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PoliticsMay 7, 2021

Live updates, May 7: Man arrested after threats to National MP; person moved to MIQ after possible contact with Covid case

blog may 7 upd

Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for May 7, bringing you the latest news updated throughout the day. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz

5.15pm: Person moved to MIQ after possible contact with Covid case

A person has been transferred to managed isolation in Christchurch after they were linked to a case of Covid-19 in Sydney.

“This person attended a location of interest at the same time as one of the two positive cases recently identified in Sydney,” said a Ministry of Health spokesperson.

The contact is being tested for Covid-19 and the results will be available by tomorrow. “The person is not symptomatic and local public health staff say they have cooperated fully with all requests.”

As of this afternoon, no new locally acquired cases have been identified in New South Wales since two cases were identified earlier this week.

5.10pm: Man arrested after threats to National MP

A 25-year-old man has been arrested for threatening to kill National MP Simeon Brown.

The man was arrested today at a Lower Hutt property, according to a statement from police.

“I would like to acknowledge the outstanding work of our staff from both the Criminal Investigation Branch in Counties Manukau, where the original complaint was received, and the team in Lower Hutt who located the alleged offender today,” said detective inspector Darrell Harpur.

The man is due to appear in the Hutt Valley District Court on Thursday.

4.00pm: Drought responsible for 3% drop in sheep numbers

The number of sheep in New Zealand fell by 800,000 in the year ending June 2020, new stats reveal.

The year-on-year drop represents just a 3% drop from 2019, taking the overall number of sheep to a mere 26 million. That’s a dramatic difference, however, from peak sheep: 70 million in 1982.

It’s believed the drop in numbers is due to a 2020 drought that caused feed shortages. “Hawke’s Bay had the largest decrease, with the total number of sheep falling by 12% (346,000) from the previous year to a total of 2.5 million as at June 2020,” said Stats NZ’s Ana Krpo.

2.45pm: PSA releases open letter after three-year pay freeze

The Public Service Association has released an open letter calling on the government to rethink its three year pay freeze for public servants.

“Public workers around the country have responded to your announcement with resounding and unprecedented strength. They have asked us to provide you with a clear message from them: That your pay restrictions at this time are unacceptable and show that your government does not value them,” the letter, sent to Chris Hipkins, reads.

“That this does not acknowledge the work they are doing to support New Zealand through the pandemic and to address the pressing policy priorities your government has tasked them work working on, including: reducing child poverty; the cost and supply of housing; health inequities and New Zealand’s infrastructure deficit.”

The association is seeking a meeting with Hipkins, who they claim has ignored previous requests to engage on the matter.

1.30pm: ‘The biggest workplace change in decades’

E Tū, New Zealand’s biggest private sector union, has welcomed this afternoon’s announcement around plans to implement Fair Pay Agreement legislation.

“This will be the best change at workplaces in decades,” assistant national secretary Annie Newman said in a statement. “Setting fair wages and conditions across the board will stop the race to the bottom, which sees employers competing for contracts by paying poverty wages.”

BusinessNZ takes a very different view in a statement saying the FPA plan “should be terminated”.

“There would be nothing ‘fair’ about Fair Pay Agreements,” chief executive Kirk Hope said. “Any pay deals reached wouldn’t be fair because the process is essentially compulsory – employers would be required to agree to what unions wanted, with compulsory arbitration if they didn’t.”

The National Party has pledged to repeal the proposed legislation. “Labour stuck in 1970s with National Awards 2.0,” goes the headline on their media release.

1.05pm: No new community Covid-19 cases after Sydney outbreak

Apologies for the double 1pm news – this has just arrived from the Ministry of Health:

There are no new community cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand following a new Sydney outbreak that triggered a pause to quarantine-free travel.

There is one new case to report in a recent returnee in our managed isolation facilities. Three previously reported cases have now recovered. The total number of active cases in New Zealand today is 26.

In a statement, the Ministry of Health said it remained in contact with its Australian counterparts following the confirmation of two positive Covid-19 cases.

“Quarantine-free travel from New South Wales to New Zealand was paused from 11:59pm last night as a precautionary measure as investigations continue into the source of these infections,” a spokesperson said.

