Stuff reports:

Stronger productivity growth and structural economic changes are the only ways to deliver lasting gains in purchasing power for New Zealanders, according to the Reserve Bank.

While monetary policy can anchor prices through low and stable inflation, it cannot make the country more affordable on its own.

This is absolutely correct. You can’t legislate higher standards of living.

To achieve this, the central bank lead economist called for evolving structural policies that encourage competition, innovation, investment, and global engagement.

I can just imagine all the Labour/Greens/Te Pati Maori policies that will encourage innovation and investment!

The Herald reports:

Police allege the woman at the centre of the Jevon McSkimming controversy – known as Ms Z – sent dozens of “threatening” and “highly disparaging” emails to the wife of the detective investigating her. 

Some of the emails are said to have made “highly offensive” sexualised remarks about the complainant’s young children. …

She found details of her employer and job title and started sending emails to her work address, copying in senior police officers, the Lower Hutt mayor and a journalist.

The emails referred to the complainant’s young children, the police summary says.

Two things can both be true:

• Ms Z was manipulated by Jevon McSkimming and the Police horribly failed her by not properly investigating her complaints against her
• Ms Z acted appallingly in targeting the wife of a police officer with a barrage of sick e-mails

You can be a victim and a victimiser.

In response to that story, Ms Z told the Herald: “I accept not every step I took in raising my concerns was the right one.”

That’s putting it mildly.

Out of the Ministry

• Judith Collins (soon to be Law Commission President)
• Shane Reti (retiring at election)

Into Cabinet

• Chris Penk
• Penny Simmonds

Into Ministry

• Cameron Brewer
• Mike Butterick

Portfolio changes

• Associate Agriculture: Butterick
• Attorney-General: from Collins to Bishop
• Auckland: From Brown to Watts
• Defence: from Collins to Penk
• Commerce: from Simpson to Brewer
• Consumer Affairs: from Simpson to Brewer
• Digitising Government: from Collins to Goldsmith
• Energy: From Watts to Brown
• Environment: From Simmonds to Grigg
• GCSB/SIS: from Collins to Penk
• Associate Immigration: from Penk to Brewer
• Land Information: From Penk to Butterick
• Leader of House: From Bishop to Upston
• Deputy Leader of House: From Upston to Simpson
• Associate National Security: Mitchell
• Pacific: from Reti to Goldsmith
• Public Service: from Collins to Goldsmith
• Science: from Reti to Simmonds
• Small Business: From Penk to Brewer
• Space: from Collins to Penk
• Asociate Sport: From Bishop to no-one
• Statistics: from Reti to Simpson
• Universities: from Reti to Simmonds

Also Campaign Chair has gone from Bishop to Brown.

The Herald has done an article alleging that somehow the Papakura selection was unfair because Emma Chatterton, who won, entered the meeting with Erica Stanford.

I have no view on the outcome of the selection, except to say I’d love to see both Nancy Lu and Emma Chatterton in caucus. I don’t know who the other candidates were.

But the suggestion that who someone walks into a selection meeting with, would influence delegates is ridiculous. First of all, I doubt many people even notice who walks in with whom. But let me explain what the typical selection process is.

1. Candidates often meet each of the 60 delegates 1 on 1 in their homes to discuss their background, plans, and make a pitch for support
2. There are three Meet the Candidate meetings where they give a short speech, and answer detailed questions from delegates.
3. The final selection meeting where they do a 10 minute speech, and answer a question on behalf of the Leader and the President

How nominees perform at those meetings has 100 times more impact, then who walks in with who.

Sources, who have spoken to the Herald under the condition they remain anonymous, have claimed they felt Chatterton was advantaged ahead of the selection. Multiple sources have pointed to Chatterton walking into the final selection meeting alongside senior minister Erica Stanford, for whom Chatterton works as a senior advisor, as an action some considered could influence delegates.

Well it could influence delegates, just as the colour of your tie could influence delegates. But I have more regard for delegates not being morons, than the anonymous sources.

