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The hīkoi has reached parliament, filling the grounds and swelling out into the surrounding roads and streets.
It is shoulder to shoulder, with people and flags stretching as far as the eye can see in every direction. The notorious Wellington wind is whipping the flags high, their flicks and pops adding to the cacophony.
Continue reading...Police say about 42,000 people gathered at parliament in the last stage of the nine-day protest in opposition to the Treaty of Waitangi bill
A protest march estimated to be one of the largest in New Zealand history arrived at parliament on Tuesday, flooding the grounds with song in a display of unity against a controversial bill seeking to reinterpret the country’s founding treaty between Māori and the crown.
Police said around 42,000 people took part in the march, in what was likely New Zealand’s largest-ever protest in support of Māori rights.
Continue reading...The widely criticised bill aims to redefine Treaty of Waitangi principles that guide relations between Māori and ruling authorities
A controversial bill that seeks to radically change how New Zealand’s treaty between Māori and the Crown is interpreted in modern times will be introduced to parliament on Thursday, nearly two weeks ahead of its initial schedule.
The Treaty of Waitangi is considered New Zealand’s founding document and is instrumental in upholding Māori rights. The bill will be tabled in parliament by the libertarian Act party, a minor partner in New Zealand’s coalition government, which has regularly called for an end to “division by race”.
Continue reading...1News Verian poll comes amid growing concern the coalition’s policy direction will wind back Māori rights
Nearly half of New Zealanders believe the government’s policies have increased racial tensions, new polling shows, as pressure mounts on the government over policy changes that many fear will undermine Māori rights.
The 1News Verian poll released on Monday found 46% of voters believed racial tensions have worsened as a result of the coalition’s policies, while 37% said there had been no difference and 10% thought tensions had reduced. Another 7% of respondents said they didn’t know or preferred not to comment.
Continue reading...Palaszczuk, who retired from politics in December after almost nine years as QLD premier, will serve a three-year term as a non-executive director. Follow today’s news headlines live
‘We have to have a constant reminder’
The committee also called for a culturally appropriate and nationally significant recognition and remembrance of murdered and disappeared First Nations women and children. Dorinda Cox said this would be “significant” if the government accepted the recommendation:
It would … have some permanent features to remind us the role that history has played for missing and murdered or disappeared women and children and First Nations women and children in this country, because there’s a story there that needs to be told, and we have to have a constant reminder.
Like we do … with the Australian war memorial of the safety that we have as a country, but also that this part of our history – this is now ingrained in and sketched into. And if we want to continue to work on this and continue to maintain safety for women and children and the most vulnerable, which is First Nations – as we know, we’re in an emergency for all women, but First Nations women and children are at the front of that – we have to have some permanent features, otherwise we become invisible.
What we hear too often is that this is a state and territory problem. States are responsible for their police forces, in particular … We have to centre our approaches and our outcomes in [addressing these issues] and we have to look at the culture of the organisations, such as police.
There’s lots of reporting on the media in relation to the attitudes of police across Australia, and that has to get better, but we have to have a measure against that – we can’t just put in the attorney general [to] have a chat to the police ministers, and nothing changes … Because if we don’t look at this in a way of wanting change, nothing ever changes.
Continue reading...Experts say policy changes that include scrapping Māori-led programs will harm communities and put New Zealand’s ‘great reputation’ at risk
Leading Māori figures from across New Zealand have sounded the alarm over the government’s changes to policies that affect Māori, after analysis by the Guardian highlighted the far-reaching scope of the proposals.
The policy shifts proposed by the rightwing coalition have been described by experts as “chilling” and “dangerous” and have created a “deeply fractured” relationship between Māori and the crown, or ruling authorities.
Continue reading...Devastated colleagues and friends pay tribute to Collins as a ‘passionate advocate’ and a champion of fairness and equality
New Zealanders, including leaders from across the political spectrum, have expressed shock and devastation at the sudden death of Green MP Efeso Collins, who collapsed after a charity run in Auckland on Wednesday.
“It is with profound shock and sadness that we can confirm that Green Party MP Efeso Collins has died,” said a statement from the Green party.
Continue reading...Australia to send delegation to NZ ‘very shortly’ to brief on second pillar of Aukus alliance after ministers meet in Melbourne
New Zealand has stepped up its interest in joining the non-nuclear pillar of Aukus, amid China’s growing presence in the Pacific and broader concerns over a “reshaped world”.
New Zealand’s foreign minister Winston Peters – also a deputy prime minister – and the defence minister, Judith Collins, travelled to Melbourne to meet with their Australian counterparts, Penny Wong and Richard Marles, for the inaugural “2+2” Australia and New Zealand foreign and defence ministers’ meeting on Thursday.
Continue reading...At the opening of parliament, lawmakers for New Zealand’s Māori party used a word for Charles that can also be used to describe skin conditions
Māori party MPs have departed from the traditional oath of allegiance to King Charles III at the opening of New Zealand’s 54th parliament, sparking a debate about whether the Māori word they used to describe him meant “Charles” or “skin rash”.
As part of the formalities to open parliament, MPs must swear allegiance to New Zealand’s head of state, something Te Pāti Māori, a Māori political party, has long protested against. MPs can say the oath in either English or Te reo Māori.
Continue reading...Health experts say axing plan to block sales of tobacco products to next generation will cost thousands of lives
New Zealand’s new government will scrap the country’s world-leading law to ban smoking for future generations to help pay for tax cuts – a move that public health officials believe will cost thousands of lives and be “catastrophic” for Māori communities.
In 2022 the country passed pioneering legislation which introduced a steadily rising smoking age to stop those born after January 2009 from ever being able to legally buy cigarettes. The law was designed to prevent thousands of smoking-related deaths and save the health system billions of dollars.
