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The Spinoff
10-06-2025
- Politics
- The Spinoff
With so many parties ‘ruling out' working with other parties, is MMP losing its way?
Part of the appeal of MMP was that it might constrain some of the worst excesses of the political executive. Right now, that is starting to look a little naive. There has been a lot of 'ruling out' going on in New Zealand politics lately. In the most recent outbreak, both the incoming and outgoing deputy prime ministers, Act's David Seymour and NZ First's Winston Peters, ruled out ever working with the Labour Party. Seymour has also advised Labour to rule out working with Te Pāti Māori. Labour leader Chris Hipkins has engaged in some ruling out of his own, indicating he won't work with Winston Peters again. Before the last election, National's Christopher Luxon ruled out working with Te Pāti Māori. And while the Greens haven't yet formally ruled anyone out, co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has said they could only work with National if it was prepared to 'completely U-turn on their callous, cruel cuts to climate, to science, to people's wellbeing'. Much more of this and at next year's general election New Zealanders will effectively face the same scenario they confronted routinely under electoral rules the country rejected over 30 years ago. Under the old 'first past the post' system, there was only ever one choice: voters could turn either left or right. Many hoped Mixed Member Proportional representation (MMP), used for the first time in 1996, would end this ideological forced choice. Assuming enough voters supported parties other than National and Labour, the two traditional behemoths would have to negotiate rather than impose a governing agenda. Compromise between and within parties would be necessary. Government by decree By the 1990s, many had tired of doctrinaire governments happy to swing the policy pendulum from right to left and back again. In theory, MMP prised open a space for a centrist party that might be able to govern with either major player. In a constitutional context where the political executive has been described as an ' elected dictatorship ', part of the appeal of MMP was that it might constrain some of its worst excesses. Right now, that is starting to look a little naive. For one thing, the current National-led coalition is behaving with the government-by-decree style associated with the radical, reforming Labour and National administrations of the 1980s and 1990s. Most notably, the coalition has made greater use of parliamentary urgency than any other government in recent history, wielding its majority to avoid parliamentary and public scrutiny of contentious policies such as the Pay Equity Amendment Bill. Second, in an ironic vindication of the anti-MMP campaign 's fears before the electoral system was changed – that small parties would exert outsized influence on government policy – the two smaller coalition partners appear to be doing just that. It is neither possible nor desirable to quantify the degree of sway a smaller partner in a coalition should have. That is a political question, not a technical one. But some of the administration's most unpopular or contentious policies have emerged from Act (the Treaty principles bill and the Regulatory Standards legislation) and NZ First (tax breaks for heated tobacco products). Rightly or wrongly, this has created a perception of weakness on the part of the National Party and the prime minister. Of greater concern, perhaps, is the risk the controversial changes Act and NZ First have managed to secure will erode – at least in some quarters – faith in the legitimacy of our electoral arrangements. The centre cannot hold Lastly, the party system seems to be settling into a two-bloc configuration: National/Act/NZ First on the right, and Labour/Greens/Te Pāti Māori on the left. In both blocs, the two major parties sit closer to the centre than the smaller parties. True, NZ First has tried to brand itself as a moderate 'commonsense' party, and has worked with both National and Labour, but that is not its position now. In both blocs, too, the combined strength of the smaller parties is roughly half that of the major player. The Greens, Te Pāti Māori, NZ First and Act may be small, but they are not minor. In effect, the absence of a genuinely moderate centre party has meant a return to the zero-sum politics of the pre-MMP era. It has also handed considerable leverage to smaller parties on both the left and right of the political spectrum. Furthermore, if the combined two-party share of the vote captured by National and Labour continues to fall (as the latest polls show), and those parties have nowhere else to turn, small party influence will increase. For some, of course, this may be a good thing. But to those with memories of the executive-centric, winner-takes-all politics of the 1980s and 1990s, it is starting to look all too familiar. The re-emergence of a binary ideological choice might even suggest New Zealand – lacking the constitutional guardrails common in other democracies – needs to look beyond MMP for other ways to limit the power of its governments.
