UK visa scheme expanded, PM onto Australia
New Zealanders can now spend more time in the UK on a working visa. It’s one of the outcomes of a bountiful trip to Europe for the PM who now heads to Australia.
Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Monday, July 4, by Anna Rawhiti-Connell. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: Auckland mayoral candidate wants to scrap light rail; Waikeria prison rebuild resumes using prison labour; concern about aged care; but first, a look at the prime minister’s trip to Europe and what’s next.
Jacinda Ardern meets Boris Johnson. Questions have been asked about Johnson’s handshake technique (Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Working visa scheme expanded, sparks question about brain drain
Prime minister Jacinda Ardern met with British prime minister Boris Johnson on Saturday. There was some concern raised about the vigour of Johnson’s handshake with Ardern. During the meeting, they agreed to changes to the youth mobility scheme which will mean young New Zealanders can now spend three years in the UK. The age limit for eligibility for the visa will also rise to 35 years. The hospitality sector wants to see the scheme broadened to countries beyond the UK. Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen said it was an interesting move considering all the talk of a pandemic brain drain. Three years does give people more time to put down roots and if you’re able to get sponsored to stay in the UK, it’s only another two years to wait until you can apply for permanent residency.
With the EU free trade deal done, is India next?
Trade minister Damien O’Connor spoke to Q&A’s Jack Tame on Sunday. Tame asked whether, with the concessions made with the EU around dairy and meat exports, there were plans to revisit negotiations on a free trade agreement with India. Agriculture is at the core of why an agreement between India and New Zealand has not been struck. Australia signed an interim free trade agreement with India in April, frustrating the Meat Industry Association. O’Connor said there aren’t expectations of a trade arrangement with India in the short term because of that dairy sensitivity. Tame also asked about whether recent events would change our trading relationship with China. O’Connor said that while the government was focused on trade market diversification post-Covid, China was still our biggest trading partner and we have a mature relationship that allows New Zealand to take independent foreign policy positions.
PM promotes “values-based” foreign policy in Europe
Picking up on that theme, the Herald’s Thomas Coughlan (paywalled) has a measured piece of analysis about prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s promotion of a "values-based" foreign policy in Europe. Coughlan writes that “values-based” foreign policy can be “decried as vapid, meaningless, virtue-signalling guff” but he also argues those values can be “quite effective at demonstrating how the independent foreign policy can grapple with increasingly difficult questions around China.” The prime minister is now heading straight to Australia where the Australia New Zealand leadership forum (ANZLF) takes place on July 7 and 8. As Stuff’s Luke Malpass reports Ardern is stopping in Melbourne and will meet with Victorian premier Daniel Andrews before going to Sydney.
Onto Australia
The ANZLF takes place in Sydney. Parts of New South Wales are currently experiencing very heavy rain and flooding. The New Zealand contingent includes members of a trans-Tasman indigenous business sector group who will discuss opportunities for indigenous people on both sides of the Tasman to work together. As the Herald’s Jenée Tibshraeny reports (paywalled), the forum will also be attended by seven government ministers including Grant Robertson if he has recovered from Covid in time. Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese and Ardern will be guests of honour at the ANZLF trans-Tasman innovation and growth awards dinner. Deputy leader of the opposition, Nicola Willis will do a session with her Australian counterpart, Sussan Ley, who has been deputy leader of the Liberal party since May 2022.
In 2021, 325 people were killed on New Zealand roads. Those numbers are not statistics; they’re sons and mums, aunties and cousins, and it’s a toll we shouldn’t have to pay. Road to Zero is the government’s plan to build a safer road system with a target of zero road deaths and serious injuries by 2050, with a 40% reduction by 2030.
Learn more about Road to Zero in a new comic on The Spinoff. (Sponsored)
Auckland mayoral candidate wants to scrap light rail
Mayoral candidate Viv Beck says she wants to scrap the government's $14.6 billion light rail project for now. If elected mayor, Beck would push for a city-wide rapid transit network, including a fully separated busway alongside the Northwestern motorway. Beck said light rail is a bold project but it's impossible to see how it could be feasible now, particularly given the impact of Covid on the economy. Efeso Collins will announce details of his policy for free public transport at an event in West Auckland on Tuesday. A recent report commissioned by the country’s two largest unions, the PSA and First Union, included a poll of 722 Aucklanders that showed 73% of people supported making public transport permanently free.
Waikeria prison rebuild starts again
RNZ is leading this morning with a story about the resumption of the rebuild of parts of Waikeria prison. Between 29 December 2020 and 3 January 2021 twenty-one prisoners protesting poor living conditions staged an uprising at Waikeria and lit fires which ultimately destroyed the prison's top facility. Prison labour is being used to do the rebuild and justice advocates are questioning whether that’s ethical. Victoria University criminologist Ti Lamusse says the situation has a high risk for exploitative practices and raises questions about the increased imbalance of power between employer and employee which affects the prisoners' ability to raise health and safety or other workplace concerns.
A vital message from The Spinoff’s publisher, Duncan Greive:
If you’re reading this, you’re hopefully getting value out of The Spinoff. Yet like many publishers, we’ve suffered a significant drop in members, despite our costs continuing to increase. On one level I understand why our membership has dropped away. As the cost of living has reached new heights and the pandemic has become less of an urgent news event and more of a part of day-to-day life, it’s totally normal to feel like you don’t need to support your local media organisation.
The promise we’re making to you is that we’re actually better suited to times like this than the pandemic itself. Of course we will continue to write about Covid-19 and the many effects it’s having on society, but our plan now is to return to something more of what made us, which is coverage of culture, politics, business, te ao Māori and more with heart and humour.
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Concern over aged care from nurses union
The nurses’ union is concerned about the quality of care for our elderly, saying people are dying sooner in aged residential care homes. As Stuff’s Bridie Witton reports, the average stay in a care home has dropped to about three months. It was between 18 and 24 months about five years ago. The sector is short about 1000 nurses around the country and an ageing population with more complex needs adds to the pressure. The ministry of health has been notified of 2192 instances of short-staffing, health and safety risks to patients, deaths and police investigations across aged care providers for just the first six months of this year, compared to 2794 for the whole of last year.
Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz
Emma Vitz shares a map showing how accessible (or not) abortion services are throughout the country; Gabrielle Baker sets out what the new Māori Health Authority will mean for addressing inequity; Chris Schulz finds out what’s next for Hamilton Gardens’ surreal installations; Kate Camp tells the story of an IVF treatment that didn’t work; and Becky Manawatu gives a mihi for the late Keri Hulme.
Warriors win, commentator makes history
The Warriors halted a seven match losing streak on Sunday, beating the Wests Tigers 22-2 at their first game at Mt Smart stadium in 1038 days. Dave Dobbyn sang Welcome Home and triple international Honey Hireme-Smiler is believed to have made history as the first woman to commentate an NRL game. In other league news, the Herald’s Kaupapa Māori editor Joseph Los'e has a story on Auckland club, the Te Atatu Roosters. The club is looking to do things differently as it builds a more inclusive, community based model for the sport and won’t be accepting funding from pokies or alcohol.
They’ve educated prime ministers and All Blacks but their record of sexual abuse is horrific
Stuff’s national correspondent Steve Kilgallon has launched a series on the Marist brothers and fathers, a Catholic order focused on education, and their handling of their horrific record of sexual abuse. It’s tough reading but powerful journalism. I went to a Marist-aligned primary school. Brothers and priests from the school and parish have been convicted of sexual abuse and I know men of my generation, and families of those men, who are still deeply affected by what happened.
