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.
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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