Otago Daily Times
22-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Labour Party: 'The budget that left women out'
Women are the big losers in this year's Budget, the Labour Party and a union says. Budget 2025 documents reveal the tightening of the pay equity regime will net the government $2.7 billion every year. The Pay Equity Amendment Bill was passed on May 7 after being rushed through under urgency. The legislation means 33 equity claims involving hundreds of thousands of workers including nurses and teachers being negotiated will now have to restart the process under new criteria. Labour leader Chris Hipkins responds to the Budget in Parliament this afternoon. Photo: RNZ Labour leader Chris Hipkins said in Parliament this afternoon this year's Budget tells women they are "worth less than tax breaks for landlords, tobacco companies, Google and Facebook". "This is the budget that will be remembered as the budget that left women out, " he told MPs. "This is the budget that said to working Kiwi women, they are worth less - in fact, nearly $3 billion a year less. The budget that says women are worth less than tax breaks for landlords... than tax breaks for tobacco companies... than tax breaks for multinational corporations like Google and Facebook." The PSA Worker's Union was also scathing, calling it a "wage theft budget" that would take more than $12 billion from women. National secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said it exposed the government's naked theft of wages from thousands of underpaid women to pay for tax cuts for landlords. It was a budget paid for by taking $60 million a week from people like care and support workers among others, she said. Fitzsimons called on the government to sit down with workers, unions, employers and pay equity experts in a proper select committee process and come up with a new framework. - RNZ and APL
Otago Daily Times
22-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
'The budget that left women out'
Women are the big losers in this year's Budget, the Labour Party and a union says. Budget documents reveal the tightening of the pay equity regime will net the government $2.7 billion every year. The Pay Equity Amendment Bill was passed on May 7 after being rushed through under urgency. The legislation means 33 equity claims involving hundreds of thousands of workers including nurses and teachers being negotiated will now have to restart the process under new criteria. Labour leader Chris Hipkins responds to the Budget in Parliament this afternoon. Photo: RNZ Labour leader Chris Hipkins said in Parliament this afternoon the 2025 Budget tells women they are "worth less than tax breaks for landlords, tobacco companies, Google and Facebook". "This is the budget that will be remembered as the budget that left women out, " he told MPs. "This is the budget that said to working Kiwi women, they are worth less - in fact, nearly $3 billion a year less. The budget that says women are worth less than tax breaks for landlords... than tax breaks for tobacco companies... than tax breaks for multinational corporations like Google and Facebook." The PSA Worker's Union was also scathing, calling it a "wage theft budget" that would take more than $12 billion from women. National secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said it exposed the government's naked theft of wages from thousands of underpaid women to pay for tax cuts for landlords. It was a budget paid for by taking $60 million a week from people like care and support workers among others, she said. Fitzsimons called on the government to sit down with workers, unions, employers and pay equity experts in a proper select committee process and come up with a new framework. - RNZ and APL
Otago Daily Times
21-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Budget 2025: Govt looks to make promises add up
By Lilian Hanley of RNZ "It feels like a kid robbing his mum to pay for his mates" says library assistant Alex Cass, as she prepares for the government to reveal Budget 2025. New Zealanders will find out on Thursday just how much money will be cut from various services, as the government looks to make its promises add up. Just how much is saved from the pay equity law changes - and where that money will be going instead - will also be revealed. The Pay Equity Amendment Bill was passed on May 7 after being rushed through under urgency. The legislation means 33 equity claims involving hundreds of thousands of workers being negotiated will now have to restart the process under new criteria. Cass was part of a pay equity claim scrapped due to the government's last-minute law change. "It's unbelievably underhanded the way this process has been done. It was done lightning fast, with no chance for any of us to object. It's incredibly cruel, and it's a legacy of cruelty." Cass felt the government was saying to those who are fighting for their work to be taken seriously, "you don't deserve better". She would be on Parliament's lawn on Thursday afternoon to react to the Budget - money she said the government got from people who