Pakuranga pharmacist Vicky Chan says government funding has not kept pace with other costs and she has to work harder to keep her business viable by offering extra government-funded services such as sleep clinics. Sharon Brettkelly
In less than 10 years, nearly 100 Chemist Warehouses and Bargain Chemists have opened across the country – so where does that leave local pharmacies?
New 12-month prescription rules came into force this weekend, saving time and cutting GP visits for patients – but community pharmacists warn they are the latest in a raft of changes in a sector that is struggling to survive.
The rules mean that people with long-term, stable conditions can now get prescriptions of up to a year from their prescriber, which the government says could save up to $105 in GP fees annually.
Pakuranga pharmacist Vicky Chan says the change has no financial impact on her business but it adds to the hours of unseen, unpaid work she and other community pharmacists do.
“There will be more clinical responsibilities to make sure their health circumstances haven’t changed and that’s almost on us, the community pharmacist,” she says.
Chan, a member of the Independent Community Pharmacy Group, says government funding has not kept pace with other costs and she has to work harder to keep her business viable by offering extra government-funded services such as sleep clinics.
She is looking at buying a $100,000 pill-counting robot for her Auckland pharmacy but she worries that her business may not be able to support the investment in the future, given the threat of increased competition from discount pharmacy chains.
“In east Auckland we have seen another local pharmacy closed three months ago and there will be another closing at the end of the month. If you look at the numbers of pharmacy closures, I think we’re almost 100 community pharmacies down from 2020.
“There are a lot of workforce pressures, smaller operators are finding it harder to recruit and retain, there’s the burnout after the covid response, we did see a lot of people leave the profession.
“The funding hasn’t been recalibrated in a way that fits the model now.”
Chan says she spends a lot of time on tasks that make no money because she wants to do the best for her customers, some of whom are third generation.
A study by University of Otago in 2021 found that unfunded customer services comprise a significant share – between 15 and 50 percent – of a pharmacist’s daily activities, requiring cross-subsidisation using revenue from other activities like dispensing or retail sales.
“I think a lot of work we do is invisible, that has helped reduce pressures on the GP, but also reduced ED (emergency department) admissions because we were able to pick those things up early, because we have that relationship with our patients,” Chan says.
Wainuiomata pharmacist Clive Cannons says people can come in to ask for a free diagnosis on an ailment or treatment, but there is nothing to stop them going elsewhere to buy the medicine if they think they can get it cheaper online or at a discount pharmacy.
He gets emotional when he talks about the threat to the 1000-odd community pharmacies around the country.
“I’m very worried,” says Cannons, chair of the community pharmacy group.
“We’ve lost our local GPs, we’ve lost those things that hold communities together and the last bastion is the local pharmacy.”
He admits that not all local pharmacies offer a top quality service and the sector needs to help itself to adjust to the growing competition from Chemist Warehouse and Bargain Chemist.
“However, there is a need for that high-service model where the owner knows their community,” he says.
Cannons’ group is calling for country-wide consistency in the way Health NZ grants contracts under the National Pharmacy Agreement.
In his Hutt Valley region he says new pharmacies can only get an agreement if the local funders consider there is a need. In other regions agreements are more accessible but that leads to oversupply.
He calls Pukekohe, on the southern edge of Auckland, “ground zero”. With a population of around 28,000, it has 13 pharmacies clustered in a high-volume area. Other parts of Auckland are also oversupplied, and many community pharmacies are struggling to break even.
Cannons’ group is also fighting industry deregulation proposals that would open up the pharmacies to non-pharmacists by removing the Effective Control Principles. Under those rules, pharmacies have to be more than 50 percent owned by pharmacists.
The associate health minister Casey Costello says deregulation will enable different models for pharmacy ownership, “allowing for more innovative and integrated healthcare that will improve safe access to medicines”.
A supporter of deregulation, Dr Eric Crampton of the think tank NZ Initiative, wrote last year that the existing ownership rules protect pharmacies, calling it an “odd little regulatory cartel”.
He cited a Ministry of Health report that it has not seen any clear evidence that the ownership restrictions contribute to patient safety or service quality.
Cannons disagrees.
“The questions is, what do the people of New Zealand want? What sort of pharmacy industry does the man on the street want. If they want us to go like America then that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”
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Shane Jones, pictured in 2024, “does not want New Zealand to join the Declaration,” a Ministry for Foreign Affairs official informed his colleagues.RNZ / Tess Brunton
Resources Minister Shane Jones shut down the possibility of New Zealand signing up to a ‘road map’ away from fossil fuels at the annual global climate summit, documents reveal.
Opposition MPs say the documents underscore the disproportionate influence that National’s minor coalition partners wield over government policy.
But Climate Change Minister Simon Watts said it was “appropriate” to consult Jones because of his portfolios.
