Stuff reports:

Embattled Green MP Elizabeth Kerekere has finally spoken out about the party’s investigation into her, hitting out at the co-leaders.

Kerekere told Green Party members, who will ultimately decide her fate, that she believes the Green co-leaders, James Shaw and Marama Davidson, have made it very difficult for her to continue as an MP.

This is a real escalation. If the members now vote to keep Kerekere in a winnable spot, it is an effective vote of no confidence in the co-leaders.

She also denied calling Chlöe Swarbrick “a crybaby”, saying it was actually a response to another message – and she was talking about herself. That crybaby message, which was accidentally sent to the entire Green caucus, led to the Green Party commissioning its own investigation into Kerekere’s conduct – and other bullying allegations surfacing against her.

Sure, you were referring to yourself when you said “OMG, what a crybaby”.

Kerekere broke her silence during a Zoom call with about 400 Green Party members at 8pm on Friday. Sources who attended the meeting told Stuff that Kerekere criticised the investigation process, and said she’d only received its terms of reference on Wednesday.

If correct, that is ridiculous.

Sources from the meeting said Kerekere directly criticised Shaw and Davidson, claiming they had declined opportunities to de-escalate the crybaby saga. She suggested she felt pushed from the party.

Again, hard to see how this ends well.

UPDATE: Kerekere has resigned as a Green Party MP and will sit as an independent until the election.

Green co-leader Marama Davidson is Minister for homelessness. I can only assume she sees her role as to increase homelessness, as that is what has happened on her watch.

In three years she has only managed to author three papers on homelessness to cabinet and nine press releases on the issue, so on average one every four months.

Some Ministers have three papers in one Cabinet meeting!

But the Government did vote to spend $75 million on helping the homeless, but as usual they think the announcement is more important than the delivery. TVNZ reported:

In last year’s Budget, the Government allocated $75 million over four years to fight homelessness, with $12.6 million set aside for this year.

But so far, only $900,000 has been spent.

“A year ago, the Government announced $75 million dollars for homelessness services. Almost a year later, just a million dollars has gone out the door, about 1.3% of the money. It’s staggering incompetence,” National MP Chris Bishop said.

So 1.3% spent of the four year package and not even 10% of the funding for this year spent.

In the House:

Chris Bishop: Why has just over 1 percent of the $75 million announced last year been spent, when 24,000 families are on the housing register and nearly 3,500 households live in emergency housing?

Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: It is absolutely unacceptable that even one person is experiencing housing insecurity. We are very clear that Aotearoa should be a place where everyone has warm, affordable, secure housing where they can put down roots, and I want to be clear that the Budget 2022 funding is only one aspect of this Government’s response to homelessness. Delivery of the Homelessness Action Plan has been ongoing and crucial. There are a range of drivers which contribute to the housing insecurity, and work is under way across Government to address the range of issues, including housing affordability and supply; poverty; access to and availability of social support services and health services—and we know there is definitely still more work to be done. My role in the Homelessness Action Plan has been absolutely crucial to focus the Government’s efforts on preventing and interrupting homelessness.

SPEAKER: That was a lot of information, but it didn’t actually address the basic part of the question. Mr Bishop, do you want another question, or do you want to ask that one again?

Chris Bishop: Oh, I’ll ask that one again, if that’s all right, which—it is very simple—why is only just over 1 percent of the money announced in Budget 2022 in relation to homelessness services being spent a year later?

Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: All of those initiatives are working exactly to plan, and by July 2023—which is what we said they would do—those initiatives will be ready. These are a new way of working; Mr Bishop should move away from the old way of working that simply counted numbers out the door, as opposed to an enduring solution that the communities are authentically helping us to lead, and that absolutely does require the time to get these initiatives right.

SPEAKER: That still doesn’t answer the question. I’m going to give the member an additional question.

Chris Bishop: When she says that these programmes are working exactly as planned, is she telling the House that it was a design feature of the announcement that no or very little money would have gone out the door a year later and the metrics for success, as to analysing the effectiveness of that money, will only be developed once the money starts being spent?

Like shooting fish in a barrel. She keeps saying it is all going to plan with the same fervour and one gets told we have always been at war with Eurasia!

Damien Grant writes:

In the last 50 years, according to the published report, of the 311 wealthy families, only 62 enjoyed an inheritance in the last 50 years, and the total that was transferred was just $411 million, a fraction of the net worth of these individuals. Most received little or nothing at the start of their commercial lives.