“Anyone in New Zealand who has been at any of the locations of interest at the specified times should contact Healthline on 0800 358 5453, immediately self-isolate and be tested.”

Meanwhile, all 32 people in New Zealand who have self-identified as being in a location of interest in Brisbane following a recent “green zone breach” have now been followed up. “Of these, 25 have returned negative test results. Two people have returned to Australia, and health authorities have assessed the remaining five people and advised that they do not require any further action,” said the ministry.

1.00pm: Fair pay legislation set to overhaul employment relations

The government has announced a major overhaul of our employment relations law, with the introduction of promised “fair pay agreement” legislation.

The law itself is yet to be drafted and won’t be introduced to the house until later this year.

The announcement comes in a week where the government has faced intense scrutiny over its decision to freeze the pay of public servants for three years.

“For too long New Zealanders working in critical roles like cleaners, supermarket workers, and bus drivers whose work was essential to keep our country going during the pandemic, have been undervalued by our workplace relations system,” said workplace relations minister Michael Wood. “Fair pay agreements are about turning that around and ensuring that working kiwis get a fair go again.”

Fair pay agreements are designed for industries where workers have struggled to negotiate pay and conditions. The cabinet paper provides that the Public Service Commissioner take responsibility for (or delegate to relevant sector executives) any fair pay agreement bargaining covering employees in the public service and education sector.

Unions have pointed to the likes of security guards, retail workers and bus drivers as the kind of roles that could benefit from a fair pay agreement.

The paper stipulates that any union will be able to initiate the fair pay agreement process “as long as they can demonstrate support from either 10% or 1,000 employees in the proposed industry or occupation”.

The process could also be initiated via a “public interest test” in an industry or occupation where employment issues exist, such as low pay or limited bargaining power.

“The parties bargaining a fair pay agreement will need to agree minimum terms, such as wages and working hours, while allowing the flexibility to address other relevant topics like skills and training, health and safety, and flexible working,” the paper said.

12.45pm: The hills have lizards

Resident reptile enthusiast Josie Adams writes:

Two new skink and two new gecko populations have been found in New Zealand’s mountains.

The Department of Conservation isn’t counting its eggs before they hatch, but reckons if these aren’t new populations they could be entirely new species. The new lizards were found in Fiordland, Mount Aspiring national park, Nelson Lakes national park, and the Hooker/Landsborough wilderness area.

A survey team spent nights spotlighting for lizards at these sites, where they suspected lizards were hiding out.

In Fiordland’s Wick mountains they found 20 skinks, at Mount Aspiring they found nine geckos, at Nelson Lakes another gecko showed up, and a three-day hunt in the Hooker/Landsborough wilderness area found one pregnant skink.

Genetic testing will confirm whether these are new species or just far-flung reptilian nomads.

If you see a lizard in an unusual location, you can help DoC by taking a photo and send it to .

12.05pm: Months to replace mould-ridden Hutt Valley classrooms

Students at Hutt Valley High School forced to work from home for half of the term will have to wait “months” for their mould-ridden classrooms to get replaced.

About 160 people attended a meeting last night to hear from Ministry of Education and school staff. A number of classrooms at the school have been closed since last month after the discovery of toxic levels of black mould, forcing hundreds of senior students to work off-site for half of each week.

As RNZ reports, attendees at the meeting were told that temporary classrooms would arrive in four stages, starting August, with the last rooms scheduled for November. The contaminated classroom blocked would be demolished and rebuilt, despite the levels of mould only posing a low risk to students.

After ministry representatives failed to answer whether schools were were adequately funded for maintenance, local MP Ginny Anderson said: “The answer is no, from what I can see. There is insufficient funding provided to this school to enable it to operate in a healthy, safe manner, and that’s disappointing.”

10.15am: Less than half of ‘shovel-ready’ projects up and running by first deadline

The government has failed to fulfil its original promise of getting 150 “shovel-ready” projects under way by the end of February.

Last year, $2.6 billion was given to fund the projects as part of the Covid-19 recovery. According to the government’s own words, “shovel-ready” meant ready to begin within six months. That was later pushed out to 12 months when the projects were announced last July.

But new figures revealed after questions by the Act Party show that just 44% of the projects had started construction by the self-imposed deadline.

