Labour loses another Minister after Kiri Allan's arrest for careless driving

Public Policy / news

Chris Hipkins' cabinet table now has two spare seats after Kiri Allan's resignation follows Michael Wood's

[updated]

24th Jul 23, 10:43am by Dan Brunskill

Kiri Allan returned to Parliament only last week, following several weeks of mental health leave.

Chris Hipkins’ Labour government has lost another minister, after Kiri Allan was arrested on Sunday night, and is down to just 18 cabinet ministers three months out from an election.

Allan, who held the Justice and Regional Development portfolios, was involved in a car crash in Wellington around 9pm on Sunday night.

The police said she was charged with careless use of a motor vehicle, and refusing to accompany a police officer. An infringement notice was also issued for being above the blood alcohol limit.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the behaviour was inexcusable and made her position as Justice Minister untenable — Allan resigned early on Monday morning.

Hipkins said she had been experiencing “extreme emotional distress” at the time of the crash.

“Her recent personal struggles with mental health have been well documented and it appears some of those came to a head yesterday,” he said in a statement.

Allan had been on mental health leave for several weeks but returned to Parliament last week where she fronted the announcement of a justice policy regarding ram raids.

Hipkins said there would not be a snap election and that he would redistribute Allan’s portfolios among the existing ministers.

“I don’t think now is the right time to be bringing people into the ministry, this close to an election,” he told reporters.

Hipkins said he was confident the remaining ministers—there are 25 in total—could carry the workload for the last five parliamentary weeks before the election.

Two short

When Cabinet meets this afternoon, there will be only 18 ministers seated around the table instead of the usual 20. There are also a number of ministers outside of Cabinet.

The seats which had been occupied by Michael Wood and Kiri Allan will be empty.

Hipkins will reallocate Allan’s portfolios this afternoon, but will not promote a junior minister into Cabinet.

Allan’s resignation comes after a week focused on law & order policy announcements, aimed at reassuring voters that Labour was taking public concern about crime seriously.

Crime has become the second most important issue for voters, behind the cost of living, whereas it wasn’t even in the top five at the start of 2022.

Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor survey has found 33% of New Zealanders think National were most capable of managing this issue, versus just 23% for Labour.

Allan also held the regional development portfolio and was the associate minister for transport and finance.

Only a month ago, Hipkins had to reallocate Wood’s portfolios and chose to give them to existing cabinet ministers — adding to their workload.

David Parker added transport to his other jobs: revenue, environment, and Attorney-General.

Andrew Little took immigration on top of defence, secret services, public service, and Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations.

Carmel Sepuloni, already the deputy prime minister, took on workplace relations and safety alongside social development and arts.

Allan took over Wood’s associate finance role, but only lasted a month.

Labour has had nine ministers leave the job this year. Four retired, two resigned, one was demoted, one defected, and another was dismissed.

Election struggles

Hipkins will need a strong candidate to lead the justice portfolio to oversee the policies announced only last week, and to face voters during the election.

A 1News-Verian poll last week showed a National-Act coalition able to form a government with a one seat majority. It looked like bad news for Labour, but behind the scenes some within the party were happy with the result.

It followed a string of ministerial scandals (Meka Whaitiri, Stuart Nash, Jan Tinetti, Michael Wood, and Kiri Allan) but Labour only fell two percentage points. National also fell two points.

A senior Labour figure asked: “If National couldn’t get us in our worst few months we’ve had, then when can it?”

Now the Allan scandal has snowballed from allegedly shouting at staff to resisting arrest, meaning Labour’s worst months are being extended.

The party will be hoping it can hold onto its place in the polls, which have continued to show a dead-heat race despite myriad distractions.

Opposition responds

Christopher Luxon, leader of the National Party, said in a statement that it was right for Kiri Allan to have resigned as her position was untenable.

"Clearly this situation raise questions about the judgement of Prime Minister Chris Hipkins. We wish Ms Allan well and hope she is getting the support and help she needs," he said.

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143 Comments

by jeremyr | 24th Jul 23, 10:50am 1690152612

How many nails do they want to bang into their coffin? Does every Labour MP have a hammer and a few nails and nothing better to do ? Getting pissed and crashing into cars and resisting arrest is a new one though. I will give them an A+ for their effort here. Excellent delivery of the nail to the coffin. Outstanding.

by huttman | 24th Jul 23, 11:22am 1690154526

be careful, pretty soon they will come back, with tears in eyes, and beg for empathy votes.

by Frank Sobotka | 24th Jul 23, 1:06pm 1690160801

Quite astonishing despite the bazooka to the foot being applied by Labour, Chippy from the Hutt is still fairly close to Christopher the CEO in preferred PM stakes.

How bad are this National Party and how out of touch are they that the polls aren’t indicating an absolute landslide? They should be locked in for majority rule but looks like they are going to limp across the line on ACT shoulders.

by Foxglove. | 24th Jul 23, 1:11pm 1690161068

For one who often seemed to speak with marbles in his mouth and resorted often to monotonous cliches, Jim Bolger nonetheless was succinct and dead accurate on the occasion when he exclaimed “bugger the polls.”

by Don m | 24th Jul 23, 4:50pm 1690174244

The polls are dodgy.

With respect to national maybe they have read" the art of war""

i.e ..when your enemy is making mistakes ..dont interrupt them..

by starrider | 24th Jul 23, 5:26pm 1690176417

National would gain massive support if they stopped bagging Labour with all their air time - instead they should come out with big plans, big solutions and quit the whining. Everyone who is not a govt employee, or labour devotee, knows that labour have been useless no need to bang on about it.

