The swearing in of Labour list MP Soraya Peke-Mason to Parliament on October 25 will mark a milestone for women in Aotearoa New Zealand.

For the first time in its history, women in New Zealand’s Parliament will have an equal share of seats in the House.

“That’s quite significant,” Peke-Mason said. “It really shows the maturity of Aotearoa in terms of equity from a gender perspective.”

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said reaching the milestone was “significant and heartening”.

“Our Parliament will always be better when the diversity of voices in New Zealand are heard in our law making and government.

“The Labour Party in particular has been deeply committed to having equality of representation within our own caucus and we are really excited to welcome Soraya to our team.”

Peke-Mason will also be the first MP sworn in by the new Speaker, her cousin Te Tai Hauāuru MP Adrian Rurawhe, and the first new MP pledging allegiance to the new king, Charles III.

Sworn in with Te Reo
Representing the Rangitīkei electorate and supported by kaumātua and whānau from the river and mountain tribes and Rangitīkei, she will be sworn in at 2pm, in Te Reo Māori, and will give her maiden speech at 5.45pm.

“It is an honour and a privilege to be going to Parliament to represent our rohe,” Peke-Mason said.

“Over the last one or two decades my work has taken me across the Whanganui, the Ruapehu and the Rangitīkei districts.

“I’m excited and proud to be able to represent our rohe, and for Te Awa Tupua, for Rangitīkei, for all of us to have another strong voice at a table that makes really important and hard decisions on behalf of Aotearoa.”

It is two years since Peke-Mason missed out at the 2020 election. Her elevation to Parliament was announced in June after news that Kris Faafoi would leave politics and Trevor Mallard would move on to a diplomatic posting.

Peke-Mason, who lives at Rātana south of Whanganui, was Rangitīkei’s first wahine Māori councillor for 12 years until 2019, when she unsuccessfully ran for Horizons Regional Council.

In 2020, she stood in the general election in Rangitīkei against incumbent Ian McKelvie and was ranked No 60 on the Labour list.

‘You just get on with it’
“After the results of the last election, there was a possibility that I could enter Parliament but you just get on with it. You leave that there to the side and you just get on with your mahi at home.”

She was appointed to the Whanganui District Health Board and to its Hauora ā Iwi Relationship Board. She also helped lead the Whanganui Māori Regional Tourism board, was a member of Rangitīkei District Council’s Te Roopu Ahi Kā and held a number of iwi Māori and Māori trust governance roles.

“I’ve had plenty of time to be able to exit the work that I’ve been doing in the rohe, to tidy up those loose ends, to finish up projects properly, look at replacements, and work with Māori authorities that I’ve done work for to ensure there’s an appropriate exit process so that they’re not left in the lurch,” she said.

“And I’ve also been able to exit some of the boards I’ve been on.

“I’ve been lucky to have the time to do that. Not every MP gets that time.”

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Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

After previous calls for the Samoan Parliament to convene so a national budget can be passed, the ruling FAST Party now says there is no real need to rush to convene Parliament.

Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa said last Saturday that Parliament would meet “in the first opportunity” this week to pass a budget.

The Samoa Observer reports Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa as saying cabinet needs more time to screen and review the financial arrangements used by the former government of Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi and his Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP).

The Ministry of Finance was instructed to prepare a budget using an article that allows 25 percent of the previous budget to operate until a full budget is prepared for Parliament to pass.

The Tuilaepa government had been using this provision since the 2020/2021 budget ended on 30 June which amounts to about 220 million tālā.

According to Fiame, wiith 25 percent, there is a figure, but there is a lack of supporting details even though the processes seemed to be followed for payments under the Emergency Budget.

She explained that the Ministry of Finance wanted cabinet to use the budget they have prepared and announced by the caretaker prime minister last month.

“We still want our own Budget to deliver what the FAST Party has in place in its manifesto,” said Fiamē.

Fiame said Parliament would likely meet in September.

Meanwhile, a FAST spokesperson says the legitimacy of the HRPP candidates who were not sworn-in within the required 45 days is still being determined as it has never happened before.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The five reserved seats for women being put forward by Papua New Guinea’s special parliamentary committee on gender-based violence has been rejected by women and a petition is on its way to demand different proposal.