David Seymour said the failure represented poor execution after the government put almost $3 billion behind the projects.

“That money comes from taxpayers and needs to be paid back by future generations,” he said.

Finance minister Grant Robertson has defended the progress, saying the timeframe was changed due to Covid. “The commitment still is that within 12 months of contracting they will have started,” Robertson said.

The failure to delivery comes after a report earlier in the week by Newshub that just 158 full time jobs were created under a government scheme intended to hire 3000 people. Almost $100 million was allocated to upgrade marae across the country just before last year’s election, but the number of jobs created has come nowhere near expectations.

10.00am: When the Facts Change on the value of spending

Would the country be better off in the long run if the government took some of the $2bn it’s giving fund managers to invest in the NZ Super Fund and spent it on fixing things like child poverty in the here and now? That’s what we’re talking about in this week’s episode of When the Facts Change, where Bernard Hickey talks to Girol Karacaoglu, head of the school of government at Victoria University, and University of Auckland business school economist Susan St John about the value of spending on health and happiness.

Listen on Apple PodcastsSpotify or your favourite podcast provider.

8.00am: Risk to NZ ‘low’ after Sydney Covid outbreak, but Bloomfield says questions remain

Ashley Bloomfield is confident the risk of Covid-19 transmission in New Zealand following a new Covid-19 outbreak in New South Wales is low – but admits there remain questions that need to be answered.

Last night, flights between New Zealand and Sydney were paused for a period of 48 hours, after a person and their partner tested positive for Covid-19 despite having no known links to the border.

Around 6000 people have arrived in the country from Sydney over the past six days. Now, all will need to be contacted to establish whether any visited a location of interest in Australia before returning home.

The director general of health told RNZ the decision to pause travel was made because it is not yet known how the new outbreak started. “New South Wales has very good contact tracing capability and capacity and they have responded pretty much as we expected them to,” Bloomfield said.

Over the next 48 hours, Bloomfield wants to see more test results back from people who have visited the locations of interest in Sydney. “The virus can be a bit random. You can have people who there doesn’t seem to have been much or any obvious contact between and [they can infected] and then very close contacts don’t get infected,” he said.

Bloomfield also wanted to see the source of the outbreak identified.

It’s unlikely that any returning New Zealanders will have had direct contact with the infected Australian couple, but Bloomfield told Newshub the travel pause was the cautious approach. “The likelihood anyone was in the places of interest at the times specified is rare but we’re contacting them all to make sure they know those locations,” he said.

7.30am: Top stories from The Bulletin

In the last few days there have been several deeply concerning stories about health system pressure, and what it is doing to those working through it. A particularly harrowing report was published this morning on the NZ Herald, which included a doctor saying they were told that patients would die if they took time off. That in turn left the doctor feeling suicidal, believing that there was no other way out of their hellish workload. Half of all senior doctors are now experiencing high levels of burnout.

The crisis is affecting patient care. The NZ Herald’s Emma Russell reports Auckland hospitals are coming up against capacity limits, with ambulances queuing up to get patients in to emergency departments. In Gisborne, Radio NZ’s Alice Angeloni reports bookings were halted for a fortnight on hip and joint replacement surgeries, because of fears that staffing levels wouldn’t have been safe enough for the procedures to take place. In the short term, those concerns have been resolved, but longer term it looms as an issue.

And there are additional stresses being put on the system by poverty and socio-economic conditions. LDR reporter Stephen Forbes covered fears that the way the GP system is organised means that care is not reaching places like South Auckland. As they’re generally small businesses, it makes much less business sense to operate in an area where people have less ability to pay. Extrapolating from there, a lack of access to this sort of healthcare means much more pressure is put on other areas of the system.

Quarantine-free travel between New Zealand and New South Wales have been suspended for 48 hours, after a handful of Covid cases in the Australian state. Our live updates reports that those who have travelled here in the last week are being asked to check locations of interest, and if they’ve been there to get isolated and tested. The timeframe of the suspension is under review, and it may be either extended, or lifted early.