The other thing National could do is look to recognize the unaffordable housing situation and instead of pandering to the property investors (who make up less than 2% of the voting public) actually come up with some policies around housing that will help the next generation.

*slapping a 20% buyers tax on secondary dwellings would be a start.

*Add to that a stress test of 15% or 20% for all investment borrowing.

*Or consider banning the use of the family home for equity/borrowing.

Time to end the ponzi.

by Murray Falconer | 24th Jul 23, 9:01pm 1690189294

The other thing National could do is look to recognize the unaffordable housing situation

You're correct, however, they still see the unaffordable housing situation as a good problem to have.

by Essen | 24th Jul 23, 8:34pm 1690187645

This is a dumb comparison. Hipkins is the incumbent and the incumbent always polls well in the preferred PM stakes. The real question is how does Hipkins compare to previous PMs at a similar stage (poorly) and how does Luxon compare to opposition leaders at a similar stage (a lot better than many think).

by K.W. | 24th Jul 23, 4:52pm 1690174352

But if you criticise Allen then you are a racist. 100% sure she will never be convicted of anything, let alone have to spend a few weeks on home detention like her constituents.

by solardb | 24th Jul 23, 6:27pm 1690180035

Except noone has said criticising Allen is racist. Make up what you feel you need too.

by Chris-M | 25th Jul 23, 11:15am 1690240508

The issue Keri had with the seconded Doc staff member who could not cope with the demands of a politicians office occurred in June last year. It has only been raised now, presumably by the National Party as part of their election campaign. I would suggest that a large part of the blame for Keri's present mental crisis can be directly blamed on the National parties cynical attack on her. Is this the sort of nasty people we want leading the country?

by Thinker | 24th Jul 23, 10:51am 1690152667

I find myself in the centre category - Labour and National aren't exactly getting me motivated. Labour continually shows they do not have the capability or experience required for a functioning Cabinet. The thought of replacing the terrible ones with Green and Maori party members is borderline frightening. The question I have is, would NZ First be a good handbrake on National and ACT almost like they were with Labour in their first term? Or do you just do the two ticks blue

by Zwifter | 24th Jul 23, 10:54am 1690152848

I'm in the position of wanting to vote for both ACT and National and still trying to figure the best way of doing that. If National are going to get the seat here anyway then maybe a party vote ACT is the way to go.

by bw | 24th Jul 23, 11:08am 1690153699

Policy.

The stronger ACT is, the weaker National will be. "Look Christopher. I think it's a good idea that we go into coalition, but, I want to be the Prime Minister, or nothing's going to happen, and we'll happily sit on the cross benches and support you, or not, as we see fit"

Sadly, politics isn't about "What's good for the country or voters" it's about "What's good for the politicians", and getting an ex-PM's retirement perks must be better than backbenchers'. Ask Liz Truss!

by Foxglove. | 24th Jul 23, 11:15am 1690154127

That’s what struck me as being so weirdly insincere about “In It For You.” More honestly, realistically it is more “In It For Us.” And that doesn’t just apply to the Labour lot either.

by powerdownkiwi | 24th Jul 23, 11:40am 1690155617

'In it for us', I presume means 'future us-es'?

That compares to the 'what's in it for me, now' brigade; the ones who have to believe or ignore whatever could challenge their 'right' to unfettered indulgence.

It seems there are more of the latter, compounded by increasing bottom-end desperation. En masse, we seem to vote for our short-term (short on thinking?) selves. That has led to the polycrisis impasse we now face globally, and locally, so it wan't the best approach. What happens after? is the only question in town.

Allen was merely representative of a different echelon of 'what's in it for me', than the decrier echelon. Both miss the point. I happened to disagree with her approach, and prior attitude (she saw herself as governing, not representing - and she championed 'making money out of the soil') but wish her well getting her life back together.

As I would the leader of the opposition, when he realises religions - including economics, as taught - are a crock.

by lastlegs | 24th Jul 23, 11:53am 1690156430

and then if you are a beneficiary you just know that ACT has "got it in for you"

by Ben72 | 24th Jul 23, 4:33pm 1690173218

“In it for you” - After the slogan was created, nearly almost 90 percent of the team fell in to the potholes, not many left to be ministers in the coming weeks. Hipkins might hire some public servants to run the government before the election.

by Don m | 24th Jul 23, 4:55pm 1690174553

The" ïn it for you " was plagiarized from a recent Canadian election (2018?)

Not only are they lazy but Labor copies rubbish from Canada.

Looks like the Road to Zero was referring to cabinet ministers not the road toll...

by cromulent | 24th Jul 23, 11:24am 1690154644

Party vote is the only vote that matters in terms of the makeup of the government.

Electorate just vote for the person you think is most competent to represent you as your local MP regardless of party.

by Independent_Observer | 24th Jul 23, 11:03am 1690153394

Yip, I found Adern/Labour far more bearable in their first term while Winston was holding her back from going too far to the left.

(and this is regardless of whether I like Winston and NZ First policy).

by K.W. | 24th Jul 23, 5:00pm 1690174844

Thats because Ardern spent most of her first three years either on maternity leave or jetsetting around the world shamelessly self promoting herself , leaving Winston to run the country. He wasn't the handbrake, he was the defacto PM. Thats the reason why Labour has been so disastrous in their second term. Turns out that being a PR expert does not equip you with the skills to run a country.

by Don m | 24th Jul 23, 5:06pm 1690175196

The achieved little in their first term as they we waiting for all the "Working groups "to get back to them.