They were unsuccessful, but Australia and several Pacific nations were among 24 nations that signed the Belém Declaration on the Transition away from Fossil Fuels on the final day of the summit.
Documents released to RNZ under the Official Information Act show New Zealand’s negotiating team was also considering signing the declaration – before officials back in New Zealand informed them that Jones did not want them to.
Earlier, a copy of a ‘decision submission’ was sent to New Zealand’s climate ambassador Stuart Horne to share with Climate Change Minister Simon Watts, who was at COP30 with Horne and the rest of the negotiating team.
In the submission, senior foreign affairs officials said the declaration “does not conflict or compromise New Zealand policy settings”.
“It is consistent with the COP28 outcome regarding the transition away from fossil fuels which Parties, including New Zealand, agreed to.”
An assessment against government priorities found that signing up to the declaration would have a neutral or even positive effect.
While drafting the submission, officials noted there was “an open question about engaging Minister Jones for concurrence, consultation, or information”.
The final submission was sent to Jones for consultation.
It was also sent to Trade Minister Todd McClay, but for information only – his input was not sought.
An email sent the next day said Jones had been consulted.
“Minister Jones does not want New Zealand to join the Declaration,” a Ministry for Foreign Affairs official informed his colleagues.
“We have shared this information with the team supporting Minister Watts in Belem.”
That was the last email in the chain released to RNZ.
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts led New Zealand’s delegation to COP30.RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Green Party MP Francisco Hernandez, who attended COP30, said the government’s agenda “seems to be driven so much by the need to appease New Zealand First”.
“Why are they even talking to Shane Jones? He doesn’t have a climate portfolio – why does it require sign-off from him?”
National was giving its junior coalition partner too much power, Hernandez said.
“It’s for consultation, but it does very much read like they’ve effectively taken what Jones has said and used it as an indication of a veto.”
Hernandez got the impression while he was at COP30 that the New Zealand delegation had been “very much on the fence” about signing up to the declaration.
“It seemed to be a finely balanced thing and I feel like [Jones’ view] ended up being a decisive factor.”
In a written statement, Simon Watts said it was “appropriate” to consult Jones because of his resources and associate energy portfolios.
Watts did not directly reply to a question about his own stance on the declaration.
“New Zealand did not join the declaration at COP30 but as I have previously signalled, the Government continues to support the COP28 agreement to transition away from fossil fuels,” he said.
“We’re contributing to that, for example, through our work to double renewable energy.”
Labour Party climate spokesperson Deborah Russell, who attended COP30 alongside Watts, said there was “no reason” not to sign the declaration.
“It’s consistent with what we signed up to at COP28 and all it did was ask for a road map for getting out of fossil fuels – what’s the problem with that?”
It was fine for officials to consult Jones, she said.
“The problem is that the reason we didn’t sign it, seemingly against officials’ advice, was because Shane Jones said he didn’t agree to it.”
Labour’s Deborah Russell says New Zealand should have signed the declaration.RNZ / REECE BAKER
Russell said it was clear that government inaction on climate change was coming from the minor coalition parties.
“Shane Jones has been very pro the extraction of fossil fuels. [So] this is unsurprising given his position on that; it’s nevertheless very disappointing.”
Jones told RNZ that “lofty agreements” like the declaration were “conceived in milk-fed politics that are vastly different from my earthy, pragmatic approach”.
“I don’t see a future for New Zealand if we deny ourselves access to fossil fuels,” he said.
The country’s current energy system had to be shored up – including with imported and domestic coal – while geothermal energy and potentially more hydroelectricity was opened up, he said.
“New Zealand has a plan, however, it’s going to take a lot longer than most activists believe.”
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As families rush to get children ready for the new school year, uniforms remain a major financial pressure, with tens of thousands of families needing hardship payments to cover back-to-school costs.
Last year, more than 38,000 hardship payments were granted to help with school expenses, totalling over $11 million. Thousands of Facebook users are also turning to online groups for second-hand sales to kit out their children.
Otago University public health researcher Johanna Reidy says cost is a major concern for families, based on her feasibility study of three Wellington co-ed high schools across the equity index.
Dr Johanna Reidy says school boards need to ensure there’s a competitive market and an adequate choice within the uniform offering.
Supplied
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The Black Cat Cruises boat remains inside the marine reserve, after it got into trouble on Saturday afternoon – with more than 40 people requiring rescue.
Environment Canterbury (ECAN) said the boat sustained “more significant damage” than anticipated and it was likely that the “full amount of marine diesel fuel” on board was released into the water.
It earlier said the boat was carrying 2240 litres of marine diesel fuel and around 120 litres of other oils in sealed containers and engines combined.
In a statement on Sunday, it said the environment was coping well with the fuel, with oil sheens decreasing over the course of the day.
“Wildlife specialists are on standby, and precautions are in place to mitigate any potential impacts to the surrounding environment. No wildlife in distress have been observed at this time.”
