Can Luxon’s ‘ruthless’ list fix National's gender parity problem?
The National leader has made some tough calls to help get more women into parliament. But when men keep getting selected for winnable seats, he can only do so much.
Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Monday, August 21, by Catherine McGregor. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: Students will get financial literacy classes under both Labour and National; more than $3 billion of Christchurch assets at risk of flooding in next 25 years; literary community dismayed by layoff of legendary editor. But first, the National leader hopes his list will be enough to stave off another “pale, male and stale” caucus. It may not be that simple.
Veteran MP calls time after disappointing list ranking
It’s not quite a crystal ball, but the release of National’s list could be as good a glimpse into the political future as we’re going to get. If current polling holds, National could form a government with around 45 MPs drawn from its own ranks, and the list gives a decent picture of who’s definitely in and who’s potentially out. One who’s unequivocally out is Michael Woodhouse, the former cabinet minister now in parliament on the National list. He withdrew his name from this election’s list after seeing his initial ranking, which has not been revealed to the public but clearly put him “outside leadership’s thinking regarding ministerial positions”, according to Woodhouse. The move effectively signals the end of Woodhouse’s political career. He’s still standing in the Dunedin electorate currently held by Labour’s David Clark (who is also stepping down this election), but given the seat has been Labour-held since 1928, except for a single term in the ‘70s, his chances there are not good, to put it mildly. (For a look at the seats that will be competitive, check out The Spinoff this morning for Toby Manhire’s picks for the best electoral contests of 2023).
Luxon tries to engineer a more diverse caucus – with mixed results
Other sitting MPs who won’t be overly delighted by their rankings include Simon O’Connor, Scott Simpson, Stuart Smith, elusive Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell and Tim van de Molen. All have “been sent a clear message,” writes Jo Moir of Newsroom: “win your seats or you’re gone and if you’re back, you’re nowhere near the decision-making table”. It’s a demonstration of leader Christopher Luxon’s “ruthless” use of the list to flex his command over the party – or at least the parts of it he is able to control, says Thomas Coughlan. Low rankings for male MPs in relatively safe seats clear the way for more women to enter parliament on the list – of National’s top 40 this election, 21 are women. The problem for Luxon is that the membership “did not heed his desires for greater diversity,” Coughlan says. “And its famously independent local selections have favoured men in winnable seats.” On current polling, the gender split of the caucus will be “65:35 in favour of men. That’s only a slight improvement on the 68:32 split currently.” For more on the likely gender split of the next parliament, see Ben McKay’s deep dive on The Spinoff.
A history-making election for Te Pāti Māori?
Te Pāti Māori also released its list rankings over the weekend. The number everyone is talking about is 4, the ranking given to 20-year-old first-time candidate Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke. “On current polling, and assuming TPM wins at least one electorate seat, she would become the youngest MP in the New Zealand parliament since 1853, when James Frederick Stuart-Wortley, a colonist who spent just a few years in New Zealand, was elected at the age of 20 years and seven months,” reports Toby Manhire. As the youngest woman elected to parliament, she would also topple Marilyn Waring, who was 23 when she became MP for Raglan in 1975. At number 3 on the list, behind co-leaders Debbie-Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, is Meka Whaitiri, the MP for Ikaroa-Rawhiti who defected to Te Pāti Māori from Labour earlier this year.
Harsh words for National list at korononeihana
The release of the Māori Party’s list coincided with the korononeihana of Kiingi Tūheitia in Ngāruawahia on Sunday. The Herald’s Michael Neilson writes that the annual event was attended by sizable contingents from all parliamentary parties, except Act which did not attend. Addressing the politicians, Ngāti Rangi spokesman Che Wilson called for Māori not to be treated as a “political football”. He said he was disappointed to see only one Māori candidate in the top 20 of National’s party list. “It’s not good enough in this country right now. There’s no excuse for it.”
Z Energy (Z) launches home electricity offer for EV drivers
If you have an EV, you probably haven’t thought about it as an appliance. But it is. And it’s a lot bigger than your toaster or jug. Not to mention it uses far more power. That’s why Z have brought out the EV at home plan. The power plan designed around your EV, not your jug. Find out more here. (sponsored)
Students to be taught financial literacy under both Labour and National
Financial literacy classes are on their way for school students, after a Labour pledge to add them to the curriculum was endorsed by National, effectively making it government policy whichever party wins. The new school subject would be rolled out similarly to the Labour Government’s requirement that all schools teach New Zealand history, reports Stuff’s Thomas Manch. National’s deputy leader Nicola Willis says “it’s something that we want to include in the curriculum if we are elected”, adding that “it’s a shame it wasn’t done earlier”. Act leader David Seymour says he also supports the idea – as long as the Ministry of Education stands back. “Our view is education and policy formation and curriculum needs to be driven by community experts, not by the ministry.”