They are as lazy as they are stupid

by dumbthoughts | 24th Jul 23, 11:22am 1690154549

I'm in the same boat as you. Labour has to go - it's time for them to do some soul searching, as much as I rather like Chippy as PM and watching the slow motion car crash unfold, pun intended, is rather fun - and I'm not insane enough to think that adding the Greens and TPM into the mix is going to improve things.

Imagine Chippy single-handedly trying to hold it together with all the current crop of Labour incompetents plus the added funk of the likes of Marama Davidson and Rawiri Waititi, especially as Greens and TPM want wealth taxes whereas Chippy has made his bold captain's call against this. Hardly the recipe for stability and competent, logical governance.

Equally, National doesn't exactly excite or inspire. I don't wake up in the morning desiring a bland, milquetoast government that exists in the best interests of rentiers and the wealthy, but I can appreciate the country needs a degree of managerial competence that is clearly missing and which requires a change of government. NACT is the least worst option at this point.

Self-service aside, which always goes hand-in-hand with Mr Peters, NZ First was a good handbrake on the first term of Labour's government (and I don't recall being repulsed by that government as much as I am by the current one).

My thoughts are leading towards voting either National or ACT if polls stay tight and it looks like Winston First will struggle to make 5%. My primary goal is to see Labour gone and avoid the likes of TPM having any potential to call shots. I'd hate to vote NZ First and find my vote has contributed to a scenario where I wake up to the Greens and TPM being in a position to call the shots.

However, if it looks like NZ First will definitely cross 5% or win an electorate seat and National is going to need them, I might be tempted to give the handbrake another chance to prove its worth.

by Tallmantim | 24th Jul 23, 11:53am 1690156434

People got rid of the last Labour government under Helen Clark mainly because they were sick of the Nanny State policies they were pushing. They then spent along time in opposition and came back and decided that their last government wasn’t Nanny State enough and decided what they really needed was to be more like China and introduce a dose of cultural Marxism and identity politics to our country.

I really don’t think they will learn their lesson.

I mean heck National are now as left wing as the Helen Clark Labour government. (A lot of this is because of our media pushing them that way).

So as to not waste my vote I’m force to vote for the only party that is still to the right of centre and that is Act.

At least I know they still believe in free speech and personal freedom, unlike the rest of the parties currently in parliament.

by jeremyr | 24th Jul 23, 11:57am 1690156639

These guys are way worse than Helen. Even though I didn't like her, I at least had some respect for her. These guys I have no respect for, they are an embarrassment, and they will be gone for a long long time. Maybe four terms. They were very lucky not to be gone for four terms last time.

by Foxglove. | 24th Jul 23, 12:44pm 1690159476

wd..

by jeremyr | 24th Jul 23, 12:36pm 1690159010

She crashed into that UTE in her silly government-issue EV. She is just lucky it didn't burst into flames and kill her and burn down a few houses as well considering it is an EV and they are not that good in accidents and prone to exploding.

by Foxglove. | 24th Jul 23, 12:44pm 1690159441

oh, tks clarification have removed my post in fairness.

by middleman1 | 24th Jul 23, 12:56pm 1690160217

Will be interesting to see if yet another ministerial scandal and further serious misjudgement by Hipkins are finally enough to move the swing voter, predominately mature female, dial. The Kath and Kim cohort remain largely left orientated despite Labours ongoing dysfunction.

by solardb | 24th Jul 23, 12:58pm 1690160334

and yet , they never seem to .

by nigelh | 24th Jul 23, 1:48pm 1690163294

I understand even if damage not too severe an ICE would be repairable, EV likely to be a total write-off.

by interesting1234 | 24th Jul 23, 3:37pm 1690169821

Insurance companies write them off at the drop of a hat with any internal damage due to the level of risk involved if they give it the all clear and then it has any form off say and electrical fire, for which they may be held liable. Easier to write them off and pay for a new one. Should make for a good second hand battery market for home solar in the coming years.

by Zwifter | 24th Jul 23, 4:18pm 1690172296

How can a battery deemed no longer safe for a car be suddenly ok to put in your house ? Better to have no battery in your solar system other than the one in the car. Loads of panels and a grid tied inverter is the way to go now.

by K.W. | 24th Jul 23, 5:08pm 1690175325

Apparently they tend to burst into flames a couple of weeks after an accident, rather than immediately.

by GV 27 | 25th Jul 23, 6:29am 1690223357

Did an EV kill your mum or something

by Foxglove. | 24th Jul 23, 6:43pm 1690180994

Thank god for three year parliamentary terms. Otherwise we would have another two years of hapless, hopeless useless lot.

by JimboJones | 24th Jul 23, 12:18pm 1690157906

"personal freedom" - try building an apartment complex in Epsom or Tamaki...

by huttman | 24th Jul 23, 12:38pm 1690159133

leave China out of it. China is more capitalism than US.

by yeahnah | 25th Jul 23, 4:10pm 1690258206

Agree that the Nat's are a centre-left party now. Act are only slightly right of centre. The extreme Marxists only make them look right wing now.

Not only do we need a change of government, we also need a broom through the public service, judiciary, secondary and tertiary education and the media. Our burgeoning public sector must be near the most bloated and unproductive in the western world (are we still part of the western world??) Many need to ask the existential question on what their purpose is.

Our judiciary have taken to ruling on Te Titiriti claims based on "principles" that have not been put to the people. Almost as if they have been surreptitiously slipped in overnight and waking up the following morning I'm asking "Dude, where's my country?". Suddenly we are expected to believe that co-governance, separatism and partnership were inherently part of the treaty since 1840.

