The Insider
To stay or go?
The New Year always brings some difficult diplomatic decisions for a Prime Minister, and it’s no different for Jacinda Ardern. Her decision to go to the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos instead of the annual Ra¯tana gathering in Whanganui is just one example. In international diplomatic terms it is a no-brainer, but it will put out a few noses among some on the Left, who once derided National ministers for going to Switzerland to rub shoulders with the rich, powerful and merely famous.
Meanwhile, back in NZ
Once Ardern returns from meeting the elite of the elite, she must then decide how to handle Waitangi weekend. There will no doubt be protests, but it is the polite passive-aggressive meeting with the Iwi Chairs Forum that promises to be more difficult. Labour and its partners in Government have been trying to talk with almost every Ma¯ori representative group they can, except the Forum. It seems ministers feel that if they keep looking long enough, they will find someone who agrees with them on thorny issues such as water allocation. Most members of the Forum are not that fussed: they know it will all end up in the courts anyway.
A step too far
The Government has had a change of heart about giving the Inland Revenue Commissioner powers to make minor changes to tax legislation without going through Parliament. The proposal was in a current tax bill, but MPs have had second thoughts about the IRD’s bid for such powers and say the idea needs a lot more thought.
Shuffle time?
Another problem for
Ardern is whether to reshuffle her ministerial portfolios. She has a bit of room to move, after the misfortune of losing two ministers in their first year because of poor behaviour. There are also some underperforming ministers and some outside Cabinet who are making a strong case for promotion. The two removed ministers also happen to be women, which left her with a bit of a gender imbalance. The problem is that all Labour’s ministers are new ministers who have been in the job for not much more than a year, and replacing them would mean a whole new learning curve for their replacements. The electoral clock is ticking and many around Ardern are advising against radical change.
Keep hoping
Waitangi weekend will inevitably focus the spotlight on the progress — or lack of progress — towards settling Nga¯puhi’s Treaty settlement. Retired Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson told his successor, Andrew Little: “Don’t worry about setbacks. Just when it seems a negotiation has gone all wrong, something very good can and invariably does happen. I mean, who knows, Sonny Tau could decide to go and live in Iceland!” Little has been living in hope, but Tau shows no sign of going anywhere.
Riveting read
There was something less than a gasp of excitement when the Government revealed its list of ministerial declarations of interest.
As is the way with these things, they were quietly released just before the Christmas period with no one really noticing. Not that there is a lot to excite interest, as the declarations are so lacking in detail that they will titillate only those who might wonder what the opaqueness conceals. Most are the usual portfolio conflicts, where the priorities of one role might not be in the interests of another. As for the personal conflicts, there are some, but no detail. Kelvin Davis, Megan Woods and Peeni Henare all declare potential conflicts without any background on what they are. Only one NZ First MP — Ron Mark — has declared a conflict, but once again there is no detail.
Can’t be too careful
Green ministers were a bit more forthcoming, with James Shaw declaring a potential conflict between his responsibilities as Acting Associate Minister of Health in relation to an individual case, and a personal interest. Eugenie Sage (pictured above) is even more detailed, saying there is a potential perceived conflict between her role as Minister of Conservation, in relation to a hydroelectric power scheme on the Waitaha River. This is due to her being critical of the plan before she became a minister. This is probably wise legally, but it’s a high bar as many current ministers — notably Winston Peters and Shane Jones — would have to stay out of lots of decisions if they ruled out all the areas where they had attacked someone in the past.