Politics

The National Party’s Joseph Mooney has taken over the tourism portfolio following a reshuffle caused by Todd Muller’s decision to not stand at the general election in October.

Department of Conservation huts continue to use coal as a power source two years after a planned move to transfer all huts to wood by 2021, according to ACT conservation spokesperson Nicole McKee.

The National Party has criticised the Better Work Action Plan for failing to address the staff shortages being suffered across the tourism sector.

The National Party has revoked support for the Self-Contained Motor Vehicles Legislation Bill because of how the proposed legislation approaches the kinds of toilets campers would be able to use.

Tourism spokesperson Todd McClay says the Nats will ease immigration rules and scrap median wage requirements to help operators.

New Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ reshuffle of government posts has seen the conservation portfolio land outside cabinet.

Chris Hipkins has taken over as New Zealand’s 41st prime minister after being sworn in today by Governor General Dame Cindy Kiro.

Tourism Minister Stuart Nash has stepped in as acting Minister of Police and Jan Tinetti as acting Minister of Education.

Tourism stakeholders praise Jacinda Ardern’s contribution to New Zealand’s profile on the world stage.

The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October and advance voting will start on Monday 2 October.

Jacinda Ardern acted decisively to tackle Covid but the govt’s response to ongoing challenges became ragged and appeared increasingly ideological to many in industry.

Ardern said that leading the country for the past five-and-a-half years has been an “enormous privilege”.

McClay now holds the opposition tourism, trade, and hunting and fishing portfolios.

New Zealand Māori Tourism chair Dale Stephens will run as the Christchurch Central candidate for the National Party in the 2023 general election after being selected by local members.

Labour’s inaction has left the tourism and hospitality sectors facing a critical shortage of workers and risks leaving struggling business poorer, McClay says.

Shadow tourism spokesperson Todd McClay calls it “little more than hot air” that does not help struggling operators.

National’s tourism spokesperson Todd McClay has criticised the length of time the government is taking to launch the $54m Innovation Programme for Tourism Recovery.

Fiordland businesses are suffering at the hands of the government’s changes to the working holiday visa and skilled migrant categories, says National Party Southland MP Joseph Mooney.

McClay said the wait time for visitor visas is now so bad that INZ has removed the standard processing times from its website.

ACT Party leader David Seymour is calling for the government to remove all vaccination requirements because he believes they are preventing visitors from returning to New Zealand.

A new national register of self-contained vehicles accessible by the public will be established, says Tourism Minister Stuart Nash.

The National Party has criticised the government’s Industry Transformation Plan for tourism as having little impact on the current staff shortages the sector is facing.

The National Party is calling on Stuart Nash to rescind his “damaging” comments about backpackers, who the tourism minister has implied are not valuable visitors for New Zealand.

The National Party is calling on the government to add a six-month extension to all working holiday visas that are due to expire this year.

Immigration Minister Michael Woods must listen to businesses that are struggling to find labour and urgently address the country’s critical worker shortages, says National Party immigration spokesperson Erica Stanford.

National Party Covid-19 response spokesperson Chris Bishop is calling on the government to drop pre-departure testing requirements for incoming visitors “right now”.

The government and Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi have put a “handbrake” on the tourism industry because of their failure to attract skilled workers from overseas, according to the National Party.

ACT party leader David Seymour is calling on the government to explain why it has chosen to stagger the border reopening.

The Auditor General’s Report on the Strategic Tourism Asset Protection Programme confirmed that this Labour government has been biased and unfair, says National tourism spokesperson Todd McClay.

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The government needs to bring forward isolation-free travel for vaccinated and tested visitors before more tourism businesses close, says National’s tourism spokesperson, Todd McClay.

National Party’s tourism spokesperson says the minister won’t decide how the sector is shaped in the recovery – industry will.

The government is abandoning the NZ tourism industry, says the National Party’s Todd McClay.

Kiwis need to know what support is available for struggling industries, when gathering limits on hospitality will be removed, and when vaccine passes will no longer be required, says the National Party.

The National Party has criticised the government’s Omicron response, saying New Zealand needs to reopen to the world.

The ACT Party is calling on the Government to end its “ban on travel” to New Zealand.

The government’s priority should be saving tourism businesses struggling to pay their bills and survive, rather than passing regulation on campervans, says National’s tourism spokesperson Todd McClay.  

MIQ should be scrapped for double-vaccinated arrivals now, says the National Party.

Rotorua MP Todd McClay has fallen out of the National Party’s shadow cabinet following new leader Chris Luxon’s reshuffle.

The government’s proposed restrictions on freedom camping do not do enough to protect, says National MP Maureen Pugh.

The Botany MP has taken the top job with Nicola Willis elected deputy leader.

Tourism and hospitality businesses need more details from the government about its proposed ‘traffic light’ system, says Todd McClay.

The government’s tourism Industry Transformation Plan shows it is unaware of the harm being done to the sector, says Todd McClay.

New Zealand should follow Australia’s lead and scrap managed isolation and quarantine for fully vaccinated travellers, says National’s Covid-19 response spokesperson Chris Bishop.

The Department of Conservation’s decision to end the waiver for concession fees at the end of this year will force some operators out of business, says the National Party.

The Back in Business plan also includes $100 ‘dine & discover’ vouchers to help hospo, accom, and tourism.

Tourism operators around the country need more support and more specifics as the loss of the Auckland market renders businesses untenable, says Todd McClay.

Opposition parties have released border re-opening plans that focus on a move away from eradication to containing Covid-19 but refrain from setting specific dates for lifting border restrictions.

The extension of Copvid-19 alert level 4 settings for Auckland and level 2 elsewhere into next week will be the final straw for many businesses, says National’s Todd McClay.