NZ Government's progress overshadowed by global economic, political risks
Opinion by Bruce Cotterill
Bruce Cotterill is a professional director and adviser to business leaders. He is the author of the book, The Best Leaders Don't Shout, and host of the podcast, Leaders Getting Coffee.
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THE FACTS
It's 18 months since the new Government was sworn in.
The mess they inherited has been well documented, so too has their less-than-rapid impact on solving the problems we have. We're an impatient bunch, and it feels like they're taking their time.
When we look at many of
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RNZ News
8 hours ago
- RNZ News
Mark Brown: rejects talk of 'strategic shift' in Cook Islands-New Zealand relationship
Prime Minister Mark Brown says the New Zealand, Cook Islands relationship is too strong that disagreeing governments can not break it. Photo: Caleb Fotheringham The Cook Islands has no intention of leaving its special relationship with New Zealand, Prime Minister Mark Brown says. The Cook Islands marked 60 years of self-governance in free association with New Zealand on 4 August. "The value of our relationship with New Zealand cannot be overstated," Brown said at the national auditorium in Rarotonga on Monday. His remarks were met with a round of applause. "I would like to emphasise that there is not now, nor has there ever been, a strategic shift by the Cook Islands government or our peoples to reject the value and responsibilities of our relationship of free-association with New Zealand." The Cook Islands marked 60 years of self-governance in free association with New Zealand on August 4 Photo: Caleb Fotheringham The celebration was filled with dancing, singing, food and a 45-minute speech by Brown on where the nation has come from and where it's going. "Every island holds a piece of our future, let us stand with conviction on the global stage. Our people span oceans. Our voice carries across borders. And our contribution continues to grow," Brown said. Notably absent from the four Pacific leaders attending was New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, who is in Papua New Guinea. Foreign Minister Winston Peters was also absent. Brown said like any relationship, there will be moments that need reflection. "There are times when we must pause and consider whether the conventions and evolved understandings between our freely associated states remain aligned, we find ourselves in such a moment. "I see our relationship as one grounded in enduring kinship, like members of a family who continue to care deeply for one another, even as each has grown and charted their own path." Brown called the current issues a bump in the road. He said they had been through far worse, like natural disasters and the Covid-19 pandemic. "[The relationship] is too well entrenched and too strong, like steel, that nothing will break it, it is too strong that even disagreeing governments will not break it." Representing New Zealand was Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro, who also talked of the long-standing relationship, stemming back hundreds of years to voyaging ancestors. "That bond of deep friendship between our two peoples, that will transcend all else as we continue to face the challenges, and celebrate the joys of the future, together." 60th celebrations Photo: Caleb Fotheringham After the official ceremony, there was a big kai kai. Those attending shared their thoughts on what they wanted for the future of their country. "To see our future generations grow up in our own paradise instead of them going overseas," one woman said. Another said she wanted the Cook Islands to remain a Christian nation and to keep their culture strong. One nurse said medical was always on the go and wanted more investment, "the resources we have are very limited, so I want to see a bigger improvement within our medical side of things". A dentist wanted the Cook Islands to be "a modern nation" and "to be a leader in economic wealth." Another man wanted to remain in free association with New Zealand but wanted the country "to make its own decisions and stand on its own two feet". A primary school principal said he wanted more young people to learn Cook Islands Māori. "This is our identity, our language." He also wanted the country to be more independent economically. "I think we as a nation need to look at how we can support other countries… I don't like that we're still asking for money from New Zealand, from Australia, at some point in the future I would like us as a nation to help other nations." There was a big kai kai as part of the celebrations Photo: Caleb Fotheringham New Zealand paused close to 20 million dollars in development funding in June, citing a lack of consultation on agreements signed between the Cook Islands and China earlier in the year. China's ambassador to New Zealand, Wang Xiaolong was attending the event. RNZ Pacific approached him, but the ambassador said he was unable to comment because he had to leave the event.
