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Today on The Front Page, Chris Hipkins joins us to discuss the cost of living, vibes in parliament, and whether he'll ever be able to shake Covid.
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Scoop
5 hours ago
- Scoop
Cabinet Ministers Defend Hiking Board Fees For Crown Bodies
Cabinet ministers are defending a move to hike board fees for Crown bodies by up to 80 percent, insisting those in the roles are overseeing billions of dollars - not just "beer and skittles." Labour says the decision proves the government is out-of-touch with the cost-of-living crisis and has accused it of trying to sneak the news by the public. A Cabinet document, quietly uploaded online on Monday, shows ministers agreed to lift the maximum annual fee for chairs of governance boards from $90,000 to about $162,000. The "Cabinet Fees Framework" is not binding but provides guidance to ministers when deciding compensation for those on a range of bodies, such as royal commissions and ministerial inquiries. Speaking on Tuesday, Luxon said public sector fees had become completely "out of whack" with private sector rates and needed a reset. "We need to make that a little bit more competitive, so that we can actually attract good talent," he said. Luxon said paying more to ensure "really good governance teams" could save billions in the long run. Finance Minister Nicola Willis echoed the point, stressing that New Zealanders deserved value for money. "This isn't beer and skittles. This is billions of dollars of public money. We need the very best people making governance decisions about it." Public Service Minister Judith Collins told reporters that the updated fees still fell short of private sector rates - around 80 percent of the going rate. "A lot of people who are experienced directors don't want to do these jobs in the public sector because they know they're going to lose money," she said. Collins said she did not think the public would be worried by the news. "One of the problems is that we've had an underperforming public service that's taken a hell of a lot of taxpayers' money, and so it is very important that we have the right people in charge of that." Hipkins accuses government of 'twisted priorities' Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the decision revealed the government's "twisted priorities" at a time when households were doing it tough. "They're saying that board members can get up to 80 percent increases in their pay, whilst nurses and teachers are being told to settle for 1 pecent or less," he said. "They've said everyone needs to tighten their belts - apparently except for the people who they hand-picked to put on public sector boards." Hipkins rejected the idea that higher fees were necessary to attract quality candidates, calling it "absolute nonsense." He said many public appointees had altruistic motivations and were already sitting on "very well paid directorships" in the private sector as well. "They're not doing it for the money," Hipkins said. Hipkins accused the government of trying to "slip this [announcement] out quietly" without scrutiny. But Luxon denied any secrecy: "It's normal practice... how it's been communicated." Hipkins does not appear to have issued a media release as Public Service Minister in 2022 when the then-Labour Cabinet agreed to a smaller 10 percent increase in fees. In November, State Owned Enterprises minister Paul Goldsmith did publish a release about a similar but separate move to increase director fees for 22 Crown-owned companies.
1News
13 hours ago
- 1News
Cabinet Ministers defend hiking board fees for Crown bodies
Cabinet ministers are defending a move to hike board fees for Crown bodies by up to 80%, insisting those in the roles are overseeing billions of dollars — not just "beer and skittles." Labour says the decision proves the Government is out of touch with the cost-of-living crisis and has accused it of trying to sneak the news by the public. A Cabinet document, quietly uploaded online on Monday, shows ministers agreed to lift the maximum annual fee for chairs of governance boards from $90,000 to about $162,000. The "Cabinet Fees Framework" is not binding but provides guidance to ministers when deciding compensation for those on a range of bodies, such as royal commissions and ministerial inquiries. Speaking today, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said public sector fees had become completely "out of whack" with private sector rates and needed a reset. ADVERTISEMENT "We need to make that a little bit more competitive, so that we can actually attract good talent," he said. Luxon said paying more to ensure "really good governance teams" could save billions in the long run. New Zealand currency. (Source: Finance Minister Nicola Willis echoed the point, stressing that New Zealanders deserved value for money. "This isn't beer and skittles. This is billions of dollars of public money. We need the very best people making governance decisions about it." Public Service Minister Judith Collins told reporters that the updated fees still fell short of private sector rates — around 80% of the going rate. "A lot of people who are experienced directors don't want to do these jobs in the public sector because they know they're going to lose money," she said. ADVERTISEMENT Judith Collins. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone (Source: Collins said she did not think the public would be worried by the news. "One of the problems is that we've had an underperforming public service that's taken a hell of a lot of taxpayers' money, and so it is very important that we have the right people in charge of that." Hipkins accuses government of 'twisted priorities' Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the decision revealed the Government's "twisted priorities" at a time when households were doing it tough. "They're saying that board members can get up to 80% increases in their pay, whilst nurses and teachers are being told to settle for 1% or less," he said. "They've said everyone needs to tighten their belts — apparently except for the people who they hand-picked to put on public sector boards." ADVERTISEMENT Hipkins rejected the idea that higher fees were necessary to attract quality candidates, calling it "absolute nonsense." Chris Hipkins. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii (Source: He said many public appointees had altruistic motivations and were already sitting on "very well paid directorships" in the private sector as well. "They're not doing it for the money," Hipkins said. Hipkins accused the Government of trying to "slip this [announcement] out quietly" without scrutiny. But Luxon denied any secrecy: "It's normal practice... how it's been communicated." Hipkins does not appear to have issued a media release as Public Service Minister in 2022 when the then-Labour Cabinet agreed to a smaller 10% increase in fees. In November, State Owned Enterprises Minister Paul Goldsmith published a release about a similar but separate move to increase director fees for 22 Crown-owned companies.
RNZ News
15 hours ago
- RNZ News
'Way too much flip flopping' on resource management law
Labour leader Chris Hipkins. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Labour leader Chris Hipkins says his party will make changes to the coalition government's new Fast Track regime if elected next year, but will not completely scrap it. Labour's Taranaki-King Country branch published a Facebook post last month which suggested the party would repeal the government's Fast Track legislation. The post said that commitment was one of the biggest "takeaways" from a Hamilton East Labour dinner attended by Hipkins and MPs Kieran McAnulty and Arena Williams. After enquiries from RNZ, the post was deleted. Speaking on Morning Report , Hipkins said the party had yet to set out its intentions for the Fast Track regime. "We haven't actually said that [we'll repeal it]," he said. "I've said that we'll make changes to it and we'll set those out before the election." Hipkins said he believed there had been "way too much flip flopping" on resource management law and infrastructure priorities and Labour would not continue that. "One of the things that I will do is make sure we don't simply stop projects that are underway because the previous government... started them," he said. Speaking later at Parliament, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told reporters the government was doing everything it could to get infrastructure projects up and running to help support the construction sector and wider economy. "What we've done is got rid of a lot of the red tape by trying to crash through the system with the Fast Track legislation," he said. "We're moving everything we can: planning laws, accelerating investment in infrastructure, real projects happening." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
