Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – November 23 2018
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.
Operation Burnham inquiry, defence force
David Fisher (Herald): Secret inquiry’ would not help public confidence, Operation Burnham hearing told
Simon Plumb (1News): Hit & Run inquiry day two: NZ’s national security at risk
David Fisher (Herald): VC-winner Willie Apiata’s high profile ‘adversely affected’ NZSAS, Inquiry into Operation Burnham told
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Identifying war hero Willie Apiata ‘adversely impacted’ his Afghanistan service
RNZ: Operation Burnham inquiry hears arguments on secret information
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Disclosing foreign intelligence risks NZ’s reputation, Hit and Run inquiry hears
Dan Satherley and Grace Cocker (Newshub): NZDF should say if it isn’t pursuing assault victim – RSA
Grace Cocker (Newshub): Ex-NZDF personnel horrified at its treatment of Mariya Taylor
WOF checks, transport
RNZ: NZTA left vehicle industry in a dangerous place – Repair certifiers association boss
1News: WOF checks: Law firm finds another 150 cases where motorists could be at risk
Phil Pennington (RNZ): NZTA ‘failed everyone’ over fatality – chairperson
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Transport Agency told to get off the sideline and act like a real referee
RNZ: Sister of Dargaville car crash victim wants answers
Alexandra Nelson (Newshub): WoFs are ‘stupid’, claims Dargaville mechanic who had WoF licence revoked
RNZ: ACC to increase rego costs instead of petrol levy hike
Morgan Godfery: Go Bus lockout: Ngāi Tahu uri to force issue onto the agenda at hui-ā-tau
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Auckland praised for bus network. Wellington? Not so much
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Watch: Footage highlights hazards of navigating Wellington cycle lane
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Rumble grumble: Strips made road ‘really dangerous’ for cyclists
Michael Hayward (Stuff): Passenger trains restart on Coastal Pacific between Picton and Christchurch
Danielle Clent (Stuff): City Rail Link unaffected by administration of Australian contractor, boss says
RNZ: City Rail Link engineering company goes bust
Auckland Pride parade
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The Perils Of Inclusion
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Auckland’s Pride Parade isn’t the first to ban uniformed police
RNZ: Pride parade ‘on edge of collapsing’ – founder
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Sponsor Fletcher Building pulls out of Auckland Pride Parade
1News: Auckland Pride Parade loses another sponsor as media giant NZME pulls the plug
Pete George: ‘Mainstream press’ warned off hijacking discussion around Pride Parade
National Party, Jami-Lee Ross
Peter Dunne (Interest): Carefully crafted Parliamentary Questions are the primary weapons of an Opposition
Ian McKelvie (Whanganui Chronicle): Betrayal was attempt to undermine party leadership
Jacob McSweeny (Herald): Judith Collins criticises political correctness and Govt’s oil and gas policies
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Jami-Lee Ross crashes the party at Labour’s Middlemore Hospital ceremony
1News: Health Minister gives former Jami-Lee Ross heartfelt welcome at new mental health unit opening
Isaac Davison (Herald): Former National MP Jami-Lee Ross attends opening of Tiaho Mai building at Middlemore Hospital
Dan Satherley and Lisette Reymer (Newshub): Jami-Lee Ross attends opening of building at Middlemore Hospital mental health unit
RNZ: Jami-Lee Ross steps out to support mental health facility
Primary and extractive industries
Gerard Hutching (Stuff): New Zealand’s live animal exports are destined for farms, racecourses and zoos
Richard Harman (Politik): NZ First and Maori threatening to make waves
Martin van Beynen (Stuff): Indonesian fishing crews get their unpaid wages
Eric Frykberg (RNZ): Exploited fishing boat crews finally win settlement
Stuff: Priority fixture wanted for South Taranaki iron sand mining appeal
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Scientists’ voices absent from ‘anti-science’ GMO hearings
RNZ: $240m milk powder plant officially opened
Gerard Hutching (Stuff): Sex change for calves if new technology takes off
Employment
Bryce Edwards (Newsroom): Turn up the volume on whistleblowing
Aaron Martin (Herald): Labour shortage will get worse from next week
Colin Williscroft (Stuff): Ashburton’s 500 job vacancies will cost local economy $16m this year
1News: Ashburton employers are struggling to find workers with 500 jobs available
RNZ: 500 job vacancies: Ashburton employers struggling to find workers
Newstalk ZB: Why Ashburton’s low unemployment rate is proving a problem
Ani White (Fightback): “Workers in the most vulnerable part of the economy, they’re brave”: Organisation of migrant farm workers in Australia and Aotearoa
Foreign affairs and trade
Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): Auckland Fuel Tax charged to Niue and Cook Islands
Matthew Hooton: China v US puts NZ on the spot
Liam Dann (Herald): China’s slump – is the dragon running out of fire?
