Politics Central

The new Government has poured cold water on the proposed Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme.

The hydro-lake development was proposed by the previous Government, as a backup renewable energy reservoir.

Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced they're pulling the plug on the project, because it was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending.

"We actually think the market can deliver this, rather than the Government having to step in and do it themselves with taxpayers' money."

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Prime Minister Chris Luxon has outlined the first moves the newly-formed Government plans to take.

Under the 49-day action plan, Fair Pay Agreements, Three Waters, the Auckland Regional Fuel Tax, and smokefree legislation are all set to be scrapped.

Political commentator Peter Dunne says Winston Peters' controversial comments have left an impact on Luxon's first week in power- and discredit him as a no-nonsense leader.

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The new Government confirmed its plan for its first 100 days, which includes enacting 49 key changes including the scrapping of the Fair Pay Agreement legislation, Three Waters, and the latest smoke-free laws. Peter Dunne joins the Weekend Collective to give his take.

Later, The Minister for Energy and Transport Simeon Brown explains why the Government has chosen to scrap the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme.

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This week on Politics Central, Nicola Willis joins the show to explain why she has the political chops to be our new Finance Minister- and how her English Literature degree plays into that.

Later, ACT Leader and incoming Minister for Regulation David Seymour explains what his new roles entail- and why so many public sector jobs need to be slashed.

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The incoming Minister for Regulation is promising to make real change.

ACT Leader David Seymour picked up the role during coalition negotiations alongside Associate Health and Education ministerial roles.

Seymour says there's a 'disease of over-regulation' plaguing New Zealand.

"We'll change the way Government regulates, delete a lot of bad regulation and start getting people spending more time producing and less time complying."

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Nicola Willis says her new Social Investment Minister role will be about spending earlier to prevent future harm.

Willis will hold that role alongside Finance, and Associate Climate Change.

She says the Government has real power to intervene early, to prevent dysfunction which has negative consequences for the child.

"To stop that child from ending up ram raiding, to stop that child ending up as a statistic on an unemployment benefit."

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Experts believe Prime Minister-elect Chris Luxon should've been at the APEC Summit in San Francisco.

Days of meetings involving ministers and world leaders were ultimately dominated by a meeting between US president, Joe Biden, and China’s Xi Jinping.

Caretaker trade minister Damien O'Connor represented New Zealand at the event, due to a Government not yet being formed.

Former intelligence and defence policy analyst Doctor Paul Buchanan, says if not Mr Luxon, it should've been Chris Hipkins heading along.

"It was a pity Luxon didn't go, because he had the opportunity to represent continuity in our trade perspective."

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Government forming talks will continue this week, as Chris Luxon's been unable to reach a consensus on a number of key issues this weekend.

The incoming Prime Minister met with Winston Peters this afternoon, and has spoken with David Seymour over the phone.

Despite insisting good progress is being made, Luxon says there are three final issues proving to be the sticking points.

ZB political editor Jason Walls says National's proposed foreign buyers tax will likely be a sticking point that NZ First won't budge on.

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This week on Politics Central, Jason Walls recapped the ongoing coalition negotiations and shared his predictions for who will be assigned those top ministerial positions. 

Later, Dr Paul Buchanan joins the Weekend Collective to share his insight into the importance of APEC and what we can expect from Biden's meeting with Xi.

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An international law professor is weighing in on claims Hamas is using schools and hospitals to fire against Israel.

Sydney University's professor Ben Saul says Hamas is obligated not to locate military amongst civilians, which is difficult as most of Gaza is an urban area.

Professor Saul says regardless of where Hamas is firing from, it doesn't absolve Israel of its obligation to take sufficient care to spare civilian casualties.

"And I think that's where a lot of the criticism is coming from with world leaders at the moment. From the US to France, to Australia and others- Israel just hasn't been careful enough in its targeting decisions." 

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