Giles Dexter

1 week ago | rnz.co.nz | Giles Dexter

Minister for Regulation, David Seymour, has denied regulatory reviews carried out by the ministry have been for anyone's political benefit, in a tense select committee hearing at Parliament in which two Labour MPs had to apologise for swearing. Seymour appeared before the Finance and Expenditure Committee as part of Scrutiny Week, to face questions on the budget for the Ministry of Regulation.

1 week ago | rnz.co.nz | Russell Palmer |Giles Dexter

The government wants Sport New Zealand to help curb youth offending, but says the funding being redirected for those initiatives will not be put into the young offender "boot camps". Sport and Recreation Minister Mark Mitchell - who also has the Police and Corrections portfolios - unveiled the findings of a review into the Crown agency last month, resulting in savings of $2.9 million a year and moving its strategic policy arm to the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

1 week ago | radionz.co.nz | Russell Palmer |Giles Dexter

The government wants Sport New Zealand to help curb youth offending, but says the funding being redirected for those initiatives will not be put into the young offender "boot camps". Sport and Recreation Minister Mark Mitchell - who also has the Police and Corrections portfolios - unveiled the findings of a review into the Crown agency last month, resulting in savings of $2.9 million a year and moving its strategic policy arm to the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

1 week ago | rnz.co.nz | Giles Dexter

The minister in charge of emergency housing has been unable to say whether homelessness has increased under this government, saying frontline providers have made "a variety" of comments to him. Providers and advocates have told RNZ they have been seeing a spike in homelessness, with some blaming changes the government has made to emergency housing access.

2 weeks ago | rnz.co.nz | Giles Dexter

New Zealand's prison population is expected to increase by 36 percent over the next decade. The Ministry of Justice projects there will be 14,230 prisoners in June 2035, up from 10,488 in February 2025. The projections take into account government policies like the reinstatement of 'Three Strikes', and reforms to cap sentencing discounts and introduce more aggravating factors.