18 to 19 year olds will have Jobseeker tested
life and society politics 20 minutes ago
One of the surprises in the budget was the announcement that 18 and 19-year-olds will now have their Jobseeker and emergency benefits tested against their parents' incomes. The policy is forecast to save the government about 163 million dollars over four years, but the income levels parents will be tested against have not yet been decided by Cabinet. Alexa Cook hit the streets of Waipukurau in Central Hawke's Bay to find out what people think about the change.
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RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Te Tai Tokerau takes both top beef farming prizes at Ahuwhenua Trophy 2025 awards
Hūhana Lyndon, Tama Potaka and Pita Morrison on stage at the Ahuwhenua Trophy 2025 award ceremony. Photo: Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira Māori from Te Tai Tokerau were the big winners at the 2025 Ahuwhenua Trophy 2025 awards with both top prizes going to Northland farmers. The Northland-based Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust was awarded the 2025 Ahuwhenua Trophy for excellence in Māori sheep and beef farming, while Te Tai Tokerau farm manager Coby Warmington took out the 2025 Young Māori Farmer Award at a packed ceremony in Palmerston North on Friday. The Ahuwhenua Trophy dates back to 1933 and was established by Sir Āpirana Ngata and the Governor General at the time, Lord Charles Bledisloe. It remains one of the most prestigious and contested awards for Māori farming. At least 800 people gather for the Ahuwhenua Trophy 2025 award ceremony. Photo: Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira At least 800 people were at the event, including Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono I te po, the Māori Queen, Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka and other Māori farmers and their whānau. The Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust's whenua is located near the east coast settlement of Whangaruru, north of Whangārei. Its cattle farm takes up about a third of the 1100 hectares of land owned by the trust. In 1952, the Department of Māori Affairs held a hui for the then-484 registered owners of the whenua. Despite only 70 being present and only 24 signing a resolution in support, the department went ahead with the consolidation of the whenua into a 'Land Development Scheme' disconnecting the people from the whenua for decades. The trust took back control of the whenua in 2020 with little-to-no farming know-how and no stock. Since then, it has transformed the whenua into a thriving bull-beef operation with around 1200 bulls. In her acceptance speech, Green MP and Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust co-chair Hūhana Lyndon said thanked her wider Ngāti Wai whānau and elders for their support. "Our tūpuna fought so hard to have the land returned and when you are unable to walk your whenua, when you have a tenant that would not let you on without supervision, our ability to take our land back was transformational." Ahuwhenua Trophy 2025 Award winner Pita Morrison accepting the supreme award. Photo: Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira Co-chair Pita Morrison thanked the whānau who travelled south to support the trust, and those who had passed on. "From the time of our founding tipuna, Manaia, who came to our whenua, our people have been here … if it was not for the strength that our tūpuna have given to us and our people we would not be here. "To our people that are here today, as the descendants of our old people, I thank you, mihi to you, on behalf of our trust and we are so proud to be here with you today," Morrison said. Ahuwhenua Trophy 2025 Young Māori Farmer Award winner Coby Warmington Photo: Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira It was a similar sentiment from Young Māori Famer Award winner Coby Warmington, 28, who thanked his wife Holly and his fellow finalists who he described as "obviously great farmers" but "even better people". Warmington (Te Mahurehure, Ngāpuhi) started working at Waima Topu Beef in January 2021 as a shepherd and general hand while the farm was starting a re-building phase and was promoted to farm manager only two years later, in March 2023. Each finalist received a $5000 scholarship, courtesy of Te Tumu Paeroa, The Office of the Māori Trustee, with the overall winner getting a total of $10,000. Warmington said he wanted to start implementing some of things he learned on his own farm in Waima. "I was supported by my employers to apply for the award and I just wanted to test my limits, socially. "It's been amazing, meeting all these great people and spending time with all these young Māori leaders. I'll never forget the experience." Te Tumu Paeroa lead Dr Charlotte Severne said the scholarship would likely be used to get more skills overseas. "It's for them to study and study further, that opportunity to put something into themselves. Studying is not cheap. "These ones have more qualifications than some who have entered the awards so they'll look at training offshore, maybe do a tour