CSB - Sophie Trigger - Senior Political Reporter

Week in politics. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
The Country Sport Breakfast with Brian Kelly on Gold Sport.
It's been a couple of weeks since we've spoken about
politics on the show. Joining US News Talks, they'd be
senior political reporter Sophie Trie.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Good morning Sophie, Good morning, BK. How are you not.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Very very well? Thank you? Prime Minister's in Australia at
the moment. You didn't get to go on this trip.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
No, that's correct. Our political editor Jason Walls is over
there in Camber at the moment.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
So you know, obviously on the agenda over there there'll
be talking about the five oh one deporties. But I
can't see much changing, can you.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah, absolutely, it's it's definitely expected. The topic of five
oho ones will again loom large over the Prime Minister's
meeting with Anthony Albanesi today, so Luxon told media he'll
continue to advocate for a common sense approaching, a bit
of change in direction on this policy from Australia this year.

(01:04):
So to backtrack a little bit, Governments of both stripes
have of course, for many years raised concerns over criminals
who have limited connection to New Zealand being deported here,
but a couple of years ago, Albanezi agreed to adopt
a common sense approach, which would mean this was less
likely to happen. However, a ministerial directive earlier this year

(01:26):
makes Australian public safety the main priority in deportation decisions,
overriding how many years someone may have lived in Australia. So,
as you say, once again, this issue will have to
be relitigated today and like sim we'll be seeking assurances
that some sort of common sense is still being applied
to these decisions.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
Is there much else on the agenda? Wiley's over there.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Yeah, So yesterday there was a clear focus on infrastructure
while the Prime Minister was in Sydney, and there was
also a bit of a ministerial trio of infrastructure adjacent
ministers with Chris Bishop, Simian Brown and Shane Jones over
there with the Prime Minister as well. Luxon met the

(02:12):
new South Wales Premier Chris Mins to pick up some
ideas on how the state had progressed its sort of housing, schools,
roading and public transport projects, and he said an idea
they would be taking on board is the development of
a list of apolitical, independently assessed projects that the country
needs over the coming decades that governments of both stripes

(02:35):
can sort of get behind the Chris Bishop says the
Infrastructure Commission was working on drawing up the list of
credible projects and this concept had been taken partly from
Infrastructure New South Wales and the approach had been discussed
with some of its staff yesterday morning.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
So it'll be interesting to see what comes out of
that visit. All. Right, back at home benefit sanctions, that's
been a big, big talking point this week, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yeah, that's correct, So harsher sanctions are coming for job
seekers that don't comply with their work obligations, which the
government says is part of a wider reform to reduce
benefit dependency and get people back into work. So people
who receive a benefit with work or social obligations, such
as the Job Seeker Support, will be given a green,

(03:21):
orange or red status under the new traffic light system,
So green the benefit recipient is complying with their obligations.
This means looking for work, attending any appointments with a
case manager, and perhaps attending training courses that they've been
referred to. A job seeker would then be put on Orange.
If they have a couple of one or two obligation

(03:42):
breaches and don't have a good reason for this, they
have five working days to contact the Ministry of Social
Development to explain and if they can do that, they
will return to Green, but if they don't comply, they
will move to Red. Now Red is where the sanctions occur,
which could include someone's benefit being reduced or stopped. But

(04:03):
from next year there are new sanctions being introduced as
an option for some beneficiaries, such as those with dependent children.
So under the new Money Management sanction, half a person's
benefit goes onto an electronic payment card that can only
be used at approved stores to purchase essentials. There's also
a new community work Experience sanction, which requires the person

(04:26):
to find and complete work experience at a community organization.
Now Social Development Minisilui's Upstairce says the new sanctions provide
an alternative to the financial penalties for a first time
obligation breach in situations where this would help a job
seeker onto a more productive pathway. Other changes include doubling
the length of time and obligation breach stays on a

(04:48):
person's record from twelve months to two years and requiring
job seeker support recipients to reapply every six months rather
than every year now. These moves have been met with
criticism from opposition parties. Labor leader Chris Hipkins says the
new sanctions are kicking people while they're down, and notes
that there are eighteen thousand fewer jobs now than when

(05:11):
the National Party went into government, so it's questioning what
the government's plan is for actually creating jobs as opposed
to just making it harder to be on a benefit.
And the Green Party's Ricardo Menendez March has called it
a lazy, reheated idea from the nineties and it says
the government's inflicting pain and misery on people in poverty.

Speaker 1 (05:30):
Well then never going to agree, really are they there?

Speaker 2 (05:33):
Very true?

Speaker 1 (05:34):
The Reserve Bank the OCR during the week as well,
that was cut which was very positive.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yes, a big week of news for the OCR, with
the Reserve Bank dropping it for the first time in
more than four years since March twenty twenty, in fact,
dropping it by twenty five basis points to five point
two five percent. Central Bank also said price pressures were
cooling and it expects annual annual inflation to fall back

(06:00):
into that one to three percent target band in the
September quarter, and the Reserve Bank's new forecast rate tracks
suggests the OCR will fall from here to at least
five percent by the end of the year and to
at least four point five percent by June next year.
So some good news for homeowners there BK, especially considering
economists predictions, we're fairly mixed going into this decision on

(06:24):
what the Reserve Bank would decide. So the Finance Minister
Nicola Willis says the cost of living crisis has been
characterized by high inflation and high interest rates, is still
hurting too many households, but the OCR changes shows the
era of high price increases is over. As for who
gets the credit for this, Prime Minister Chris Luson was

(06:46):
challenged by media for celebrating the drop as a government win,
as the government obviously doesn't have any input over Reserve
Bank decisions, but he says there are two components at play,
monetary policy and fiscal policy, and he says the government
is doing everything it can to ensure its fiscal settings
are right. So either way, the government will be very
happy about this decision because, as we've said, the first

(07:10):
OCR drop in more than four years has come under
their watch, and the Reserve banks obviously signaling lighter economic
times ahead.

Speaker 1 (07:19):
So if you're nice, Rape of Politics, thank you so
much for joining us. You have a great weekend. Thanks
Bku too, So if you trigger joining us, senior political
reporter and you still said b