I'm seriously concerned for the future of our country when the science curriculum is now framed within some form of race-based theological doctrine.

As for the media, the "journalism fund" is nothing more than a propaganda slush fund. Objectivity is nothing, personalities and subjectivity are everything.

Time for a grand reset.

Rant over :)

by Roger the dodger | 24th Jul 23, 9:21pm 1690190465

Chippy the liar who wouldn't apologise for scorching the two woman who travelled to Northland during Covid?

The ones who had approval to travel? Remember?

That was a disgrace and was inexcusable.

by nzforall | 24th Jul 23, 12:19pm 1690157952

I agree National and Act have a few smells about them. Party vote for Winnie

by nigelh | 24th Jul 23, 1:49pm 1690163377

Winston first not quite as smelly.

by interesting1234 | 24th Jul 23, 3:39pm 1690169983

Winston chose Labour 6years ago, who had the lesser number of votes of the two major parties and the country hasn't forgotten this. We got a government we didn't want, then chose the government ~70% of us now heavily regret. What's that saying about being promoted until incompetent...

by JamesM | 24th Jul 23, 12:28pm 1690158495

I sincerely hope people aren’t considering Winston again. IMO he has done nothing but look after Winston. I question his integrity given the donation scandals, welfare payments etc and would prefer he is nowhere near the new government. I suspect a vote for NZF is a wasted vote anyway given they are polling around 3%

by interesting1234 | 24th Jul 23, 3:45pm 1690170305

I suspect a vote for NZF is a wasted vote anyway given they are polling around 3%

While I'll certainly not be voting for them, people need to vote for what direction they want the country to go, and do away with this nonsense of strategic voting. If everyone voted for what they individually believed we would have an accurate representation of our people and hence be able to create, amend, remove policy which better reflects the diverse range o views and people we now harbour. Changing your vote based on strategy is essentially forgoing your own personal standards and morals, belittling your own opinion. Don't vote 'wisely', vote how you wish.

by Zwifter | 24th Jul 23, 10:51am 1690152707

A senior Labour figure asked: “If National couldn’t get us in our worst few months we’ve had, then when can it?”

Well nothing like putting out a Challenge is there ? Maybe Labour should just try running out of ministers altogether.

by xingmowang | 24th Jul 23, 11:09am 1690153788

The "democratic" political process is a total failure!

The process fails to put competent parties, competent politicians and competent public servants to serve the country completely.

by Te Kooti | 24th Jul 23, 11:31am 1690155067

With all due respect Xing, and admittedly as flawed as democracy may be at times, there is a very simple solution to your concerns.

by fat pat | 24th Jul 23, 6:55pm 1690181724

The purpose of democracy is not to elect "the right leader" But rather it's an idea testing mechanism. Elections are the error correction process. Labour, for instance, are a dictatorial government hell-bent on stealthily implementing neomarxist postmodernism. This cynical theory of envy and resentment also goes by other names like critical theory, critical race theory, and social justice. Come October, we'll find out whether New Zealanders think this was the right direction for the country. I'm frustrated by incompetent, and ridiculously overpaid public servants too, but I don't think for a second that democracy has failed.

by HSL | 25th Jul 23, 7:25am 1690226757

I think labour took advantage of Covid to scare people to death and ensure a second term. The princess made sure she was on tv every day which of course was to boost here image, as opposed to help the country. This government then pushed through idealistic policies by stealth that would have never passed an election I.e. co-governance. If Covid was really the pandemic it was made to be, why did the government restructure the health sector…..surely that was a time to focus on……well a pandemic! Oh and co-governance is the end of democracy in NZ!

by fat pat | 25th Jul 23, 6:55pm 1690268154

Agree - with everything you say! Co-governance equates to unaccountable, and entrenched political power. That's the opposite of democracy. I've been saying for a while now that Labour are a dangerous government.

by sharetrader | 24th Jul 23, 11:14am 1690154076

will be interesting to see if the media hounds the new ministers after the election as hard as they did with this bunch, it has become a blood sport at the moment

you could never pay me enough to be a MP, everything you do can and will be used against you no matter how ordinary it is,

this election has become very nasty and some of the tactics being used from all parties are quite disturbing

anything and everything is acceptable at the moment to win the benches and when peoples personal lives and families are being brought into the mix i find that very unsettling

by Kaper2 | 24th Jul 23, 11:25am 1690154707

Hounded due to their incompetence it would seem.

Twyford, David Clark, Adern, Nash, Wood, Whaitiri, Tinetti, Verrall, Allen...

Who have I missed?

by sharetrader | 24th Jul 23, 12:00pm 1690156819

it not just labour that loses Mp's forced out just national and ACT do more quietly

BRIDGES, Simon and nick smith this term , and national protected Barbara Kuriger, chris bishop, sam uffindell. michael woodhouse from all getting thrown under the bus this time around

at least ACT has forced 2 out and put the other two so low they will not get back in

and imagine in NZ first get in that will be a coalition of the crazies with national and ACT

by GV 27 | 24th Jul 23, 12:37pm 1690159061

...and this attempt at whataboutism is meant to convince me that a poorly-performing Labour Party with heavy Green/TPM influence is going to be any better?

by sharetrader | 24th Jul 23, 12:44pm 1690159485

that is the choice

coalition of labour/greens/TPM or National ACT and maybe NZ first (if they get above 5% national will need them )

this could be our worst choice ever of who to vote for

by JimboJones | 24th Jul 23, 1:16pm 1690161360

ACT will be interesting, they will bring a number of MPs with very little experience and some very right wing views. The foot may go into the mouth a lot.

