Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – February 19 2019
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.
China-NZ relations
Audrey Young (Herald): Ambassador Madam Wu says differences between China and NZ have to be properly handled
Herald: Editorial: Govt needs to take another look at GCSB’s Huawei decision
Richard Harman: After weekend negotiations, peace breaks out between Beijing and Wellington
Dave Armstrong (Stuff): I can’t find any noble democratic sentiments behind our 5G decision
Keith Locke (The Spinoff): NZ cannot afford to be a US lapdog in its new cold war against China
1News: Jacinda Ardern pushes back on claims NZ’s relationship with China is worsening
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Huawei ‘never were not’ allowed to run 5G network – Jacinda Ardern
Reuters: Government to assess if it can ‘mitigate’ risk from Huawei 5G network
Chris Keall (Herald): Headache for Ardern, Little as UK government clears Huawei
Paul Buchanan: Interest, values, trade and security
Harrison Christian (Stuff): New Zealand-China relationship: What’s at stake for trade, tourism, students?
Stacey Kirk (Stuff): PM moves to assuage fears over ‘weakening’ China relationship
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): Jacinda Ardern disputes reports of diplomatic tensions with China
Henry Cooke (Stuff): UK reportedly clears Huawei is a ‘manageable risk’ – challenging NZ conclusion
Glenda Korporaal (The Australian): Beijing puts chill on ties with NZ
RNZ: Chinese student enrolments drop blamed on work right changes, NCEA review
Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): Slowing Chinese visitor numbers could be costly
Digital sales tax
Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): Google’s tax bill could double under new rules
Jason Walls (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has told Google and Facebook its time they pay their fair share of tax
Chris Bramwell (RNZ): National worried a NZ tax on Facebook, Uber, Google could lead to retaliation
Jason Walls (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s tax on digitalised companies will be easier to swallow than a CGT
Katie Fitzgerald and Heather McCarron (Newshub): New Zealand digital tax could be great, but hard to implement – expert
Barry Soper (Herald): We might pay for a tax on internet giants
Matt Nippert, Barry Soper, Jason Walls (Herald): Google, Facebook among internet giants facing surprise tax
Liam Dann (Herald): Tax move timely but cautious as tech giants face global pressure
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): NZ needs to seek the safety of the pack in changing the rules of international taxation
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Facebook and Google could face higher tax rates in New Zealand
Scott Palmer and Juliet Speedy (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern announces plans for new digital service tax
RNZ: Move to introduce digital tax for foreign companies profiting online
1News: Multinational online companies set to face tax – boosting NZ coffers by $30-$80m
Capital gains tax and Tax Working Group
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Just like “Rogernomics”, a capital gains tax would traumatize the New Zealand economy
Geoff Simmons (The Spinoff): Hey renters – don’t fall for the capital gains tax fantasy
Jenny Ruth (BusinessDesk): Investors waiting to see what capital gains tax means for NZ
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Tax plan more ‘silver lining’ than cloud for most KiwiSavers
Simon Hartley (ODT): All eyes on Tax Working Group report
1News political poll
Kate Hawkesby (Herald): Bad poll for Simon Bridges, National must be thinking about pulling the pin
Mike Hosking (Herald): Another bad poll, maybe Judith Collins would get more traction as National’s leader
1News: Labour jumps ahead of National, Ardern support surges in 1 NEWS poll
Claire Trevett (Herald): PM Jacinda Ardern flies high in poll but Simon Bridges on perilous seesaw
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Labour ahead of National in another poll
Herald: Latest 1News Colmar Brunton Poll: More bad news for Simon Bridges
Environment, conservation and 1080
Lynn Grieveson (Newsroom): Political dead rat a win for 1080 protesters?
No Right Turn: The 1080 referendum question
Jason Walls (Herald): The Government will spend $20 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to bolster pest control tech to limit 1080 use
Scott Palmer (Newshub): NZ First hails Government’s $19.5m ‘significant shift’ away from 1080
Matthew Theunissen (RNZ): Government commits $20m to research 1080 alternatives
RNZ: Regional New Zealand the big winner with new $20m pest eradication fund
RNZ: Government announces $19.5m will be spent on predator control
RNZ: Time to crack down on electronic waste?
Vera Alves (Herald): Why New Zealand’s obsession with lawns needs to end
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Fluffy, you need to be home by 10pm
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): The NZ council leading the way in determining how, when, where and who pays for climate change
No Right Turn: Climate change: The threat of methane
Matthew Littlewood (Stuff): Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage backs Mackenzie Basin drylands heritage park proposal
Pike River mine
Southland Times: Editorial – No magic, much mystery, about Pike River’s disappearing cabinet cover
Thomas Mead (Newshub): ‘Tell the truth’: Six key pieces of Pike River evidence unaccounted for, families claim
Martin van Beynen (Stuff): Did an electrical box go missing from the Pike River mine?
