 years.

The High Court quashed Temple’s jail sentence on Tuesday following an appeal. The 85-year-old will instead serve 11 months’ home detention at a property in Greymouth.

Last December the Ministry of Education announced it was cancelling Gloriavale Christian School’s registration because of safety concerns but the private school remains open pending a High Court judicial review.

Gloriavale founder Hopeful Christian – formerly known as Neville Cooper – was sentenced to five years in prison in December 1995 on three charges of indecent assault.

The Abuse in Care inquiry found the Overseeing Shepherd and senior leaders at fault for allowing physical and sexual abuse at the community, failing to prevent abuse and protect survivors and inappropriately handling perpetrators, allowing them to remain in the community and continue their abuse.

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

Broadcasting minister Paul Goldsmith says he “may have grunted” at TVNZ’s board chair after Andrew Barclay raised a crime story with him.

Goldsmith was quizzed about the exchange for an unusually long 12 minutes by Labour’s Reuben Davidson in Question Time on Thursday afternoon.

The minister confirmed the pair discussed TVNZ’s financials – due out on Friday – and board appointments in the 1 March phone call.

Barclay raised a TVNZ law and order story – that the government had been critical of – “in the context of the board’s interest in improving trust in TVNZ”, he said.

“I didn’t engage further in the discussion on that matter.”

A few days after the phone call, he had spoken at aTVNZ-hosted event celebrating the 60th anniversary of Country Calendar, Goldsmith said.

“(I) spoke with three board members and the chief executive. To the best of my knowledge, TVNZ news coverage did not come up in those conversations. The primary point of discussion was the history of Country Calendar.”

It was at this point that National minister Judith Collins interjected: “Best thing on TV!”

Goldsmith continued, “Yesterday I spoke to the chair informing him that I had been questioned about our phone call on the way out of the House as a courtesy.”

“I rang him again at 6.30pm yesterday evening, after the coverage over the afternoon to check on his welfare, as he is a new chair.”

“I may possibly have grunted” – Goldsmith

As the supplementary questions wore on, Goldsmith was asked what he had said after Barclay raised the crime story with him.

“I didn’t engage further in the discussion on that matter, I may possibly have grunted but I’m not sure.”

Asked if it was appropriate for a minister to complain about TVNZ’s news coverage in public, referring to Minister of Police Mark Mitchell’s Facebook post, Goldsmith said it was par for the course.

“I’m afraid that does happen from time to time and it seems to me it’s quite possible that the previous Labour government ministers may have done that from time to time as well.

“I’ve often made the observation that a politician complaining about the media is like a farmer complaining about the weather. You may be right, but it makes no difference, and so you’ve got to figure out how to succeed in any respect.”

Government MPs had been laughing throughout Goldsmith’s answers but burst into applause after this.

The laughing continued when Davidson asked Goldsmith what he had done about other government ministers complaining about news coverage at TVNZ.

“Well, my concern is that I might find that I have no time left to do anything else if I was bothering myself [with that]. It is unfortunately something that happens from time to time, whether or not that’s fair or not is inappropriate.

“What I am clear about is the legislative requirement that no minister, including myself, should seek to direct TVNZ in relation to their coverage of news items, and we certainly haven’t done that.”

More details about the phone call

Taking questions from reporters before Question Time, Goldsmith said the phone call with Barclay had been “impromptu”.

“He sent me a text saying, can we have a chat? I called him back. I don’t think he answered, and he called me back. That was all.”

Goldsmith said it was not unusual for him to chat to board chairs over the weekend and TVNZ’s crime coverage had not been the impetus of the call.

“No. We were talking about a couple of things, talking about the financials of the company, the board appointments, I’ve got letters of expectations. There’s a range of issues that we covered.”

Goldsmith said his comments about the story had been appropriate.

“The broadcasting law is clear that no minister can give media instructions about political coverage or anything like that.

“All I was doing was saying I thought your story was bad, and this is why.”

“I don’t actually do it very often but occasionally I do it and I felt like doing it on this occasion.”

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 spy agency did not believe the US far-right group Proud Boys met the threshold to be designated a terrorist entity in 2022, but went along with it anyway.

This has come out at a briefing of MPs by the Security Intelligence Service (SIS) at a select committee on Wednesday.

SIS Director-General Andrew Hampton said they were also okay about the Proud Boys being removed from the terrorist list last year.

“We didn’t think they actually met the threshold” in 2022, he said.

Dropping them from the list in 2025 meant they ended up in a position that was “probably closer to our original advice” in 2022.

The Combined Threat Assessment group (CTAG), hosted by SIS, did not support putting it on the list back then, but the general view was to do it, and he was part of endorsing that.

“I know I’m sounding a little ambivalent here, but we didn’t necessarily think it was a strongly supported decision first time.”

When it came around in 2025, “we didn’t have a strong view either”, he said.

In 2022, Proud Boys were described as an ideologically fascist group that violently targeted minority groups. Its supporters took part in storming the US Capitol in 2020, and several had their sentences for that commuted by US President Donald Trump last year.

