Te Pāti Māori announces Ikaroa-Rāwhiti candidate Hayley Maxwell
Haley Maxwell co-ordinated the Toitu Te Tiriti hīkoi in Gisborne.
By Russell Palmer of RNZ
Te Pāti Māori has announced Haley Maxwell will stand for next year's general election - for the one Māori seat currently held by Labour.
Maxwell helped organise the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti in the region last year.
'Haley Maxwell spearheaded the historic Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti from Te Tairāwhiti right through to Kahungunu. Haley embodies the fierce compassion and courage that Ikaroa-Rāwhiti is famous for,' Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said in a written statement.
'She has stood on the marae, in the courts and on the streets for our people. Parliament will be a stronger house with her voice echoing the roar of Te Tairāwhiti.'
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NZ Herald
4 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Green MP Tamatha Paul on trying to navigate a fine line
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The highlight of Tamatha Paul's trip was meeting a housing adviser to New York socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Photo / Mark Mitchell One of the things she wanted to get out of the US trip was to find out how people were feeling under the second Donald Trump Administration. 'I also wanted to figure out where the Left went so deeply wrong over there and bring those lessons back for us,' she said. 'We met more Democrat adjacent people than Republican adjacent people, and their reads on the situation were pretty similar around the kind of alienation of the working class and kind of intellectual elitism that the Left can sometimes be guilty of. 'That turned a lot of working-class voters off the Left and towards Trump. So that was a good lesson, I think.' She was pleasantly surprised by how the group got on, including Stephenson, the Act MP. 'I wasn't expecting us to be at war with each other, but I was expecting a few cheeky jabs here and there in some of our meetings, but it was actually really good. 'Being able to talk to Todd like a human being was nice. But I think a lot of the value I took from it was observing Gerry and observing Barbara.' Brownlee seemed to have an appreciation for young people who were genuinely curious about why things were the way they were, she said. And Edmonds was a sharp, brown woman carving out a space on how to take the economy forward. But the highlight of the trip for Paul was meeting Cea Weaver, who wrote the housing policy for New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's mayoral campaign, including rent freezes, greater funding for public housing and taking on 'big New York City landlords.' Mamdani has become an instant magnet for the left across the world, including Paul, having won the Democratic primary for the November election by presenting unapologetically left-wing policies rather than hugging the safety of the centre. 'I really wanted to meet him,' she said. 'But then meeting [Weaver] was just as good to understand how that would work for them. That was probably the best part of the trip for me.' Paul has an impressive line-up of portfolio responsibilities, all of which she sought: Housing, Corrections, Police, Youth, Youth Justice, Maori justice issues and the Government response to March 15. And she has some deep personal connection to most of those areas. Speaking in Parliament last year about abuse in state care, she talked about one of her grandfathers 'who ended up in a borstal in the 1970s, where he was subject to seclusion—which is solitary confinement for kids—where he was subject to a number one diet [bread and water], where he was showered by being hosed down with a fire hose. That is why I refuse to accept that this House continues to perpetuate the same conditions that he had to endure, because he deserved better.' It is one of the reasons she is so adamantly opposed to boot camps. In an interview with E-Tangata online magazine before becoming an MP, she recounted how her father was refused entry to Australia to be with his dying brother. 'When my parents landed in Brisbane, they were met with M5 assault rifles,' she told Dale Husband. 'They weren't allowed to enter Australia because of crimes that my dad had committed more than a decade earlier. Despite being honest and hardworking ever since. Despite the fact that he'd been homeless and alone from the age of 14 and had been forced to commit crime to survive.' He had been brought up in complete poverty, she tells me. 'I come from a family where there is a lot of trauma, and that informs the way I do what I do, and that's why I care a lot. 'I think people can disagree with what I say, but they can't argue that I don't care about these issues because I can see the impacts that our systems have on people. 'At the end of the day, it comes down to the fact that if people do not have the basics to live, they're going to have absolute crap lives and make absolutely terrible and incomprehensible decisions. And I think we can eliminate that risk if people just have what they need.' Tamatha Paul, the youngest of seven, was the first of her family to go to university. She was dux of Tokoroa High School in 2015, she got a BA at Victoria University, funding her studies from work at KFC and the Tokoroa Club and a Victoria scholarship. 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As Corrections spokesperson, she has exercised the statutory right of MPs to visit any prison and has visited 15 of them, with only three to go. 'You can ask to see anything you want,' she said. She said she was usually accompanied by a senior team leader and she was able to talk to people randomly, not handpicked people. 'I'll just walk through a landing or a wing.' 'There's things I look at at every site, which is usually 'show me a standard cell, show me your ISU, your intensive support unit, show me your rehabilitation spaces. 'The sad thing I've seen is that effective rehabilitation is not happening.' The only scary time Tamatha Paul had in prison was when six staff escorted her around Paremoremo. Photo / Mark Mitchell She had never felt unsafe, although there was one time when she had high security touring Paremoremo with six staff. 'It was actually scary because of that.' Some of her comments around prisons have made her a target for the Government MPs. She said on TikTok that the vast majority of people were in prison for non-violent crimes – which she later acknowledged was not true – and that most people were in prison because of disabilities, conditions like fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, and undiagnosed autism or ADHD. 