RMA replacement bills look nicely combustible, when Hipkins seeks more unpopular policies to keep his bonfire burning

Buzz from the Beehive

No fresh announcements had been posted on The Beehive website*, when Point of Order’s monitors checked this morning on the doings of Hipkins and his helpmates.

Most vexingly, there was no news of more policies being tossed on to the PM’s policy bonfire as he incinerates a slew of unpopular programmes that had been enthusiastically promoted before Jacinda Ardern stepped down.

But our monitors did pick up a Spinoff report which drew their attention to legislation that politicians keen to be re-elected might be tempted to put to the combustibility test.  It was headed –

Will RMA reform be the government’s next difficult sell?

Ardern government seeks to butter up farmers with bold export forecasts and on-farm sequestration changes

Farmers  had plenty to digest this week:  first, the Ministry of Primary Industries assesses exports from the sector will hit a record high $55bn  in 2023; second, the government took an important step back on the on-farm sequestration programme; and third, Field Days at Mystery Creek engrossed  those who attended (though perhaps not the Prime Minister, given the cool reception).

The MPI data showed Dairy again NZ’s largest export sector with forecast revenue due to top $23.3bn. That underlines how important the dairy sector has become in the NZ economy.  Red meat and wool exports are also expected to hit a record at $12.4bn.

Horticultural export revenue is projected to grow 5% to $7.1bn and processed food by 3% to $3.3bn.

The consequence of cutting livestock numbers to tackle farm emissions? A culling of support for Labour in rural areas, perhaps

Has the Ardern government just  shot itself in the  foot?

Despite its  poll  ratings slipping in  recent  months, it nourished hopes of  returning to power next year.  But  its  “world-first” policy to  cut greenhouse  gases with farm-level pricing, effectively making 20% of  NZ’s  sheep and beef  farms uneconomic, could result in it  bleeding  votes  in  most  of the  regional electorates  it  won  in 2020.

The unpalatable  truth  is  just  dawning on the  country: cutting  agricultural emissions  means  cutting  food and fibre output.  And  that means slashing the export income on which  NZ  depends.

Clearly  the  Cabinet  ministers  adopting the  policy  announced  yesterday  believed  they  could “sell” it  on  the  basis  that NZ  would be  leading the world, in  cutting agricultural emissions.

In the event, they have been met with shrieks of outrage from farm lobby  groups.

James Shaw and the challenge for the Greens: how to get the politicking right when you want to steer clear of the centre

A  week  ago   Point  of  Order  noted   how James Shaw was  fending  off  challenges,  first  from  his  political  opponents on  his  climate  change policies,  and  then against  his co-leadership  of  the  Green  Party.  He   emerged  unscathed  from  the  first  but  then lost  his  co-leadership.

Yet  beneath that  quiet  exterior  lurks  a  man  with  intent.

He   truly  believes  in  what  he  is  doing in  shaping  the  country’s  climate-change  policy,  and he  is not  blinking in the  face  of  the  challenge  from within the  party  that  he  is  not  doing  enough  to  stave off  back  the  climatic  apocalypse.

Radio NZ’s Morning Report today  reported  he will contest the Green Party’s co-leadership after being ousted from the role.

“I’m not done,” he told  the  programme.

Shaw made the announcement after failing to get the 75% of delegates’ votes he needed at the party’s online annual meeting at the weekend (a formidably high threshold) to be reconfirmed in the role.

Co-leader Marama Davidson was reconfirmed by delegates.

Shaw feels the heat from Opposition on climate change and from young Greens on his co-leadership

 

Green  Party  co-leader  James  Shaw is   fending  off  challenges,  first  in  his  role  as  Climate  Change Minister  and  then  in  his  role   at the  head  of  his  party.

At  a  hearing of  Parliament’s  Environment Select Committee this week he faced  attacks  from  National and  Act MPs on his climate  change  policies. Meanwhile the party faithful will meet in Christchurch this weekend, with some members of the youth arm planning to force a vote on his leadership.

In  the  select committee hearing the National Party MP Scott Simpson led  the  charge, saying the Emissions Reduction Plan was full of ideas and commitments but few concrete actions.

