Marking the NZ First deal
As the party holds its election year convention in Auckland this weekend, political editor Audrey Young monitors what progress has been made on its Coalition deal
One of the most important items in New Zealand First’s Coalition agreement with Labour has had funding approved, but the party is constrained from bragging about it just yet.
The item, “an annual free health check for seniors including an eye check as part of the SuperGold card” was one of five items under the Health part of the agreement.
It was achieved in the 2020 Budget with funding to the tune of $198 million over four years ($12.9m in the current year, and $61.66m in the three following years).
But the free check was not even the subject of a press statement because its delivery has not yet been negotiated with healthcare agencies.
It went largely unnoticed in the Covid-centred Budget — although a Herald reporter who dug into the Treasury documents wrote about it at the time.
Ina Weekend Herald stocktake of how much is left to do in the agreement, nine weeks out from the election, we have marked the free health checks a “partial” achievement.
New Zealand First has achieved or partially achieved about 80 per cent of the commitments in the agreement that sealed the deal on the Coalition Government in 2017.
Work is still being undertaken on some of them, announcements are pending on some and relatively few appear to have had absolutely no progress.
Covid-19 has slowed down work on several items in health, including the move to progressively increase the age for free breast screening to 74.
New Zealand First has achieved or partially achieved about 80 per cent of the commitments in the agreement that sealed the deal on the Coalition.
Another measure delayed by Covid-19 sits under the Economy and was a commitment to “review the official measures for unemployment to ensure they accurately reflect the workforce of the 21st century”.
That turned out to be the responsibility of Greens co-leader James Shaw, who became Minister of Statistics in the Greens’ Confidence and Supply agreement with Labour.
A spokesman for Shaw said Statistics NZ drafted terms of reference for the review and initiated discussions with the UK’s Office of National Statistics as the preferred reviewer.
The ONS wanted to defer it because of Covid-19.
Shaw, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters and Finance Minister Grant Robertson agreed to defer the review indefinitely.
The other items for which no achievement has been made include: a select committee inquiry into biosecurity; investigating Kiwibank’s capital base to position it as the Government’s bank when the contract is next renewed; setting up a register of foreign-owned land and housing; health checks for all Year 9 students (although it is available under the policy that extended free doctor’s visits to 14-year-olds); offering free driver training to all secondary students; establishing a housing commission; introducing a royalty on exports of bottled water; reviewing the processes of Parliament; and holding a public inquiry to investigate the drivers of local government costs and its revenue base.
The party’s most costly achievement was the Regional Development Fund, which is funded at $1 billion annually or $3 billion for the term.
New Zealand First conducted parallel negotiations with Labour and National but it is understood from National sources that its negotiators agreed only to explore such a fund, not to commit to it.