Election 2023

In today’s Election Fix, Chief Political Reporter Aaron Dahmen breaks down National Leader Christopher Luxon’s visit to Ohariu. Newstalk ZB’s Political Editor Jason Walls takes a look ahead to tomorrow’s Pre Election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU). Plus, all your Election 2023 headlines. Election Fix is your daily wrap of the Election 2023 campaign, talking to our reporters in the field plus t...

What a wild and woolly weekend on the hustings. Christopher Luxon turns up on Q&A to talk about National's policies. First up, he promises to close Rotorua's emergency housing motels and kick any troublesome Kainga Ora social housing tenants out. Obviously, this is great news for law abiding Rotorua residents and New Zealanders suffering from the neighbours from hell. But he forgot that people...

For an outfit that doesn’t like red tape, the National Party seems to be having some sort of brain explosion.   Because it doesn't just want EV owners to pay road user charges - which I don’t think anyone would disagree with - it also wants to go the whole hog and get rid of fuel taxes completely and make everyone pay road user charges.   So, at the moment, if you drive a petrol vehicle, you pay y...

We've also got an election coming up in five weeks, haven't we? So it was another weekend and another presentation of party policies coming thick and fast, wasn't it?   Health targets from National, the scrapping of building consents from ACT, our ocean policy from the Greens, disagreements between National and ACT and Labour when it comes to the impending shake-up of our scientific research secto...

The only thing National did wrong on Friday was release its literacy policy.   Friday is not a good day for news cut-through.   To a degree, they were at a disadvantage, as was every other party considering Labour released some heating ideas for houses.   If you release it Friday many will miss it. But if you don't release anything you can be accused of a missed opportunity.   But the literacy pol...

An opinion New Zealand needs to lift its game in addressing its critical housing shortage.   Act wants builders to be able to use insurance companies as an alternative authority for consenting - cutting local council out of the process.   Leader David Seymour says he tried to help a man get a new type of Gib plasterboard approved by Auckland Council at the height of the Gib crisis.   He told Mike...

A view ACT's new housing policy sounds good in theory - but is a step too far in reality.    The party's unveiled its housing policy - which would see builders able to use insurance companies as an alternative authority for consenting - to speed up the process.   It aims to cut local councils out of the consenting process.   Property commentator Ashley Church told Kate Hawkesby he believes in gett...

Questions around the National Party's plan for Road User Charges.   It's looking to extend road user charges to all vehicles if elected, including electric vehicles.    Motor Industry Association chief executive Aimee Wiley says it's not clear exactly how it will be rolled out.   She told Mike Hosking there are clear benefits to a fuel tax which aren't present with this new model.   “It’s a compli...

National's Health spokesperson Shane Reti says he's hopeful of fixing the health portfolio.   The party's pledging to bring back targets if elected – focusing on shorter ED stays, faster cancer treatment and child immunisation rates.   It also wants shorter wait times for first specialist assessments and surgery.   Reti told Mike Hosking he's committed to getting the system to a point where it's o...

An end may just be in sight for Rotorua's emergency housing.   If elected, the National Party are promising to scrap Rotorua's emergency hotels within 2 years.   They also want to reform Kainga Ora, giving the organisation more power to evict unruly tenants.   Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell joined Mike Hosking.   LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National's being accused of missing the point with its target for emergency departments.   The party's pledging to bring back health targets if elected, including 95 percent of ED patients to be admitted, discharged or transferred within six hours.   Northcare Accident and Medical's Peter Boot told Kate Hawkesby they should be thinking about primary care, which is falling over because doctors are...

National has announced it plans to bring back health targets, if the party gets into power come October. Leader Chris Luxon confirmed the party would bring back targets - including for emergency departments, with 95 percent of patients to be admitted, discharged or transferred within six hours. There are also new targets to quash wait times for specialist assessment and surgery, but no percentage...