offshore. That's as good as any tohū, I think." Severne said. Māori development Minister Tama Potaka said whenua was an integral part of Māori identity. "For us its something that is enduring and perpetual, we won't let go of our whakapapa because it defines who we are. As a result, we do have to figure out how we use that as a foundation for our livelihoods, for jobs, for enterprise and for opportunities for our young people. "I had the great opportunity to grow up on a sheep and beef farm only 45 minutes away in a place called Rata, up Rangitīkei. We had amongst our families 150,000 to 160,000 sheep there in the 1900s. "Certainly for me it's, again, linking back to identity and whakapapa but also providing a platform for economic growth." Potaka said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
'Kick in the guts': Government knocks back most of Christchurch council's housing plans
Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger says the government's knock-back of the council's housing plans is a "kick in the guts". Photo: RNZ/Nathan Mckinnon The mayor of Christchurch says a government knock-back on it's three year battle to create a custom carve-out of national housing intensification rules feels like a "kick in the guts", but others are welcoming the certainty of the move. On Friday, Minister for Resource Management Act Reform Chris Bishop issued a final decision on 17 of 20 recommendations the city council had referred after rejecting recommendations from an independent panel on the council's plan to shape a bespoke Christchurch response to national housing density policy). Minister Bishop rejected the bulk of the council's proposals. In 2021, the then-government released its National Policy Statement on Urban Development, a plan to ramp up housing intensification across most urban areas but focused on the five high growth centres of Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch, amid bi-partisan support for the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Bill, though the National Party would later withdraw its backing . The bill contained Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS), which detail what development can occur without the need for resource consent, public notification and consultation in the areas identified as most in need of housing intensification. Those rules were intended to apply across all residential zones in those identified cities, unless "qualifying matters" made intensification inappropriate. In 2022, the council voted to reject the standards , despite warnings a commissioner could be appointed . Instead, the council began several years of consultation, submissions and hearings on Plan Change 14 - its proposed changes to the district plan that would give effect to the Medium Density Residential Standards, but in a way it claimed better acknowledged the character and context of the city. The council temporarily halted the process following the last election, and was later granted an extension until the end of this year on some aspescts of the plan change. Minister Bishop declined a further extension request last month. The council's stance culminated in an Independent Hearing Panel (IHP), which reported back in the middle of last year. The council accepted the majority of the IHP's recommendations, which were incorporated into the district plan. But it rejected various aspects of the proposed plan, making twenty counter-recommendations that went to the Minister. The minister announced on Friday he had rejected 14 of the council's recommendations, accepted three and deferred his decision on three more. Minister for Resource Management Act Reform Chris Bishop has rejected the bulk of the council's proposals. Photo: VNP/Louis Collins The decision means some parts of the city will be zoned higher-density housing and taller buildings, while the council will not be allowed to use several different "qualifying matters" to refuse consents even in high density zones - most controversially, one that hinged on the impediment of sunlight and proposed the Garden City should get an exemption because its southern location meant sunlight angles differ. Bishop's announcement locks in changes for areas in and around the CBD, and the "town centres" of Riccarton, Hornby and Linwood, which will be zoned high density residential. Taller buildings will be allowed within 600 metres of shopping areas in some suburbs - 32m (around ten storeys high) for the Hornby shopping area, 14m for high density residential zones surrounding the shopping area, 22m (around six storeys) for Linwood's town centre, and 14m for high density residential zones around it. The council's bids to create qualifying matters on the basis of sunlight access, recession planes (a line or plane which limits how close a building can be to a property boundary), or by location - such as 'the City Spine' (major transport routes) or Riccarton Bush - also failed. Nor did the minster accept areas around Peer Street in Ilam or the Papanui War Memorial Avenues should be excluded from density rules or allowed special consideration. The council proposals the minister did accept were Local Centre