While the MPs have departed Wellington and are flooding Fieldays this week decked in new Swanndri and Red Bands, candidate fallouts and energy announcements have kicked the week off to an interesting start.
Labour drama
The Labour Party announced its line up for the election on Monday. List ranking provides a decent insight into who are the party/caucus/leadership favourites and who (despite good public performances) may be on the outer. Other factors come into it however, those in what are considered 'safe seats' and aren't on the front bench can often be seen further down the list. Regardless, it's not great news for those in marginal seats, or those likely to lose an electorate race.
Two big surprises came out of the announcement, the first being the highly ranked Police superintendent Rakesh Naidoo. The 13th ranked candidate (above a significant amount of sitting MPs) raised a few eyebrows - including his employer Police Commissioner Richard Chambers, who only found out last Thursday of Naidoo's intention to stand.
Chambers believed it was untenable for Naidoo to continue in his current role as national partnerships manager of ethnic, iwi and communities. Then on Tuesday, RNZ reported a review will be conducted into Naidoo's engagement with the Labour Party, prior to informing the NZ Police of his intentions, and will include meetings and information he was privy to.
The other was the departure of Greg O'Connor. The Ōhāriu MP has been through what could only be described as 'a bit of a time' with the Labour Party of late. O'Connor's electorate was scrapped in the latest boundary changes, he subsequently missed out on the Wellington North Labour candidacy to Ayesha Verrall, he had his eye on the Speaker position, but his name was missing from Labour's list this week.
O'Connor himself had decided not to run over the weekend, telling media Labour's process made choosing the Pope seem transparent. That means a departure altogether from politics for O'Connor.
More tax policies on the way
Another highly ranked Labour candidate, Kingi Kiriona at 22, let slip at Monday's press conference: "I gather there will be some tax relief policies to be announced".
"I'll leave that to the leadership to comment on," he said, looking at Labour leader Chris Hipkins.
A newish look on LNG
The Government has backed down from applying a levy to electricity to cover the costs of the planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facility in Taranaki. New Zealand’s gentailers, not consumers, need to pick up the bill for increasing electricity costs, according to Energy Minister Simeon Brown.
Ella Somers was at the announcement this week, read her story here.
A goodbye to a bloke in gumboots
ACT MP Mark Cameron is hanging up his Parliamentary gumboots (he has worn them in the House before), announcing this week he will not be running after serving two terms.
"It’s been an honour to advocate for farmers in Wellington, but I can’t in good conscience return after this election with my health the way it is," Cameron said.
“My mind is saying yes, but my kidneys are saying no. The job requires a lot of travel, and while I’m undergoing dialysis, it wouldn’t be tenable for me to continue travelling back and forth between Ruawai and Wellington."
Cameron has been battling kidney disease for years while in Parliament, as well as the passing of his 22-year-old son in 2024.
ACT leader David Seymour said, “Mark is a truly great man, and a great New Zealander. Our country will be all the poorer without him in Parliament.”
We asked your questions...
After the flurry of Budget stories, Interest.co.nz sat down with MPs from across the House to talk the bank levy, the fuel crisis, mining and farming.
Watch our interviews here:
Shane Jones: NZ First, mining and the banks
Finance Minister Nicola Willis: Fuel crisis, bank levy & how good the books were looking
Labour’s Barbara Edmonds: On the budget, her own policies and the fuel “slush fund”
ACT’s Andrew Hoggard talks farming, banking and what’s in the Budget for the ACT Party
What to look out for
Next week is 'Scrutiny Week', which is a mega select committee period with MPs and ministries interrogated about their spending over hours at a time. While it can become tedious very quickly, watch out for decent stories coming out as the Government opens the books.
*Stay informed with what you need to know from the Capital - the politics shaping business and the Beehive insights driving decisions.
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