{"id":348049,"date":"2026-03-26T02:03:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T02:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/348049\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T02:03:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T02:03:08","slug":"governments-oil-crisis-response-slick-so-far-but-the-real-test-is-coming-labour-navigates-dangerous-times-audrey-young","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/348049\/","title":{"rendered":"Government\u2019s oil-crisis response slick so far but the real test is coming; Labour navigates dangerous times \u2013 Audrey Young"},"content":{"rendered":"

This was the week that the importance of diesel as the lifeblood of the economy was rammed home, and there are differences among experts about how much is headed to New Zealand (see Thomas Coughlan\u2019s story here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The one bug has been Luxon\u2019s repeated claims that fuel stocks are \u201chealthy\u201d. The Government has not wanted to produce panic, but painting the picture as rosy is close to misleading. Hopefully, tomorrow will bring a strong dose of reality.<\/p>\n

The suggestion that the Government is avoiding the Beehive Theatrette because it is too strongly branded with Covid-19 is petty beyond belief. But it reinforces the reality that the way the Government handles this crisis could make or break it at the November election.<\/p>\n

The Government has spent so long slagging off Labour\u2019s response to Covid that it seems to have forgotten Labour swept to a second-term victory on the basis of its early crisis management.<\/p>\n

Labour navigates dangerous times, and mishaps<\/p>\n

Labour has had a better week, but that wouldn\u2019t be hard. Last week was possibly the worst in Chris Hipkins\u2019 political career. No Government MP has followed up on the public airing of grievances<\/a> by his former wife, Jade Paul. <\/p>\n

But this is a dangerous time for the Opposition. As a potential fuel shortage edges closer to reality, the voice of the Opposition can become irrelevant \u2013 and even an irritant.<\/p>\n

It is certainly what Simon Bridges experienced leading the Opposition during Covid, when the main focus was on the Government\u2019s management of the crisis.<\/p>\n

There have been a couple of mishaps in Parliament, however, by Labour MPs testing their new portfolios on ministers. Ginny Andersen, who picked up education from Willow-Jean Prime, was turned into mincemeat in the House yesterday in a full-court press by Government MPs, mocking her over her first question as education spokeswoman. It was about Education Minister Erica Stanford having sent teachers a link to a video<\/a> of her on a National Party website, which Stanford said was the result of human error, not a federal case, and corrected 15 minutes later.<\/p>\n

Act leader David Seymour said this: \u201cHas the minister considered engaging a private detective to get to the bottom of this weighty matter \u2013 who did it, who took it off the YouTube channel, and how do we make sure it never happens again?\u201d<\/p>\n

The last question of the day was from Reuben Davidson, Labour\u2019s new economic growth spokesman, who asked Finance Minister Nicola Willis: \u201cIs it acceptable that many Kiwis are facing job losses, rising unemployment and increasing living costs, all while last year\u2019s annual GDP growth rate was just 0.2%?\u201d<\/p>\n

Willis: \u201cI think the member is confused; he\u2019s referring to a quarterly growth rate for the fourth quarter of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Erica Stanford corrects Winston Peters<\/p>\n

Shortly after Winston Peters delivered his State of the Nation speech in Parliament North on Sunday, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford felt the need to correct him on his claims that the special visa negotiated in the India free trade agreement (FTA) \u2013 a three-year visa for up to 5000 skilled workers in skill shortage areas \u2013 could actually mean 20,000 people with a spouse and two kids.<\/p>\n

Stanford said on X: \u201cThe visa created for the Indian free trade deal, predominantly for highly skilled green-list workers, will not allow for partners or children. I have immense respect for Mr Peters, but I want to be clear that what he claimed in his State of the Nation speech is incorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n

I had a chat with Stanford last night to get even greater clarity and to ask if that means any spouses and kids of the 5000 will be banned. What she said was that they could apply under existing visas, such as the Accredited Employer Work Visa, with a job offer, or a shorter-term visitor visa, as other nationals will continue to do. But they would have to make the case in their own right. There are no rights to apply under the temporary employment entry visa under the FTA. Pretty much what I set out in a \u201cfact or fiction\u201d explainer<\/a> on the FTA last month.<\/p>\n

By the way<\/p>\n

\u2022 Speaking of corrections involving Winston Peters, he may want to retract some of his insults. He hit back at Labour frontbencher Kieran McAnulty this week for interjecting on him during a snap debate on the Middle East. McAnulty told Peters to stop mumbling. Brought up near Eket\u0101huna, McAnulty is a former TAB bookie and has a bit of a rural drawl, which Peters concluded meant he was \u201cuneducated\u201d. <\/p>\n

