Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – December 18 2018
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.
The Beehive and Parliament Buildings.
Herald: Justice Minister confirms recreational cannabis referendum at 2020 election
Stuff: Cannabis referendum will be held at 2020 election, Government confirms
RNZ: Legalising cannabis: Simon Bridges says he would vote against it
Migrant labour, immigration
Jason Walls (Herald): The new proposed rules to make immigration system employer-led, rather than migrant-led
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Migration scheme overhaul aimed at regions
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Government proposes changes to migrant worker system
Colin Williscroft (Stuff): Migrant work visa changes to help regions struggling to fill jobs
RNZ: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern discusses protecting migrant workers
Jenée Tibshraeny (Stuff): Govt proposes ‘significant’ changes to work visas
Hawkes Bay Today: Revealed: Name suppression lapses for Samoan national accused of slavery
1News: Man charged with human trafficking and slavery in Hawke’s Bay is named
RNZ: Man arrested for human trafficking and slavery named
RNZ: Man arrested for human trafficking, slavery after targeting ‘vulnerable’ workers
Sophie Bateman (Newshub): Police, Immigration NZ uncover alleged decades-old Hawke’s Bay human trafficking operation
Michael Reddell: Immigration data: some questions
Thompson and Clark
Patrick Gower (Newshub): Exclusive: Inquiry finds Thompson and Clark spies snooped on earthquake victims
Steve Kilgallon (Stuff): Auckland Council pays spies $600K to catch taggers – but doesn’t know if they did
Health
Cate Broughton (Stuff): ACC spying: ‘It’s nothing less than warfare’
Karen Brown (RNZ): Pharmac to fund new Hep C treatment
Herald: Pharmac to fund ‘life-changing’ hepatitis C treatment, and drug for rare blood disorder haemophilia approved
Lucy Warhurst (Newshub): New treatment could see NZ eradicate Hepatitis C in next 20 years
Samantha Olley (Herald): Lakes DHB makes changes after 11 deaths among adverse events in a year
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Large rotting swabs left in woman during C-section birth
RNZ: Lactation consultant censured over tongue-tie operation
Mere McLean (Māori TV): Mental health, addiction survey shows cultural gaps
Herald: Nicky Stevens’ family to discuss damning Coroner’s rulings with Health Minister
Education
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: The battle for our school system
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: The case against major school reform
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Auckland principals want action over ‘poor’ truancy services
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Mental health issues, online gaming causing rise in teen truancy
Gregor Paul (Herald): Rugby: St Kentigern College head David Hodge says school prepared to stand down in player poaching row
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): St Kent’s forced to review 1st XV scholarships
Justice
Edward Willis (Newsroom): Prisoner voting rights measure of democracy
1News: White collar criminals a third less likely to be imprisoned for their crimes than benefit fraudsters
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Google may be ‘untouchable’ over Grace Millane suppression breach after NZ involvement denied
1News: ‘I just don’t think that’s good enough,’ PM says of Google’s lackadaisical approach to name suppression
1News: Mother of 15-year-old cyclist killed in Rouxle Le Roux hit-and-run speaks out as Crown Law states appeal possible
Bridget Grace (Newshub): Rouxle Le Roux: ‘Jail sentence may be appropriate’ for hit-and-run driver – law expert
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Rouxle Le Roux: What does her home detention sentence mean?
Sophie Bateman (Newshub): Rouxle Le Roux: Crown Law asked to consider home detention appeal
Paul Buchanan: Differential Justice
David Cormack (Herald): The progressive justice reforms of Mark Mitchell
Chief Justice appointment
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): New Chief Justice Helen Winkelmann’s extraordinary salary shows law is vocation to follow
Derek Cheng (Herald): New chief justice wants justice for all, especially the vulnerable
Derek Cheng (Herald): New Chief Justice named as Justice Helen Winkelmann
1News:Justice Helen Winkelmann appointed as New Zealand’s new Chief Justice
Alice Webb-Liddall (Newshub): Helen Winkelmann appointed Chief Justice of New Zealand
Foreign affairs and trade
Richard Harman (Politik): Peters leaves PM out of China speech preparation
1News: Winston Peters meets with top US official in Washington, DC
Liam Hehir (Stuff): If National is dog whistling on migration, others have too
1News: UN pact to increase global cooperation on migration not in New Zealand’s interest – Simon Bridges
RNZ: Tonga’s Speaker talks modern parliament rebuild with NZ
Environment and conservation
RNZ: UN climate conference agreement: Mixed reactions
Sarah Mead (Newsroom): Climate change: ‘The gap is big’
No Right Turn: Climate Change: Unfit for office
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Lack of indigenous rights protection in Paris agreement frustrates ropu
RNZ: DOC spent more than $1m to protect staff from protesters
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff):Six supermarkets break up with inundated soft plastic recycling scheme
Stuff: No more single-use plastic bags in shops from July 1 next year
Herald: NZ-wide ban on all single-use plastic bags by July 2019
Xan Hading (Hawkes Bay Today): Apology still outstanding, says Te Mata Peak Peoples’ Track Society
Employment for workers with disabilities
Logan Savory (ODT): Support for Southland DisAbility Enterprises over recycling decision
1News: Visit the Auckland cookie company providing opportunities for the disabled – ‘It absolutely warms my heart’
Economy
Liam Dann (Herald): The bull market is dead, the stockmarket party is over
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): KiwiSaver ‘collapsing faster than the Black Caps in the 90s’
BusinessDesk: Real-time GDP tracker born out of frustration
Government, budget
Alan Johnson (Daily Blog): Labour & Green Budget Responsibility Rules are strangling us
Arthur Grimes (Newsroom): Wellbeing Budget: a rocket or a drone?
