Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – April 17 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.
Today’s content
Overseas investment
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): ‘Smell test’ plan risks noses out of joint
Richard Harman (Politik): Putting the politics into foreign investment
Katie Bradford (1News): Government sets sights on water bottlers in next round of overseas investment restrictions
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Military tech in sights with foreign investor plans
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Ministers set to get more power to decline foreign investors
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Govt consulting on foreign buyer ‘national interest’ test
Jason Walls (Herald): Act Leader David Seymour is slamming the Government’s national interest test plan
Anna Bracewell Worrall (Newshub): Government clamps down on foreigners buying up New Zealand assets
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Govt wants more power to block overseas investors
Health and disability
Derek Cheng (Herald): Waikato DHB board facing the sack
1News: Minister ‘seriously dissatisfied’ with Waikato DHB, threatens to appoint commissioner
Jo LInes-MacKenzie (Stuff): Waikato DHB board may go, replaced by Commissioner
RNZ: Health Minister David Clark offers ultimatum to Waikato District Health Board
Lucy Bennett (Herald): Women die waiting for decision on Pharmac funding for breast cancer drugs
Karen Brown (RNZ): Drug company boss calls for inquiry over breast cancer drug prices
Denis Piper (Stuff): Huge amount of Northland kids still not vaccinated against MenW
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Concerns over single brand move for epilepsy sufferers
Stuff: Third party to hear resident doctor-DHB stoush
Jamie Morton (Herald): Two-thirds of GPs quizzed about medicinal cannabis
Paula Bennett (Herald): We need to know how legal drugs will be controlled
RNZ: Deadly superbug Candida auris infection ‘inevitable’ in NZ – expert
Provincial Growth Fund
Jason Walls (Herald): Minister in charge of Provincial Growth Fund welcomes closer attention by Auditor-General
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Auditor-general casting close eye over Provincial Growth Fund, orders review
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Auditor-General ramps up scrutiny of the Provincial Growth Fund
RNZ: Provincial Growth Fund and managers to be viewed more closely
Louisa Akavi
David Fisher (Herald): Inside the secret operation to save New Zealand nurse Louisa Akavi, held hostage by Isis for almost six years
Derek Cheng (RNZ): Winston Peters say Govt could not stop Red Cross from naming Louisa Akav
Derek Cheng (RNZ): Winston Peters says Red Cross’ belief it had Govt support is ‘balderdash’
1News: Government has ‘never given up hope’ of bringing Kiwi nurse kidnapped by ISIS home, Winston Peters says
Zane Small (Newshub): Winston Peters condemns Red Cross ‘screw up’ over abducted Kiwi Louisa Akavi
Stuff: Winston Peters: Red Cross claims over naming of hostage
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Red Cross ‘rolling the dice on people’s lives’ by naming kidnapped nurse Louisa Akavi
1News: Government to continue working with Red Cross despite disagreement over case of Kiwi nurse taken by ISIS – Ardern
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): Jacinda Ardern and Red Cross lock horns over publication of nurse’s kidnap in Syria
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): ‘Reckless in the extreme’: Patrick Gower blasts Red Cross, New York Times over Louisa Akavi
RNZ: IS-captured NZ nurse Louisa Akavi: ‘They wouldn’t know who she is’ – Journalist in Syria
Herald Editorial: The quandary around secret hostage Louisa Akavi
National Party
Jenna Lynch and Tova O’Brien (Newshub): National MPs speaking out against leader Simon Bridges
Ryan Bridge: (Newshub) Why today is not the day for open rebellion within the National Party
Tax, IRD
RNZ: David Parker says no decision made about any capital gains tax in Cabinet
Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): NZ workers pay second lowest tax in OECD
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Billboard promoting tax fairness ‘removed without permission’
Adam Hollingworth (Newshub): Inland Revenue about to close for eight days to instigate $1.6 billion upgrade
Free speech
Nicola Macaulay (Stuff): No practical reason to censor Christchurch gunman’s manifesto
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Free speech debate reignites after Christchurch terror attack
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Labour Party MP bizarrely attacks media before Government look to clamp down on free speech
Israel Folau
Cathy Odgers: Will The Gays Force Team NZ To Drop Emirates Now?
Heath Moore (Herald): ‘Folau hasn’t done Christian faith any great service’: New Zealand Catholic church speaks out
Joe Bennett (Stuff): Threatening Folau with the sack seems triply unfair
Herald: Brian Tamaki’s ‘war’: Bishop slams Government, makes it mission to protect freedom of speech
Gun laws
David Williams (Newsroom): Riverbed ‘like a war zone’
1News: New poll: 61% of New Zealanders back gun ban in wake of Christchurch atrocity
Jason Walls (Herald): The majority of New Zealanders think the new gun rules are about right, according to a new poll
Martin van Beynen (Stuff): Gun owners hand in thousands of illegal firearms as new law takes hold
Environment
ODT Editorial: Oil and gas versus climate change
Rosemary Penwarden (ODT): Time for turning back on using coal
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Austrian oil company OMV apply to discharge waste off Otago coast
Whanganui Chronicle: PGG Wrightson and Carrfields Livestock fined for effluent spill in Makino Stream
Primary industries
Angie Skerrett (Newshub): Government announces tightening of NAIT animal tracing scheme
Jason Walls (Herald): Government to crack down on farmers who don’t comply with animal moving rules
John Stevenson (Stuff): We need the right to refuse to take dirty milk
Eric Frykberg (RNZ: Government ‘acted without integrity’ in land lease reform – Fed Farmers
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): New Zealand suffers egg shortage as farmers scramble to go free-range
Reserve Bank
Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): Is Adrian Orr, Mr Congeniality, ready for a war with farmers?
Liam Dann (Herald): Bank capital changes will cost economy, ASB warns
Fuji Xerox
Duncan Bridgeman (Herald): Fuji Xerox reinstated as government provider despite ongoing fraud probe
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Fuji Xerox allowed to supply government agencies after suspension lifted
Jo Moir (RNZ): Fuji Xerox back in govt books, but still under investigation
Christchurch mosque shootings
Bevan Rapson (North and South): After Christchurch, NZ politicians have had to do some soul-searching
Virginia Larson (North and South): The heartbreaking moment New Zealand was put on the map
Piers Fuller (Stuff): Hundreds of anti-Islamic related complaints received prior to shootings
RNZ: Christchurch terror attack victims to receive $3m by end of month
Operation Burnham inquiry
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Operation Burnham: Lawyers for Afghan villagers fail first High Court challenge
RNZ: Operation Burnham inquiry: Afghani villagers’ lawyers ask for info release
Local government
Damian George (Stuff): Wellington City councillors told to keep quiet over Shelly Bay development plans
Tema Hemi (Māori TV): Plans to build a new Shelly Bay
Jono Edwards (ODT): Minister has doubts over ORC abilities
Charlie Gates and Liz McDonald (Stuff): Mayor side-steps Catholic cathedral demolition issue citing conflict of interest
Southland Times Editorial: Shadbolt’s challengers can’t just form an orderly queue
Emma Dangerfield (Stuff): More mayoral candidates come forward for Waimakariri and Hurunui councils
Emma Dangerfield (Stuff): Costs for childcare could be covered for local government representatives
Transport
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): I lost my brother in a crash, the road toll’s cost is simply immeasurable
Herald: Social cost of fatal and injury crashes in NZ rises to $4.8 billion
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Social cost of road crashes climbs to nearly $5 billion for 2017
Herald: Mayor Phil Goff’s message to Auckland Transport: ‘You are not a dictatorship’
Laine Moger (Stuff): Auckland Transport pulls out of St Heliers meeting amid safety fears from over 60s crowd
Karl du Fresne (Stuff): Ideologically driven anti-car zealots hold the rest of us in contempt
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Ratepayers get bill for animal waste despite small dairy industry
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): NZTA rules out Mandarin traffic signs in Canterbury’s Mackenzie District
Alex Macmillan (ODT): Sharing the road
Building Act
Tom Furley (RNZ): Building law overhaul proposes tougher certification and builder guarantees
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Govt tackles 15-year-old building law to make way for prefabs
Anne Gibson (Herald): Biggest Building Act overhaul in 15 years: aiming for tougher penalties, better buildings
Housing
Nicholas Boyack (Stuff): Plea for Upper Hutt City Council to be more proactive in social housing
Māori TV: Ōtautahi community projects receive $3.7mil injection
Daisy Hudson (Mountain Scene): Affordable housing for Arrowtown a step closer
RNZ: Arrowtown land requested for affordable development
Employment
David Loughrey (ODT): Over $500k to be paid out over X-ray incident
1News: In prosecutorial first, DHB hit with $225k fine after worker’s arm crushed in Dunedin
RNZ: Advice offered for Kiribati to increase workers in NZ
Jessie Chiang (RNZ): Employees taking advantage of Easter holiday loophole
Justice
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Police approach to rape has improved, results haven’t
Michelle Duff (Stuff): Fewer rape prosecutions show the law is ‘failing victims’: researchers
Stuff: Methamphetamine sentencing guidelines tested in Court of Appeal
Jared Savage (Herald): Test case for meth sentencings under way at Court of Appeal
Education
Isaac Davison (Herald): ‘It just hasn’t worked’ – Minister Tracey Martin admits funding boost for early intervention fell short
Jessica Long (Stuff): Children continue to wait several months for Early Intervention Services
Mitchell Alexander (Newshub): Early intervention service wait times for children have skyrocketed
Regan Paranihi (Māori TV): A new vision for Te Kōhanga Reo
Elena McPhee (ODT): Knox College: no plans to change management
Spark and RWC
Chris Keall (Herald): ‘There will be some rural customers who cannot get Spark Sport’ – Spark Sport boss
John Lewis (ODT): Streaming turns older fans off
Other
Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): Beware corporate welfare in disguise
Sean Phelan and Leon Salter (The Conversation): Were journalists ‘just doing their job’ in the political resignation of Metiria Turei?
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: Statistics NZ and a census failure of ‘epic proportions’
Andrew Geddis (Stuff): Choice on dying currently extends only one way. How cruel is that
Rachel Stewart (Herald): Dignified death of a feisty farm cat
Paula Penforld and Eugene Beingham (Stuff): Abortion requests rejected for 2500 women in the last decade
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Bog): Forget National’s leadership meltdown – what about the Greens?
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): The Salvation Army launches appeal to help 120,000 vulnerable Kiwis
Brian Easton: The Macroeconomic Implications of the Public Finance Act
Liz McDonald, Cate Broughton and Tom Kitchin (Stuff): Labour MP Poto Williams’ electorate office move a ‘kick in the guts’
Herald: ‘Staring down a barrel’: Kiwis lugging mortgages set for tough retirement
RNZ: Low satisfaction rates for big-three KiwiSaver providers
Kelvin McDonald (Māori TV): Are govt petitions hosting racism?
RNZ: Shop owner defends sale of ‘disturbing’ Nazi memorabilia
Nikki Mandow (Newsroom): Social enterprises frustrated by NZ law
Angie Skerrett (Newshub): Biosecurity NZ gets tough on unauthorised cargo facilities
RNZ: Auckland’s La Vista owners say ‘life, future’ in Associate Immigration Minister’s hands
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expresses sympathy for France after Notre Dame fire