The agency said a recovery plan that minimised further environmental risk was underway in collaboration with iwi, the Department of Conservation, a salvage team and Black Cat Cruises.
It said the first phase of the recovery would see the boat fully submerged in deeper water to prevent further damage.
The second phase to lift the boat out of the water would depend on the weather and safety requirements, it said.
ECAN said the operation would begin in the next 24 hours, with phase one expected to be completed on Monday.
ECAN regional on-scene commander Emma Parr said the recovery operation was complex.
“We appreciate the support of all agencies and the local community as we work through the safest approach.”
Concerns
A conservation group said authorities were not doing enough to protect Hector’s dolphins in Akaroa Harbour.
Maui and Hector’s Dolphin Defenders said tourism pressure in Akaroa Harbour was relentless and oversight hadn’t kept pace.
Its chair Christine Rose said the grounding was a symptom of New Zealand’s commodification of nature for tourist dollars.
Councillor Tyrone Fields said it was the second time a boat had grounded in a sensitive area in three years.
He said he was deeply concerned about the impact the grounding had had on the environment.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission said it would be on the ground in Akaroa to investigate the grounding of the ferry.
Black Cat Cruises has been approached for comment.
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At one point there were 40 bikers, police say.RNZ / Dom Thomas
A group of dirt bikers in South Auckland have put lives at risk after driving into oncoming traffic, over footpaths and across fields where children were playing, say police.
A number of emergency calls were made at about 3:45pm.
Police said the Eagle helicopter and dozens of staff were diverted to try and split the group up, while police also worked with local petrol stations in case the group attempted to refuel.
At one point, there were 40 bikers, police said.
Tāmaki Makaurau Duty Operations Manager Inspector Kerry Watson said police were asking for the public’s help before someone was killed.
“We’re asking for assistance from the public so we can locate these riders as soon as possible before they kill someone or themselves.
“There are no other words – it was horrifying behaviour, and to see riders speeding across sport fields where young kids are playing… you feel ill, because if something goes wrong, someone is going to be maimed or dead.
“We are combing through CCTV footage, frame by frame, to identify those who were involved in this display of stupidity, and when we find out who they are, we’re going to have words.”
She asked anyone with dashcam or CCTV imagery that may assist to get in touch.
A 25-year-old Ōtara man faces serious charges of reckless driving and aggravated failing to stop.
Inspector Watson said the 25-year-old’s bike had been impounded, and anyone involved would also lose their bikes once caught.
“Losing your bike isn’t the worst outcome when you consider that eventually someone is going to die riding like this, or they’re going to kill an innocent person.”
Anyone with information is asked to make a report at 105.police.govt.nz or by calling 105.
Please use the reference number P065318019.
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The appalling behaviour of dirt bikers in South Auckland today risked the lives of children and motorists, and Police are urging the public to help before someone is killed.
A 25-year-old Ōtara man faces serious charges of reckless driving, and aggravated failing to stop, but Police are now appealing to the public for help to locate others involved.
Tāmaki Makaurau Duty Operations Manager Inspector Kerry Watson said a number of 111 calls began coming in about 3.45pm – complaints of riders pulling wheelies, covering the road and driving into oncoming traffic and over footpaths in Ōtara.
“This continued to Bastion Point near Tamaki Drive, as the number of bikers number grew to 40. Those involved were seen driving at motorway speeds across playing fields.
“We’re asking for assistance from the public so we can locate these riders as soon as possible before they kill someone, or themselves.
“There are no other words – it was horrifying behaviour, and to see riders speeding across sport fields where young kids are playing… you feel ill, because if something goes wrong, someone is going to be maimed or dead.
Members of the public have told police previously that they fear injury to their kids playing on fields when these bikers appear.
Dozens of staff, and the Eagle helicopter, were diverted to try to split the group up, while Police also worked with local petrol stations in case the group attempted to refuel. It wasn’t until 5.45pm that the riders disappeared.
“We are combing through CCTV footage, frame by frame to identify those who were involved in this display of stupidity and when we find out who they are, we’re going to have words.
“To anyone who has dashcam or CCTV imagery that may assist us with that, please tell us so we can act before someone gets hurt or killed.”
Inspector Watson said the 25-year-old’s bike had been impounded, and anyone involved will also lose their bikes once caught.
“Losing your bike isn’t the worst outcome when you consider that eventually someone is going to die riding like this, or they’re going to kill an innocent person.”
Anyone with information is asked to make a report at 105.police.govt.nz, clicking “Update Report”, or by calling 105. Please use the reference number P065318019.
Alternatively, information can be shared anonymously through CrimeStoppers, by calling 0800 555 111.
Bay of Plenty Times stark front page lists the names of six victims from Beachlands holiday park.Bay of Plenty Times
“I can look at our protectors – our maunga – around us and there’s huge slips gashing them,” Civil Defence incident management leader Trudy Nawhare told RNZ’s Checkpoint last Monday.
