Category: Politics

Source: National Party – Headline: Jonathan Coleman steps down from politics

National’s Northcote MP Jonathan Coleman has announced today that he is stepping down from politics to take up a new role in the private sector as CEO of Acurity Health Group.

“It’s been a huge privilege to serve as a Member of Parliament for the past 13 years, nine of them as a Cabinet Minister. I have greatly enjoyed my time as a Member of Parliament, and am proud of the work I’ve been involved in, both as a Minister and as the MP for Northcote.

“I especially wish to thank the people of the Northcote electorate for their support over those years.

“I also feel fortunate to have had a long and stimulating career as a Minister and to have worked closely with two great Prime Ministers in Sir John Key and Bill English.

“I was not looking to leave Parliament, but received an unsolicited approach from Acurity. It’s a very exciting opportunity that utilises my skills and draws on my background both outside and inside Parliament.

“It is clear to me that it is the right time to embrace this unique offer as I look to a future beyond politics.

“It’s also a great chance for the National Party to bring strong new talent into the team as the party builds towards the 2020 election in two and a half years.

“I wish to acknowledge and thank Simon Bridges and wish him and my caucus colleagues well on their path back to the Treasury benches,” Dr Coleman says.

Source: National Party – Headline: Tolley to attend Geneva meetings on human rights

National MP Anne Tolley will join a small delegation of MPs to travel to Geneva, Switzerland today to attend the 138th Inter-Parliamentary Union. 

As well as the General Assembly of 178 countries, Mrs Tolley will join Rt Hon David Carter and Labour MP Louisa Wall in attending a number of other side meetings focused on the likes of Democracy and Human Rights, Peace and International Security, as well as meetings of the Committee for Women Parliamentarians, and a Forum for Young Parliamentarians.

As a former senior Cabinet Minister and current Deputy Speaker, Mrs Tolley says she is looking forward to discussions about how to promote women into political and parliamentary roles.

“It is a great privilege to represent the New Zealand Parliament in this international forum to discuss with parliamentary colleagues important issues such as how to maintain peace in conflict-riven countries and how to support long term development.

“I’m also interested in hearing from others on how they engage the private sector in achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, one of which is to reduce poverty by 50% and is of great interest to New Zealand.

“I also look forward to meeting with fellow women parliamentarians to discuss practical ways to ensure their representation in Parliaments across the world continues to grow in number and influence.

“In between attending the IPU forum and a number of side meetings during the Assembly, there’ll be a number of opportunities to discuss the contribution women make to the major issues debated at the Assembly, and also how we support one another to grow the influence of women in our Parliaments.

“New Zealand has an enviable reputation for our participation at these international fora, our practical solutions and our fair-minded actions, and I am honoured to be part of the delegation,” Mrs Tolley says.

Source: National Party – Headline: PM needs to give certainty to women on pay equity

Denise Lee’s member’s bill on pay equity will be debated in Parliament tonight, and she is calling on the Prime Minister to either support it or produce a timeline for her own pay equity legislation.

“This bill is a serious blueprint for closing the gender pay gap by ensuring female-dominated jobs are paid fairly,” Ms Lee says.

“The PM must use this opportunity to make real progress for women or at the very least tell us when they intend to give women the ability to make these claims.

“The hard part has already been done. Years of work and the involvement of numerous stakeholders have gone into this bill, including a Joint Working Group representing both business and unions.

“My bill is ready now. It creates a practical and fair process for employees to follow if they feel they are not being paid what their job is worth. This issue is too important to wait until later this year before another version of it is introduced.

“If advancing pay equity is truly a priority for this Government, they must support this bill to select committee so New Zealanders have the opportunity to submit on it.­­

“I understand the Government intends to oppose it, but we have been given a lifeline as the vote may not happen tonight. I will use the next two weeks to convince the Government to use this bill as a vehicle to progress the issue of pay equity.

“The women of New Zealand deserve assurance that progress will be made on resolving pay equity before the 125th Suffrage Celebrations later this year. Given New Zealand’s history of being a leader of women’s rights, it would be very disappointing if we don’t make progress to show in time for this landmark occasion.”

Source: National Party – Headline: Synthetic cannabis Bill passes first reading

Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown’s Members Bill to toughen up the penalty for suppliers of synthetic drugs has passed its first reading in Parliament today.

“My Psychoactive Substances (Increasing Penalty for Supply and Distribution) Amendment Bill will increase the penalty for suppliers of synthetic drugs from a maximum of two years’ imprisonment to a maximum of eight years,” Mr Brown says.

“Psychoactive substances, like synthetic cannabis, have been wreaking havoc in communities across the country and it’s time we cracked down on those who peddle these dangerous drugs.

“My Bill will amend the Psychoactive Substances Act to bring the penalty for those convicted of supplying illegal psychoactive substances into line with the penalty for those convicted of supplying Class C drugs.

“It aims to not only take these suppliers off the streets, but to deter others from producing and/or supplying these drugs.

“I’ve heard from far too many families who have lost loved ones to synthetic drugs. There were over 20 reported deaths associated with synthetic drugs over the last year – we can’t allow this to continue.

“It’s no surprise the soft-on-crime Labour and Green parties voted my Bill down, but I’m pleased it will be going to Select Committee where we will have the opportunity to hear first-hand from families affected by synthetic cannabis.”

Source: National Party – Headline: Human Rights start at home

Justice Minister Andrew Little should not be lecturing the world in Geneva on human rights when he is breaching them at home, National’s Electoral Law Spokesperson Dr Nick Smith says.

