Winston Peters
Acting Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
Minister, Disarmament and Arms Control
Minister, Foreign Affairs
Minister, Racing
Minister, State Owned Enterprises
Kia ora. Good afternoon. Today, Cabinet discussed the worrying spike in the number of people dying from synthetic cannabis. There have been 40 to 45 suspected synthetic cannabis - related deaths since June last year. Cabinet reviewed the actions that the agencies are currently taking, and the Ministers of Health, Justice, Police, and Customs will now be seeking coordinated advice from their various agencies on how to best urgently reduce the size and the supply of this drug, with the aim of turning this spike around and getting this dangerous drug out of our communities.
We also signed off on a recruitment process for the chief of the staff of the army, navy and air force, and this will be run by the State Services Commission. It’s unusual to have the heads of each branch to be chosen all at the same time, or in the same year, over the last decade. Given the recent appointment of a new Chief of Defence Force, this represents something of a changing of the guard, so to speak, and a new era in our defence forces. By the end of the year, it will be an entirely new leadership across our defence forces to lead this Government’s new defence strategy and manoeuvre us forward to an increasingly complex geopolitical defence environment.
This week, I’ll attend Parliament’s question time on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then on Wednesday evening depart for Singapore to attend the ASEAN regional forum and the East Asia Summit ministerial meeting as Minister of Foreign Affairs. While in Singapore, I’ll attend a number of formal bilateral meetings and informal discussions as well, with counterparts. We are likely to discuss a wide range of Asia-Pacific security and prosperity topics, and I’ll be stressing the importance of the rules-based international order in enhancing peace and prosperity in Asia-Pacific. I can also confirm that as a result of my travel to the ASEAN forum, the Prime Minister will resume her duties at the time the plane takes off, midnight, Wednesday night.
The Prime Minister will be based in Auckland this Thursday and Friday, as usual. She will travel to Wellington on Saturday with her partner and baby and set up her family in the Prime Minister’s residence at Premier House. She will be based out of Wellington for the following two weeks of the House’s sitting period and undertaking the bulk of her duties locally with day travel.
As such, today will be my last post-Cabinet press conference as Acting Prime Minister, and for that reason a number of you have asked for my observations about this tenure. First, the coalition Government has remained stable and fully functional in the last six weeks, and our poll information has the governing parties rising further in the polls. This demonstrates the successful operation of an MMP Government and proves that we are a stable and constructive group in Government, regardless of what some early naysayers may have rather unwisely said.
Second, this Government has continued to work in the interests of New Zealand, and in the last six weeks we have seen the Families Package and winter energy payments start, the purchase decision of the Defence Force P-8 maritime patrol planes made, the Reserve Bank monetary policy bill tabled, the start of an inquiry into the appointment of the police deputy commissioner, and the ongoing management of the industrial dispute with nurses. This is an impressive record of achievement for any Government in a six-week period, and highlights the breadth of issues we are dealing with and moving the country in the right direction on. On that final point, regarding nurses, on behalf of Cabinet can I welcome the effective implementation accord, signed today, between the NZ Nurses Organisation and our DHBs.
It’s an important step for DHBs to deliver on commitments about staffing and resources so that nurses, midwives, and healthcare assistants can provide the care required in this country. It’s also a further recognition from this Government of the importance and professionalism of our nursing force around New Zealand.
Any questions?