Lu told the Herald she believed the selection had been “fair” and claimed the first she’d heard of concerns was in media reporting yesterday.

So thee concerns are not coming from the candidate who lost.

Shirley Haslam, a member of National’s Papakura electorate executive committee, was one of 60 delegates who voted on who the party’s candidate would be. 

Speaking to the Herald, Haslam rejected any suggestion that senior figures tried to influence the vote.

“We never saw Judith, we never saw Erica,” she said.

“We certainly had people from the [National Party Auckland] regional office, they came and they ran the official meetings, they were all run by the book and it was very strict.

“It’s really disappointing that somebody thinks that.”

In my experience senior figures trying to influence the vote, will usually backfire. Local delegates take badly to pressure.

Radio NZ reports:

A prominent backer of the Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme says he’s already fielding interest from international investors.

It is a project that has been around for years, picked up by the last Labour government, but then scrapped after the election amid strong criticism from National.

Now it is being backed by a private-sector firm, The Clutha Pumped Hydro Consortium, and the government has agreed to refer the scheme for possible fast-tracking.

I was adamantly opposed to it as a government project where taxpayers would be forking out $16 to $28 billion.

But if a group of private investors wish to raise capital for it, then that’s great. I have 100 times more confidence in the investment decisions of people investing their own money,. than I do on politicians investing my money.

A spokesperson for the Ministry for the Environment said the Minister for Infrastructure had issued a decision to refer the project to the Fast-track approvals process.

“It is eligible to lodge a substantive application to be considered by an expert panel.

It clearly qualifies.

Stuf reported:

Government proposes sweeping changes to alcohol laws

The changes are far from sweeping. They are good, and tidy up some stupid stuff, but it is not a major change.

• Limiting who can object to a licence application or renewal to those who live or work in the same council area, or within 1km of the proposed premises. Licence applicants would also be given a formal right of reply to objections.
• Preventing licence renewals from being declined solely because a local alcohol policy has changed.
• Allowing clubs to apply for on-licences if they wish to serve the wider public.
• Allowing certain restaurants with on-site retail areas to sell alcohol for customers to take home.
• Streamlining special licence requirements to make it easier to host events.
• Creating a permanent mechanism allowing licensed premises to open and serve alcohol outside licensed hours to televise major events such as the Rugby World Cup.
• Exempting hairdressers and barbers from needing an on-licenceto supply their customers a limited amount of alcohol such as a beer, glass of wine, or gin and tonic.
• Extending cellar door tasting provisions beyond wineries so other producers such as breweries and distilleries can charge for tastings without needing an on-licence.
• Allowing licensed premises to meet their legal obligations by stocking either low-alcohol or zero-alcohol drinks.
• Clarifying responsibilities for rapid alcohol delivery services to ensure alcohol is not delivered to underage or intoxicated persons.

As I said, all pretty minor but useful changes. It is good that someone living in Auckland can’t object anymore to an application in Wanaka.

Grant Duncan writes:

Its draft “Statement on Cultural Competence and Cultural Safety” begins with the obvious – “Aotearoa New Zealand has a culturally diverse population” – but leaps ahead to assert: “Some dimensions of identity result in power and privilege whereas others result in underprivilege, which can lead to discrimination or marginalisation”. No scientific grounds are given for that statement, and anyway it’s simply ungrammatical: it uses an abstract noun – identity – as if it were a thing with “dimensions” that can “result in power”. Unfortunately, such poor writing gets a pass in some university courses.

Assertions treated as fact by a medical body!

A good intention behind it is that people of different cultures, abilities, financial circumstances, etc. should be treated fairly and respectfully. We should all strive to make sure that happens. 

A good statement would simply say that.

Qualified and trained medical professionals are doing their best to care for our health and to do so ethically. But the draft statement is unethically bossy. It uses the word “must” five times, and the phrase “you should” also five times.

For example: “You must actively acknowledge and address your own power, privilege, biases, attitudes and assumptions that may affect the quality of care you provide.”

