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- Engage-in-Brief: 14 July 2025
Engage-in-Brief: 14 July 2025
Holly Bennett
July 14, 2025
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LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK
As we mentioned a few issues ago, I have started a development sprint with market-leading software development organisation Edition, which has the first job of improving (aka rebuilding and relaunching) our platform for our professional users — i.e YOU!
As we be begin to develop this work, we’d love to get any feedback from our Engage-in-Brief whānau on what they want to see from a government relations and lobbying education platform, what up-skilling your teams need now (or in the future) and your ideal price point(s). If you’re interested, respond to this email and we'll sort out a time to have a kōrero. The things you want to see are golden to me! All feedback discussions will come with a 5% discount on your next Engage course — or any other purchase… stay tuned for more about what that might look like, too!
TWO TRICKS TO TRY
Most people know all about Question Time, which is one of the rowdiest and most-watched parts of Parliament’s sitting day. But the oral questions have a less well-known counterpart — Written Questions (or WPQs). Far less dramatic, but sometimes more insightful, WPQs let MPs question Ministers on a wide range of matters. Pick a Minister relevant to your advocacy work, and take a look at some of the recent questions they’ve answered. You can learn a lot about what Ministers have been doing — and just as much about what areas Opposition MPs are focused on for each portfolio.
You probably know who the relevant Minister is for the subject of your advocacy work (especially if you’ve just tried this week’s Trick One!), but do you know if there are associate Ministers? Most associate Ministers have very specific areas within the portfolio that they are responsible for, so you might need to engage with them instead of — or as well as — the lead Minister. Check out this list of delegations on the Beehive website so you can make sure your advocacy is going to the right person!
ONE THING YOU NEED TO KNOW
If you’re a regular reader of Engage-in-Brief, you’ll know we strongly believe that being well-informed and properly briefed is one of the most important parts of all advocacy. Most of the time, all that prep and research is focused on the immediate issues at hand — and that goes for both advocates and officials.
But it’s also important to think about things on a longer timeline where possible. From an advocacy perspective, you need to have an idea of the direction you want your mahi to take in the months and years ahead, because decisions you make now may have ripple effects long into the future.
Government departments are no different — in fact, the Public Service Act 2020 requires them to think about issues in the long term! Every three years, each department must publish a Long-term Insights Briefing (LTIB). These are briefings on the future, not on current government policy, and are developed independently of ministers. They cover a huge range of topics, from automated vehicles to the future of job productivity to what the food production sector might look like in 2050.
Reading an LTIB gives you insights and information about medium and long-term trends, risks and opportunities that may affect New Zealand in the years ahead, and provides information and impartial analysis about these matters — including suggested policy options that future Governments might take.
None of us have a working crystal ball, but having an idea of what’s coming down the line means you can be ready to go when issues arise — and even get ahead of them. Change doesn’t happen overnight, and long-term thinking turns into enduring results!
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FROM OUR TAUIRA
"The background information on Government and how it works, the structure of the office of a Minister and Electorate, draft strategy. And the final session where we brainstormed our activity for the year ahead - I loved the whole day. One of the most valuable sessions I've attended."
ONE FUNNY THING
While Parliament has been on a two-week recess during the school holidays (fun fact: Parliament almost never sits during the school holidays — check out the sitting calendar if you don’t believe us!), we haven’t had as many funny moments to share.
Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending how you look at it), the politics never stops in the USA these days, so this week’s Funny Thing comes from Comedy Central’s The Daily Show.
While it’s actually still surprisingly common for international diplomacy to be carried out via formal letter, they’re usually addressed to the recipient by name.
If you’re interested in learning more about some of the less well-known forms of international engagement that our MPs get up to, take a look at Parliament’s Inter-Parliamentary Relations pages.
That’s it for this edition of Engage-in-Brief. Parliament’s kicking off a three-week sitting block, so the rest of July is looking pretty busy! If you need training to support your advocacy efforts simply reply to this email.
Mauri ora!
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