Herald Editorial: ‘Wellbeing’ can be no substitute for economic growth
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Grant Robertson’s plan for 2019
Jan Antolik/Karel Sroubek residency case
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Government delays release of controversial immigration information on Karel Sroubek
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): She may not be, but Jacinda Ardern looks dodgy
Canterbury quakes
Michael Hayward (Stuff): Potentially costly class action against Southern Response given go-ahead
Martin van Beynen (Stuff): Christchurch quake advocates face class action challenge
Housing
Frances Hancock and Tim McCreanor (Herald): Govt needs to intervene against housing at Ihumātao
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Govt raises price caps for HomeStart grants and low-deposit loans outside of Auckland
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Economist: Maybe it’s the way tenants live in them that makes houses cold
Sean Hogan (1News): Emergency housing options in Hawke’s Bay being squeezed by swelling summer population
Chris Hutching (Stuff): Spotlight on ‘high risk’ property deals with new anti-money laundering rules
Primary and extractive industries
Gerard Hutching (Stuff): Almost 100 farmers fined for Nait offences since the beginning of the year
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Government confident it can eradicate Mycoplasma bovis
1News: Government confident eradication right approach to tackling Mycoplasma bovis
Herald: Government believes Mycoplasma bovis can be eradicated
Angie Skerrett (Newshub): ‘Massive achievement’: New Zealand set to eradicate M bovis
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Government optimistic about M Bovis eradication programme
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Govt hails M. bovis progress
Zane Small (Newshub): ‘Industrial eyesore’: Backlash over mega egg factory planned for Orini
No Right Turn: Farmers pollute, we pay
Sam Hurley (Herald): Fears for further harm to NZ wine industry after Auckland woman convicted of faking EU export papers
RNZ: Auckland exporter convicted over false wine exports
Evan Harding (Southland Times): Merchant ship crew fined for plundering pāua stocks in Bluff
RNZ: Waihi mine extension plan gets the go ahead
Transport, roading, road toll
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Vision Zero: Brakes applied to government pledge to provide students free driving lessons and defensive driving courses
Phil Pennington (RNZ): NZTA had concerns about heavy vehicle checks two years ago
Press Editorial: Safety improvements vital, but driving habits can’t be ignored
Jono Edwards (ODT): Millions for South in road safety plan
MIchael Hayward (Stuff): More congestion as Christchurch faces ‘failing transport system’ – report
Melanie Earley (Stuff): ‘I was just a blubbering mess’: train drivers suffering PTSD due to fatal crashes
John Gibb (ODT): Hood calls for rethink on e-scooters
Local government
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Banning cars from parking in Auckland’s Queen St could improve air quality, say councillors
Herald: Golfers win reprieve over Chamberlain Park tussle with council
Anne Gibson (Herald): ‘Nightmare’ on Quay St: legal action planned to challenge works, waterfront road narrowing
Conan Young (RNZ): Canterbury Regional Council staff ditch lunch to call for better pay
Donna-Lee Biddle (Stuff): Council thanked for foiling grand plans for Head Hunters headquarters in Tokoroa
Mike Yardley (Stuff): Ultimate gladiatorial scenario won’t eventuate
Mike Watson (Stuff): Off-highway New Plymouth to Hawera cycle/walking link gains support
Māori-Crown relations, treaty settlements
Laura Walters (Newsroom): One-stop shop for Māori-Crown relations
John Boynton (RNZ): Ngāpuhi vote: minister forced back to the drawing board
Jo Moir (RNZ): Ngāpuhi reject government’s treaty mandate proposal
Raniera Harrison (Māori TV): Ngāpuhi votes against entering into direct negotiations
Financial sector
RNZ: Consumers want more from their financial providers
David Hargreaves (Interest): Buy-now-pay-later schemes disrupt non-bank finance sector
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): New RBNZ bank capital proposals a victory for the NZ owned banks
Legal profession
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Lawyer questions law firms’ motivation for changes after #MeToo
Tom Hunt (Stufff: Law Society shake-up after report sparked by Russell McVeagh scandal
Alice Webb-Liddall (Newshub): Law Society to change rules on reporting of harassment, bullying
Capital gains tax
