This edition of NewsRoom_Digest contains 9 links for the day from Monday 27th July.
Top stories in the current news cycle include concerns over a leaked document that reportedly shows the Government plans an overhaul to the governance of District Health Boards, responses to the weekend’s announcement of government reforms to entice migrants to live in the regions and the commencement of Maori Language Week.
NewsRoom_Monitor: As well as providing a precis of news bulletins from RNZ and the opening news on both TV channels each day, our NewsRoom_Monitor services does a daily paper round with succinct ‘news picks’ from the main metropolitan papers emailed by 9am each morning. You can sign up to trial just this part of NewsRoom at http://newsroomplus.com/free-trial/
POLITICS PULSE
NewsRoom will publish its regular snapshot of the Prime Minister’s post-Cabinet Press Conference tomorrow.
Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included:
Government: Reappointments to Education Payroll Limited Board; Agency sought to help reduce cyberbullying; Apprentices served well by Code of Practice; Minister celebrates 40th Māori Language Week; Inspection of Waikato DHB’s mental health service; Improved access to up-to-date cancer info; celebrating 150 years since Wellington became the capital; Successful negotiations to liberalise tariffs on IT products to benefit NZ exporters; Food Safety Minister to travel to Vietnam; Improving spread of skills, investment across NZ, Minister seeks assurance following arrest; Judge Armstrong Appointed To Māori Land Court; New classrooms confirmed to meet Auckland growth
Labour: Government’s plans to take a scalpel to democratically elected health boards considered deceitful; Key is trading away New Zealand land and homes; Bank puts the squeeze on mid Canterbury farmers; Spin lines show a department in chaos; Ladder removal gets tenants fired up and endangers lives; Labour will fix broken health and safety bill; Nats miss another opportunity to fix housing crisis
Greens: MPs should back Te Reo in schools; Privatising environmental decisions will cost the environment and the public
New Zealand First: Health and safety reforms – a Pandora’s box for New Zealanders; Australian diver killed by shark highlights Stewart Island fears
NZ National Party: PM reiterates commitment to open New Zealand
ACT Party: Council must keep its hands off our AECT dividends
Maori Party: Getting behind Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori
SNIPPETS OF THE DAY
Immigration changes welcomed: The change to the Immigration points system for provincial New Zealand is good news for hospitality, says Bruce Robertson, Hospitality New Zealand Chief Executive.
NZCTU: 10 Pike Rivers since Key’s “broken” promise – widow: A family held a silent vigil with 291 crosses as the Prime Minister gave his key-note speech in Auckland at the National Party annual conference at Skycity.
Volunteers’ fears safely relieved by Health and Safety amendments: Volunteering New Zealand is pleased that many volunteers’ fears that their roles and responsibilities would be increasingly complicated by the Health and Safety Reform Bill will today be relieved following the release of the revised report from the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee.
LINKS OF THE DAY
AGRI COMMODITIES MONTHLY: The return of beneficial dry weather in the US reverted some of the June and early July price gains in grains. Read Agricultural Market report here:https://www.rabobank.com/downloads/research/Agri_Commodities_Monthly_July_2015.pdf
ANNUAL FRUIT EXPORTS HITS RECORD: The annual value of fruit exports reached an all-time high of $2 billion in the year ended June 2015, Statistics New Zealand said today. See Agricultural Production Statistics: June 2014 (final) for more details: http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/industry_sectors/agriculture-horticulture-forestry/AgriculturalProduction_final_HOTPJun14final.aspx
COMPANY POLICIES: 61 per cent of New Zealand employers admit that they don’t have a diversity policy in place for hiring new staff, according to findings in the recently released 2015 Hays Salary Guide. Get your copy of the 2015 Hays Salary Guide by visiting http://www.hays.net.nz/salary-guide
EARLY DIAGNOSIS OF LUNG CANCER: The Health Quality & Safety Commission has released a new Atlas of Healthcare Variation domain, focusing on diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer in public hospitals. The lung cancer Atlas domain is available here: http://www.hqsc.govt.nz/our-programmes/health-quality-evaluation/projects/atlas-of-healthcare-variation/lung-cancer/
HEALTH AND SAFETY REFORM BILL: On 24 July 2015 the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee finally reported on the Health and Safety Reform Bill. The Bill was introduced to Parliament in March 2014. To read more on the proposed Bill, please click here: http://www.bellgully.com/resources/resource.04034.asp
INTELLIGENCE SERVICES: The NZ Council for Civil Liberties is pleased to host Get Smart – the People’s Review of the Intelligence Services – with meetings to be held in Wellington (29 July), Auckland (6 August). For more information see: http://nzccl.org.nz/content/get-smart-intelligence-review
KEEP TE REO MĀORI ALIVE: The use of te reo Māori is on the rise. More parents are speaking te reo to their infants, in comparison to their own childhood. The number of toddlers of Māori descent who understand te reo has also increased. Find the full policy brief online at http://www.growingup.co.nz/en/news-and-events/news/news-2015/nz-children-helping-to-keep-te-reo-maori-alive.html
RURAL BROADBAND: To check their eligibility for Spark’s Rural Wireless Broadband service today Spark customers can go to http://www.spark.co.nz/rural
SAFE CALLS FOR END OF RODEO: Animal advocacy organisations SAFE, SPCA and Farmwatch have joined forces in a coalition calling for a ban on rodeo, saying it is both unethical and inherently cruel. Know more here:https://www.change.org/p/the-new-zealand-house-of-representatives-ban-rodeo-in-new-zealand-9b0f7505-a419-4e25-bc54-a1a2cc7a0e27
UNMET HEALTH NEEDS: “The latest figures out of a district health board are further evidence that an increasing number of people are not getting the health care they need from public hospitals,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). More can be read at: http://www.asms.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ASMS-support-for-unmet-need-research-project_163854.1.pdf.
And that’s our sampling of the day that was on Monday 27th July 2015.
Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest. –]]>
