Politics Central

Almost all of our local government representatives have had a public persona before they went forward for the role.

Is that really all it takes? 

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Christopher Luxon had a spree of phone calls with world leaders this week regarding the ongoing U.S. trade war, but Winston Peters says he should have been consulted beforehand. 

Political commentator Peter Dunne says the Prime Minister was completely in his right to make calls without speaking to the Foreign Minister first. 

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The previously announced 60 square metre granny flats that property owners will be able to build without building or resource consent - will now be 70sqm. 

Recent changes to the RMA will also help make it easier for these flats to be built as well as more affordable. 

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On the Republican Party's 'Liberation Day', President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs internationally. 

New Zealand was caught in the crossfire with a 10% tariff, but we got off easy compared to other countries. But how is it impacting our global relationships? 

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Greens MP Tamatha Paul has come under fire this week after comments about beat patrol police. 

She said a lot of people feel less safe with the increase in police on the beat, and claimed that these officers had even been throwing away the belongings of homeless people. 

Paul was also in a discussion about what steps could be taken to achieve "radical police abolition", and alternatives to the police. 

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The Government wants to make it easier for a third major supermarket to come in and break up the duopoly. 

Nicola Willis announced today that she has issued a Request for Information, asking supermarkets what changes are needed to help them compete with the big two. 

These include local supermarkets upping the ante enough to compete, or overseas companies launching in New Zealand. 

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Winston Peters gave his State of the Nation speech this afternoon, featuring a significant group of protesters. 

He called for the re-evaluation of New Zealand's Paris Climate commitments, and a local focus rather than international. 

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The ACT Party is call for more powers for Kāinga Ora to terminate tenancies. 

It was triggered by a recent ruling by the Tenancy Tribunal, where a tenant with 25 complaints, 6 warnings and police call outs, and even an alleged shooting, will not have their tenancy terminated. 

There was an overhaul just last year which made it easier for Kāinga Ora to evict tenants, but ACT says more is needed. 

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Trade Minister Todd McClay has met with his United States counterpart, Jamieson Greer, to discuss the trade relationship between New Zealand and the U.S. 

In the 45 minute meeting, McClay stressed the importance of an open market between the countries, and Greer agreed to continue dialogue throughout the changing trade policies. 

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The Government has done it's best to impress investors over the Investment Summit - and economists are hopeful it has worked. 

Multiple projects have already been proposed, and Italian tunnelling company Ghella, who had been planning to leave New Zealand due to lack of work, have confirmed it will keep workers and machinery here after hearing the outlined infrastructure pipeline. 

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