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Echo Chamber: The trouble with taking David Seymour at his word
Echo Chamber: The trouble with taking David Seymour at his word

The Spinoff

time16 hours ago

  • The Spinoff

Echo Chamber: The trouble with taking David Seymour at his word

If the Act Party leader misspoke in a forest and no one was around to hear it, would it still make a sound? Echo Chamber is The Spinoff's dispatch from the press gallery, recapping sessions in the House. Columns are written by politics reporter Lyric Waiwiri-Smith and Wellington editor Joel MacManus. A long weekend stumbled into a short week back in the House, where a Mad Hatter call of 'change places!' has seen NZ First and the Act Party swap sides at the tea party. Over the weekend, some 642km north, NZ First leader Winston Peters' reins of power as deputy prime minister were handed over to Act leader David Seymour, who celebrated the occasion in typical low-key style: with an Auckland brunch for fans of David Seymour to pay their respects to David Seymour. Peters, sat in the south end of the chamber, now rests in a no man's land two seats away from Te Pāti Māori, where co-leader Rawiri Waititi shot glances to his koro from up north throughout the session. Meanwhile Seymour, at the prime minister's side, whispered sweet nothings into Christopher Luxon's ear then flipped through documents throughout the circus, with three full glasses of water at his side. Before Tuesday's question time began, Te Pāti Māori's Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke called for the House to acknowledge the 30-year anniversary of Waikato Tainui's raupatu settlement, with which only one party leader took issue. If we celebrated every single successful Treaty settlement, Peters argued, we'd be losing valuable time almost every day of the week. Labour MP Peeni Henare's unimpressed voice floated through the chamber: 'Wooooow ….' Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick was first up on oral questions, and once the prime minister agreed that yes, he did stand by all of his government's statements, she went in for her kill: the funding, or lack thereof, for the government's increased KiwiSaver contributions, an alleged hole in Budget 2025 that the party has been quite happy to claim responsibility for discovering. Luxon shot down Swarbrick's claims the government had failed to budget for its own employer contributions to KiwiSaver, saying the bill would be footed through baselines. And the prime minister also didn't accept claptrap from Labour leader Chris Hipkins, nosily asking how many families had received the $250 Family Boost rebate promised last March. 'I don't have the numbers in front of me,' Luxon said, before being cut off by Labour's Willow-Jean Prime: 'Do you have them at all?' The minister for resources, Shane Jones, had spent the first 30 minutes of question time spurting his favourite slogans – 'mining!', 'fossil fuels!', 'heavy metal!' – at random, even when no one was talking about mining, fossil fuels or heavy metals. Finally, his NZ First colleague Tanya Unkovich offered him some patsies, so he could relish in the noble art of drilling a well into gas fields like those in Taranaki, and having the Crown take a 10-15% stake from these projects. 'Gas is short,' Jones started – 'not from you!' an opposition voice called – then 'talk is cheap'. The country's natural gas resources have been in decline, he declared, thanks to a 'foolish and dangerous … fateful decision of 2018 ' to ban oil exploration (Jones was indeed a minister for that Labour-led government at the time). Labour MP Kieran McAnulty, a star student of the school of standing orders, raised a point of order: that was clearly a political statement, he told the speaker, and shouldn't have been allowed. Well, I disagree with you, Gerry Brownlee replied – how could a government campaign against something and not be able to talk about it? Proving his respect for Brownlee's rulings and never-ending wish for unity among the parties, Jones began his next answer: 'Decisions riddled with woke ideology from the past government …' and the House erupted in laughter, clearly tired of such performative acclaim. Labour MP Duncan Webb was allowed to pose a question to a member of parliament rather than a minister, asking National backbencher and chair of the finance and expenditure committee Cameron Brewer why the submission window for the Regulatory Standards Bill was only open for four weeks, when the bill had a six-month reporting deadline. Parliament's left bloc has gone hard on campaigning against said bill, an Act Party classic hit, with claims that it's more controversial and damaging to Treaty obligations than the recently deceased Treaty principles bill. Mr Speaker, Brewer explained, the minister for regulation (aka Seymour) has already written to me to explain that he had 'misspoken' when the bill had its first reading on May 23. You may remember Seymour moved for the bill to be reported to the House on December 23, 'when he in fact meant to say September 23!' He'd take the minister at his word, Brewer said, as groans rippled through the House. So, Webb continued, would the committee chair bend to Seymour's demands, or follow the usual parliamentary process which asks that select committees be given six months to report back to the House? Brewer quoted former clerk David McGee's Parliamentary Practice: 'it is not uncommon for bills referred to select committee for four months to have a submissions period of four weeks'. Seymour, clearly tired of having his name and work thrown around with such indifference, rose for a point of order. When he failed to argue that there was no decision of the House to even be disregarded in this case, Seymour continued to argue with the speaker from his seat, annoying a voice on the opposition side: 'Just because you're deputy now!' Eventually, Brownlee was happy with Brewer's assertion that Seymour 'clearly misspoke', and McGee's guidance was enough to 'end the matter'. The faces of the opposition looked like they would be doing anything but, and maybe that's the trouble with taking Seymour at his word: nothing he says will ever be good enough for at least half of the entire 54th New Zealand parliament. Once question time had wrapped up, Seymour headed to Brewer's bench, perhaps passing along some further notes and corrections to misquotes. A tiny question time blip, a long weekend to celebrate his ascension to 2IC and now in the UK to take part in an Oxford Union debate on stolen land, the Act Party leader's cup still runneth over, even as his three water glasses remained untouched.

