Politics Central

The “Make it 16” campaign has launched and been brought to parliament.
Supporters of the campaign want to lower the voting age in New Zealand from 18 to 16.
To explain more, political scientist Sandra Gray talks to the Weekend Collective.
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Winston Peters has described Spark Sport’s Rugby World Cup service as a “disaster”, following widespread issues with last night’s coverage of the All Black’s victory over the Springboks.
The acting Prime Minister watched the game on his phone and said he could “understand what the people are talking about”.
He talks to the Weekend Collective about Spark Sport and whether the Rugby World Cup should be offered free-to-air for all New Zealanders.
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Medical centres nationwide have been given $6 million to provide mental health services.
The Government's allocating the hundreds of millions of dollars it set aside in the Budget for mental health initiatives.
About $30 million has been set aside for the first round of pitches from providers who want to offer free mental health services from 2020.
Jacinda Ardern says the services are for the number of New Zealanders who aren’t getting the help they need.
"$455 million was put aside so that we could roll out primary mental health care services throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, and we're starting today."Changing Minds CEO Taimi Allen told the Weekend Collective it's an enormous deal.
"We're actually be able to collaborate together to create new frontline services with a new model of care which means people will get immediate support, they won't be waiting for long referrals."
Allen says it will allow far more choice to be offered.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Embattled British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered a new blow Saturday when a Cabinet minister resigned, saying she did not believe Johnson was sincere about getting a Brexit deal with the European Union.
Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd said in a letter to the prime minister that she was resigning because "I no longer believe leaving with a deal is the government's main objective."
Rudd also slammed Johnson's expulsion of Conservative lawmakers who oppose his Brexit plans, calling it "an assault on decency and democracy."
This week Johnson kicked 21 lawmakers out of the Conservative group in Parliament after they sided with the opposition to pass a law designed to prevent Britain from leaving the European Union next month without a divorce deal.
Those expelled included the longest-serving Conservative in Parliament, Ken Clarke, and Nicholas Soames, grandson of World War II Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
"This short-sighted culling of my colleagues has stripped the party of broad-minded and dedicated Conservative MPs. I cannot support this act of political vandalism," wrote Rudd, who said she is also quitting the Conservative group and will sit as an independent.
Johnson says Britain must leave the EU as scheduled Oct. 31 even if there is no divorce agreement with the bloc. But his plan is meeting fierce resistance, including from some members of his own party.
This week the prime minister's younger brother, Jo Johnson, also quit the government over Brexit, saying he had been "torn between family loyalty and the national interest."
Johnson is seeking a snap election on Oct. 15 as a way to break the deadlock over Brexit, but lawmakers last week rejected his call for an early poll.
He is due to try again Monday, but opposition parties say they will veto that attempt, too. They want to postpone an election until Britain has secured a delay to the Oct. 31 Brexit deadline, removing the risk the U.K. could crash out without a deal.
Last night, Britain's House of Lords has approved a bill designed to prevent the country leaving the European Union next month without a divorce agreement.
Parliament's unelected upper chamber voted Friday for the bill, which has already been passed by the elected House of Commons.
It will become law within days once it gets the formality of royal assent.
The law, backed by opposition lawmakers and Conservative rebels, compels Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ask the EU to postpone Brexit if no divorce agreement is in place by Oct. 19.
Johnson says the U.K. must leave the bloc on the currently scheduled date of Oct. 31, even if there is no deal.
Most economists say a no-deal Brexit would severely disrupt trade with the EU and plunge the U.K. into recession.
Johnson said this week he would rather be "dead in a ditch" than seek a postponement, leaving government and Parliament at odds — with no obvious solution.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to suspend Parliament for part of the run-up to the Oct. 31 Brexit deadline faces mounting legal and political challenges ahead of a weekend of planned street protests.
There are three ongoing court tests to Johnson's plan, which he says is routine but which will shorten the time in which opponents in Parliament could seek to pass legislation blocking a disorderly "no deal" departure from the European Union.
A Scottish judge Friday declined to issue an immediate injunction to block the suspension of Parliament but set up a full hearing Tuesday on the legal bid launched by cross-party legislators determined to keep Parliament in session.
A separate case in London has also received the heavyweight backing of former Prime Minister John Major — a fellow Conservative from Johnson's party — and from Tom Watson, the deputy leader of the opposition Labour Party.
Major hopes to formally join the case started by activist Gina Miller so he can argue that Johnson has exceeded his authority by asking Queen Elizabeth II to shutter Parliament for several weeks during the crucial period before the Brexit deadline.
"If granted permission to intervene, I intend to seek to assist the court from the perspective of having served in government as a minister and prime minister, and also in Parliament for many years as a member of the House of Commons," he said.
A case is being heard in Northern Ireland, as well.
The various courts are being asked to intervene in what is seen by Johnson's opponents as a power grab that undercuts the sovereignty of Parliament.
It is too early to gauge the possible impact of street protests planned for Saturday in London and other major British cities. Activists hope a massive turnout could influence vacillating members of Parliament when it reconvenes on Tuesday after a summer recess.
Organizers say more than 30 protests have been planned in cities throughout the United Kingdom.
Opponents of a possible "no deal" Brexit will have to hustle to craft a bill in the constrained time period. Success may depend on whether a significant number of legislators from Johnson's Conservative Party are willing to join forces with Labour and other parties to frustrate the prime minister's oft-stated goal of taking Britain out of the EU on Oct. 31 regardless of whether a deal is in place.
Shami Chakrabarti, a senior adviser to the Labour Party on justice issues, told BBC radio that she is hopeful there is enough opposition in Parliament to block Johnson from carrying out a "no deal" departure.
"If they try any more of this stuff we will use any means necessary to prevent this undemocratic behavior — that includes people taking to the streets, that includes people taking to the airwaves, that includes people going to court."
In Scotland, Judge Raymond Doherty turned down a bid for an immediate intervention but said a "substantive" hearing Tuesday would allow the case to be heard in a timely fashion. He did agree to move the full hearing from Sept. 6 to Tuesday to speed up the process.
"It's in the interest of justice that it proceeds sooner rather than later," he said.
The case was brought by a cross-party group of roughly 70 legislators seeking to broaden the period for parliamentary debate in a bid to prevent a disorderly departure by Britain from the European Union.
The legislators backing the legal bid want Johnson to submit a sworn affidavit explaining his reasons for suspending Parliament. It is not clear if such a statement will be required.
The defiant prime minister warned Friday that opposition to his plans is weakening Britain's negotiating position by giving EU leaders the impression that Parliament may step in to block Brexit.
"I'm afraid that the more our friends and partners think, at the back of their mind, that Brexit could be stopped, that the U.K. could be kept in by...