This is important. This is not best practice advice. This is a statement from the body that can deregister a doctor so that they never practice medicine again that they must follow this dictate.

She should identify and challenge offences that others weren’t aware they were committing.

If my GP fails to do so, could she fail her recertification?

Under such conditions, everyone is watching everyone else for the slightest deviation from non-discriminatory and equitable day-to-day behaviours. No one knows what that ideal set of practices actually is, however, because “there is no single fixed or right way to belong to a particular cultural group.”

You’re already screwed, as anyone anytime can accuse you of an offence you didn’t mean to give. And then you’ll have to undergo an ideological struggle session in order to be recertified. Yes, I’m afraid it does resemble Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Read Jung Chang’s Wild Swans.

It would be hilarious if it were not so serious.

The Post reports:

New Zealand is not planning to build any new single-sex state schools, even as research suggests some students – especially girls in some settings – can do better in them.

The difference in outcomes is stark.

• UE rates for boys in boys-only schools was 48% and 28% in co-ed schools
• In low decile (1-4) boys’ schools 32% gained UE, versus 15% in co-ed
• For Maori in low decile schools, 22.7% gained UE, versus 7.6% in co-ed
• UE rates for girls in girls-only schools was 55% and 39% in co-ed

I would say the research does more than suggest some students do better.

That has disappointed principals at single-sex state schools, who say parents should have more choice.

Single-sex schools are not for everyone, but I believe any parent should have the choice (and be zoned) for both a co-ed school and a single sex school so they can choose what they think is best for their child.

For more than six decades, the state has continued to operate boys’ and girls’ schools where they already existed, but has not added new ones to the network.

Isn’t this astonishing? Look at the difference in achievement, and the last new single sex school was in 1961!

The Ministry of Education told the Sunday Star-Times it was not planning to build any more single-sex schools.

The Ministry said that was not about hostility to single-sex schooling, but about how it planned for a modern and sustainable network. …

But a 2021 Ministry briefing said “constructing a single co-ed campus is more cost effective than building more schools”.

Of course one large school is cheaper than two smaller schools, but this comes with a huge future cost of denying parents and children choice. If your aim is to let each child reach their potential, then you are failing.

Erica Stanford has been the most amazing education minister. But she would be even more amazing if she announced she was overturning the Ministry ban on single sex schools, and that in areas of high population growth, new schools will be both co-educational and single sex.

The Post reports:

A sex worker rights group claims the Green Party has barred their chair from becoming a potential MP, saying she was told it would “distract” from the Green Party’s messaging goals.

Fired Up Stilettos (FUS) issued a statement claiming the Greens interrogated their chair, Bianca Beebe, regarding her past as a sex worker, raising concerns other parties would find archives of now-deleted nude photos and her history providing sexual services illegally on a work visa.

Being a sex worker has not been a barrier to being a successful MP. Georgina Beyer was a sex worker in her youth and she got elected Mayor of Carterton and then MP for Wairarapa multiple times.

The issue of potentially breaching a work visa is a legitimate concern.

Beebe responded saying “all of my advertising photos were great, so it would be pretty funny to have people attempt to shame me by sharing photos of me looking amazing. What’s next, they’re going to leak my school transcripts showing a high GPA?”

Heh, that is a great response.

You can read the full statement from FUS here.

The Broadcasting Standards Authority announced:

The Broadcasting Standards Authority has confirmed it has jurisdiction to consider a complaint about content transmitted by an online broadcaster.

In a decision published today, the Authority determined it can accept, and is required to consider under the Broadcasting Act, complaints about The Platform’s Live Talkback programme, because the programme meets the Act’s definition of ‘broadcasting’.

The BSA is acting in incredibly bad faith here. This should be the final nail in their coffin. Time to abolish the BSA and instead have the Media Council (which is industry, not government) handle complaints over all member media companies, regardless of medium.

How do we know this is in bad faith. Here:

Under this policy, it will not at this time seek to extend to online content providers the requirements around public notices or levies

This is how we know it is bad faith. The BSA is saying they will consider The Platform a broadcaster so it can hear complaints against them, but it will not consider them a broadcaster for other purposes.