The ACT Party think they have a solution to the problem to the New Zealand housing crisis, Resource Management and housing consenting. ACT's Todd Stephenson joins the Weekend Collective to tell us how they're going to do it. Plus, The National Party  have set out their 5 targets for improving the New Zealand health sector. Dr Shane Reti explains what these are, and how they're going to reform. LIS...

This week on the Sunday Panel,NZ Herald senior writer Simon Wilson and Newstalk ZB Wellington Mornings host Nick Mills joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! The National Party says if elected, it will aim to end emergency housing motels within two years. It will do it through building more social housing and implementing tighter eligibility criteria so people h...

It's a big week in the world of politics, as Treasury is set to publish the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU) on Tuesday. All documents will be published on the Treasury's website shortly after 1.00pm on the day. ZB Chief Political Reporter Aaron Dahmen says this information will provide an indication of how much cash the Government has on hand ahead of the election- which will likel...

National's Chris Bishop vows the use of emergency social housing motels in Rotorua will come to an end. The party will do so through building more social housing and implementing tighter eligibility criteria so people have to use grants in areas they are already living. Chris Bishop says emergency housing in Rotorua has become a 'massive' permanent institution, with the Government pumping millions...

So the first week of campaigning is underway, and I’m already exhausted by the scale of scheduled events, appearances and the very bright pink ACT bus I encountered on Friday. And I’m mostly just watching it unfold from the comfort of my computer.   How good is it to see the politicians on the road, selling their wares and finally giving us their vision for New Zealand through their policy announc...

National's released more of its education policy today. If it wins the election, it will require primary schools to teach every single child how to reach using structured literacy. It's basically a return to phonics, instead of the whole language approach used for the last 50 years. Education spokesperson Erica Stanford joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for...

Parliament has officially wound up today. New Zealand Herald Extraordinary Phillip O'Shea headed procedures earlier today, despite Parliament officially closing last week. A new Taxpayers Union-Curia poll has spelled turmoil for the Labour Party. It's put the party at 27 percent - no change from last month - but well behind National at 35 percent. But Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says his election...

If you are a parent or a grandparent worried about whether our schooling will teach your child to read properly – you need to listen to this. Good education announcement from National today. I have been waiting for anyone to announce this for a couple of years now. So I'm pleased someone’s finally done it. If the Nats win the election, they will require all primary schools to teach little ones to...

Newstalk ZB Political Editor Jason Walls and Wellington City Councillor Nicola Young join Nick Mills on Friday Faceoff. Together they critique the first week of the 2023 election campaigns, whether it's possible for National to get construction going on a second Mount Victoria tunnel, Foodstuffs taking the city council to court over the Thorndon Cycleway and plans to build a charity hospital on Ad...

Labour's self aggrandising press release on police came through late in the show yesterday, so we didn't really get a chance to get our teeth into it.   The press release came from Chris Hipkins, well his office. A Labour Government will deliver a further increase of 300 additional frontline police officers, new ways to crack down on gangs, and strengthen legal protections against stalking and har...

Here’s what Chris Hipkins should have said when he made the big announcement yesterday that, if Labour gets to form the next government, it will deliver 300 extra police officers and they’ll have a look at legislation to crack-down on gang convoys. What he should have said, is: “If you vote for us, we will finally give you what you assumed we were going to give you, until you realised at the last...

So week one of the campaign, well I call it week one because the two major parties had their launches. Of course, they've been campaigning for months, unless you are Chris Hipkins who upon receiving a poll a week or so back claimed he hadn't campaigned at all, until Megan Woods on this show busted him. He showed ironically that same trait this week when he started defending Willie Jackson, who bla...

The National Party is promising to build a new “Great Walk” as part of its new tourism policy.   It's planed an $14m upgrade the 80km Waiau-Toa/Molesworth walking track in Canterbury, creating the 11 th Great Walk.   Hurunui Mayor Marie Black told Tim Dower that having a track of this distinction in their district would be a significant boost for the local and regional economies.   She said that t...