'They're being punished for being disabled, they're being punished for being poor, they're being punished for being Māori, they're being punished for our system that we have in our country,' she said at the time. She was then rubbished by the Government for claiming a woman was in prison for having stolen $12 worth of goods. Last month, in criticising changes to shoplifting laws, she said if people did not have enough money for food, they would turn towards shoplifting. That was characterised by the Government as giving the green light to shoplifting. Controversy has also centred on her responsibility for Police. While she has never called for the defunding or abolition of the Police, she told her social media followers in March she would be speaking to a policing forum in Christchurch with Peace Action Ōtautahi 'to talk about the Police and what alternatives we could have to the Police and what radical kind of Police abolition could look like in real terms'. At the forum, she said: 'Wellington people do not want to see police officers everywhere, and, for a lot of people, it makes them feel less safe. It's that constant visual presence that tells you that you might not be safe there if there's heaps of cops,' she said at the time. 'All [the police] do is walk around all day, waiting for homeless people to leave their spot, packing their stuff up and throwing it in the bin.' The Government was making a big deal of having more police on the beat at the time and she was branded as being in 'la la land'. 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When she gave her maiden speech in Parliament in February last year, she was a renter living with five flatmates in the Aro Valley and her English Bulldog, Biggie. She remains a renter but has moved to a flat in the sunnier hills of Brooklyn that she shares with her partner and his dog Max. Unwinding involves spending time with Biggie in places such as Red Rocks, and in creative pursuits such as drawing, painting, music and fashion. At present she is doing as much sewing as she can. Hence, the revelation about the New York origins of her highly tailored shirt, which, no, she didn't make. 'I love fashion so much,' she said. 'You can just take so much from a person based on what they are wearing and the way they present themselves to the world. 'And I just like making stuff. I like thinking about 'if you deconstructed something, how would you put it back together and like, how can you make something have a good form or good structure, and what kind of materials do you use for what? Paul is one of three Green MPs who have an electorate, the others being Julie-Anne Genter in Rongotai and Chloe Swarbrick in Auckland Central. Paul beat former Labour list MP Ibrahim Omer by 6066 votes in the usually safe Labour seat after it was vacated by former Labour Deputy leader Grant Robertson. The seat is expected to be harder to win next year after significant boundary changes. So how does she enjoy being an electorate MP? 'Oh, I love it,' says Paul. 'It makes me feel a lot more grounded.' 'Sure, we can talk about laws, we can talk about the choices the Government is making, but I can see what the real-life impact is because I've met with the woman who has applied for 400 jobs and been declined for every one or I've met with a man who's now on a job-seeker benefit', even though he was working Te Wahtu Ora's IT. She is definitely up for standing for the seat again next year. 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RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
A tobacco product tax cut slated for one year has been extended by two
NZ First's Casey Costello is the minister responsible for tobacco policy. Photo: VNP / Louis Collins The tax break for Heated Tobacco Products (HTPs) made by Phillip Morris has been extended for an extra two years. In July 2024, the government cut the tax on HTPs in half , in what it said would be a one-year trial subject to an evaluation. But NZ First Associate Health Minister Casey Costello told RNZ the evaluation would now be done in July 2027 and the reduced tax rate would apply to HTPs at least until then. Labour's health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said the extension of the tax cut was striking, given the strain on the health system. "This government has the wrong priorities. It is giving tax breaks to tobacco companies now valued at over $300 million and the evaluation they promised, to check that it was helpful, is a total sham." Costello cut the HTP tax rate by 50 percent last year, with the aim that cheaper prices may encourage people to switch from cigarettes to HTPs. The cut was made despite health officials telling Costello there was no evidence HTPs worked to stop people smoking or were significantly safer than cigarettes . Costello told Cabinet she had her own "independent advice" which, when she released it later, turned out to be five articles that were either about different products, outdated, or offered only weak support for her view. Treasury said Philip Morris had a monopoly in the HTP market in New Zealand and would be the main beneficiary of the move. Costello's office told RNZ the tax cut trial would be extended because Philip Morris had to pull its IQOS device from sale last year , as it did not comply with requirements for vaping devices to have a removable battery. Last week, Costello ditched the requirement for removable batteries, saying Cabinet was advised this was the best way to resolve legal action from Mason Corporation, which owns the Shosha vape store chain. A spokesman for the Minister said with HTPs off the market for months last year, the original plan for an evaluation after one year did not make sense. "There wasn't an evaluation because of the withdrawal of HTPs from the market. Any report back would be meaningless as the cheaper HTPs were only available for two months," the spokesman said. "Cabinet agreed to extending the HTP review to July 2027 as there will be more market data available." The spokesman said the evaluation would then be able to show whether "a sustained price reduction encouraged uptake by smokers" and if it had helped reduce smoking. The assessment would also look at whether HTP use "encouraged smokers away from vapes" and the extent of "unintended uptake by young people". A March 2025 Ministry of Health (MOH) briefing to Costello, focused on how to evaluate the HTP tax cut, said Philip Morris had not initially passed on the excise reduction to consumers. "There was no price change passed through to customers for the first month, though this is an observation of value in and of itself," the MOH