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Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. In 2025, he was a finalist for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.
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NZ Herald
13 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Tāmaki Makaurau's byelection is really about Willie Jackson and John Tamihere
The byelection was called after the sudden death of Te Pāti Māori's Takutai Moana Tarsh Kemp in July after a battle with kidney disease. Labour list MP and grandson of Sir James Henare, Peeni Henare. Henare is a great orator and is considered, along with New Zealand First's Shane Jones and Te Pāti Māori's Rawiri Waititi, the best te reo Māori speakers in Parliament. He comes from distinguished political lineage and won the Tāmaki Makaurau seat in 2014, 2017 and 2020, only to lose it in 2023. His grandfather Sir James Henare stood for the National Party in five elections between 1946 and 1963 and his father Erima Henare was head of the Māori Language Commission. Henare's mum Te Hemo Ata Henare was a master weaver and his uncle, Māori activist Dun Mihaka, bared his buttocks to Queen Elizabeth II at Waitangi in 1986. While Kaipara doesn't have the same political whakapapa, she can hold her own in the te reo world, having been brought up in the Kura Kaupapa and Wharekura movements. Former broadcaster Oriini Kaipara. She was afforded the privilege to go total immersion, unlike many whānau of her parents' age who were punished for speaking the language. This byelection will not be one of full-frontal attacks – much to the disappointment of the Government, who would rather see Labour and Te Pāti Māori going toe-to-toe at each other. The byelection will be won by the party that can tap into the disillusioned among Māori. At the ballot box in 2023, of the 43,755 registered, only 27,038 actually voted. If Labour is to win, it must call on its strong ground game, door-knocking throughout the electorate and hitting the weekend markets in Avondale, Ōtara, Manukau and Manurewa. Tāmaki Makaurau has the biggest concentration of Māori in New Zealand. No doubt, Te Pāti Māori will also be on the ground but the party's edge comes in its multi-platform social media channels, which connect it to the younger cohort. Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke in Parliament during the debate on the Treaty Principles Bill. Photo / RNZ, Samuel Rillstone Waikato-Tainui MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke has more than 60,000 Facebook followers and 225,000 on Instagram – far exceeding anything Labour can match. Depending on how Jackson and Tamihere pull those levers will determine whether Te Pāti Māori keeps six MPs or Labour increases its number from 34 to 35. Sign up to the Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
21 hours ago
- Scoop
Rats And Mice To Sort Out: Parliament's Tiny Laws
, Editor: The House The bills Parliament considers that are heavily reported by the media are generally the most contentious, the most impactful or the most far-reaching, with special emphasis on the most contentious. Bills that generate little animosity get little attention. Bills that will have scant impact receive scant love. And bills with a geographical reach that is negligible, get about that much coverage. As a result, it is easy to assume that all the things Parliament does are big and important. But sometimes Parliament manages the triple-whammy - a bill that everyone agrees on, which has negligible impact, and is also incredibly specific. So let's break with tradition look at it. This is especially true of two less common types of law: the unusual 'local bills' and the rare, and highly specific 'private bills'. These bills can be brought to the House for debate by any MP and each has a very specific impact. Local bills have a geographically specific impact, while private bills deal with a specific thing, an organisation, group, trust, charity, church, or even a specific person. The topics can be so unlikely that they might be accidentally mistaken for a lacklustre political spoof. On Wednesday for example, the House spent more than an hour on third reading speeches for a bill with an encompassing name - the Auckland Harbour Board and Takapuna Borough Council Empowering Act Amendment Bill, but that affected just one single building. It was not riveting stuff. The MP in charge was National's Simon Watts, who-whether intended ironically or not-rather grandly announced, "This is a moment we have all been waiting for". The bill had an admirable purpose - fixing an issue with the ongoing costs and rental income for a community asset; but why did such a local issue need to be debated and passed by the House? It was a fault of history. As always, history has a lot to answer for. Heritage drafting meets modern needs The background for many modern local and private bills is very similar - fixing problems caused by historic legal drafting. Local organisations (including local government ones), are sometimes brought into being, empowered, or had constitutions enacted under specific legislation, written and passed by Parliament just for them. That includes many things like clubs, churches, amenities, and charities. Even patches