Latest news with #Hipkins
1News
3 days ago
- Politics
- 1News
Luxon snaps back at 'frickin' Hipkins over claims of 'flop'
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has challenged Labour to front up with any policy at all as he comes under pressure over National's struggling childcare support scheme. Labour revealed just 153 families had received the maximum FamilyBoost rebate, well short of the 21,000 families the Government said would be eligible for the full amount when it was unveiled last year. Speaking on his way into a Tuesday morning caucus meeting, Luxon rejected Labour's characterisation of the policy as a failure. "I'm not taking any any lectures from frickin' Chris Hipkins or the Labour Party," he told reporters. "They have no idea what to do. They put us in this mess. "You can stand on the other side and criticise as much as you like, but I don't see any policy from Labour." ADVERTISEMENT Luxon said 60,000 families had received some support from the FamilyBoost policy and another 20,000 would soon be eligible due to recent tweaks to the eligibility settings. "Isn't that great?" he said. "We have put a programme in place which Labour didn't support, didn't vote, don't back, because they don't back low-and-middle-income working New Zealanders." The former Labour government extended cheaper childcare to parents of two-year-olds, giving them access to 20 hours a week of free ECE. On taking office, the coalition reversed that policy and instead rolled out its more targeted FamilyBoost scheme — a weekly rebate on childcare costs. The coalition launched a review of the policy in April, given the unexpectedly low uptake and then expanded the initiative in early July. It said Inland Revenue had initially overestimated the number of eligible families despite best efforts. Hipkins labels National's policies 'absolute disaster zone' Responding to Luxon's comments, Labour leader Chris Hipkins said National's refusal to admit the FamilyBoost scheme was "an absolute flop" showed it was completely out-of-touch. "They're getting really desperate. On a daily basis, they're attacking me and attacking the Labour Party rather than talking about their own track record." ADVERTISEMENT Hipkins defended Labour's lack of public policy and said that would all be laid out in full before next year's election. "We're not even close to an election campaign at the moment," he said. "But, unlike him, when we go into the election campaign next year, I will make sure that the policies that we have, add up." Labour wanted to see the Government's next Budget before it outlined significant policies which would cost money, Hipkins said, and suggested a lot of policy work was underway in the background. "The National Party desperately wants to talk about the Labour Party's policy at the moment, because their own policies are turning into an absolute disaster zone." National also came under criticism when it was in opposition for a paucity of policy heading into the 2023 election year, but it had released elements of its tax plan and several discussion documents indicating a direction of travel. Finance Minister Nicola Willis: "I view butter as a beautiful, beautiful thing." The two party leaders also sparred on Tuesday morning over the price of butter which has soared to about $8.60 for a 500g block. ADVERTISEMENT Nicola Willis speaks to media on July 7, 2025. (Source: 1News) In recent weeks, Hipkins has repeatedly drawn attention to the issue, posting on social media last week: "The price of butter is up nearly 50 percent since this time last year. That's it. That's my X post." Asked what Labour would do about it if in power, Hipkins said the onus was on the coalition: "we're not the government... all we've had from them is tough talk." Luxon said dairy prices were largely dictated by global commodity prices and New Zealand dairy farmers were reaping the benefits "tremendously". He said Finance Minister Nicola Willis would be meeting with diary giant Fonterra on Tuesday evening in the context of supermarket competition. If Willis raised the issue of butter prices "good on her", Luxon said. Willis, who previously worked for Fonterra, told reporters she would raise the topic in her conversation as she was concerned butter was becoming out-of-reach for many New Zealanders. ADVERTISEMENT "I view butter as a beautiful, beautiful thing. I eat too much of it," she said. "When you see it on my piece of toast, it looks like some cheese." Willis said Fonterra was transparent about how it determined milk prices but it was less clear to her how that then translated to butter. "What we're talking about here is at the margin — 10 or 20 cents — but 10 or 20 cents really matters when you're a Kiwi family at the supermarket checkout." She also accused Labour of "crocodile tears", given its lack of proposed solutions.