The majority of those with serious capital in New Zealand today made their wealth in a free market by providing goods and services on an industrial scale that others were willing to pay for.

The days of the richest people being inherited wealth are long gone, and that is a good thing.

Let’s be honest. The number of citizens who pay more than their “fair share”, if we consider that to be sharing the tax burden equally amongst all of us, is low. There is a small number who do most of the heavy lifting, who pay a huge percentage of the tax burden.

Despite the hysterics of the report, the 311 maligned families paid, according to a graph included in it, roughly $1 billion in tax in the 2021 financial year. 

So 311 families paid 1% of all state revenue. This was higher than in past years, where the average has been 0.5%.

We have the analysis back-to-front. These small number of citizens are the engine of our economy. They are the superstars both in terms of fuelling New Zealand by their innovation, risk-taking and the contribution to employment and commercial life. And on top, they massively subsidise the rest of us with an outsized contribution to the Crown’s reserves.

Well stated. But that won’t stop Labour and Greens coming for them if they win the election.

Stuff reports:

The Green Party is refusing to say how long the investigation into its MP Elizabeth Kerekere will take – in turn fuelling frustration from the party base.

More Green members, who are being asked to rank the party’s members and MPs to form its list, have spoken to Stuff, concerned the party is purposely “dragging out” the bullying investigation into Kerekere.

Multiple members, who had been closely aligned with the party – and had worked closely within the caucus and for MPs – say they’re going to cut ties with the party altogether. They’re angry at how the party is treating Kerekere, an MP who some have alleged is a bully.

It is bizarre that it has dragged on for weeks.

Another source, who as a party member was privy to Green caucus discussions and has been highly involved in the party, said the wider bullying claims were hard to believe.

“I wouldn’t say that Elizabeth Kerekere is the bully in the Green Party caucus,” they said.

“Everyone has their bad days in caucus – but I’ve seen nearly every other MP in the Green Party be a lot meaner to the other MPs in caucus than I have Dr Kerekere… This is not the MP I think they should invest their time into investigating.”

Fascinating. This insider claims that Kerekere is an amateur mean girl compared to other Green MPs. So who is the biggest bully in the Green caucus?

Radio NZ reports:

Police have removed protesters who blocked Wellington traffic on Wednesday morning, this time on Glenmore St, at the city end of the Karori tunnel.

Members of the public challeged the Restore Passenger Rail protesters who blocked transport, including buses.

Liam Hannah, who confronted the protesters, said a man got off a stuck bus saying they were stopping him from getting to hospital for his daughter’s chemotherapy.

They really are scum. They do not care about families. They do not care that they stop thousands of people getting their kids to school on time, getting rot work on time, or getting to chemotherapy on time.

I was very sad to attend the funeral of Stuart Boag this week, who died far too young. Stuart was one of those guys full of life, and did everything with huge enthusiasm.

Stu was the NZ Chairman of Young Nationals in 1982/83 when Muldoon implemented a wage and price freeze. Unlike those who cowered in caucus, Stuart went on television criticising it as being contrary to National Party principles.

Stuart would have been an amazing MP. He had charisma and presence, was a skilled public speaker, and also hugely knowledgable on almost every policy issue. It is a huge shame that Rakaia selected Brian Connell over Stuart in 2002.

I worked in the Beehive with Stuart in the 1990s, and helped him with his Rongotai campaign in 1999. Stuart was often the life of the party, and was unfailingly keen to go out to Steamboat at some stage after midnight and karaoke for many hours. At his funeral, the best moment for me was when his (adult) son got up to do a reading, and put on sunglasses in Old St Paul’s and performed as the Reverend Cleophus James from Blues Brothers. It was the perfect tribute to his Dad. Having the theme music for Hawaii-5-0 play as his coffin was marched out was a close second.

Stu did so much. He was a North Canterbury farmer, he was a huge part of the Wellington Business Gold Awards, he had a key role in the education export industry but the area he was most passionate about was the military.

In 1990 he was the NZ Mastermind runner-up (to Hamish McDouall) on the topic of Dreadnoughts, Battleships and Battlecruisers since 1906. He actually got the highest score of the four in the specialist topic, but lost by just one point after general knowledge.

Stuart got to put his huge knowledge of military hardware to great use when he was a senior advisor to Defence Minister Wayne Mapp, followed by over 11 years at the Ministry of Defence as a senior manager in their capability branch. At his funeral were many many MOD staff plus all three service chiefs. We heard how he was an inspiring member of their team.

