The chair of Pharmac, Education NZ and ACC has retained the confidence of ministers after a recent column landed him in hot water.

Steve Maharey writes a column for Stuff that, at times, has been critical of the National Party – a breach of the requirement for people in his position to remain politically neutral. It’s the same issue that saw Rob Campbell recently sacked from Health NZ and the Environmental Protection Authority.

Prime minister Chris Hipkins said while the Public Service Commissioner condemned Maharey’s actions – calling them “unwise” – they did not meet the threshold for a dismissal and were at the “lower end of the spectrum”.

“In Mr Maharey’s case, he proactively acknowledged the error, has undertaken to stop writing the column and apologised,” said Hipkins. “There’s a clear distinction between the cases of Maharey and Campbell in patterns of behaviour and future intent. But it is important to make clear the government’s expectation of all Crown Entity board chairs and members in the future.”

Public service minister Andrew Little has asked that all Crown Entity Chairs be reminded of their obligations under the code of conduct. “Where other potential breaches are brought to light, the responsible Minister will need to consider these individually, with support from the commissioner,” he said.

“However, particularly when they are historical and are at the lower end of the spectrum, my guidance to Ministers is that provided the person acknowledges and regrets the breach and is clear about adhering to the code going forward, it should not necessarily result in the responsible minister losing confidence in them.”

Yesterday was the official day of this year’s census, but the latest tally shows we’re still a way off hitting the uptake target.

As of midnight, just over 2.6 million people have filled out the population survey. According to Stats NZ, however, the tally of forms submitted by individuals does not directly translate to a response rate, which is the proportion of the population who usually live in New Zealand who completed the census.

“The response rate, which is an official measure for the census, will be determined by a separate post-enumeration survey which happens after the 2023 census.”

We now know of at least three visiting celebrities who had to fill out the form yesterday. Of course, the headliner is pop star Harry Styles who told a crowd of about 40,000 last night that he had indeed filled the survey out. “Did everyone do the census thing?” he asked the crowd. “As long as we’re accounted for, we can carry on. I’ve done it – I think.”

Meanwhile, comedian Rob Brydon confirmed on his social media that his pre-show ritual last night included the census. (Unrelated, but Brydon was also given a true New Zealand welcome in the form of being shown Karen wants her $20)

And it’s believed, though I have seen no video/photographic proof of this, that singer Julia Jacklin also told an audience last night about filling out the census.

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The doomed merger of RNZ and TVNZ was finally put to bed earlier in the year after new prime minister Chris Hipkins set fire to a bunch of costly projects launched under the former PM.

But, as has been reported today, the board tasked with getting the new media entity off the ground is still being paid.

According to RNZ, the board, led by former minister Tracey Martin, was still working on a final report – due to be completed by the end of the month. It’s previously been reported that Martin was being paid a daily rate of $1,150 for work done.

Broadcasting minister Willie Jackson said the board held its final meeting virtually on February 16 “to endorse deliverables from the programme as its point of closure”.

His opposition counterpart, National’s Melissa Lee, described it as ludicrous. “It’s exactly an example of wasteful taxpayer money spending by this government,” she said.

“When the prime minister actually says that they’re going back to bread and butter things – this is one that certainly is not bread and butter. Wrapping up a failed merger and paying people in excess of $1000 a day is a huge waste of our taxpayer money.”

Alongside the merger, other scrapped policies included proposed hate speech legislation – pushed out until at least after the election – and a social insurance scheme.

Both prime minister Chris Hipkins and opposition leader Christopher Luxon seem amenable to ending the public sector pay freeze. A three-year extension to the 2020 pay freeze for those earning more than $100k was announced in 2021. The government has framed the pay freeze as a way of addressing pay gaps within the sector.

Amid ongoing debate about the use of consultants and contractors within the sector, Hipkins acknowledged yesterday that public sector wage growth has been lagging behind private sector wage growth. Luxon said he could talk about ending the wage restraint. “I’m very comfortable at making sure that people are fairly remunerated in the public sector,” he said.

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