Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – March 05 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.
Parliament, electoral reform, democracy
Tim Watkin (Pundit): Lowering the threshold – let’s not lower our standards
Richard Harman (Politik): MMP threshold reduction possible
Danyl Mclauchlan (Spinoff): The best argument against lowering the MMP threshold? Winston Raymond Peters
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Why are the Greens attempting to gerrymander MMP legislation to benefit them?
David Farrar: Greens obviously worried about the 5% threshold
No Right Turn: Strengthening our democracy?
Greg Presland (The Standard): The Green’s electoral law reform petition
Māori TV: Prisoners voting: “a right not a privilege”
RNZ: Green MP Golriz Ghahraman urges scrutiny of ‘who controls purse strings of bigger parties’
1News: Simon Bridges defends $3.7m in travel perks, annuities for former officials and surviving spouses
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: The role of corporate lobbying in NZ’s political process
David Cormack (Herald): The tree that led a political party
Justice, crime
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Government’s chief victims advisor wants victim commissioner in criminal justice reform
Joel Ineson (Stuff): Hundreds of victims feel unsafe, ignored and in the dark as advocates call for changes to justice system
Katie Fitzgerald and Heather McCarron (Newshub): Justice system intimidating and impersonal for victims – Gil Elliot
1News: More than half of serious crime victims in NZ lack faith in justice system – report
Derek Cheng (Herald): Victims’ hui hears that even ministers don’t trust the system enough to report a rape
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Call for independent victims commission
Ben Strang (RNZ): More than half of victims of crime rate justice system poorly – survey
Tema Hemi (Māori TV): More support needed for victims of violent crime
Herald: Judge Helen Winkelmann is appointed a dame before taking up role as Chief Justice
RNZ: Women’s Refuge NZ launches stalker survey
Anna Leask (Herald): Jury must decide if case proven
Tax
Liam Hehir (Stuff): Labour’s shifting justifications for the capital gains tax
Dave Armstrong (Stuff): They’re all jealous of hard-working, successful Kiwis like me
Zane Small (Newshub): ‘Not the Kiwi way’: Finance Minister rejects talk of Māori exemption from capital gains tax
RNZ: Capital gains tax ‘won’t make the blindest bit of difference’ – Bridges
Deborah Russell and Stuart Smith (Stuff): Capital Gains Tax: Attack on middle New Zealand or treating everyone fairly?
1News: A capital gains tax would be a ‘raid on regional New Zealand’, National Party tells farmers
Mark Taylor
Gia Garrick (RNZ): Call for NZ to take ‘Kiwi jihadi’ Mark Taylor likely
Newshub: Government’s response to ‘Kiwi Jihadi’ Mark Taylor’s re-emergence praised by international relations expert
Patrick Gower (Newshub): How ‘Kiwi Jihadi’ Mark Taylor made a total joke of the War on Terror
Stacey Kirk (Stuff): ‘Kiwi jihadi’ Mark Taylor to remain citizen, but on his own in Syria – PM
Derek Cheng (Herald): Jacinda Ardern says NZ ‘severely limited’ in helping Kiwi jihadist in Syria
RNZ: ‘Kiwi Jihadi’ in Syria will have to find his own way out – Ardern
Anna Whyte (1News): Jacinda Ardern reassures Kiwis ‘plans in place’ if ISIS members like Mark Taylor return to our shores
Vita Molyneux and Alice Webb-Liddall (Newshub): ‘Kiwi Jihadi’ Mark Taylor could face legal action in New Zealand – Jacinda Ardern
Adam Harvey and Suzanne Dredge (ABC): New Zealand jihadist Mark Taylor captured in Syria and jailed in Kurdish prison
AAP: New Zealand’s ‘bumbling jihadi’ Isis recruit caught in Syria – reports
1News: Kiwi ‘Bumbling Jihadi’ Mark Taylor captured in Syria, may be sent back to New Zealand
Stuff/AP: ‘Kiwi Jihadi’ Mark Taylor captured – reports
Herald: Kiwi jihadist Mark Taylor surrenders and is being held in Syrian prison
Police
Hera Cook and Marie Russell (Stuff): Arming frontline police will not make police and the public safer
Mike Yardley (Stuff): Police officers deserve elevated protection
