Govt’s policy refocus: supporters of Auckland’s light rail project will be encouraged by City Rail Link appointment

Buzz from the Beehive

In one of his first pronouncements after Chris Hipkins became PM, Transport Minister Michael Wood – and Minister for Auckland after the cabinet reshuffle – confirmed that the light rail project is part of the government’s policy refocus.

Opponents of the project will hope this makes the project a candidate for Hipkins’ bonfire of unpalatable policies and programmes  (Labour’s burning issues, so to speak).

Supporters of the project will hope it is kept alive.

But they are nervous about the implications of any rethink, according to  a report on the Greater Auckland website on February 2:

Wood said the light rail project was under review as part of a ministerial refocus on key Government projects.

“We are undertaking a stocktake about how we move things forward. We will be able to confirm the direction in a couple of weeks,” he said.

He said he did want to focus on fixing Auckland congestion and said public transport, even if it wasn’t light rail, would be a priority.

U-turn on fuel taxes could pump up poll support for Hipkins and Co but the poor – perhaps – won’t notice who benefits most

Buzz from the Beehive

Cost-of-living pressures loomed large in Beehive announcements over the past 24 hours.

The PM was obviously keen to announce further measures to keep those costs in check and demonstrate he means business when he talks of focusing his government on bread-and-butter issues.

His statement was headed –

Cost of living support extended for families and businesses

The Government is providing extra cost of living support to families and businesses, delivering on new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ promise of a greater focus on the issues facing New Zealanders right now.

The timing was exquisite.

Hipkins’ need to strengthen focus on “bread and butter” issues suggests the Ardern team was looking the wrong way

Buzz from the Beehive

Before he announced his Cabinet yesterday, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced he would be flying to Australia next week to meet that country’s Prime Minister.

And before Kieran McAnulty had time to say “Three Waters” after his promotion to the Local Government portfolio, he was dishing out more government money to flood-ravaged Auckland as  Minister of Emergency Management.

Hipkins’ travel plans were announced  in a statement headed –

Prime Minister to meet with PM Albanese

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will travel to Canberra next week for an in person meeting with Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese.

Economic issues are on the agenda along with security issues within the bilateral relationship and engagement in the Pacific and wider Indo-Pacific regions.

Minister of Education (who might be replaced later today) left it to his ministry to apologise for ill-managed Auckland edict

Buzz from the Beehive

There has been plenty to keep the relevant Ministers busy in flood-stricken Auckland over the past day or two. But New Zealand, last time we looked, extends north of Auckland into Northland and south of the Bombay Hills all the way to the bottom of the South Island, with several smaller islands such as the Chathams thrown in for good measure.

Citizens had been paying the salaries of 20 Ministers before Jacinda Ardern quit as Prime Minister last week. Until the new Cabinet is named (later today by all accounts), this has been trimmed to 19 Ministers, but then there are four Labour Party ministers outside Cabinet and two support ministers from the Green Party.

You may well ask:  and what have they been doing?

Flooding flushes out more evidence of life in the Beehive

Buzz from the Beehive

Yes, there’s life – and the hint of ministerial hum – in the Beehive.

The latest announcement on the Beehive website deals with flood relief for Auckland:

Government steps up to assist Auckland during flooding

As the Mayor of Auckland has announced a state of emergency, the Government, through NEMA, is able to step up support for those affected by flooding in Auckland.

Twelve press releases have been posted on the Beehive website since January 1. That’s about one every two and a half days.

The latest statement – from Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty – was the fifth of those statements to deal with flood relief and emergency assistance.

Reform of the WTO, food security and climate change are on the agenda as O’Connor heads for Europe

Buzz from the Beehive

Just as soon as he was back on duty, Damien O’Connor was packing his bags for a journey to Europe.

But first he announced a second dollop of dollars for flood-ravaged farmers, this time in the Wairarapa.

Government funding relief for flood-affected Wairarapa farmers and growers

The Government has extended its medium-scale classification of Cyclone Hale to the Wairarapa after assessing storm damage to the eastern coastline of the region.

