'People will be disgruntled' — leak of National MP talking up Labour policy
He was concerned that retirement village residents would believe National hadn't yet delivered and that Labour was doing something about the issue.
Audio of the meeting was leaked to 1News, featuring Uffindell praising a private member's bill from Labour MP Ingrid Leary.
If drawn out of the tin in Parliament and passed, the bill would require retirement villages to pay, within five days, 10% of what was owed to residents or their families if they moved to higher care levels or died — and the rest within two months.
When asked about reforming the current legislation, Uffindell told the meeting in Mosgiel: "Ingrid Leary... has quite cunningly put forward a member's bill which would address some of this. And she's savvy enough to have garnered up a lot of attention around retirement villages.
ADVERTISEMENT
"And so that's in the pipeline as well. We need to arrest or take the key parts out of that [which] are workable and make sure we build that into something."
The Tauranga MP went on to say that he knew voters were concerned.
"But importantly, it needs to go through the House before the end of this term, because if it hasn't, we're going to have a whole bunch of disgruntled people and retirement villages who all vote and all talk to each other about it. Who will go, 'oh, National hasn't actually delivered and Labour was going to do this'."
Uffindell also told the meeting that he raised the issue with the Prime Minister.
"Maybe every three months or so… the Prime Minister will invite eight to 10 backbenchers up to his office. We sit around and have pizza and Pepsi Max. PM standard diet drinks – a lot of that stuff. Anyway. Went up there. Sat around and he asked us a bunch of questions about a number of different things... One of them he brought up was the Retirement Villages Act. And what we thought about that and [National MP] Tom Rutherford and myself, obviously Bay of Plenty heavy in retirement villages, we said, 'look, we need to do it this term. You know, this is a big issue for a lot of our folks'."
He described Casey Costello, the Minister for Seniors and Tama Potaka, the Associate Minister of Housing as "very accessible", saying they agreed with him that they wanted to bring the reforms forward.
When asked about his comments today, Uffindell said: "[The] Retirement Villages Act review is a really big concern. I go around to a lot of the retirement villages in Tauranga, and I know Tom does in the Bay of Plenty, and you hear a lot of the concern from those residents there.
ADVERTISEMENT
'Ministers Potaka and Costello are looking at how we can improve the current arrangements. We're open to all good ideas out there, and New Zealanders would expect nothing less. National's determined to make sure that we get the legislation right for the retirement villages residents."
Lose votes to Labour?
Asked if he believed that National would lose votes to Labour if they didn't reform the Retirement Villages Act, Uffindell said: "Look, this is a big constituency out there, and they want this issue addressed, and they want us to get on, and that's why our ministers are getting out there and looking at ways that we can improve the Retirement Villages Act so it delivers. And I'm committed to doing my part to delivering for the residents in retirement villages here in Tauranga."
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said: "There was work underway under the previous government around retirement villages. What we said before the election is we'll continue that work and we are. Tama Potaka and also Casey Costello, as the relevant ministers, are leading that work and we'll have more to say about that in the coming months as well."
He didn't directly answer the question about whether National would lose votes to Labour if they didn't reform the act.
"We've been committed since before the election to continue the work around retirement villages and I'm proud of the work the ministers are doing,' he said. "They're very engaged on the issue. They've been talking a lot with people affected on all sides of the proposals and we'll have more to say about that shortly."
Leary: 'Do it because it's the right thing to do'
ADVERTISEMENT
Responding to the leaked audio, Labour MP Ingrid Leary said: "It's great to hear that National Party MPs are supporting my bill, that's the right thing to do. But they should be supporting it because it's the right thing to do, not just because it's politically expedient.
'I think Christopher Luxon needs to show some leadership. We need a law that mandates fair repayments, nothing about incentivising because the only thing that will work in this case is actually requiring the operators to give the money back."
She said the Prime Minister should listen to his backbenchers, acknowledging that Uffindell raised the matter in his office on level 9 of the Beehive.
Leary said she believed there was a lot of public support for her bill.
"I've spoken to numerous seniors and their families who are just really concerned and anxious about having access to their own money. They live with the uncertainty of not knowing when they'll get repaid, if they'll get repaid or if their families will be able to get the benefit of what is their own money,' she said.