The women will petition the parliamentary committee to voice their disapproval about the five reserved seats idea and raise other related concerns.

Women in Politics president Maria Hayes told the Post-Courier that women represented half the population of the country and women leaders took offence that an attempt was being made to sideline them.

“Talk about gender-based violence!” Hayes said. “It is an insult.

“Women represent 50 percent of the country’s population; we do not have to stand on the side to be considered whether we are good or not.

“Parliament is mixing up gender-based violence with women in leadership which are two different issues.

“There is no structure in place so it is a farce; an election gimmick to lure women’s votes in next year’s national general election.”

The women are firm over their demand for 22 reserved seats and expressed disappointment that women in leadership was being narrowed down to gender-based violence.

They envisaged women’s decision-making in Parliament to be of much broader scope, encompassing all other areas of law-making and implementation.

They point to previous work done on temporary special measures in which women advocates believed being elected rather than having appointed seats to be the best way forward.

Under such a scheme, which they supported, 22 seats would be reserved for women.

This, they said, was the demand for women in PNG and they stood by it.

The idea currently being mooted is five reserved seats for women on the basis of region.

But PNG has four regions – the Highlands, Mamose, Southern and the Islands – which means there is a proposal to split Southern in half.

Barney Orere is a PNG Post-Courier journalist.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Today, Deputy Prime Minister Sam Basil and 12 other ministers in Papua New Guinea’s James Marape government crossed the floor to support former prime minister Peter O’Neill and opposition leader Belden Namah’s bid to move a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister James Marape.

A total of 41 members from the government side crossed to join Namah and O’Neill and provide them the 57 votes required (majority is 56) to take control of Parliament business and change the Permanent Parliament Committee members to ensure their planned notice of a no confidence vote makes its way to the floor of Parliament.

So was this expected?

Short answer is Yes.

Behind the scenes, I have been tracking the likes of Basil, William Duma, Charles Abel, Sir Puka Temu, Sir Julius Chan, Paias Wingti, and Chris Haiveta, expecting them to make a play for a change of Prime Minister.

I was very much aware that Basil was in secret talks with O’Neill and Namah, who were so desperate to change the government that they would mislead Basil into crossing the floor.

Basil believes he will be the next Prime Minister; so does Chan and O’Neill.

PM Marape informed
I brought this issue to the attention of Prime Minister Marape on numerous occasions so he would be informed on the what was going on behind the scenes.

However, he wanted to believe that both Basil and Duma would stay loyal to the government because he afforded their parties’ every request.

57 MPs voted with the Opposition today. Opposition has numbers to change PM.

39 MPs voted with PM. PM claims to have 52 supporting him.

57 + 52 = 109 MPs, Two MPs unaccounted for in #PNG‘s vote of No Confidence numbers game pic.twitter.com/rd74TV1XHe

— MARTYN AWAYANG NAMORONG (@MartynNamorong) November 13, 2020

While I note some will say this is a lie because I said there would be no vote of no confidence in the November session, I was factually correct. The November session is over, and Parliament is now adjourned to December 2020.

What is the play?

Right now, I still don’t believe there will be a vote of no confidence. More importantly, the motion for a vote can’t be moved for another four weeks.

Eighteen days from now – on Tuesday, 1 December 2020 – Parliament reconvenes. The Opposition will submit its notice of a no confidence vote against Prime Minister Marape to the Speaker.

The notice must be signed by no less than 12 members and name the next Prime Minister (which is not yet decided).

Naming ‘next PM’
On Wednesday, 2 December 2020, at 1pm, the Speaker and Permanent Parliament Committee will meet to table the notice and confirm it is in order, meeting the constitutional requirements of no less than 12 members signatories and naming the next PM.

Provided the notice is in order, the Speaker will direct the Clerk of Parliament to list the notice on the Parliament Notice Paper.

The next day, on Thursday, 3 December 2020, Parliament will reconvene. The Speaker will announce that he received the notice of the no confidence vote from the opposition and adjourn Parliament for seven days.

