National's Tom Rutherford

This week saw the Labour Party’s annual conference, during which party leader Chris Hipkins spoke about the party’s goals and criticised the current National-led government. 

Hipkins named the Dunedin hospital delays, interislander ferry fiasco, and tax breaks for tobacco companies as several issues that would be targeted by a future Labour government. Hipkins then called the government divisive and suggested their policies are taking the country backwards, both due to the Treaty Principles bill and this government’s approach more broadly. 

In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked him about these issues and how the government would respond as it moves into 2025.

Last week, the Treaty Principles Bill passed it’s first reading in Parliament.

Following this, Te Pāti Māori MP, Hana Rawhiti Maipa-Clarke, initiated a haka in protest, being joined by other members of the party, as well as other MPs from opposition parties such as Labour and the Green Party. On top of this, members of the gallery also performed the haka. This resulted in Speaker, Gerry Brownlee, pausing Parliament for an hour, with Hana Rawhiti Maipa-Clarke, being named by the speaker for ‘disorderly conduct’

For our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to him about the bill passing its first reading, and the subsequent haka in protest.

They also spoke to him about Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, indicating the country is still considering joining Pillar two of the AUKUS agreement.

The Labour Party has recently called for funding to be halted for the Gumboot Friday initiative.

This follows controversial claims made by mental health advocate and Gumboot Friday and I Am Hope campaigner, Mike King, in an interview with Newstalk ZB, where he said alcohol is not a problem for those struggling with mental health problems, and that alcohol can even be a solution.

For our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Katie Nimon, News and Editorial Director Joel spoke to Katie about Mike King’s claims, and what the parties thoughts and plans are regarding these.

Joel also spoke to her about recent comments made by ACT Party Leader, David Seymour, where he said he would not ban the display of swastika, amid ongoing legislation by the coalition government banning the public display of gang patches and insignia, set to begin from the 21st of November

Last Monday marked one year since the 2023 general election. Since this election, we’ve seen a range of policies and changes from this new National-led government. Many of these policies have been met with protest and controversy, leading poll numbers for National to waver. In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Katie Nimon Wire host Castor asked about how these poll numbers will influence the party moving forward. 

This past week, we also saw a reveal that $60,000 was spent on catering for a Health NZ Te Whatu Ora conference in late March. The budget accounted for breakfast and lunch across 300 members, roughly working out to 100 dollars per meal. Given this government’s attitudes towards public spending, this reveal has raised some eyebrows.