Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – February 25 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.
Capital gains tax proposal, Tax Working Group
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Big tax shake-up or big PR job?
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Capital gains tax: Challenging the idea of the ‘Kiwi way of life’ a political minefield for both sides
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Capital gains tax: Winston Peters holds all the cards on changes
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Dying In A Ditch For A Capital Gains Tax That Half The Country Doesn’t Want
Chris Trotter (Interest): The Capital Gains Tax recommended by Cullen’s team is of such breadth and bite it can’t have been intended seriously
David Slack (Stuff): Capital gains tax might not be the tax you want, but it’s the tax we need
Jack Tame (Herald): Why I think a capital gains tax is ‘fair’
Duncan Garner (Stuff): Capital gains tax is Labour’s death wish – they should dump it now
Anna Connell (Newsroom): Capital gains tax – should we care?
ODT Editorial: Jury must deliberate on tax reform
Simon Waters (Whanganui Chronicle) Editorial: Why shouldn’t you pay tax, the rest of us do?
Press Editorial: The pains and gains of tax reform
Stacey Kirk (Stuff): Welcome to the tax party, where everything served leaves a funny taste
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Capital gains tax: ‘Unfair tax’ or ‘step in the right direction’?
Brian Gaynor (Herald): Tax plan likely to go the way of the Titanic
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Simon Bridges won’t commit to rolling back ‘brightline’ capital gains tax
RNZ: Capital gains tax: National should dial back hyperbole, engage in debate – Finance Minister Grant Robertson
1News: ‘Poor old renter’ will be ‘hurt’ by Government’s healthy homes initiative, says Simon Bridges
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Judith Collins says capital gains tax will ‘make Simon Bridges the Prime Minister’
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Simon Bridges explains what he thinks the ‘Kiwi way of life’ is
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): It’s tenants who will foot the bill for warmer rental properties
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Government’s capital gains tax sweetener could mean more money for low and middle-income earners
Ryan Bridge (Newshub): Jacinda has poked an angry tiger
Michael Cropp (1News): Tenants will pick up cost of Government’s healthy homes standard, investors warn
Terry Baucher (Interest): Taxmageddon! Is there a tax monster on the loose?
Peter Dunne (Interest): The majority of Tax Working Group members have been used as stooges for a predetermined Labour Party policy outcome
Paul Buchanan: Legacy investments versus speculative investments
David Farrar: Why a CGT on businesses is double taxation
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Capital gains tax will ‘decimate’ Kiwi start-up industry – Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck
Ben Leahy (Herald): Tech start-up founder angry at tax proposal
Pete George: Tax Working Group, CGT – PR and promises
Ben Uffindell (The Civilian): RELIEF: New Zealand businesses won’t have to pay capital gains on these family homes
Ben Uffindell (The Civilian): Tax Working Group recommends The Big Short
Jason Walls (Herald): Westpac’s chief economist says a capital gains tax would lead to higher living standards
Simon Hartley (ODT): Negative effects would outweigh benefits, business leaders say
David Snell (Herald): Implementing capital gains tax will be ‘incredibly difficult’
1News: Would a capital gains tax ease house prices? Business experts cynical
Catherine Smith (Herald): Hold or fold: Will capital gains tax force property investors to sell quickly?
Jason Walls (Herald): Capital Gains Tax would see house prices fall as investors flee market ahead of tax’s implementation – REINZ
Interest: TWG says the Govt should ‘give favourable consideration’ to exempting NZ Super Fund from NZ tax because it’s ‘an instrument of the Govt’
Lyn Webster (Stuff): New tax bad news for those on the land
Ben Leahy (Herald): The sale of eight Auckland mansions last year could alone have netted $24m in capital gains tax
Jo Moir (RNZ): New Zealand First hiring experts for advice on capital gains tax
Andrew Gunn (Stuff): Hysteria and hubris: the CGT files
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): NZX fears the worst from capital gains tax
Andrea Fox (Herald): Capital gains tax plan for lifestyle property owners could affect tens of thousands
David Farrar: 92% of lifestyle blocks will be hit with CGT
Catherine Harris (Stuff): Five things that the Tax Working Group considered apart from capital gains
China-NZ relations
Damian Grant (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern faces her ‘Lange moment’ over Huawei decision
Martin van Beynen (Stuff): How much does China love us?