Poll: NZ First keep rising as National and Labour fall
Poll: NZ First keep rising as National and Labour fall

1News

timea day ago

  • 1News

Poll: NZ First keep rising as National and Labour fall

Both National and Labour have slid in the latest 1News/Verian poll, while New Zealand First have moved to their strongest position in eight years. If an election were to be held today the right bloc of National, ACT and New Zealand First would have 63 seats — enough to form a coalition, while the left bloc of Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori would have 58 seats. This is a small change from the last Verian poll in April, where the coalition had 64 seats. Winston Peters' party moves up to 8%, according to the survey of 1002 eligible voters from May 24 to May 28. National has fallen by 2%, down to 34%. That ties with their worst result since they were elected, matching February's result. ADVERTISEMENT The poll was taken just after Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced her second Budget, which included Kiwisaver changes and used savings from stopping pay equity negotiations to help balance the books. Labour is also going backwards with the party dropping by 3% since April, down to 29%. (Source: 1News) This is their worst result since December — the party had been as high as 33% at one stage this year. The biggest risers in the poll are the Greens, who are up by 2% to 12%. New Zealand First is up by 1% to 8%, its highest result since September 2017. ACT has fallen by 1%, down to 8%, and is now level with New Zealand First. ADVERTISEMENT Te Pāti Māori have regained 1% to move back to 4%. They were as high as 7% in December. Few sweet moments for political parties to relish from the latest polling of public opinion. (Source: 1News) Meanwhile, the public's positive perception of the economy is growing. Economic optimism is up by 2% to 41% on the last poll, while economic pessimism has remained steady on 21%. Today's numbers mean National would have 43 seats in Parliament, down 6 on their current allocation, Labour would have 37, up 3. The Greens would have 15 the same number as at present, while ACT would have 10 down by 1. (Source: 1News) New Zealand First would have 10, up 2, and Te Pāti Māori would also have 6, as they do at present. There would be an extra seat in a 121 seat Parliament as a result of an overhang — assuming that Te Pāti Māori held on to their six electorate seats. ADVERTISEMENT 'Elected to do a job' NZ First leader Peters said, despite his party's strong showing: "We've never believed in the polls in this country." Asked why Labour and National had a drop-in support, Peters said: "I know why it is, but I think I should keep it to myself." Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said: "There's lots of different polls doing lots of different things. I am focused on delivering for New Zealanders and that means making sure we drive more economic growth into this country." When asked why his popularity hasn't shifted in the polls, he said: "I was elected in 2023 to do a job." He added: "I have three years, I have 12 quarters to get things done for New Zealanders. They'll make that decision at the next election, that's all I care about." Labour leader Chris Hipkins said: 'We expect the polls to bounce around a bit at this point in the electoral cycle. We're focused on making sure we're building our support as we head towards next year's election." Preferred for the top job ADVERTISEMENT In the preferred prime minister stakes, neither Christopher Luxon or Chris Hipkins are proving particularly popular. Luxon is steady on 23%, while Hipkins has fallen by 1% to 19%. Winston Peters is the third preferred option, falling by 1% to 6%. Chlöe Swarbrick moves up slightly by 1% to 5% and David Seymour is also up 1% to 4%. Rounding out the honourable mentions on 1% are former PM Jacinda Ardern, Te Pāti Māori's Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, Finance Minister Nicola Willis, and two new entrants – Greens Co-Leader Marama Davidson and Housing Minister Chris Bishop. (Source: 1News) The poll comes after Nicola Willis revealed the Government's budget. It included changes such as the investment boost, cuts to Kiwisaver contributions and the tightening of jobseeker for 18- and 19-year-olds who can get assistance from their parents. ADVERTISEMENT But the most significant change was the scrapping of 33 pay equity claims under urgency to save $12.8 billion dollars. The changes resulted in protests outside Parliament and MPs' electorate offices. It also comes after the privileges committee's recommended suspending Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer from Parliament for 21 days and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke for seven days for performing a haka in the House last year. The poll was taken just days before David Seymour took over the Deputy Prime Minister reins from Winston Peters. Party vote National – 34% (down 2% since April) Labour – 29% (down 3%) Green – 12% (up 2%) ADVERTISEMENT ACT – 8% (down 1%) New Zealand First – 8% (up 1%) Te Pāti Māori – 4% (up 1%) The Opportunities Party (TOP) – 1% (down 1%) New Zeal - 1% (up 1%) NZ Outdoor and Freedoms Party – 1% (steady) Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party - 1% - (up 1%) ADVERTISEMENT Don't know / refused to say – 11% (down 1%) Seats in the House National – 43 Labour – 37 Green – 15 ACT – 10 New Zealand First – 10 ADVERTISEMENT Te Pāti Māori – 6 Preferred prime minister Christopher Luxon – 23% (steady) Chris Hipkins – 19% (down 1%) Winston Peters – 6% (down 1%) Chlöe Swarbrick – 5% (up 1%) David Seymour – 4% (up 1%) See the full results and methodology here Between May 24 and May 28 2025, 1002 eligible voters were polled by mobile phone (500) and online, using online panels (502). The maximum sampling error is approximately ±3.1%-points at the 95% confidence level. Party support percentages have been rounded up or down to whole numbers, except those less than 4.5%, which are reported to one decimal place. The data has been weighted to align with Stats NZ population counts for age, gender, region, ethnic identification and education level. The sample for mobile phones is selected by random dialling using probability sampling, and the online sample is collected using an online panel. Undecided voters, non-voters and those who refused to answer are excluded from the data on party support. The results are a snapshot in time of party support, and not a prediction.

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