'So I really want to see things move quickly. People have been waiting for decades for a change and currently there are people living in retirement villages who really want to see a change and are worried that they may not be around when the law change finally happens. We need to honour and respect them and make sure that we do the right thing by them."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
1News
5 hours ago
- 1News
Job cuts as part of Govt's polytech reform necessary
Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds says a reduction of 600 roles across different polytechnics is necessary to address unsustainable financial deficits as the Government dismantles Te Pūkenga. Ten polytechnics will be re-established from next year 2026, Simmonds announced last week, with differing fates for six other institutions. Simmonds told Q+A the net job losses were necessary to address unsustainable deficits. "It depends where they're coming from. When you've got institutions that are running $11.3 million deficits, you simply cannot carry on with that," she said. "You look at what's causing those deficits. In the WelTec/Whitireia situation, the arts centre here in the middle of Wellington, they were running at a ratio of one staff member to 5.6 students. No school gets that advantage. ADVERTISEMENT "You've got to have a look at where the staff are going to come from, and in some cases, it's just they shouldn't be operating at that ratio." She confirmed "there would be a reduction this year" of roles at some institutions. "There will be further redundancies." Minister confident changes will prove worth Treasury has previously suggested the reforms could risk repeating past failures, saying plans remained focused on supporting institutions' financial viability, "with no clear evidence of how the needs of learners and employers have been considered". Simmonds responded when read the advice: "Treasury gave a range of advice, which Cabinet looked at along with lots of other advice. "We've got evidence over the last five decades of polytechnics being able to be successful to reflect the needs of industries and their community, and so I relied on the history that we'd seen of polytechnics being able to do that successfully." ADVERTISEMENT Before entering politics, the Vocational Education Minister and National MP served as the chief executive of the Southern Institute of Technology. Treasury officials also posited the reforms could create a financial situation "similar, if not worse, than the situation faced by [educational institutions] pre-Te Pūkenga". Asked about assurances that further bailouts wouldn't be needed, she said the institutions "will be set up in the best possible way that they can be". "They will have their debt addressed. They will have their financial pathway to viability. It's then up to communities to make sure that the right people are in the governance roles and the right people are in the management roles, and that they integrate with the community." Simmonds was also pressed about whether some institutions gaining independence were in worse financial positions than those entering federation. "No, not a worse financial position, no. So, some of them will get to sustainability. They'll get to a surplus. In the time they'll take to get to a surplus, they have reserves that can cover them during that time." Labour says new model will drain regions ADVERTISEMENT In response to the Q+A interview, Labour's education spokesperson Shanan Halbert said, the whole point of Te Pūkenga was to make the polytechnic sector more financially viable and ensure more training opportunities and employment in our regions. "The changes announced today will only return the polytechnic sector to a model that was never financially viable – and the result will be major job losses in local areas." Halbert said the Government "could have simply addressed some of the issues" the existing model to avoid the "uncertainty this has had on staff and students". The changes to amalgamate polytechnics and institutes of technology were introduced by the previous Labour government. In her interview, Simmonds was also asked about delays to a ban on single-use plastics, how she had managed her environment portfolio, and on Gore's recent tap water issues. For the full interview, watch the video above Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of New Zealand On Air
1News
5 hours ago
- 1News
'Call me Mr Cash Man': MP seeks protection for hard currency
Self-proclaimed cash advocate and MP Jamie Arbuckle believes his proposed law protecting hard currency transactions is about more than accessibility — it's also about privacy and preventing "Big Brother" surveillance. The New Zealand First MP's members' legislation, the Cash Transactions Protection Bill, would require vendors to accept cash up to the value of $500, with no limits on the amount of cash that must be accepted for essential items like fuel and food. 'There's a real concern across New Zealand that we're becoming a cashless society, and we've got a lot of people who depend on cash,' the MP told Q+A. He said that particularly applied to people living in rural areas, the elderly who are more comfortable using cash than digital systems, and those on low incomes. A self-professed fan of using cash, Arbuckle said, 'cash is king, and you can call me Mr Cash Man if you like.' ADVERTISEMENT 'I've got to tell you right now, I don't like walking into a shop and not being able to pay cash for a coffee.' Composite image by Vania Chandrawidjaja (Source: iStock/1News) But he said in an increasingly digital world, there was a more serious point to be made about the ability to make anonymous payments. 'People are telling me they want to have the ability to use cash, it's a freedom of choice issue.' 