This is Mickey Mouse. You can’t have a government body say we will treat you as a broadcaster for one purpose, but not for another. The Broadcasting Act either applies to you, or it does not.

The BSA are just desperate to remain relevant. ACT has a members’ bill to abolish them. I hope it gets drawn from the ballot.

The Herald editorial:

The credibility of Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins has taken yet another blow.

On Friday, the Herald exclusively revealed on its front page that Hipkins, the former Covid Response Minister, was made aware of the potential vaccine risks in March 2022, when tens of thousands of 12- to 17-year-olds had yet to get a second jab.

Hipkins had earlier claimed he never got the advice.

In fact Hipkins had received continuous advice on this issue from July 2021.

Almost all Kiwi parents would have wanted to hear that advice and to be able to make an informed and personal decision about whether their child had a second dose.

You can’t make an informed decision without the information.

During the height of Covid in 2022, Hipkins was forced to formally apologise to journalist Charlotte Bellis after he released personal information without her consent and making false statements about her.

Later that year, there were more calls for a Hipkins apology and retraction after he and the Government accused a woman of providing false information to gain travel permits to cross the Northland border – sending the region into lockdown.

In 2023, after Cyclone Gabrielle, Hipkins was again forced into an apology, this time to road workers after he publicly cast doubt over their claims they had been threatened with guns.

Wow, almost as if there is a pattern!

Te Pāti Māori announced:

“Following the decision by Mariameno Kapa-Kingi not to rejoin the Te Pāti Māori caucus, the party has selected a new candidate for Te Tai Tokerau”, said Te Pāti Māori President John Tamihere.

“We are absolutely determined to hold the existing six Māori seats, and hopefully also win Ikaroa-Rawhiti. Only by doing so, can we guarantee the end of this racist corrupt Government”, said Tamihere.

“Our new candidate has spent most of his life fighting against colonialism and corruption. He has a great love for the outdoors and the conservation estate. He will be a forceful voice against injustice. We look forward to David Tamihere winning the seat for us in November 2026″ concluded Tamihere.”

The Herald reports:

A former mayor who lost her licence after getting too many speeding tickets is being called on to resign from her role at Wellington Free Ambulance.

Dame Kerry Prendergast, Wellington Mayor from 2001-2010, now serves as the chair of the ambulance organisation.

She last week admitted to having her driver licence suspended for three months before Christmas after racking up 100 demerit points from five speeding infringements.

The admission has raised the eyebrows of paramedics, and prompted the head of the New Zealand Ambulance Association to call for disciplinary action or a resignation.

Kerry has donated over a decade of her very valuable time to Wellington Free Ambulance. The union head comes across as an ungrateful wally. He should be grateful Kerry has donated so much time to WFA.

Someone should ask the union wally if he has ever ever broken the speed limit, and if so will he resign?

The Post reports:

Wellingtonians have delivered a muted rejection to the Government’s $2.9 billion to $3.8b planned tunnels and highway extensions through the heart of the city, with the loudest shout of “no” coming from the east.

No they haven’t. The proper story would be “Most submissions were against”. That is not the same as Wellingtonians. The vast majority of Wellingtonians don’t bother submitting on transport project plans. Green MPs however organised lots of submissions.

Curia did a poll for Wellington Airport in November 2025. It is scientific and weighted to the adult population. It found 67% support a second Mt Vic tunnel with just 16% opposed. 74% support roading improvements around the Basin and Arras Tunnel.

NewstalkZB reports:

Ōhope man Gordon Dickson knew perfectly well what he was doing when he slipped a red suitcase through the automatic doors of the Whakatāne District Council building, sparking a bomb scare, a judge has ruled.

In a reserved decision reached following a defended hearing conducted over two days in November and December, Judge Paul Geoghegan said he was satisfied Dickson intended to waste police time and resources and found him guilty.

He will appear for sentence in the Whakatāne District Court on April 15.