of land or parks. That kind of empowering legislation used to be more common many decades ago, but does still happen. Unfortunately drafters are not prophetic seers, and the very specific rules and purposes included in these old laws inevitably cause issues over time. Now, when such an organisation wants to act outside its early restrictions they need Parliament to amend the original law. Let's consider this week's example. The 1923 Harbour Board etcetera law in question included stipulations for the use of a waterside property. Community activities like swimming and watersports were allowed but private gain was specifically outlawed. Just three years later, it became the Takapuna Boating Club but has since fallen into disrepair because it isn't able to raise money, for example from a café, to help cover maintenance costs. And so a new bill was required to carefully loosen those constraints. As Simon Watts noted during the debate: "It is important that while we preserve the community purpose, we don't pass a law that ends up being too restrictive in the future, meaning that another North Shore MP in a hundred years from now will have to come back and lament on the old laws that we're doing right now." That may all seem bizarrely specific and trivial, but it is, sadly, not unusual. Many local (and especially private) bills only exist to fix archaic legislation. In doing so they offer MPs a debate that is refreshingly amicable and without the usual layers of import and consequence. With so little at stake Parliament can be almost fun. Debating everything and very little This debate had MPs reminiscing about beach days, eulogising Sir Peter Blake and talking of plans to play Mahjong at the club. Simon Watts revealed his caucus referred to the bill as the "Takapuna Ice Cream Bill". Cameron Brewer suggested the bill's sponsor would get a weekend ticker tape parade through Takapuna's shopping thoroughfare. There were many oddities, but the highlight may have been ACT MP Simon Court enthusing like an awestruck fan over a dreamy possibility. "I would suggest to the member Mr Steve Abel, who spoke before, that on top of mahjong, there might even be a venue where he might be able to play some of his famous songs that he composed when he was a famous New Zealand folk singer." In the Speaker's chair, National's Barbara Kuriger chortled, "One never knows where one's endorsements might come from". The slightly breathless nature of the debate was helped along by the fact that National Party MPs seemed keen to make it last as long as possible, because they weren't in favour of some member's bills due to be debated afterwards. Governing party MPs get very little exercise in extemporising in the House about so very little. For example, Cameron Brewer's speech seemed to dawdle over every topic he could think of vaguely connected with the locality, including ice cream, cafés, local magazines and long-past America's Cups. He was not alone in the approach. When he finally concluded, Labour's Phil Twyford took the next call: "Well, the member Cameron Brewer did well to remain on his feet for nine minutes and 48 seconds, but it came at a terrible human cost. Those of us in the House this afternoon - we're the living evidence of that."
NZ Herald
a day ago
- NZ Herald
The Big League Podcast look over the Warriors' loss to the Dolphins
Sport Panel joins Ryan Bridge on Herald NOW: Liam Lawson, All Blacks team naming and The Warriors' cruel loss to the Dolphins. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon talks to Ryan Bridge after NZ was slapped with a 15% tariff by US. Video / Herald NOW Newstalk ZB's South Island News Director Claire Sherwood on the senior Labour MP standing down and a new robotic lab for Christchurch. World first research by Auckland University shows effect of fidgeting on the brain function of people with ADHD. Video / Herald NOW Business with 2degrees for Monday 4th August. Video / Herald NOW AT Parking Services group manager John Strawbridge responds after mobility permit holders were fined after new software didn't pick up their permits. Martin Snedden speaks to Ryan Bridge on Herald NOW about the Online Casino Gambling (OCG) Bill and its apparent lack of funding for grassroots sports. NZ Herald Deputy Political Editor Adam Pearse speaks to Ryan Bridge on Herald NOW about New Zealand's response to a 15% US tariff, the National Party conference and changes at NCEA Liam Lawson finishes 8th at the Hungarian Grand Prix and Black Caps pace bowler Nathan Smith is ruled out of the final Cricket test against Zimbabwe. Video / Herald NOW Herald NOW weather for Monday, 4th August 2025. Video / Herald NOW Green Party co-Leader Chlöe Swarbrick on government plans to overhaul conservation land law. Trade Minister Todd McClay intends to negotiate the 15% trade tariff imposed by Donald Trump and a major announcement over the future of NCEA is expected. Video / NZ Herald Reporter Loyalty is at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Kōtuku, where the tamariki are tending the chickens and gardens with the help of George Washington himself. Retail reporter Tom Raynel talks to two former New World Victoria Park workers who allege ageism in Foodstuffs hiring process. Video / Alyse Wright, Jason Dorday
