Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – February 21 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
David Belgrave (The Conversation): Huawei or the highway? The rising costs of New Zealand’s relationship with China
Jade Gray (Herald): NZ on edge of historic fallout with China
Henry Cooke (Stuff): China foreign affairs spokesman: We should ‘rise above disturbances’
Audrey Young (Herald): Spy chief Andrew Hampton says damage to NZ relations with China plays no part in decision-making
Tova O’Brien and Alice Webb-Liddall (Newshub): ‘Be vigilant’: Govt grills SIS, GCSB over election interference concerns
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): New Zealand former PM denies writing glowing pro-China piece for Beijing paper
Chris Keall (Herald): Spark can hit its 5G targets without Huawei, Simon Moutter says
Sophie Bateman (Newshub): Dame Jenny Shipley denies writing pro-China opinion piece
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Shipley refuses to clear air on comments in disputed China-praising opinion piece
John Anthony (Stuff): Dame Jenny Shipley’s name appears on opinion piece urging the world to listen to China
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): China expert downplays risk of tourism boycott
Audrey Young (Herald): GCSB spy says no Five Eyes pressure in decision to block Huawei
Stacey Kirk (Stuff): New Zealand’s spy agency says no outside factors in decision to block Huawaei
Jane Patterson (RNZ): GCSB reports increase in cyber attacks from foreign governments
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s brief meeting with Chinese ambassador
RNZ: Anne-Marie Brady says Jenny Shipley made a ‘mistake’ in talking to Chinese state media
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): GCSB: No pressure on Huawei decision
Bethan Greener (The Spinoff): The dangers of over-reading the tea leaves on China
Housing and KiwiBuild
1News: Phil Twyford adamant that KiwiBuild can reach long-term target of 100,000 homes
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Judith Collins accuses Housing New Zealand of crowding out home buyers
Herald: KiwiBuild partnership with developer Mike Greer to build 104 homes in West Auckland, Canterbury
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): First KiwiBuild homes to built in Canterbury, says Housing Minister Phil Twyford
RNZ: Residential developer Mike Greer to help build 104 new Kiwibuild homes
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Nick Smith kicked out for saying Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was ‘lying’
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern’s fierce rebuttal to Simon Bridges in Parliament over KiwiBuild
Alan Kenyon (1News): Watch: Jacinda Ardern says she ‘relishes’ Simon Bridges’ ‘pesky’ queries over housing
Bob Edlin: Phil was full of his housing accomplishments – but see how the demand has burgeoned
Frances Cook (Herald): Cooking the Books podcast: Should first-home buyers wait for the market to crash?
Jo Moir (RNZ): National says Housing NZ forcing first-home buyers from market
Katarina Williams (Stuff): ‘Rat hole’ motel investigation sparks emergency housing shakeup
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Trade Me: More Kiwis looking for homes in regional NZ
Michael Reddell: KiwiBuild: the Reserve Bank and crowding out
Ben Strang (RNZ): State housing waitlist jumps by 5000 in a year
Ben Leahy (Interest): First-home buyers paid average of $856,467 for Auckland homes last year, analysts say
Caroline Fleming (Herald): Renters still battling to find homes as new university brings influx of students
Imogen Neale (Stuff): Government department gags Auckland ‘swamp house’ couple over tenancy dispute
Ben Leahy (Herald): $950 a week for 30 years: First-home buyers face crushing mortgages
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Kiwi house buyers being ‘ripped off’ by real estate agents, says real estate agent
Blair Voorend (Hawkes Bay Today): Locking themselves in motel rooms: Hawke’s Bay’s hidden homeless wave
Imran Ali (Northern Advocate): More than 400 Northlanders on the social housing register
Tax reform and capital gains tax
Jason Walls (Herald): The Tax Working Group will today reveal details of any capital gains tax recommendations
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Biggest tax shake-up for a generation
Barry Soper (Herald): Will today’s report be the coalition’s biggest challenge yet?
Jane Patterson (RNZ): The Tax Working Group to release findings on tax review: What to expect
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Accountants the winners out of capital gains tax – David Seymour
Jason Walls (Herald): More than half of all New Zealanders wouldn’t support a capital gains tax, according to a poll
No Right Turn: A vested interest
Pete Burdon: My Capital Gains Tax Media Advice
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): Is it time for charity-owned businesses to start paying tax?
Education
Simon Collins (Herald): Government agency Education NZ fears polytechnic reform may scare off international students
Simon Collins (Herald): Rangitoto College accused of ‘sexist’ dress code banning low tops and coloured fingernails
Kate Hawkesby (Herald): Memo to Rangitoto College students: Stop whining over ripped jeans
Karyn Henger (Stuff): Auckland secondary school accused of rape culture for telling female students they’re distracting male teachers
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Early childhood sector split by move for mandatory qualifications
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Early childhood educators will be forced to get qualified
Catherine Harris (Stuff): Home-based child care industry reacts to mandatory qualification rule
Colin Henry (Stuff): Schools’ afro and braid ban forces kids to deny and suppress their ethnicity
Environment, biosecurity and conservation
The Press – Editorial: Climate change is too important for politics
No Right Turn: Climate change: Local governments in denial
Lois Williams (RNZ): New Zealand children to follow lead of world movement on climate
Janine Rankin (Stuff): Solar-powered rubbish bins crush the trash
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Thousands of NZ cruise ship tourists going unchecked by MPI
Alice Webb-Liddall (Newshub): Why the Thames-Coromandel Mayor won’t sign climate agreement
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Mayor: climate change declaration unimportant
Government
1News: Govt’s $3b Provincial Growth Fund generates 560 jobs – ‘good start’ towards 10k promise?
