Listen to The Country: Budget 2025 with Labour leader Chris Hipkins
Labour leader Chris Hipkins spoke to The Country's Jamie Mackay today. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Today on The Country radio show, host Jamie Mackay catches up with Labour leader Chris Hipkins to ask him what his Budget would look like, and where his party's agriculture policy is.
On with the show:
Wayne Langford:
The president of Federated Farmers on the love-in with Labour.
Plus, he talks about the battle with Groundswell, NZ Farming and the Methane Science Accord.
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Otago Daily Times
5 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Distant noises of other voices
As Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon receives no shortage of advice. Quite apart from his Cabinet and caucus colleagues and coalition partners — let alone suggestions from the ever-helpful Opposition or media — he has several staff members whose entire role is to advise him on the issues of the day. Then there are the lobbyists, business leaders, interest groups, local government leaders and other influential people who are fortunate enough to capture the PM's attention and offer their two cents' worth. Even the general public can advise the prime minister — ultimately at the ballot box, but also through correspondence or even in person should they be lucky enough to be in the vicinity when Mr Luxon embarks on one of his weekly visits out to the regions. Not all advice is welcome, of course, and Mr Luxon may well have wished not to hear from former Labour prime minister Helen Clark and former National Party leader Don Brash when they chimed in last week with some salient words on New Zealand's relationship with China., There is little chance of Mr Luxon ignoring them, though, given that they chose to drop him a line via full-page advertisements in the nation's newspapers rather than sending him an email or letter. The nub of Miss Clark and Dr Brash's letter — which was also signed by former National MP and speaker Sir David Carter, former New Zealand ambassador to China Carl Worker, and Beijing-based New Zealand businessman David Mahon — was that they thought New Zealand's foreign policy was taking a concerning direction. "In recent months, you and Foreign Minister [Winston] Peters have made a number of statements which we consider to be positioning New Zealand alongside the United States as an adversary of China," they said. "We see no upside and very considerable downside in the situation which has developed... we do believe that a military relationship with the United States directed against China has many risks for New Zealand." The former politicians were, mainly, referring to Aukus Pillar Two, a defence arrangement with Australia, the United Kingdom and United States, which New Zealand is still mulling over whether to join. Signing up would no doubt please countries with which New Zealand has long-standing relationships and alliances and also allow the country access to modern defence and intelligence gathering technology. But Miss Clark, Dr Brash, et al, point out that the strategic grouping is "explicitly aimed at China" — a country with which New Zealand is also friendly, and which is, as no-one has forgotten, our biggest trading partner. A vital plank in Mr Luxon's "going for growth" agenda is increasing export sales, and the ready, waiting and able-to-buy Chinese market is a critical one. Mr Luxon met Chinese President Xi Jinping at last year's Apec meeting, and he is widely expected to visit the People's Republic sometime this year. Such visits always include an obligatory but delicately phrased reference to some of China's more questionable policies in terms of human rights, a topic quickly skimmed over before the parties turn to dollars and cents. New Zealand's attempts to become closer in step with the United States will already have been noted by Beijing, and this will no doubt be added to the awkward topics list when Mr Luxon does make it to the Chinese capital. No-one is suggesting that Miss Clark or Dr Brash, experienced operators in their own right, are acting as stalking horses for China in placing their advertisement: their views on this matter are backed by lengthy and independent track records, and they raise a legitimate argument. Mr Luxon will not have welcomed such high-profile questioning of his policies at a time when his staff may well be making final arrangements for what will be a vital trip — as all meetings between China's and New Zealand's leaders are for this country. Mr Peters, in typically colourful language, said that he saw "no value in indulging the tired arguments of various former politicians" — before defending the government's foreign policy approach. But indulge them Mr Luxon will likely have to do. In finding language to counter them, he may well find himself grateful that those varied notables raised their voices and offered their opinion.
