AM Edition: Top 10 Politics Articles on LiveNews.co.nz for April 29, 2026 – Full Text

Source: Radio New Zealand

Advocates are concerned the government is taking New Zealand down a path to US-style crackdowns on overstayers and asylum seekers.

Submissions on the immigration enhanced risk management amendment bill close on Wednesday.

Government documents show the justice ministry raised concerns that children without residence would have no recourse to the immigration and protection tribunal, leaving them with inadequate ways of challenging deportation.

It noted the potential conflict with convention on the rights of the child, while the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) pointed to the ability to other avenues, such as apply for a visa for those unlawfully in New Zealand.

Currently overstayers or people with convictions could appeal deportation to the immigration and protection tribunal where their success depended on having ‘exceptional’ humanitarian circumstances, which were weighed against any public interest factors.

Under the proposed changes, overstayers whose last visa was as a visitor, or any temporary migrant who commits a crime, would lose that right.

Recent successful appeals against deportation that would miss out on a tribunal hearing under the new regime included a 17-year-old boy adopted as a baby and a 75-year-old man married to a New Zealander. Rejected appeals included a man who indecently assaulted his employee and a man with Fragile X syndrome, deemed to likely impose high demand and costs on health services.

Immigration lawyer Stewart Dalley pointed to the number of successful appeals as a sign of how important the tribunal was in checking deportation decisions.

“[The bill] says, we don’t trust the immigration and protection tribunal to make these decisions. I want to make the decision, but I want to make the decision behind closed doors without anybody being able to effectively challenge me.

“And so you’re going to clog up the minister and you’re also going to clog up the high court with people challenging the decisions of the minister. So I don’t see where there’s any gain in this.”

Expanded powers

The concern about workloads was also raised in the Cabinet paper, but downplayed, with a suggestion the other avenues were either prohibitive or could also be curtailed. “This risk is mitigated to an extent through the scope and cost of judicial review. Risks associated with Ministerial intervention can be minimised through operational changes in how they are considered. MBIE will work with the Ombudsman to understand their scope in this area, as this is ultimately at their discretion.”

It also noted expanded powers for immigration officers to request identity documents could disproportionately affect Pacific nationals, and that sharing of highly sensitive personal information with unnamed government and private agencies could undermine trust.

Another move would mean asylum claimants who withdrew a claim could not later apply for a visa.

“It invokes images of ICE and invokes images of, you know, blaming asylum seekers for the other problems in society,” said Dalley. “You know, the government plans to be laser focused on the economy, but when they can’t fix that, then it’s, well, let’s blame the migrants, let’s blame the asylum seekers. It’s the lowest form of politics that there is.

“The refugee process can take 18 months, two years. People’s lives move on, things happen, you know, they fall in love, they find a good job. There are asylum seekers in New Zealand who are PhD qualified so it’s not unreasonable to think that this person might find a really good job in New Zealand and they say ‘well rather than put myself through the traumatic process of the refugee process I’ve now been offered a really highly skilled position in New Zealand which I’m qualified for so I’m going to apply for that visa and and withdraw my refugee claim’. Well, what’s wrong with that?”

Asylum Seekers Support Trust’s general manager Dawit Arshak agreed and rejected Stanford’s characterisation of New Zealand being a “soft touch”.

“I totally oppose the minister’s way of presenting these matters. In the RSU [Refugee Status Unit], her own team are working hard and they are processing these things seriously and the result would reflect that it’s not a soft touch country.”

The trust said refugees and people seeking asylum had long been used to “sow division and fear to win a few votes”.

“Overwhelmingly the people and families seeking asylum are ordinary people like you or me – teachers, engineers, shopkeepers, students – who never imagined when they packed their bags, fled their homes and crossed a border to seek safety that their lives would unfold this way.

“There are always legitimate policy debates on asylum management and systems, but the answer is not for governments to turn their back on basic human rights or grow a narrative designed to place constraints on our compassion. It is greater help with support to restore mental health, wellbeing and integration for people seeking safety who are living a life of extreme uncertainty.”

Stanford pointed out 14 asylum seekers had committed offences while in New Zealand, and wanted to see them only granted protected status – not residence, which would include access to benefits – if they were deemed to be in danger in their home country.