NZ has yet to announce climate-warming pledge for Glasgow summit but RBNZ is developing guidance for our finance sector

The clock is ticking on global warming, the  Dominion-Post  warned this  week ahead of  the Climate Change Summit in Glasgow. 

The  opening  paragraph  of  the  report  was  ominous: 

“Even after  countries — excluding NZ — unveiled  ambitious new  pledges  to  cut emissions,  it’s still  not  enough to achieve the global of 1.5 degrees  Celsius of climate warming,  a  new  report  found.”

The  article  points  out that NZ  has been  notably  absent   from the burst of  announcements that have been made, but  suggests we may  make our declaration in Glasgow.

It  argues that, as  a  small economy,  NZ’s nationally determined contributions (NDCs) will  not sway  the  dial  much.

But Green  co-leader  James Shaw,  who is  representing  NZ  at  the  conference, may  find anything he says is not  greeted  with applause.  NZ, like  Australia,  is  regarded  as  a  laggard  on  climate  change.

Poll results won’t deter Labour from its reform programme – but they shouldn’t unnerve the Nats, either

Latest  opinion  polling  has   created  a  stir  among  the  political cognoscenti.  On   one  side, ACT’s  rise is being seen as  a  big  problem   for  National. From  another,  Labour’s   fall  by 9.7 points   from the  previous poll points to  sharp  disillusion  with the Ardern government.

TV3’s  AM Show  told viewers ACT’s  four-point  rise  to 11 % constitutes “soaring popularity”.  Well,  not  quite.

Then there seemed to be  a  general  judgement  that Judith Collins’ fall below  ACT  leader David  Seymour’s rating  signalled  her imminent  demise  as  National  leader.

In  reality,  the  Newshub Reid  Research poll’s  findings,  while  recording sharp shifts  from  its  previous  sampling,  weren’t  much  different   from  the   Colmar  Brunton  post-Budget poll  which  recorded  Labour  down  to  46%  from  its  previous highs   in the  fifties.

Young eco-warriors press for change – if they get what they demand, they should brace for a lower standard of living

The latest  cohort of school students  took  to the  streets  last week  to  demand  climate  change action. In  Wellington, several thousand strikers marched to Parliament.

Izzy Cook, one of the organisers, said they had their own list of demands.

“Investing in a just transition to a sustainable future, reducing agricultural emissions, prohibiting the use of fossil fuels nationwide so phasing them out, getting climate education [and] honouring our neighbours in the Pacific Islands.” 

 The demands were handed over to Climate Change Minister James Shaw.

But he said it’s not just him who needs to be listening.

Apologies galore from the errant Shaw – but what about an apology to the taxpayer?

James  Shaw  has  set  a   new   standard  for  ministerial  conduct  in  the  way he has  performed over  the  allocation  of  $11.7m  of  taxpayer money  for a  privately-owned  Green  school in Taranaki.

The Green School was one of 150 projects getting a grant from a $3bn fund— the shovel-ready infrastructure fund – and Shaw was willing to put them all at risk.

An email  to government ministers and the Treasury from Shaw’s office included a stark ultimatum:

“Minister Shaw won’t sign this briefing until the Green School in Taranaki is incorporated”.

Private schools could be on to a Shaw thing – but maybe they need “Green” in their name to secure millions

Did we miss it?  Or was it posted on the Beehive website after we had recorded the Government’s August 26 announcements?

Whatever happened, we are chagrined to have missed the official posting of the declaration that Green Party co-leader James Shaw has bypassed the strictures of his party’s policy to announce:   Taranaki school construction project to create jobs.

The statement didn’t seem untoward, in the Covid-19 era of massive borrowing to pump billions into infrastructural work and employment.

More than 200 construction jobs will be secured in Taranaki through Government funding for a school expansion project, the Associate Minister of Finance, James Shaw said today.

Green School New Zealand will be supported with $11.7 million from the $3 billion set aside by the Government for infrastructure in the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund.

The ‘shovel-ready’ project would enable the school to expand its student roll from 120 students to 250.

But the announcement subjected Shaw and his party to widespread criticism – indeed, ridicule – because of something the press statement did not mention. Green School is a private school which charges up to $24,000 a year for New Zealand students and $43,000 a year for international students.

We are talking Green hypocrisy here, because: