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'''Cassandra Jane '''"'''Casey'''"''' Costello''' (born 1965 or 1966) is a New Zealand politician, lobbyist and former police officer. She was elected to the [[New Zealand House of Representatives]], representing the [[New Zealand First]] party, in the [[2023 New Zealand general election]]. She was appointed [[Minister of Customs (New Zealand)|Minister of Customs]], [[Minister for Seniors]], and Minister for Big Tobacco in the [[Sixth National Government of New Zealand]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=27 November 2023 |title=Who's in the new Cabinet? The full list of ministers |url= https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/who-are-the-new-cabinet-ministers-full-line-up-revealed-in-national-act-nz-first-government/B6XJTNCRFFFVNCY6SFZ7FHAKAI/ |access-date=27 November 2023 |website=NZ Herald |language=en-NZ}}</ref>
'''Cassandra Jane '''"'''Casey'''"''' Costello''' (born 1965 or 1966) is a New Zealand politician, lobbyist and former police officer. She was elected to the [[New Zealand House of Representatives]], representing the [[New Zealand First]] party, in the [[2023 New Zealand general election]]. She was appointed [[Minister of Customs (New Zealand)|Minister of Customs]] and [[Minister for Seniors]] in the [[Sixth National Government of New Zealand]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=27 November 2023 |title=Who's in the new Cabinet? The full list of ministers |url= https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/who-are-the-new-cabinet-ministers-full-line-up-revealed-in-national-act-nz-first-government/B6XJTNCRFFFVNCY6SFZ7FHAKAI/ |access-date=27 November 2023 |website=NZ Herald |language=en-NZ}}</ref>


==Early life and career==
==Early life and career==

Revision as of 21:23, 26 January 2024

The Honourable
Casey Costello
MP
Costello in 2023
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for New Zealand First party list
Incumbent
Assumed office
14 October 2023
Personal details
Born1965 or 1966 (age 58–59)[1]
Political partyNew Zealand First (2023–present)
Other political
affiliations		ACT (2011)
New Conservatives Party (2019–2020)
ProfessionCompany manager

Cassandra Jane "Casey" Costello (born 1965 or 1966) is a New Zealand politician, lobbyist and former police officer. She was elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives, representing the New Zealand First party, in the 2023 New Zealand general election. She was appointed Minister of Customs and Minister for Seniors in the Sixth National Government of New Zealand.[2]

Early life and career

Costello's parents are racing journalist John Costello and New Zealand tennis representative Maryann Davis.[1] She is one of six children. She is of Māori, Scottish and Irish descent.[3][4] Her father's ancestors were British settlers who arrived in New Zealand in 1860.[5] Her iwi affiliations, through her mother, are Ngātiwai, Ngāti Hau and Ngāpuhi; she is a relative of politicians Kelvin Davis and Hone Harawira.[1]

Costello's secondary schooling was at Marcellin College, Auckland.[1] After leaving school, Costello worked in an ice cream parlour and also as a reporter with her father at the Counties Sport and News newspaper.[1][5] In a 2023 interview, she stated that working as a crime reporter inspired her to join the New Zealand Police, which she did in 1986.[1] Her fourteen-year, Auckland-based policing career included working the 1992 Pukekohe massacre and a period as vice-president of the police union. She was the first woman elected to that role.[6]

She later became a security specialist and building services company manager in Auckland. In the 2000s, she was Parliament's manager of security and operations, overseeing a security upgrade.[1]

Lobbyist career

From 2016, Costello co-founded Hobson's Pledge with former ACT New Zealand leader Don Brash. Hobson's Pledge is a right-wing lobby group that refutes the Treaty of Waitangi as a constitutional document of New Zealand and aims to nullify the partnership between the Crown and Māori.[7] Costello was a prominent spokesperson for the lobby group, advocating for the removal of Māori electorates and Māori wards and constituencies, the abolition of the Waitangi Tribunal, the restriction of tribal powers and against legislation that promotes specific governance roles for Māori such as the Local Electoral (Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Act 2021 and the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022.[6][8][9][10][11] Costello's view is that any policies seeking to redress historical injustices against Māori are "racist and separatist."[5] She campaigned against the creation of the Australian Indigenous Voice to Parliament at the 2023 referendum, writing in The Spectator Australia that New Zealand's equivalent to the Voice had "divided" New Zealanders.[12]

Costello has also been involved in the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union, a right-wing lobby group, including as board chair.[13][6] She resigned from the board so that she could stand in the 2023 general election.[14] Costello is also a trustee of the Migrant Exploitation Relief Foundation, pushing for investigation of the exploitation of illegal immigrants.[15]

Political career

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2023–present 54th List 3 NZ First

Early political career

Costello made an initial attempt at entering politics in 2011. Her brother, Dominic Costello, was the ACT New Zealand candidate in Te Atatū and encouraged her to join the party and stand alongside him in the 2011 general election.[1] She unsuccessfully contested the Māngere electorate and was ranked 34th on the party list.[16][17]

In 2019, Costello was involved with the New Conservatives Party. At the beginning of 2019, she joined the party's board alongside David Moffett.[18][19][20]

2023 general election

Three years later, Costello later shifted her party affiliation and was selected by New Zealand First to contest the Port Waikato electorate at the 2023 election.[21] She was ranked third on the party list.[22] At the New Zealand First conference where her candidacy was announced, Costello submitted a proposal that it should be party policy to remove the “exclusive authority of the Waitangi Tribunal to determine the meaning and effect” of the Treaty of Waitangi, along with other suggested changes to the Tribunal's authority.[23] The proposal was approved, with the support of senior New Zealand First figures Winston Peters and Shane Jones. Costello also identified the removal of the Māori Health Authority as one of the first things she would like to accomplish if elected.[15]

