Politics Central

New Zealand's newest political party, Sustainable NZ, has launched today with a promise of increasing Conservation funding by $1 billion over four years in a bid to halt the extinction of native species.
Leader Vernon Tava said the funding could come from New Zealand First's $3 billion provincial growth fund.
And he has endorsed the use of gene technology to help reduce predators.He described the party as a "full-time environment party".
"Until now, if you had wanted to vote for the environment, you have had to support a party that has been a clearing-house for New Zealand's left-of-Labour activist movements, often putting social justice ahead of protecting the environment."
Tava is a former Green Party member and unsuccessfully stood as male leader in 2015 against James Shaw, arguing at the time that the party should be able to partner Labour or National in Government, against its traditional position of ruling out National.
At the launch in Wellington day, Tava said his party would put the environment first.
"A true sustainability-based party can work with either of the major parties to get the best deal for the environment. We are that party."
He said the party would work with rather than against farmers and industry.The party was pro-progress, pro-technology and pro-science.
"A clean, green prosperous New Zealand could be a world leader in clean-tech innovation.
"We are at a fortunate juncture in history where clean-tech is driving the next wave of economic activity by eliminating wasteful and harmful byproducts, delivering more with less."
Tava said party policy would be informed by science and her had already criticised Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage curbing research on gene technology.
"The latest techniques can be likened to accelerated selective breeding. They show huge promise in the control of introduced predators and in reducing livestock emissions."
He said gene technology was still in its infancy "yet these powerful tools are denied us based on an ideological position formed in the 1970s, before current technologies were developed.
He also expressed concern about the widespread planting of pine trees under the Government's one billion trees policy.Tava paid tribute to former party secretary, former head of the Fire Service Mike Hall, who was killed in a plane crash in the Tararua ranges last month.
He announced the party's principles and conservation policy including a target for conservation spending to comprise one per cent of Government spending by 2025.
Principles• Enhance and restore healthy ecosystems.

Protect our native plant and animal species from habitat loss and degradation.
Aim to make 2050 Predator Free.
Partner with communities and businesses to build a team of 4.7 million New Zealanders working together to protect the natural environment.
Wage war on weeds and wilding conifers.
Apply the best science and modern technology to advance conservation.
Support improved on the ground farm management to protect ecosystems.
Extend the national network of marine protected areas.

Conservation Policy

Provide $1 billion conservation funding boost over four years to restore and enhance our ecosystems:
Extend the significant natural areas under active pest management from under 50per cent to 75 per cent plus of New Zealand's significant natural ecosystems.
Double core funding for Predator Free 2050 to $19 million a year.
Increase Department of Conservation (DOC) funding to maintain, restore and protect ecosystems, habitats and species by 10 per cent or $26.374 million a year.
Protect areas of high ecological value through purchase or covenant by doubling the Nature Heritage Fund to $12.194 million a year.
Double the funding for the protection and management of Historic Heritage to $11.62 million a year.
Increase funding of DOC's...

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Jami-Lee Ross is not ready to give up his electorate just yet.
The Independent MP will next year face off against his former party, National, in the general elections. 
Ross quit National last year after a public falling out with leader Simon Bridges and a battle with mental health. 
He told The Weekend Collective that he admits the end of last year was "a bit rough", but he is still confident of his abilities.
"As a MP who sits in between the two parties now, it means I get a lot more done now." 

Christopher Luxon addresses the National Party candidate selection meeting for the Botany electorate. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Ross says that he is already door-knocking and is out there every day talking to people, and an independent MP has a better chance at advocating for their party. 
He says that people can vote for National as their party vote, but they can still pick him as their MP.

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As the country prepares for two potential referendums next year, there are concerns about misinformation clouding the debates.
The Minister of Justice has plans in place to combat misinformation and manipulation in any campaigns leading up to, potentially, two divisive referendums at next year's election.
That includes a special team within the Ministry of Justice to direct people to information aimed to be as accurate and neutral as possible, and to be on the look-out for any attempts to deliberately mislead the public.
It's the first time core public servants have taken on this role, and they'll have to walk a tightrope between providing credible public information and getting drawn into any partisan debates.
Voters will not only have to choose the government come 2020, but will also have their say on legalising recreational cannabis, and potentially, voluntary euthanasia.
However, the man behind the euthanasia bill, David Seymour, does not think that such a team is necessary. He told The Weekend Collective that he thinks New Zealanders are well-equipped to work out "b-s".
"Their going to be competing with so many sources of information trying to get attention, I'm sceptical as to how effective it can be." 
He says that people are already sceptical of information coming from the Government, and it may have the reverse effect of sending them to other sources.
Seymour says that he is happy to have a debate about his End of Life Choice Bill based on real information. 
"Wisdom of crowds will win out, and we will actually be able to pass the referendum." 
- with content from RNZ

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Black and white, they sat together on the edge of the dusty township street where Nelson Mandela once lived and watched their Springboks win the Rugby World Cup again.
The late Mandela would surely have liked what he saw — both the picture of unity among the South Africans watching the game on TV near his old house on Vilakazi Street in Soweto, and the Springboks' victory in the World Cup final half the world away in Yokohama, Japan.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mandela's friend, fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner, and at one time his neighbor on that famous road, certainly did.
"We are incredibly proud to be South Africans," Tutu and his wife, Leah, said in a public message to the victorious South Africa team. "You have achieved much more than winning a Rugby World Cup; you have restored a self-doubting nation's belief."
Just like in 1995, when South Africa won its first Rugby World Cup, the Springboks came to their beleaguered country's aid on Saturday when it needed a little inspiration.
Unlike '95, this wasn't at home and in front of Mandela, South Africa's beloved anti-apartheid leader and first democratically elected president who died in 2013. This one wasn't just a year after the apartheid system of racial segregation was officially dismantled. It didn't help hold together a country on a knife edge after decades of race-fueled violence. Many think no Springboks team will ever live up to the one of '95, whose against-the-odds victory in the first Rugby World Cup South Africa was allowed to play in remains one of sport's most enduring moments.
Captain Siya Kolisi's team came close in Japan, though.

🗣 “I have never seen South Africa like this. We were playing for the people back home. We can achieve anything if we work together as one.”Hear from @Springboks’s Siya Kolisi on what is not just a #RWCFinal win - It’s more than that 👏👏#RWC2019 #ENGvRSA #WebbEllisCup pic.twitter.com/qgfv0STIlr
— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) November 2, 2019
The 2019 Springboks fought back from a loss to defending champion New Zealand in their first game at this World Cup to beat England 32-12 in the final, becoming the first team to win the title after losing a game in the tournament. Triumph out of adversity.
That was one of the chords that struck back home, where South Africa is still gripped by desperate poverty and inequality.
Where violent crime statistics are appallingly high.
Where racial tensions still simmer.
Where the economic outlook is gloomy.
And where revelations of a corruption scandal involving former president Jacob Zuma, one of Mandela's successors, has left South Africans angry and dispirited.
Suddenly, (hashtag)Imstaying appeared from South Africans on Twitter, a reference to renewed positivity in a country that has seen many leave for Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, or anywhere that offers something better.
South Africans were undoubtedly united for a day while watching the Springboks, the crowds diverse in the black township of Soweto but also in the formerly white sports clubs of suburban Johannesburg. They waved the country's multicolored flag. They sang and danced and drank beer in the summer sunshine. Strangers hugged and kissed spontaneously.
Yet only the most eternal of optimists will believe a rugby game can solve South Africa's significant social problems. On Twitter there was also (hashtag)UntilMonday from some. As in, come Monday the same old problems will still be there.
After all, even the magic of Mandela and '95 wore off in some ways. Nearly a quarter of a century after Mandela wore a Springboks jersey to that World Cup final in Johannesburg, and South Africa won in fairytale fashion, his country still battles many of the same issues.
If its rugby team is a microcosm of South Africa, then South Africans should take heart because the Springboks have solved their problems.
The team Mandela cheered...

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There are set to be fireworks this week, not just in the night sky, but the court room.
More than two years after it was revealed he'd been overpaid superannuation, lawyers for Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters say they're set to explain how the error happened.
Peters will tomorrow take the stand to give evidence in a privacy lawsuit he's bringing against former National Government ministers Anne Tolley and Paula Bennett, the Ministry of Social Development, the chief of the public sector watchdog, and a top civil servant.
Since 2017, the New Zealand First leader's argued he was the victim of dirty politics when media were told he'd paid back seven years of superannuation overpayments.
National has consistently denied being behind the leaks, as has the Public Service.
Otago University electoral law expert Professor Andrew Geddis told the Weekend Collective there's no doubt Peter's annoyed.
"Basically he's going after everyone he could possible do in the hope he will finally get someone."
He says that there may be some public good out of the legal action. 
"Why it might actually matter is that the Government holds a huge information. If that information can be fed on to ministers and used whenever ministers find it politically useful to do so, that's a little bit worrying."
Over the next three weeks, politicians, officials and journalists will front the High Court to figure out whether Peters was wronged - and if so by whom.