Kiwiblog
14 hours ago
- Kiwiblog
Guest Post: PM must reverse the ‘Power of General Competence' to stop activism in local government
A guest post by a reader: As powerless ratepayers face the ongoing tyranny of marxist councils over rates bills and the local government minister's repeated demands for sensible spending fall on deaf ears, the Prime Minister continues to ignore the obvious solution. Requests by Simon Watts imploring Tauranga and other councils to rein in the wasteful spending are ignored as renegade mayors like Mahe Drysdale go crazy (like kids in a sweet shop) giving away taxpayer owned land to Maori and other corrupt, wasteful spending. Reversing 'the power of general competence' legislated by socialist Helen in the early 2000s, would force attention back on delivery of essential services, rein in rates rises and improve the standard of living of long suffering rate payers. Unlike Trump who goes in like a bull-at-a-gate and changes things, our PM and ministers stand by wringing their hands timidly asking marxist councillors and staff to do the right thing. This is like so much virtue signalling on an issue Simeon Brown was threatening to address before he was promptly moved to the health ministry early this year…. curiouser and curiouser. Instead a deflecting Willis now turns our attention to a task akin to pushing back the tide: lowering supermarket prices; admirable, but probably impossible. Luxon showed that he is quite capable of some slick sleight of hand when it suits his purposes. (to get a budget over the line) Consider the pay parity bill. Now you see Labour's old version, then, faster than Dynamo, the new improved bill produced out of Brook van Veldon's hat, was passed into law under urgency. If the government genuinely wanted to help struggling New Zealanders they would have begun enacting the bill reversal in 2023. However it suits them to virtue signal and let councils carry out race based policies they profess to be against and can blame them for. They lie. The force working in government, so Luxon doesn't have to, is opportunist Tama Potaka, winning Hamilton West in the 2022 by-election, knowing Labour were heading for the wilderness. Luxon, forgetting his election promises and intent on taking his own path (like Ardern) once in power, has given full rein to Potaka, his Maori spokesperson, a new star. Speaking out on issues, referring to New Zealand as Aoteroa New Zealand in the House and else where without a murmur of dissent from so called tough commentators like Mike Hosking, who has coined the late Bob Jones' 'Maorification of NZ' as his own. When questioned Luxon defers from knowning or owning that nasty term. He mostly leaves that unpalatable stuff to his activist Maori spokesperson. Tut tutting on Twitter (X) when Seymour spoke of 'racist' media questions and of Maori targetted spending as 'racist'. (Seen as the ultimate taboo by the radical media ideologues.) Potaka is all business Tony Vaughn on Breaking Views opines: 'Tama Potaka is not a moderate. He is the acceptable face of racial separatism. A handsome cipher in a navy-blue suit, offering respectable cover for policies that are, in effect, apartheid with PR spin.' I couldn't have put it better. No doubt Potaka had a say in forcing the vote forward on Maori wards to this year's election so even those councils who voted against; their Maori wards have another term before they cease. Seymour folded like a wet umbrella on that one (not being the master of the behind -the-scenes tantrum like Winston) I know our city voted against Maori wards back in 2019 during the year, so come the election that year, there were none. Easy peasy. Luxon fires on all cylinders, speaking with authority, when he is one step removed from the decision. Consider the punishment doled out to to the Maori MPs for their 'Haka of Victimhood' (to quote Shane Jones) with 3 weeks ban and removal of pay. I wouldn't like his chances arguing the point against fiery Collins and Peters. However he can quite rightly say that the powerful privileges committee decision is final. And never waver. In the end they are carrying the can, not him and that is just the way he likes it. He lacks the courage of his convictions, necssary for real leadership. This decision will count in the government's favour, with a public sick of the Maori Party's antics. And it is a just decision considering the baptism of fire Seymour had gone through, from the shonky running of the Treaty Principles Bill's select committee; the ungracious behaviour of 'activists' Luxon and Potaka; with official records which will conceal corrupt counting methods and processes; culminating in a dramatic intimidating adult tantrum gaining global attention for all the wrong reasons. Also given the Maori Party leaders' sketchy attendance record in the House where they get paid whether there or not, losing three weeks pay might just about even it up! The Maori Party, unused to accountability, are finally finding their actions have consequences. Hard of hearing Speaker, Mr Brownlee who could have stopped the clown show before it got underway (by cutting the live feed for a start) will be most unpopular if he, in his quest to incorporate all things Maori into parliament, thinks rude imbecilic behaviour like this counts as 'Te Kanga' (behavioural guidelines for living with others) And here was I under the impression that mythical 'obligations to the treaty' were to be REMOVED not added, as part of the Coalition Agreement. If you are to get your point across you will have to brush up on your tantrum technique, David!
RNZ News
17 hours ago
- RNZ News
Federated Farmers campaign against pine tree planting initiative
Federated Farmers have put up a billboard in Wellington claiming "sheep are not the problem". Photo: Supplied Sheep farmers have stepped up their campaign against the government's reliance on planting pine trees to offset emissions. Under the existing Emissions Trading Scheme, planting pine trees for carbon credits is causing land to be repurposed, as it is generally more profitable to plant pine trees than to farm sheep. Parliament's own environment watchdog has questioned successive governments' reliance on planting trees to meet climate targets. Now, Federated Farmers have put up a billboard in Wellington, claiming "sheep are not the problem". Meat and Wool chair Toby Williams said farming families were being pushed off the land and it was destroying rural communities. He said between 2017 and 2024, more than 260,000 hectares of productive sheep farming land were lost to pine trees. The national sheep flock had reduced from more than 70 million sheep in 1982, to fewer than 25 million sheep today. Federated Farmers wants the government to review the ETS. The government made a series of changes to the legislation in December last year, with the goal of limiting the amount of full farm to forestry conversions. Williams told Midday Report farmers were "really grateful" for those changes, but class 7 land - considered "non-arable" - still had no limit on how much of it could be registered within the ETS. "Quite often what we find is people don't regard that land to be very profitable, or driving a good return, but it's where our ewes live, and our cows live. It's producing the lambs and the calves that we then process into meat," Williams said. New Zealand is the only country in the world that allows 100 percent carbon offsetting through forestry, with other countries putting restrictions in place. Climate change minister Simon Watts has been approached for comment. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