Peters: \u201cOh, okay. This is the language specialist here from the Wairarapa. He\u2019s the expert on diction. The fact that he\u2019s not even trained or educated properly or anything else but knows a bit about horse betting \u2013 it\u2019s his only qualification \u2013 never stops him from saying something, though, does it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NZNZ First leader Winston Peters wasn’t impressed by an interjection in the House from Labour’s Kieran McAnulty. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n

As I discovered in 2023 when I did a profile on McAnulty<\/a>, he has an MA in politics from the University of Otago.<\/p>\n

\u2022 There is some excitement about Emma Chatterton having been selected as National\u2019s candidate in Papakura, as Judith Collins bows out of politics. She works in Erica Stanford\u2019s office, and according to Stanford is the \u201cmost amazing woman I\u2019ve ever met\u201d. She is a musician, a graduate from Cambridge, and a teacher who worked with Sir Bill English on social investment and with Stanford in Opposition planning much of the education reform currently underway. In 2023, she stood against Chris Hipkins in Remutaka.<\/p>\n

Quote unquote<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Labour Government did not approve the closure of Marsden Point; it was a private business … On the definition that Shane Jones is now creating, the McCain Foods factory, the Wattie\u2019s factory, the Kinleith factory, the Winstone factory have all been closed by this Government.\u201d \u2013 Labour leader Chris Hipkins<\/p>\n

Micro quiz<\/p>\n

Which former Labour MP was sworn in again this week to replace Peeni Henare on the list? (Answer at the bottom of this article.)<\/p>\n

Brickbat<\/p>\n

Goes to Courts of New Zealand for removing its information service from the highly subscribed social media platform X in favour of fledgling Bluesky. Making moral judgments about the choices of its users. How about \u201cand, and\u201d, not \u201ceither, or?\u201d<\/p>\n

Bouquet<\/p>\n

Goes to Speaker Gerry Brownlee for challenging a small but important part of the wording<\/a> (not the outcome) of the High Court judgment reinstating Mariameno Kapa-Kingi to Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori, which he argues intrudes into parliamentary procedures.<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s top headlines<\/p>\n

Fuel supply: Govt data show diesel stocks could decline to 11.3 days by Easter<\/a><\/p>\n

Relief package: Govt says thousands more people are eligible for temporary tax credits<\/a><\/p>\n

Opinion: Nicola Willis tells Labour there\u2019s a new sheriff in town \u2013 Thomas Coughlan<\/a><\/p>\n

Storage plan: Govt considers helping refurbish Marsden Point fuel storage tanks<\/a><\/p>\n

NCEA overhaul: Govt confirms new qualifications \u2013 what parents, students need to know<\/a><\/p>\n

Video row: Stanford admits sending promo video to principals through ministerial email<\/a><\/p>\n

Fisheries bill backlash: Critics say Shane Jones\u2019 backdown on size limits not enough<\/a><\/p>\n

Opinion: What Brooke van Velden\u2019s resignation could mean for Act \u2013 Audrey Young<\/a><\/p>\n

Party fundraising: National fundraiser offers $10k dinner with Christopher Luxon<\/a><\/p>\n

Kapa-Kingi ruling: Speaker asks court to recall and reconsider Kapa-Kingi judgment<\/a><\/p>\n

Fuel imports: Govt eases fuel import standards as supply concerns grow<\/a><\/p>\n

Regional Infrastructure Fund: Which private companies have benefitted so far<\/a><\/p>\n

Poll slide: RNZ-Reid Research poll has bleak result for Luxon, but no obvious successors<\/a><\/p>\n

Quiz answer: Dan Rosewarne, a former military officer who was a list MP from 2022 to 2023, and will be Labour\u2019s candidate in Waimakariri.<\/p>\n

For more political news and views, listen to On the Tiles, the Herald\u2019s politics podcast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This was the week that the importance of diesel as the lifeblood of the economy was rammed home,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[35839,138,3013,14107,24004,8452,219,528,7237,191,2944,185,6721,184971,111,6042,139,69,184969,135,88973,8780,6115,5034,11590,92144,7806,184970,17509,765,223,1961,14005,6039,102,4741,1959],"class_list":["post-348049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-audrey","tag-business","tag-but","tag-click","tag-coming","tag-dangerous","tag-economy","tag-far","tag-governments","tag-here","tag-inside","tag-is","tag-labour","tag-navigates","tag-new-zealand","tag-newsletter","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-oilcrisis","tag-politics","tag-preferences","tag-premium","tag-real","tag-response","tag-save","tag-select","tag-sign","tag-slick","tag-so","tag-test","tag-the","tag-this","tag-times","tag-transcript","tag-with","tag-young","tag-your"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}