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Former Labour Party president Mike Williams disputes suggestions the party is in trouble.
The Coalition Government has celebrated two years in power this week, but growing concerns over the deliverability of certain proposals, and dropping poll numbers, has raised doubts about their re-election hopes. 
However, Williams told The Weekend Collective that they have every reason to feel positive. 
"I don't think there's any difficulty at all. I think they face a positive election year. They've got a lot of achievements to talk about, particularly in redistributing income to poorer people." 
He defended Labour's inability to get some policies through as they are having to clear up nine years of neglect from when the National Government was in power. 
Williams says that polls he has seen show Labour significantly higher than National. 
However, he admits that KiwiBuild is likely to be Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's main regret.
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National's spokesperson for economic development says the Government should be pleased to still be in power - and that's it. 
The Labour-NZ First-Greens coalition celebrated two years in power this week. 
However, National's Todd McClay says that the coalition has failed to deliver on many of their promises, and that New Zealanders are starting to notice.
He told the Weekend Collective that the number of working groups over the last two years shows that the Government was not prepared.
"I don't think they, Labour, did the work before they got into government."
McClay says that the "three-headed hydra" of the coalition means that New Zealanders aren't getting what they deserve.
He says that he is not sure if National would have been able to handle NZ First better if they had entered into a coalition with them, but that Labour "chucked the kitchen sink" at them and didn't say no. 
McClay dismissed the Government's surplus, and feels they are sitting on too much money. 
"I think we're paying too much tax. If the Government doesn't need that much money, then actually they shouldn't just take it off Kiwis."
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Former Prime Minister John Key met with China's President Xi Jinping this week, where the Chinese leader reportedly spoke highly of Key's contribution to the New Zealand/China relationship.
The pair met in the Chinese capital of Beijing on Wednesday where, according to media site Xinhuanet, Xi noted the situation in the world had undergone profound and complicated changes.
Xi said China had become even more willing to co-operate with other countries, given this change.
China sticks to the path of peaceful development, Xi is reported as saying, adding that China's door will be open even wider to the world.
The purpose of the meeting is still unknown. The National Party knew it was happening, but Simon Bridges and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not.
International relations expert Stephen Hoadley told The Weekend Collective that protocol would have been to let the embassy know it was happening. 
He thinks that this may be a way of the Chinese government trying to get New Zealand on board with the Belt and Road Project. 
"I think Xi Jinping is reaching out to the National Party through John Key as he sees this as the more sympathetic party." 
Hoadley says that Labour will say that they are in close touch with their Chinese counterparts, and likely won't mind what John Key has done. 
This meeting comes as China faces pressure as it ramps up efforts to crackdown on protesters in Hong Kong.
Last week, China's foreign ministry threatened unspecific "strong countermeasures" if the US Congress enacted legislation which would support the protesters in Hong Kong.
Despite this, Chinese media reported that Xi said China welcomed all countries and their companies to "grasp the opportunity provided by China's development to better realise mutual benefit".
Xi reportedly spoke highly of Key's contribution to the China-New Zealand relations in his capacity as Prime Minister and said he hoped Key could continue to enhance the friendships between the two countries.
Key congratulated China on its 70th anniversary and said he would continue to play an active role in promoting the "understanding and cooperation" of the two countries, according to Xinhuanet.
When Key was Prime Minister, he made regular trips to China and often spoke highly of the two countries' relationship.
In 2018, two years after he resigned as Prime Minister, Key said: "Xi Jinping's going to go down in history as a good leader of China."

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A former Mediaworks news anchor says you should never rule out the underdog.
About 520 current staff are facing an uncertain future, with Mediaworks putting its TV arm and Auckland headquarters up for sale.
There are no obvious buyers, nor Government intervention, in sight.
Former newsreader for 3 News Neil Waka told the Weekend Collective the network was always close to folding, right from the start.
He'd love to see it in local hands.
"There should be, could be, an opportunity for people in New Zealand to buy it. Why not put New Zealand interests at the forefront instead of having a lot of overseas people, who have run it before."

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New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has lashed out at the National Party in a speech signalling his party's direction for the election.
But he's stopped short of saying he wouldn't do a deal with the current Opposition.
In a lengthy closing his party's annual conference on Sunday, Peters mentioned National about 15 times, roughly the same number he mentioned his own party.
He came into the room to billowing inspirational music, the party's members asked to stand as he walked to the stage.
While the speech was thin on policy, Peters spent most of his speech on National and its MPs, including Paula Bennett, Simon Bridges and John Key.
"We are seeing a desperate opposition perverse new grounds and issues of dirty politics. We see in New Zealand, for the first time, a descent into fake news." 
Peters said that: "Unless they change, and we hope they do, a future National facing economic headwinds will embark on austerity policies, condemning New Zealand to more social fall out."
"We hope they change but the fact is New Zealand First, right now, as a party of the centre, is the National Party, when it had a capital N".
But Peters insisted his party was not picking sides for next year's election.
"New Zealand First will talk to any party that shares our vision for growing the country's wealth," he said.

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