From the Minister of Tourism came an announcement on the distribution of $400 million. He was outdone by the Minister for Research, Science and Technology, whose announcement involved a sum of $401.3m.
Much more bemusing was the announcement from the PM headed Free period products in schools to combat poverty.
This involved a a $2.6 million “investment”. But the products (of the sanitary variety) are not “free” – taxpayers will pick up the tab.
If giving people something for “free” can be shown to reduce poverty, we can expect the government to extend its generosity (with our money) to a wide array of products.
Justice Minister Andrew Little popped into our considerations by announcing further help to deal with the adverse economic effects of the Covid-19 lockdown (along with $40m of lolly).
The Government will legislate to ensure businesses that suffered as a result of the Covid-19 response will get help to resolve disputes over commercial rent issues.
A temporary amendment to the Property Law Act will insert a clause in commercial leases requiring a fair reduction in rent where a business has suffered a loss of revenue because of Covid-19.
The $40 million will provide access to arbitration “in a timely and cost-effective way” to support small or medium businesses to reach agreement on a fair rent.
Among other announcements –
- The Minister of Police issued a statement to say he would be saying nothing about charges filed against three Police officers in the New Plymouth District Court, except (it’s a very the heartening observation) that any incident involving a loss of life in Police custody “is taken very seriously”. The charges just laid reflect the gravity of the circumstances.
- Education Minister Chris Hipkin announced further temporary changes to NCEA and University Entrance to support senior secondary school students whose teaching and learning have been disrupted by COVID-19. Students will be able to earn additional credits through their learning and assessment programme, UE requirements have been modified with agreement from universities, and certificate and course endorsements have been modified.
- Racing Winston Peters announced the terms for the directors of the Racing Industry Transition Agency have been extended to 30 June 2021.
- The Minister for Small Business drew attention to new data from Xero to emphasise the urgency of prompt payment practices to small and medium enterprises.
In his statement, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis named the first recipients of the $400 million Tourism Sector Recovery Plan, “to help position the sector for recovery from COVID-19”.
The plan includes a Strategic Tourism Assets Protection Programme which will –
- Provide $4 million to Discover Waitomo (pouring money into a big hole in the ground, it could be said); and
- Up to $20.2 million for New Zealand’s 31 RTOs. This investment comes following the Tourism Recovery Ministers Group meeting to determine eligibility criteria and make urgent support decisions.
The money for the country’s 31 Regional Tourism Organisations aims to enable them to implement Destination Management and planning, along with other projects to support their regional tourism industry.
Oh – and Davis dished out two new jobs.
The Tourism Sector Recovery Plan includes a public-private taskforce that will continue the work started by Tourism New Zealand “to reimagine the future of tourism”.
The New Zealand Tourism Futures Taskforce will be led by co-chairs Steve Chadwick, mayor of Rotorua (and a former Labour Cabinet Minister, we recall) and Grant Webster, chief executive of Tourism Holdings
Applications for the Strategic Tourism Assets Protection Programme are open now and close on Thursday 18 June.
The $401.3m of funding announced by Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods is intended to benefit New Zealand’s entrepreneurs, innovators and crown researchers and breaks down into:
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- $196 million for Crown Research Institutes
- $150 million for R&D loan scheme
- $33 million for Māori research and development opportunities
- $12 million for the Nationally Significant Collections and Databases
- $10 million to help maintain in-house capability at Callaghan Innovation
The PM’s statement on free period products in schools to combat poverty tells us –
“Young people in Waikato will be the first to have free access to period products in schools in another step to support children and young people in poverty.”
But not all young people will benefit when – during term 3 – the Ministry of Education is to begin providing free period products to schools following the Government’s $2.6 million investment.
As Julie Anne Genter acknowledged in her contribution to the statement:
“Menstruation is a fact of life for half the population and access to these products is a necessity, not a luxury.”
The roll-out will begin at 15 Waikato schools and be expanded to all state and state-integrated schools on an opt-in basis in 2021.
“We know that nearly 95,000 9-to-18 year olds may stay at home during their periods due to not being able to afford period products. By making them freely available, we support these young people to continue learning at school,” Jacinda Ardern said.
“Our plan to halve child poverty in 10 years is making a difference but there is more to do and with families hit hard by the COVID-19 global pandemic, it’s important to increase that support in the areas it can make an immediate difference.
“This is another important initiative that sits alongside our work to reduce child poverty and hardship including the $5.5bn Families Package, free lunches in schools, cheaper visits to the doctors, stopping schools asking for donations, and lifting benefits,” Jacinda Ardern said.
As we said at the start of this post – when it comes to finding something to buy for poor people, there’s the promise of much more to come.
Latest from the Beehive
Release
4 JUNE 2020
Critical support for strategic tourism assets
An iconic New Zealand tourism attraction and the country’s 31 Regional Tourism Organisations are the first recipients of support from the $400 million Tourism Sector Recovery Plan, to help position the sector for recovery from COVID-19, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced today.
Release
4 JUNE 2020
Supporting Kiwi businesses to resolve commercial rent disputes
The Government will legislate to ensure businesses that suffered as a result of the COVID-19 response will get help to resolve disputes over commercial rent issues, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today.
Release
4 JUNE 2020
Prompt payments to SMEs even more urgent
The Minister for Small Business says new data from Xero highlights the urgency of prompt payment practices to small and medium enterprises as we move into economic recovery.
Release
3 JUNE 2020
Free period products in schools to combat poverty
Young people in Waikato will be the first to have free access to period products in schools in another step to support children and young people in poverty,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.
Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern Hon Julie Anne Genter
Release
3 JUNE 2020
Response to charges in New Plymouth
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash has issued the following statement in response to charges filed against three Police officers this morning in the New Plymouth District Court.
Release
3 JUNE 2020
Govt boosts innovation, R&D for economic rebuild
- $196 million for Crown Research Institutes
Research, Science and Innovation
Release
3 JUNE 2020
Temporary changes to NCEA and University Entrance this year
Further temporary changes to NCEA and University Entrance (UE) will support senior secondary school students whose teaching and learning have been disrupted by COVID-19.
Release
3 JUNE 2020
Minister for Racing Winston Peters today announced that the terms for the directors of the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) have been extended to 30 June 2021.
Point of Order 