House enters urgency as government's 100-day plan agenda begins in earnest

Bills to remove the Reserve Bank's employment mandate, repeal Fair Pay Agreements law and scrap the clean car discount were introduced yesterday

Mōrena, and welcome to The Bulletin for Wednesday, December 13, by Anna Rawhiti-Connell. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.

In today’s edition: climate change minister says Cop 28 draft agreement doesn’t go far enough; rain, hail, surface flooding and tornado cause widespread damage in Wellington; the quotes of the year; but first, the legislative programme of the new government kicked off yesterday under urgency, and an argument in defence of the dry-sounding regulatory impact statement

Maiden speeches begin proceedings before three bills introduced

Three new MPs gave their maiden speeches yesterday, including Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, Tākuta Ferris and Tim Costley. Maipi-Clarke promised to hold the government to account, which she says is “attacking” her personally as Māori. The Herald’s Michael Neilson reports that Ferris “deviated from the traditionally personal maiden speech to assert in no unclear terms Māori had never given up sovereignty.” Costley spoke about his time in Afghanistan, where he lost some friends and pledged to be the voice of first responders in the House. Following the speeches, bills to remove the Reserve Bank's employment mandate (more on that below), repeal the Fair Pay Agreements law and scrap the clean car discount were introduced as the House went into urgency. Transport minister Simeon Brown also announced that he’d taken the first steps toward halting blanket speed limit reductions.

New poll shows support for NZ First has grown

With Christopher Luxon in Australia to attend his daughter’s graduation, Winston Peters was acting prime minister yesterday and, as the Herald’s Claire Trevett reports (paywalled), is “​​never happier than when there’s a fight to be had”. Peters rose to the occasion yesterday, no doubt buoyed by a new Curia poll done for corporate clients that shows support for NZ First has overtaken support for Act, support for Christopher Luxon dropping a bit and gain for Te Pāti Māori.

A defence of regularity impact statements 

Following Luxon’s comments on the AM show about regulatory impact statements (RIS) being a "huge waste of time", particularly when it comes to the repeal of legislation, and news that the government was suspending the RIS for parts of its 100-day plan, Henry Cooke has written a defence of this admittedly dry-sounding work. He notes the new government’s desire for momentum and speed compares neatly with the 2017 Labour government’s similar desire. As outlined by Treasury, RIS “provides a high-level summary of the problem being addressed, the options and their associated costs and benefits, the consultation undertaken, and the proposed arrangements for implementation and review.” Cooke writes that the RIS is important for scrutiny from all quarters and public understanding of law change.

Treasury publishes RIS for RBNZ mandate change law

As Newsroom’s Jono Milne reports, Treasury “quietly posted on The Treasury website this week” the RIS for the legislation introduced yesterday to get rid of the Reserve Bank’s (RBNZ) dual mandate to focus on both bringing down inflation and unemployment. In “dry language that could have been spoken by Sir Humphrey Appleby [Yes, Minister], it says: “The Treasury puts significant weight on the value of a stable and enduring legislative regime for the Reserve Bank, which supports public and market confidence in the independence of the institution.” Treasury questions the premise of getting rid of the “dual mandate” and says if the government must do it, it would be “preferable” to use the Monetary Policy Committee Remit to provide guidance rather than “take a sledgehammer to the Reserve Bank Act”.

Our PledgeMe campaign ends this Thursday

Our PledgeMe campaign to fund What's eating Aotearoa ends at 8pm this Thursday.

Thanks to over 1000 Spinoff supporters, we hit our first goal of $50,000 last night. We now want to push on to our next goal of $75,000. With any additional pledges, we can break down big food topics into accessible explainers and transform our work into bite-sized formats to allow the broadest possible audience to feel empowered to understand all the forces at play.