In 2025, the group was removed from the terrorist list here, even though the National Security Board, which includes the SIS, unanimously recommended its designation be renewed.

The board chair then laid out the reasons arguing otherwise, and Hampton said he was happy with those.

“The reality is it’s not making much difference to the New Zealand threat environment because they aren’t subjects for our investigation,” he told the select committee.

Labour MP Priyanca Radhakrishnan asked if the SIS would have endorsed removing it, despite the police saying they were a crypto-fascist group with participation in New Zealand.

The police had compiled a 29-page report of the case for putting it on the list. Under “Proud Boys in other countries”, the report mentioned Canada and Australia but not New Zealand.

Hampton said they had ended up closer to CTAG’s original advice in 2022.

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

A New Zealand family living in Kuwait is anxiously waiting to hear whether they will be able to return home, after the Defence Force confirmed it would deploy planes to the Middle East.

As part of contingency preparations, consular staff and two C-130J aircraft will be sent to the Middle East in preparation for evacuation operations.

The Foreign Affairs minister, Winston Peters, has said the planes will take people “out of nearby danger” to less dangerous places, where they can make arrangements to come home.

Sinsemillia Magele moved to Kuwait with her husband Sage and their two children Koulton and Malia-Lavalea in May 2021.

Sinsemillia and Sage work as teachers. The children’s aunt, Pauline Toleafoa, is also with them, having moved in 2020.

But now the family was looking to return home.

“It’s like Covid 2.0, with missiles and sirens. We just need to keep that routine going, and find ways to be calm, but also not ignore the situation that’s going on,” she said.

“We’re just trying to keep normality as much as we can, stay in routine, try not to run to the window every time we hear bangs and sirens.”

RNZ spoke to Magele on Thursday morning New Zealand time, or shortly after midnight in Kuwait.

The hour of the phone call was not a bother. It is when the sirens go off, and the missiles fly over. The family was wide awake.

“We can see it from our apartment building. The missiles come over us from Iran, and then they’re intercepted pretty much above our building. So we feel the shakes, the windows are moving, the booms are loud, and then you have the sirens going on in the background,” she said.

“So it is scarily becoming a little bit normal. This morning, when the sirens started going off, I was like ‘be quiet, just let us sleep for a little bit longer.’ And obviously that must be a tactic as well, just to keep us wide awake, I guess.”

The children were becoming increasingly nervous and wanting to return home.

“They are struggling. They don’t know how to help, and they can’t really help. They want to get us out of here, but I think the whole explaining to them the airspaces are closed, like we can’t go anywhere, we can’t, and it’s not safe to travel,” she said.

“We can’t move, it’s not safe. So they just can’t comprehend in their minds, they’re like ‘get out.’ But the reality when you’re over here, like we can’t, and it’s not like the movies. They’re not going to send in a helicopter to land in front of our building, take us home, like it’s just the reality of being here.”

Kuwait’s health ministry has confirmed an 11-year-old girl was killed by falling debris.

Magele said the girl was from a sister school.

Keeping a routine has been paramount, especially for the children.

The parents make sure they are logged on to school in the morning, lunch, daily workouts or throwing around the rugby ball, mid-afternoon naps, and are in constant contact with family back home.

“Most of our energy at the moment is making sure that they’re OK, because this is a whole other world to them. Us moving here in the first place was crazy to them, so a lot of our time and energy goes into reassuring them that we’re OK.”

Prayer and scripture have also been important, particularly from Pauline.

“She’s always making sure that scriptures are getting through to us, and her family back home are fasting and praying daily for us. So that gives us definitely a big sense of comfort.”

Like other Gulf states, Kuwait has a large expatriate population. Magele said the community was “spiralling,” and the family was trying to shield themselves from that.

“We’re New Zealanders, we’re Māori, we’re Samoan. We’re also there for our community because they’ve helped us through everything here,” she said.

The government is yet to confirm where the two planes will be deployed, although Defence Minister Judith Collins said the location would be selected “taking safety and other practical factors” into account.

Operational security has meant there would be limits on exactly how public the information will be made, in regards to when and where the planes would be deployed.

Magele said some tourist companies in Kuwait were “making a lot of money off this” by taking buses of people into Saudi Arabia, but she saw that as too much of a risk, especially if they still could not get a flight out.

The largest share of New Zealanders registered on SafeTravel are in the United Arab Emirates, which Magele said was either a 12 hour drive, or an hour-and-a-half long flight, although again there were no flights at the moment.

“If evacuation support becomes available, we would absolutely want to return home. Without a doubt.”

Kuwait has been good to them.

The children, now 13 and 10, have grown up as “global citizens” and the country has provided them many opportunities.

But a recent shake had put things into perspective.

“You know what? There was, the other morning, it was about 6:20am, and there was just a huge bang. And I jumped up and said ‘this is not the normal life I wanted for my children. This is not normal. This is not what I want for them, not coming from New Zealand, Aotearoa, not coming from Samoa. We don’t want this for our kids.”

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