Just days after calling for an end to political posturing during his speech to the New Zealand First convention, Winston Peter was back posturing in Parliament.
During questions to Education Minister Erica Stanford, Peters – who is also Deputy Prime Minister – asked her whether students at te reo Māori lessons would learn more if they “kept their mouths shut while the teacher was talking”.
It drew an immediate complaint from Te Pāti Māori, which flowed on to a puerile exchange between Peters and Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi about having a fight outside.
“Oh, you wouldn’t last five minutes,” Peters said.
“I’m keen. You wouldn’t last five seconds, mate,” replied Waititi.
“You wouldn’t last five seconds,” Peters said.
“You wouldn’t last five seconds,” Waititi said again.
“You might walk out, but you’d be limping back,” Peters said.
“You might not even get to the door. Stupid fool,” said Waititi.
Those listening to or watching Parliament that afternoon must have surely been reassured about the quality of political debate. Or maybe they agreed with the politician who said just last month that parliamentary standards were slipping and claimed Parliament was in a “state of decay”.
Who was that again? Winston Peters, who appears to be trying his best to prove his point.
New Zealand First leader and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters.
Lower inflation
While that might have been an unsavoury moment this week, on the same day, the latest consumer price index revealed inflation was just 2.2% for the year to the end of September, confirming – if confirmation was needed – that the Reserve Bank was right to cut the official cash rate by 50 basis points to 4.75% last week.
It all but confirms too that the bank will cut by another 50 basis points next month, bringing the OCR down to 4.25%, with retail rates set to continue falling in the last couple of months to Christmas.
It is not only good news for households and businesses, but also provides cheer for the coalition Government, which will look forward to those cuts, and more to come, to help boost activity and lift the country out of its economic gloom. Heading into election year in 2026, low inflation, lower interest rates, and a more positive economy will not do the re-election prospects of the coalition parties any harm.
Both the Reserve Bank and the Government are pleased with the fall in inflation.
Problems at city hall
The Wellington City Council has been under pressure this week, with Local Government Minister Simeon Brown saying he is taking advice about the state of the council, amid speculation he might appoint a Crown observer or even appoint a commissioner to take over running the city.
It comes after the council voted against selling its shareholding in Wellington Airport, having earlier voted for it.
Brown’s threat prompted Wellington mayor Tory Whanau to meet with the minister on Thursday after councillors held a closed-door meeting on Wednesday to discuss how the city’s long-term plan could be amended after the airport vote.
After meeting Brown, Whanau told reporters that Wellington’s problems did not reach the threshold of government intervention, while the minister said the mayor had updated him on recent decisions made by the council. He had requested advice on whether the situation warranted government intervention and expected to get that in the coming days.
It would be ironic, though, if a government that championed localism – saying Wellington (Govt) does not know best – then turned around to tell Wellington (council) that Wellington (Govt) does know best, even if the city council is struggling.
After all, voters will get to have their say on the council’s performance next year at the local body elections.
Wellington mayor Tory Whanau is under pressure as the Government considers intervening.
KiwiRail woes
Wellington City Council is not the only organisation facing problems. KiwiRail also announced this week it was offering voluntary redundancy to all its workers as it tries to get the business into better shape.
The SoE has, however, not said how many workers it ultimately wants to get rid of, but it has said it will decide who gets redundancy. So, it is possible people put up their hands to go, but the company rejects their application. It might mean KiwiRail is left with a group of grumpy employees who wanted to take redundancy but must stay on.
Equally problematic, it is possible that, in today’s economic environment, the company won’t get enough volunteers and will then have to enforce compulsory redundancies. Whichever way it goes, a restructuring involving redundancies is never easy on the workforce and inevitably leads to angst and disquiet.
KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy said that, as part of transforming the business, the SoE has to cut costs to ensure its freight and passenger services can stand on their own feet commercially.
The SoE has long been under pressure from the Treasury to be a viable above-rail business and that pressure has likely intensified since the coalition Government took power.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says the Government will decide by Christmas what replaces the abandoned interisland resilience connection programme (iReX).
KiwiRail has offered voluntary redundancy to all its workers.
Redundant MP
One person who seems certain to be made redundant this year is former Green MP Darleen Tana. Green delegates attended an online special general meeting on Thursday night to discuss her future and agreed unanimously to use the waka jumping legislation to dump her from Parliament. Following that decision, Green Party co-leaders Chlöe Swarbrick and Marama Davidson wrote to Parliament’s Speaker Gerry Brownlee saying Tana’s resignation from the party had upset the proportionality of Parliament and that she should be removed as an MP.
Brownlee must now consider that request and then decide the next step, but it seems inevitable that, under the legislation, Tana will lose her job after just 12 months as an MP.
Beehive Banter is hosted by Simon Shepherd, with NBR’s political editor Brent Edwards.
