On the Tiles

Councils across New Zealand are going through the motions at the moment - most notably in Gore, as the Mayor and Chief Executive remain at loggerheads, while Auckland has quit Local Government New Zealand. To dig into what's happening with these councils, their budgets, and councillors looking to make it to the Beehive, Georgina is joined by former mayors Justin Lester and Nick Leggett for a panel on the latest local politics news. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour MP Stuart Nash this week lost his place in Cabinet after revelations he had sent confidential information to former donors. While his time in Cabinet is over, questions have now been raised about how the Prime Minister's office handled an Official Information Act request that could have revealed the controversial email sooner. Thomas is joined by Newstalk ZB political editor Jason Walls this week to discuss into what happened and if voters will pay attention. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The sudden resignation of a Police Minister can really take over the political week - so this week, while Thomas is covering the latest developments from the Beehive, On the Tiles presents an episode of The Front Page, with host Damien Venuto and ZB Political Editor Jason Walls explaining the rapid-fire scandal that cost Stuart Nash one of the top government portfolios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Ayesha Verrall has only been in Parliament since 2020, but after a few years as an MP, she is now a key part of Labour's frontbench, holding the Health portfolio, alongside Research, Science and Innovation.  Both portfolios have been hot topics of discussion in recent weeks, from controversies around health targets and the exit of Rob Campbell as Te Whatu Ora chair, to backlash from some sectors over the inclusion of Mātauranga Māori in science education.  The Minister joins Thomas today to discuss her career and those recent issues - and a surprising revelation about being struck by lightning! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Getting an annual budget across the line is no easy task for mayors, with councillors acting as both their caucus and opposition, not to mention the public consultation process. Baldwin Boyle Group and a Heart of the City board member Chamanthie Sinhalage-Fonseka says mayors lead the direction of budgets and often go through them line-by-line with senior council officers before the draft version is tabled. Auckland Council is facing an almost $300 million shortfall. Residential rates will rise by a net average of 5.66 per cent. Christchurch City Council is looking at a similar rates increase of 5.58 per cent. Meanwhile, Wellington City Council’s proposed rates increase is more than double that.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Reserve Bank made headlines this week by raising the official cash rate by 50 basis points despite the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle.The OCR now sits at 4.75 per cent, its highest level since 2008, and the impact of this will eventually feed into the economy as fixed mortgage rates expire.Speaking to Thomas and NZ Herald Wellington Business Editor, Jenée Tibshraeny, Deputy Reserve Bank Governor Christian Hawkesby admits that getting the balance right in the fight against inflation can be tricky.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Judith Collins got a big promotion last month in the National portfolio reshuffle - but the resignation of a certain Prime Minister a few hours later dominated the news cycle. In her return to On the Tiles, Collins talks to Thomas about her new portfolios, why she keeps lasting in politics after 21 years, and her thoughts on Ardern's resignation and Chris Hipkins. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland has faced devastating flooding over the last week, but as much attention has been on the response of Mayor Wayne Brown as it has been on the damage. Senior NZ Herald writer David Fisher this week added to the discourse after revealing messages Brown sent tennis colleagues that criticised the media. Fisher joins Georgina Campbell this week to discuss Brown's response to the floods, his leaked messages, and why his response to the flooding has proved so controversial. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It has been a hectic and surprising start to the political in New Zealand since Jacinda Ardern's shock resignation as Prime Minister last week. A new PM has already been sworn in, with Chris Hipkins and deputy Carmel Sepuloni now leading the charge for the party to remain in power in October's election. This week, Thomas is joined by Newstalk ZB political editor Jason Walls to recap their shock at the resignation, what Ardern's legacy will be, and the reset and reshuffle Labour now has to contend with. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a shock announcement, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said that she will be stepping down on February 7th.  This means she will not be standing again as leader of the Labour party, and will not contest the next election.  Thomas is on the ground in Napier this week covering the Labour and National Party caucuses and was able to share his initial thoughts on the news with The Front Page's Damien Venuto. More analysis - plus a new Prime Minister to discuss - next week when On the Tiles properly returns! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.