Parliament to debate Te Pati Maori MPs suspension
Parliament is staring down the barrel of a protracted debate on Tuesday afternoon surrounding the proposed penalty for Te Pati Maori MPs. Deputy political editor Craig McCulloch spoke to Charlotte Cook.
Tags:
To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following:
See terms of use.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Auckland CBD's community engagement model could be used in suburbs
Police Minister Mark Mitchell says a similar model of community engagement as was done in the central city could be implemented in Northcote. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi Social housing, rough sleepers and police responsiveness have been flagged as priorities for Auckland's Northcote community, after a meeting with the police minister this week. The meeting at the Northcote Birkenhead rugby club on Monday night brought together residents and business owners with Police Minister Mark Mitchell, as well as local MP Dan Bidois, police district commander Naila Hassan and other police staff. Mitchell told RNZ the community said to him that they had noticed a change. "I've literally done hundreds of these public meetings around the country over the last few years, and the nice thing is for me is they seem to getting more and more positive in terms of, people are starting to see and notice a real difference in terms of, certainly, on the law and order and pubic safety side of it," he said. Mitchell said managing rough sleepers was a wide issue. "It's been around for a while, we've been working on that in the CBD too," he said. "Often, many of these people have actually got safe homes and beds to go to, it's more of a lifestyle choice where they're coming together as a community, and of course there's all the social issues around them, not only can they cause issues themselves but they can become targets too, for those coming into the CBD." Community members also raised concerns over some residents in local Kāinga Ora housing, with Mitchell focusing on those who did not live up to the "social contract that they have when they're provided tax-payer funded housing". "The government's been far more proactive in making sure that there is actually action taken against those people, because they do cause massive issues in the communities they're in," Mitchell said. There was an expectation that residents in social housing make their communities as safe and harmonious as they could, he said. When it came to the prioritisation of police callouts, a concern voiced by a local shopkeeper, Mitchell said officers had to put greater risk callouts first. "Of course police always have to prioritise, and they always have had to prioritise, it'll be based on risk to human life first and foremost, and then they sort of start working down from there," he said. Mitchell said a similar model of community engagement as was done in the central city could be implemented in Northcote. "I said the model that we used for the Auckland CBD was very effective, and that was bringing all the stakeholders together," he said. "I suggested that [MP for Northcote] Dan Bidois take the lead on that, get everyone together; local board, business associations, residents and ratepayers associations or residents' associations, and the government agencies if they need them, make up a list of what the biggest issues are, and concerns and just start working through it." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
NZ joins allies, puts travel bans on Israeli ministers
New Zealand has joined other countries in putting travel bans on two Israeli government ministers, prompting swift criticism from Israel and a rare rebuke from the United States to its allies. The two men at the centre of the bans: Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich are right wing hardliners who's support is essential to Netanyahu's coalition government. Our government said sanctioning the two men was the right thing to do. But opposition parties said it should have gone much further, much faster, accusing the government of cowardice. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Raising speed limit next to beach 'doesn't make any sense'
The stretch of road next to Hatfields Beach, where the speed limit is rising from 50 km/h to 70 km/h. Photo: Google Maps Increasing the speed limit right next to a beach north of Auckland that has little room for pedestrians to move is "completely illogical", according to a local councillor. The stretch of road on the Hibiscus Coast Highway has gone from 50km/h back up to 70 km/h ass part of the government's policy to reverse Labour's speed limit reductions. The government claims the reduction slowed Kiwis and the economy down, but some locals have complained about the rise in the speed limit, saying the stretch of highway between Orewa village and Hatfields beach is busy with campervans, boats and people crossing the road from the beach to the reserve. In a letter to locals, Auckland Transport said it did not think the change to 70 km/h was "desirable or appropriate", but it was legally obligated to make the change. Auckland councillor for Albany John Watson told Checkpoint the speed increase was completely illogical at this particular location. "You've got the road that is really close to the beach, you've got pedestrians, kite surfers, people with kids going across to the other side of the road, so it's probably the last place where you want the speed to be increased. "There are other places outside that area that can be increased, where ironically enough it's slower on the open road than it is through the beach area. But the beach area is just dangerous, it doesn't make any sense." Photo: AFP He said there was an increasing amount of people going across that stretch of road, and they did not have a lot of room to move. "It's a pretty restricted corridor. So I think it's pretty dangerous, you have a lot of overseas people who have campervans who camp down there, and they're going across to the toilets and stuff, so there is just too much pedestrian traffic right by a beach to really justify that kind of increase." Watson said there were six different speed limits across six kilometres of road in that area. "It goes at 50, then down to 30 through the town zone, out to 50 again, then into 70 - including past the beach - then reduces to 60 when it should actually be increasing, then finally it gets to 80 at the Waiwera Bridge. "And it's changed multiple times since 2020, so it's really confusing, you stick your head out wondering what the speed limit is going to be today, and that's for local people, so goodness knows what it's like for people passing through." He said feedback from locals had been strongly against the raising of the speed limit. "The word that just keeps coming up is 'illogical', it's just not practical, and I don't think there would be too many people who would disagree with that." Transport Minister Chris Bishop has responded to concerns about the increased limit, saying a Road Controlling Authority like Auckland Transport could reverse it - provided the process met requirements. Those requirements included Auckland Transport producing a cost benefit disclosure statement and undertaking public consultation for a minimum of six weeks. Auckland Transport said that based on the level of feedback from the community, it will begin that process by carrying out an initial data collection, then seek local board endorsement to consult on re-lowering the speed limit later in the year. But Watson said it did not feel like a pragmatic response to the issue. "It's getting rolled out across the country and there might be any number of areas where it's working, but in instances like this, it doesn't make any sense." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