Sensible Sentencing Trust’s Louise Parsons welcomed changes extending the scope of deporting resident-visa holders who commit crimes, but wanted the government to go further on asylum seekers.

“If they haven’t had refugee status gifted, then they commit a crime, and we’re talking serious crime, they would be given protected person status instead of refugee status, which basically means that it’s too hard to send them back to their country because they’ll be in danger. That kind of makes no sense to me because it’s like, so we’re okay to put our residents in danger, but not them.”

In a written statement, Stanford rejected the idea she was vilifying asylum seekers, and said the law changes would mean that Immigration New Zealand could take convictions for crimes committed in New Zealand into account when making a decision on a refugee claim.

“The changes aim to help address serious criminal offending by a small number of asylum seekers so that they cannot get refugee status. This will help make New Zealand safer for everyone and the vast majority asylum seekers are very clearly not the focus of these changes.

“Currently, there are 14 known refugee claims of people who have been convicted of serious offences in New Zealand – this includes murder, serious sexual and drug offences, and arson. We want to respond to this issue to ensure New Zealand is safe and our immigration system works effectively for the future.”

On whether New Zealand was a soft touch, she said analysis showed that the system was aligned in many ways with other comparable countries. “However there are currently areas where our policy can be improved to make New Zealand safer and improve our processes. The proposals are targeted changes to address clear, specific issues – they are not a wholesale reset of New Zealand’s approach.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Proposed legislation reducing decision-makers obligations to no more than “take into account” Treaty obligations won’t be introduced before August.

Closing submissions took place on Tuesday in the Waitangi Tribunal’s urgent inquiry into the removal of school boards’ legal obligation to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, although the tribunal expanded the scope of the inquiry to include the proposed removal of other Treaty references in the Education and Training Act.

Evidence submitted to the tribunal showed that, on current timeframes, proposed legislation that would require decision-makers to “take into account” Te Tiriti, rather than “give effect” to it would not be introduced to the House before early-August 2026.

Legislation is expected to be introduced before this year’s general election.

The Crown memorandum also identified nine provisions of the Education and Training Act 2020 that were in scope for the proposed Bill.

It follows a review of all legislation, with the exception of Treaty settlements, that includes ‘the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi’ which was part of the coalition agreement between NZ First and National.

The [urgent inquiry, which was brought by Ngāti Hine, Te Kapotai and the country’s largest education union NZEI Te Riu Roa, heard evidence over three days on the removal of school boards’ legal obligations and a planned reset of the national curriculum.

NZEI Te Riu Roa President Ripeka Lessels said the disclosure in the Crown memorandum confirms the government is attempting to erase Te Tiriti from education despite unprecedented opposition from more than 1840 school boards and education sector leaders.

“By removing Te Tiriti obligations from the Act, the government is marginalising ākonga Māori and leaving teachers without the essential framework needed to address longstanding inequities.

“This is a clear breach of Te Tiriti principle of partnership that should define our schools, undermining the hard-won progress made by educators.”

By lowering the legal threshold to ‘take into account’ Te Tiriti, the government is effectively telling ākonga Māori and their whānau that their rights are secondary considerations rather than a high priority, she said.

“To push this change through despite the Ministry of Justice’s warnings proves this is a purely ideological move. It will roll back decades of progress in dismantling the systemic disadvantage faced by ākonga Māori. We will not stand by while the rights of our ākonga are stripped away as part of a coalition agreement.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Transporting New Zealand says the government needs to loosen restrictions for heavy vehicles without delay.

Four changes are being worked on in case of a move up to Phase 2 of the national fuel plan.

This included allowing more weight on some trucks to facilitate fewer trips, allowing normal licences for heavy electric utes, relaxing time and access restrictions for over-dimension vehicles and removing some restrictions on the routes that over-dimension vehicles could travel.

Transporting New Zealand chief executive Dom Kalasih said loosening the weight restrictions would unlock extra productivity in the applicable and save several million litres of diesel.

“You could actually avoid around 10 million kilometres of heavy travel.”

He also welcomed proposed changes to rules around over dimension vehicles but said heavy haulage was a speciality area and would affect fewer vehicles.

He urged government ministers not to wait until Phase 2 to take action.