RNZ: China grants Cook Islands $US6.8m in aid
RNZ: Media watchdog slams China over PNG journalist ban
Media
RNZ: Māori TV cuts news and current affairs programmes
Stuff: Māori Television cuts current affairs programme Te Kāea and others
Māori TV:Radical changes to shake up Māori TV newsroom
Health
1News: Government rules out smoking ban in homes, as they move to push car smoking ban through Parliament
Zane Small (Newshub): Mother’s plea: ‘Ban public smoking around schools’ and playgrounds
Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): Middlemore crisis symbolic of Government debt catastrophe
Lucy Bennett (Herald): First phase of Middlemore adult mental health facility opens with 38-bed high-dependency unit
Hawkes Bay Today: Havelock North still making an impact two years post-gastro crisis with new drinking water standards
Paula Hulburt (Stuff); Anti-vaxxers make social media a misinformation minefield, says expert
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): ‘Definition of insanity’: Ministry of Health spent $30k on nearly unusable robots
Samantha Gee (Stuff): ‘Frustration’ behind anaesthetic technicians strike notice
RNZ: Striking midwives take protest to the streets
Education, child welfare
1News: Principals urging caution over thousands of foreign teachers wanting to teach in NZ
Catherine Delahunty (Spinoff): Why didn’t teachers strike under National? They were fighting to save education itself
David Slack (Stuff): The trivial changes to the English language prove free education is a good thing
Simon Collins (Herald): Academics want cap on university and polytechnic bosses’ salaries
Kyle MacDonald (Herald): As New Zealanders, why do we hate children so much?
Fiona Connor and Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Student excluded from Pukekohe High School graduation may now attend
Environment and conservation
University of Auckland: Open Letter: Why must New Zealand act now to halt climate change?
Chris Trotter: If We’d Been Lucky
Press Editorial: Conservation fight should be applauded
Lois Williams (RNZ): DOC argument over iwi’s land development ‘not acceptable’
Newshub: Carbon dioxide levels are still rising, and time is running out – UN report
RNZ: Wait over: New body to forward Hauraki Gulf protection plans
Jamie Morton (Herald): Government intervenes over master plan to save the Hauraki Gulf
RNZ: Vanuatu calls for fossil fuel companies to pay for climate change
Annette Lambly (Stuff): No sign of kauri dieback disease detected at Tāne Mahuta
Bayley Moor (Stuff): Cell tower proposal for sacred Māori mountain in the Hokianga
Local government
Simon Wilson (Herald): No cars on Queen St: the new plan for the central city
Simon Wilson (Herald): Auckland Council gets the speedway wobbles over relocating from Western Springs
Todd Niall (Stuff): National’s Tamaki MP Simon O’Connor ponders mayoralty bid
Elton Smallman (Stuff): Chamber boss stirs hornet’s nest with suggestion of council amalgamation
Zizi Sparks (Rotorua Daily Post): Petition opposing Rotorua Lakefront redevelopment brought to council
Dominic Harris (Stuff): ‘Sticking-plaster’ plan should see chlorine removed from drinking water by May deadline
Kiwibank-NZ Post split, closures
Alex Ashton (RNZ): Kiwibank customers ‘appalled’ by branch closures
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): NZ Post and Kiwibank split up puts 200 jobs at risk, union says
Skara Bohny (Stuff): Union says more Kiwibank branches will shut as NZ Post separates
Housing
Ben Leahy (Herald): New data showing income of KiwiBuild buyers proves the scheme is affordable: Twyford
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): KiwiBuild scheme is a house of cards
1News: ‘I refute that’ – PM rubbishes Simon Bridges’ claim that KiwiBuild cost was underestimated by $18b
Henry Cooke (Stuff): KiwiBuild reliant on outside capital, National says this proves policy was underfunded