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Andrew Little disregards US remark on partnership versus Huawei use
Gehan Gunasekara (Newsroom): A legal way out of the Huawei debacle
Jeremy Rose (RNZ): Mediawatch: Media ignore smoking guns in Huawei case
Richard Swainson (Stuff): China doesn’t like us any more and the dirty tricks have begun
Zane Small (Newshub): New Zealand urged to ‘desist from undermining China’s growing influence’
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Chinese haven’t forgotten ‘Chinese-sounding names’ insult – Collins
John Braddock (World Socialists): China retaliates over New Zealand government’s Huawei ban
Simon Draper (Herald): Asia turned out to be bigger than we all anticipated – NZ needs to get on board
Australian PM in NZ
Richard Harman (Politik): The elephant in the window
Zane Small and Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): PM Scott Morrison confirms Australia has ‘no plans’ to take NZ’s refugee offer
Audrey Young (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern holds talks with Australian counterpart Scott Morrison
Eleanor Ainge Roy and Amy Remeikis (Guardian): Jacinda Ardern tells Scott Morrison Australia’s deportation policy ‘corrosive’
Newstalk ZB: Jacinda Ardern talks immigration and security with Aussie PM
Audrey Young (Herald): Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has a short but sweet encounter with New Zealand
Anna Whyte (1News): Ardern criticises ‘corrosive’ deportations during joint press conference with Australia’s PM
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Prime Minister’s office dismisses reports New Zealand asked Australia for no single, male asylum seekers
Housing
Scott Palmer (Newshub): New rental home standards will cost Housing New Zealand $200 million
Jo Moir (Stuff): Below-par rentals: ‘Cost of doing nothing is too great’
Jason Walls (Herald): Housing Minister Phil Twyford unveils new standards for all NZ rental homes
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): Less cold, less mould: new rental standards offer hope for suffering tenants
Jason Walls (Herald): New rental minimum standard rules may help address public health issues but could also increase rent
Jason Walls (Herald): Landlord lobby groups and the National Party say new rental requirements will force rent up
Kristin Price (Herald): Auckland landlord says healthy home standards should exempt new builds
Andrew Bydder (Stuff): Something rotten with the state of building
Mitch McCann (Newshub): ‘Really frustrating’: Kiwi tenants struggle to land rental homes as March Madness sets in early
Logan Savory (Southland Times): Where are the rentals? Southland’s worrying rental property dip
Mark Price (ODT): Kiwibuild sales give wrong idea: developer
Richard Meadows (Stuff): Budget Buster: Buying a house might be the best purchase you ever make
Kevin Lampen-Smith (Stuff): Why do I have to prove who I am when I’m selling my house?
Bryan Cadogan (Stuff): A realistic dream – so why isn’t it happening?
Matt Shand (Stuff): Tauranga City Council demolishes Bella Vista Homes
Ben Leahy (Herald): First-home buyer says moaning millennials should forget Auckland prices and move to regions
Kelvin McDonald (Māori TV): Landlord’s message shocks: “My koro would be very angry”
Health and disability
Michelle Duff (Stuff): Minister Julie Anne Genter to question Director-General over maternity study
Southland Times Editorial: Otago University maternity research was assailed, not disproven
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Labour vulnerable in health field
Mike Houlahan (ODT): SDHB deficit $4 million lower
Mike Houlahan (ODT): ‘Rebalancing’ of healthcare vital
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Making the social connection
John Gibb (ODT): High-needs patients need better primary care: study finds
John Gibb (ODT): ACC service ‘a step in the right direction’
1News: Disability support sector in desperate need of funding as it reaches breaking point
Christina Persico (Stuff): Petition before Parliament for autism-friendly shopping options
1News: Health Minister urges Kiwis to get tested for hepatitis C
Samesh Mohanlall (Stuff): Dying man ‘robbed of dignified death’ after being sent to hospice in a taxi
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Wairoa woman Arohaina Gilbert died after DHB’s delays
Rob Stock (Stuff): Toxic homes: New Zealand’s asbestos legacy
Donna-Lee Biddle (Stuff): Waikato DHB without a chief executive after four months and $73k
John Gibb (ODT): Gymnasium mooted for new hospital
Sam Kilmister (Stuff): Mother’s plea for emergency mental health help falls on deaf ears
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Third of women having ‘normal’ births at Auckland Hospital not from Auckland
Tom Rowland (Herald): Up in smoke? Vaping ban proposed for Hamilton CBD
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): Preparations resume for junior doctors’ strikes
Amy Nelmes Bissett (RNZ): A bitter pill: Why can’t we recycle medication?