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Health Minister is paying tribute to the couple who led the massive outcry over inequalities in cancer care.
The Government has today announced it's setting up an independent national cancer agency.
Health Minister David Clark says the Cancer Control Agency will be fully established by December. It will have its own CEO,  but will be housed within the Ministry of Health.
The cancer action plan also includes a $60 million dollar Pharmac boost, with $20 million for this year.
The agency will be tasked with ensuring an end to so-called 'postcode lottery' care.
Clark told the Weekend Collective it will ensure the same standards of care apply across New Zealand.
"We don't think it's acceptable in some areas get better treatment than others. We think everyone should be able to access that same high level of care." 
He recognised Blair and Melissa Vining, the couple who led a massive petition for change, calling them wonderful people.
He says he's been moved by their plight.
"They drew attention to the fact that there is different standards of care around the country. That's something we've inherited as a government. It's not worth dwelling on how it came to be that way, but suffice to say, as Health Minister, I see it as my responsibility to improve on that situation." 
However, Melissa told Newstalk ZB that the pair are disappointed with the Government's decision to not lower the bowel screening age to 50, the disease which her husband is dying from.
"Not lowering the age to 50, that's really sa.d We've got a really big problem in New Zealand. We're 10 years behind other countries with bowel screening, and we think it's disappointing that there's not more urgency around that."

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A nightmare situation for hundreds of young people whose private details may have been compromised.
Information around 300 young people gave to the Ministry of Culture and Heritage has been exposed because its web security wasn't up to scratch.
It includes passports, birth certificates and drivers' licences, which had been used when those affected had applied to be part of Tuia 250 commemorations, marking 250 years since the Captain Cook landing.
They information was not secure on the initiative's website due to a coding mistake.
Tech commentator Paul Brislen told the Weekend Collective it's a big deal for those impacted.
"These are things that we use to identify ourselves for all kinds of service, so that's why this is such a serious breach."
He says that when an organisation is asking for information, they have to be held responsible for it.
"Clearly, someone wasn't doing that in this case. I'd like to see the outcome of the inquiry into this find just who is being held responsible." 
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is Minister of Culture and Heritage, and admitted disappointment in what had happened. 
"The breach – which happened as a result of an information management issue - means that identity documents, and other personal information, were able to be accessed via the Tuia 250 website," Ardern said.
"This is very disappointing, and Manatū Taonga will be commissioning an external review to determine how this occurred. It is too early for me to comment further."

