How NZ is being represented on the global stage amid wait for government formation
The Pacific Islands Forum has been and gone, our influence there somewhat diminished. Apec starts this week and the UN climate conference, Cop 28, is 16 days away
Mōrena, and welcome to The Bulletin for Tuesday, November 14, by Anna Rawhiti-Connell. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: mixed bag of news for travellers over the summer; tourism and events sectors put a hand up for help; Covid cases expected to peak just before Christmas; but first, Luxon ‘highly unlikely’ to attend Apec
MFAT working round the clock to get New Zealanders out of Gaza
We’re exactly one month on from election day. The world record for the longest time to form a government during coalition talks (over 500 days) is held by Belgium. In An idiots guide to Belgian politics on Politico, Barbara Moens writes, “Even at the federal level, Belgium works pretty well (or at least, not much worse than normal) with or without a government.” It’s an extreme example but a reminder that many aspects of government continue to function during transitional times. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it is working round the clock to get the remaining New Zealand citizens and permanent residents out of Gaza after it confirmed yesterday that 11 New Zealanders left Gaza overnight on Sunday and entered Egypt via the Rafah border crossing.
Luxon ‘highly unlikely’ to attend Apec
As the “unofficial deadline” of a government being formed in time for incoming prime minister Christopher Luxon to attend the Apec leaders’ meeting in San Francisco looks set to pass, Luxon said yesterday that it’s “highly unlikely” he’d attend. As most outlets report this morning, tax and treaty issues are the sticking points in coalition negotiations with Act and NZ First. Luxon said he was very comfortable the outgoing government could represent New Zealand well at Apec. “By and large... we have a pretty bilateral approach to foreign affairs,” he said, and it would be up to Chris Hipkins, who represented New Zealand at Apec. Luxon pledged to get a free trade deal with India in his first term during the final leaders’ debate. While India is not a member of Apec and has been stymied in its attempts to join, India’s commerce minister, Piyush Goyal, is attending Apec and will meet “on the margins” with US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo.
Trade minister Damien O’Connor at Apec
As the Herald’s Fran O'Sullivan reported yesterday morning (paywalled), current trade minister, Labour’s Damien O’Connor, left for San Francisco on Sunday night, where he will “work to advance New Zealand’s interests at the two-day meeting of foreign and trade ministers from the 21 nations that comprise Apec.” “National has been briefed by New Zealand’s trade negotiators”, writes O’Sullivan. The leaders’ meeting occurs later in the week. Stephen Jacobi says, “Apec is incredibly important for New Zealand”, while last week, Politik’s Richard Harman tweeted that Apec was just “another international gab fest” unless you had serious bilaterals programmed. For most of us, it probably conjures up the “silly shirt photo”. Harman suggested the Pacific Leaders’ Forum (Pif) was more relevant to New Zealand. As we know, Carmel Sepuloni and Gerry Brownlee (Caramel Brownie) attended. As Newsroom’s Marc Daalder reports, “a diplomatic liability for the incoming National-led government has already reared its head before any ministers have even been sworn in” after Vanuatu's climate change minister called on National not to reinstate offshore oil and gas exploration in New Zealand. Brownlee was reportedly caught off guard, not expecting questions about the oil and gas policy at Pif.
Cop 28 and a “rude awakening” loom
All going well, we’ll have a government, and a new climate change minister, by the time Cop 28 starts in 16 days. Held in Dubai, the United Nations climate conference has already attracted criticism. The United Arab Emirates is among the world's top 10 oil-producing nations. Despite questions about the efficacy of the conference in bringing about the rapid action required to meet the Paris Agreement goal, this year’s is relatively significant. The first global stocktake (GST) of the Paris Agreement will conclude this year. Data gathering started in November 2021, and the political discussions will happen at Cop 28. Nature Journal explains this fairly technical process well, including the continued sticking points. As Fran O'Sullivan writes (paywalled), “Whoever prime minister-in-waiting Christopher Luxon sends up to Dubai… will face a rude awakening. New Zealand political leaders have talked a big game on climate change. But their optimistic words have yet to be matched by sufficient major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in the pipeline, at a sufficient tempo for this country to meet its Paris Agreement commitments.”
Vincent Heeringa is the founder of Unlimited magazine, Idealog magazine, Good magazine and Stoppress. A master at marrying editorial and commercial together and an advocate in the sustainability space, Heeringa joined Duncan Greive on The Fold to talk about what drove him to create those publications, what happened to them, and his journey in the years since.
Read an excerpt of the chat, in partnership with oOh!media here, and listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts (sponsored)
Road to Coromandel to open early
To the good news first. State Highway 25a, the road between Kōpū and Hikuai, will reopen three months ahead of schedule on December 20. Here’s a timelapse of some of the rebuild and repair work. The critical route to towns like Whangamatā was damaged earlier this year during storms. Thames-Coromandel Mayor Len Salt said the local economy had already lost $30m since its closure. Meanwhile, business groups in Northland have banded together to call for more urgent action on repairing roads in the region, the fastest growing in the country. If you’re considering crossing between the North and South islands by ferry this summer, Kiwirail is reassuring travellers that it is more prepared for the upcoming high season after last summer’s issues caused significant delays. On Sunday, Interislander's Kaiārahi ferry was damaged during berthing, leaving a 1m-long hole in the hull. RNZ has a timeline of the woes that have plagued the Cook Straight ferries this year.
National strategy needed for major events, tourism sector challenged by ‘systemic issues'
A year ago today, we were basking in the glory of hosting a successful Rugby World Cup tournament and the Black Ferns’ victory in the final. Speaking to Newshub yesterday about a dearth of major events on the horizon for next year, former Auckland Business Chamber chief executive Michael Barnett has called for a national events strategy. Barnett says competition between cities in a small economy is “dumb”. At a tourism industry summit last week, Rebecca Ingram, the chief executive of Tourism Industry Aotearoa said (paywalled) attracting quality visitors to New Zealand was under threat by “systemic issues” facing the sector. Ingram cited a “patchwork quilt” of regional tourism approaches, with no clear mandate for parties within the system, inadequate funding for marketing, poor data and research and challenges in recruiting skilled workers.
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Click and Collect
As a new Covid wave emerges, cases are expected to peak just before Christmas
Labour MP Ginny Andersen formally apologises after bullying accusation, new allegations surface
Advance voting started for the Port Waikato byelection yesterday. Newsroom’s Jo Moir has a profile of NZ First candidate Casey Costello, who Moir suggests, could become a minister
Former British prime minister David Cameron makes a return to politics and has been appointed foreign secretary, while Suella Braverman has been dropped as home secretary as current prime minister Rishi Sunek reshuffles his cabinet
In preparation for the opening of its Auckland store at the end of 2025, Ikea is visiting 500 homes to study how New Zealanders live. Journalist Aimee Shaw’s home was one of them.
Emma Vitz investigates whether donations translated into votes in the 2023 election. Joel MacManus argues that Wellington’s Civic Square is lifeless and earthquake-damaged, but Te Aro Park could be the jewel in Pōneke’s crown. Tara Oakley and Rebecca Cupples explain what cultural sentencing reports are and why National wants to scrap them. Perzen Patel makes a passionate case for expanding your chai horizons beyond “chai lattes”. On Saturday, Alex Casey jigged under the stars at The Corrs in Christchurch and reports that “they bought the craic”.
Sporting snippets
Everything you need to know about the Cricket World Cup semifinals. The Black Caps play India tomorrow night.
Warriors fixtures for 2024 confirmed as NRL releases draw
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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