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Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Stormy seas ahead for new skipper
Depending on your political alignment, the swearing in of David Seymour as deputy prime minister on Saturday was either a glorious achievement or the stuff of nightmares. For most though, it will be business as usual. Deputy prime minister is an important role, but not one of grave constitutional importance. It being shared is a novel situation born of this government being a three-way coalition, but it was an eminently practical solution to what might have been a problem if the role had been the sole province of one person for three years. Those who doubt whether Mr Seymour has what it takes to assume command when Christopher Luxon is not about are, presumably, unaware that Mr Seymour has been acting prime minister on several occasions when both Mr Luxon and former deputy prime minister Winston Peters were out of the country. The ship of state was safely kept off the rocks then, as it will no doubt be again when Mr Seymour temporarily assumes the helm: he is a more than capable man, with a firmly ingrained sense of personal responsibility. There are others who believe that the stability of the government will be weakened by a tyro deputy prime minister taking charge, especially one who is given to speaking his mind — and who unapologetically has said that he has no intention of changing that. Those people also forget that Mr Peters is hardly a shrinking violet, and that the coalition remained stable despite some choice outbursts in the past 18 months from the elder statesman of New Zealand politics. Having said all that, much of Mr Seymour's time in the next few months will be spent trying to shepherd through his Regulatory Standards Bill, the second highly controversial piece of legislation he has sought to enact this term. The first was, of course, the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill. Despite the inevitability of it being voted down it still attracted enormous opprobrium and inspired the largest protest march seen in Wellington in many years. Its fallout is still glowing bright, as Parliament considers what to do with the three Te Pati Maori MPs who disrupted the voting on the doomed Bill. Many of those opposed to the Regulatory Standards Bill are the same people, and for many of the same reasons. The Bill is intended to clarify and improve New Zealand's law-making process, and many of the checks and balances which it proposes are not unknown in other countries. However, in this country the Treaty of Waitangi exists as safeguard of the legal rights of Maori, and any attempt to circumvent the Treaty was always going to cause controversy. The Bill itself is largely silent on the Treaty, and its proponent did not mention it at all in his first reading speech. The Opposition surely mentioned it though and spared no punches: "an absolutely vile piece of legislation" was one of the milder condemnations, while Te Pati Maori called on people to mobilise to stop the Bill in its tracks. For Mr Seymour. the Bill is an exercise in cutting the red tape which he claims is holding New Zealand back. He is no doubt right that there are examples of overregulation, and that it can be obstructive to people's individual or corporate endeavours. But some regulations, such as environmental and health standards, exist for good reason and any effort to weaken those protections warrants intense scrutiny. Likewise, so does any attempt to diminish the guarantees afforded by the Treaty of Waitangi, which for all some may wish otherwise remains the foundation stone of New Zealand's existence. The Bill, unlike the Treaty Principles Bill, enjoys the support of both governing parties, albeit that New Zealand First has suggested that it needs improvements. That obviously enhances its chances of becoming law but equally amplifies the opposition to it. Parliament's computer system, which collapsed under the weight of submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill, has staggered again under the welter of opinion on this Bill — almost certainly negative opinion. A full and rigorous select committee process is going to be critical to public acceptance of this proposed law change: it is unfortunate that the committee chose not to extend the public submission period. Mr Seymour's leadership will now be under the spotlight. He will need to exercise Solomonic wisdom, given that battle lines are firmly drawn.
NZ Herald
27-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Labour's support of Te Pāti Māori over haka punishment will be a defining issue for the next election
Te Pati Maori co-leaders Rawiri Waititi (left) and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer were absent during the Budget debate last week. Photo / Mark Mitchell THREE KEY FACTS Unless you watched the Budget live, you likely missed what will be the defining issue of the next election. More on that shortly. This was a Budget designed to push every problem beyond the next election. Its only real merit is that it is better than Labour's
Scoop
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Parliament Website Can't Handle Opposition To Regulatory Standards Bill
Press Release – Te Pati Maori We will continue to organise and activate against these Atlas-sponsored bills that seek to divide and silence us said Te Pti Mori Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The Regulatory Standards Bill Submission Page is already lagging and failing to load just hours after it was made public. 'This is the second time one of David Seymour's Bills has caused the Parliament website to crash' said Te Pāti Māori Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. 'What this shows us is the overwhelming opposition to ACT's anti-Tiriti agenda, and the overwhelming unity of the people. 'We will continue to organise and activate against these Atlas-sponsored bills that seek to divide and silence us' said Ngarewa-Packer.
Scoop
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Parliament Website Can't Handle Opposition To Regulatory Standards Bill
Press Release – Te Pati Maori We will continue to organise and activate against these Atlas-sponsored bills that seek to divide and silence us said Te Pti Mori Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The Regulatory Standards Bill Submission Page is already lagging and failing to load just hours after it was made public. 'This is the second time one of David Seymour's Bills has caused the Parliament website to crash' said Te Pāti Māori Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. 'What this shows us is the overwhelming opposition to ACT's anti-Tiriti agenda, and the overwhelming unity of the people. 'We will continue to organise and activate against these Atlas-sponsored bills that seek to divide and silence us' said Ngarewa-Packer.
RNZ News
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Midday Report Essentials for Wednesday 21 May 2025
In today's episode, The ACT party asked for advice on the full range of possible punishments for Te Pati Maori MPs following last year's Treaty Principles haka - including imprisonment, RNZ today revealed some Southland Hospital staff have been told they could only talk to each other for a maximum of five minutes a day, The Free Speech Union says Tonkin + Taylor is wrong to investigate its employee, after he heckled Winston Peters on his way to work yesterday morning and A Maori production company and film festival has been recognised at the Cannes Film Festival in France.