Continue reading...After weeks of negotiations, incoming PM Christopher Luxon announces populist Winston Peters and libertarian David Seymour will alternate as deputy
Nearly six weeks after New Zealand’s general election, the incoming prime minister, National’s Christopher Luxon, has announced the shape of the governing coalition with the libertarian Act and populist New Zealand First parties.
Luxon told a media conference in Wellington on Friday that the three parties had agreed on a “common sense” plan that reflected their values and policies.
Continue reading...Incoming PM Christopher Luxon must bring together the libertarian Act party and populist New Zealand First, parties that have major differences
One month on from New Zealand’s general election, the country is still waiting for three parties to reach an agreement on the makeup of the next coalition government.
On 14 October, the conservative National Party beat the current centre-left Labour party government, winning a razor-thin majority to govern in a coalition with the ring-wing Act Party. That majority disappeared once additional voting results were announced three weeks later, forcing National to rely on a third party, the nationalist New Zealand First, to reach the 61-seat majority needed to form a government.
This story was amended on 14 November to correct the date of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi
Continue reading...Centre-right party loses two seats in final tally and will need to rely on traditional partner Act as well as NZ First to form coalition
After weeks of political limbo, the final results of New Zealand’s election have been released showing the centre-right National party will need the support of the libertarian Act party and populist party New Zealand First to form a coalition government.
The governing Labour party was ejected from office after six years in the October election, with preliminary results handing a slim majority to National and its traditional coalition partner Act.
Reuters contributed to this report
Centre-right party ousted Labour in election but outstanding votes will determine if National needs populist party NZ First to govern
New Zealand could be stuck in political limbo for weeks as the newly elected National party waits to see if it can govern solely with its preferred coalition partner, Act, or whether the final vote tally will force it to work with populist party New Zealand First.
Saturday night’s election brutally ousted the governing Labour party, with preliminary results giving the centre-right National party 50 seats, and its traditional coalition party Act, 11 - just enough to reach the 61 seats needed to govern.
Continue reading...The party’s supporters feel like it got a kicking from everyone. After a dire result, analysts pointed to its inability to meet its lofty aspirations
It was an assessment with a distinctly New Zealand flavour. “At the end of the day, there’s one unavoidable reality,” said Chris Hipkins, the defeated Labour prime minister, speaking to reporters after he conceded the country’s election on Saturday. “We lost because not enough people voted for us.”
But that was only part of it. Hipkins’ ruling, centre-left Labour party had crashed from the historic highs of its 2020 election result, in which it won 50% of the vote, to a dismal 27% on Saturday, nearly halving its seats in parliament. However, the punishing loss was not only a clear defeat by the right-leaning parties that will form the next government – the size and shape of which will be determined when a final vote tally is announced on 3 November; the blows also came from Labour’s left.
Continue reading...Housing, workplace and some benefit reforms on the chopping block as centre-right National-led coalition forms government
The most common and cutting critique of Jacinda Ardern’s Labour government was that it couldn’t get anything done.
Transport was the best cudgel for this attack. Ardern came to power promising a light rail line in Auckland that six years later nobody has started to build. Tens of millions were spent on planning a bridge across the city’s harbour that ended up scrapped.
Henry Cooke is a freelance journalist covering New Zealand politics
Continue reading...Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon clash in heated final debate ahead of 14 October vote as left-leaning government trails right bloc in polls
The leaders of New Zealand’s two major political parties have made a last ditch effort to sway votes in their favour on the final day of campaigning before the country’s general election.
The leaders clashed in their most heated debate yet – the last of the campaign, which aired on TVNZ on Thursday night. In his final message, Labour’s Chris Hipkins warned the public that a vote for the opposition would bake in poverty and see action on climate change go backwards.
Continue reading...Former prime minister appealed to voters in Facebook video after being noticeably absent in lead up to 14 October election
Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s former prime-minister, has made an eleventh-hour appearance to throw her support behind the party she once led, just days out from the country’s general election.
Ardern, who was elected in 2017 on a wave of ‘Jacindamania’ and enjoyed extraordinary popularity for much of her leadership, led the governing party for nearly six years up until her shock resignation in January 2023. But the former leader has been noticeably absent in the lead up to the 14 October election.
Continue reading...Governing party still trails National as NZ First’s support grows, strengthening Winston Peters’ position in any rightwing coalition
Support for Labour has registered a burst of energy in a Guardian Essential poll days before the New Zealand election – but not enough to overcome an advance by the populist group New Zealand First, which is expected to propel a rightwing coalition to power.
The minor party’s steady climb in recent surveys threatens to vex what once appeared an easy route to victory for the right in Saturday’s election, after months of polls showed governing Labour languishing. Led by the maverick, veteran lawmaker Winston Peters, New Zealand First recorded 8.2% in October’s poll – which includes undecided voters in its total – up 2.2 points from September’s survey, and the party’s strongest showing of any major poll this year.
Continue reading...Former PM became ‘lighting rod for discontent’ among some voters as analysts say her time in office associated with Covid fallout
As the final month of campaigning in New Zealand’s election begins, one figure is noticeably absent for observers abroad: former prime minister Jacinda Ardern.
Ardern dominated political life in New Zealand for five years, until her shock resignation in January 2023. Now, as she wrote on Instagram in April, she is “helpfully” at Harvard during New Zealand’s election campaign.
Ardern was elected in 2017 on a wave of Jacindamania and her extremely high popularity endured, carrying the Labour party under her leadership to a historic win in 2020. She enjoyed stratospheric popularity abroad too – featuring on the cover of Vogue and as a favourite guest of late-night talkshows in the US.
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