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government wants to take on the cost of petrol, but may have difficulty doing that. 
The Commerce Commission last week delivered its draft findings into the retail fuel market.
The 424 page report identified several factors affecting competition that are preventing the industry from being as competitive as it should be or could be.
The watchdog says problems include regional differences in retail fuel prices and lack of a wholesale market.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told reporters afterwards that it shows that consumer are being "fleeced", and wants to take action after the final report comes out. 
TVNZ political editor Jessica Mutch-McKay told the Weekend Collective that it could be a vote winner for the Government, but it will be difficult for them to do that. 
LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Donald Trump is threatening to use the emergency authority granted by a powerful but obscure federal law to make good on his tweeted "order" to U.S. businesses to cut ties in China amid a spiraling trade war between the two nations.
China's announcement Friday that it was raising tariffs on $75 billion in U.S. imports sent Trump into a rage and White House aides scrambling for a response.
Trump fired off on Twitter, declaring American companies "are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China." He later clarified that he was threatening to make use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in the trade war, raising questions about the wisdom and propriety of making the 1977 act used to target rogue regimes, terrorists and drug traffickers the newest weapon in the clash between the world's largest economies.
It would mark the latest grasp of authority by Trump, who has claimed widespread powers not sought by his predecessors despite his own past criticism of their use of executive powers.
"For all of the Fake News Reporters that don't have a clue as to what the law is relative to Presidential powers, China, etc., try looking at the Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977," Trump tweeted late Friday. "Case closed!"
The act gives presidents wide berth in regulating international commerce during times of declared national emergencies. Trump threatened to use those powers earlier this year to place tariffs on imports from Mexico in a bid to force the U.S. neighbor to do more to address illegal crossings at their shared border.
It was not immediately clear how Trump could use the act to force American businesses to move their manufacturing out of China and to the U.S, and Trump's threat appeared premature — as he has not declared an emergency with respect to China.
Even without the emergency threat, Trump's retaliatory action Friday — further raising tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S. — had already sparked widespread outrage from the business community.
"It's impossible for businesses to plan for the future in this type of environment," David French, senior vice president for government relations at the National Retail Federation, said in a statement.
The Consumer Technology Association called the escalating tariffs "the worst economic mistake since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 — a decision that catapulted our country into the Great Depression."
And trade association CompTIA stressed the logistical strain that would follow if companies were forced to shift operations out of China, saying it would take months for most companies.
"Any forced immediate action would result in chaos," CEO Todd Thibodeaux said in emailed comments.
The frequent tariff fluctuations are making it hard to plan and are casting uncertainty on some investments, said Peter Bragdon, executive vice president and chief administration officer of Columbia Sportswear.
"There's no way for anyone to plan around chaos and incoherence," he said.
Columbia manufactures in more than 20 countries, including China. This diversification helps shield the company from some fluctuations, but China is an important base for serving Chinese customers as well as those in other countries, Bragdon said. The company plans to continue doing business there.
"We follow the rule of law, not the rule of Twitter," he said.
Presidents have often used the act to impose economic sanctions to further U.S. foreign policy and national security goals. Initially, the targets were foreign states or their governments, but over the years the act has been increasingly used to punish individuals, groups and non-state actors, such as terrorists.
Some of the sanctions have affected U.S. businesses by prohibiting Americans from doing business with those targeted. The act also was used to block new investment in Burma in 1997.
Congress has never attempted to end a...

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're being urged not to be passive bystanders in the upcoming local body elections.
The vote takes place via postal ballot from the 20th of September until the 12th of October.
However, just 38.5 percent of residents in our biggest city had their say in 2016.
Actor, writer and comedian Oscar Kightley is working with Auckland Council, using his profile to encourage people to have their say.
He told the Weekend Collective local bodies impact our every day life, yet so very few people are having their say.
"If you look at how many people care about things on social media, you would think it would be easy to transfer that effort into doing something real."
Kightley had a few suggestions on how more people 
"I think we could lower the age to 16. I think we could invest the millions in looking at doing it online I think we could look at bringing back the ballot box on the day so its not just people posting in their votes."
One report from the week says that there are more councillors in New Zealand named John then there are councillors born after 1980. It also shows that most councillors are male, white and aged between 50-70.
Kightley says that it shows more people from diverse backgrounds need to get out to get representation that matters to them.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.