Jamie Morton (Herald): Michael J Fox Foundation funds ground-breaking NZ research on Parkinson’s disease
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Polio: lingering effects and the last mile
Eloise Gibson (Newsroom): Can we save our sickest from superbugs?
Lime scooters
Eva Corlett (RNZ): AA calls for Lime scooters to be suspended until proven safe
Kethaki Masilamani, Dan Satherley (Newshub): Will Auckland Council unlock Lime scooters?
Chris Keall (Herald): Lime finally apologises to Auckland scooter lockup victim, asks for details
Herald: Lime: ‘We apologise to our riders’, but our scooters are safe
Brad Flahive (Stuff): Lime ‘disappointed’ with Auckland Council e-scooter ban, calls for ‘level playing field’
Herald: ‘This won’t get councillors onside’: Auckland Council bombarded by Lime emails
RNZ: Councillors bite back at Lime’s email blitz
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Lime confusing its users about Auckland ban, Councillor says
Nick Truebridge (Stuff): Lime scooter glitch: Auckland Council’s handling of trial attacked amid licence suspension
Danielle Clent (Stuff): Lime’s call for e-scooter support sees over 4000 emails sent to Auckland Council
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Lime calls for e-scooter riders’ support with app campaign after Auckland Council ban
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Lime won’t be allowed unless they’re proven safe, Wellington mayor says
Chris Morris (ODT): Scooters off streets in Dunedin
Herald: Lime pleads to public to help bring back ‘transport revolution
Herald: Lime scooters suspended temporarily due to safety issues
1News: Lime scooters have Auckland licence ‘temporarily suspended’ due to brake fault concerns
Tina Law (Stuff): Christchurch man charged for 111 Lime scooter rides he did not take
Transport
Jamie Morton (Herald): Bikelash: Researchers examine what drives opposition to cycle lanes
Felix Marwick (Spinoff): Wellington’s most dangerous pastime: riding a bike
Damian George (Stuff): Twenty Wellington bus services suspended for up to six months because of driver shortage
Todd Niall (Stuff): Government withholds ‘contentious’ research on bus drivers’ conditions
RNZ: Wellington’s Airport Flyer no longer part of region’s bus network
Gavin Evans (Newsroom): Hydrogen opportunity for NZ transport hubs
Fraser Whineray (Herald): Hydrogen not the answer to energy saving in NZ
National’s BlueGreens conference
Richard Harman (Politik): National to promote GM debate
Jamie Morton (Herald): New Catlins park and bottle scheme in National’s enviro policies
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): National Party proposes new national park in the Catlins
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): National could bring back cash for drink bottles
Steve Abel (Noted): National’s failure to grasp climate change a major challenge for NZ
Christine Rose (Daily Blog): National’s Environment Discussion Document Business as Usual
Environment
Laura Goodall (Stuff): Climate change scientists look to Māori and other indigenous people for answers
Maddison Northcott (Stuff): Christchurch pupils to strike as part of global climate change action
RNZ: Backing for NZ students to abandon classes over climate change
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Climate change could shrink kiwi habitat, DOC says
Paul Gorman (Stuff): Environment Canterbury chairman Steve Lowndes joins Extinction Rebellion protesters
David Farrar: The ECan Chairman is bonkers
RNZ: Ongoing health risks unlikely after Waikato River pollution – council
