Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – March 15 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.
Climate change
Gordon Campbell: On the school strike for climate change
Neville Peat (Stuff): Climate change: New Zealand wants action, but it’s coming too slow to save our future
Rebecca Macfie (Spinoff): ‘We don’t really have the luxury of time to rely on elections’ – David Wallace-Wells
Dave Frame (Spinoff): Strike if you like, but then go do what really matters: maths and physics
Shaun Hendy (Newsroom): Climate change – the kids know it’s not OK
Richard Harman (Politik): Attack on Shaw unlikely to stop historic compromise
Jamie Morton (Herald): ‘Show us how it’s done’ – 22 leading NZ academics who back the School Strike 4 Climate
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Kids skipping climate strike because of schools’ ‘intimidation’ – organisers
1News: Student protest organisers discuss striking for climate change – ‘it is the nuclear-free issue of our generation’
Steven Cowan: School strike for climate has been hijacked by the government
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): Climate change strike could spur young New Zealanders into action
Jospehine Franks (Stuff): School climate strike: This isn’t the first pupil strike – and last time, it worked
Herald Editorial: Striking school students deserve to be heard
ODT Editorial: Youth climate action could go further
Brooke Jenner (RNZ): No guarantees on safety for striking students – principals
Elspeth Tilley (Stuff): Supporting our young people as they take action over climate change
Jamie Morton (Herald): Class action: Thousands of students to march over climate change
Toby Manhire (Stuff): NZ schools strike for climate: everything you need to know
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): Climate change strike: This is why Kiwi kids are ‘bunking’ school
RNZ: Thousands of students to protest against climate change today
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Thousands expected at student-led climate change march through Wellington
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): School strike for climate change NZ – what’s happening where?
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): School Strike 4 Climate ‘not a day off’ – Māori climate commissioner
Zizi Sparks (Rotorua Daily Post): Rotorua students to join global strike over climate change
Jono Edwards (ODT): Pupils air climate change frustrations
Adele Redmond (Stuff): School climate change strike: Mum supports her kids standing up for their values
Virginia Fallon (Stuff): We doth protest too little: making a stand is a human right, regardless of age
RNZ: Air NZ, Z Energy, Contact, Genesis, join forces to grow forests
Assault on James Shaw
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): MP getting mugged is a rare occurance in New Zealand
Duncan Garner: Open letter to James Shaw
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Green Party co-leader James Shaw attacker ‘yelling about United Nations’ – Parker
Zane Small (Newshub): Greens co-leader Marama Davidson says party shocked by James Shaw attack
1News: ‘We’re shaken’ – MPs across political spectrum condemn ‘horrific’ attack on James Shaw
Jessica Mutch McKay (1News): MPs across political spectrum speak out against attack on James Shaw
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Behind the spread of anti-UN sentiment
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Green Party co-leader James Shaw attacked while walking to work
Sophie Bateman (Newshub): Man charged in relation to James Shaw assault
1News: Green Party co-leader James Shaw attacked on way to work, being assessed in hospital
Katie Fitzgerald and Zane Small (Newshub): James Shaw in hospital after attack
Lucy Bennett (Herald): Green Party co-leader James Shaw assaulted in central Wellington
Herald: Greens co-leader James Shaw attacked as he walked to Parliament
Herald: Green Party co-leader James Shaw punched in unprovoked attack
Herald: Beaten, bloodied and bruised: The MPs attacked over the years
Charlotte Graham-McLayt (New York Times): Attack on Government Minister Rattles New Zealand’s Friendly Politics
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): New Zealand in shock after climate change minister attacked on way to parliament
David Farrar: A disgusting attack
Measles outbreak
Listener Editorial: The measles outbreak shows there’s no vaccine for ignorance
1News: Education Minister says unvaccinated kids should be allowed at school, should not be punished for the ‘bad decisions’ of their parents
Albert Redmore (Newshub): Expert explains why making MMR vaccine compulsory might not be a good idea
Mahara Tahuhu (Stuff): ‘Unstable and dangerous’: Don’t give anti-vaxxers a platform
Lauren Paddy and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Measles outbreak: Vaccine rationing might not cover everyone who needs it – GP
Katarina Williams (Stuff): Measles outbreak: Wellington schools, early childhood centres warned of risk
RNZ: Health authorities on high alert as measles spreads to Dunedin
Chris Morris (ODT):Rush on measles vaccine
Child abuse in state care
Thomas Manch (Stuff): More than 220 children abused in Oranga Tamariki care in 2018
Isaac Davison (Herald): Oranga Tamariki shows full extent of abuse in state care: 220 kids harmed in 6 months
Sarah Robson and Katie Doyle (RNZ): ‘Deeply disturbing’: More than 200 children abused in state care in 6 months, reports show
Shane Jones and NZ First
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Behaving badly is NZ First’s best bet
Press Editorial: Charisma and conflict in the Shane Jones saga
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern tells Cabinet to ‘focus on their jobs’ and ‘not on National’
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Shane Jones on defence after Serious Fraud Office remarks
Housing
Rob Stock (Stuff):Defiant housing minister Phil Twyford acknowledges KiwiBuild mistakes
Henry Cooke (Stuff): KiwiBuild houses selling on par with private homes
Peter Jeffries (Herald): Funding change has hurt non-profit housing
Laura Dooney (RNZ): 300 apartments planned for Wellington in HNZ and city council partnership
1News: New social housing complex of up to 300 homes proposed for Wellington
Stuff: Government moots deal to build up to 300 homes on Wellington’s Arlington complex
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Details about massive Queenstown housing area revealed
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Landlords’ scaremongering tenants into not voting Labour may breach human rights law
Stuff: Crunch on student flats as rents hit records, Trade Me says
Newshub: Economist explains why NZ can’t borrow and spend to fix the housing shortage
OIA
Charlie Gates (Stuff): What is the OIA, how does it help, and why does it matter?