RNZ: Arming frontline police officers will not be routine – Police Commissioner
Stuff: New Zealand police already halfway armed, time to become fully armed
David Farrar: The case for arming the Police
No Right Turn: A convenient information gap
Anna Connell (Spinoff): Dear Police et al: Your cutesy social media account is bad and foolish
Mainzeal
Herald: Jenny Shipley quits China Construction Bank board after Mainzeal verdict
RNZ: Dame Jenny Shipley steps down as director of China Construction Bank
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Dame Jenny Shipley retires as Chinese bank chair
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Jenny Shipley to retire from position as China Construction Bank NZ Chair to deal with ‘personal and legal matters related to the Mainzeal case’
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Dame Jenny Shipley stands down from China Construction Bank role
Junior doctors’ employment dispute
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): EXCLUSIVE: CTU Resolution Backs The Junior Doctors – Over Its President’s Strong Objections
Katarina Williams (Stuff): Months of uncertainty could end with junior doctors-DHB settlement possible this week, union says
Health and disability
Karen Brown (RNZ): Bowel cancer patients more likely to survive major surgery in Auckland
Newshub: ‘It’s just plain wrong’: Patrick Gower’s pleads Government to fund free dentistry in New Zealand
Ruby Macandrew (Stuff): Childhood obesity declining in NZ – as long as you don’t live in a low-income area
RNZ: Slight drop in childhood obesity rates prompts further research
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Health funding needed for grassroots providers
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Disabled man denied dignity and medical funds by Ministry of Social Development, authority rules
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Ads for medicine cause people to seek out prescription drugs unnecessarily, research finds
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): X-rays cast doubt on Middlemore child abuse investigation
Paul Mitchell( Stuff): Palmerston North Hospital investigates appointments lost in the mail
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Dunedin mother ‘unable to sleep’ after DHB shares child’s sexual abuse details
Joanne Carroll (Stuff): West Coast DHB admits patients’ names on ‘misplaced’ documents an ‘error’
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Premature baby died under Counties Manukau DHB after mum not given treatment early enough
RNZ: Cough meds disappear from shelves, but still available
1News: Vaping shouldn’t be included in potential smoking ban for Wellington beaches, expert says
1News: Measles cases climb to seven in Canterbury
Tom Kitchin (Stuff): Canterbury measles count reaches seven as two new cases confirmed
Regan Paranihi (Māori TV): Hearing week looks to focus on hearing loss issues
Lucy Warhurst (Newshub): ‘Generation Deaf’: How New Zealand’s ‘alarming’ headphone habits are ruining our hearing
Education
1News: Minister supports student strike against climate change inaction during school time
Ryan Dunlop (Herald): Ex student in school uniform price under-cutting stoush with Macleans College
Kendall Hutt (Stuff): Former Macleans College student’s emails blocked after ‘spamming’ students over second-hand uniforms
Megan Lawrence and Ryan Dunlop (Herald): Students sitting on knees, standing in door ways on overcrowded buses on Auckland’s North Shore
Elena McPhee (ODT): Chamber of Commerce backs polytechnic
ODT: Hipkins to attend Otago Polytech meeting
Logan Savory (Stuff): Southern Institute of Technology officials to seek submission clarification
Helen Clark Foundation
1News: Helen Clark to launch AUT think tank focusing on sustainability, peace and inclusiveness
Derek Cheng (Herald): Helen Clark Foundation set up to tackle big issues of the day
Pete George: Helen Clark Foundation – public policy think tank
Mayoralty contests
RNZ: Race for the mayoralty: What you need to know
Todd Niall (Stuff): What happened to Phil Goff’s 2016 Auckland mayoral promises?
Herald Editorial: Phil Goff seeks re-election but Govt is making city’s big decisions
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Goff: Vote for me and higher rates
Dan Satherley (Newshub): ‘I’m as mean as you get’ – Phil Goff
Local government
Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): Give councils more control, but watch them closely
Nick Truebridge (Stuff): Auckland’s stadium woes: Secret council presentation paints grim picture of stadium network
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Panuku spends $116k in Auckland Council battle over development
Stephen Forbes (Interest): New Auckland Council and government working group to address housing and urban growth issues gets ready for action
Raniera Harrison (Māori TV): Ōkorihi Marae set to have wharekai completed after stand-off with Far North District Council
Luke Appleby (1News): Napier City Council rules out compensation for brown tap water as survey suggests most residents are still unhappy with chlorination
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): Rates increase lower than expected but still too high for some
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): Dog trial in central Palmerston North gets woof of approval
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Growing doubt Porirua mayor Mike Tana’s family will move from Rotorua
Natalie Akoorie (Herald): $5000 donated by 5-year-old rape victim’s family for Tūrangi playground unused
Elton Rikihana Smallman (Stuff): Sex workers in the city not likely as Hamilton grapples with rules
Employment, migrant exploitation
Jessie Chiang (RNZ): Accountability for Chinese construction workers remains up in the air
1News: Marae: ‘How many more Māori men ain’t gonna come home?’ Gisborne man’s whānau take emotional trip to scene of his forestry death
Herald: A new MBIE report shows 90 per cent of Kiwis working in businesses are not union members
1News: Kiwi women still being asked if they plan to have kids at job interviews, recruiter says
Stuff: Midwives, legal roles among New Zealand’s least popular jobs
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): Worker whose boss didn’t believe she was sick awarded $20,000 by ERA
Environment
1News: Government to be ‘led by the science’ on genetic modification – Climate Minister
David Williams (Newsroom): Minister urged to tuck away tens of millions to buy leases
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Tara Iti golf course fences off 2 hectares of public conservation land in Mangawhai
No Right Turn: A naked land-grab
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): Their birthright is being lost’: New Zealanders fret over polluted rivers
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Hawke’s Bay aquifer water to be used for making flavoured drinks
Gary Farrow (Stuff): Eels minced in Mercury dam
Robin Martin (RNZ): New technology backs up 1080 conservation efforts
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Ngāti Kurī addresses threats to marine environment
RNZ: Public to be consulted on proposed loan for Ruataniwha dam alternative
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Returnable zero waste steel coffee cups will be introduced to 90 cafes in Wellington
Primary industries
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Meeting for Hastings locals interested in picking fruit during labour shortage draws a crowd of zero
Gerard Hutching (Stuff): Australia tries to piggyback on New Zealand’s mānuka honey success
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Farmers still lack practical solutions for greenhouse gas emissions
Tim Brown (RNZ): Otago farmers may voluntarily restrict water usage due to dry conditions
Sally Rae (ODT): ‘M. bovis’ found on three farms
Housing
Ryan Boswell and Natalia Sutherland (1News): Homeless in New Zealand
Ben Leahy (Herald): Kiwibuild owners are paying $300,000 less for their houses than other first-home buyers
Isobel Ewing (Stuff): Elderly Kiwis struggling to pay off mortgage before retirement
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): Tenancy Tribunal orders tenant to pay landlord $3800 for meth contamination
Catherine Smith (Herald): Interest rate doomsday: How much extra will you pay?
Ticket scalping
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Don’t expect any resolution on ticket scalping anytime soon
Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): Will Government action against ticket bots work?