Intensification Precinct - intensification around eight of the city's commercial centres, including Barrington, Prestons and Wigram; increasing the building height overlay for the former stock yards site on Deans Avenue (a prime spot adjacent to Hagley Park, currently used as car parking for the Christchurch Hospital shuttle service) to up to 36m; and allowing high density residential zoning for Milton Street (the site of the Milton St substation, which Fletchers plans to build 80 homes on). All other council alternative recommendations were rejected in favour of the hearing panel recommendations. The minister has deferred decision-making for the heritage listing for Daresbury - a historic home in Fendalton; Antonio Hall - a derelict historic home on Riccarton Rd; and Piko Character Area - a Riccarton residential neighbourhood made up of many original state houses from the 1930s - until the council decided on the underlying zoning. "In putting these decisions forward to the government, we obviously wanted to get all of our alternative recommendations approved. So to only have three of them get the tick is a kick in the guts," mayor Phil Mauger said. "This plan change has been a huge undertaking for our city, and we've said right the way through that we want to get the best outcome we possibly can. This doesn't feel like the best outcome. "To that end, we'll keep working hard as a council, and there are still major decisions yet to be made when it comes to housing density and planning across much of Christchurch, so watch this space." The decisions come into effect immediately and cannot be appealed to the Environment Court. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon New Zealand has one of the most unaffordable housing markets in the OECD. Urbanist collective Greater Ōtautahi welcomed the minister's decision. Chairperson M Grace-Stent said the decision finally brought some certainty after years of delays, decision making, submissions and hearing panels. "What we're most excited about is that Ōtautahi Christchurch is set up for the future, it has certainty around where it can grow and where it can continue to develop in the future." The decision will not mean apartment buildings spring up overnight, they said. "It's still going to be a slow developing process, just as our cities always continually change. This is just another step." The city also needed to turn its attention to improving public transport. "Ōtautahi Christchurch definitely needs a reevaluation of its transport system. We've been calling for the introduction of mass rapid transport across the city to support and facilitate the kind of growth and development that needs to happen, and to make sure that everyone has a choice about how they're getting around the city and aren't forced to just pick cars." Grace-Stent said the debate touched on ideas embedded in the national psyche about how and where New Zealanders live. They said the quarter-acre dream of a stand alone house on a large section is unsustainable and doesn't not always produce greater social outcomes. "Not everyone wants to live the exact same lifestyle - allowing more housing to be built allows people to make that choice for themselves. So if people want to be living on 1/4 acre block, they're allowed to, and if people want to be living in an apartment close to their friends and amenities and where they work, they also have that choice." They acknowledged that some medium and high density housing is not built to high standards, but said some of that was due to limitations of the current zoning process, which can mean the lowest bidder builds on these sites. "This is just the first step into assuring that everyone has a home that is liveable and that works for them, and is good quality. There also needs to be changes throughout the way that we are think about housing and building houses across the country," Grace-Stent said. The decisions, which come into effect immediately, are final and cannot be appealed to the Environment Court. The council has until the end of the year to decide on density rules for the rest of the city. It was unable to confirm by deadline how much it had spent fighting the density rules, but had budgeted for $7 million dollars between 2021 and the middle of this year. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Otago Daily Times
5 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
To infinity and beyond with a possum and sweet chilli sauce