Read more and subscribe to The Bulletin here

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blog may 6

PoliticsMay 6, 2021

Live updates, May 6: Watch: Quarantine-free travel with NSW paused as Sydney cases investigated

blog may 6

Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for May 6, bringing you the latest news updated throughout the day. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz

5.40pm: Quarantine-free travel with NSW paused in response to Covid outbreak

Quarantine-free travel with New South Wales has been paused in response to two new cases of Covid-19 in Sydney.

In a statement, Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins said flights will be paused from 11.59pm tonight while the source of infection is investigated. The pause is expected to last for 48 hours, but the period may be shortened or extended depending on what information is received.

People who have travelled from New South Wales in the past six days will be contacted and asked if they’ve been to any of the locations of interest on the New South Wales health website. If they have, they’ll be asked to isolate and get tested.

Whole genome sequencing has linked the first case to a recent returnee who arrived in Australia from the United States, said the statement, but how the virus was transmitted is unknown. “The advice that we have received is that there’s possible there’s an intermediary,” said Hipkins in a press conference this evening. The second case is the first case’s wife.

“We’ve weighed this up very carefully, it’s a finely balanced decision,” Hipkins said. “This isn’t a decision we take lightly.”

5.20pm: Court dismisses Queen Street injunction

The High Court has declined a request for an injunction to halt work in widening pavements on lower Queen Street. The Save the Queen Street Society (SQSS), a group of business owners and the Heart of the City organisation, asked the court to suspend the project, scheduled to begin next week, pending a ruling on its legality.

“I’m pleased that this interim decision enables the planned improvements to go ahead according to schedule,” said the mayor, Phil Goff. “We will continue to work with all stakeholders to progress improvements to Queen Street that will help make it a great place for the thousands of Aucklanders who live, work, study and shop there.”

“While the interim injunction request was declined, there was acknowledgement in the judgment that the ’emergency’ works installed by Auckland Council in April 2020 are of unacceptable quality, limited functionality and indisputably unappealing aesthetics,” said SQSS in a statement.

“Notwithstanding the result the society is continuing to work collaboratively with Auckland Council to reach a resolution to the main issue which is the removal of the emergency works in the balance of the street.”

Ten further challenges from SQSS are yet to be heard at a substantive hearing expected in July.

5.05pm: Hipkins to give update on Sydney flights as Covid restrictions announced

Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins has been in talks with Australian health officials about a potential pause on flights between Sydney and New Zealand, and will provide an update at 5.40pm. Discussions were held this afternoon as new restrictions were announced for Sydney following the detection of an unexplained Covid-19 case.

In the greater Sydney region, from 5pm local time this evening, no more than 20 people can gather at a home, face masks will be compulsory at indoor venues, singing and dancing inside is not allowed and patrons must be seated while drinking in hospitality venues.

The restrictions come as a second Sydney person tested positive for Covid-19 today – the wife of the man who was confirmed to have the virus yesterday. While the man’s virus has been linked genomically to an overseas traveller, it’s not clear how the transmission occurred.

3.35pm: Building consents at all-time high, new stats show

The government is patting itself on the back after new figures revealing building consents are at an all-time high.

Figures from Stats NZ show the number of new homes consented in the year ended March 2021 is up to 41,028, due to an increase in consents for higher-density housing.

Building and construction minister Poto Williams said the figures reflect the government’s commitment to addressing increased demand for housing.

“In March 2021 alone, 4,128 new homes were consented – the highest number since the 1940s. A decade ago, in the year ended March 2011, the annual number of new homes consented was 14,611. Ten years on, in the year ended March 2021, the annual number of new homes consented is 41,028. This represents a 181% increase from the same point 10 years ago,” Williams said.

3.05pm: Spinoff readers vent after pay freeze announcement

In this morning’s Bulletin, Alex asked to hear from disgruntled public servants disappointed at the three year pay freeze announced yesterday.

Unsurprisingly, there was a tidal wave of responses. Read the full piece here and check out one piece of feedback below:

From anonymous at government agency in Wellington:

“Getting up and going to work this morning was tough. We don’t need more proof that Cabinet hates public servants. That’s been clear for a while now. Life in the public sector means constantly being asked to do more for less. A sense of fulfilment from serving the public is somehow meant to help pay our rent and bills.

“The best we can hope for, through our work, is that we prevent things from getting worse for people in New Zealand. Forget transformational change. It’s all we can do to combat the slide towards degradation in public services.”

