Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills

It's time for our Politics Panel and this week Nick Mills is joined by Labour MP Ayesha Verrall and National MP for Otaki Tim Costley.
Starting with Minister Casey Costello's statement that she is considering a review on excise tax of tobacco. We hear what Verrall and Costley think of this stance and how do we address the growth of the illicit tobacco trade.
The death of a man who spent 9 hours in the Waikato Hospital Emergency Department has bought attention to ED wait times. How are the politicians working to stop this tragedy from ever happening again?
And the big reveal earlier in the week that MSD had a metric for staff of emergency housing numbers, potentially incentivising staff to deny the support. Plus, the panel discuss regulating politicians on social media.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington City Mayor Andrew Little joins Nick Mills in the studio for the July edition of his monthly catch up.
Mayor Little takes Nick's and callers questions for the hour on the latest in the capital.
They hit the top stories of the week including the council's public defiance of move on orders, solutions to our homeless problem and how we can get the city looking and feeling good again.
Then onto the three advisory groups put together by the council to improve the city. Why did the Mayor go back on his opinion he was against forming these boards? And Nick asks how the success will be measured.
And Tiaki Wai makes it to day 2. How has the transition gone and what does Wellington have in store with our new water entity.
Plus, Nick and the Mayor celebrate the 3 Michelin stars Wellington businesses were awarded this week.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nick Mills talks with co-founder of STILL Minding the Gap, Jo Cribb this morning about the start of the new "Lift the Lid" campaign, which is pushing for mandatory gender pay gap reporting in New Zealand.
In New Zealand the gender pay gap is 5.2% for women, 12% for Māori wahine and 16% for Pacific women. Cribb believes more transparency from businesses will shut the gap and allow fair pay.
They discuss why the campaign is calling for greater pay transparency, her own experience with the gender pay gap, the economic and social impacts of the gap, and why she believes making pay gaps public is the first step towards closing them.
The campaign relates pulling the related bill from the tin in parliament to a cookie tin - for more details and to add your cookie (voice) to the tin check out their website STILLMindingTheGap.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Three Wellington restaurants were awarded the highly sought, world famous Michelin stars last night.
Winners Steve Logan from Logan Brown, and Mark Limacher from Ortega Fish Shack join Nick on the show to celebrate the wins.
Logan (Logan Brown) says the business been hit by the tough economic times in Wellington, but the star reaffirms the work they've done over the last 30 years.
Limacher (Ortega Fish Shack) is buzzing over the star and shares how the team is feeling.
According to Limacher that team is what sets Ortega apart, "it's people that love what they're doing".
He says the stars are a huge win for the whole hospitality industry.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EDITORIAL: Now for me one of the biggest problems facing politics today isn't the just the economy, it's not just crime, it's not just health, it's not even just the cost of living, which are all hugely important.
But it’s one word: trust.
Who do we trust in politics?
Do we actually believe what politicians tell us anymore?
Because if we don't, then don’t we have a real problem?
This latest story involving Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke has genuinely disappointed me.
Not because she's from Te Pāti Māori. Not because she's young. Actually, because she represented something different.
She arrived in Parliament as one of the new generation.
Young, energetic, hugely popular on social media, someone many people thought could genuinely inspire young Māori to get involved in politics.
Whether you agreed with her politics or not, there was a sense that she could become a powerful voice for her people, young people.
That's why this matters.
Stuff has now questioned a series of social media posts where Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke appeared to claim credit for work that ministers say she wasn't involved in.
The latest involves extending free breast screening from age 69 to 74.
The policy was promised before the 2023 election by then National health spokesperson Shane Reti, funded in the 2024 Budget and is now being rolled out.
Yet Maipi-Clarke posted that she had been "supporting the minister" and described it as an announcement she'd been working on since last year.
After questions were raised, the wording of that post has suddenly changed.
And this one really stings for me.
I've known a number of Māori women, people very close to me, who've battled breast cancer.
So, when a young Māori wāhine appears to be claiming a significant role in something so important for her own people, if that claim isn't accurate, that's incredibly disappointing.
For me breast cancer is too serious to become part of anyone's political image.
But it's not just this.
Last week another social media post was deleted after questions were raised about claims she'd spent 65 percent of her time advocating for young people in prisons and youth justice facilities.
According to the article, the office of the Corrections Minister said she had visited one prison once since becoming an MP, while the Children's Minister said she had never visited, or even asked to visit, an Oranga Tamariki youth justice facility.
Those are enormous differences between what people were led to believe, what we were told and what ministers say actually happened.
Every politician likes to put their best foot forward. Every politician celebrates wins.
But here’s the line.
If you supported a policy, say you supported it.
If you campaigned for a policy, say you campaigned for it.
If you delivered it, then by all means take the credit.
But don't leave thousands of followers believing you've done work you may, or probably have not done.
Social media is where many New Zealanders, me included now get their political information. Watch, study and keep in their minds.
That means politicians have an even greater responsibility to get it right. Even greater responsibility to tell the damn truth.
Because if we can't trust what our elected representatives are telling us online, then what exactly are we supposed to believe?
Politics doesn't need more spin.
It needs more honesty.
And I think New Zealanders deserve exactly that.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.