Greens don’t shy from promoting a candidate’s queerness but are quiet about govt announcement on clean energy

There was a time when a political party’s publicity people would counsel against promoting a candidate as queer.

No matter which of two dictionary meanings the voting public might choose to apply – the old meaning of odd, strange, weird, or aberrant, or the more recent meaning of gay, homosexual or LGBT – “queer” would be regarded as a dubious attribute to promote for winning popular support.

Nowadays, clearly, the word is no longer shunned for vote-winning purposes and the Green Party today has injected an element of gay pride into its news that:

Green Party Announces Gina Dao-McLay As Candidate For Mana Electorate

The Green Party is proud to announce Gina Dao-McLay as their candidate for Mana. Gina is a queer young person living in Porirua, the Co-Convenor of the nationwide Young Greens network and the former Co-Director of  of Make It 16, the campaign to lower the voting age which won their case against the Government in the Supreme Court.

Mind you, geography probably plays a part in the extent to which queerness should be promoted on the hustings.

According to Time magazine, Republican lawmakers in Florida appear likely to expand provisions in the Parental Rights in Education Act, or so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Law, with a host of new restrictions on what teachers can and cannot say in their classrooms about gender, sex, and sexual orientation.

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.

While the Beehive is silent, Seymour steals a march by railing against the Ardern team’s law-and-order performance

Buzz from the Beehive

Sorry, folks (although – on second thoughts – you might regard this as good news).

There has been no buzz from the Beehive since January 9, when  Associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall announced that a vaccine for people at risk of mpox (or monkeypox) will be available to people who meet eligibility criteria from January 16.

This does not mean other politicians have nothing to say.  A visit to the Scoop website shows Opposition MPs have been issuing press statements, no doubt hoping to attract the attention of the government-subsidised mainstream media while the Beehive buglers have been silent.

The ACT Party today exploited the public’s increasing disquiet about crime by launching the next phase of its ‘We hear ya’ campaign’ (a slogan which should disqualify ACT politicians from taking over the Education portfolio in any future government in which they are a coalition partner).   

46 councils sought funding from a $350m transport trough – and 46 councils are given funds (but we don’t know how much)

Buzz from the Beehive

Hard on the heels of Chris Hipkins announcing an embarrassing U-turn on one (but only one) contentious aspect of the government’s Three Waters legislation, ministers seemed keen to remind the voters what a splendid government we have.

Each of three Beehive statements  since the U-turn involved initiatives and handouts to improve our wellbeing. 

Mind you, the benefits will be enjoyed in one case only by people living in certain parts of the country –

Better transport choices for New Zealanders

Forty-six councils across Aotearoa New Zealand, from large metro centres to small provincial towns, will receive funding to implement more transport options for communities, as part of the Transport Choices package 2022-24, Transport Minister Michael Wood announced today.

In other words, 46  councils have successfully lined up for goodies served from the Transport Choices trough, a $350m “package” which aims to provide people in communities around the country with a wider range of efficient, cost effective and sustainable transport options.

More work on moa – Marsden Fund grants $870,000 for research into an extinct bird and Maori food gathering

Buzz from the Beehive

More millions have been dished out by Ministers in the past 24 hours and/or we have been shown what has happened to funding previously distributed.

In the second category, the PM has officially opening a surf live saving centre in Tauranga.  We can see what we got for our money.

In the first  category, on the other hand, is the latest approval of grants from the Marsden Fund.

• 113 new projects funded
• More than $77.391 million invested over the next three years
• Universities to receive almost 90.5% of the funding

We must wait to see how well this dosh has been invested.

 Among the successful projects is work being done by Professor R.K.Walter, Dr K.L.Grieg, Dr C.N.T Phillips and Dr M.Tomp, from the University of Otago, and Professor K.G.Douglass, from the Pennsylvania State University.

They have been granted $870,000 over three years for a project described as

“Moa hunting, mahinga kai and Māori economic practices – 1300 to 1450 AD”.

Robertson is not too dismayed by CPI data – but they challenge his blaming overseas forces for our rising cost of living

Buzz from the Beehive

We are left wondering whether our hard-working ministers were numbed into inactivity by the latest inflation figures.