More than $3 billion of Christchurch assets at risk of flooding in next quarter century
A quarter of Christchurch’s roads, a sixth of its residential properties, and a third of its drinking water and stormwater pipes will be affected by coastal erosion and flooding within the next 25 years, reports Tina Law for The Press (paywalled). That time frame is when sea levels are expected to have risen by about 20 cm, and the council’s climate change lead, Sara Templeton, says adaptation planning for the city’s coastal communities is becoming urgent. At the current rate of progress it would take 14 years to complete the process for all coastal communities, so council staff want to spend another $1.5m each year to employ a second team of staff to scale up the programme. Templeton also wants the council to introduce a climate change levy to support the work. While acknowledging that there would be “push back” to the rate increase, she says being able to fund climate adaptation is vital for the future of the city.
The team behind everyone’s favourite election voting tool needs your help
We’re two months from election day which means it’s nearly time for the return of everyone’s favourite election voting tool, Policy. But the team needs your help to make it happen. Since 2017, tens of thousands of Spinoff readers have used the Policy tool to compare candidates and parties each election. In the current climate, Policy is as vital as ever, and it needs a little help to get to the finish line. If you’ve used the tool in the past or plan on using it in the coming weeks, please consider donating here to keep it running.
Layoff of beloved editor dismays literary community
Penguin Random House has laid off its legendary fiction editor Harriet Allan and local authors are up in arms about it, reports Steve Braunias at Newsroom. Allan has worked with many of the biggest names in New Zealand writing in her 35 years at Penguin Random House, among them Charlotte Grimshaw, Stephanie Johnson and Lloyd Jones, who says her departure is a “significant loss”, adding “At times it does feel like NZ publishing is in a losing battle to retain relevance in a changing NZ cultural landscape.” Allan’s layoff, along with that of two other senior staffers, comes amid well-sourced “media speculation” that Penguin paid Jacinda Ardern at least $1m for a book on leadership, Braunias writes.
Click and Collect
New Zealand’s cheapest petrol can currently be found at the BP 2go in Te Puke, where a litre of 91 Unleaded cost just $1.79 on Friday.
Growing a short term “catch crop” directly after winter grazing can reduce nitrate leaching to waterways by up to 50%, according to NZ scientists.
Downtown Auckland bar BayLuck – site of “multiple stabbings, a drive-by shooting, mass brawls and public sex” – has lost its liquor licence (Herald, paywalled).
Russia’s first moon mission in 47 years has failed after its Luna-25 spacecraft spun out of control and crashed into the moon.
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Simplicity is joining forces with First Credit Union to form a “rebel alliance of finance”, reports Duncan Greive. Waiwera local George Fenwick remembers the promise and thrill of the late lamented Hot Pools. Michael Donaldson asks if the fall of Epic and Brothers signals the end of NZ craft beer as we know it. And Paul Williams treats us to the weirdest My Life in TV interview yet
Sporting snippets
The Black Caps bounced back to win their final Twenty20 match against UAE, winning the series 2-1.
Wellington have retained the Ranfurly Shield – until Wednesday, at least.
Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz.
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Financial Literacy:
This is called 'personal & household budgeting', don't glorify it with the high-falutin' title 'financial literacy', which is an entirely different subject.
The entire political economy of the last 100 years is predicated on a deliberate public misconception that the financial affairs of nation-states are somehow cognate with household budgeting. They are not, and this misnomer will only further hinder the necessary disambiguation.
Luxon is engaged in a purge of the 'old-guard' of the National Party worthy of Stalin himself. He is pursuing a path determined to rid the caucus of 'small-c-conservatives' who (notwithstanding I believe they are mistaken as to process) actually do have the interests of ordinary(ish) New Zealanders at-heart. Luxon takes his briefing from the corporate-dominated Neolib think-tanks (like Liz Truss did in the UK and we all know how that ended), not his party conference or the constituency parties. The constituency party is, as demonstrated by their stated reluctance to select women for constituency candidacy, very much in the 'small-c' mindset of social conservatism, which is largely at odds with the corporatism and internationalism of the Neolib Right.
I would even go so far as to say that Luxon's favouring of women on the National List probably has more to do with the perception of Old White Corporate males that women, especially those that are new to office, are more 'malleable' to a male leader than men, rather than any attempt to "redress the gender balance" of the National party in parliament.