“It can be picked up straight away. The vehicles we’re looking at, they’ve got spare capacity.

“We shouldn’t be waiting for things to get bad before we actually do things that make sense.”

On Monday Regulation Minister David Seymour and Transport Minister Chris Bishop said submissions were being developed so they could be quickly implemented if the government moved to Phase 2 of its response.

“We are still in Phase 1 of the National Fuel Response Plan, but we don’t want a repeat of the Covid-19 lockdowns. Doing the work to boost fuel efficiency now helps ensure we can stay in Phase 1 for as long as possible, causing the least disruption to Kiwis,” said Seymour.

Bishop said concerns over weight restrictions were widespread in the freight sector.

“In the short term, even small increases in permitted loads could reduce the number of trips needed, saving time, lowering costs, and reducing fuel use,” Bishop said.

“We need to balance that with safety and network impacts, but there are sensible changes we can make that will lift productivity without compromising standards.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

You pay tax, the government spends it.

But what does it spend it on?

If you have ever wondered exactly where the tax money goes, here is a breakdown.

In the year to 30 June, 2025, total government spending was $183.5 billion.

Of that, social security and welfare took the largest amount, at $57.6b. This included NZ Super, which was just over $23b.

This total had increased from $53.99b the year before.

Next was health, with $29.8b.

Third was education, at $22.3b, up from $21.18b the year before.

Fourth was economic and industrial services, spending by the government to support and regulate business activities, at $16.2b.

Then was transport at communications, $15.83b.

It was followed by law and order, $7.3b, heritage, culture and recreation at $3.38b, housing and community development at $4.5b, defence at $3.23b, environmental protection at $2.3b and primary services $2.53b.

Core government services – made up of Crown departments, Offices of Parliament, the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and the Reserve Bank – took up $7.77b.

Finance costs were $10.39b – that was the interest bill for government borrowing.

The Government Superannuation Fund Authority’s expenses were $83 million.

Simplicity chief economist Shamubeel Eaqub said New Zealand offered a lot of transparency around government spending.

But he said many people thought about tax the wrong way.

“The question is actually the other way around. What public services and what quality of public services do you want, and how do you pay for it? And then you can decide how much tax to pay, because that’s the envelope, and who pays that tax.

“Because we tend to start a conversation on the wrong end, ‘I must never pay tax, but I want all the best services’, we end up in this standoff.”

He said it was a harder conversation to have because it was inconvenient.

“If you want nice things, you have to pay for it. You can’t just rely on other people to do it for you … And I think that sense of responsibility and having to do it yourself is quite problematic for people, because for a long time, I think post the Second World War, when the welfare state was built, the broad idea was trust central government, they’ll take care of all these things so you don’t have to.

“But that has broken down, and this is going to get worse, because when we made these promises, we used to have loads of young people, we could tax our workers, and we had a surplus, we had an abundance of income to buy things. But we don’t anymore.

“We kind of ran out of the runway about a decade ago, and it’s only going to get harder from here, because the demographic maths gets harder.

“Too many old people, not enough working age people. Nothing wrong with old people. And I think people think I vilify old people. It’s not that. You can’t just pay yourself lots of money without having a source of revenue.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Finance Minister says she shut down an event in her office last year after “offensive language” was used during a function she hosted for press gallery journalists.

Nicola Willis held pre-Budget drinks in her office in May last year where an incident between two journalists is alleged to have happened.

Political commentator Ani O’Brien wrote on her Substack page on Tuesday morning that TVNZ political editor Maiki Sherman allegedly used a homophobic slur against Stuff journalist Lloyd Burr, which led to the drinks in Willis’ office being shut down.

Nicola Willis told RNZ in a statement on Tuesday that she was “out of the room for a few minutes and returned to hear offensive language being used”.

“I ended the event at that point,” she said.

“The following day I checked in on the welfare of the reporter at whom the language was directed. He advised me he did not want to take the matter any further. I respected his decision.”

In response to the allegations a spokesperson for TVNZ says, “we do not comment on employment matters”.

Stuff has also responded to the allegations in a statement saying, “Stuff Group stands by, and has complete faith in, Lloyd Burr’s account of the events and his conduct in Minister Willis’ office last May”.