1News: Nine pieces of evidence unaccounted for from deadly Pike River mine disaster, family spokesman claims
Jo Moir (RNZ): Pike River: Door likely stashed somewhere safe – Little
Rhonwyn Newson (Newshub): Pike River ‘cover-up’: Families want the truth
1News: Police investigate whether Pike River evidence is missing
Education
Elizabeth Rata (Newsroom): NZ’s knowledge blind spot
Simon Collins (Herald): Tomorrow’s Schools meeting: Teachers speak out against Bali Haque’s plan to make them ‘numbers in a spreadsheet’
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Experts say top schools’ policy banning Afros and braids is ‘institutional racism’
Simon Collins (Herald): NZEI survey points to possible improvement in teacher shortage
Caroline Fleming (Herald): Early childhood centre numbers in Tauranga soar, as teacher shortage bites
Virginia Nicholls (ODT): Training changes plan needs rethink
Florence Kerr (Stuff): Wintec scandal: Former CEO’s conflict over junior female staffer revealed
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): Waikato University plans three-term year
Housing
David Hargreaves (Interest): The Government should broaden its line of attack in the fight against the country’s housing problems
Ben Leahy (Herald): Rental squeeze grips country as rents climb to record highs in Wellington and Auckland
Stacey Kirk (Stuff): PM: Auckland ‘rat hole’ concerning, but hotel emergency housing still better than cars
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Wellington City Council scolded for claiming ‘frivolous’ damages from tenants
Catherine Healy (Stuff): Sex-for-rent landlords: Dame Catherine Healy says ‘be it on their head if they overstep’
Amy Ridout (Stuff): Shrinking section puts family’s dream home out of reach
Justice, corrections
Sam Hurley (Herald): Supreme Court dismisses Māori jurisdiction challenge over driving infringements
Moana Makapelu Lee (Maori TV): Corrections dept apologises for Māori nationalist group comments
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Backlash after ‘Māori nationalists’ labelled threat by Corrections group
David Farrar: Yet another manifestly unjust
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Support needed for David White
Local government
Mike Hosking (Herald): Game over – don’t waste any more money on fixing up Eden Park
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Council boss says forget about downtown stadium and prop up Eden Park
Dylan Cleaver (Herald): Auckland councillors should look to San Francisco to see the giant effect a downtown stadium can have
Todd Niall (Stuff): Eden Park’s future: ‘Residents’ army’ to hold a rally
National Party
David Cormack (Herald): National coming around to the idea of not having Simon Bridges as leader
RNZ: Simon Bridges tight-lipped on Judith Collins’ leadership conversation
RNZ: National’s Simon Bridges: ‘I’m the leader and I’ll stay the leader’
Phoebe Watt (Next): Paula Bennett: My new look and life 12 months after gastric bypass surgery
Jordan Peterson
Danyl Mclauchlan (The Spinoff): The subtle art of not giving a fuck about Jordan B Peterson
Sean Plunket (Newshub): Twelve rules for dealing with Jordan Peterson’s visit to NZ
Emily Writes (The Spinoff): Some of the thousands of people you should interview before Jordan Peterson
Gender and sexual politics
Herald: Unisex toilets in schools leaving female students too afraid to use loo
Sophie Bateman (Newshub): ‘1950 wants its ad back’: Backlash over Whittaker’s Plunket-themed chocolate
Imogen Wells (1News): Whittaker’s latest sweet treat faces backlash over claims of ‘toxic masculinity’
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Objectifying women is worse than objectifying men
Media
Herald: NZME financial result: Profit of $11.6m, paywall on the way
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): MediaRoom: D-Day for NZME
Next: A day in the life of political journalist Jessica Mutch McKay
Other
Rob Mitchell (Stuff): It’s tough at the TOP – no room for the new guys
Pete George: Returning to first-past-the-post mentality?
Jason Walls (Herald): The Labour Party has begun the process of reviewing the Budget Responsibility Rules
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): ‘Marginal’ open govt progress under National
Janine Rankin (Stuff): Mayor Smith asks for urgent release of decisions made in private
Susan St John (Newsroom): State failure to right clear wrongs
Rob Stock (Stuff): Inflation is flat – so why does it feel like life is getting more and more expensive?
Justin Stevenson (Stuff): New Zealand’s great Universal Basic Income experiment
Liam Hehir (Stuff): Rosy future for Left-wing, socialist United States
Glen Herud (Stuff): Rodeos are an advert for farmers treating animals poorly
Corin Dann (1News): Feta, Edam and Parmesan cheese names could be off Kiwi producers’ labels
Deena Coster (Stuff): ‘Unique’ role created through partnership between iwi and Department of Conservation
Michael Alexander (Stuff): NZ needs to acknowledge its history to move forward as one
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Kiwi host demands apology from Immigration NZ after friend denied entry, put on return flight
David Winter (The Spinoff): Te Papa must decide if it still wants to be a natural history museum
Steven Cowan: Climate change minister congratulates the Warehouse for its greenwashing
Herald: Poverty Bay adopts new dual name of Tūranganui-a-Kiwa/Poverty Bay
RNZ: Tasman fire: Government announces more aid for clean-up
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Governor Adrian Orr says the RBNZ’s proposals to increase banks’ capital come from the perspective of society’s risk appetite
Michael Hayward (Stuff): ‘Quake Outcasts’ finally paid for uninsured red zoned homes
John Darroch (Re-imagining social work in Aotearoa NZ): Understanding the implications of the SOP
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Cannabis clash: Chloe Swarbrick takes on Duncan Garner
Katie Fitzgerald and Heather McCarron (Newshub): More robust regulations needed for medicinal cannabis – ESR
Keri Mills (Briefing papers): A day at Waitangi, and at the beach
Julie Iles (Stuff): US Coast Guard ice cutter docks in Wellington following voyage to Antarctica
Georgia May (Hawkes Bay Today): Tension among beekeepers over new levy as price of honey drops
Luke Kirkness (Herald): More than half-a-million-dollars of ACC money paid out following electric scooter incidents
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): Auckland dad suffers broken jaw after Lime sends him flying
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): Scientists’ association deplores Te Papa’s axing of two experts
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Treasury warns scrapping tenure review could cost the Government more