were "already massively underpaid". But Finance Minister Nicola Willis said New Zealanders were "realistic" because the new scheme would still deliver a scheme protecting women against sex-based discrimination. "Every single cent" reprioritised from money reallocated from those claims would go into "priorities for New Zealand", she claimed. "I've had it with opposition politicians who keep promising they can 'do it all', that somehow they're gonna stick to the debt levels, they're not gonna have deficits but also they're not gonna make savings and they're gonna spend on everything - that doesn't add up. "Our approach is different" she said. "It's about prioritising your taxpayer money carefully and ensuring that we're actually nourishing the growth that ultimately delivers the jobs and living standards we all depend on." For this Budget, the government's given itself only $1.3 billion of new money to use on day-to-day spending. Already $2.5b is needed for yearly cost increases and more than $3b has been allocated in pre-budget announcements for health, defence, social investment, state abuse survivor redress and a screen production rebate. "It's not a budget filled with rainbows and unicorns," Willis said, "It's a reality budget that will deliver genuine hope for the future." She also called it a "no BS" budget - but would not specify what that stood for. Labour, Greens critical Labour leader Chris Hipkins said "paying women properly" should not be described as "rainbows and unicorns". "Making sure women who have been underpaid are paid what they're worth is something that a responsible government should prioritise - this government isn't." Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said it did look like a "BS" budget. "The government has decided it is going to be cutting public services to the bone in order to pay for its landlord and tobacco tax cuts of the last budget." Council of Trade Unions economist Craig Renney, who is also on the Labour Party's policy council, said the government did not have much to work with given it would not borrow more money. "We're cutting government services at a time when we know there's increasing demand on those services. We have an increasingly elderly population. We have increasingly higher needs in terms of health and education." Now is the time to invest in the economy and inject some confidence into the economy, he believed. Despite the government saying it would not cut frontline services, Kiwis were finding it harder to access those frontline services, he said. "It's not that there's a direct cut, but because these services aren't being properly funded for change, they're having to work harder and harder to deliver the same services with less real cash available to them." In the Budget, he will be looking out for how the government has chosen to use the savings from stopping pay equity claims. He will also be looking at Treasury's estimates for what is happening to unemployment, wages and the cost of living. "We've actually seen wages rising far less quickly than in the past, and we've seen two years of cuts to the minimum wage in real terms, and we've seen rising unemployment. "If those trends continue, that will suggest that the medicine and the pain of economic change is really being borne by workers, in particular, low-paid workforces, rather than by others in the economy who might have broader shoulders." He also will be looking to see if the government changes KiwiSaver settings, or begins means-testing for the winter energy payment or BestStart. "If it tries to do all of those to balance the books, we'll be asking why is it that these workers are having to pay the price for the fact that the government hasn't been able to deliver its fiscal plan to date." New Zealand Initiative chief economist Dr Eric Crampton said the government should focus on getting spending back down to pre-Covid levels. He wanted to know where the government was planning on reducing expenditure to deal with its deficit. "If it's simply tighter spending allowances over the next few years, you start wondering how credible it is as a path to get out of structural deficit. "Pulling the government out of the provision of some services, or explicitly cutting the amount that's provided, would signal a more serious approach." Crampton was interested to see Treasury's projections of future paths for government spending, and for productivity and GDP growth, as well as government spending priorities. "I'm watching for the tweaks the government might make to align the budget with the economic growth agenda. "There has been talk of changes in depreciation schedules to encourage private investment." He also pointed to a coalition agreement promise between National and ACT to provide housing incentive payments to councils, asking if it would show up in the Budget "at least as a forecast for next year". "The government would need to make fiscal room for it. But it is important if the government wants councils to welcome urban growth." The Finance Minister has confirmed she will not be making any changes to superannuation.