by Zwifter | 24th Jul 23, 1:34pm 1690162499

I really hope so Jimbo, Labour need a good kick in the teeth. The sooner Labour are gone the better. The recovery after this carnage caused by Labour is going to take years.

by Essen | 24th Jul 23, 8:36pm 1690187795

Unlikely. We should have seen that this term when many people unexpectedly found themselves in Parliament. It was very surprising how disciplined the Act caucus was. If they kept it together this term, I wouldn't expect them to self-immolate next term.

by nzforall | 24th Jul 23, 1:00pm 1690160400

Good point. The handling of sam uffindell was a very wrong and it shows how luxon will manage future events. Not ideal

by JamesM | 24th Jul 23, 3:28pm 1690169308

Ian Lees-Galloway.

by GV 27 | 24th Jul 23, 11:28am 1690154884

Has the media actually gone hard on Ministers? Almost all of their controversies have been self-inflicted or personality driven issues.

We haven't even reached 'Media asking ministers about how much they are actually getting done'. Although I suppose accountability on performance grounds would be considered bullying by some.

Should the media ignore Ministers who lie in the house, file false declarations and get arrested by police? You seem to be asking for outright favouritism and for the media to solely function as a 'good news' outlet for the government. That's not the role of the Fourth Estate in a functional democracy.

by Don m | 24th Jul 23, 4:59pm 1690174792

The "public interest journalism fund" has run its course so maybe we will get a bit of balance in the MSM going forward.

Maybe..

by Shoreman | 24th Jul 23, 11:18am 1690154335

What a disgrace particularly being the Minister of Justice !

Time to rid ourselves of this bunch before they racially divide and destroy New Zealand, any alternative I'm happy to take.

by Sluggy | 24th Jul 23, 2:39pm 1690166395

Your wish is likely to be granted. I'll guarantee, apart from your own peace of mind, the track we are on will largely continue.

No party has any real vision for the future. If they do they are shit at conveying it, I'm not convinced.

by interesting1234 | 24th Jul 23, 3:46pm 1690170389

The article doesn't do her 'justice'

by nguturoa | 24th Jul 23, 11:21am 1690154497

Who do we want to win this election?

National : Results in a more divided society and increases the gap between rich and poor. More misery for one's trying to get ahead in life. The ones already ahead will get more in their pocket and probably an increase in inflation.

Labour : New Leader trying to reset the mess left by the policies introduced by someone who didn't care about the future or take any accountability for promises made and nothing delivered.

The smaller parties who want to take advantage of MMP and making promises which might help a few in the short run but no real long term policy for helping the country.

No wonder so many ministers are having mental issues as they cannot do any good for their regions or the country. It's all stuck in the bureaucracy of it all. Trying to please everyone.

Need a strong mind leader who can bring in a change for good and public needs to support them for the long term future of the country.

I am no strategist but just my two cents. Let's not think short term at this juncture of time and rather work for long term propesperity of country and the ones living in it.

by Yvil | 24th Jul 23, 1:14pm 1690161271

If you really care about inequality nguturoa, don't vote for Labour, house prices have historically risen most, when Labour is in power.

by JimboJones | 24th Jul 23, 1:19pm 1690161584

Normally due to the economic growth and low unemployment...

by Mr_Jolly | 24th Jul 23, 4:29pm 1690172981

Every Labour government has left NZ in a recession.

by delboy | 24th Jul 23, 1:32pm 1690162376

Both main parties are about growing their voter base.

Labour grow their voter base by making people poorer and more welfare dependent whereas National grow their voter base by making people wealthier and less dependent on welfare.

The last thing Labour needs is the poor getting ideas about success and wealth.

by JimboJones | 24th Jul 23, 2:39pm 1690166357

Any evidence? AFAIK the NZ economy tends to perform better under Labour over the last few decades.

by kpnuts | 24th Jul 23, 3:57pm 1690171079

sadly - Labour have widened the gap between Rich and Poor more than any National Government ever did

Labour were directly responsible for the 30% one year house price growth -- through their $$$ policies that put so much cheap cash in the market - despite being warned by their own officials that was what would happen

Then we have the massive increase in debt burden -- that neither main party seems keen to address

nutters to the left of them nutters to the right of them nutters right in front of them --- its a DOOMED charge of the election brigade

go to the ballot box and deliberately spoil your paper -- write None of you are worth my vote!

by JamesM | 24th Jul 23, 11:28am 1690154886

I haven't witnessed a more incompetent government in my 50 odd years. Even Muldoon wasn't as disastrous as this lot.

Time to elect some hard working, intelligent MP's.

by Independent_Observer | 24th Jul 23, 11:37am 1690155449

See my post below - if semi conscious and talented, why would you put your hand up for this?

I left Wellington many years ago after realising the place was not good for one's mental health (among various government agencies) - the working environment was extremely toxic.

Can only imagine how terrible it is now after what has been going on there in recent years.

by GV 27 | 25th Jul 23, 6:37am 1690223854

+100. The working conditions, pay and lifestyle are better for almost anything else if you're any good at it.

I believe I would be effective at it, but it would represent such a huge step backwards in so many ways and there's nothing about the cut and thrust or ego play involved that appeals. I'm just not interested. I may have been once but I've moved on to bigger and better things, as far as I'm concerned.

There would be huge swathes of far more talented and capable people out there who feel the same.