Claire Trevett (Herald): Tax and pies get Greens’ dags rattling again
Collette Devlin (Stuff): New Crown Entity set up to deal with infrastructure deficit
Jason Walls (Herald): Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones launches the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): ‘Back to square one’: National accuses Government of Budget botch-up
Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): Is a life worth $4.7 million?
Muriel Newman (NZCPR): The Art of Manipulation
Whānau Ora
Lucy Bennett (Herald): Whānau Ora overwhelmed by demand, review says
Moana Makapelu Lee (Māori TV): Whānau Ora review report released
Leigh-Marama McLachlan (RNZ): Whānau Ora Minister’s concern over lack of knowledge of services
Stacey Kirk (Stuff): ‘Expand and develop’ Whānau Ora – panel delivers glowing review for programme
Jordan Peterson
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): ‘Nasty views’: Sean Plunket calls out Victoria University lecturer over Jordan Peterson criticism
Genevieve McClean (Daily Blog): Virtue Signalling Jordan Peterson
Donna Miles (Daily Blog): Open letter to Jordan Peterson
Health
John Tamihere (Herald): New Zealand’s healthcare fit for museum, not hospital
Lucy Bennett (Herald): Canterbury District Health Board estimates deficit of close to $100 million in 2018/19 year
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Call for cross-party political leadership on mental health fails
David Williams (Newsroom): A sector on the edge pleads for help
Electricity price review
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Electricity Price Review proposes help for struggling households
Greg Ninness (Interest): A government-appointed panel has suggested a wide range of options to help reduce power bills
BusinessDesk: Prompt payment discounts unfair, power panel says
Transport
RNZ: Lime told to prove safety of e-scooters, or remove them
Stuff: Auckland Transport boss says Lime must prove e-scooters are safe by Friday
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Reviewer defends his report into NZTA’s regulatory functions
Amy Williams (RNZ): Homeowners claim Auckland motorway works damaged properties
Amber-Leigh Woolf and Damian George (Stuff): Train services canned and bus cancellations to continue amid ‘unprecedented’ driver shortage
Chris Hutching (Stuff): KiwiRail shakes off ‘Kaikoura effect’ with big jump in freight
Pike River Mine
Rebecca Macfie (The Spinoff): Why the missing Pike River evidence really matters
Joanne Carroll (Stuff): Defunct Department of Labour cops criticism over Pike River evidence flaws
Conan Young (RNZ): Pike River mine: Early police work described as ‘diabolical’
Justice and corrections
David Williams (Newsroom): ‘Blood on their hands’
Tommy Livingston (Stuff): Sex offender gets criminal record cleared so he can work in care home
Andrea Vance (Stuff): $1.1m bonus for private prison company Serco, for keeping people out of jail
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Paul Wilson should die in prison
Public service
Simon Chapple (Newsroom): The fast food culture of the State Services Commission
Mike Hosking (Herald): Government departments need to butt out of politics
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): Statistics NZ forced to apologise after sexual orientation blunder in report
Building safety
RNZ: CTV quake victims’ families angry over prosecution rule change
Tom Kitchin (Stuff): Upset CTV families ‘cynically manipulated’ over ‘one year, one day’ rule change
Laura James (1News): NZ’s heritage buildings receive extra funding for earthquake strengthening
Employment
Benedict Collins (1News): Government aims to scrap scheme in which some disabled workers paid 89 cents per hour
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Carmel Sepuloni looking into raising pay for workers with disabilities
Michael Reddell: Terms and conditions surely?
Kapa haha traffic lights in Wellington
Herald: Wellington ‘haka lantern’ traffic lights get a kapa haka buzz
1News: Haka-themed pedestrian crossings light the way in Wellington
Felix Desmarais (Stuff): Wellington crossing lights changed to kapa haka figures to honour Te Matatini festival
Local government
Katie Townshend (Stuff): Wellington Town Hall budget blow-out a symptom of inaction
Todd Niall (Stuff): Eden Park supporters get political in their fight on behalf of the stadium
Virginia Fallon (Stuff): At least 16 years of leaks revealed for Kāpiti library now closed due to mould
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Auckland Council Event Agency pulls out of funding Santa Parade
Other
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Immigration appeals: surge in decisions overturned last year
ODT: Editorial – Future of pastoral leases
John Edwards (The Spinoff): Transgender self-identification: why it’s a human right
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The Woke scream hatred at transphobic chocolate – how is this a news story?
Nicola Gavey (Newsroom): NZ Cricket’s silent message to NZ women
Steve Baron (Stuff): Referendums provide balance in a democracy
Jonathan Boston: Questioning referenda
George Heagney (Stuff): Young thinkers experiment with solving social problems
1News: Breakfast hosts react to criticism of Whittaker’s ‘gender stereotype reinforcing’ chocolates – ‘A silly thing to get upset about’
Charlie Gates (Stuff): Christchurch rest home evictees scramble for new places as calls grow for new laws
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Air New Zealand flight turned back by Iran due to lack of clearance
Jason Walls (Herald): Shane Jones rejects an invitation to appear in a new Air NZ nude body paint safety video
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): New Zealand university students offered free drug-testing in ‘harm-prevention’ first
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Nuclear weapons, tobacco, big oil? New tool lets you check your KiwiSaver’s investments
Marianne Elliott (Newsroom): Twitter’s ‘huge fail’ on online abuse
John Moore (liberation): Critical politics alternative analysis – Political poll, UK Labour split, Huawei OK in UK