“One of our whanau described it as just like a movie – or something you might see on the TV.”
She was describing the damage in Te Araroa on the East Cape. At the height of the danger, Newstalk ZB reported Civil Defence officials there telling whanau to tie their tamariki to themselves and wait for rescue from floodwaters.
The disaster-movie scenes Nawhare described also played out on TV news – from Northland, Coromandel, elsewhere in Tairawhiti and the Bay of Plenty – but in Mount Maunganui, it wasn’t just the scars of storm damage on the hillsides.
The catastrophic slip from Mauao onto Beachside Holiday Park killed six campers and became the focus of the media coverage for days.
Eyewitness Alistair McHardy gave TVNZ News chilling phone footage of a slip he filmed in the early hours of the morning. He also gave a chilling account of his own helplessness when disaster struck after 9am.
The Heraldvividly described how Morrinsville teacher Lisa Maclennan also raised the alarm and saved lives – but didn’t live to tell the media about it herself.
Images of the giant slip from overhead were heavily used by the media, but perhaps the starkest image this past week was the Bay of Plenty Times front page on Monday.
It bore the names of Maclennan and five other victims on a stark black background, and a statement from Ngati Ranginui: “Those who have passed now become part of the sacred fabric of our Maunga. Their wairua will rest forever, beneath the mantle of Mauao, protected and embraced for all time.”
Pointing the finger
Along with neighbouring Ngāti Rangi and Ngāti Pūkenga, Ngāti Ranginui administers the maunga through the Mauao Trust. The prime minister thanked them all for their support of people who were displaced and traumatised – and for their help with the recovery, but on social media, the iwi were accused of contributing to the catastrophe.
Online posts that claimed the removal of non-native trees for protection of culturally significant sites contributed to the landslide were widely shared.
“It was a day of disappointment, as the prime minister had to shut down what he called racist misinformation over the role of iwi in the landslide,” said ThreeNews on Monday.
“I’m aware there’s a lot of misinformation and stuff going on out there,” Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told reporters. “The people on the margins with their rhetoric – they just need to frankly keep it to themselves.”
He didn’t name names, but Cameron ‘Whale Oil’ Slater said on X that the landslides “may have been the result of co-governance of the Mount”. He alleged Māori had demanded removal of large non-native trees recently at the main slip site.
Alternative news sites online also aired claims that the deadly landslide was avoidable, and may have been sparked by the removal of stabilising trees and at the iwi’s request.
Several cited the analysis of retired civil engineer Rod Kane, who claimed to have 20 years of experience in slope stability and remediation.
“It’s now fairly evident that the Tauranga council, at the insistence of iwi in using ratepayers money, removed big trees in the area of the slip simply because they were colonial,” Kane said in his own online post. “This is where superstition, stupidity and cultural arrogance hits the brick wall.”
He went on to warn of what he called “fake tribalists” and “12th century spiritual nonsense”, encouraged by what he called “stupid governments and councils and the media”.
Clearly, it wasn’t just geotechnical evidence informing Kane’s conclusion. In a rambling interview with Counterspin Media, Kane and the host claimed the removal of “naughty racist trees” contributed to the slip – and aired concerns about inept politicians, the RMA, “uncontrolled immigration” and Te Pāti Māori “pushing for civil war”.
“Colonial trees were removed at the insistence of the owners, the local iwi, not because of science, but because they were colonial trees – despite basic geotech reality, because symbolism mattered more than stability.”
“Six people… died because human decisions altered the land in 2017,” Garner told his listeners.
Removing trees could contribute to instability, he said, but also tree roots may not be deep enough to control a deep, fast-moving slip like that one. Extreme weather and soil conditions were the big factors, he said.
So did Professor Ewan Mason from the University of Canterbury, who told Stuff the removal of trees in 2022 and 2023 would not be the sole reason for the tragedy.
“The surface of it is riddled by past landslides, which have occurred some recently in the last couple of decades, but also some long before European settlement,” University of Auckland professor of Applied Geology Martin Brook also told the Herald Now show.
Martin Brook followed that up with an article widely republished in our media this week, in which he said that the campsite itself was built on deposits from previous slips long ago.
Mauao may have been a disaster waiting to be triggered by extreme weather, but not solely for the reasons that some non-experts claimed online.
News you can trust
Once the emergency subsides, politicians might ponder the benefit of people getting information from accountable news outlets – rather than scattergun blurts on social media, where there’s no real recourse at all for falsehoods and bad-faith opinions.
Co-incidentally, last Wednesday, ACT MP Laura McClure lodged a Member’s Bill to scrap the state-backed agency upholding standards in broadcasting, the Broadcasting Standards Authority.
