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Recent items from Focus on Politics
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Careful cuts with little room for error: Willis' first Budget
7:00 PM.At last, the tax cut tease is over, the full details on full display. The Budget's headline was only ever going to be tax cuts - and they arrived almost exactly as promised.
Finance Minister Nicola… Read more Audio
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Fast Track bill hits hurdles of public outrage
7:00 PM.A law giving ministers sweeping powers to greenlight infrastructure projects has attracted a wave of criticism and responses at select committee.
With ministers beginning to soften their language… Read more Audio
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Focus on Politics for Friday 17 May 2024
6:30 PM.In Focus on Politics, political reporter Katie Scotcher looks at the latest funding boost for the Defence Force and how much more investment is needed. Audio
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Lunch cuts and cut lunch for secondary schools
6:30 PM.In Focus on Politics, RNZ deputy political editor Craig McCulloch chews over the coalition's school lunch announcement, as well as the opposition's somewhat muted reaction. Audio
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Sideshows overshadow substance at Parliament
6:30 PM.In Focus on Politics, RNZ's deputy political editor Craig McCulloch whips through a whirlwind week at Parliament. Audio
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Vaping regulations battle 'immeasurably harder' under coalition - campaigner
6:30 PM.Successive governments have claimed crack downs on youth vaping but retailers are flouting the law, with just one prosecution on the books.
Retailers have until the end of the year to phase out… Read more Audio
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Luxon boosts defence amid rising global tensions
7:00 PM.As global tensions escalated this week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was touring South East Asia, strengthening defence and security ties.
Back home, his government was accused of drifting away… Read more Audio
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From lobbyist to legislator: Andrew Hoggard's vision for reform
7:00 PM.Andrew Hoggard might be new to Parliament, but he's certainly not new to New Zealand's screens and airwaves.
The Manawatū dairy farmer was president of Federated Farmers from 2020 to 2023, and one of… Read more Audio
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Aim and fire? Public service targets return amid job cuts
7:00 PM.Public Service Targets are set for a comeback but with job cuts looming over ministries and agencies, unions fear public servants are only being asked to do more with less.
Originally introduced by… Read more Audio
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Winston Peters navigates troubled waters with India, China
7:00 PM.New Zealand must pull its weight on defence and security, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says in a sit-down interview with RNZ, after talks with both India and China.
While trade was a driving… Read more Audio
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Labour prepares to be prepared for power
6:30 PM.Humiliated and humbled in last year's election, Labour has spent its first months back in opposition licking its wounds.
At the party's caucus retreat this week - a gathering of its MPs at a remote… Read more Audio
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Clock stops on coalition's urgency-filled 100-day plan
6:30 PM.The House has been in full swing for four weeks, with MPs sitting long hours as the government pushes through legislation under urgency to complete its 100-day plan.
What's in it? Did the government… Read more Audio
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Fa'anānā Efeso Collins' death brings unity in grief
7:00 PM.Parliament was brought to a standstill on Wednesday, with politics set aside after the sudden and shocking death of first-term Green MP Fa'anānā Efeso Collins.
A champion for his people, a tireless… Read more Audio
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Councils get their Three Waters wish - but will they regret it?
7:00 PM.The coalition has ticked off another objective - repealing the troubled Three Waters programme - but in doing so may have just delayed the bigger problem for another day.
In this week's Focus on… Read more Audio
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Government faces the music at Waitangi
7:00 PM.This year's record-breaking Waitangi celebrations drew 80,000 people to the Treaty grounds over four days, half that on Waitangi Day alone.
With the dust settling on the event's biggest turnout in… Read more Audio
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Shaw's message for his successor as he prepares to bow out
3:00 PM.Green Party co-leader James Shaw talks about his decision to step down, his time in the role, and the message he has for whoever succeeds him. Read more Audio
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Luxon fronts fierce criticism from Māori ahead of Waitangi
7:00 PM.Coming hot on the heels of last weekend's Hui-aa-Motu and the Rātana celebrations, Waitangi Day this year promises to be highly emotive and political.
The government's policies have prompted calls… Read more Audio
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A year of political turmoil comes to an end
7:00 PM.Three prime ministers, four ministerial scandals, one general election and a three-way coalition: New Zealand's political landscape has been well and truly shaken up in 2023.
In this week's Focus on… Read more Audio
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Māori dissent sets the scene as Parliament returns
7:00 PM.The resumption of Parliament this week has been underlined by outcry from Māori, soon matched by fury within the debating chamber.
With just two weeks before the Christmas break and Waitangi Day fast… Read more Audio
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Distractions assail coalition as it lays out ambitious agenda
7:00 PM.The new government's first week in office saw it get straight to work, setting high expectations and unveiling its 100-day plan - but it's not exactly been smooth sailing.
Fixing the economy and… Read more Audio
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Bonus episode: The meaning of Tāmaki
5:00 AM.When ACT's Brooke van Velden won the Auckland seat of Tamaki at the election, it was a triumph of shrewd campaigning. But it was also a failure for Christian conservatism in mainstream politics. In… Read more Audio
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Coalition deals signed and sealed, now it's time to deliver
7:00 PM.It took 40 days and 40 nights - but at long last, the country knows what its new government will look like.
New Zealand's first-ever three-way coalition: National, ACT and New Zealand First finally… Read more Audio
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Te Pāti Māori plans for future as it reflects on success in Māori seats
9:00 AM.After its most successful election - taking all but one of the Māori seats - Te Pāti Māori is amping up for the next three years as "the only true opposition".
It's a dramatic turnaround for a party… Read more Audio