Max Rashbrooke (Stuff): Capital gains tax should be called a fairness tax
Troy Bowker (Stuff): Treaty claims could be the straw that breaks the back of capital gains tax
Louis Houlbrooke (Stuff): Let’s not tax Kiwis for ‘paper gains’ on property and savings
Police
Kirsty Lawrence (Stuff): Rural police stations to be open at night ‘on demand’ only
Mei Heron (1News): Police team up with prostitutes to produce action-plan in case of sexual assault
Emme McKay (Herald): World-first partnership between NZ Police and Prostitutes’ Collective
Māori TV: Ngaruawahia’s new one-stop cop shop
Census
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Prime minister blames National for census debacle, says Stats NZ warned them of budgetary constraints
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Census is a massive failure
Tourism
RNZ: Department of Conservation launches new tourist campaign: ‘Visit the Kiwi way’
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Tourism industry eager for an associate minister
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Tourism: majority unaware it’s NZ’s biggest earner, survey finds
David Loughrey (ODT): Otago’s views on tourism mixed
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): Guest nights at record high as tourism surges
Christmas
Megan Sutherland (Newshub): What you can do to help those in need this Christmas
Zane Small (Newshub): Auckland City Mission: Mums, kids spending nights waiting for handouts
Edward O’Driscoll (Newshub): Thousands line up for Christmas food parcels from Auckland City Mission
Donna-Marie Lever (1News): Increased need for food parcels sees Christchurch City Mission in overdrive this Christmas
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Hawke’s Bay volunteers prepare to spread some Christmas cheer
Year in review
Public Address: Word of the Year 2018: Time to vote!
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): A look back on NZ’s 2018 MeToo movement
Cas Carter (Stuff): 2018’s biggest turkeys should have admitted errors earlier
Joanne Harrison fraud case
1News: Transport ministry fraudster Joanne Harrison to be deported back to UK
Anna Leask (Herald): Ministry of Transport fraudster Joanne Harrison to be paroled, deported, banned from returning to NZ
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Transport Ministry fraudster Joanne Harrison to be released from jail and deported to UK
RNZ: Transport Ministry fraudster to be deported to UK
Arts
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): An Absent Mirror: Why Can’t This Country Produce Its Own Political Television Series?
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Pouwhenua mark Wellington’s upcoming Te Matatini celebrations
Andrew McRae (RNZ): Planned Hamilton performing arts theatre gets $6m funding boost
David Loughrey (ODT): Focus on Dunedin’s arts woe
Other
Collette Devlin (Stuff): More bullying reports at Oranga Tamariki-Ministry for Children
Hilary Stace (Public Address): The stories the Royal Commission needs to hear about state care abuse and disability
Deena Coster (Stuff): Taranaki hapū says new land law creates ‘foundation for future’
Ollie Neas (Spinoff): Rocket Lab has just made NZ a launch pad for US defence satellites
1News: ‘I think National under me, we’re a great team’ – Simon Bridges happy with time in charge, despite low poll rating
Chris Keall (Herald): Why extended warranties are a waste of money – and the call for bigger fines
Whena Owen (1News): Q+A investigates: Transgender rights, water bottling and the state of housing
Chris Trotter: Lashing Back
Golriz Ghahraman (Spinoff): We do not shed our skin: why all politics are identity politics
Point of Order: Spooks, banks and a difference of opinion about security and privacy
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): NZ officials consider impact of Australia’s controversial encryption law
Richard MacManus (Newsroom): Australia’s encryption law threatens NZ cloud data
Katarina Williams (Stuff): Rugby boss speaks candidly on own experience of domestic violence
Sam Kilmister (Stuff): Leaflets promoting white New Zealanders are racist and alarming, resident says
Zane Small (Newshub): Fears over lack of water safety education as summer looms
Jessica Long (Stuff): Police Dive Squad readies for another summer of searching our waters for loved ones
Herald: New Zealanders’ guesses on social issues closer to reality than in most countries
Debrin Foxcroft (Stuff): Former National MP Aaron Gilmore ordered to pay employee under threat of jail time
Herald: PM Jacinda Ardern excited for a holiday break with baby Neve
Vanita Prasad (Newsroom): Is it ever okay to wear blackface?