“In a free country, the ultimate broadcasting standard is the judgment of the audience,” the ACT party said in its announcement of McClure’s move, which would mean broadcasters couldn’t be held to account at all.
“How do you make sure that people have some kind of news that they can loosely trust?” Newstalk ZB’s Ryan Bridge asked her.
“When something big happens, you go to a trusted source. Do you not need some regulation for that?”
“Given the fact that people are consuming media in all kinds of different places, it really is unfair for mainstream media to have to adhere to paying levies,” McClure replied. Broadcasters pay a modest $500 for each $1m in revenue annually for BSA levies.
“I do think it is important for people to have oversight and trust and accountability, and I think that we’ve got enough there.”
She didn’t mention that broadcasters themselves drew up the broadcasting standards, alongside the BSA itself, and those standards mirror their own editorial principles and guidelines. Scraping the BSA complaints system would probably mean more complaints ending up in court – a much bigger liability for broadcasters.
If McClure’s Bill is drawn from the ballot, MPs would have to decide if extending the free-for-all of the internet to broadcasting is really in the interests of New Zealanders, who mostly say they do want news they can trust, when asked in opinion surveys.
What happened – and what happens next
After last week’s tragedy, probing journalism revealed that warnings were missed at Mount Maunganui, emergency calls may have been mishandled and opportunities to save lives possibly squandered.
Under the headline [‘Should warnings have been seen?’ https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360936602/mt-maunganui-landslide-should-warnings-have-been-seen] the Weekend Post had six senior journalists on the case.
The Post‘ national affairs editor Andrea Vance concluded there was no system to escalate the response in place and critical information stayed in silos.
Last Tuesday, RNZ’s Phil Pennington revealed that, after a big storm in 2005, geotechnical engineers told Tauranga City Council buildings should not be in “run-out zones” that might be inundated in a slip, unless they had been specially protected.
The prime minister was not alone in his surprise to be told this week that landslides have killed more Kiwis in our history than any other natural hazard.
“I had no idea until this week,” Newstalk ZB host Jack Tame said on air last Monday.
“Just as Pike River was a catalyst for huge health and safety law reforms, the Mount Maunganui disaster is fast shaping up as a watershed moment for property owners and councils, when it comes to liability around the country,” Tame said.
The media will have a role in whether it is a watershed or not.
Learning the lessons and making a plan
Some of Tame’s media peers were not so hopeful.
“I’ve seen this too many times with reports into disasters,” RNZ’s Morning Report host Corin Dann said on the political panel show ‘The Whip’ last Wednesday. “They don’t get acted on properly – or they don’t get implemented or it’s taken too long… and then it drags and it gets lost in bureaucracy.”
ZB host Andrew Dickens earlier echoed that fear.
“We’ve had this before,” he said. “Whether it’s Pike River or Cave Creek or the Wahine, after time has passed, we have a review, but by that stage, the heat has gone out of the argument.
“Maybe you should not just blindly trust your fellow citizens who say, ‘Yeah, sweet, it’s never happened before, so don’t worry about it’.”
Talkback hosts change their tune
Coincidentally, Dickens was saying that on ZB last Monday, on the third anniversary of the Auckland Anniversary Day floods. When Cyclone Gabrielle was bearing down on Hawke’s Bay and Coromandel days later, Dickens pushed back hard at talkback callers claiming the warnings were overblown and unnecessary.
The biggest names on the same radio network were also saying that. Mike Hosking, Kate Hawkesby and Kerre Woodham all condemned school closures and evacuation warnings as fear-driven overreactions.
Three years on, after the catastrophes at Mount Maunganui and Welcome Bay, Hosking was this week earnestly pondering whether this would end up changing where we build and live.
He told listeners it was a bit too soon after the tragedy for that discussion, but Woodham did have that discussion on her ZB talkback show last Tuesday, after telling her listeners the deadly landslide was “horrifying, but not unexpected”.
“In some instances, though, do we just need to acknowledge that we are no match for the power of nature, concede defeat and step away?” she asked.
Several ZB listeners got in touch to say it was too soon to ponder that sort of thing and more said the same of claims that the tragedy had been caused by climate change.
Those making that case included the prime minister.
“I just think, if you’re a doubter of climate change having an impact on extreme weather events, I’d give that up, because there’s no doubt there’s that connection.”
Last weekend’s Otago Daily Times editorial was even more blunt under the headline ‘It’s climate change, stupid’. That was directed at the doubters and deniers, and not the prime minister, but this bit of the editorial was:
“Economy was mentioned 18 times in Christopher Luxon’s State of the Nation speech this week, but climate change? Not once.
“It was a speech about wanting to ensure the best possible future for Kiwis, which completely ignored the most pressing issue the same day.”
The Post editorial the same day was also unequivocal.
“If you ask why this summer’s been wetter than the golden Kiwi summers you remember, the answer is climate change. There’ll be some who say it’s too soon to talk about climate change while the search for bodies is ongoing.