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): Redacted – how information the public should know about disappears from view
No Right Turn: If in doubt, complain
No Right Turn: Juking the stats
Tax Working Group
Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): Employment Minister says by charging $1000 a day, Sir Michael Cullen ‘is doing us a favour’
Zane Small (Newshub): ‘Don’t underestimate his job’: Willie Jackson defends calling Sir Michael Cullen’s $1000-a-day pay ‘peanuts’
Gareth Morgan: Cullen’s Tax Working Group: High on politics of envy, low on economic literacy
Water bottling
Dominic Harris (Stuff): Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel admits conflict over husband’s water bottling links
Dominic Harris (Stuff): Christchurch council could help fund campaign group’s water bottling legal challenge
Foreign affairs and trade
Robert Burton-Bradley (ABC): New Zealand’s Government divided ahead of pivotal report on Chinese political interference
Johnny Blades (RNZ): US and NZ stand by PNG electricity campaign despite concerns
Michael Reddell: Almost unbelievable
Jason Walls (Herald): Finance Minister Grant Robertson plays down the impact of a no-deal Brexit on New Zealand
Stephen Forbes (Interest): With a no-deal Brexit looking more and more likely affected Kiwi exporters need to get set for a worst case scenario
Kawe Roes (Māori TV): Māori development minister gifts pou whakairo to Chile
Huawei
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Spark brushes off blast from Shane Jones over Huawei
Audrey Young (Herald): Spark boss Simon Moutter responds to Shane Jones’ 5G attacks
Jason Walls (Herald): The Opposition says NZ First MP Shane Jones is deliberately deflecting controversy with Spark attack
Education, vocational training
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Tomorrow’s Schools and fear of a one-size-fits-all system
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Prominent Auckland schools unite to oppose education changes
Stuff: Government to spend $80 million on Ashburton and Ellesmere colleges
Adele Redmond (Stuff): Ara Institute of Canterbury pushes for regional autonomy in polytech overhaul
Thomas Tarurongo Wynne (ODT): Centralised model could spell end of distance learning
Elena McPhee (ODT): Bridges backs Ker’s alternative plan
Insurance
RNZ: Kris Faafoi says state-owned insurance firm far from reality
Julie Iles (Stuff): California company behind IAG’s realisation it was overexposed in Wellington
Chris Hutching (Stuff): Hutt homeowner’s ‘insurance nightmare’
Police pursuits
Anna Leask (Herald): The Chase: major review of police pursuits to be released today
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Police pursuits sit-rep: Facts and rules ahead of joint IPCA and Police report
Kristin Edge (Herald): Northland mum Donna Yates says police should stop pursuits
Leah Tebbut (Herald): Police pursuits in the Bay of Plenty second highest in the country
Auckland
Simon Wilson (Herald): Trump v Clinton in the battle for Auckland mayoralty
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Eden Park bailout won’t cost ratepayers – Phil Goff
Bernard Orsman (Herald): $50 million bailout of Eden Park being considered by Auckland councillors behind close doors
Caroline Williams (Stuff): Auckland is Australasia’s most congested city – more ‘dynamic traffic lanes’ planned to help
Mitch McCann (Newshub): Auckland’s rush-hour traffic the worst in Australasia – report
Maria Slade (Spinoff): City of snails: Auckland’s traffic is worse than Sydney’s
Chris Chang (1News): Mega tunnel signed off for $1.2 billion project to bring cleaner beaches, waterways to Auckland
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Auckland’s Central Interceptor stormwater project officially gets underway
RNZ: Contract signed for Auckland’s $1.2 billion sewage project
Jessie Chiang (RNZ): Māngere Bridge residents say patrols no solution to drunken parties
Local government
Andre Chumko (Stuff): Gisborne Mayor Meng Foon retiring after 18 years on the job
RNZ: Gisborne Mayor Meng Foon steps down after 18 years
RNZ: Hamilton mayor Andrew King denies electioneering over beggar billboard
Stuff: Bella Vista homes cut in half and shipped out for repairs
Jonathan Mitchell (RNZ): Parking price hikes in Wellington backed by councillors