Geoff Bertram (Daily Blog): Climate change & Free Trade
Rod Oram (Newsroom): The last will and testament of oil and gas
Peter Griffin (Stuff): NZ predator-free needs genetic engineering research
Tim Newman (Nelson Mail): Greens start war on waste in Nelson with beach clean-up
RNZ: Ongoing health risks unlikely after Waikato River pollution – council
RNZ: Warning about toxic algae in rivers in Wellington region
Canterbury earthquakes and rebuild
Charlie Mitchell and Michael Haywar (Stuff): ‘Plunder’: How the bill for the Canterbury earthquakes was passed on
Vicki Anderson (Stuff): Christchurch earthquakes: Rebuilding our people
Michael Hayward (Stuff): Christchurch stadium concept plans revealed
Michael Hayward (Stuff): Christchurch council spends $74k connecting water, sewerage to lone red zone house
Ashley Cullen (RNZ): After the Christchurch earthquakes: How it feels to have PTSD at 8
Herald: New footage shows catastrophic damage caused by Canterbury earthquakes
Charlie Gates (Stuff): Town Hall finally ready to meet its Chch public after years of restoration and a $167m overhaul
Education, childcare
Shawn McAvinue (ODT): School shouts pupils uniforms
Max Christoffersen (Stuff): Wintec’s acting CEO Dave Christiansen should speak up or step down over scandal
Southland Times: Invercargill businesswoman launches Stand up for SIT campaign
Jessica Wilson (ODT): Support for student wellbeing initiative
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): NZ school students’ volunteer tourism could be putting vulnerable people at risk
David Seymour (Stuff): Biggest school changes in a decade subject of public debate
Michael Woodhouse (ODT): ‘Parents will be disempowered’
CPAG: CPAG welcomes move to qualified in-home early childcare providers
Nikki Preston (Herald):Childcare most expensive cost of raising children: research
Child abuse in state care, church care
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): Data breach and delay: survivors lose faith in New Zealand’s landmark child abuse inquiry
Andrea Vance (Stuff): State abuse survivor in spying scandal says Govt lawyers set out to vilify him
Chris Morris (ODT): Survivor denied entry to Vatican
Lloyd Burr (Newshub): Kiwi man’s powerful haka at Vatican challenges Catholic Church’s child sex abuse
Lloyd Burr (Newshub): Catholic Church still abusing children in New Zealand – former victim
Justice, corrections, crime
Matthew Rosenberg (Stuff): An inconvenient truth: The commonly misunderstood disorder filling our prisons
RNZ: Inmates forced to urinate in sinks, bottles – advocacy group
George Block (ODT): Psychological damage after assault linked to prison officer’s death
Anneke Smith (RNZ): How justice for Susan Burdett took 27 years
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Teina Pora has no time for Malcolm Rewa
Jordan Peterson
Simon Wilson (Herald): Jordan Peterson: The missionary man
ODT Editorial: Is Jordan Peterson a coal-mine canary
Sophie Bateman (Newshub): Farewell Jordan Peterson, a snake oil salesman for our troubled time
Sean Plunket (Magic Talk): Toxic masculinity isn’t the problem – toxic feminism is
Kiwibank/Mike King “I am hope” charity campaign
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Facebook campaign ‘bargain advertising’ for Kiwibank
Herald: Kiwibank doubles ‘I AM HOPE’ Facebook campaign donation to $100,000
Damien Venuto (Herald): Kiwibank Facebook campaign: 185k NZers take part, donation doubles
1News: Kiwibank doubles its donation to Mike King’s mental health fund to $100,000
Employment
Lorna Subritsky (Newstalk ZB): Muffin Break row: Why should millennials work for free?