As for Wellington... I have my own thoughts about that. Decades of being insulated from the same pressures the rest of the country faces are starting to have consequences. Failed exceptionalism within a larger bubble of exceptionalism is not a recipe for a great place to live.

by Sluggy | 24th Jul 23, 2:42pm 1690166522

Time to elect some hard working, intelligent MP's. ...

Keep looking

by Independent_Observer | 24th Jul 23, 11:34am 1690155243

Who would want to be a politician? If you were even semi conscious and talented, why would you put yourself up for this?

As it stands, one's ego must be greater than their common-sense/prudence for them to be suckered into office - and that then becomes a problem because collectively as as result you have ego's running the country and not goodwill/goodgrace of competent individuals - i.e. the key elements you need for a wise, stable, visionary government.

Until this changes, I think democracy across most western nations is in trouble. I see it as a problem in the US and the anglosphere. Leadership based upon ego, not values and principles that will bring people together for the greater good of society/nations.

by Mr Frank | 24th Jul 23, 11:37am 1690155423

Excellent news. This government needs to go.

Let's hope the 30-odd percent of people who still would vote for Labour (according to the polls) open their eyes to the disaster prior to election date.

by Independent_Observer | 24th Jul 23, 11:38am 1690155496

Have you read Animal Farm by Orwell?

by Kaper2 | 24th Jul 23, 11:55am 1690156542

Yes, some are more equal than others, is that Labour's hidden mantra?

by Zwifter | 24th Jul 23, 4:21pm 1690172483

Is Robbo the Pig or am I thinking Charlottes web ? Have not read a book for years.

by Jesse1 | 24th Jul 23, 12:02pm 1690156963

I must vote against National's disastrous property policies. Nothing else matters.

by Te Kooti | 24th Jul 23, 12:08pm 1690157318

That's what they are counting on. How sad is that?

by Jesse1 | 24th Jul 23, 12:15pm 1690157752

It's sad that National is counting on winning more votes by enticing property owners with capital gains next year.

by sadr001 | 24th Jul 23, 1:04pm 1690160648

Just checking if you are aware that capital gains have always without fail been greater under labour governments than national ones in the last 25 years. Even with the current down turn in prices they are still 50% higher than when labour took office. In 6 years labour raised prices by more than National did in 9!

by Jesse1 | 24th Jul 23, 1:24pm 1690161886

Yeah I've seen that said before and certainly there has been huge price gains since the pandemic but they are much more to do with what the reserve bank did than anything Labour did. You can't say that National's policy changes below will make prices go up less than Labour going forward.

1. Reinstate interest deductibility to investors

2. Reduce the bright line test

3. Likely allow foreign property buyers

4. Encourage lower density housing

5. Tell the reserve bank not to consider sustainable house prices.

6. Likely increase immigration more to ensure an extreme housing deficit.

7. Allow people to use Kiwisaver to pay for rental bonds (making it easier for landlords to raise rents)

by GV 27 | 24th Jul 23, 3:30pm 1690169434

what the reserve bank did than anything Labour did.

Given we are not getting an independent review of the RBNZ Covid response, and that the Finance Minister has reappointed the RBNZ Governor, I would suggest you draw your own conclusions about that.

by kpnuts | 24th Jul 23, 4:03pm 1690171387

Robertson basically lent the banks an unlimited amount of money at 0% and told them to loan it out -- leading to the house price rises -- which were the only game in town during and post covid -- start ups or other productive things were too unstable and risky in a potential covid/lockdown environment.

They could do everything except 3 and it would barely register whilst interest rates are at 7%+ no the market is stalled or falling at 7% levels

by Yvil | 24th Jul 23, 1:17pm 1690161452

Jesse, open your eyes, house prices have historically risen most under a Labour government, the last 6 years is no exception!

by delboy | 24th Jul 23, 1:37pm 1690162646

My properties have increased in value far more under Labour govts.

But suspect it’s because of their policies which usually have unintended consequences.

by K.W. | 24th Jul 23, 5:27pm 1690176445

Yes, how terrible that National policies encourage rental housing so that people aren't forced to live on the streets or in emergency motels. How dare they! I mean, the 500% increase in the public housing waitlist under Labour is a good thing right? The 913% increase in the amount of money spent on emergency housing (from $36m a year to $365m a year) is just loose change, easily funded by more debt, so why worry? We should be demanding that more people are housed by the taxpayer for free not less.

As for rents, the 44% increase in median rent under the Labour Govt is simply the Labour Govt trying to shore up their voter base by making renters dependent on public housing. #winning

by nktokyo | 24th Jul 23, 11:38am 1690155505

Something is fundamentally flawed with this group. Brand Labour is entitled and enabled.

by hotwired | 24th Jul 23, 11:40am 1690155627

Who pays for the crashed government vehicle she was driving.

by jeremyr | 24th Jul 23, 11:49am 1690156153

You do. She was drunk. Therefore no insurance. That means you pay, and for the other guy too.

by FCM | 24th Jul 23, 2:27pm 1690165639

I hope a reporter or two follow this up, hate to think the tax payer has to bail this mess out.

by Mr_Jolly | 24th Jul 23, 5:09pm 1690175382

Who pays for the crashed government ~~vehicle~~?