'It's really the only true way of having privacy in a transaction. You don't get that with electronic payments. There's always the concern that Big Brother or someone is able to look at where you've been, what you've purchased, so the majority of people have been very positive about protecting cash use.' A Reserve Bank survey released in June 2025 found that — while electronic and debit card use was by far the most common method of making payments — a significant minority of the country continued to use cash regularly. Around 46% of respondents said they used cash 'to pay for everyday things', down slightly from 48% which an equivalent survey found in June 2023. ADVERTISEMENT The survey also found a majority had used cash at least once in the seven days preceding the survey being taken, with approximately 33% of respondents saying they hadn't used cash in the last week, and a further 3.6% saying they would never use cash. Further research undertaken last year by the Reserve Bank found Kiwis value being able to use physical cash. Director of money and cash Ian Woolford said, '84% of respondents were worried about losing access to banknotes and coins, and want assurance that cash will still be issued by the Reserve Bank and not reduced or replaced by digital cash.' 'We'll keep issuing cash for as long as New Zealanders want to use it," he said in December. "We're doing a lot of work to redesign the cash system, including helping retailers through community cash services trials next year in several rural communities lacking over-the-counter bank or ATM services.' Some businesses have moved to being cash-free, but Arbuckle said in his view, it couldn't be an opt-in and opt-out system. 'The majority of businesses hold cash, so we're only talking about a small amount of businesses that would have to change. ADVERTISEMENT "Cash is legal tender, and you should be able to purchase with cash.' He said if the bill is pulled out of the member's bill biscuit tin, he'd welcome feedback from businesses that might be affected during the select committee process. Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of New Zealand On Air
Scoop
10 hours ago
- Scoop
Political cosyism behind 3rd medical school decision-making
On 21 May I was introduced to two new words (always a moment of light excitement for me) by Dr Bryce Edwards, Director of the newly established Integrity Institute which publishes regular Integrity Briefings. On this occasion the new word was 'chumocracy' and 'cosyism': Chumocracy and cosyism. He was referring to the work of Auckland University Professor of Economics Robert MacCulloch who was calling out 'soft corruption' by political and business elites in Aotearoa New Zealand. His focus included government, banks, big business and the rightwing 'thinktank' New Zealand Initiative. Such was the strength and persistence of the hostile response from these elites that he felt sufficiently pressured to close his website. The core of MacCulloch's argument is that New Zealand is run by a 'chumocracy' of elites who are connected by what he calls 'cosyism'. Third medical school announcement These were the words that I began to think about after absorbing the announcement by Health Minister Simeon Brown and Universities Minister Shane Reti early in the afternoon of 21 July that it was proceeding with the proposed third medical school at Waikato University: Official announcement. Later that the same day I was interviewed about the decision on Radio New Zealand's The Panel where my main focus was on the poor process which was likely to lead to an eventual poor outcome: Medical school decision based on poor process. Nearly two years earlier I had outlined my concerns about the Waikato University proposal in an article published by BusinessDesk (26 August 2023): Third medical school caution. What is the third medical school The new medical school is to provide a four-year medical degree for students who already are graduates with a non-medical degree to work as general practitioners (or as other rural doctors) in regional and rural areas. The medical degree at the existing two medical schools, Auckland and Otago, is five years. The advocated expectation is that the proposed Waikato Medical School will be graduating 120 doctors a year once it is up and running. With its opening scheduled for 2028 the first graduates should start working as general practitioners or other rural doctors at the earliest in 2037. This gap comprises both the time at the medical school and the time as resident (junior) doctors in training. Last year the Ministry of Health commissioned a report which advised that that Waikato's teaching model would be similar to the model in Wollongong University, south of Sydney. Reportedly 45% of the latter's graduates become GPs of which around 30% proceeded to work in rural areas. In 2017 the Auckland and Otago medical schools had proposed that they be allowed to jointly establish a new joint 'school of rural medicine'. However, while the previous Labour-led government and Ministry of Health was favourably disposed to this initiative, progress was understandably impeded by the Covid-19 pandemic. In a memo to then Health Minister Shane Reti in September last year, Treasury recommended that Auckland and Otago Medical Schools be asked to present a counter-factual argument to the Waikato proposal. However, it appears that no such invitation was made. Analysis by the Integrity Institute The best commentary I have seen on this decision has come from Bryce Edwards in another Integrity Briefing published the same day as the Government's announcement and after my The Panel interview (21 July): Costly case study in policy capture. Edwards also drew upon the excellent investigative work of Radio New Zealand's Guyan Espinar. Consistent with his above-mentioned piece on 'chumocracy' and 'cosyism' he