Donald Trump assassination attempt kicks off a week that shook the world – Audrey Young

Audrey Young is the New Zealand Herald’s senior political correspondent. She was named Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards in 2023, 2020 and 2018.

OPINION

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Welcome to the Politics Briefing in a week that shook the world. The attempted assassination of former US President Donald Trump at the weekend will undoubtedly change the presidential election and political history. Already his survival and immediate response has galvanised the Republican Party and given it a sense of unity and invincibility it may not otherwise have had.

It will almost certainly extend Trump’s lead over President Joe Biden and increase pressure on Biden to step aside for a more agile candidate. It also means there will be a greater focus on the foreign policy differences between the candidates – differences that would affect New Zealand.

The hallmark of Biden’s term has been expanding alliances, formal and informal, in response to aggression by Russia and China. It’s why New Zealand has joined the Indo Pacific sub-branch of Nato (the IP4) and why Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has started to talk up Aukus pillar 2.

Former Prime Minister and foreign policy specialist Helen Clark is better equipped than almost anyone to detect shifts in foreign policy messaging. This week she, with Don Brash, seized upon a significant interview Luxon gave to the Financial Times at the Nato summit in Washington.

“These statements orient New Zealand towards being a full-fledged military ally of the United States, with the implication that New Zealand will increasingly be dragged into US-China competition, including militarily in the South China Sea,” Clark and Brash said.

TPM, Seymour trade barbs over Pharmac Treaty shift

Meanwhile, Act leader David Seymour this week has been making the most of his second stint at Acting Prime Minister. The centrepiece of his announcements was the letter he sent to the Pharmac board some time ago setting out his expectations for change, including dropping any consideration of the Treaty of Waitangi in its decisions.

Patient Voices Aotearoa advocate Malcolm Mulholland said there was no evidence the previous Treaty direction had made any difference to Māori patients.

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa Packer responded: “Seymour thinks it is inappropriate for Pharmac to consider the Treaty, I say it is inappropriate for a racist to decide the Treaty’s place in the health sector.”

Seymour replied: “They speak for perhaps one in six Māori. The vast majority of New Zealanders, including the vast majority of Māori, want nothing to do with their race fanaticism.”

The heat may have been taken out of US politics temporarily, but it is still bubbling away here.

Quote unquote

“I can’t tell the Reserve Bank Governor what to do, but you don’t need an economics degree to see people are hurting, inflation is going down fast and relief is required” – Act leader David Seymour tells the Reserve Bank what to do.

Micro quiz

Foreign Minister Winston Peters has been at the 10th Pacific Island Leaders Meeting (Palm) this week, which began in 1997. Which country hosts the meeting? (Answer below.)

Brickbat

Goes to Tauranga District Council officials who are refusing to release the guest-list of a dinner for 150 it co-hosted in May (but did not fund). It just proves the adage that news is something someone doesn’t want printed. Good luck to the Bay of Plenty Times with its appeal to the Ombudsman.

Bouquet

Goes to Patient Voices Aotearoa advocate Malcolm Mulholland for his effective influence on the reform of Pharmac.

Latest political news and views

Pharmac shift: Associate Health Minister David Seymour has instructed Pharmac to stop considering the Treaty of Waitangi in its decision-making.

Tana probe: The Green Party has released the executive summary of its report into what MP Darleen Tana knew about allegations of migrant exploitation at her husband’s company.

Aukus warning: Former PM Helen Clark and former National and Act leader Don Brash have again warned that the Government is dragging New Zealand into a US-China conflict.

Race relations: New Zealand First deputy leader Shane Jones says Te Pāti Māori’s “racist” rhetoric is driving a divide between New Zealanders.

Climate policy: The Government is no longer on track to meet its third emissions budget, according to projections released with its draft Emissions Reduction Plan yesterday.

Opinion: From bicycles to buildings to farming to oil and gas, “economic necessity” should not be the enemy of climate action, writes Simon Wilson.

Opinion: How did PM Christopher Luxon perform at his first Nato Summit? As well as he could given the Biden-shaped elephant in every room, writes Claire Trevett.

Health NZ resignations: Two surprise resignations from Health New Zealand’s board mean just two people remain.

Police pay: The Police Association has lost in final-offer arbitration, with the Government’s proposal to increase police pay being chosen.

Aged care: The Aged Care Association is warning more than 340 aged care beds will require premium charges if Health NZ doesn’t increase the sector’s funding.

Trump rally shooting: New Zealand’s political leaders have condemned “political violence” following the attempted assassination of former US president Donald Trump.

Quiz answer: Japan