Dear John --
We're focused on the issues that
matter to Kiwis. Catch up on the latest in politics with our Week in
Review below.
→ Does the PM really stand for democracy and equal
rights for Kiwis? → Officials told Labour that renters would
suffer. → Upgrade Programme transport flip-flop another hollow
promise. → Complacency and incompetence at the heart of vaccine
go slow. → Government shows its true colours on
gangs.
Where does the Prime Minister stand on He
Puapua?
National is calling on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to reveal
where she stands on the report Labour commissioned, which proposes
separate Māori authority across multiple layers of government and
discusses constitutional change.
National has obtained a full,
unredacted version of He Puapua – a report commissioned by
Cabinet in 2019 that sets out a roadmap to co-governance between the
Crown and Māori by 2040.
The report proposes a Māori
Health Authority, separate court and justice systems, Māori ownership
over the foreshore and seabed, Māori wards in councils and
constitutional reform to consider matters such as a Māori Parliament
or Upper House for New Zealand.
He Puapua has
never been publicly announced but a number of recommendations, such as
the Māori Health Authority and Māori council wards, have been
implemented already without any acknowledgement from Ardern that they
are part of a wider plan.
If He Puapua is implemented
in its entirety, New Zealand will cease to be a democracy in which all
people have equal representation and would instead operate as a
two-system state.
National’s position is clear. We will
not accept the implementation of two systems by stealth. We support
targeted programmes based on need, such as Whānau Ora, but dividing
our country along racial lines when it comes to running core services
is a step too far.
National is the party of equality
and believes that ethnicity or race should not divide us. We are
better together.
→ You can read more from Judith
Collins here.
Officials told Labour that renters would
suffer
Officials cast serious doubt over the effectiveness of the
Government’s housing package in the months before its announcement.
The advice showed the package wouldn’t make a difference to the supply
of housing, instead they would likely increase rents.
First
home buyers are predominantly renters, any measures that drive up
rents only serve to make it harder for first home buyers to put
together a deposit, further locking them out of the
market.
What the advice from officials shows is Labour is more
interested in PR spin and fancy announcements than putting forward
policies that will actually make a positive impact on those shut out
of our housing market.
Building more houses is the most
important action for addressing our housing shortage and delivering
for first-home buyers.
National has a plan to require
every major city and town to immediately remove restrictions
locking-up land and stalling intensification, while also giving
councils the cash injections they need to deliver a much-needed surge
in new house building.
You can read more from Nicola
Willis here, and our plan to Get Houses Built
here.
Upgrade Programme another hollow promise
Walking back its commitment to transport projects across the
country is further proof Labour will say just about anything to get
elected but then won’t actually deliver it.
Labour announced a
number of transport projects as part of the New Zealand Upgrade
Programme, many of these were roading projects progressed by the
previous National Government but canned by Labour who then recommitted
to them last year.
First it was KiwiBuild, then it was Light
Rail, then it was a commitment to reduce Child Poverty, followed by a
point-blank refusal to extend the bright-line test. Now Jacinda
Ardern’s Government is back tracking its commitment to funding much
needed transport infrastructure projects across the
country.
For those living in Horowhenua this is déjà vu. Otaki
to North of Levin was included as a Road of National Significance
under the previous National Government. It was then cancelled by
Labour in 2018, revived by Labour in 2020 and now its future is
uncertain, again.
New Zealanders will be wary to believe
anything Labour says in the future. What we’ve seen time and time
again is it will say and promise anything to get elected but will back
track as soon as the campaign is over.
You can read
more from Michael Woodhouse here.
Complacency and incompetence at the heart of vaccine go
slow
The Government’s slow vaccine rollout has caused New Zealand to
slip behind Singapore in Bloomberg’s index of the best places to be
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
New Zealand should be on equal
footing with Singapore when it comes to rolling out vaccines given our
similar-sized populations and the fact both aren’t suffering the loss
of life or surging infection rates seen elsewhere.
But while
Singapore has managed to administer more than 2.2 million vaccines,
with almost a quarter of its population having had its first dose, New
Zealand is second-slowest in the OECD.
The Government promised
us that New Zealand would be at the front of the queue for vaccines,
yet here we are in late April and we have done just 3.8 doses per 100
people.
A combination of complacency and incompetence with our
vaccine programme is putting our economic recovery at risk. New
Zealand’s rollout is well behind Australia’s, which has been widely
criticised for being on the go-slow.
We have done well to keep
Covid-19 at bay but we must not rest on our laurels. The world is
vaccinating way faster than we are, which will give them options for
reconnecting to the rest of the world that New Zealand won’t be part
of unless we hurry up.
Our vaccine rollout still has too many
red flags. Three of the four IT systems are not ready to go, there’s
no real vaccine targets, and the Government even admits it has
deliberately slowed the rollout down.
The vaccine rollout is
critical to New Zealand’s future and we must get it right. Unless the
Government gets its eye on the ball we will slip further down the
international rankings.
You can read more from Chris
Bishop here.
Government shows its true colours on gangs
The Government has shown its true colours when it comes to gangs,
with its Ministers now openly championing them as advocates for
justice.
It’s astonishing that a Government Minister, Marama
Davidson, and the Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt accepted
an invitation to speak at a gathering of the Waikato Mongrel Mob this
weekend.
The Mongrel Mob peddles drugs, wields firearms and
engages in violence, causing misery in communities across the country.
They have no regard for their victims.
Marama Davidson is the
Minister for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence. Turning up at
this event disrespects the many victims of sexual violence perpetrated
by gang members. Her tweets calling the Mongrel Mob meeting ‘a
fabulous community event for justice’ was an extra slap in the
face.
With gang membership in New Zealand approaching 8000
members, it is time the Government got tough and introduce Firearm
Prohibition Orders (FPOs) to give the Police new powers to take guns
off gangs.
National has draft legislation before Parliament
that would mean gang members subject to an FPO would not be allowed to
possess a firearm, get a firearms license, or be on a property where
firearms are present.
The Government should support our
proposed law change. It is urgently needed to help make our community
safer.
You can read more from Simeon Brown here.
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