“They’ll say the commentary is politicising the tragedy, but the reality is that rather than too soon – it may be too late.”
Tauranga City Council, which owns Beachside Holiday Park, has commissioned its own review of last week’s disaster and, having seen the damage up close for himself, the prime minister was persuaded to propose a wider one as well.
While arguments fade about ‘the right time’ to talk about those things, the inquiries will be done in the knowledge that what happened at Mount Maunganui and Welcome Bay could happen almost anywhere in the country at almost any time.
Journalists have already identified the issues that need to be tackled.
It showed a pattern of spending heavily after disasters strike, but investing comparatively little upfront to reduce future risk, even though Treasury has highlighted this growing future fiscal liability for the Crown.
“While we still can and perhaps just still be able to afford it, we must act in unity,” The Weekend Herald editorial said.
AA Insurance’s move this week to halt new home insurance policies in Westport because of flood risk was timely.
“If we continue down the same road of reaction, then some communities will face the prospect of being abandoned, if not by its people, then by those holding the purse strings – the insurance companies and government,” the Weekend Herald said.
Biosecurity New Zealand will also invest in new border technology and more detector dogs.Unsplash
The biosecurity part of the Border Processing Levy has dropped by 30 percent.
It has reduced from $16.92 to $12.03 for incoming air passengers.
The Border Processing Levy funds x-ray screening, detector dogs and other protections.
Biosecurity New Zealand had raised it to cover border costs and rebuild operations after Covid-19.
Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says Biosecurity New Zealand has set aside funding for a new digital border programme.RNZ / Mark Papalii
Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard said those costs were now paid off, with air travel recovering faster than expected.
“It’s great to be in a position to ease costs on international travellers and Kiwis coming home, while still keeping our border safe from environmental and economic threats,” he said.
Biosecurity New Zealand will also invest in new border technology and more detector dogs.
Hoggard said it had set aside funding for a new digital border programme that would build on the introduction of the New Zealand Traveller Declaration, as well as deliver smarter passenger processing and new x-ray technology.
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Why ‘Christian’ parties shouldn’t expect different results, unless….
There have been many “Christian” or social-conservative parties since 2002 – including Christian Heritage NZ, United Future, Conservatives (now New Conservatives), Destiny (then Family Party, then Vision NZ, then Freedoms NZ), Leighton Baker Party, Democracy NZ, Kiwi Party, NewZeal, and others.
In 2023, there was quite a lineup of social conservative / Christian parties to choose from – NewZeal, Freedoms NZ, Democracy NZ (Matt King), New Conservatives, & Leighton Baker Party.
1.The harsh reality
Despite the optimism, the significant effort of time and expense, the passion & the utter hard slog, (and prayer!), the results were:
NewZeal 0.56%, Freedoms NZ 0.31%, Democracy NZ 0.24%, New Conservatives 0.15%, Leighton Baker Party 0.08%,
Under 40,000 votes in total.
A total of 1.34% – well short of the 5% cut-off.
Here’s the total vote for Christian parties over the past 8 elections. From the dizzying heights of 2002 when Peter Dunne “turned the worm” in the television debate for United Future, and there was a remnant of support for Christian Heritage Party (8%!) to Dunne losing his way and the vote transferring to the Conservative Party but never going beyond the 4% or thereabouts mark, and in the last three elections, never more than 2%.
Well short of the 5% mark – and no likelihood of a Christian party candidate even getting a sniff at winning an electorate seat.
In the last seven elections, the vote for Christian parties has averaged less than 2.4%.
5% is the pass mark.
Some people won’t like me mentioning these facts. I don’t take great pleasure in mentioning it either.
It’s not pleasant to see, is it, after so much effort and time and resource and energy and sweat and financial investment.
Politics is a brutal sport. I’ve commentated on it for the past 21 years. It has a harsh reality to it.
2. We all agree on many things.
Currently, apart from a handful of MPs, the House of Representatives fails to represent the voice of social conservatives. Parliament has gradually become more and more socially liberal – even amongst the so-called ‘centre-right’ parties.
A Parliament that votes for:
one of the most extreme abortion laws in the world;
an anti-smacking law which criminalises good parents but does nothing to stem the flow of rotten parents killing and abusing their children;
a prostitution law that rewards pimps and brothels but damages vulnerable women through sexual exploitation & violence;
‘same-sex’ marriage which destroys the definition and ignores an institution which protects children and strengthens natural families, and allows same-sex adoption which deliberately denies a child a mother or father;
a ‘conversion therapy’ law which criminalises parents, counsellors, pastors and medical professionals for affirming young people as their biological sex and criminalises the actions of adults who want to deal with unwanted sexuality and gender issues and live according to their own convictions and conscience;
euthanasia which threatens vulnerable people who have a terminal illness, including the disabled, elderly, depressed or anxious, and those who feel themselves to be a burden or who are under financial pressure;
is clearly not doing their job correctly, and needs new & better voices.
Even more telling is a Parliament which unanimously votes to allow gender on a birth certificate to be based on ‘self-identity’ rather than biological fact, proving just how liberal & woke the whole institution has become.
New Zealand desperately needs more social conservative voices in Parliament. We need voices in Parliament who will speak boldly and unapologetically for the unborn child; oppose radical sexuality and gender ideology, divisive critical theory, and climate alarmism targeted at young children; and protect vulnerable young people from sex rejecting procedures which lead to chemicalisation (puberty blockers) & genital mutilation.
We need voices in power who will promote and protect the institution of marriage; who will respect the role of parents rather than attempt to exclude them from important issues such as abortion and gender dysphoria; politicians who will protect the elderly and vulnerable from seeing assisted suicide as a solution.
We need voices who will seek to protect our communities from drug use & normalisation and the ‘Russian roulette’ of the flawed drug testing.
We need voices who will respect freedom of conscience for New Zealanders who oppose euthanasia, abortion, compulsory vaccination and other health-related mandates.
We need voices who will protect freedom – religious freedom, freedom of conscience, and free speech, amongst others – and who oppose ‘hate speech’ laws (which supporters never want to clearly define in advance).
[It is important to note that as a result of the last election, a few existing and new social conservatives were present in some of the political parties that made it into Parliament and we (Family First) developed a working relationship with these MPs where we could support them, provide resources and research, in order to help stiffen their spine against the onslaught that they faced in the Parliamentary environment, and to regularly pray for them. But they are in the minority.]
3. We must turn up to the debate
I believe we should applaud these minor political parties for being willing to get involved & entering the debate.
By being candidates, they are able to be at the political meetings and the meet-the-candidate meetings. They have the opportunity to promote policies which strengthen families and protect communities.
They can be seen and heard at a time when the future political policy direction of the country is being debated.
As I often say – we won’t win every battle, but we’ll definitely lose every battle that we don’t even show up to.
But how do we maximise our message most effectively?
And is it via a political party/s?
Or is it social conservative candidates in existing major parties?
Or is it social conservative lobby groups and think-tanks speaking into the public debate and providing credible research and policy?
As I said earlier, in the last seven elections, the vote for Christian parties has averaged less than 2.4%.
This leads to my key point.
4. Synergy
When I spoke at a major church leaders’ gathering in 2023 (when the last general election was held), I shared the significance of the word “synergy”.
Synergy is the cooperative working together of two or more people or organisations, when their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual efforts.
You don’t need to be a seasoned political analyst to see that three to five parties all seeking to attract the same type of voter is going to fail.
It will simply split the vote.
In 2023, what we saw was five parties all seeking to attract a similar type of voter.
I argued at the time that it was going to fail. It would simply split – or alienate – the vote.
I truly wished I was wrong. But sadly, I was right.
This is the harsh reality of politics.
And any political party will tell you that a lack of unity is a killer. Voters don’t like disunity.
Remember how National was punished in 2020 when they went through three leaders in a very short space of time, and lots of leaks and disunity within the party. Te Pati Maori are facing the same dilemma – and it’s showing in the polls.
In fact, the only times the ‘Christian’ vote has got above or close to the 5% is when social conservative voters united in behind United Future (2002) and then the Conservative Party (2014).
Even worse, the ‘wasted vote’ will be apportioned to parties who do make it to Parliament – the very parties which are failing to represent our voice currently.
That’s not my opinion. That’s the way the system works.
In 2017, 4.4% of votes didn’t count because individual parties either couldn’t win an electorate seat or couldn’t get more than 5% of the total vote. In 2020, 8% of votes didn’t count. In 2023, 5.5% of votes didn’t count.
That’s a fault of the MMP system – whether we like it or not – that these votes are discarded and have no representation in our Parliament.
But – we need to understand and play by the rules.
We actually have no option but to play by the rules.
5. Heading into 2026
As Albert Einstein said,
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
For all these minor parties putting huge effort and resource and energy and financial investment with the desire of adding a conservative voice in Parliament, to even have a remote possibility of breaking the 5% threshold, all these minor parties need to unite – as one party and as one voice.
United, they stand as a possible option.
Possible.
Divided, they will continue to fail and fall well short.
I would challenge all these parties to come together.
Sort the leadership issues. True leadership involves putting aside their own agendas & desires for the greater good. And the greater good is unity, representation & impact.
Especially in the political sphere.
Even then it’s going to be an uphill battle. Building credibility and being seen as a viable option takes time.
Credibility is also easily lost, and even harder to rebuild.
But now is the time to unify.
Otherwise, I’ll be updating the graph to include 2026, and writing a similar McBlog in 2029.