On Thursday, 10 December 2020, Parliament will reconvene to deal with the motion of no confidence.

So, folks, that’s almost one month away and right now Basil, O’Neill and Namah have only 59 Members, which they have to keep intact until the day of the vote.

In the meantime, the Marape government needs only to wait around for five members to realize they were badly misled, and that it wasn’t such a great idea to cross the floor. The public will also weigh in, ending their re-election bid in 2022.

Struggle to stay together
What is certain is that most, if not all, politicians will struggle to stay in camp for seven days, let alone one month.

It is also important to note that a sitting Prime Minister will always have the last say on whether a vote of confidence is moved on the day of the vote or not.

Right now, the government has the luxury of the full resources of the country and greater public support.

Support that will only build over time. Because the people of Papua New Guinea are sick of corruption, self-interest and greed.

Bryan Kramer is Papua New Guinea’s Police Minister. He is also one of the most transparent ministers on social media. In his rare spare time, he writes columns on issues for his Kramer Report web and Facebook pages. The Pacific Media Centre republishes his columns with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Former Green Party MP Keith Locke says his contemporaries should stay out of the New Zealand cabinet in order to remain critical of Labour while also working constructively with it.

Any cabinet positions offered to the Greens by Labour would be a favour, not a necessity, and likely require the smaller party to soften its criticism.

The two parties are meeting again today to thrash out areas they can co-operate on in government.

With Labour holding an election night majority, the Greens are not needed in a formal coalition arrangement.

The parties met twice last week in the prime minister’s office and will do so again later today, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expecting to complete talks this week.

Locke told Morning Report: “I think the Greens have to recognise that people voted for them because they like the Green vision and policies but also where possible to advance the progressive agenda with Labour.

“I think the best way forward on that… what we need really is a co-operation agreement whereby the Labour and the Greens work together to progress certain agreed issues and bills.

“The agreement could provide for easy Green access to Labour ministers, harmonious working relationships between the two parties on select committees, etc.”

He thought the Greens should avoid cabinet positions if possible.

“Because Labour has a complete majority, they would be granted as a favour not a necessity. The Green Party would not have any leverage and there would be an implicit understanding that the Green caucus would soften its criticism of the Labour government.”

The Greens should push for change using the Parliamentary positions they already have, he said.

“Take for example Ricardo Menendez-March fresh from Auckland Action Against Poverty. I think he could really provoke more change in the welfare area by speaking out, linking up with the lobby unions, using Parliament as a platform, and linking up with the [welfare] minister.

“If it is Carmel Sepuloni, in the past [she] hasn’t been able to achieve much change because she hasn’t been given the budget … but pressure from the Green Party inside and outside Parliament might have an effect.

“The Greens have produced many changes over the years.”

But he said it was a “completely new situation now” with a confidence and supply agreement “completely irrelevant”.

“The Greens in any case should reserve the right to abstain or vote against the budget,” he said.

“Change can be made and it’s important that the Greens be an independent and critical voice working co-operatively and challenging from outside the cabinet.”

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

New opposition National leader Todd Muller is backing his front bench, saying he chose the shadow cabinet line-up on merit and talent.

While three out of National’s top four ranked MPs are women, there are no Māori MPs on the front bench, or of any other ethnicity.

Māori Party founder Dame Tariana Turia told RNZ she was “gobsmacked” by National’s new line-up given her experience working closely with the party in government.

READ MORE: Todd Muller’s car crash of an interview on Q & A

“Here is a political party that I thought valued the Māori voice… It’s very disappointing to now see that in 2020 there is no Māori voice on the front bench,” she said.

However, Muller told RNZ Morning Report he went with who he believed were his best MPs.

“I looked at it through the lens of my shadow cabinet and I looked at it through the lens of the talent that I have at my disposal which is quite extraordinary in terms of my 55 MPs and the third thing I did, which is different to what has happened in the past, is rather than loading up the shadow cabinet with all the portfolios, I spread the critical and substantive portfolios across the whole team, including Dan Bidois for example who has Workplace Relations and Safety.

“When I put it (party list) forward I didn’t rank it and I also said this isn’t our final list ranking.”

