Jacinda Ardern requested to appear for Covid response inquiry
The Royal Commission into the country's Covid-19 response has requested former prime minister Jacinda Ardern to appear for questions. Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins spoke to Melissa Chan-Green.
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RNZ News
11 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Auckland more dependent on cars, less density than its peers, report finds
Traffic on Rimu Rd, Mangere Bridge, as morning commuters try and find a way to get on the motorway. Photo: RNZ/Nicky Park Auckland's strengths are its quality of life and diversity, a new report has found, but these aren't enough to keep the city competitive. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi Auckland is more dependent on cars and has less housing density than its peers, a new report says. The State of the City report, conducted by Deloitte for the Committee for Auckland, compared Auckland to Vancouver, Portland, Austin, Dublin, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Tel Aviv, Fukuoka and Brisbane. Committee for Auckland director Mark Thomas told Morning Report prosperity had declined the most in the past three years partly due to housing. "The report says that we are much less dense than our peers, now that's not to say we need to be dense everywhere, what it's saying is we don't have the same degree of mixed housing that other cities do. "We also are more car dependent because we don't provide other transport options. So that's an example of one of the big consequences of our inability to solve this land use planning challenge." Thomas said the report mentioned that Brisbane had managed to book hosting the Olympic Games. File in Māngere, Auckland. Photo: RNZ/Nicky Park "We won't have the Olympic Games in Auckland, but a Commonwealth Games for example is an example of a catalytic event that peer cities are doing and we can't even work out where to build a stadium." Interest in hosting the 2034 Commonwealth Games was first floated by the New Zealand Olympic Committee in April 2023. The NZOC says its expression of interest still stands and work around a potential bid is ongoing. At the time, the government said if a bid was to go ahead, the event would be nationwide - not confined to one city. The third annual State of the City benchmarking report identified strengths in sustainability, resilience and culture but also highlights disadvantages in opportunity, experience and location. " Weak economic performance , inadequate skills and innovation development, and disjointed and delayed planning are causing Auckland to lose ground, with the risk of falling further behind," Committee for Auckland director Mark Thomas said in a statement. "We must fix the productivity problem, back high-growth industries and innovation, actually deliver better transport and housing, and rebuild Auckland's reputation." He endorsed an "Auckland deal" under the government's City and Regional Deals programme . Auckland's strengths were its quality of life and diversity, the report found, but these were not enough to keep the city competitive. "This latest report shows Auckland isn't keeping up in key areas, but the green shoots of innovation and growth are a sign of what's possible if the city can drive higher productivity and create business conditions for sustained success," Deloitte chief executive Mike Horne said. "Auckland's productivity sets the pace for the rest of the country , so it has an opportunity - and a responsibility - to be bolder in lifting it." The report recommends the central and local governments address land use, housing, transport and regulatory settings which hindered productivity. It also recommended the council strengthen Auckland's international brand, and "develop a compelling story about Auckland's past, present, and future that communicates its values, culture, and ambitions to the world". Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
27 minutes ago
- RNZ News
NZ's Customs Minister urges cooperation to combat organised crime in the Pacific
By 'Alakihihifo Vailala , PMN Casey Costello and Tonga Prime Minister Dr 'Aisake 'Eke (far right). Photo: NZ High Commission Tonga New Zealand's Customs Minister, Casey Costello, is pushing for improved regional collaboration to tackle the increasing threat of organised crime in the Pacific. This includes focussing on human trafficking and money laundering, she says. During her first official visit to Tonga, Costello emphasised the need for collective efforts between New Zealand and Australia to prevent organised crime from infiltrating the Pacific. Speaking on Pacific Mornings, Costello says: "I think that the biggest collective coordination around the Pacific with New Zealand and Australia is that this is our backyard, this is our neighbourhood." Costello raised concerns about how to close the gap and keep organised crime at bay, saying, "When we talk about organised crime, it's not just drugs, it's tax avoidance, it's money laundering, it's scamming, it's people trafficking." Her support aims to help develop regional capabilities, share knowledge, and improve information sharing, as well as to increase New Zealand's presence in the area. Costello is the first Customs Minister to visit Tonga officially and plans to visit Fiji and Sāmoa next. During her trip, she met with the anti-corruption commission, established last year, which highlighted funding issues. But she says the commission has performed well despite its challenges. "They're trying to make that connection, looking at a sort of forum and behind the next Pacific leaders forum to kind of get those discussions moving forward. "And I think it's really important to kind of get that definition of what corruption is. "It can get blurred a wee bit to something where people aren't doing their job well, to those that are intentionally for personal gain." In her discussions with Tonga's Minister of Police, Customs and Immigration, Costello says that New Zealand is providing support to strengthen legislation that's 'more fit for purpose'. "It's not just border control, but it's also facilitating trade and ensuring that trade is welcomed, but also that the government has the ability to collect excise, gather revenue and tax from the process of trade," she says. She also highlighted improvements in enforcement capabilities through the implementation of detector dogs, with cooperation between New Zealand and Tongan authorities. Costello indicated continued support for the Pacific region, especially as Sāmoan and Tongan nationals prepare for upcoming elections. "We need to make that same investment and build that resilience across our Pacific neighbours so that we are a harder border to infiltrate for organised crime, and that's the relationships that are a key part of that programme of work." - PMN
RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
Tertiary Education Union says sector's become a political football, slams Te Pūkenga disestablishment
Otago Polytechnic will be absorbed into the Open Polytechnic, a move the former is "deeply disappointed" by. Photo: Google Street View The Tertiary Education Union is calling the government's disestablishment of Te Pūkenga a "disaster for regional New Zealand". Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds joined Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Monday to announce 10 polytechnics were being re-established. The Southern Institute of Technology she was chief executive of for 23 years was one of them - as was Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology, after Nelson mayor Nick Smith appealed for the government to keep it independent . He was delighted, saying the govenrment's announcement is "the best news for Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough". "We are one of New Zealand's most geographically isolated regions, meaning that for many students who cannot relocate for financial or family reasons, NMIT is the only opportunity for them to upskill and gain a tertiary education," he said in a written statement. "There is now a big job ahead to rebuild NMIT. We look forward to the passage of the legislation and the appointment of a new polytechnic council. Key steps will be re-establishing links with local industry and redeveloping NMIT's international brand and market." Others were not so lucky. The Open Polytechnic will absorb Otago Polytechnic and UCOL, becoming a "federation" that offers online resources, an academic board and other services to those polytechs struggling with money. Otago Polytechnic executive director Megan Pōtiki said it was "deeply disappointed" to be included in the federation model. "Otago Polytechnic currently boasts one of the highest learner completion rates in the polytechnic sector, and we are concerned that the federation model would dilute this offering and impact our organisation's proud reputation and future success. The federation model risks undermining our learner success rates and the quality of teaching ... and ultimately risks undermining our independence and future viability as a regional institution." Minister Simmonds said polytechs in four other regions - Northland, Taranaki, Wellington, and the West Coast - were facing "unique challenges" and needed to show a path to financial viability within a year - or face being merged, or closed. Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver Tertiary Education Union national secretary Sandra Grey told RNZ the sector had been suffering for 20 years and had become a political football. She said the minister's announcement was just a return to a model that was failing. "This government has just exacerbated it ... leaving four out in the cold and saying 'you'll just have to do something radically different, like just do online learning then you'll be financially viable' - that's a pretty cruel thing to do to communities. "That doesn't work so well when what you're teaching is cookery, or carpentry. They're not easy to teach online." She said most of the four facing an uncertain future were in rural areas which did not have universities and depended on polytechnics to become a hub of learning and industry. The government's plan, she said, would only deepen the divide between rural and urban learning. The former Industry Training Organisations would be replaced with Industry Skills Boards, which would set standards for industry training, develop qualifications, and endorse the programmes that would lead to them. The minister said they would be supported with Quality Assurance to ensure consistency - saying industries would now have a bigger say. Grey, however, said the plan was problematic because it would require students to go to a temporary holding place for two years - and the government had halved the funding for it. "This government keeps claiming it's giving communities and industry a big say in their future and yet it's making all the decisions for them, taking away all the money from them. "They're not thinking about whether it's genuinely going to serve industry or genuinely serve community, I think they've been warned this is not going to work for anyone, they're just going to go ahead because they made a promise. They could renege on that promise, we'd be quite happy if they turned around. "What we've got to appreciate is these polytechnics are built up over five decades, two generations have put energy, time, taxpayer money into building their polytechnics. These belong to New Zealanders, these polytechnics - and this government is just running roughshod over communities and taking decisions for them and making it impossible to have good training in small communities. "The long-term cost of people missing out on education is poorer health outcomes for people - so more money spent on the health system - poor outcomes socially because people don't get jobs, and lost tax revenue because when people don't train they don't get jobs and they don't contribute to the tax take. "We all lose out when communities lose out and when students don't have courses, this is a disaster if we don't turn it around." Labour's leader Chris Hipkins was the education minister who launched Te Pūkenga, and acknowledged the merger faced difficulties but said the government was turning the system upside down. "Te Pūkenga took too long to get off the ground in my view, but they turned a surplus last year. I think to turn the whole system upside down all over again right at a time when we need to be increasing the number of people we're training is a bit crazy." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