Former Speaker and Labour MP Adrian Rurawhe gives his valedictory speech to MPs in Parliament.VNP / Phil Smith
With the 2026 General Election looming, Parliament has begun the ritual of farewell speeches from MPs choosing not to contest another term.
Known in parliamentary parlance as valedictory statements, the year’s first was delivered this week by former Speaker of the House Adrian Rurawhe – albeit reluctantly.
Although this parliamentary term has already seen six valedictory statements (and nearly twice as many departures), election years tend to bring a cascade of them, as MPs decide to hang their boots up. Rurawhe leaves Parliament with the honorific ‘Right Honourable’, a distinction few MPs can claim – it is now awarded only to prime ministers, speakers, chief justices and governors-general.
Despite that honorific, the former MP for Te Tai Hauāuru does not seek the limelight and did not want a valedictory. He told MPs that, when he informed his Labour caucus colleagues of his retirement, he said he would “leave quietly” and skip the speech altogether.
Former Speaker and Labour MP Adrian Rurawhe gives his valedictory speech to MPs in Parliament.VNP / Phil Smith
“I can tell you, if you want to upset 33 Labour MPs, tell them you’re not doing a valedictory speech… I don’t think I’ve ever upset so many people so quickly.”
Not one to ignore instructions from the leader, even on his way out, Rurawhe said Labour leader Chris Hipkins insisted that he deliver a valedictory speech.
“I will deliver a speech, but I did not write a speech, so whatever comes out of my mouth… and there are plenty of stories I could tell, just [about] the people sitting in this room.”
Rurawhe held the Te Tai Hauāuru seat from 2014-23, when he chose not to stand as an electorate MP again. That decision came from the presumption that, if he retained the role of Speaker, he would not be able to serve the electorate to the extent he felt he should, particularly given its size, diversity and the number of iwi.
“Te Tai Hauāuru is vast – it’s the biggest electorate in the North Island. It’s as big as Taiwan.
“It’s diverse. It has an urban area, Porirua.
“It has provincial cities like Palmerston North, Whanganui, New Plymouth. It has rural towns and a lot of farming areas.
“Within there, there is also a diverse range of iwi that I got to engage with.”
Rurawhe then proceeded to recite the very long list of iwi within Te Tai Hauāuru.
Adrian Rurawhe is installed as Speaker of the House.VNP / Phil Smith
As is probably the case with most MPs who have gone on to presiding roles, Rurawhe never had a stint in the Speaker’s Chair on his bingo card. Nevertheless, that’s where his party felt his composure, amiability and leadership experience could best be utilised.
Speaking on Wednesday evening, he reflected on redefining political success beyond Cabinet.
“Of course, we all want to be Ministers, but not everyone can be and there are valuable roles outside of that as well. If you’re a true team player, you will do whatever is the best for your party.
“I’m not just talking about my party, but it’s probably a good lesson for everyone to learn, because you never actually know where [these roles] might lead to. I certainly didn’t.”
“I pinch myself almost every day and, you know, wonder how this guy from Rātana Pā gets to be the Speaker of this House.”
Calm humility is a fixture of the Rurawhe brand. His long reluctance to engage in politicking earned respect and goodwill across the House, particularly during his time as Speaker. His predecessor and successor, by comparison, have more adversarial histories.
While some departing MPs use their final speech to burn bridges, Rurawhe chose to acknowledge political opponents that he had worked with in his decade or so as an MP.
“I also want to mention the National Party MPs that I got on really well with, actually.
Ian McKelvie – now, I knew Ian before I came into Parliament. He was so easy to work with, and we could have really good discussions and do the best for our respective electorates.
“Louise Upston – I really enjoyed working with Louise. I remember that we co-hosted the South Waikato event – actually, from Tokoroa – down here at Parliament.
“That was an excellent kaupapa to be involved with.
“I worked with Jonathan Young on the Waitara Lands Act and there’s Barbara Kuriger in Taranaki-King Country, who is the Deputy Speaker.”
Former Speaker and Labour MP Adrian Rurawhe hugs National Party minister Louise Upston after his valedictory speechVNP / Phil Smith
Rurawhe went on to name and thank the many people who worked in his parliamentary and electorate offices, along with the parliamentary staff who supported him during his tenure as Speaker.
Rurawhe’s formal final day at Parliament will be Waitangi Day, after which Hamilton-based unionist Georgie Dansey will replace him for the remainder of the sitting year.
Expect to see a steady stream of farewells, as the election nears closer. To date, Celia Wade-Brown (Greens), Paulo Garcia (National), Maureen Pugh (National), and Judith Collins (National) have also already announced 2026 departures.
You can listen to the audio version of this story by clicking the link near the top of the page. Additionally, you can watch the full valedictory speech on Parliament’s website.
RNZ’s The House, with insights into Parliament, legislation and issues, is made with funding from Parliament’s Office of the Clerk.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand