Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – March 13 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.
SFO investigation into National Party
Audrey Young (Herald): Just when Simon Bridges had turned a corner, along comes Serious Fraud Office probe
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Spectre of Ross allegations back to haunt National leader Bridges
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Someone is likely to end up as toast after Serious Fraud Office probe
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Shane Jones saga isn’t sackable – but it’s shonky, shady, loose and arrogant
Jessica Mutch McKay (1News): Serious Fraud Office investigation ‘big development’ in Ross saga
Zane Small and Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Simon Bridges distancing himself from National Party following Serious Fraud Office investigation
Andrew Geddis (Pundit): Simon Bridges, National and the Serious Fraud Office – what does it all mean?
Jamie Ensor, Kethaki Masilamani (Newshub): Serious Fraud Office will consider if electoral system ‘rorted’ over National’s political donations – law professor
Newstalk ZB: Law expert: SFO investigation isn’t damaging for National – yet
David Farrar: SFO investigating donations to National
Alex Braae (Spinoff): Great news! NZ’s best political drama of 2018 has been renewed
Zane Small (Newshub): $100,000 donation ‘was not broken up by me’ – Jami-Lee Ross
Derek Cheng and Lucy Bennett (Herald): ‘Every time I’m told I’m wrong, I come up with something’: Jami-Lee Ross on SFO National Party donation probe
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Serious Fraud Office ‘tracking’ donation to National Party
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Complaint about political donations referred to Serious Fraud Office
1News: Political donation complaint by Jami-Lee Ross against National Party to be investigated by Serious Fraud Office
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Jami-Lee Ross political donations complaint referred to Serious Fraud Office
RNZ: SFO to investigate Jami-Lee Ross’ complaint on National Party donations
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): SFO to investigate National donation allegations
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Bridges: Electoral fraud complaint referred to SFO a matter for National
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Jamie Lee Ross Battleship: He’s hit National hard
No Right Turn: Not a good look
Provincial Growth Fund
Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): Bunny boiler jokes aside, Shane Jones’ threats could be chilling
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Does everyone want Sonny Bill on their team?
Gordon Campbell: Shane Jones, and a Huawei update
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Time someone yanked on Shane Jones’ chain
1News: Shane Jones says Opposition making ‘mountain out of a molehill’ as pressure continues over conflict of interest
Zane Small (Newshub): Winston Peters unleashes on David Seymour in fiery defence of Shane Jones
Hamish Rutherford and Collette Devlin (Stuff): ACT accuses Shane Jones of contempt of Parliament in privilege complaint
Derek Cheng (Herlad): Shane Jones accused of misleading Parliament
Herald Focus: Shane Jones on Northland tourism proposal (video)
RNZ: Jacinda Ardern says Shane Jones’ remark on journalist is not appropriate
David Farrar: Jones calls a journalist a bunny boiler with no consequences
David Farrar: Even Winston referred to Shane Jones as the Chair of Manea
Cathy Odgers: Prediction Time – Shane Jones Will Launch A New Urban Growth Fund
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Why Shane Jones & NZ First must be destroyed
Measles outbreak
Conan Young (RNZ): Parents sending unimmunised children to school despite warnings
RNZ: Measles outbreak: Canterbury school asks unimmunised students to stay home
1News: Around 18,000 vaccines to hit Canterbury shortly as measles cases continue to rise
1News: Mass immunisation struggles amid Canterbury measles outbreak as vaccines dwindle
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Canterbury measles outbreak: Vaccine needed for 125,000
1News: Health Minister’s blunt message to anti-vaxx advocates, in midst of Canterbury measles outbreak – ‘Vaccines work’
Theo Brandt (Newsroom): Freedom of choice puts babies at risk
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Measles and MMR vaccination in NZ: The facts
Herald: Measles outbreak: People born between 1969 and 1992 might not be fully protected, health services warn
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Measles: What you need to know
Jess Berentson-Shaw (Spinoff): The problem with false balance reporting on vaccination
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Anti-vax murderers shouldn’t get access to the welfare system
Herald: 18,000 extra MMR vaccines to arrive in Canterbury to tackle measles outbreak
Rachel Graham (RNZ): Canterbury measles outbreak: Police prosecutor contracts virus
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Christchurch police prosecutor diagnosed with measles could have infected ‘many’ people
Kim Nutbrown (Stuff): Rangiora Borough School pupil amongst those confirmed with measles in Canterbury
Alice Webb-Liddall (Newshub): New Zealand medical professionals worried about anti-vax tour
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): New Zealand doctors move clinics outside in bid to stop measles’ spread
Health
Tom Furley (RNZ): Health experts call for dental health reform in NZ
Brooke Jenner (RNZ): Demand for public dental care on the rise in Auckland
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Elderly man found dead in his Napier home weeks after he was last seen
Elena McPhee (ODT): Alcohol laws’ effect on Maori questioned
Emma Russell (Herald): New Zealand’s high poison deaths a concern, expert says
James Baker (Waikato Times): SMA patients could wait four years for new wonder drug Spinraza
Fiona Connor (Newshub): ‘Charlotte and all those like her don’t have time’: Plea to fund toddler’s life-saving drug as vital muscles weaken
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Hamish Walker appeals to Health Minister to keep Maternity Centre open
Deena Coster (Stuff): Protester apologises to ACC for ‘over the top’ protest, New Plymouth court hears
Tax
Stacey Kirk (Stuff): Capital gains tax changes should not be ‘over complicated’, says Prime Minister
Geoff Simmons (Daily Blog): Davidson is Wrong: Capital Gains Tax Will Hurt the Poor
David Farrar: More on how CGT is a double tax on business
ODT: Water abstraction tax concerns
ODT: Work to be done: tax group
Eric Watson tax avoidance case
Matt Nippert (Herald): Eric Watson’s Cullen Group could face years of court battles over multimillion tax judgment
Duncan Bridgeman (Herald): High-flyer Eric Watson out of parachutes as taxman bites
Matt Nippert (Herald): Eric Watson’s firms face bill of at least $112m after losing High Court tax avoidance battle
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Watson structured affairs to dodge tax, High Court finds
Kim Savage (RNZ):Eric Watson’s Cullen Group avoided $51m in tax, High Court confirms
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Judge rules businessman Eric Watson owes $51.1 million in back taxes
Parliament
Zane Small (Newshub): ‘I think I just made history’: Speaker orders Simon Bridges to apologise twice in Parliament
Jason Walls (Herald): National Leader Simon Bridges is calling for a ban on foreign donations to political parties
Daniela Maoate-Cox (RNZ): Parliament bingo
Daniela Maoate-Cox (RNZ): Parliament’s to do list: Tuesday 12 March 2019
Rainbow Ministry proposal
Zane Small (Newshub): Green MP Jan Logie’s ‘Rainbow Ministry’ idea dismissed by Jacinda Ardern
Felix Desmarais (Stuff): Ardern pumps brakes on idea of Rainbow Ministry floated by Green Mp Jan Logie
Pike River
Lucy Bennett (Herald): Pike River mine re-entry to begin on May 3, Andrew Little announces
Derek Cheng (Herald): Pike River re-entry on May 3, Government says
1News: Date for planned Pike River Mine drift re-entry announced by Government
Zane Small (Newshub): Pike River Minister Andrew Little confirms re-entry date
RNZ: Pike River Mine re-entry to begin in early May, govt confirms
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Pike River Mine re-entry on track to go ahead
Newstalk ZB: Andrew Little announces Pike River re-entry date
Cameron Slater
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Cameron Slater privacy breach: Victim doubts he’ll get his $70,000 damages
David Fisher (Herald): Bankrupt blogger Cameron Slater carried out ‘character assassination’ – ordered to pay $70,000 in landmark media ruling