Otago Daily Times
21-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Budget 2025: 'It's about prioritising your taxpayer money carefully'
By Lilian Hanley of RNZ "It feels like a kid robbing his mum to pay for his mates" says library assistant Alex Cass, as she prepares for the Government to reveal Budget 2025. New Zealanders will find out on Thursday just how much money will be cut from various services, as the Government looks to make its promises add up. Just how much is saved from the pay equity law changes - and where that money will be going instead - will also be revealed. The Pay Equity Amendment Bill was passed on May 7 after being rushed through under urgency. The legislation means 33 equity claims involving hundreds of thousands of workers being negotiated will now have to restart the process under new criteria. Cass was part of a pay equity claim scrapped due to the Government's last-minute law change. "It's unbelievably underhanded the way this process has been done. It was done lightning fast, with no chance for any of us to object. It's incredibly cruel, and it's a legacy of cruelty." Cass felt the Government was saying to those who are fighting for their work to be taken seriously, "you don't deserve better". She would be on Parliament's lawn on Thursday afternoon to react to the Budget - money she said the Government got from people who were "already massively underpaid". But Finance Minister Nicola Willis said New Zealanders were "realistic" because the new scheme would still deliver a scheme protecting women against sex-based discrimination. "Every single cent" reprioritised from money reallocated from those claims would go into "priorities for New Zealand", she claimed. "I've had it with opposition politicians who keep promising they can 'do it all', that somehow they're gonna stick to the debt levels, they're not gonna have deficits but also they're not gonna make savings and they're gonna spend on everything - that doesn't add up. "Our approach is different," she said. "It's about prioritising your taxpayer money carefully and ensuring that we're actually nourishing the growth that ultimately delivers the jobs and living standards we all depend on." For this Budget, the government's given itself only $1.3 billion of new money to use on day-to-day spending. Already $2.5b is needed for yearly cost increases and more than $3b has been allocated in pre-budget announcements for health, defence, social investment, state abuse survivor redress and a screen production rebate. "It's not a budget filled with rainbows and unicorns," Willis said, "It's a reality budget that will deliver genuine hope for the future." She also called it a "no BS" budget - but would not specify what that stood for. Labour, Greens critical Labour leader Chris Hipkins said "paying women properly" should not be described as "rainbows and unicorns". "Making sure women who have been underpaid are paid what they're worth is something that a responsible government should prioritise - this government isn't." Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said it did look like a "BS" budget. "The Government has decided it is going to be cutting public services to the bone in order to pay for its landlord and tobacco tax cuts of the last budget." Council of Trade Unions economist Craig Renney, who is also on the Labour Party's policy council, said the Government did not have much to work with given it would not borrow more money. "We're cutting Government services at a time when we know there's increasing demand on those services. We have an increasingly elderly population. We have increasingly higher needs in terms of health and education." Now is the time to invest in the economy and inject some confidence into the economy, he believed. Despite the Government saying it would not cut frontline services, Kiwis were finding it harder to access those frontline services, he said. "It's not that there's a direct cut, but because these services aren't being properly funded for change, they're having to work harder and harder to deliver the same services with less real cash available to them." In the Budget, he will be looking out for how the Government has chosen to use the savings from stopping pay equity claims. He will also be looking at Treasury's estimates for what is happening to unemployment, wages and the cost of living. "We've actually seen wages rising far less quickly than in the past, and we've seen two years of cuts to the minimum wage in real terms, and we've seen rising unemployment. "If those trends continue, that will suggest that the medicine and the pain of economic change is really being borne by workers, in particular, low-paid workforces, rather than by others in the economy who might have broader shoulders." He also will be looking to see if the Government changes KiwiSaver settings, or begins means-testing for the winter energy payment or BestStart. "If it tries to do all of those to balance the books, we'll be asking why is it that these workers are having to pay the price for the fact that the Government hasn't been able to deliver its fiscal plan to date." New Zealand Initiative chief economist Dr Eric Crampton said the Government should focus on getting spending back down to pre-Covid levels. He wanted to know where the Government was planning on reducing expenditure to deal with its deficit. "If it's simply tighter spending allowances over the next few years, you start wondering how credible it is as a path to get out of structural deficit. "Pulling the Government out of the provision of some services, or explicitly cutting the amount that's provided, would signal a more serious approach." Crampton was interested to see Treasury's projections of future paths for Government spending, and for productivity and GDP growth, as well as Government spending priorities. "I'm watching for the tweaks the Government might make to align the budget with the economic growth agenda. "There has been talk of changes in depreciation schedules to encourage private investment." He also pointed to a coalition agreement promise between National and ACT to provide housing incentive payments to councils, asking if it would show up in the Budget "at least as a forecast for next year". "The Government would need to make fiscal room for it. But it is important if the Government wants councils to welcome urban growth." The Finance Minister has confirmed she will not be making any changes to superannuation.