2.15pm: Two million anti-vax leaflets dropped in mailboxes nationwide

A group that has previously argued against lockdowns has organised a massive, nationwide pamphlet drop spreading misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine.

Up to two million flyers containing allegations about the vaccine have been distributed by the group Voices For Freedom, according to RNZ.

The group’s co-founder Claire Deeks said a “fundraiser outreach” had been organised to get the flyers produced.

“This had been planned in advance and was well timed to coincide with the government’s new vaccine campaign,” Deeks said. “The resulting funds enabled the printing and distribution of two million flyers nationwide.”

The Advertising Standards Authority told RNZ it had received four complaints about the flyer so far. The authority has asked for a response from Voices for Freedom.

1.00pm: No change to trans-Tasman bubble after mystery Sydney Covid-19 case

The Ministry of Health is still in contact with its Australian counterpart following the detection of an unexplained Covid-19 case in New South Wales.

The wife of the new case has now tested positive and anyone who visited locations of interest at Sydney specified times has been advised not to travel to New Zealand.

“The ministry has requested airlines communicate this message to anyone before flying to New Zealand from New South Wales,” a spokesperson said. “At this stage, our public health assessment is that the risk remains low.”

Meanwhile, there are no new cases of Covid-19 to report in the community, with one new case in managed isolation. Three cases are being investigated as possible historical infections.

One previously reported case has now recovered taking the total number of active cases in New Zealand to 28. Our total number of confirmed cases is 2,277.

In lieu of a previously announced vaccine update by health officials, Ashley Bloomfield will now instead be doing a Facebook Live this afternoon. No media briefing is planned until this time next week.

12.00pm: Economy beating expectations and private sector workers getting pay hikes – new Treasury figures

Political editor Justin Giovannetti reports from parliament:

A day after announcing a three year pay freeze for the public service, the government’s latest financial accounts show better than expected improvement in the economy over a year after Covid-19 hit.

The new data is the latest chapter in the country’s rapid recovery from the deepest economic contraction in its history.

Unemployment is down to an enviable 4.7%, the economy is growing, companies are posting fatter profits and wages are increasing.

The trade-off for so many people keeping their jobs has been a rapid increase in debt as the government hosed money into the economy. Overall crown debt has increased from 24.1% of GDP last year to 33.3%. That’s up $38.9 billion in a year. It’s a substantial increase, due to the government’s deficit and the Reserve Bank’s money-printing programme.

While the opposition will point to the size of the debt, it remains one of the smallest among advanced economies. America’s debt is more than three times as large, while Canada and the UK are more than twice as indebted compared to their economies.

New Zealand’s path back to balance is also clearer. According to the March crown accounts, tax revenues are up 6% from forecasts late last year, led by a 13% surge in corporate taxes. The Treasury said a combination of “higher profitability” a stronger labour market and lots of spending was to thank.

There was also a growth of 8.4% in source deductions over the period due mainly to wage hikes, as well as employment growth.

There have been suggestions in response to the public sector pay freeze announced yesterday that most private sector workers have not seen increases in recent years – IRD’s data would strongly reject those anecdotes.

11.50am: Teachers outraged by decision to freeze public servants’ pay

The education institute has spoken out against the government’s decision to freeze public servants’ pay for three years.

The move, announced yesterday, has sparked wide criticism from those impacted – including teachers and other school staff.

“Over the last year we’ve already seen the impact of this policy on our learning support staff members, who provide individualised support for school children with specific needs,” said NZEI Te Riu Roa president Liam Rutherford. “They are currently negotiating their own collective agreement – and these pay restrictions have made it incredibly difficult for them to make headway with their legitimate claims.”

Rutherford said it’s “unacceptable” to leave public servants behind after the work they did during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We’ve all seen that our educators have really gone the extra mile to support our tamariki and our communities during the pandemic – working extra hours, innovating quickly, and emotionally supporting and reassuring children and their whānau,” he said. “To be thanked like this, with an announcement that they shouldn’t expect even standard pay progression in their upcoming negotiations, is truly shocking.”