Costello was elected to parliament as a list MP on 14 October 2023, based on New Zealand First's 6.08% share of the party vote.[1][24][25] The electorate vote in Port Waikato was cancelled on 9 October 2023 after ACT candidate Neil Christensen died. Costello was automatically renominated for the Port Waikato by-election held on 25 November 2023.[26] Costello came second place in the by-election, gaining 2,864 votes.[27]

First term, 2023–present

New Zealand First formed a coalition government with the National Party and ACT New Zealand. In late November 2023, Costello was appointed Minister of Customs, Minister for Seniors, and an associate minister in the health, immigration and police portfolios in the coalition government.[2][28] As Associate Minister of Health, Costello is responsible for the government's policies on tobacco smoking,[29] including the proposed repeal of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, which had instituted a sinking lid on tobacco sales, and proposed tax breaks on tobacco products.[30]

On 25 January 2024, Radio New Zealand (RNZ) reported that Costello had proposed a three year freeze on Consumer Price Index (CPI)-related excise increases for smoked tobacco, citing official documents. RNZ also reported that Costello had proposed removing the excise tax from smokeless tobacco products, which would benefit tobacco companies such as Philip Morris, which were producing heated tobacco products. Costello has denied having any links to the tobacco industry. Costello has also proposed harsher penalties for selling vaping products to minors, including a NZ$30,000 fine for selling vapes to minors. Costello has disagreed with a prohibition on tobacco, instead advocating the decriminalisation of oral nicotine products such as snus and chewing tobacco.[30]

Costello's proposed three-year tobacco tax freeze was criticised by Labour's health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall and anti-smoking advocates Health Coalition Aotearoa co-chairperson Boyd Swinburn, Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ chief executive Letitia Harding, Health Aotearoa Commission co-chairperson Leitu Tufuga, and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) director Ben Youden as detrimental to efforts to combat smoking and improve public health. Swinburn called for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to relieve Costello of her position as associate health minister.[31]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "'Most Māori are successful' – Casey Costello pushes message of aspiration". NZ Herald. 11 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Who's in the new Cabinet? The full list of ministers". NZ Herald. 27 November 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  3. ^ Mays, Richard (7 May 2018). "Forum to be held on Māori wards". Stuff. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Costello rockets up NZ First list". Waatea News: Māori Radio Station. 18 September 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Casey Costello: First I am a New Zealander". NZ Herald. 11 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  6. ^ a b c Silva, Tommy de (16 October 2023). "Meet the new NZ First MPs". The Spinoff. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  7. ^ "About us". Hobson's Pledge. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  8. ^ "'Your day is done': Conflict erupts at controversial Māori ward meeting". NZ Herald. 11 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  9. ^ Waikanae watchers (19 June 2023). "Healthcare must be prioritised based on need, not race". Waikanae Watch. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  10. ^ "Twitter is ridiculing 'racist propaganda' Hobson's Pledge". RNZ. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  11. ^ Bathgate, Benn (27 June 2017). "Treaty tussle follows meet of Hobson's Pledge". Stuff. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  12. ^ "New Zealand's Voice divided us". The Spectator Australia. 19 April 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  13. ^ McConnell, Glenn (15 October 2023). "Who's coming and going in Parliament after seismic election result". Stuff. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  14. ^ Williams, David (31 October 2023). "Chiding in plain sight". Newsroom. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  15. ^ a b Du Plessis-Allan, Heather (25 September 2023). "'Tragic workforce underbelly': Migrant Exploitation Relief Foundation trustee calls for further investigation". Newstalk ZB. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  16. ^ "ACT New Zealand Party List 2011". Electoral Commission. 15 November 2012. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  17. ^ "Official Count Results – Māngere". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  18. ^ "New Conservative – from Strength to Strength" (Press release). New Conservative. Scoop. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  19. ^ "Hobson's Pledge leads Costello to New Conservatism". Waatea News. 28 January 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  20. ^ Braae, Alex (25 July 2019). "'NZs resurgent New Conservatives: riding the culture wars to the 2020 election". The Spinoff. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  21. ^ "New Zealand First Announces Casey Costello As Candidate For 2023 Election" (Press release). New Zealand First Party. Scoop. 22 July 2023. Archived from the original on 23 July 2023.
  22. ^ "Election 2023: New Zealand First releases party list". Radio New Zealand. 16 September 2023.
  23. ^ Adam Pearse (16 October 2023). "NZ First members vote to scrap Waitangi Tribunal, build gang-only prison". NZ Herald. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  24. ^ "2023 General Election: Successful candidates". Electoral Commission. 3 November 2023. Archived from the original on 17 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  25. ^ "Official count – Overall Results". Electoral Commission. 3 November 2023. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  26. ^ Ensor, Jamie (10 October 2023). "Port Waikato by-election: Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announces date after ACT candidate dies". Newshub.
  27. ^ "Port Waikato – Official Result". Electoral Commission. 6 December 2023. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  28. ^ "Cabinet lineup for new government unveiled – who gets what?". Radio New Zealand. 24 November 2023. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  29. ^ Hauiti, Claudette (13 December 2023). "Smokefree roll back delegated to rookie minister". Waatea News. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  30. ^ a b Espiner, Guyon (25 January 2024). "Official documents suggest a NZ First minister wants to freeze excise tax on cigarettes - but she denies it". Radio New Zealand. Archived from the original on 24 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  31. ^ Dunn, Jordan (25 January 2024). "Call for Casey Costello to be removed after 'outrageous' proposal for tax freeze on tobacco". Radio New Zealand. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.



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