Fixed it for ya

by Von Metternich | 24th Jul 23, 11:47am 1690156021

I would support a Military Junta or Coup d'etat by the NZDF over any of the political establishment parties right now.

by nzforall | 24th Jul 23, 12:17pm 1690157846

"Another on bites the dust" comes to mind. Question. Can anyone drive a ministers car with the ministers permission, or is there some sort of restriction to stop rubberisation?

by Jethro | 24th Jul 23, 12:19pm 1690157955

Democracy working

Watched our Prime Minister front up to yet another disastrous home goal for this Labour Government this morning.

However did reflect that in many countries such happenings would never see the light of day. Even our one eyed press coverage would have never happened. Glass half full and roll on October 14th.

by Northlander09 | 24th Jul 23, 12:24pm 1690158247

Trying to align with their voter base?

by JimboJones | 24th Jul 23, 12:38pm 1690159080

Who does Hipkins allocate those portfolios to? Some ministers will be wearing a lot of hats.

by Yvil | 24th Jul 23, 1:20pm 1690161634

No worries, according to agnostium, ministers need no knowledge in the field of their respective portfolios!

by GV 27 | 25th Jul 23, 6:40am 1690224002

Good ministers? No, they shouldn't need specific knowledge. They should be effective managers no matter what they are a minister of.

by Yvil | 24th Jul 23, 12:44pm 1690159443

Unbelievable, just unbelievable! The state of the NZ government is very sad and nothing to be proud of :-(

by FCM | 24th Jul 23, 1:23pm 1690161834

You are bang on there, so much internal fighting, backstabbing, lying, they are suppose to be there to support the tax payer and businesses that employ the tax payer, but we have this shambles. I still can't believe they have the voter base the polls are saying, I mean what a disgrace to the nation they have turned into.

by Due Diligence | 24th Jul 23, 12:50pm 1690159812

This government is an unmitigated disaster.

If this was a male Pakeha Minister from the National Party, the media would portray him as a criminal. In this case the media will focus on Kiri being a young Maori woman struggling with mental heath under the immense pressure of parliamentary duties.

by JimboJones | 24th Jul 23, 1:17pm 1690161479

You make a good point.

by dumbthoughts | 24th Jul 23, 1:45pm 1690163135

Case in point being the TPM co-leader, who has come out saying ""I hope we as a nation have some empathy to some of the issues we contend with in these roles and contend with as wāhine Māori." In other words, "it's not really her fault, because she's the wrong ethnicity and gender for it to be her fault, and it's a tough job" - the sort of wonderful reasoning we can look forward to if enough people still opt to party vote Labour come October.

I actually have sympathy (or is it empathy - I never paid much attention to that lesson in high school English) for Kiri Allan with respect to the fact she's had a horrific health problem to contend with, and clearly some personal relationship challenges. She must feel an enormous sense of pressure to serve in the role she does despite various personal 'demons'. That pressure is clearly too much, and I say it without any sense of condescension or irony that I wish her the best for making a recovery in all aspects of her life.

I'd think the same if she was stale, male and pale, or pale and female, or any other combination of personal characteristics.

However, at this level of public service it's a different ball game, and if your personal life prevents you from serving those you are elected to represent, then perhaps you need to look elsewhere. Likewise, if you find the job too hard, you need to quit.

To his credit, Todd Mueller seemed to recognise this and step away from the fold - whether he should have stuck his head above the parapet or not in the first place is a different story.

by jeremyr | 24th Jul 23, 2:23pm 1690165395

In other words, "it's not really her fault, because she's the wrong ethnicity and gender for it to be her fault, and it's a tough job

This is shorthand for she qualifies well to be in TPM. Angry, Lesbian Maori, Angry and a Crim, drunk too. Perfect addition to the team.

by KH | 24th Jul 23, 2:36pm 1690166161

I have no sympathy for wahine maori Kiri Allen. None. It's personal. My grandchildren live on Evans Bay Parade at Roseneath.

by Zwifter | 24th Jul 23, 2:45pm 1690166717

No sympathy from me. Its a hard job so don't sign on for it in the first place. The number of people doing jobs in this country they are not capable of never fails to surprise me.

by K.W. | 24th Jul 23, 5:35pm 1690176906

Well, lets face it. If you had any talent you would be on double the money in Australia. Only the dregs are left here. That kind of goes for Luxon too, he could have been running Qantas now for $6M a year.

by Yvil | 24th Jul 23, 4:38pm 1690173535

Great post dumbthoughts!

by Comyn | 24th Jul 23, 3:56pm 1690170979

It was the same for Marram Davidson of the green party. She was running her mouth of that "straight white males are the most dangerous" . Her excuse was she had been hit by a motorbike earlier. We all know her comments were nothing but a slur and to belittle people who's ancestors were originally from Europe. We also all know if it had been a New Zealander with only European ancestry making comments about skin colour he would have been vilified and fired. It's a total double standard.

by K.W. | 24th Jul 23, 5:30pm 1690176624

I hope her Cultural Report is publicly available.

by nzforall | 24th Jul 23, 1:11pm 1690161105

Will the owner of the ute she hit vote labour??

by JimboJones | 24th Jul 23, 1:18pm 1690161514

I think that was a secondary ute tax

by interesting1234 | 24th Jul 23, 3:50pm 1690170628

There goes that EV rebate down the drain!

by Yvil | 24th Jul 23, 1:23pm 1690161818

How many more Labour ministers have got dirt to hide? It seems every benign problem snow balls into an "untenable" position.

by JimboJones | 24th Jul 23, 3:19pm 1690168740

Maybe the problem is more the need to hide everything these days, our MPs can't be human (the issues have been both left and right).