Māori MPs in shadow cabinet
Muller pointed out that his shadow cabinet does contain Māori MPs.

“From my perspective the shadow cabinet is what counts,” he said.

“In that shadow cabinet I have Dr Shane Reti who I brought beside me when I won the leadership as someone who I rate highly and think is already a huge contributor to the National Party and the country and will be a substantive senior minister in my government, and of course Paula Bennett … then beyond that a caucus with Māori representation that is connected hugely in the Māori community.”

Dame Tariana also acknowledged the likes of Dr Reti, ranked 17th, and Harete Hipango, ranked 39th, and believes they deserve a promotion.

“One thing I know about politics – everything is about votes. And if they think that the Māori vote is not going to go their way, are they going to choose any Māori people to be in their top 10? Doesn’t look like it.”

There was also confusion at yesterday’s announcement when Finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith was declared Māori by deputy leader Nikki Kaye.

Muller said he didn’t consider Goldsmith Māori when sorting out his front bench.

‘That was an error’
“That was an error and we admitted that yesterday,” he said.

“She (Nikki Kaye) obviously wasn’t 100 percent clear on his whakapapa. Mistakes happen and that was acknowledged at the time.

“Certainly from my perspective I am very comfortable with the team we have, I think it is remarkable talent.

“I think my shadow cabinet bests this government’s cabinet in terms of person for person contribution, capacity life experience, lived experience and the ability to help frame up with the wider team a recovery plan for this country that will have substance.”

Muller’s front bench was not only criticised by those outside his party but inside as well.

National list MP and Māori development spokesperson Jo Hayes publicly critiqued Muller’s front bench on Radio Waatea.

“This is not good. We need to remedy this or you need to front it and take it head on and say why. You need to give a better explanation,” she said.

Muller would not say whether he was happy with Hayes voicing her concerns but said he had a conversation with her last night about the issue.

“She was passionate and she obviously shared a view and we talked about it.”

Muller would not disclose if he told her not to speak about the issues in the future.

• This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.
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Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By EMTV News

Papua New Guinea’s political opposition has gone on the offensive, accusing Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s government of attempting to delay and defeat the vote of no confidence motion outside Parliamentary process.

Senior opposition members delivered the vote of no confidence motion to the Speaker yesterday afternoon.

But there are serious concerns that the government is “tampering” with the process. The vote has been delayed until May 28.

READ MORE: Papua New Guinea’s leadership crisis

The opposition’s nominee for Prime Minister, Tari-Pori MP and former Finance Minister James Marape, was furious at the manner in which the Speaker ruled against an early resumption of Parliament.

Marape also told the news media that the government removed opposition MPs who were on a Parliamentary Private Members committee that decides on the validity of votes of no confidence motions.

“What has happened today is that you saw a ploy by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s government to sabotage the process of a vote of no confidence motion,” he said.

“They removed membership of the private members committee which had Hela Governor Phillip Undialu and Southern Highlands Governor William Powi.

“They put members on the committee who are pro-government. We are appealing to the Speaker that they must not stand against the will of the people.”

Opposition dismay
In Parliament, Speaker Job Pomat allowed a motion to adjourn the Haus to May 28, much to the dismay of the opposition which sought to have the next session on the week of May 15.

“What showed today was that the Prime Minister was not confident on the numbers on the government side.”

After Parliament rose, Speaker Pomat held his own news conference to explain parliamentary processes, saying he had received the vote of no confidence motion and that due process would have to be followed.

“Today I made rulings that I had to make. The rulings were based on votes. The numbers showed it. I want the people of Papua New Guinea to know that this is the process of democracy. I was not forced. It was my decision.”

In previous years, Speakers have faced the brunt of the opposition’s ire for making decisions seen to be in favour of the government side. Speaking in the that context, Pomat said the democratic process demanded that decisions followed parliamentary process.

The government plans to use period between now and May 28 to reorganise its numbers.

Prime Minister O’Neill said ministries would be allocated to new people to fill in vacancies.

In PNG politics, some of those ministries will be offered to coalition and opposition members to boost and maintain the government’s numbers.

This article is published in collaboration with EMTV News.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz