I had a dream when I was young
A dream of sweet illusion
A glimpse of hope and unity
And visions of one sweet union
But a cold wind blows
And a dark rain falls
And in my heart, it shows
Look what they've done to my dream
Songwriters: Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon.
Sometimes, don’t you want to just scream?
1 News led their bulletin yesterday with a supposedly major scandal: Christopher Hipkins had unequivocally ruled out a Streaming Tax, but it turned out Labour had an old bill in the cookie jar of private members' bills to introduce a levy on overseas corporations that make millions here to fund local content.
I rolled my eyes until I could see the inner workings of my brain, which seemed to be producing steam.
Good grief, is TVNZ avoiding the government's wrath by providing “Balance”, a polite way of saying they should make mountains out of opposition molehills and equate non-issues on the left with government calamities?
Simeon Brown said, “Chris Hipkins is a serial flip-flopper, telling Kiwis one thing, while his caucus is doing another.” Speaking of flip-flops, that lad needs a good hard whack with a jandal.
Willie Jackson, whose member’s bill it was, said, “I was talking about a streamers' levy in the context of a member's bill. I wasn't talking about it as being Labour Party policy.”
Given the state of the economy, the cost of living, and their own disunity, it was surprising to see National spend so much time focused on another party ruling out a policy. Or maybe that was the point: look away from our dumpster fire and look over there at the opposition, with vaguely contradictory information.
Chippy said it was simply an administrative oversight, and Labour went ahead and made sure none of their private members’ bills could confuse National again. He said, “Labour had discussed many different policy ideas this term but was now locking down its manifesto ahead of the election.”
Personally, I thought it was pretty clear-cut and not an issue at all. Over the course of an election cycle, there are many such bills; there are currently 71 of them in the tin, unlikely to see the light of day now. But when a party leader rules something out, that obviously supersedes such bills.
National were jumping up and down like they’d uncovered the largest of scandals, clearly trying to deflect from their own story, and TVNZ chose to lead with it. It was hard not to wonder whether Paul Goldsmith had been grunting down the line to them that they better do so, or else.
Given that National has decided that private members' bills are equivalent to party policy, I thought we should look at the ones they and their coalition partners have waiting to be drawn. That’s only fair. Simeon Brown’s logic says that members’ bills are official party policy, so what does that look like?
National’s Suze Redmayne has a bill “to extend the list of those who may administer a declaration under the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957 to include chartered accountants.”
Currently, you have to be a Justice of the Peace, a lawyer, a notary, an MP, or hold certain roles in the police to do so, but apparently Ms Redmayne thinks accountants should be considered fine, upstanding members of our community.
It seems a bit weird to me. I don’t have anything against bean counters per se, but why them? Why not your GP or the chemist, or so many other professions that could have been considered? Still, I guess Suze knows best, and, of course, for consistency, this must now be read as official National Party policy.
National’s David McLeod has a bill “to increase the number of deceased donors of organs and tissue, improve family consent rates, and make it more accessible to donate organs and tissue to preserve life or maintain the quality of life of another.”
That’s an excellent initiative; full marks. I can’t see why anyone would oppose it, but it does raise the question of why it’s not National policy. They could easily have passed it this term. I would like to see National, or any other party, take this to the electorate, but I’m pretty sure they won’t.
Tim Costley has a bill that “seeks to ensure Kiwis are more financially secure in retirement by gradually increasing KiwiSaver contributions to reflect Australia’s 12% rate.”
I think this is a sensible idea; we should have done it decades ago. Yet it seems ironic that the party that declares it won’t take money from hard-working Kiwis intends to increase their KiwiSaver contributions so significantly. And don’t forget, according to National, members’ bills are the same as official party policy.
When it comes to ACT:
Simon Court has a bill to remove alcohol restrictions in areas where Trusts operate. Because what this country really needs is easier access to cheaper booze.
Parmjeet Parmar has one on her favourite topic of not recognising Māori in any way in the public sector, in this case, universities.
Mark Cameron has one to stop Regional Councils meddling in “managing greenhouse gas emissions”. The bill says only central government should have a say, which is pretty significant, as over the last three years they have shown they have nothing to say on the matter and would prefer we all pretend there isn’t a problem.
Then we come to New Zealand First, who seem to have removed all of their wackadoodle culture-war bills, leaving just a few, including one that is a no-brainer.
Jamie Arbuckle has a bill on returning containers, you know, like we used to do when we took an empty milk bottle or lemonade bottle back to the dairy and received what was essentially a deposit on the bottle back. It seems sensible, so I don’t imagine it will make Winston’s 2026 list of policies to take to the electorate.
As a Green Party supporter, it’s only fair that I should look at their bills, but to be honest, I would be more than happy for them to include these items as policies in the election:
Scott Willis has a proposal to separate Retailers and Generators in the electricity market, as we did with Telecom when it stifled competition.
Chlöe Swarbrick has one to “allow for sanctions to be imposed and enforced on individuals or entities that are responsible for, associated with, or involved in the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
Steve Abel has a bill that says our animal welfare laws should apply to all food sold in Aotearoa. He cites the fact that “over 90 percent of pork imported to New Zealand in 2022 came from countries that allow the use of sow stalls, which were prohibited in New Zealand in 2016.”
Julie Anne Genter has one that would “restrict the use of wood treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) in high-contact structures such as children’s playgrounds, picnic tables, and garden furniture.” The Bill indicates that “Exposure to CCA-treated timber has significant human health effects, with increased exposure causing systemic cancers—including lung cancer. CCA-treated timber also leaches pollutants into our environment, especially when disposed of incorrectly.”
Ricardo Menéndez March has just this week put forward a bill to “ban excessive pricing by the supermarket duopoly. Supermarkets will be prohibited from charging prices that are excessive relative to the cost of supplying the products, plus a fair margin.” The bill notes that “Australia has recently introduced a new law to prohibit excessive grocery pricing. Research by Consumer NZ shows that 86% of New Zealanders support introducing a similar law here.”
Julie Anne Genter. Image: The Post.
As for Labour, they might have had a clean-up, but there are still some excellent proposals there that ought to be policy if they aren’t already:
Deborah Russell has a bill to ensure that “in cases of liquidation and insolvency, workers are paid for all amounts outstanding to them.” The current cap is removed, and money owing to workers is prioritised.
Cushla Tangaere-Manuel has one that says, “Consumers should have the ability to cancel or withdraw from subscriptions without unnecessary or unfair hurdles.” Some organisations make it very difficult to cancel subscriptions. For example, with Sky TV, you can add additional options easily online, but you can’t remove them. That means at least half an hour on the phone to a call centre, who will continue to offer you things you don’t want in order to keep you as a subscriber.
Ingrid Leary has a proposal on Retirement Villages that will “require that capital sums are returned (repaid) to exiting residents of retirement villages within a fair and reasonable time upon leaving the village.” Which is a damn good proposal in my view.
So there you have it, Coalition policies that must be considered policy for the purposes of the election and a whole swag of ideas from the opposition that merit becoming policy.
Have a good Wednesday, all you lovely people.
Ngā mihi,
Nick.
To receive new posts from me, join the conversation in the comments, and support my work, please subscribe:
Alternatively, if you want to show your appreciation, you could “Buy Me a Coffee” as a one-off koha for whatever amount you like.
To end today, it’s Queen with One Vision. Fi and I lived in Wembley very near the stadium from 2001-2003, and that walk from the tube station into the stadium is so familiar:
So pleased to read this Nick, I was infuriated when I watched that lead on TVNZ news - since when did a bill in a bikkie tin that may never see the light of day count as election policy??
National are desperate to distract from their shit show, and discouraging to see how TVNZ and THREE were so ready to attempt to elevate such a minor matter into a scandal.
Lots of excellent work from the left, let's go with all of them I say.
I think Parmjeet needs to have a lie down in a quiet room. Preferably for the next 20 years or so.