One of the things MPs like most about the Budget debate — the freewheeling discussion of the Finance Minister's hard work — is that it enables them to speak about almost anything so long as it can (sometimes very loosely) be linked back to the Budget. Hence this week our southern MPs have been talking about possums, utes, outer space, Barker's sweet chilli sauce ... and every so often about something of vital importance. On Tuesday Taieri Labour MP Ingrid Leary fell into the latter camp with an impassioned speech about the state of the nation's mental health system. "The Budget would have been the perfect opportunity to [workforce gaps], including the 1594 full-time equivalents that the NCAT — which is the National Committee for Addiction Treatment—has identified as missing from the NGO frontline," Ms Leary said. "But no, they did not. Instead, they threw a paltry bit of money to help the transition at emergency departments for the withdrawal of police. That was far too little, far too late." It was Ms Leary's Labour Dunedin colleague Rachel Brooking who brought possums and utes to the debate soon after — which was fairly funny, albeit with a serious purpose. The Budget had been good for possums, Ms Brooking said, because of cuts to pest management initiatives. And it had been good for utes because of subsidies being afforded to companies. But most of all, Ms Brooking said scornfully, the Budget had been bad for women. "Anyone listening closely to the House when the Budget dropped will have heard me give an audible gasp when I read ... that $12 billion was looking to be saved from pay equity. "Yet the Prime Minister had the gall to say to us just the week before, 'No, no, no. This has nothing to do with pay equity'. It is astounding." And she did not mean that in a good way. Up soon after, Taieri Green list MP Scott Willis warmed up on the topic of people feeling the cold as winter bit hard — although he might have sparked debate on his own side by talking about getting nice and cosy in front of a fire rather than being warmed up by an electric fire powered by solar or wind energy. "What really would have helped people and helped landlords, even, would have been support for warm, dry, energy-efficient homes," Mr Willis said. "But this government, over the last two Budgets, has cut over $230m from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority ... crippling the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. Why has this government decided that ordinary Kiwis should be left out in the cold?" The next day the South's government MPs got to give an alternative, all together more enthusiastic appraisal of the Budget. Rather than wreaking havoc on all and sundry, Southland National MP Joseph Mooney extolled it for "balancing the New Zealand taxpayers' funds in a very considered and careful way in a challenging domestic and geopolitical environment." Funding such as new daytime urgent care services in places like Invercargill, Gore, and Alexandra found favour with Mr Mooney, as did the potential expansion of the service to Balclutha, Lumsden, Roxburgh and all places in between in the future. It was Mr Mooney who donned his space suit, noting Southlander Sir Peter Beck had made New Zealand the third-largest launcher of satellites into infinity and beyond. "He had a wild dream and made it happen in a country that did not have a space sector. I think that's an opportunity for all of us to lift our sights high, aim for the stars, and we can make it happen," he said, leaving unspoken but fairly obvious the assertion that the government was helping such firms to focus on the target. Leaving Waitaki MP Miles Anderson — no doubt well aware that many residents in Geraldine would like their town to instead be in the Rangitata electorate — to praise the fine products of Barker's of Geraldine. "I spoke this morning to the team at Barker's of Geraldine — and those of you who have had the opportunity to try some of their goods, I highly recommend them." "Great little place. Sweet chilli sauce," Otaki MP Tim Costley chimed in, a sentiment echoed from across the House. "They supply jams, preserves, and pickles to supermarkets across the country," Mr Anderson added, in his best infomercial manner. There was actually a point to all this spruiking: Mr Anderson wanted to use his time to boast about Investment Boost, the Budget's central policy for business growth. Enabling firms to immediately write off some of the cost of new equipment was a boon for an expanding business like Barker's, he said ... and that was not all for the great electorate of Waitaki. "Other local businesses are also having an increase in asset investment," Mr Anderson said. "Te Pari Industries tell me that they have seen an increase in interest for their products, and that farmers are making decisions much more quickly with both sheep and dairy systems. Drummond & Etheridge in Oamaru, local farm machinery retailers, saw an immediate increase in sales and a significant increase in buyer inquiry." And with a shout out to Five Forks School — pupils from which had visited the House the previous day and been acknowledged from the chamber — that was it for the Budget debate for another year. Half time, change sides Act New Zealand Southland list MP Todd Stephenson is poised to become the most recognisable backbencher in the country following the grand rearrangement of the House this week. With the coalition swapping deputy prime ministers, New Zealand First's MPs have moved to where Act once sat, and vice versa. As Act's whip, Mr Stephenson is now sitting in the second row alongside National chief whip Stuart Smith. That means that during Question Time — the only bit of Parliament that most New Zealanders catch a glimpse of — that Mr Stephenson is sitting right behind Christopher Luxon and David Seymour when the cameras roll.