Kendall Hutt (Stuff): Whale Oil bankrupt blogger Cameron Slater ordered to pay $70,000 in landmark ruling
RNZ: Blogger Cameron Slater ordered to pay businessman $70k
Water bottling
Dominic Harris (Stuff): Lianne Dalziel’s family business links to Cloud Ocean Water concerns council colleagues
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Resolution to controversial water bottling, export issue on the way – Jacinda Ardern
Environment and conservation
Charlie Mitchell (Stuff): Kahurangi National Park to expand by area half the size of Auckland
RNZ: Kahurangi National Park expands by 14 percent – more than half the size of Auckland
1News/Sky: Kahurangi National Park to be expanded by area half the size of Auckland
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Greenpeace ads targeting individual companies a step too far, authority rules
Danielle Clent (STuff): High Court appeals over marine dumping off Auckland’s Great Barrier Island
Michael Neilson (Herald):‘It is disgusting’: Appeals lodged as Great Barrier Island set to take millions of tonnes of Auckland’s waste
Nicholas Boyack (Stuff): Recycling not worth the extra $80 for Upper Hutt ratepayers
Nicholas Boyack (Stuff): Chatham Islanders finally step out of their rubbish holes to join the recycling movement
Stuff: Ideas sought for recycling New Plymouth’s landfill site
Jono Galuszka (Manawatū Standard): Monitored lakes in wider Manawatū failing environmental standards
Rosalie Willis (Kāpiti News): Waikanae River one of 14 catchments chosen for funding
Stuff: High bacteria levels found at popular Northland swimming spots
Andrew McRae (RNZ): ‘No immediate benefit’ from new wood burners – Rotorua resident
David Williams (Newsroom): The truth behind ‘tahr-mageddon’
Brian Rudman (Herald): Sick to death of poison-based pest remedies
Climate change
Steven Cowan: Is school strike for climate a government propaganda exercise?
Andrew Beecroft (Stuff): We should be proud of the courage of student strikers
John Dew (Stuff): We need to listen to young people about climate change
Albert Redmore (Newshub): Listen: Sean Plunket attacks Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft over his lack of support for non-protesting students
Donna Awatere Huata (Daily Blog): Secondary Principals Council must not punish climate change striking students
Newshub: Expert says NZ Super Fund should divest shares in oil and gas
No Right Turn: Climate change: Time for divestment
Paul Gorman (Stuff): Transport, air travel Environment Canterbury’s biggest greenhouse-gas emitters
Prime Minister’s science awards
Jamie Morton (Herald): James Renwick: Dauntless hope in the face of a climate catastrophe
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Exploring climate change through creative arts a focus for Prime Minister’s science award recipient
Herald: Victoria University professor wins $100,000 prize for climate-change work
Alice Wilkins (Newshub): Crime solving Kiwi researchers collect $500,000 prize from Prime Minister
Employment
1News: Christchurch dairy owner fined after employee forced to work 12 hour shifts, seven days a week
Chris Hutching (Stuff): Christchurch convenience store owner to pay $41,000 for exploitation
Herald: Dairy and its owner to pay over $40,000 for worker exploitation
Liu Chen (RNZ): Indian priests say they have been exploited by employer
RNZ: Christchurch dairy to pay more than $40,000 for worker exploitation
1News: Man killed in workplace accident in Wellington the fourth fatality in a month
Alex Ashton (RNZ): Line workers’ lawyers prepare class action against Visionstream
ODT: Lack of Kiwi workers a problem
John Milford (Stuff): People with a disability or health condition the answer to skills shortages
Vodafone
Chris Keall (Herald): Vodafone must learn from past mistake in sending work offshore: Watchdog
Newshub: Vodafone restructure leaves thousands of staff at risk (video)
Housing
RNZ: Collins grills minister over KiwiBuild underwrite guarantees
Henry Cooke and Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): Government will not extend special housing areas law beyond September
Mark Price (ODT): No extension of housing law
Mitchell Alexander (Newshub): LED light bulbs weren’t considered for KiwiBuild
Sophie Bateman (Newshub): Hamilton landlord tells tenants rent increase is Labour’s fault
1News: Are kitset homes the answer to New Zealand’s housing crisis?
Samantha Motion (Bay of Plenty Times): Developer on Tauranga land supply ‘crisis’: I’ll be laying people off
Ihumātao
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Petition against housing project ‘desecration’ taken to Parliament
Herald:Russian feminist punk-rock band Pussy Riot throws support behind protesters this afternoon
Spinoff: A message of solidarity from Pussy Riot to the people of Ihumātao
Oliver Lovell (Stuff): Pussy Riot marches to Parliament over Auckland housing development
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Pussy Riot says New Zealand can be an ‘example’ to Russia and Australia
Insurance
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): IAG turning down new property insurance in Wellington region
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Govt warns insurers following IAG’s Wellington pull-back
Lee Kenny and Susan Edmunds (Stuff): IAG’s ‘conservative approach’ to Wellington home contents insurance does not mean other insurers will follow suit
Justice, corrections
Sean Hogan (1News): Hastings students lock themselves in small metal cage in protest at ‘inadequate’ prison conditions
Frank Macskasy (Daily Blog): Anti-trans activists fudge OIA statement – Report
Police
Herald Editorial: Police need a smarter response to fleeing drivers
Anna Leask (Herald): The Chase: Pursuit toll – 79 dead in police chases since 2008
Herald: The Chase: Inside police radio of a double-fatal
Anna Leask (Herald): The Chase: Woman who survived pursuit crash that killed her three mates ‘begged’ driver to stop
Patrick Gower (Newshub): Fleeing driver in Nelson triple fatal was on meth
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Police ‘justified’ in triple-fatal pursuit crash – IPCA
Chelsea Boyle (Herald): Watchdog rules triple fatal Nelson pursuit was justified
Tim Newman (Stuff): Police pursuit deemed justified before Nelson triple-fatal crash
Tommy Livingston (Stuff): IPCA investigating alleged sex attack and inappropriate police behaviour claims
Blair Jackson (Stuff): Southlanders upset at gun laws and police
Transport, road safety
Fergus Tate (Stuff): Why we should set our sights on zero road deaths
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Number of police drink-drive breath tests drops by more than a million in five years
Damian George (Stuff): Calls for central Government to step in and help fix Wellington’s bus problems
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Fears Inner-City Bypass mistakes will be repeated with Let’s Get Wellington Moving
Todd Niall (Stuff): Fare-free weekend public transport for Auckland under-15s sought
Matthew Littlewood (Stuff): Timaru District rejects ECan’s transport funding request
Herald: Auckland Airport and Uber team up
Danielle Clent and Kendall Hutt (Stuff): Wave e-scooters to take on Lime e-scooters in Auckland
George Block (ODT): Another e-scooter company expected
Brook Sabin (Stuff): New Zealand’s dire shortage of budget airlines
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Applicant missed out on $95k air traffic control job after ‘arbitrary’ personality test
Boeing 737 Max
Tom McRae (Newshub): Civil Aviation Authority deems Boeing’s planes safe, despite two recent disasters
1News: ‘I wouldn’t be happy flying on one’ – retired captain wary of Boeing Max 8s after crashes
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Top US aviation expert tells New Zealand to ban Boeing 737 MAX from airways
Grant Bradley (Herald): Boeing 737 Max scare widens with more authorities banning plane, Fiji Airways quits flying to Australia
RNZ: Fiji Air continues to fly Max 8s into NZ
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): CAA says Fiji Airways Boeing 737 Max flights safe, Singapore ground their fleet
Reuters: Britain, Germany, France close airspace to Boeing 737 MAX
ABC: Aus suspends use of planes involved in Ethiopian crash
Drought declared for top of the South
Gerard Hutching (Stuff): Top of South Island now officially in drought as Government extends assistance
1News: Support for Tasman drought’s extended to cover Marlborough and Buller
RNZ: Drought support expands across top of South Island
Auckland
RNZ: No buy-out option in offer to flood-hit Piha homeowners
Steve Kilgallon (Stuff): Motorbike club shut out by Auckland Council as old track sits idle
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Speedway offered new home in Auckland at Waikaraka Park
Grant Bradley (Herald): Emirates Team New Zealand says proposed Auckland anchor fee for superyachts short-sighted
Jessie Chiang (RNZ): Auckland locals struggle to keep storm-damaged track open
Education, industry training
Matthew Tso (Stuff): Ministry moves to terminate Lower Hutt childcare centre’s licence following investigation
Kate Nicol-Williams (1News): Hutt Hospital Childcare Centre to be permanently closed after probe into complaints about care
Jean Bell (Bay of Plenty Times): Intellectually challenged student ‘stood down’ from school after beard row
Marae: Should correct pronunciation of Māori names be compulsory in schools?