Michael Reddell: Working hours
Local government
Interest: Auckland Mayor Phil Goff says the Government should give Auckland Council the GST revenue it makes from rates paid by Aucklander
Jordan Williams (Herald): Tamihere chance to wrest control from left
Robert Steven (Taupo Times): New councillor seat looks likely for Taupō District Council after representation review
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Water meters suggested as Wellington faces water shortage
Economic policy
Liam Dann (Herald): Don’t fear the softer stuff from the Treasury and the RBNZ
Liam Dann (Herald): Economy Hub: Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr embraces the forest god
Arthur Grimes (Newsroom): What makes us happy (and can policy help)?
John Roughan (Herald): Hoping Orr can see wood for the trees
Primary industries
Eric Frykberg (RNZ): More ways to fund biosecurity needed, says government
Collette Devlin (Stuff): MPI to advise Government on biosecurity funding
Te Matatini
Leigh-Marama McLachlan (RNZ): Resounding political statements from Te Matatini stage
RNZ: Personal performance of ‘incredible’ waiata at Te Matatini for PM
Melissa Nightingale (Herald): Te Matatini kapa haka festival has ‘Māori-ised’ Wellington
Poverty, inequality
Liz Gordon (Daily Blog): Debt as a weapon of mass destruction
Jordan Watson (Stuff): How-to Dad: That’s crap, New Zealand, let’s help feed our kids
Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): Queenstown’s first beggar praises locals’ generosity, says ‘snobby’ Aucklanders are tight
Waitangi Trust fraud conviction
Sam Hurley (Herald): Manager jailed for stealing $1.2m of Waitangi Trust cash to fund cosmetic surgery and luxury lifestyle
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Waitangi Trust fraudster left organisation ‘on the brink of financial ruin’
RNZ: Ex-Waitangi Treaty Grounds trust finance head jailed for fraud
Tourism
Tom O’Connor (Stuff): Be careful tourists, or we might bite
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Young Kiwis not wanting careers in tourism a concern
Wellington zoo, animal welfare
RNZ: Wellington Zoo euthanises baboons after fighting, anxiety
Newshub: Wellington Zoo’s baboons only euthanised because they couldn’t escape – animal rights activists
Jennifer Eder (Stuff): Hidden cameras and fake friendships: Animal lovers go rogue to uncover abuse
Other
Peter McKenzie (Newsroom): The better we treat people, the more chance they have
Steve Braunias (Herald): Secret Diary of the Woke Left
Andrea Fox (Herald): New electricity price reform ideas give ‘power to the people’
Jonathan Mitchell (RNZ): Defence Force estate unsafe, outdated, earthquake-prone – minister’s briefing
Jessica Mutch Mckay and Benedict Collins (1News): Inside Parliament: Capital gains tax, oil and gas ban and the latest poll results
Dale Husband (E-Tangata): Moana Tuwhare: Respecting the mana of Ngāpuhi hapū
Mark Rickerby (Spinoff): Machine-generated text is about to break the internet
Simone Kaho (E-Tangata): It’s about serving our communities
Leighton Smith (Herald): A current obsession with leadership
RNZ: Pacific languages need to be better valued in NZ – minister
Alison Mau (Stuff): I’m okay with being told where to get off – but I want to hear it in Māori
Matthew Rosenberg (Stuff): Labour’s Tāmati Coffey slammed by Fijian MP for expecting child with male partner
RNZ: O-Week testing shows 1 in 5 drugs not what buyer expected
Charlotte Cook (RNZ): Festival organisers wary of inviting drug-testing group
Matt Shand and Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Women’s Refuge concern about ‘dangerous’ Man Up programme
Paul Little (Herald): Google has been making money out of collecting your info for years. Why change?
Leah McFall (Stuff): Survey shows Kiwi women feel unloved, unsafe and over-stretched
Kristy Lawrence (Stuff): Secret sex tape uncovered during drugs probe into disgraced air man
Joanne Carroll (Stuff): ‘Green fairy’ discharged without conviction by West Coast court
RNZ: First Gas fined $3 million for anti-competitive behaviour
BusinessDesk: First Gas ordered to pay $3.4m for anti-competitive conduct
Lizzie Marvelly (Herald): Will National unleash the Crusher early?
Critic: Interview: Paula B at Wiki-O