RNZ News
8 hours ago
- RNZ News
Luxon talks up more united Pacific on PNG visit
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon views a mortar training and live firing exercise with NZDF and Papua New Guinea troops on Tuesday. Photo: RNZ / Russell Palmer Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is talking up a more united Pacific in Papua New Guinea, saying the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) should be the central way other countries engage. Luxon's visit this week has reinforced diplomatic, trade and defence connections with Papua New Guinea . He returns home to New Zealand on Wednesday after a busy Tuesday schedule that saw him address the Papua New Guinean Parliament, only the second foreign leader to do so. He met with Prime Minister James Marape behind closed doors on Tuesday afternoon, the pair fronting to media and answering questions about the Forum afterwards. "I think there's huge opportunity for the Pacific Island Forum to become - and it is - the organising and the central organisation that actually, if you want to engage with the Pacific, you come through the Pacific Island Forum," Luxon said. "There's more that sort of is uniting us around actually being Pacific nations, being a Pacific family and wanting to develop our own solutions to our own challenges - and making sure that anyone outside of the Pacific is actually engaging with us in a coherent way through the centrality of the PIF." While the trip has seen Luxon warmly welcomed and reinforced ties with Papua New Guinea, it has also put other Pacific relationships in the spotlight. Neither Prime Minister Luxon nor Foreign Minister Winston Peters flew to the Cook Islands for this week's celebration of 60 years of that country's constitution. Instead, Peters delivered a speech in Auckland, highlighting that the "free" association meant Cook Islanders could choose to become fully independent should they wish. The Cook Islands constitution set it up as a nation in "free association" with New Zealand, which enables the realm nation access to New Zealand citizenship, passports and currency while also placing certain responsibilities on New Zealand. Papua New Guinea's prime minister James Marape gives a speech during celebrations of 50 years of diplomatic ties with New Zealand. Photo: RNZ / Russell Palmer Peters maintains the relationship should have meant New Zealand would be consulted over the deals the Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown signed with China. Asked about the dispute, Luxon said New Zealand had no problem with the Cook Islands people, but "we have a political issue to work through with the actual government of the Cook Islands". "We've got some work to do, to make sure that we deal with the differences and the disagreements we have about the nature of our constitutional arrangements," he said. Marape confirmed their meeting had included discussion of the "Pacific Island family". With the Solomon Islands to host the next Forum Leaders meeting next month, he said he would be phoning his counterpart. "I will be making a phone call to my colleague in Honiara to make sure that he gives respect to the spirit of the structure that has carried us thus far. That's ... all I can say. "My call to him would be 'how's it going and is there anything you need from us' and to make sure that we don't shift away from the Pacific Island forum structure we have - without pre-empting my call, it's a call between me and him, I can't dive more into what level of conversation we'll have." The Solomon Islands has also faced criticism for its dealings with China, and recent reporting has highlighted it could seek to prevent Taiwan's attendance at the forum. Other reports have suggested one solution being considered would be to ban China and the United States from attending. Winston Peters is attending the Forum next month.
RNZ News
10 hours ago
- RNZ News
Former Attorney-General criticises marine and coastal rights law changes
Former Attorney-General and National MP Chris Finlayson. Photo: Nicola Edmonds A former Attorney-General and National MP has lashed out at the government over its decision to push on with controversial legislation that would make it harder for Māori to get customary marine title. Chris Finlayson is calling the move foolish and "extremely harmful" to race relations. But Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says it will see the law returned to its "original intention" and strike a better balance for the rights of all New Zealanders. The changes to the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act would toughen the test for judging whether customary rights should be given. Customary title recognises exclusive Māori rights to parts of the foreshore and seabed, provided certain legal tests are met, including proving continuous and "exclusive" use of the area since 1840 without substantial interruption. A 2023 Court of Appeal ruling , however, declared that groups only needed to show they had enough control over the area that they could keep others from using it, and that situations where the law itself had prevented them from doing so could be ignored. The Supreme Court subsequently overturned that and the government put a pause on any amendments to the law. On Tuesday, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith said after the discussing the ruling, Cabinet felt it still did not achieve the "balance" the government wanted and the test to win customary rights was still too low. His comment were echoed by Luxon who, speaking from Papua New Guinea, said the change would get the legislation back to its "original intention". "We obviously have looked at the Supreme Court decision pretty closely [and] think it's quite broad and able to be interpreted in quite a broad way," he said. "We think the best way to do [that] is actually to get legislation to put it back to its original intent, which struck the right balance." Chris Finlayson disputes that, and told RNZ the Supreme Court had already expressed "very well" what Parliament's intention back in 2010 was. "These amendments do not restore the original intention of Parliament. They undermine them. Let there be no doubt about that at all," he said. Finlayson was Attorney-General at the time the legislation was enacted in law in 2011, which replaced the controversial Foreshore and Seabed Act . "What they are doing by these foolish amendments is destroying the settlement that the National Party and the Māori Party reached in 2010." Finlayson said there was no justification for the move, which he said was "extremely harmful" to race relations in New Zealand. "Tangata whenua have a few wins in court, and it's ripped away from them by the government, which changes goal posts 15 years later. "I am very, very saddened by what they have done, and I think it's a very bad day for race relations in New Zealand. "I just can't believe that they're as foolish as they appear to be," he said. Labour Party Māori Crown-Relations spokesperson Peeni Henare said the changes would restrict the ability of Māori to test their rights in court. "In 2011, the National Party made much of their commitment to Māori 'having their day in court' and this proposed change takes that away again." Henare said the law, as it stands today, does not give Māori ownership rights like control over public access. "This action by the government does nothing to strengthen the Māori-Crown relationship, despite them saying they value iwi Māori. "The government needs to be straight up and admit they don't care about Māori. Their actions don't match their words," he said. The amendments prompted fierce backlash from iwi last year, including Ngāpuhi who walked out of an Iwi Chairs Forum meeting with the Prime Minister in protest of the legislation. It also drew the ire of Northland iwi Ngāti Wai , who said at the time they would not accept the Crown "exercising an authority we do not believe they possess". In September last year, The Waitangi Tribunal found the changes were characterised by a "blind adherence" to pre-existing political commitments at the expense of Māori. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