Cancer took him far too young, but he will not be forgotten.

If this is correct, that is appalling. If she resigned from the parliamentary Labour Party in writing, then the Electoral Act is clear – she is no longer an MP. You can’t retract such a letter after the fact, just because you didn’t realise what the impact would be.

We now have a farcical situation where she is a Labour Party MP, a Māori Party MP and an Independent MP all at the same time.

The Speaker should release all correspondence he has had with Whaitiri and the Labour and Maori Parties on this issue. Whether or not she is till an MP should not be something decided behind closed doors with no sunlight. Let us see for ourselves what she wrote.

I’ve also heard that Finance Minister Grant Robertson spent several hours with the Speaker yesterday. Why? Was he advising him on what to do?

The Hansard from Wednesday shows the Speaker struggling to explain how he can declare she is an Independent MP, but also still a Labour Party MP.

As a leader of schools I have never made public stands on sexuality. The clear reason for that is that all good teachers lead/teach without fear or favour and must care for every child and family as they come to us.

We have always had many families of Christian and other faiths within schools I have been involved with. Our promise to them, and all families, is that our provisions would not contradict the home values and parents are paramount – not the school/system. My stand has always been that sex and sexuality education belongs in the home – not the school. This is very much the stand that the nationwide online school Mt Hobson Academy Connected take. I helped the school establish but am no longer actively involved – it is a great option for parents with concerns about what and how their children are taught.

As this government often does; they have written a form of curriculum – in this case: Relationships and sexuality education: A guide for teachers, leaders and boards of trustees. Boards of Trustees and schools are currently having to do a huge amount of work on this and are supposed to be fully consulting with their communities. The two key guides cover Years 1 – 8 and Years 9 – 13. Their aim is that “relationships and sexuality education” is woven through every subject area and the documents make suggestions for how to include it is subjects such and English, Math and Science.

As per normal much of the documentation is wordy and has to be dug through for clear understandings of implications to be gained. However it is worth every parent and grandparent doing so.

Key questions to ask:
– Will the implementation of this curriculum wide programme enhance my child’s learning and improve their future outlook?
– Are schools the place for children to be told what to think ideologically – particularly where views may strongly clash with those of the family?
– Is this a programme that will get more children back to school and engaged in learning?

This is where the documents are located: https://hpe.tki.org.nz/guidelines-and-policies/relationships-and-sexuality-education/

It is worth sharing through your networks. If you have questions or concerns the comments are a good place to express them. Keep in mind – it is up to parents to engage with their schools and that every parent has a right to attend Board of Trustee meetings and those must be notified.

The Herald reports:

Tesla owners have been the big winners of the Government’s clean car discount to date, with the buyers of 9730 Teslas getting a combined total of $83m in rebates from the scheme since it began in July 2021 – averaging about $8500 a car.

It’s nice the Government is doing something to help those struggling Tesla owners. Also nice they are helping Elon Musk regain some of the money he lost on Twitter!

The list of suburbs is not the roll call of well-heeled suburbs you might think with Manukau and Henderson bringing up the rear of the list which also includes Remuera, Ellerslie and Epsom. Brown noted that some suburbs that had large numbers of registrations could show the effect of companies registering their vehicle fleets, which are eligible for the subsidy.

Large numbers of companies and organisations have claimed the subsidy. Data from written Parliamentary Questions show more than $97m has been claimed by companies and organisations in the period to the end of February. Indeed, some car companies have been getting the subsidy by purchasing EVs, although the data does not show whether the EVs were their own. Tesla New Zealand received $327,375, and three Toyota organisations have claimed more than $2.2m.

Brown said the representation of wealthy suburbs on the list indicated the discount was a “reverse Robin Hood scheme where it is taking from people who don’t have a choice in terms of what they have to buy and giving it to people who do in terms of these vehicles”.

It’s also nice they are helping the struggling people of Remuera.

I remind people that the scheme also does not reduce GG emissions one gram, as transport is in the ETS. It simply reallocates the emissions to other sectors.

NewstalkZB reports:

National MP Judith Collins has stepped in to assist the owner of a house demolished by a group of 22 people the night former tenants were evicted.

Collins, the local MP for Papakura, has been in contact with the man, who only wants to be known as Sandhu, after the group kicked in walls, smashed all of the windows, ripped out kitchen and bathroom cabinets and left water running at the property on April 17.

The property has been left untouched awaiting police and insurance assessment.