describes the decision as: … not, at its core, a decision about health policy. It is a decision about political power, influence, and the erosion of good process. This project serves as a textbook case study of policy capture, where the interests of a well-connected institution, amplified by high-powered lobbyists, have overridden expert advice, fiscal prudence, and superior alternatives. Later in his piece he adds: This lack of transparency and due process is antithetical to good governance. The entire Waikato med school saga has unfolded via secret contracts, private lobbying meetings, and politically wired relationships – all largely hidden from the public until journalists and watchdogs pried it into the light. Backing this up Edwards draws upon many questionable process features including: Waikato Vice-Chancellor Professor Neil Quigley working 'hand-in-glove' in 'partisan coordination' with Shane Reti before the last election and promising the proposed school would be 'a 'present' to a future National government'. Waikato University helping pay for the National party's campaign announcement of the medical school plan (about $5,000). Government officials seeing 'red flags' in the proposal including alarm bells ringing from Treasury, the Tertiary Education Commission and the Ministry of Education warning of bloated costs, duplication risks and logistical hurdles. The use of two of the most well-connected lobbyists: initially former Labour senior adviser Neale Jones and more substantially former National cabinet minister Steven Joyce. Joyce's firm was paid about $1 million over three years by Waikato for 'consultancy' (le, leveraging his political influence). Questionable procurement in the way Waikato University hired Joyce leading to a public 'scolding' by the Auditor-General John Ryan. Ignoring the arguably better alternative of expanding the existing Auckland and Otago medical schools which were already running rural immersion schemes and satellite programs geared toward rural health. Edwards does not hold back: At its core, the Waikato medical school saga is an illustration of how not to make public policy. The process has failed every basic test of transparency, public accountability, and evidence-based decision-making. A public university and eager politicians cooked up a major spending initiative as a political favour, greased by lobbyists and implemented via dubious means. The normal checks and balances – open procurement, independent policy analysis, genuine stakeholder consultation – were subverted or ignored. It's the kind of deal that breeds public cynicism in politics, the sense that big decisions are made on behalf of the powerful or the connected, not the public. Further: By greenlighting this project in July 2025, ministers have signalled that political paybacks matter more than prudent spending. They have effectively rewarded a campaign of lobbying and pressure that sidestepped the usual contest of ideas. That sets a horrible precedent. It tells every other vested interest: hire the right insiders, make the right donations or deals, and you too can get the government to write a big cheque, officials' advice be damned. And: The Waikato medical school greenlight might be a political win for a few, but it's a loss for New Zealand's standards of governance. It undermines confidence that our health investments are made wisely and fairly. And it should prompt some soul-searching in Wellington: if this is how we make big decisions now, what does that say about who really runs the country? Unconvincing contrary views There have been contrary analyses supporting the Government's decision which I find unconvincing. Luke Malpass, Stuff Political, Business & Economics Editor and formerly holding a leadership role in the New Zealand Initiative expressed a negative view of current medical schools describing them emotively, but without substantiation, as a 'duopoly'. Writing in The Post (22 July; paywalled) in a flaky critique he dismisses those critical of the process, presumably including Bryce Edwards, as 'weird': Flaky rather than investigative. Two days later Waikato University ethics professor and philosopher Nick Algar wrote a paywalled opinion piece in The Post abstractly arguing that those critical of the Government's were guilty of 'sloppy thinking'. This reminded me of the expression 'pot calling the kettle black': Sloppy thinking in the debate over Waikato medical school | The Post Sloppy analysis of 'sloppy thinking'. He also reminded me of Oscar Wilde on philosophy although without the latter's famous and infamous wit: 'My philosophy? I'm always right and you are wrong.' The last word Let's leave the last word to the action of the Government in releasing its redacted 'cabinet business case' material at 6.45pm last Friday as reported by the Otago Daily Times the following day: Politically expedient timing of third medical school case. This timing has been a common practice of successive governments recognising that this is the most difficult time for media scrutiny before it is taken over by other news. If the difficult to substantiate claim of $50 million savings per year stood up to rigorous scrutiny it would have been released at a time convenient for media scrutiny. But 'chumocracy' and 'cosyism' necessitated otherwise. Ian Powell Otaihanga Second Opinion is a regular health systems blog in New Zealand. Ian Powell is the editor of the health systems blog 'Otaihanga Second Opinion.' He is also a columnist for New Zealand Doctor, occasional columnist for the Sunday Star Times, and contributor to the Victoria University hosted Democracy Project. For over 30 years , until December 2019, he was the Executive Director of Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, the union representing senior doctors and dentists in New Zealand.