“We will continue to respect his wishes not to comment further on what occurred that night,” a spokesperson told RNZ.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Businesses say the government’s deal with Z Energy for an emergency diesel reserve is reassuring in case of supply disruption, but will not help with high prices.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Tuesday announced the deal which will see Z Energy procure, own and manage 90 million litres of diesel at Marsden Point refinery’s refurbished fuel tanks.

The government would then be able to release the fuel to service stations if normal supply shipments were disrupted.

Business New Zealand’s head of advocacy Catherine Beard told RNZ it was reassuring to businesses.

“All of the goods that move around New Zealand … for anything industrial and commercial it’s diesel is really the critical fuel, so I think this will be quite, quite encouraging for businesses to know that there’ll be extra stock on hand.

“It may not need to be used, but it will shore things up. I understand that supply chains are actually working quite normally, which is really good.”

However, it would do little to help with high diesel costs – which she said was the main problem faced by businesses.

“The issue really has been the price problem. This won’t resolve the price problem but it will give companies and business, I guess, more confidence that we’ve got enough.”

Price monitor app Gaspy showed a diesel price of about $3.32 a litre – down about 20 cents over the past month, but still nearly $1.50 higher than before the Iran conflict.

“It absolutely is a problem, obviously, and businesses would have been trying to where they can absorb it, but it will have to be passed on eventually,” Beard said.

“It’ll start to flow through supply chains and ultimately hit consumers in the pocket as it affects everything that’s moved around.”

She said the government’s moves towards cutting regulations on truck weights – announced by ACT leader David Seymour over the weekend – could take pressure off businesses struggling with those costs.

NZ First leader and Minister for Rail Winston Peters has taken a different tack, calling for a focus on rail instead – a stance Labour and the Greens have also been pushing.

Beard, however, pointed out trains had their limitations.

“Rail is there, but it doesn’t get the goods to the door of the customer. It can work well on main trunk line and taking things maybe from Auckland to Wellington for example, but you still need to distribute your goods to the end user so you can’t really get away from trucks.

“Maybe more could go on the train, but it also depends on timeliness – of how urgent it is to get things delivered and what customers expectations are – but I suppose when we’re in this situation of going into the slightly unknown that all of those things could change.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand First leader and Rail Minister Winston Peters has hinted he won’t support a law change letting trucks carry more weight during the fuel crisis.

He was adamant: “It’s a no brainer, rail is the answer,” to the fuel crisis.

The government is considering cutting regulations for heavy vehicles in an effort to save fuel, including easing truck weight limits.

When asked whether he would veto that, Peters said: “Stand back and watch.”

He told reporters he was not on board with the idea.

“I’m not for these changes … these weight limits are put there for good reasons, because of potholes and bridge strength and what have you,” he said.

“We’re going to make sure we use rail.”

Peters’ opposition was put to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, who said his coalition partners’ comments were “a bit premature”.

The government was considering “all ideas” and associated trade-offs, and nothing had gone to Cabinet, he said.

Resources Minister and New Zealand First deputy Shane Jones agreed.

“The State at the end of the day has to deal with the impact on heavy traffic on our roads, but it’s really important that we keep the fuel flowing, and I’m imagining that a fair bit of freight may even go on to KiwiRail.”

The Prime Minister added: “I imagine a lot of freight will go on to KiwiRail.”

Shifting more freight to rail would not require any regulatory changes – companies can choose to do that if they wish.

KiwiRail publishes its available capacity online and said it anticipated that would be allocated quickly.

Trains were two-and-a-half times more fuel efficient than trucks and there were thousands of wagons available, Peters said.

Peters said the freight industry was using a crisis to get the law changed.

“This ain’t the first time the trucking industry’s tried this on.”

Earlier on Tuesday Transport Minister Chris Bishop said the industry had been advocating for weight limit changes for some time, and the crisis was an opportunity to expedite that work.

Transporting New Zealand chief executive Dom Kalasih told Morning Report loosening the weight restrictions would unlock extra productivity and save several million litres of diesel.

He urged the government to make the changes immediately.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: New Zealand Government

Legislation to strengthen the management of prisoners who pose an extreme risk to prison or public safety while in prison has passed its first reading today, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. 

“The Corrections (Management of Prisoners, and Prisoners’ Property) Amendment Bill underscores this Government’s commitment to restoring law and order. 