The only statement posted since Point of Order last monitored the Beehive website comes from Finance Minister Grant Robertson, who sounded curiously untroubled by the latest consumers’ price index data from Stats NZ.

These are the key facts, according to the official statistics.

For the September 2022 quarter, the:

• quarterly inflation rate was 2.2 per cent
• annual inflation rate was 7.2 per cent

PM condemns disinformation and upholds democracy in speech in Madrid – now let’s see what happens back in NZ

Buzz from the Beehive

Legislation to tighten things, legislation to relax things and a speech which reminds us of threats to our democracy – from the PM, we are delighted to note – feature in the latest posts on the Beehive website.

Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark has had a busy day, announcing two lots of legislation.

• Legislation that bans major supermarkets from blocking their competitors’ access to land to set up new stores, to pave the way for greater competition in the sector, is the first in a suite of measures after a Commerce Commission investigation found competition in the retail grocery sector is not working.  The Commerce (Grocery Sector Covenants) Amendment Bill amends the Commerce Act 1986, banning restrictive covenants on land, and exclusive covenants on leases. It also makes existing covenants unenforceable and enhances the Commission’s information-gathering powers.
• The Financial Markets (Conduct of Institutions) Amendment Bill, which has passed its third reading, will establish a new financial conduct scheme that ensures financial institutions put customers before profits.  This follows reviews by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and Financial Markets Authority which found banks and insurers in New Zealand lack focus on good customer outcomes, and have insufficient systems and controls to identify, manage and remedy conduct issues. The FMA will work with financial institutions to ensure they are prepared for the new regime, and licensing applications are expected to open in mid-2023. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment will develop supporting regulations. The regime is expected to come fully into force in early 2025.

Govt action against climate change includes pouring millions into troughs and inviting private sector to line up for a slurp

Buzz from the Beehive

Foreign affairs, agriculture, health and transport are among the burning issues which have been keeping our ministers, their policy advisers and their press secretaries busy in recent days.  Inviting oinkers to new freshly filled troughs was on the agenda, too.

Ministers had issued 13 new press statements when Point of Order checked this morning.  At time of writing the number of new statements had increased to 16, on subjects ranging from the agriculture sector’s agenda for dealing with climate change to the race-fixated restructuring of the health system.

On the foreign affairs front, Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta was announcing additional sanctions on Russian state-owned enterprises and defence entities in response to the ongoing brutality in Ukraine, the PM was announcing a visit here this month by Samoa Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataʻafa 60 years after the Treaty of Friendship between the two countries was signed, and the PM was further announcing she will travel to Sydney this week for “an in-person meeting” with new Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese.

Buzz from the Beehive – the PM goes batting for democracy while her Maori ministers announce more Budget boosts

Oh, look.  More goodies from the government.

Today we learn of a $10 million boost for landowners, a $27.6 million investment over the next four years in research and innovation and a $30 million investment for primary and community health care providers.

Budget 2020 is the budget that just keeps on giving.

But those announcements are competing for media attention with news that an independent assessment of stewardship land on the West Coast is delivering recommendations for revised land classifications.

“Stewardship land” is the term given for land that was allocated to DOC when it was formed in 1987 but had yet to be given a specific land classification. Panels were set up last year to reclassify stewardship land to ensure appropriate layers of protection for future generations to enjoy. Public notification will open next week on those recommendations.

But the biggie on the Beehive website today surely must be the PM’s Harvard Commencement Speech – Democracy, disinformation and kindness.  You can watch her deliver it HERE and gauge for yourself the audience’s response.

Budget unleashes laments from groups that were overlooked or short-changed (including hopes of Human Rights empire-building)

And how did the people react to the boost in spending announced in this year’s Budget to promote our wellbeing?

In some cases by pleading for more; in other cases, by grouching they got nothing.

But Budget spending is never enough.

Two lots of bleating came from the Human Rights Commission, which somewhat draws attention to the potential for a $15 million a year saving by abolishing the agency – a budget-trimming measure advocated by the ACT Party.

One statement – in the name of Disability Rights Commissioner Paula Tesoriero – said Budget 2022 has pluses and minuses for the disabled community.

On the plus side,there was considerable investment in the new Ministry for Disabled People and other funding which has the potential to benefit the disabled community.  And there was some funding for community-based services which support the disabled community.