A Gordon Dickson was the Labour Party candidate for Selwyn in 2014. I wonder if it is just a common name, or the same person?

I recently used Lumini (AI firm specialising in public policy) to work out how many written questions each opposition MP has asked in the last 12 months. Written questions are a way you can gather information and data about your shadow portfolios.

The top 10 question askers are:

1. Francisco Hernandez 18,841
2. Camilla Belich 6,339
3. Ayesha Verrall 4,234
4. Barbara Edmonds 3,423
5. Teanau Tuiono 2,953
6. Willow-Jean Prime 2,655
7. Deborah Russell 2,477
8. Tangi Utikere 2,089
9. Kieran McAnulty 1,808
10. Arena Williams 1,301

Francisco must keep 100 public servants employed just dealing with his questions!

The average number asked was 1,168 and the median was 517. The average per party was:

• Greens – 1,610 mean and 280 median
• Labour – 1,187 mean and 751 median
• Te Pati Maori – 75 mean and 10 median

So Labour MPs are asking more questions than Greens generally, but Francisco lifts their mean higher.

Te Pati Maori MPs are using written questions by far the least.

The bottom 10 users of written questions are:

• Takuta Ferris 0
• Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke 0
• Mariameno Kapa-Kingi 5
• Oriini Kaipara 10
• Takutai Tarsh Kemp 33
• Rawiri Waititi 41
• Mike Davidson (new) 45
• Kahurangi Carter 48
• David Parker 95
• Adrian Rurawhe 95

I’ve seen a lot of people on the left demanding that NZ implement petrol rationing immediately, to prepare for when the supply to NZ of petrol and diesel reduces. They are trying to portray the Government as not doing enough, so presumably they can claim that when rationing does occur, it could have been avoided by acting earlier.

They are wrong, because they overlook a vital fact – our in country storage capacity. It is estimated our in country capacity is around 28 days worth of petrol. We currently have 27.9 days according to MBIE.

What would happen if we reduced petrol consumption now by 20% for 10 days. Would that give us two extra days of fuel? No. Because we can’t store 30 days of fuel. Only 28. So what would happen is our petrol companies would actually have to cancel a tanker coming to NZ, as there would not be enough storage for them to offload. And once you start cancelling tankers, you may find it hard to get them coming as regularly as before.

You might think, how about we pay the tankers to just stay berthed in NZ. That could increase our capacity to say 35 or 40 days. Well first of all this will reduce global supply as there would be fewer tankers available to ship the petrol. And imagine what would happen if other countries started doing this also. Supply would really take a dive.

The reality is that while we still have tankers coming regularly to NZ to refuel our supplies, any demand reduction measures won’t make a significant difference. You might want to do it for cost saving purposes, but using 20% less now, won’t mean we have 20% more in the future. It will just mean less fuel comes to NZ.

Now once we start to experience a drop off in supply (which sadly is very possible, even probable), then yes conservation measures will be needed, and will even be vital. But fortunately we are not there yet.

Now you could argue we need more storage capacity in NZ, and I would agree. Obviously this is not something trivial to do, but any increase in storage capacity would obviously increase our resilience. So capacity, not supply, is the issue for now.

Catherine Cooke was diagnosed in 2024 with the aggressive triple negative breast cancer. She was also in a legal dispute with a lawyer over a large legal bill.

One of the lawyers in the law firm sent her a charming e-mail which said:

“We are sorry to hear you have such an aggressive cancer… all we can say is it is extremely important we all make good decisions so that we do not bring unnecessary stress or karma on ourselves.”

That lovely gentleman is a Labour Party candidate in the Papaetoetoe Local Board byelection.

Radio NZ reports:

A plan to fast-track a controversial West Coast hydro scheme has been given an initial go-ahead.

The West Coast lines company, Westpower, has applied to fast-track its controversial plans to build a run-of-river hydro scheme on the Waitaha River, and in its draft decision the fast-track expert panel has given it approval.

Westpower Limited wants to build the $100 million Waitaha Hydro Project on conservation land between Hokitika and Franz Josef Glacier.