“It is hypocritical of Mr Little to be lecturing the world on human rights and democracy when his first bill as Minister, enabling party leaders to dismiss MPs from Parliament, breaches basic human rights of freedom of speech at home.

“There is no more important place for free speech than in the Parliament. Mr Little’s electoral law change will have a chilling effect on free speech. It breaches the Bill of Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“Twenty legal and political academics, including eight professors from the Universities of Auckland, AUT, Victoria, Canterbury and Otago released a submission opposing the law change and attesting to the breach of the Bill of Rights.

“Mr Little should visit the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) while in Geneva to get an understanding of how badly his proposed law changes would damage New Zealand’s good reputation for democracy and human rights. The IPU has described such laws as a breach of ‘fundamental human rights’ and said that they create ‘political party dictatorships.’

“It would put New Zealand in the company of only a few authoritarian regimes like Pakistan Zimbabwe, and the Central African Republic that have such draconian electoral laws. The Minister in the House today was unable to name a single country that has high standards of democracy and human rights that has such provisions as proposed for New Zealand.

“The Supreme Court in Papua New Guinea in 2010 struck down similar laws, saying they breached the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Bill of Rights. Mr Little needs to explain why laws unacceptable to PNG are acceptable to New Zealand.

“The Government cannot justify this draconian law change on the basis of MMP. Germany has had MMP for over 70 years and has no such provisions, because it would breach their constitution approved by the Allies like New Zealand to prevent a repeat of the atrocities of World War II.

“The Government must abandon this unjust attack on our democracy and the rights of free speech of MPs before it seriously damages New Zealand’s reputation as a free and open democracy.”

Source: National Party – Headline: Mr Parker’s side letters make no real difference

National Party Trade spokesperson Todd McClay says that the Trade Minister should stop pretending he ‘fixed’ the TPP with his side letters and admit that they have no real effect on the agreement.

“The Government hinging its support of the revised TPP on the changes made to the ISDS clauses by five side letters is completely farcical,” Mr McClay says.

“Four of the side letters signed by the Government do not represent countries that have any significant investment into New Zealand and as a result make no material change to the ISDS requirements for New Zealand.

“The combined overseas investment of the four new countries, Malaysia, Vietnam, Peru and Brunei Darussalam total less than half of a per cent of the overall foreign investment to New Zealand.

“Considering that the ISDS clauses were the main issue for Labour and New Zealand First, the fact that they are now using these carve-outs as justification to sign the ‘revised’ agreement is completely ridiculous.

“Further to this, the side letter that was signed with Australia is identical to the side letter that National negotiated. So there is no change at all to the ISDS clauses for Australia.

“Mr Parker should stop acting like the TPP has been ‘fixed’ and come clean to his colleagues and the country on the fact that his changes make no material difference.

“National negotiated a good deal for New Zealand and it remains a good deal. The Government needs to stop playing internal politics with the TPP and they all need to get on board with the agreement.”

Source: National Party – Headline: Public media panel void of Maori representation

The Government has set out to ignore the voices of Maori by ensuring that there is no Maori representation on the panel which will investigate funding allocated to public media, Maori Development spokesperson Nuk Korako says.

“Public media platforms are one of the few avenues Maori have to communicate their views, but the Government’s latest commission – the one that will allocate millions to media organisations – is void of any Maori representation,” Mr Korako says.

“Maori public media platforms including Radio Waatea, Maori Television, and the various regional Maori radio stations rely on public funding, so any decision on the future of Maori public media should include consultation with Maori.

“Are they saying that Maori voices don’t matter? These are the places dedicated to sharing our reo and our stories.

“This panel is extremely important and will essentially decide the future of public media in New Zealand.

“Clearly Labour has been paying lip service to its commitment to Maori. The pre-election rhetoric is not matching up with its actions now in Government.

“So far Maori have seen very little benefit from the Labour MPs who claim they are there to represent Maori. The deliberate snubbing of Maori in these appointments is bitterly disappointing.”

Source: National Party – Headline: Access to Palliative Care Bill in members ballot

Every New Zealander has the right to access a high standard of palliative care and the support services they need, whether it’s in a hospice, hospital, rest home or their own home and wherever they live in the country, Maggie Barry MP for North Shore says.

“My Members Bill lodged yesterday, the Access to Palliative Care Bill, seeks to amend two health and disability acts to ensure that all New Zealanders can access the best possible palliative care as they near the end of their lives,” Ms Barry says.

“We know that there are challenges to providing end of life care to people living in remote or hard to access parts of New Zealand, so this Bill aims to ensure that DHBs provide equity of access to specialist and generalist palliative care across all communities around the country.

“There are too many distressing reports of people struggling to cope with chronic pain. This is why I have drafted this Members Bill, after extensive consultation with palliative care experts and medical practitioners as well as people whose loved ones have experienced pain and distress.

“The Bill requires DHBs to prepare and publish a strategy for providing palliative care which outlines what the expected palliative care needs are for their community and how these expectations will be met and provided by the DHB.

“This includes, but is not limited to, access to pain and symptom management, psychological support for the person and their family as well as information and support regarding the person’s condition and palliative care.

“It also outlines that the Minister must ensure that service standards for the provision of palliative care are in force at all times.

“I have had a long involvement with palliative care going back to the late 1990s following the death of my father and have been a patron of Mary Potter Hospice, Hospice NZ and Alzheimers Wellington.

“I also chaired a working party for the National Health Select Committee into the care of people who are dying. It is in these roles that I formed the view that the answer to compassionate and effective end of life care is guaranteed access to world-class palliative care.”

Attached: Access to Palliative Care Bill