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Wellington considers delaying indoor arena in attempt to hold back ‘uncomfortable’ rates rise
Civil Defence warning error
Joel MacManus (Stuff): False Alarm: Civil Defence warning system error alerts NZ to earthquake that didn’t happen
Sophie Bateman (Newshub): Civil Defence screw-up: Apology after accidentally tweeting earthquake, tsunami warning
RNZ: Civil Defence accidentally send out alert for magnitude-6.6 earthquake
Herald: Civil Defence sends wrong alerts of Kermadec quake, tsunami risk for NZ
1News: Civil Defence NZ retracts potential tsunami warning issued by mistake on Twitter
Health
Samantha Olley (Rotorua Daily Post): ‘Defeated’ Rotorua registered nurse speaks out after highly critical In Safe Hands aged care report
Anne Marie May (RNZ): Aged care workers want to give the elderly better support
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): ‘Floor crumbled beneath our feet’: Kiwi father’s heart-breaking fight against cancer shared as family asks for donations
Abortion
Derek Cheng (Herald): NZ First understood to be holding up abortion law reform
Susan Strongman (RNZ): British woman forced to pay more than $2k for abortion pills
Pike River
RNZ: Pike River families’ spokesperson Bernie Monk quits after confidentiality agreement
Laura Mills (Greymouth Star): Monk denies split from Pike group
Drug laws
Jim Rose (Stuff): Is drug legalisation worse than the status quo?
Jack McDonald (Stuff): Māori must be at forefront of the cannabis law reform debate
Mel Taylor (Stuff): Home truths on marijuana – a caregiver’s perspective
Helen Winkelmann sworn in as Chief Justice
Stuff: New Chief Justice Dame Helen Winkelmann is sworn in
RNZ: Dame Helen Winkelmann sworn in as top judge, highlights barriers to justice for the poor
Church
David Tombs (ODT): Contributing to social change
Anna Rawhiti-Connell (Newsroom): Shedding my Catholic guilt
Other
Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): Should we shut Tiwai to save the planet?
1News: Expectations high in Taranaki as Government set to reveal plans to transition away from oil and gas
MIchael Morrah (Newshub): Revealed: NZTA endorsed careless driving convicts as instructors
Stephen Forbes (Interest): The New Zealand government plans to push on with its own digital services tax despite EU ructions
Conan Young (RNZ): Fishers accused of trying to rig system in quota review
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Onehunga school calls for protection of Ihumātao at Polyfest
Kereama Wright (Māori TV): Rangiteaorere descendants refuse to vacate tribal land
David Farrar: Greens co-leader says no surplus while floods occur overseas
Damien Venuto (Herald): How much Google and Facebook made in NZ in 2018
1News: Whakatāne facing looming funding ‘crisis’ as it grapples with social issues
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Five ways KiwiSaver scheme will change this year
Bruce Munro (ODT): Global Insight: Call to take Kiwi jihadi ‘out of circulation’
Matt Doocey (Press): After-hours health provision needed for growing population
Eva Corlett (RNZ): New paper to fill news void in North Shore
Mark Longley (Newshub): Age of Outrage: Stop getting outraged by the younger generation
Max Towle (RNZ): Why privacy scandals don’t scare us off social media
1News: Leaving Cotton On: Michael Jackson merchandise takes a swift exit from store
Phil Smith (RNZ): Approval for both ends of a budget cycle
Marta Steeman (Stuff): Commercial property investors’ confidence slips from last year’s highs
Marta Steeman (Stuff): Auckland building boom tops $9 billion with a surge in commercial construction
Jennifer Eder (Stuff): Meretoto / Ship Cove in Marlborough Sounds added to Heritage New Zealand list
Aimee Shaw (Herald): Kathmandu website hack costs customer $2580
David Farrar: Minister demands veterans vote for his party
Kirk Hope (Stuff): Business says workplace relation in good shape
Talisa Kupenga (Māori TV): Ministers challenged to create Youth engagement strategies in portfolios
Herald: Kim Dotcom denied permission to appeal, ordered to pay United States $2500 costs
Ben Strang (RNZ): Space port ‘could be feasible’ in NZ in 10 years
Lesbian Rights: Our lesbian group has been banned from Pride