Muldoon called a snap election while drunk! I'm not really saying Allen's drink driving was OK especially as justice minister, but some of the others like Michael Wood were hardly the end of the world.

by Roger the dodger | 25th Jul 23, 5:30am 1690219858

The problem is they lie, bluff and fake it and it is a strategy. This is endemic in the party now.

Allen could have taken an extended period of time off and come back gradually like Muller.

Wood could have been honest about his entire position.

They chose to pull the wool, and quite frankly you should have figured out by now that they have been instructed to do that. They know eventually the media have to move on to the next thing.

Ever wonder why they never apologise? Trained not to under any circumstances.

Same with the OIA responses. Instructed not to compromise the minister, and if the media do the leg work and expose it, just move to the next step in the playbook and blame the office staff.

Seriously, drain the swamp.

by interesting1234 | 25th Jul 23, 8:13am 1690229588

Same with the OIA responses. Instructed not to compromise the minister, and if the media do the leg work and expose it, just move to the next step in the playbook and blame the office staff.

100% and no doubt this occurred pre-COVID, but the invasive culture of avoidance and secrecy that has spread from the top down from the beehive to other govt departments is an indictment of the true nature of those that make up the Labour party.

by 26@Main | 24th Jul 23, 3:43pm 1690170225

May all your health and relationship problems be benign Yvil, unfortunately Kiri Allan's were not.

by Von Metternich | 24th Jul 23, 4:24pm 1690172662

Utter cope for a woman who is 40 years old and has the stability to become a professional lawyer.

by Ebisu | 24th Jul 23, 4:59pm 1690174747

How about we shift the narrative and talk about a Justice Minister who broke several laws and only by luck didn’t destroy the life of another “human”. How about we talk about drunk drivers (like her) who kill and maim dozens of innocent kiwis every year and the “support and help” these victims NEVER receive.

by JimboJones | 24th Jul 23, 3:17pm 1690168629

Do we know she was drunk? It only takes a couple of drinks to be over the fine limit. Speeding drivers also kill and maim dozens of innocent kiwis every year, but if she was 10km over the speed limit we wouldn't label her as a speed demon.

by Ebisu | 24th Jul 23, 3:53pm 1690170793

Removed

by interesting1234 | 24th Jul 23, 3:52pm 1690170759

If she was let off by the police then she must have been around the limit but potentially when they tested at the station some of the booze will have been processed by then. Seems the most likely scenario if no charges

by Kohukohunui | 24th Jul 23, 3:21pm 1690168865

Politically, there's no need for him to risk looking spiteful by putting in a boot.

by dumbthoughts | 24th Jul 23, 3:38pm 1690169888

Agreed. The absolute worst thing he could do (from a political perspective) is stick the boot into Kiri Allan. It would be a bit 'on the nose' and all of a sudden the story would be about how Luxon the mean old stale Pakeha toady is unfairly attacking her, and how he is exploiting a mental health crisis for political gain.

All he, and National/ACT, needs to do is sit back, not say anything and watch the fireworks.

Honestly (and I say this as someone who isn't a fan of Luxon) he did a good job with his response here, and also to the shooting the other day. I suspect the media were anticipating he'd jump straight to "this is a clear consequence of Labour's soft on crime policies", but he was sensible enough to offer condolences, hint at the underlying issue but say it's not the time to discuss that, and then walk away.

by Te Kooti | 24th Jul 23, 4:28pm 1690172883

The election is his to lose, all he has to do is keep quiet.

by K.W. | 24th Jul 23, 5:39pm 1690177189

If you don't open your mouth, you can't put your foot in it.

by Stuart Mason | 24th Jul 23, 3:23pm 1690168995

According a piece in the Herald on Saturday, the PM is good at woodwork. Alas, as is increasingly obvious, even he can't make a cabinet that will hold together, if you use dud materials.

by JamesM | 24th Jul 23, 3:37pm 1690169832

Comment of the day!

by Zwifter | 24th Jul 23, 4:25pm 1690172742

Labour kind of reminds me of the boat I made as a kid and I used PVA glue. For those that don't know its a water soluble glue and after a few minutes the boat sank.

by starrider | 24th Jul 23, 4:44pm 1690173859

Kiri Allan's character must come under scrutiny now. Married and had a kid, divorced. Engaged and now dumped. Now pulling the "stress" card.

I guess NZ can be thankful that she lost the emergency response portfolio prior to the AKL floods and the Cyclones.

by Albert2020 | 25th Jul 23, 7:29am 1690226940

What a sad and pathetic comment.

by Ollies1 | 24th Jul 23, 9:22pm 1690190577

by Belle | 25th Jul 23, 12:21pm 1690244487

Is it possible the black ute was a target? The owner hasn't come forward. Apparently the road was wide at that point. It doesnt look like it was hit from behind but swung into.The question has to be asked surely? If not thats good. But everyone is assuming the ute was a bystander so to speak. Was it?

by Firstclass | 24th Jul 23, 7:48pm 1690184934

Just astonishing, what a total train wreck this Labour party is.

Thanks Kiri, perfect timing to embarrass your party in style.

by Climate Change… | 27th Jul 23, 9:47am 1690408075

The Marori Party's stand with Allen is felt to be a punch in the face to every victim (& their family & friends) of car-crash's caused by drink drivers. Is the Marori Party's excuse "she wasn't in a good space" going to be the excuse for all Marori drink-drivers who kill, maim, and cause huge financial harm to their victims.

The Marori Party's alleged innate hatred and racism seems to be fully on display by their seemingly complete disregard of any sympathy for the victim (who's personal time and $ are adversely effected) of Allen's unlawful actions.