The plan is to build a weir to divert water through a tunnel to generate 23 megawatts of hydroelectric power, enough to power the equivalent of about 12,000 homes, according to Westpower.

Excellent. I would much rather have more hydro power than import coal from Indonesia.

Federated Mountain Clubs (FMC) however said the proposal risked destroying a unique environment. President Megan Dimozantos said it was bad news for recreational users and the conservation estate.

Has there been any renewable energy project in NZ that hasn’t attracted opposition from environmental and conservation groups? They are in favour of renewable electricity in principle, but always seem to oppose it in practice.

The Taxpayers’ Union announced the finalists and winners for the 2026 Jonesie Awards for wasteful spending. A lifetime achievement award went to Chippie for:

Chris Hipkins won the Lifetime Achievement Award for his once-in-a-generation waste of $35 billion of Covid Response and Recovery Fund spending burned on non-Covid initiatives. That is $17,157 for every New Zealand household, shovelled from the taxpayer onto non-Covid projects during an international crisis.”

The central govt nominees were:

1. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Going for growth): The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet recorded 27 attempts by staff to access “adult entertainment websites” on government devices, up from 24 in the previous year.

2. Te Pāti Māori Co-Leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi:

3. Minister Brooke van Velden ($150,000 cone hotline): Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden allocated $150,000 to establish a public hotline for road cone complaints – a hotline that wasn’t even a hotline! The submission tool received just over 1,000 complaints before closing early, equating to roughly $140 per complaint.

4. Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (Mystery iPhone robber): Between 2022 and 2025, 258 iPhones and 22 iPads (an average of two per week over the period) were reported missing from MBIE, at a cost of $137,000. Have they not heard of Find My iPhone?

5. Tertiary Education Commission (Fees Free skydiving courses): More than $1.2 million in Fees Free funding has been used to subsidise skydiving courses for students. The Government’s Fees Free programme contributes $12,000 per student, leaving trainee skydivers to fork out just $1,500 – $7.50 per jump.

The TPM co-leaders took out that category.

And in local government:

1. Wellington City Council ($2.3 million disco loos): Wellington City Council spent $2.3 million on a public toilet block under former Mayor Tory Whanau, including $147,000 on decorative lighting.

2. Selwyn District Council (Child governance): Selwyn District Council included children’s feedback in its long-term planning consultation on housing, rates and infrastructure. The Council later admitted it did not separate children’s submissions from adult submissions before they were reviewed by councillors.

3. Auckland Council ($118 million consultant spend): Auckland Council spent $118 million on consultants in the first two full financial years of Mayor Wayne Brown’s term. The spending comes as the Super City faces a record rates hike, with the mayoral office alone spending $2.5 million on consultants over two years, compared with $4,110 across four years under former Mayor Phil Goff.

4. Mahé Drysdale ($470k coffees): Tauranga City Council spent over $470,000 on coffee machines and beans for staff, a decision occurring under a term that included a 36 percent rates increase, the highest-paid councillors in the country, and a $92 million council headquarters project.

5. Christchurch City Council (243 flights during climate emergency): Local councils spent $1.3 million on international flights over five years. Christchurch City Council spent more than $211,000 on 243 international flights – the most flights recorded by any council that had declared a climate emergency

I thought it should have gone to WCC, but hard to meat Mahe Drysdale and almost $500k on coffee!

The latest performance data for Orange Tamariki show useful improvement, which should be welcomed. Key measures are:

• Percentage of children in care who have been visited by their social worker at least once in the last eight weeks – 97% vs target of 95%
• Percentage of critical or very urgent reports of concern, addressed within operational timeframes – 85% vs target of 95%
• A six year target of reducing children and young people with serious and persistent offending behaviour by 18% has already been met with an 19% reduction
• Proportion of complaints audited that were handled in a way that fully met Oranga Tamariki standards – target is a 25% increase from 48% to 60% – already at 62%

I think it is so important governments set performance targets that can be measured, and they are held to account for. The previous government was allergic to them.