“Partnership” is amply plugged but information is sparse on the costs to taxpayers of the programmes being promoted

Stuff from the Beehive

There are plenty of mentions of partnerships in the latest batch of ministerial press releases. Mentions of the costs of the programmes which ministers are promoting are harder to find.

Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio issued a statement to say strengthening partnerships with Pacific communities is at the heart of the Government’s new Pacific Wellbeing Strategy,  There was no sign of a dollar sign.

Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni issued a statement to say that – following on from last week’s Better Pathways Package announcement and Apprenticeship Boost 50,000th apprentice milestone – the Government is continuing momentum, supporting over 1,000 more rangatahi into employment, through new funding for He Poutama Rangatahi.

She says a partnership approach is being taken. She does not mention the cost. 

Land Information Minister Damien O’Connor announced that New Zealand and Australia have partnered to deliver the Southern Positioning Augmentation Network (SouthPAN), with the first services available in the next few weeks.

He did not mention the cost but did say the quantified economic benefits are estimated to be $864m over the next 20 years

“… and will provide New Zealanders with greater economic security into the future.”

 In another statement, as Minister of Trade and Export Growth and Minister of Agriculture, O’Connor tells us he will travel tomorrow to India and Indonesia for trade and agricultural meetings to promote the Government’s trade agenda.

$236.5m to tackle NZ’s big challenges – among them, reigniting ‘mauri’ and ‘engaging multisensory experiences’

Buzz from the Beehive

A press statement which advises that $236.5 million has been bestowed on 71 projects in the latest Endeavour Fund allocations is headed Research projects set to tackle NZs biggest challenges.

The message is reinforced in the first sentence, which says money has been allocated to projects

“… that seek to address some of our biggest challenges such as climate change.”

Researchers working on two methane projects have been granted $999,999 each over three years. 

A project involving Moriori, music, “manawa” and “engaging multisensory experiences for indigenous cultural revitalisation” (really?)  has been granted $1 million over two years.   

The climate-change challenge posed by methane and the environmental importance of reducing it – we imagine – is generally understood by the taxpayers who have coughed up the millions that are being dished out.

The challenge posed by the bemusing mix of Moriori, music, manawa and multi-sensory experiences requires some explaining.

A much bigger lump of money – almost $14 million – has been granted to University of Waikato researchers who will be dealing with “mauri”, a mystical matter for many, maybe most,  New Zealanders.  

All going well, the researchers will come up with a measure of  mauri, something which increasingly (we are told) is being restored, improved or otherwise subjected to earnest scientific endeavours around the country. 

NZ to set up trade post in Fiji – but questions are raised about the confines of the “Pacific region”

Great – a statement from Damien O’Connor that won’t (or shouldn’t) frighten the horses or our allies. At least, not in terms of signalling a greater fondness for China  than for friends in the democratic West.   

It was a trade statement:  New Zealand will open a new Trade Commission in Fiji later this year, O’Connor announced as Minister of Trade and Export Growth. 

But his next sentence might have raised some eyebrows. 

“Fiji is New Zealand’s largest trading partner in the Pacific region”, Damien O’Connor said.

Really?

Some definition of terms was called for here.  

Some people would define the Pacific region to include the United States, China and Australia.

We imagine O’Connor was defining it to embrace only the island countries of the South Pacific (but referring to Pacific Islands Forum countries, let’s say. would oblige him to include Australia).

The announcement was one of three to emerge from the Beehive since the last time we checked.

Government is supportive at home and abroad but the help for horticulturalists comes too late for one grower

Our Beehive bulletin

Being supportive was the order of the day in the Beehive. Ministers announced support for Papua New Guinea, support for trades involved in rebuilding, and support for the horticultural sector (in the case of fruit growers “wellbeing” came into considerations, too).

The support for horticulturalists, alas, seems somewhat meagre in dollar terms and has come too late for one grower. 

The news came on the same day as it was reported that one of the country’s largest strawberry growers – a forthright critic of Government policies keeping the crucial Pacific Island labour force locked out – is calling it a day.

Stuff understands that Francie Perry of Perrys Berrys has chosen to walk away from forty years in horticulture after repeatedly calling on the Government to give growers a break and let more Registered Seasonal Employers (RSE) scheme workers into the country.

One other statement from the Beehive advised that a Deed of Settlement has been signed between the Crown and Ngāti Paoa settling the historical Treaty of Waitangi claims of the iwi.

The money dished out in this case was compensation rather than support. 

Hey, we have some influence, but maybe not enough in the right circles to secure a share of $30,000 propaganda job

Because we fancy ourselves as “influencers”, here at Point of Order, we had high hopes of being invited to share some of the $30,000 lolly the government intends spending to publicise its apprenticeship programmes.

It was a very fleeting flight of fancy.  On almost immediate second thoughts we sensed that (a) our influence might not be as great as we like to suppose and (b) we might not be reaching the audience the government hopes to reach with whatever influence we can muster.

Even if we could reach the right audience with the necessary degree of influence, we would be bound to bridle at having to earn our money by getting into the propaganda business.

We would also cop criticism, probably, from a Taxpayers Union that is apt to rail against hypocrites who disapprove of troughers, but then accept goodies from a taxpayer-funded trough.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins yesterday drew attention to the troughing opportunity in question when they announced a campaign to raise the profile of vocational education and training (VET).

Another border change aims to let more key workers into NZ – and kids who are stuck here will be allowed to go to school

The latest news from the Beehive apprises us of some routine ministerial work (a judicial appointment; an account of a chat among five finance ministers) and more spending decisions (on tourism and apprenticeship schemes). 

There’s news too of yet another border announcement from Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi.  Perhaps his preoccupation with the rules governing who can come into the country and who should be kept out explains why he would not answer Point of Order’s questions about the IPONZ regime that is part of his ministerial workload.

His latest announcement was a bit of a mouthful.  It involves

“ … adjustments to immigration instructions to provide more clarity to the assessment criteria for employers wanting to request a border exception for their workers under the ‘other critical worker’ category”.

Get that, did you?

He explained that  as New Zealand continues on the path to recovery from COVID-19 

“ … it is important that we strike the right balance between protecting New Zealand from COVID-19 and ensuring businesses have the critical workers they need to help in our recovery.”

At long last, the vexing RMA is bound for the dustbin – but we are not being rushed to bring in replacement legislation

Latest from the Beehive

Before Point of Order had wrapped up the previous bulletin, the busy bees in the Beehive were releasing the most comprehensive review of New Zealand’s resource management system since the Resource Management Act (RMA) was enacted in 1991.

At much the same time, the Government was signalling its intention to introduce legislation to allow it to recover some of the costs for managed isolation and quarantine.

This isolation measure is something of a rarity in the run-up to the election – it will result in the Government collecting money rather than borrowing to give it away in billions.

The RMA review is reported in New Directions for Resource Management in New Zealand,  commissioned by Environment Minister David Parker and prepared by an independent review panel led by retired Court of Appeal Judge Tony Randerson QC.

Among its recommendations is the replacement of the existing RMA by two separate pieces of legislation, a Natural and Built Environments Act and a Strategic Planning Act.