Sandhu was upset by a “lack of communication” from Police but this week Collins assured him they were investigating after speaking to a dectective at the Counties Manukau CIB.

Collins was told police had conducted a full scene investigation and taken samples from the Papakura property.

It’s obvious those responsible are connected to the evicted tenants. The Police should throw the book at them.

Sandhu said he was under pressure to get the property repaired because he was struggling to pay the mortgage of $900 a week.

He was working full-time and driving for Uber at night to make ends meet.

Poor bastard.

Sandhu said he hoped police would find the group responsible so he could move on.

He was shocked at the level of destruction.

“On the first night there were 22 or more people and they went around smashing everything up and turned taps on so it flooded,” he said.

“Then they have been back to the property again and left dead fish there and then about 12 people came back again and smashed up what was left.”

The property manager for the property said the former tenants had been evicted and had moved out that day.

They were ordered to leave through the tenancy tribunal because of unpaid rent and water charges and denying access to the property for inspections.

What you have here is a severe case of entitlementitis. They obviously thought that they should be allowed to live there rent free, and in a fit of picque trashed it when evicted.

Not only should they be prosecuted, but they should be publicly identified so other landlords can avoid them.

Stuff reports:

“This morning I have notified the Speaker I have resigned from the NZ Labour Party,” Whaitiri said, adding she would sit with Te Pāti Māori as the MP for Ikaroa Rāwhiti.

By notifying the Speaker, she may have caused her seat to become vacant. S 55(2) of the Electoral Act states:

The seat of a member of Parliament to whom this section applies becomes vacant if the member of Parliament ceases to be a parliamentary member of the political party for which the member of Parliament was elected.

And this can be triggered by a party leader or by the MP themselves. S55B(c) states such a letter from the MP must state they have resigned from the parliamentary membership of the political party for which they were elected and wishes to be recognised for parliamentary purposes as a member of another political party.

It may depend on the exact wording of the letter, but it sounds like it may trigger the Electoral Act in which case she is out of Parliament and won’t be sitting with anyone.

If so, then no by-election will be held if 75% of MPs vote not to have one.

Te Ao Maori News reports:

Labour cabinet minister Meka Whaitiri is expected to resign from Labour and stand as a candidate for the Māori Party in the upcoming election.

Te Ao Māori News has been told Whaitiri will make a formal announcement tomorrow at Waipatu Marae in Hastings.

This is pretty huge. She is a serving Minister and there has been no big policy dispute, like Turia had over Foreshore and Seabed.

It’s a huge blow to Labour. They probably won’t keep the seat at the election, and having a Minister defect looks like a sinking ship.

I suspect her jumping is partially because she was not promoted back into Cabinet.

It is great for the Māori Party. They now have a very good chance of winning three electorates, and this gives them momentum to maybe get even more. Former Labour MP Louisa Wall is also likely to stand for them.

But there is a downside. The more seats the Māori Party wins, the more likely it is that after the election we get a Labour/Green/Māori Party coalition Government. This Government would be the most radical in our history, and beyond doubt equality of suffrage will be on the negotiating table for at least local elections.

The April 2023 Roy Morgan is out.

Party Vote

• Labour 30.0% (-3.0% from March)
• National 32.0% (nc)
• Greens 12.0% (+1.5%)
• ACT 12.5% (-0.5%)
• Maori 4.5% (+2.5%)
• NZ First 4.5% (+1.5)
• TOP 2.0% (-1.5%)
• DemocracyNZ 1.5%
• New Conservatives 0.5% (-0.5%)

Seats

• Labour 40 (-25 from election)
• National 42 (+9)
• Greens 16 (+6)
• ACT 16 (+6)
• Maori 6 (+4)

Governments

• Labour/Green 56/120
• National/ACT 58/120
• Labour/Green/Maori 62

Direction

• Right 35.0% (+3.5%)
• Wrong 55.0% (+2.5%)

Data from Ministry of Health.

In 2009 our immunisation rates for two year olds was terrible. One in five two year olds were not vaccinated and one in four Maori two year olds not vaccinated.

Setting clear targets of 95% fully vaccinated, backed by effective leadership was both rates rise to almost 95% by 2012 and stay between 90% and 95% for five years. The Maori rate even exceeded the overall rate briefly. This mean only around one in 20 kids were unvaccinated.

Today once again almost one in five kids are not fully vaccinated, but it is even worse for Maori two year olds with one in three not fully vaccinated. This will have devastating impacts down the road.

