Politics Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – 13 December 2017 – Today’s content
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.
Below are the links to the items online. The full text of these items are contained in the PDF file (click to download).
SIS
Dominion Post Editorial: Watchdog bites the SIS for acting illegally
David Fisher (Herald): Spies ‘unlawfully’ accessed data then refused to talk about it properly – oversight body
Tracy Watkins (Stuff): SIS criticised by government watchdog over ‘unlawfully accessing’ information
No Right Turn: The SIS breaks the law again
Government
Newshub: How the Government is tracking halfway through its first 100 days
Laura Walters (Stuff): Chief Ombudsman’s provisional ruling on secret coalition doc says it’s not ‘official’
Chris Bramwell (RNZ): Ombudsman backs govt over coalition document
Emma Hurley (Newshub): Ombudsman rejects report he sided with Government over secret document
No Right Turn: Not official information
Karl du Fresne (Stuff): A new Government exercises the levers of power
Richard Harman (Politik): The Government gets ideological
Herald: British medical journal holds up PM Jacinda Ardern as example of voice against free markets
Greg Presland (Standard): The Herald thinks Jacinda Ardern is a Marxist
Newshub: New Government ‘not quite gelling’ – Chris Trotter
Michael Reddell (Croaking Cassandra): Two BIMs and a bureaucrat
Leith Huffadine (Stuff): As republic debate reignites, what would it take for NZ to go it alone?
Stuff: Reader report: New Zealand needs its own head of state
2017 in review
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): Māori Politics 2017 – wins and losses
Guy Williams (Stuff): Government-changing Metiria Turei is my Kiwi of the year
Parliament
Audrey Young (Herald): Willie Jackson gets caught out on basic question
1News: Watch: Look who’s back! Smiling Sir John Key makes low-key return to the House
Newshub: Former Prime Minister Sir John Key spotted in Parliament
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Beyond three-year cycles: The change Jacinda Ardern wants
Ruby Macandrew (Stuff): Wellington teen puts the country’s newest MPs under the microscope
Māori Party
Heta Gardiner (Māori TV): O’Sullivan wants sole Māori Party leadership position
Stuff: Dr Lance O’Sullivan wants solo Māori Party leadership position
Rachel Smalley (Herald): Why Lance O’Sullivan should be the sole leader of the Maori Party
Reserve Bank
Herald Editorial: New RB Governor should work well with Labour
Liam Dann (Herald): Adrian Orr seen as a politically savvy choice as Reserve Bank governor
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Adrian Orr breathes new life into influential role
Economy
Pattrick Smellie (Listener): Does low business confidence foreshadow an economic downturn?
Jamie Gray (Herald): Finance Minister Grant Robertson faces cooling economy at first mini-budget
International relations and MFAT
Bryce Edwards (Newsroom): Time to discuss China’s soft power in NZ
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): China’s influence back in the spotlight
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Australia ‘most pervasive influence’ on NZ – Bill English
RNZ: English: NZ has always dealt with foreign influence
Victoria University (Newsroom): Three ways NZ can improve its China literacy
The Standard: Why Malcolm Turnbull is nearly right
Audrey Young (Herald): Barnaby Joyce warns Jacinda Ardern to ‘stay away’ from Manus Island issue
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Exploit NZ’s leverage in Iraq, says expert
Andrea Vance (1News): MFAT mistake costs Kiwi taxpayers $262,000
Environment
Eloise Gibson (Newsroom): Government to release long-delayed sea level rules
Herald: Coastal developments ‘dumb’ in face of rising seas, says Climate Change Minister James Shaw
Charlie Mitchell (Stuff): ‘It’s just so dangerous’: Squalid conditions reported at water bottling plant
Herald: Proposal to take water from Murupara lacking detail: Council
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): NZ Super among big investors pressuring climate polluters
Terrence Loomis (Daily Blog): Ending Our Reliance on the Oil and Gas Industry – Fossil Fuels Aotearoa Research Network