said. The briefing, obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act, said Philip Morris had to pull its IQOS device just three months into the tax cut trial. "All HTP devices were removed from the market in New Zealand due to not meeting new safety regulations. This has meant there have been no HTP devices available for purchase for at least 5 months of the 12-month trial period." Costello has said that HTPs "have a similar risk profile to vapes", but officials from Treasury and Ministry of Health advised her they were much more harmful than vaping. In its March briefing, the MOH told Costello it would be difficult to assess whether people using HTPs had decreased their harm or not. "While we will be able to assess whether the percentage of current or recent smokers who use HTPs increases, we will not be able to track whether those same people were previously using, or likely to use vapes, for example, whether they moved from a safer alternate product to a more harmful one." Verrall said the onus should be on Philip Morris to prove its product was safe. "There is no reason why the government should be running a study for Philip Morris to help get its products used," she said. "This product is not a health product. It is a harmful product." Verrall said the latest update from the Treasury showed the HTP tax cut was forecast to cost up to $293 million if continued until 2029. "It's deeply worrying when our health system is underfunded that the government is giving away $300 million to the benefit of a single company with links to one of the coalition partners," Verrall said. The extension of the tax break for the Philip Morris products comes after RNZ published documents alleging a close relationship between NZ First and the tobacco giant . The documents, released in litigation against US vaping company JUUL, allege Philip Morris pitched draft legislation to NZ First as part of a lobbying campaign for its HTPs. The documents claim Philip Morris corporate affairs staff "reached out to NZ First to try and secure regulation to advantage IQOS". A lobbying firm advising JUUL claimed that NZ First leader Winston Peters had a relationship with Philip Morris and also that "any regulation he champions is likely to be very industry friendly and highly geared towards commercial interests in the sector". Peters did not address the allegations that NZ First received material from Philip Morris, but said RNZ's story was a "tissue of baseless accusations" and that engagement with the tobacco industry was legitimate. "Multiple government departments have themselves proactively reached out to, and met with, 'big tobacco' for direct feedback and advice on tobacco legislation," he said, in a post on X. Health Coalition Aotearoa and Vape-Free Kids want Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to strip NZ First of the tobacco and vaping portfolio but he says Costello is doing a great job. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
14 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Nicola Willis criticised for cost of living ‘sermon' during post-Cabinet press conference
'Spending more, taxing and borrowing more as Labour and other parties advocate for, didn't work in the past and it won't work in the future,' Luxon said. Finance Minister Nicola Willis during the post-Cabinet Press conference at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell 'The most important thing we can do to make you better off is to double down on our economic plan,' he said. Hipkins called Willis' and Luxon's address a 'sermon' that showed the pair was out of touch with the daily reality of New Zealanders. Although the party said they were going to get 'New Zealand back on track' as per their election campaign slogan, Hipkins claimed 'across the board, New Zealanders can see the country is going backwards.' 'Yet Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis just say – 'oh, that's all part of the plan, we've got this' – they haven't got it. 'Things are getting worse for the vast majority of New Zealanders and no amount of spin from them is going to change the reality that things are getting worse for New Zealanders under their leadership. 'I think we should start calling them Fisher and Paykel because they've got more spin than a front load washing machine.' Tax relief was a major part of National's 2023 election campaign amid flaring inflation and a cost of living crisis. The party campaigned on a series of policies aimed at helping the 'squeezed middle', including adjusting tax rates, increasing tax credits and FamilyBoost. These policies came into effect in July last year. Willis said today the average household is $1,560 better off after the Government's tax relief package. 'We have also introduced FamilyBoost, which with the latest expansion gives families up to 40 per cent off their childcare costs. 'We have removed the Auckland fuel tax, introduced 12-month prescriptions, increased the rates rebate for 66,000 seniors and increased Working for Families payments.' Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon arriving for the post-Cabinet Press conference. Photo / Mark Mitchell Luxon stressed that a year and half into the term, he and his party were still fixated on improving the economy and the cost of living. Things were still tough for many families but the economy was 'expected to grow on average 2.7% per year creating 240,000 jobs over the next four years. 'In the short term we are pulling every lever we can to help Kiwi families with the cost of living.' The Government also announced the scrapping of surcharges at the till, such as when a customer uses PayWave or their mobile phone to make a payment. 'New Zealanders are paying up to $150 million in surcharges every year. That's money that could be saved or spent elsewhere.' Luxon also said the changes the Government were making to construction would help reduce costs for businesses and New Zealanders. Earlier in the day, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden announced she would review safety rules for scaffolding, saying she had received many complaints from the construction industry that current regulations were too complex and expensive. Van Velden was light on the details of what specifically would be reviewed, but said officials would consult on proposed new rules that would give people a selection of safety options depending on how dangerous the job was. 'If it's not very risky, they will not need to use expensive scaffolding. 'For example, they will be considering whether a ladder could be used instead of scaffolding for a simple roof gutter repair or minor electrical maintenance when working at height.'