NZ Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
Watch: Christopher Luxon mouths off at ‘frickin' Chris Hipkins over lack of policy
But that has not stopped inflation becoming a political problem, with Hipkins and Edmonds rounding on the Government for high prices this week. Luxon said the Government cared about people on low and middle incomes and helped those people through tax relief using fiscal policy to help the Reserve Bank fight inflation. Annual inflation in the past full quarter before the change of government was 5.6%. Luxon said Labour's outrage over high prices was 'crocodile tears'. 'This is the party that didn't support tax relief - moving tax thresholds. That's not deeply ideological, it helps low and middle income New Zealanders.' Luxon listed his Government's cost of living measures. 'They didn't support FamilyBoost, they didn't support Working for Families credits, they don't talk about helping construction workers by getting on board and u-turning on Fast Track [which Labour opposed, although not for supermarkets], they've got a gazillion positions on PPPs [Public-Private Partnerships], they're all over the place. 'They have no idea what to do - they put us in this mess, we are cleaning up the mess,' Luxon said. Labour leader Chris Hipkins hit back. Photo / Mark Mitchell While Labour opposed these changes in Parliament, it took to the election its own early childhood education policy, extending 20 hours free care to children under 2 years old. It also proposed a more generous Working for Families policy. National copied that policy on the campaign trial, but watered it down during coalition negotiations, costing some families $38 a week. Changes made in the 2025 Budget reduced some of this loss. Hipkins hit back at Luxon, noting that figures obtained by Labour and published on Tuesday showed the full $75 FamilyBoost tax credit was only claimed by a tiny number of households. This means few, if any, households are getting the $252 a fortnight National promised some would get from its tax plan. The Government subsequently changed settings of the policy, meaning more people will start getting more money from it. Willis said about 16,000 more families will get the tax credit. Hipkins defends lack of policy Hipkins defended Labour's light policy slate saying 'we're not even close to an election at the moment'. 'Unlike [Luxon], when we go into an election next year, I will make sure the policies that we have add up and we can actually deliver on them. They didn't actually do that and now they are suffering - and New Zealanders are suffering as a result,' Hipkins said. He said one of the reasons Labour was waiting to unveil policy is the Government has one more budget to deliver. That budget will detail how much money Labour would have to spend if it took over in 2026. 'Before we come out with significant policies that are going to cost money for example, we want to see what the shape of the Government's books are,' Hipkins said. 'I want to know we can afford what we promise,' he said. Hipkins would not say whether the party would have any policy before the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election in September. He has promised a tax policy before the end of the year. Willis also attacked Labour's 'crocodile tears' on the cost of living. Finance Minister Nicola Willis attacked Labour for its lack of policy. Photo / Mark Mitchell Willis took to social media on Monday to note Edmonds was unable to list any cost of living policies. 'I thought it was the most telling thing ever when Barbara Edmonds came down here to do a stand-up lashing us for a 2.7% inflation rate... when asked what specific policy she had to address the cost of living she said 'none' - none, none, none. 'Now that is to me, the boy crying wolf,' Willis said. In the stand-up, Edmonds gave no policy suggestions, she did not literally answer 'none'. Willis said Labour was gripped by 'shallow attack politics which doesn't put bread on anyone's table'. She alleged Labour was 'bereft of ideas' and 'internally divided on what the way forward for New Zealanders is. How much policy is normal In December 2022, the Leader of the Opposition was asked about his own lack of policy and gave a very similar answer to the one Hipkins gave on Tuesday. 'Look, we are one year out from an election ... rest assured, we will have policy,' the leader said. The leader of the opposition back then was Luxon himself. As political campaigning shifts to embrace 'small target' strategies, releasing lots of policy before an election campaign has become less and less common. Assuming the current Parliament runs a roughly full term and there is an election at the end of next year, we are about halfway through the term. At this point in the last Parliament, National had released a tax policy - however, it was careful not to promise that this would be the policy it would take to the election. That policy, published just prior to the 2022 Budget - the middle-Budget in Labour's second term - called on the Government to increase tax thresholds to deliver tax cuts to people to compensate for the higher taxes they were paying because of inflation. Later that year, National confirmed that this particular policy was only a suggestion for the 2022 Budget, but the party committed that its final tax policy would deliver at least the same level of tax cuts as the earlier plan. The final tax package was not announced until the end of August 2023 - less than two months before the October election. National had a handful of policy promises by this stage in the last cycle, including lifting the super age and reintroducing boot camps. Labour has also made some promises, including repealing the Three Strikes law, the future Regulatory Standards Act and reinstating the old Pay Equity Scheme in some form. That last commitment will come with a roughly $13 billion price tag, which will need to be paid for with some kind of tax increase, spending cut, or borrowing. National is keen to pin Labour down on just what combination of those three things Labour is planning. The Simon Bridges-led National Party took a different approach. In its middle year, it released several 'discussion documents' to members and the public testing potential policy ideas and giving a sense of where the party was headed. These discussion documents were meant to form the basis of National's 2020 election policy platform, however, that changed when the party imploded. Hipkins said the party was working on policy internally, but he would not say anything more. 'We haven't released discussion documents but that is the work we have been doing,' Hipkins said. 'We've got to make sure all the pieces of our policy fit together,' he said.