John-Michael Swannix (Newshub): Northland’s Maitai Bay faces seafood ban to replenish stocks
Ellie Hooper (Noted): Going beyond plastic bags: The next step in the fight to save our oceans
Education
Newshub: National Standards has sent kids’ education backwards – Chris Hipkins
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Teachers leaving Auckland for cheaper houses
Adele Redmond (Stuff): Four in five NZ schools could stop asking families for donations, survey shows
Simon Collins (Herald): Treasury warns of ‘gap’ in school data without national standards
Peter Lyons (ODT): NCEA’s main lesson: do just enough to suffice
Derek McCormack (Herald): Society needs graduates as well as trades people
Water
Brian Rudman (Herald): Douse the water deniers
ODT Editorial: Getting to grips with our water
1News: Infrastructure think tank calls for a single nation-wide water authority in NZ
Health
Amy Wiggins (Herald): Cancer patients in New Zealand waiting months for treatment as hospitals struggle to cope
Tom Furley (RNZ): Whangarei Hospital blood bank’s accreditation suspended
Stuff: New medicinal marijuana legislation to spark debate in the House
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Medical cannabis legislation to get rolling next week
Stephen Blyth (Spinoff): It’s going to take more than a referendum to sort out NZ’s drugs issues
Megan Gattey (Stuff): Surgical mesh ban a ‘knee-jerk reaction’ that may hurt women: Doctors
Emma Jolliff (Newshub): Doctors say blanket restriction of surgical mesh not the way to go
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Most DHBs keep no records on self harm in respite care
Herald: Maori more likely subjected to mental health treatment, placed in seclusion
Euthanasia
Newshub: Euthanasia Bill likely to be debated on Wednesday
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Assisted dying: Politicians draw on their own consciences
Claire Trevett (Herald): MPs takes sides as euthanasia bill heads to vote
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Euthanasia bill campaign launched
Stacey Kirk (Stuff): Battle lines being drawn over euthanasia as campaign for law change begins
Laura Walter (Herald): Contentious euthanasia bill to be debated, voted on
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): For terminally ill patients euthanasia is very real
Mike Hosking (Herald): Euthanasia debate needs a referendum, not MPs
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Which voters most support euthanasia?
Employment
Willie Jackson (Daily Blog): Focus on real jobs with security, forget ‘bludgers’ rhetoric
Mkke Treen (Daily Blog): Open letter to Russel Creedy from Unite over Alternative holiday theft
Child welfare
Ella Predergast (Newshub): National won’t join child poverty conversation unless Govt ‘shows it’s serious’ – Bill English
Newshub: Government blames KidsCan funding woes on National
RNZ: Minister says KidsCan funding a process, not a guarantee
Newshub: KidsCan CEO, Minister for Children at odds over ‘funding cut’
RNZ: KidsCan may lose govt funding: ‘Children will go hungry’
Stacey Kirk (Stuff): Losing focus on ‘vulnerable’ could cost lives: Bill English
Other
Max Towle (RNZ): Why is our prison population booming and how can we fix things?
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Man accused of live-baiting greyhounds had been investigated before
Todd Niall (RNZ): Wishlist: Goff wants govt to kick in for new stadium
Rod Oram (Newsroom): Twyford chases an illusory pot of gold
Laura Dooney (RNZ): Wairarapa says no to council amalgamation
Ric Stevens (Press): Council should ignore consultation results and give Cathedral restoration $10 million
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): How does NZ do with atheists?
Herald: Revealed: PM’s Secret Santa wish
Ruby Nyika (Stuff): Former PM Helen Clark honoured with home-town doctorate
Herald: Helen Clark receives honorary doctorate from Waikato University
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Government’s claim to KiwiSaver savings is a myth that continues
Leanne Italie (Stuff): Merriam-Webster dictionary’s word of the year for 2017: ‘Feminism’