The Government talks and talks and talks about wanting to improve health outcomes for Maori and sets up all sorts of boards and committees and working groups, but the actual outcomes are heading into disaster territory.

There is an obvious huge lack of trust now with many Maori parents in vaccinations. This is something that will be hard to solve. It will require leadership at the local level, not just centrally.

The Herald reports:

Green MP Elizabeth Kerekere’s standing has been bolstered by the endorsement of a group of left wing members of the Green Party.

The GreenLeft Network (GLN), an organisation of members on the left of the party, has endorsed Kerekere as a preferred candidate in the party’s list ranking process, effectively calling on members to rank her highly. The endorsement was included in an email to members, obtained by the Herald.

The left faction of the Greens are the ones who think Pol Pot was a centrist.

Candidates’ position on that list will determine whether they are likely to make it into Parliament after the election. The GLN has endorsed 10 candidates, including three sitting MPs, Kerekere, Teanau Tuiono, and Ricardo Menéndez March.

So Chloe and Marama are not left enough for the Marxist faction. I guess that is a point in their favour.

Stuff reports:

Roughly half of the bosses of a new national mega-polytechnic are not based in Hamilton – its purported headquarters.

The revelation has prompted suggestions of a creep by Te Pūkenga away from a loudly proclaimed commitment to basing the organisation in the regions and instead towards using its Ōtara campus as a de facto HQ.

In 2019 then Education Minister Chris Hipkins said the organisation’s head office would not be in Auckland or Wellington. …

The wording of the ad appeared to suggest the CEO was based in that city, Davis said, and there were a number of members of the executive leadership team (ELT) from Auckland.

“A head office includes the office of the CEO…head office is now in Auckland”.

That seemed to be at odds with earlier moves to have HQ outside Auckland or Wellington rather than be a “big centralised bureaucracy”, Davis said.

In a statement earlier this month, Te Pūkenga said Hamilton continued to be used as a national office, with the ELT meeting once a week at the Ōtara campus “spending the balance of their time working in virtual teams or engaging with our kaimahi (staff) across the country”.

Of 80 national roles, 19 were based in Hamilton and the rest throughout the country, the statement said.

So the CEO is based in Auckland, the ELT meets weekly in Auckland and less than 25% of national staff are based in Hamilton.

It is clear that Hamilton is not the Head Office in any meaningful way. Which would be fine, except Chris Hip[kins promised it would be.

UPDATED: 19 JUNE 2023

As a useful reference for people, here is a summary of the major aspect of the policies released by National so far. They are:

• Adjust tax brackets for inflation
• Making repayments (up to $22,500) of student loans (which gives them an effective pay rise) for nurses and midwives if they bond to work in NZ for at least five years
• Require all primary schools to spend an average of an hour a day on reading, an hour a day on writing, and an hour a day on maths.
• A 25% tax rebate on your childcare costs of up to $75 per week
• Ban gang members from legally accessing guns
• Bonus payment of $1000 for under 25-year-olds on welfare who remain off benefit for 12 months
• Introduce a 2-for-1 rule – for every new agriculture regulation, two must be removed.
• Require decisions on resource consents for renewable electricity projects to be issued in one year and consents to last for 35 years
• Repeal Three Waters but set strict rules for water quality, and for investment in infrastructure
• Young Serious Offenders to be sent to a Young Offender Military Academy, or electronic monitoring, or being subject to an intensive supervision order in their community.
• Remove the ban on gene editing in New Zealand
• Make gang membership an explicit aggravating factor for criminal sentencing

This is not a list of all policies. It is a one sentence summary of some of them.

The Post reports:

Power is the currency wielded in the capital but who really holds it?

Former prime ministers from Helen Clark to John Key, Bill English and Jacinda Ardern built a coterie of backroom alliances and networks they reached out to, but new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, by his admission, dances to his own tune.

Absent are close advisers in business, academia and community leaders, aside from a trusted and longstanding network of political confidants. Hipkins counts the political intel gleaned from the local sports field and Pak N’ Save as most valuable.

“I don’t have a huge advisory network outside of Parliament in any formal way,” Hipkins said.

This is very different to John Key. Key was constantly on the phone to people outside the political beltway. He would spend hours chatting to bank economists, company CEOs and others to get their read on the economy, the country etc. It is part of what made him successful is that he was in touch with people whose jobs are not full-time politics.

The fact Hipkins has no one at all outside the political elite that he talks to, is a weakness for him. He has pretty good natural instincts, but only listening to those in the political elite risks you getting a one sided view of the country.