 This followed his announcement last week of Government support for flood-affected Gisborne Tairāwhiti farmers and growers.

In that case the government is making up to $100,000 available to help coordinate efforts as farmers and growers recover from the heavy rain and subsequent flood damage across the East Coast region.

While O’Connor and McAnulty bring succour to flood victims, ACT unleashes a stream of warnings to criminals

Buzz from the Beehive

The government is still in holiday mode if the Beehive website serves as a guide.

ACT politicians, in contrast, are busy beating the law-and-order drum.

The Minister for Emergency Management, Kieran McAnulty, has announced Government help for communities in Tairāwhiti that were battered by Cyclone Hale.

Government provides support to flooded Tairāwhiti communities

The Government is making an initial contribution of $150,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Tairāwhiti following ex-Tropical Cyclone Hale.

This was just the fifth statement posted by ministers this year.

One of these – announced by Damien O’Connor earlier on Friday – was the approval of $100,000 which the Ministry for Primary Industries has made available to Tairāwhiti farmers and growers.

The rain came down – and so did the debris from logging operations in the flood-damaged Gisborne region

 Buzz from the Beehive

Damien O’Connor, as Minister for Rural Communities, has broken his 2023 duck and issued his first press statement of the year to announce government support for flood-affected farmers and growers in the Gisborne region.

We have yet to hear from Forestry Minister Stuart Nash, but he is bound to have something to say – surely – about the mischief reportedly done by forest companies operating in that neck of the woods. The “slash” from their logging operations blocks rivers and exacerbates the flooding problems caused by heavy rain.

O’Connor’s statement, which kicked off with the language employed by earnest bureaucrats, was headed

Government support for flood-affected Gisborne Tairāwhiti farmers and growers

It began: 

A ‘good spread’ of handouts: it’s when almost half the beneficiaries of an energy scheme (for Māori) are in the Far North

Your Point of Order editors – to their mortification – have found a somewhat  stale article that was prepared for publication a week ago, but was never posted on our website.

It was a Buzz from the Beehive and it included a statement released in the names of Energy and Resources and Housing Minister Megan Woods and Associate Minister of Housing (Māori Housing) Peeni Henare.

We have refreshed the article and (all going well) are posting it now to focus on a curious interpretation of what it means when you boast about “a good regional spread of recipients”.

Ministers Woods and Henare, announcing 150 Māori households will benefit from clean, affordable and locally generated power through Government support for 16 small-scale solar projects, enthused, “it’s great to see we have a good regional spread of recipients”.

But seven of the 16 projects are located in Northland, eight are spread around the rest of the North Island, and just one (in Tasman) is in the South Island.

Thanks Minister – we now know what Govt is investing in forestry, but chatting and singing to hasten tree growth shouldn’t cost much

Buzz from the Beehive

Point of Order’s Beehive monitors couldn’t get too wildly excited by the latest announcements from the Beehive.

A bridge was opened  – the press statement calls it the Old Māngere Bridge Replacement, rather than the New  Māngere Bridge.

Pacific peoples and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei have welcomed “a new dawn of partnership and prosperity” at a Dawn Raids apology commemoration ceremony in Auckland.  Among other things, this suggests the Dawn Raids apology a year ago is to be remembered in  commemoration ceremonies every year.

New appointments have been made to the Strategic COVID-19 Public Health Advisory Group and the term of the group has been extended until December.

The Government has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green in response to flooding in the Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough districts.

And progress is being made on another Treaty settlement.  Ngāti Ruapani mai Waikaremoana and the Crown have signed an Agreement in Principle.

Each of those bits of news will be welcomed by the constituencies affected, sure enough, but the Point of Order team was tempted to revisit an announcement made about a week ago, when  Forestry Minister Stuart Nash launched the draft Forestry and Wood Processing Industry Transformation Plan at the Canterbury West Coast Wood Council Awards in Christchurch.