NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for November 03, 2015

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 7 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Tuesday 3rd November. NEWSROOM_MONITOR Top stories in the current news cycle include Auckland’s average house prices creeping ever closer to the million dollar mark and news of a big jump in the number of times police are attending call outs to deal with mentally ill people. POLITICS PULSE Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included: Government: Legislation to help councils plan for future; Productivity Commission to examine new models of tertiary education; Four tonnes of tobacco abandoned at airports;Business.govt.nz recognised for outstanding work; More flexibility for tertiary enrolments; McClay to attend Asia-Europe Foreign Ministers Meeting; New Bill to set up trans-Tasman patent attorney regime; Wine and Spirit geographical registration coming; $16m additional funding for Canterbury DHB; New rules for Filipino dairy workers; Next step for 600-home development in Chch Greens:Govt can help victims of domestic violence stay in work; Conservation Week celebrations empty without real commitment to conservation; Govt should back Kiwibank to drive down bank profits Labour: Review timely but ineffective without funding; Pressure on DHBs as scalpel taken to funding; Minister’s attempt to silence judges rejected; Rapidly rising house prices shows bright line test failure; Government doubles down on loose governance; Parata in denial over early childhood education cuts New Zealand First: Police Picking Up Pieces From Neglected Mental Health Services;Record Immigration Stretching Hospitals, Schools, Housing LINKS OF THE DAY Links of the day have been a feature of NewsRoom_Digest since we first started production in August 2014 CANCER MEDICINE ACCESS: A new analysis by PHARMAC of cancer medicine access in Australia and New Zealand shows that New Zealanders are getting access to the best cancer medicines available. View the analysis at:www.pharmac.health.nz/cancer-outcomes-comparison ELECTRICITY SECTOR CONSULTATION: The Electricity Authority today released a consultation paper which looks at how batteries, consumer apps, electric vehicles, solar panels, smart meters and other emerging technologies are affecting the electricity sector. The consultation documents are available here:http://www.ea.govt.nz/development/work-programme/transmission-distribution/distribution-pricing-review/consultations/#c15642 EMPLOYMENT GROWTH: New Zealand’s strong employment growth between 2001 and 2012 drew in a disproportionate number of lower skilled workers according to Motu Economic and Public Policy Research. Read more: http://www.motu.org.nz/our-work/productivity-and-innovation/firm-productivity-and-performance/firm-productivity-growth-and-skill/ HOUSING PRICES: Auckland’s average house prices are creeping ever closer to the million dollar mark according to newly released QV figures. More information is available at: https://www.qv.co.nz/resources/news/article?blogId=208 LOW FUEL PRICES: The price of fuel fell a total of 8 cents a litre during October, reducing petrol prices to their lowest level since April, and diesel to the lowest price since February 2015. For more information, go to:www.aa.co.nz/petrolwatch POLICE ANNUAL REPORT: The latest police annual report shows officers are dealing with three times as many people suffering from mental distress, and eight times as many people who are suicidal, as they were in the late 1990s. The report is available at: http://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/publication/annual-report-2015 RAW MILK REMINDER: The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is reminding consumers to take care when drinking raw unpasteurised milk, which is considered a high-risk food. Read more:http://www.foodsmart.govt.nz/food-safety/high-risk-foods/raw-milk/rawmilk.htm And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Tuesday 3rd November. Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest. –]]>