Open letter to Hon Paul Goldsmith

• Barrie Saunders writes –

Dear Paul

As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course.

For what it’s worth here is my assessment:

Luxon gets out his butcher’s knife – briefly

• Peter Dunne writes – 

The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became known as the Night of the Long Knives, Liberal MP Jeremy Thorpe wryly commented – in a clever paraphrasing of St John’s Gospel – that “greater love hath no man than he lay down his friends for his life.”

Both Gladstone’s maxim and Thorpe’s quip go to the heart of the challenge a Prime Minister faces in managing the Cabinet. The Prime Minister is “primus inter pares” – first among equals – and is therefore responsible for the conduct of the Cabinet’s business.

More tax for less

• Ele Ludemann writes –

New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year:

New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says.

The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax in New Zealand was 4.5 percent higher last year compared with 2022.

That was only behind Australia, where taxes rose 7.6 percent in the same period.

Single Kiwis earning the average wage were paying tax at a rate of 24.9 percent in 2023, up from 23.2 percent a year prior, according to the OECD data released on Thursday. . .

Luxon’s demoted ministers might take comfort from the British politician who bounced back after the Gallipoli debacle

Buzz from the Beehive

Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up.

In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious:  we live in a troubled world.

The Waitangi Tribunal is not “a roving Commission”…

…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisition

 

NOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal

• Gary Judd writes – 

The High Court is today [22/4/24] hearing an application by the Crown to set aside a witness summons requiring the Minister for Children, Karen Chhour to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal to be questioned as part of an inquiry into her plans to remove s 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act, which sets out the duties of the chief executive of Oranga Tamariki in relation to the Treaty of Waitangi.

The section says, among other things, that the chief executive must ensure: “The policies, practices and services of the department have regard to mana tamaiti (tamariki) and the whakapapa of Māori children and young persons and the whanaungatanga [kinship] responsibilities of their whānau, hapū and iwi.” This description is taken from Audrey Young’s article in the Herald.

Is Oranga Tamariki guilty of neglect?

• Lindsay Mitchell writes –

One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?

Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care.

Three Strikes saw lower reoffending

• David Farrar writes:

Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017:

In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’.

In the five years prior to three strikes, 5517 people were convicted of an offence where that conviction would have been a ‘first strike’ had three strikes been in force at the time, and 103 were convicted of an offence that would have been a ‘second strike’.

In addition, no-one was convicted of a third strikes in three strikes’ first five years, while four people were convicted of what would have been third strikes in the preceding five years, and two of them also racked up what would have been fourth strikes.

Luxon’s ruthless show of strength is perfect for our angry era

• Bryce Edwards writes –

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics.

That’s refreshing and will be extremely well received. The public will perceive this unprecedented move as a sign that Luxon has very high standards for his government and is determined that his ministers actually deliver results.

Maori Party (with “disgust”) draws attention to Chhour’s race after the High Court rules on Waitangi Tribunal’s summons

Buzz from the Beehive

A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night.

It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it.

It does not spell out what the court decided –  that she does not have to appear before the tribunal.

It does say:

At a time of media turmoil, Melissa had nothing to proclaim as Minister – and now she has been demoted

Buzz from the Beehive

 

Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of Media and Communications.

To the  contrary, her career has been besmirched by her failure to do anything – an accomplishment embarrassingly recorded on a blank sheet on the official government website (which was updated this afternoon to remove her name from the page).

During around five months in the portfolio, she delivered not one speech and issued not one press statement.