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Kieran McAnulty and Andrew Little could be possible replacements for Stuart Nash as police minister
Kieran McAnulty and Andrew Little could be possible replacements for Stuart Nash as police minister

The BulletinMarch 16, 2023

Who might replace Stuart Nash as police minister?

Kieran McAnulty and Andrew Little could be possible replacements for Stuart Nash as police minister
Kieran McAnulty and Andrew Little could be possible replacements for Stuart Nash as police minister

A couple of names have cropped up as replacements for Nash following his resignation yesterday as the opposition calls for him to be sacked from all his portfolios, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.

 

Gone by (late) lunchtime

It was possibly a tad late in the day for Stuart’s Nash’s resignation as police minister to be a true “gone by lunchtime” moment but I did return from lunch yesterday to the news. Nash was initially defiant in the face of calls for him to resign after telling Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB that he’d called Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to discuss whether a sentence would be appealed. Stuff’s Glenn McConnell and Thomas Manch write that it was Nash’s “bravado” in calling Coster, admitting this on air, and then doubling down, that worried prime minister Chris Hipkins the most. Technically Nash had to resign because the government is expected to remain independent from judicial and police prosecutorial decisions.

The dangers of tough on crime rhetoric and Nash’s bravado 

You have to wonder if it’s slightly galling for former police minister Poto Williams, who lost the portfolio for seemingly being “soft on crime”, to watch Nash’s bravado and need to sound very tough on crime, lead to his undoing. Stuff’s Luke Malpass writes that the interview with Hosking was “a case of my tough on crime outrage is bigger than yours”. Malpass says that the “interesting and depressing thing about this case, however, is how much it shows the dangers of enthusiastically ramping up the rhetoric on law and order.” Nash, he writes, was reappointed to the job as police minister “so he could go around and chest-beat about being tough on crime and backing the police.”

Opposition calls for Nash to be sacked from all his portfolios

Nash is well-liked and affable. He’s the kind of politician who will speak with Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman not once, but twice about why he is not wearing a shirt in a photo of him getting his Covid vaccination. But he’s also known as a “controversial minister” and has shown very poor judgement. The opposition is calling for Nash to be sacked from his remaining portfolios. He remains economic development, forestry and oceans and fisheries minister for now. Newsroom’s Jo Moir writes that his instinct to fight back and defend, rather than take time to reflect and consider, raises serious questions about what he understands to be acceptable for a cabinet minister.

Who will replace Nash as police minister?

For now, Megan Woods is acting police minister. Newshub’s Jenna Lynch thinks Kieran McAnulty or Andrew Little could be in line to pick up the police portfolio permanently. Little already has six portfolios, while McAnulty has four. Jo Moir thinks McAnulty could be the right pick if Hipkins is looking for another “no-nonsense guy from the regions who says it like it is” like Nash, but with less of the bluster.

Keep going!
James Shaw and Marama Davidson at parliament (Photo: Toby Manhire)
James Shaw and Marama Davidson at parliament (Photo: Toby Manhire)

The BulletinMarch 15, 2023

Greens in eye of storm after climate policy halt

James Shaw and Marama Davidson at parliament (Photo: Toby Manhire)
James Shaw and Marama Davidson at parliament (Photo: Toby Manhire)

Simple maths suggests Labour’s climate policy deletion could be good for them and the Greens but bold climate action still requires leadership from a major party, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.

 

Greens accuse government of breach of practice on cooperation agreement 

Yesterday morning, Toby Manhire reported that Green party co-leader James Shaw found short-term decisions, like Monday’s deletion of climate policy by the government, “exasperating and frustrating”. By the afternoon, the Greens said the moves amounted to a breach of practice over their cooperation agreement with Labour. This morning Manhire interrogates the theoretical electoral maths whereby both parties benefit from what’s happened this week. Labour eats some of National’s vote by shifting further towards the centre and the Greens absorb some of Labour’s vote, thus growing the left bloc. All well and good? Manhire suggests it’s not as simple as that.

Where does it leave us on climate change action? 

When it comes to effecting bold change, Bernard Hickey writes that the Green party’s leverage is diminished because it can never credibly threaten to put National in government. “A Green vote now is purely performative,” he writes. Newshub’s Jenna Lynch has suggested the government is working on something for the Budget which tackles both cost of living and climate change, like half-price public transport. A December poll by 1News showed huge support for the existing half-price public transport policy with 79% of people saying they want it to be permanent so we know it’s politically popular. However a recent Waka Kotahi report found half-price fares are not enough to encourage more people onto public transport. That requires regular, reliable service, close to your home and work, and that’s a whole other kettle of investment and planning fish. The government downgraded a push for councils to focus on getting people out of their cars in all but the main centres on Monday.

54% of people want the government to act with more urgency on climate change

While results from the 1News Kantar poll on Monday night have cost of living miles ahead of climate change as the key election issue, further polling results published yesterday show 54% of people want the government to act with more urgency on climate change. That may seem incongruous or individualistic but the question of how much difference individuals can make is fraught. This new polling perhaps reflects a growing resignation to climate change impacts, a sense that big changes are required and that by and large, those need to be driven by big actors like government.

Bold policy changes in New Zealand generally require one of the main two parties

A 2022 IPCC report showed emissions cuts from behavioural changes can make a difference, but the biggest impacts can only be unlocked with the help of structural changes such as providing clean infrastructure and technology. A 2022 Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority survey wasn’t able to determine which comes first on climate change action: taking more personal action, or supporting societal-level change. Societal-level change requires societal-level leadership. Henry Cooke writes that while the Greens may benefit in the short-term from Labour’s actions, “really big bold policy changes in New Zealand generally require one of the main two parties”. “Presumably at the election this year it [the Labour party] will have to have some actual policies to address the fact that New Zealand’s reliance on cars and cows mean we have quite high per-capita emissions and no easy path to bringing those down,” he writes.

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