11.15am: Fonterra suspends trading, proposes overhaul of capital structure

Business editor Michael Andrew explains:

The dairy co-operative Fonterra has temporarily suspended halted trading as it consults its 10,500 farmer shareholders on changes to its capital structure, which would make it easier for new farmers to enter the cooperative and ensure its sustainability into the future.

The consultation is the result of a review over the past 18 months into Fonterra’s structure, introduced in 2012, which many consider not fit for purpose or financially sustainable as New Zealand’s milk supply declines.

While an option is to maintain the current structure, Fonterra’s directors have indicated the best option would be a structure that reduces the number of shares a farmer would need to buy to be a part of the cooperative, thereby helping retain farmers, attract new ones, and keep control and ownership in farmers’ hands. To do this, NZX-listed Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund would be removed or capped from growing further.

To be a member of the cooperative and have their milk collected, farmers currently have to buy one share for every kilogram of milk solids supplied. The proposal is to change that to one share for every 4kg.

To allow farmers to consider these options during consultation, the co-operative is temporarily capping the size of the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund by suspending shares in the Fonterra Shareholders’ Market (FSM) from being exchanged into units in the fund.

This would prevent the size of the fund from increasing during the consultation process, and then being too unaffordable to buy back.

“The decisions we’ve already taken in response to the findings of the review – like temporarily capping the size of the fund – haven’t been made lightly,” said Fonterra chairman Peter McBride.

“We appreciate they will have come as a surprise, but they are necessary to keep all our options open while the co-op’s farmer shareholders have a free and frank conversation about our capital structure.”

10.35am: $200m package to boost tourism recovery announced

The government is set to roll out a $200 million tourism recovery package to address the impacts of Covid-19.

Announced today by tourism minister Stuart Nash, the funding will invest in new programmes like small business support, tourism infrastructure, Māori development and mental wellbeing support.

Some businesses will be eligible for a $5000 grant to help them plan for the future and will be able to claim a further $5000 to help put those plans into action.

“The economic impact of the loss of international visitors is felt beyond the tourism workforce and businesses,” Nash said. “Whole communities, especially in five South Island regions, are facing new challenges to their way of life.”

Part of the package includes nearly $50 million set aside to “kick start” businesses that have gone into hibernation due to Covid, and $26 million for regional tourism organisations.

$20m which will be used to “diversify” the Queenstown-Wanaka region’s economy: “the area is over-reliant on international tourism, and needs support to improve its resilience to global economic shocks,” said Nash. “Government support will be through an underwriting role. Potential projects include a digital innovation hub and a film studio.”

9.45am: Risk to travel bubble ‘low’ after mystery Covid-19 case in Sydney

The public risk from a new Covid-19 case in New South Wales is low, the Ministry of Health said.

A man in his 50s tested positive in Sydney for the coronavirus yesterday, despite having no links to the border. 

“The ministry does not at this stage recommend any change in quarantine free travel between New Zealand and Australia,” a spokesperson said last night.

“Anyone in New Zealand who has been at any of the locations of interest at the specified times should contact Healthline on 0800 358 5453, self-isolate and be tested as soon as possible.”

An update is expected later today following further testing in New South Wales. “The ministry will remain in close contact with its Australian counterparts as the situation evolves.”

9.20am: ‘Mallard possesses none of the tact and sensitivity good speakers need’ – ex-MP Peter Dunne

Former MP Peter Dunne has called on speaker Trevor Mallard to quit, following a dramatic night in parliament on Tuesday.

Yesterday, Jacinda Ardern expressed “serious concerns” about Mallard’s behaviour after he made allegations about sexual assault at parliament, under the protection of parliamentary privilege. However, the PM said she is standing by Mallard.

In a statement, Dunne said that Mallard’s behaviour demeaned parliament as a whole. “For the sake of parliament’s reputation, if not his own rapidly diminishing credibility, he needs to go, and quickly,” he said. “Because of the nature of the role, the speaker needs to demonstrate impartiality, good judgement, and fairness, topped off by a calm temperament, and an extraordinary level of patience and good humour.

“The speaker also needs to maintain the confidence of the house as a whole, not just the government majority, to be able to operate effectively, and gain the co-operation of members.”

National has been strongly opposed to Mallard remaining in the role. Yesterday, Judith Collins said Mallard was temperamentally unfit to be speaker, with MPs Chris Bishop and Michael Woodhouse also vocally challenging the speaker.