We've added more exciting rewards, including a lunch for two personally curated by Josh Emett at his new restaurant, Gilt and a wine collection consultation with By The Bottle’s sommelier Pete Connell. We've added another batch of Spinoff books signed by Toby Manhire. You can grab the last coffee or lunch with Spinoff founder Duncan Greive or have one of our writers write your life story.

To help us get this work to as many people as possible, choose a reward, make a pledge or share our PledgeMe page with friends, whānau and colleagues. Thank you to everyone who has pledged so far. Your support inspires us.

Climate change minister says Cop 28 draft agreement doesn’t go far enough

Climate change minister Simon Watts says the draft text of the much-awaited agreement from the UN climate summit had the word “could” in it rather than a firm commitment to transition away from fossil fuels. “That is not aligned with the science and not aligned with our commitment to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.” Watts was asked whether the government's move to restart oil and gas exploration offshore was hampering efforts to get New Zealand's position across and said, “No, absolutely not”. The final text is still being worked on, and there’s a live blog on The Guardian featuring a cat (there’s a lot of waiting around). The Climate Change Commission’s latest report was also published last night and, as Stuff’s Olivia Wannan reports, recommends charging farmers for their emissions before 2030, shifting drivers into electric vans and utes, boosting cash for cycleways and promoting inner-city housing. The government does not have to follow the commission’s guidance but must publicly present how it intends to meet the goals, and it will publish the second-ever Emissions Reduction Plan by the end of next year. As Newsroom’s Marc Daalder reports, actions spelled out in the government’s 100-day plan and coalition agreements directly conflict with the commission’s advice. Newsroom’s Jo Moir reports this morning (paywalled) that from April 1, owners of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids will pay road user charges. They have previously been exempt, and as Moir notes, the previous government was seeking advice on making this change, too.

Widespread damage in Wellington after severe weather hits

As Piers Fuller, Gianina Schwanecke and Conor Knell report for The Post, over 2000 homes were left without power in the Wellington region yesterday, and buildings and homes were damaged in Lower Hutt after a tornado blew in store windows, ripped-up roofs, toppled fences and battered buildings. Chris Bishop’s electoral office was damaged, the MP tweeting last night that “There was a roof here this morning” with a picture of his office. Bishop said yesterday it sounded like there would be a big cleanup job for Lower Hutt, expressed concern for those injured and praised locals who moved quickly to get children to safety during the storm. The weather system that caused the damage has moved offshore.

Click and Collect

• “Nah, we’re just three Māori boys”, and the nine other finalists in Massey University’s quote of the year competition. You have until this Sunday to vote for your favourite.

• Parts 2 and 3 of Anusha Bradley’s excellent reporting on what happened to the funding for mental health:

  • How a $664m mental health scheme gave with one hand and took with another

  • The mental health workforce problem that won’t go away

• 270,000 past and present Te Whatu Ora employees owed more than $2.1b in Holidays Act remediation payments

• Why summer fruit might be in short supply before Christmas

  Feeling clever? Click here to play 1Q, Aotearoa’s newest, shortest daily quiz.

Right now on The Spinoff

Duncan Greive reveals how a group of committed staff convinced Auckland Museum to turn away a major touring exhibition. A posthumous essay by palliative care nurse Carla Arkless emphasises the importance of having a plan. Gemma Bowker-Wright ponders the impossible task of what to give your kid's teacher to say thank you. Stewart Sowman-Lund reports that new vaping regulations may mean 10 million disposable vapes end up at the tip. Claire Mabey pays tribute to the one and only Renée. Rodney from our documentary Last Home Renters discusses the costs of being on a pension without a secure living space. Duncan Greive explains why we’re putting reader-funded work at the heart of our 2024 editorial programme. Nadine Anne Hura on her Dad, his lifetime of work and what is crushed when roads are built.

Sporting Snippets

• Christchurch will host the SailGP yacht racing after Auckland was dropped as the 2024 host

• Suzie Bates leads White Ferns to win over Pakistan

• Change is coming to Super Rugby

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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