Brian Fallow (Herald): Don’t ease up on LVR restrictions
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Rental properties ‘could end up better than landlords’ homes’
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Tenants will live better than landlords if law changes – property manager group
Chris Harrowell (Stuff): Desperate south Auckland couple have less than four weeks left in emergency housing
Tim Miller (ODT): Social housing 650 short
Tim Miller (ODT): Lower income residents being ‘priced out’ of Dunedin market
Karel Sroubek decision
Lucy Bennett (Herald): Karel Sroubek case due back with Immigration New Zealand tomorrow
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Minister Iain Lees-Galloway did not seek legal advice and took 45 minutes to make Karel Sroubek decision
Police
1News: Officer wrongly Tasered drunk aggressive Auckland man a second time, says police watchdog
RNZ: New patrol cars ‘a bit snug’ for some
Hawera Christmas parade
Matt Rilkoff (Stuff): South Taranaki Mayor’s judgement in blackface controversy makes mockery of his responsibilities
Robin Martin (RNZ): Mayor voted for blackface float: ‘I stuffed up’
Migration
BusinessDesk: Net migration falls to lowest level since 2015
Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): New Zealand migration gains lowest since 2015 as more people leave than arrive
RNZ: NZ migrant numbers down to 61,800 a year
Greg Ninness (Interest): Population growth from migration is continuing to decline but remained above 60,000 in the year to October
Justice
Deena Coster (Stuff): Justice advocate calls for tougher monitoring of high risk offenders on parole
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Serial drink-drive killer probably can’t be rehabilitated – Collins
Herald: Widow of US tourist killed in NZ pens letter to PM Ardern slamming justice system
Nikki Mandow (BusinessDesk): Lawyers furious after u-turn on law society building sale
Tax
Jenny Ruth (BusinessDesk): Tax Working Group is unlikely to agree on capital gains tax
Troy Bowker (Stuff): Capital gains tax ‘valuation day’ will cost Kiwi businesses billions of dollars
No Right Turn: Are Lime tax-cheats?
Airbnb
Jason Walls (Herald): Airbnb to partner with Govt to provide displaced people refuge during a natural disaster
Gia Garrick (RNZ): Airbnb to open its doors in disasters
Megan Sutherland (Newshub): Free accommodation for people displaced by natural disasters
Tina Law (Stuff): Council wants helping regulating short-term room renters
Other
The Listener: There should be no more lives put at risk in the Pike River Mine
Jared Savage (Herald): A NZ Herald investigation: The Misery of Marie
Rosemary McLeod (Stuff): From scammers to euthanasia advocates, these are dark days in old ladydom
Bryan Gould: Picking up the pieces
Aroha Awarau (Stuff): ‘Sit down and shut up’: Tini Molyneux on the men who ramble on marae
Stuff: Emergency mobile alert test: What it means if your phone makes a loud noise on Sunday
Graeme Peters (Newsroom): Unfair low-user power subsidy must go
Kirk Hope (Stuff): Once consumer trust is breached, it can be very hard to get it back
Mere McLean (Māori TV): A day to commemorate Māori land wars
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Māori Language Week’s ‘English sucks’ ad ruled okay
Deena Coster (Stuff): Work continues behind scenes as third reading looms for controversial land bill
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Open banking prompts Reserve Bank to re-think how it regulates banks
No Right Turn: Climate Change: Aussie banks are burning our world
Tina Law (Stuff): Canterbury Rugby League wants to ban booze at parks to stop ‘volatile’ behaviour
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ):Women’s rugby still facing challenges to get equal recognition
1News: Watch: The remarkable journey to parenthood of a Dunedin dad expecting to give birth