“It will see real and practical steps taken to enhance prison and public safety, and a strengthened legislative framework to manage the small number of prisoners who pose an extreme risk to prison and public safety, while balancing natural justice,” says Mr Mitchell. 

“Extreme risk prisoners include those connected to transnational organised crime, or who pose a risk to prison or public safety from their radical ideology, or those with a history of serious violence towards others.” 

The Bill introduces a robust statutory process to determine whether a prisoner poses an extreme risk and needs a higher level of custodial oversight. 

“These prisoners will likely be subject to more stringent measures than other prisoners, such as receiving fewer hours of unlock and fewer contact visits. However, they will also have a cell with a self-contained yard, which provides them with more personal space than other prisoners. 

“The Bill strikes a careful balance between managing the risks posed by these prisoners and protecting their rights to natural justice.  When making a determination on which prisoners pose an extreme threat, the chief executive is informed by an expert advisory panel’s recommendation, and any other information the chief executive considers relevant. 

“To ensure fair consideration is taken, prisoners will be able to provide written information to the panel for consideration before they make a recommendation to the chief executive. The chief executive is also obligated to review a designation if new and relevant information comes to light, or there has been a change in circumstances that may make the determination inappropriate or unnecessary.” 

The Bill will also explicitly prohibit prolonged solitary confinement for all prisoners.  

“Making this explicit in legislation ensures it aligns more closely with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, particularly rules 43 and 44. Under the Bill, all prisoners must receive 10 hours of meaningful human contact over each 14-day period, with a desire for Corrections to aim to provide prisoners with 14 hours of meaningful human contact each week,” Mr Mitchell says. 

The other substantive changes in the Bill include: 

• the introduction of a new segregation ground that recognises the complex risks that some prisoners pose to public safety
• amendments that will enable prison managers to more easily move segregated prisoners between restricted and denied association to align with the risks they pose
• a new provision allowing Corrections to apply to the High Court to destroy the property of a prisoner who, on their death, was a designated terrorist entity
• the introduction of new provisions to reduce the risk of illicit use of prisoner trust accounts.  

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Source: New Zealand Government

The Government has secured an additional nine days’ of diesel supply to boost New Zealand’s fuel reserves and help shield the country from the global oil shock, Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Associate Energy Minister Shane Jones say. 

“Following a contestable procurement process, the Government has signed a letter of intent with Z Energy today to procure 90 million litres of NZ specification diesel. 

“Under the terms of the deal: 

• the fuel will be delivered to Marsden Point either as a single cargo or as two cargoes
• the Crown’s exposure to any long-term fall in fuel prices will be limited; and
• the fuel will be held at the direction of the Crown.

“This is a practical, forward-looking step that will help ensure New Zealand has more resilience at a time of global fuel market uncertainty. It strengthens both our fuel and economic buffers and reduces the potential impacts of international supply disruptions from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Shane Jones says the diesel supply, which will be in addition to the minimum stock holdings of fuel companies in New Zealand, will be stored at Marsden Point in Northland.

“Channel Infrastructure is working at pace to deliver a refurbished tank that can hold more than 90 million litres by early June. The Government earlier this month signed off an investment of up to $21.6 million from the Regional Infrastructure Fund to acquire this extra capacity.”

In March, Cabinet agreed a strategy to strengthen fuel supply resilience, including seeking commercial proposals from fuel importers. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment ran a competitive procurement process, inviting fuel importers to submit their proposals to supply additional fuel.

“Z Energy’s proposal delivered the strongest overall advantages, providing value for money alongside practical flexibility around how and when the additional fuel could be used,” Shane Jones says.

“Z Energy will procure, own and manage the volume of diesel under the agreement but the Crown will control its release into the New Zealand market.” 

The additional supply will not count towards the fuel companies’ minimum stockholding obligations.

Nicola Willis says while the current fuel system continues to serve the country well, additional fuel provides strategic insurance for keeping the economy moving.  

“Reliable fuel supply is essential for households and businesses. We have prioritised securing additional diesel because it is the fuel that drives the economy.

“We are taking a measured, responsible approach and believe this agreement, alongside the other work the Government is doing, will help strengthen our fuel security and give reassurance to Kiwis.”

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