Scoop
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Dunne's Weekly: Ardern Must Front-Up At Covid19 Inquiry
Phase Two of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the government's response to Covid19 and its effects got underway this week, with the commencement of the hearing of public submissions. According to the Commission chair, Grant Illingworth KC, the focus of this aspect of the inquiry is to hear from the public about their experiences, including the impacts on "social division and isolation, health and education, and business activity.' It will also " hear from experts about the key decisions and their consequences, and lessons to be learned from what happened." There will be a further phase of the inquiry next month, to hear from key decision makers who "led and informed" the government's response to the pandemic. Already there have been calls for former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern to return from the United States to give evidence to and be cross-examined by the Royal Commission, but it is not yet clear whether she will do so. Current Labour leader, Chris Hipkins was vague when interviewed about whether Ardern would appear, even though he says he met her in London last week. Ardern has subsequently said that she will be happy to 'provide evidence' to the inquiry but she has so far shied clear of confirming that means she is willing to appear in person. As the person who led New Zealand through the pandemic crisis, and received wide international acclaim for her performance, there is no question that Ardern should front up at the New Zealand inquiry. Failure to do so, given the subsequent national division over the pandemic response, would send all the wrong signals, and would diminish the credibility currently attached to her government's overall Covid19 performance. Appearing before the inquiry would be a clear acceptance of public accountability for actions taken in the national interest during a national crisis. She owes it to New Zealanders – her 'team of five million' – to do so. But whether Ardern decides to front or not, there are clear signs that her Labour Party colleagues are not impressed by the public phases of the inquiry now getting underway. They seem clearly uncomfortable with having to explain and justify their actions to an independent Royal Commission. Hipkins has already dismissed the new stages as being designed to 'achieve a particular outcome, particularly around providing a platform for those who have conspiracy theorist views." While he says he will co-operate with the inquiry and answer all the written questions put to him, he would not commit to appearing in person if asked to do so. 'I don't want to see happen … a whole lot of theatrics. I'm very interested in engaging with them on how … we can capture the lessons … [but] the terms of reference are certainly far more political than the first one,' he said. As with Ardern, Hipkins should appear before the inquiry. He was one of the most senior Ministers involved in the then government's response, and will forever be associated with some of its more controversial measures like the MIQ scheme, restrictions on family reunification in stressful circumstances and the ridiculous short-lived suggestion in late 2021 that Aucklanders might have to get prior government permission for the time of day and dates on which they could leave for the summer holidays. Whatever his concerns about the terms of reference, Hipkins, like Ardern, owes it to all those who suffered through MIQ or not being able to join dying loved ones in their final few hours to front up and publicly justify those actions. There is a third person who should similarly be required to front before the Royal Commission and that is the former Director-General of Health, Sir Ashley Bloomfield. Although the former government was ultimately solely responsible for the various decisions taken, many of those decisions were based on advice provided by Bloomfield. Moreover, during the period of the pandemic, Bloomfield enjoyed a level of access to both the Prime Minister and the whole Cabinet that has not been shared by any other public servant in New Zealand's history. The unique nature of his role at that time makes him more accountable for the decisions taken than any other senior public servant would normally be. A key element of Ardern's, Hipkins' and Bloomfield's success during the pandemic was that they all displayed a consistent level of confidence that they were making the right decisions in the best interests of all New Zealanders. That portrayal of confidence played a key role in getting New Zealanders onside and generally complying with the various measures put in place, despite the considerable disruption to their own lives and circumstances. Given that level of unprecedented upheaval and restriction on personal freedom – greater even than wartime – which people went along with because they believed it was for the greater good, it is now far from unreasonable for New Zealanders to expect Ardern, Hipkins and Bloomfield to appear before the Royal Commission to explain their actions in a way that they would not and could not do at the time. Only then will the Royal Commission be sufficiently informed to report on 'lessons to be learned from what happened.'