“Despite being a very long-serving member of the house, [Mallard] possesses none of the tact and sensitivity good speakers need to gain the respect and co-operation of all parties in the house,” said Dunne. “Mallard’s political style has always been brutal, confrontational and uncompromisingly partisan, useful attributes for the cut and thrust of normal government/opposition politics, but never desirable qualities in a person chosen to be speaker of the House of Representatives.”

8.05am: Hutt Valley High students challenge MPs over funding after classroom closures

Students at Wellington’s Hutt Valley High School are outside parliament today, protesting the loss of classrooms at their school due to dangerous levels of toxic mould.

The discovery, revealed last month, has forced 500 students at the school across years 12 and 13 to work from home, for half a week, every week, for the rest of the term.

“It’s clear to see that the education of young people in New Zealand is not as much of a priority as it should be,” head boy Patrick Maslen said. “Hutt Valley High School is representative of many schools around the country struggling with lack of funding.”

Head girl Charlotte Leach said the situation should have been avoidable in the first place. “For the year 13s this is our final year at school. We never expected that we would be forced to spend it at home rather than in our classes, learning in the same rooms as our teachers and our friends,” she said.

“The next few months are going to be unsettling for many students.”

Last month, RNZ reported that Hutt Valley High’s principal was blaming the Ministry of Education for allowing the situation to get out of hand.

Leach is concerned that it won’t just be this year’s students impacted by the move out of the classroom. “We want to leave school knowing that the Ministry of Education is committed to funding full replacement of the affected buildings, so that all students in the future will have safe, healthy and fit-for-purpose classrooms,” she said.

7.30am: Top stories from The Bulletin

It’s not often governments make the decisions that are genuinely surprising to observers, but what happened yesterday might come close. Finance minister Grant Robertson told the public service that in many cases, they will not get any pay rises for three years, and for those earning more than 60k a year, raises will only be offered in “exceptional circumstances”. It is being justified on the grounds of fiscal prudence. As our political editor Justin Giovannetti reports in the live updates (9.25am) the statement opened with a voluminous statement of thanks to those same public servants for getting the country through Covid. Thanks indeed, you might say.

Some public servants will avoid the pay freeze. The NZ Herald reports about a quarter of those employed in the public sector are on less than 60k a year at the moment, and raises will be targeted towards them. But as a point that illustrates where this will kick in, many categories of border workers are on slightly more than that. For clarity, the decision applies far more widely than just to those who work in offices on Lambton Quay in Wellington.

Other political parties quickly came out against the pay freeze. National’s Mark Mitchell cast it as a case of the government allowing “the number of Wellington bureaucrats to swell up to an unsustainable size”. And the Green MP Jan Logie said it was morally wrong that “the Government is choosing to ignore our essential workers by suppressing their wages, all for the sake of the bottom line.”

And it’s quite possible the Public Service Association is the angriest it has been towards the Labour Party in literally decades. In a warning shot of a press statement, PSA National Secretary Erin Polaczuk said it is neither sensible nor acceptable to punish today’s public servants along the way. We expect better from this government. We do not expect our members will quietly accept pay restrictions in perpetuity.” With about 20,000 PSA members involved in collective bargaining over the coming year, expect that process to be more fractious than it otherwise would have been. Angry statements were also released by the Police Association, and the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists. The latter point about health workers was picked up more widely in this Radio NZ story, with suggestions people in desperately needed professions will up sticks and go to Australia.

There’s a lot of ways this could go politically. Some will of course be happy to see a marginally smaller wage bill being put on the taxpayer. But bigger picture, it seems likely to be self-defeating for the government. High workforce churn and job-switching looms for the sector, right at a time when the government is trying to drive through big, transformative projects. For those public servants working in Wellington, the costs of living will keep going through the roof while their pay falls further behind. On a more intangible level, you’ve got to wonder what this will do to workplace morale, and the willingness to go above and beyond if another great crisis hits.

And it may well be that the government has simply misjudged how warmly people feel towards public servants. A fascinating Colmar Brunton survey released just yesterday found that steady increases in public trust and respect for the public service are continuing and solidifying.

Read more and subscribe to The Bulletin here

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