Jason Walls (Herald): The Government unveils plans to crack down on ticket scalping by banning ticket buying bots
Zane Small (Newshub): Government to clamp down on ticket scalping
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Ticket scalping crackdown: Govt targets ‘unfair’ practice
1 News: Crackdown on ticket scalpers coming with Government planning on banning the practice
Collette Devlin (Stuff): New measures to protect consumers from ticket scalpers, as Government says ‘buyer beware’ isn’t working
Foreign affairs and trade
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Five Eyes ties ‘rock solid’ – US official
Stephen Hoadley (University of Auckland): New Zealand and China estranged? Perspectives on a turbulent relationship
RNZ: Kiribati welcomes NZ’s help to access the ‘right to life’
Gordon Campbell: On why Justin Trudeau’s fate matters to New Zealand
Royal Commission into historical sexual abuse, Catholic Church
Chris Morris (ODT): Abuse inquiry’s scope wider
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Child sexual abuse inquiry scope widens
Chris Morris (ODT): Private investigators to examine school in Dunedin
Transport
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Skypath stoush prompts government to step in
James Baker (Stuff): Speed changes on rural Auckland roads welcomed
RNZ: Wairarapa to Wellington road closure adds six hours travel time to journey
Imogen Wells (1News): Lime seeks scooter mechanic for Wellington before council selects company for trial
Alleged sexual harassment at TVNZ
1News: TVNZ encourages any others to come forward after alleged sexual harassment in 2010
Herald: TVNZ asking for information about historical sexual assault alleged by former employee
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): TVNZ saddened by unacceptable harassment by executive
Pacific rugby
Dominion Post Editorial: Use All Blacks brand to make World Rugby back down
Caley Callahan (Newshub): Rugby: ‘This is make or break for Pacific Island rugby’ – Pacific Rugby Players Welfare CEO Daniel Leo
Clay Wilson (RNZ): World Rugby’s ‘massive turnaround’ encouraging
RNZ: Sport: ‘We’re not bluffing’ – Pacific rugby players consider RWC boycott
Construction sector
Chris Hutching (Stuff): Arrow’s administrators get court order stopping removal of construction crane
1News: Construction sector to look into high suicide rate as company collapses add stress
Other
Bruce Munro (ODT): And then there were nine
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Contractor costs remain high at some agencies
Robert MacCulloch (Herald): Wellbeing budget should ensure benefits exceed costs
Peter Lyons (ODT): More ‘skin in game’: let’s hope RB sticks to its guns
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Life insurance boss rebuffs regulators, says cutting commissions won’t fix adviser problems
Herald/E-Tangata: Conversations: Pania Newton on standing firm against Fletcher Building housing project at Ihumātao in Māngere
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): The radio buyout that wasn’t
Geraint Martin (Stuff): Te Papa has the right structure for the times
Zane Small (Newshub): Government yet to determine Māori claim to mobile spectrum
Paula Bennett (Whanganui Chronicle): Paula Bennett responds to Jay Kuten on weight loss: ‘I’m happy, healthy and proud’
Catherine Groenestein (Stuff): Shock in small Taranaki community as sawmill closes and 65 jobs are lost
Piers Fuller (Stuff): Loss of budget service in Wairarapa would hurt struggling people
Joshua Hitchcock (Spinoff): The $50 billion Māori economy is nowhere big enough
Anna Leask (Herald): Minister to look into case of ‘deplorable’ child sex offender deemed ‘fit and proper’ for real estate licence
Susan Strongman (RNZ): Benneydale vs Te Māniaiti: Entire town against name change
John Moore: Critical politics alternative analysis – Cops with guns, Foreign donation ban, India-Pakistan spat
Anna Loren (Stuff): Auckland tarot card reader denied Eftpos machine due to ‘high risk’ of tarot industry
David Farrar: Dyson retires
Michael Hayward (Stuff): New $300,000 artwork to be installed in Christchurch’s Victoria Square
Interest: Treasury surveys the risks to our economy of a hard Brexit and finds little likely impact, other than a rise in immigration and a stronger Kiwi dollar
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Vernon Tava’s plan to ‘always be in Government’
RNZ Checkpoint: Weaver says NZ Golf’s ‘korowai’ is just a ‘piece of faux fur’
James Araci (Spinoff): Whatever happened to the plan to make Aotearoa a green tech giant?