Tom Kitchin and Jonathan Guildford (Stuff): St John pushes to have first aid training compulsory in all New Zealand schools
1News: Christchurch schools set for major revamp to manage enrolment numbers
Richard Prebble (Herald): Taskforce could destroy your local high school
Samesh Mohanlall and Matthew Littlewood (Timaru Herald): Residents unhappy with state of former Pareora school
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Students to march on Parliament demanding promised grants for postgraduates
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): Wintec HR head scoops national award, credits team culture
Jono Edwards (ODT): Hiring of novices at risk: ITO
1News: Proposed polytechnic shake-up could see 70 per cent of employers hire fewer apprentices, education consultant claims
Banks
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Economist: Bank capital changes would add thousands to borrowers’ bills
Jenny Ruth (Herald): Cabinet memos: RBNZ warned the govt of ‘intensive lobbying’ by banks
MIchael Reddell: An unserious organisation, with serious consequences
Primary industries
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): East Coast forestry companies plead not guilty to slash damage
Mike Chapman (Newshub): Opinion: Horticulture’s ask from 2019 Budget
Māori TV: Māori Fisheries Conference 2019 announced
Racism
Leo Horgan (Māori TV): “Racism is real whānau” – wahine subjected to abuse in online video
RNZ: ‘Racism is real’ – Māori woman verbally abused after alleged roading incident
Herald: ‘Racism is real’: Wāhine toa verbally abused in ‘racist’ road rage tirade
Emma Clark (Newshub): Worker verbally abuses Māori woman on camera, claims he was ‘set up’
Mandy Te (stuff): Man from woman’s viral video rant accusing him of racism denies claims
Michael Jackson documentary, sexual abuse
Ian Chapman (ODT): Character flaws provide no grounds for banishing memory of individuals
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Things we need to consider if we want to social media lynch Michael Jackson
Graeme Tuckett (Stuff): You think you’ve seen Leaving Neverland? You probably haven’t thanks to TVNZ
Dominion Post Editorial: Michael Jackson’s predatory sex offending is a lesson for all of us
1News: Black Power member tells his story of abuse in wake of Jackson documentary
Other
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Key ‘Hit & Run’ players lose faith in Government inquiry into SAS raids
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Ron Mark accused of using ministerial role to get votes
Richard Harman (Politik): National Party members propose change
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Jami-Lee Ross rides again
Nikki Mandow (Newsroom): The Mainzeal tragedy: a story in 10 chapters
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Why Isn’t JA Channelling AOC?
Alice Angeloni (Stuff): Candidate gutted over ‘male’ MP message
Peter Cullen (Stuff): The white heterosexual male: the disadvantaged species?
Katy Jones (Nelson Mail): Nelson fire: disparity tackled in rewards for volunteer firefighters
Tema Hemi (Māori TV): Waitara Land Bill reaches milestone
Liz Gordon (Daily Blog): Climbing Everest: gender equality
Southland Times: Invercargill deputy mayor Rebecca Amundsen to run against Sir Tim Shadbolt for mayoralty job
Amanda Larsson (Noted): High time for NZ to beat the gas blues using sunshine
Stuff: Captain James Cook monument to be re-installed in time for 250th commemoration
Hawkes Bay Today: Hawke’s Bay residents tell Māori man to ‘speak English’ at public meeting
Lois Williams (RNZ): Toliets on Russell wharf: ‘We’re saying no’ – tangata whenua
Daily Blog: The Liberal Agenda – Bryan Bruce interviews Max Rashbrooke
Chris Keall (Herald): ‘We not spyware’ – after school controversy, Family Zone hits back
RNZ: Dame Annette King – The Authorised Biography
RNZ: Bill to overhaul drug laws passes first reading in Parliament