1News
24-06-2025
- Business
- 1News
Nicola Willis rules out fuel subsidies as global oil price surge
Nicola Willis has ruled out fuel subsidies for New Zealanders as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East hikes up global oil prices. The Finance Minister is keeping a close eye on the price of a barrel of oil and said the latest situation update she had from Treasury was that a $10 sustained increase in price "translates to 10 cents more at the pump for a Kiwi petrol user". "What we saw last week was that oil prices went up about $10, but you're still seeing fluctuation today." When asked whether she would consider subsidies to ease the burden on petrol users if prices were to increase substantially, Willis definitively ruled it out, saying "the evidence internationally is that they're very difficult to sustain". "I watched the pain the last government went through when it attempted something like that. ADVERTISEMENT Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis. (Source: "What we actually need to do is ensure across the board we're doing everything we can to keep inflation low," Willis said. The previous Labour government cut 25 cents a litre off fuel prices in 2022, during the heat of the cost-of-living crisis in the aftermath of Russia invading Ukraine. It then extended it to late January 2023, before extending it again at a lower rate to the first of July of that year. Labour leader Chris Hipkins wouldn't be drawn on whether the coalition should be cutting fuel prices, saying that was for the Government to form a view on. "You'll note that we reduced the price of fuel when we were in government because we were faced with a very similar set of circumstances," he said. Asked if he had regrets about the decision given at some point the cut has to be put back on again, Hipkins reflected it hadn't done wonders for Labour's re-election bid. ADVERTISEMENT Labour leader Chris Hipkins. (Source: "Clearly the prices went back on in July and that's about the time our polling went dramatically downwards, but there were other factors at play there," he said. "I'll just say that our record is that we lowered fuel tax when the prices were at their peak." Willis told reporters at Parliament on her way to caucus on Tuesday morning there were two things at play when it came to the impact global oil prices might have on New Zealand. The first was whether the supply chain would be disrupted and "the second issue is whether or not there's responses from oil producing nations in terms of how they release the supply of oil". Hipkins said the global turmoil unfolding was a "pretty nerve-wracking time for the world". "Any time nuclear weapons are mentioned in any context in these kinds of global contexts a shiver goes down the spine, because as I said, we're never going to bomb our way out of the nuclear arms race, and any suggestion we can do is catastrophic for the world." ADVERTISEMENT Having just returned from a week in Denmark and Ireland, Hipkins said "it's fair to say tension is high on that side of the world at the moment, understandably so". Judith Collins. (Source: Getty) 'It's a good place to be out of actually' — Collins Defence Minister Judith Collins said the New Zealand Defence Force Hercules was still en route to the Middle East, having departed Whenuapai airbase at 9am on Monday. Airspace in the region has been restricted, but she said once it opened up the Hercules would be able to "move quickly" to get New Zealanders out. "That's the point of being based there. "The Middle East is a very challenging environment, and I always think with the Middle East, it's a good place to be out of actually." Collins said New Zealanders in the region had been warned for months to "get the hell out of there".
Otago Daily Times
24-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Nicola Willis rules out fuel subsidies as global oil prices surge
By Jo Moir of RNZ Nicola Willis has ruled out fuel subsidies for New Zealanders as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East hikes up global oil prices. The Finance Minister is keeping a close eye on the price of a barrel of oil and said the latest situation update she had from Treasury was that a $10 sustained increase in price "translates to 10 cents more at the pump for a Kiwi petrol user". "What we saw last week was that oil prices went up about $10, but you're still seeing fluctuation today." Could we get a petrol 'double whammy'? Asked whether she would consider subsidies to ease the burden on petrol users if prices were to increase substantially, Willis definitively ruled it out, saying "the evidence internationally is that they're very difficult to sustain". "I watched the pain the last government went through when it attempted something like that. "What we actually need to do is ensure across the board we're doing everything we can to keep inflation low," Willis said. The previous Labour government cut 25 cents a litre off fuel prices in 2022, during the heat of the cost of living crisis in the aftermath of Russia invading Ukraine. It then extended it to late January 2023, before extending it again at a lower rate to the first of July of that year. Labour leader Chris Hipkins wouldn't be drawn on whether the Coalition should be cutting fuel prices, saying that was for the government to form a view on. "You'll note that we reduced the price of fuel when we were in government because we were faced with a very similar set of circumstances," he said. Asked if he had regrets about the decision given at some point the cut has to be put back on again, Hipkins reflected it hadn't done wonders for Labour's re-election bid. "Clearly the prices went back on in July and that's about the time our polling went dramatically downwards, but there were other factors at play there," he said. "I'll just say that our record is that we lowered fuel tax when the prices were at their peak." Willis told reporters at Parliament on her way to caucus on Tuesday morning there were two things at play when it came to the impact global oil prices might have on New Zealand. The first was whether the supply chain would be disrupted and "the second issue is whether or not there's responses from oil producing nations in terms of how they release the supply of oil". Hipkins said the global turmoil unfolding was a "pretty nerve-wracking time for the world". "Any time nuclear weapons are mentioned in any context in these kinds of global contexts a shiver goes down the spine, because as I said, we're never going to bomb our way out of the nuclear arms race, and any suggestion we can do is catastrophic for the world." Having just returned from a week in Denmark and Ireland, Hipkins said "it's fair to say tension is high on that side of the world at the moment, understandably so". 'It's a good place to be out of actually' - Collins Defence Minister Judith Collins said the New Zealand Defence Force Hercules was still en route to the Middle East, having departed Whenuapai airbase at 9am on Monday. Airspace in the region has been restricted, but she said once it opened up the Hercules would be able to "move quickly" to get New Zealanders out. "That's the point of being based there. "The Middle East is a very challenging environment, and I always think with the Middle East, it's a good place to be out of actually." Collins said New Zealanders in the region had been warned for months to "get the hell out of there".
