Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – April 30 2019
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.
Today’s content
Census
David Hargreaves (Interest): Never mind the gaps – pull the plug
Jason Walls (Herald): Watch: Jacinda Ardern makes first pre-Budget reveal – Govt to spend $6m to fix bungled Census
Anna Whyte (1News): Government pledges $16 million to fix and prevent a repeat of Census 2018 bungle
RNZ: Government announces $16m for Stats NZ after census woes
Talisa Kupenga (Māori TV): Iwi-free Census results could impact Treaty settlements – Dr Carwyn Jones
Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): Māori miss out in Census 2018
Jason Walls (Herald): Census ‘shambles’: 18-month wait for first data to be released in September
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Census 2018: Stats NZ says full results to be released mid-2020
RNZ: Census 2018: Stats NZ sets September release for ‘robust’ data
1New: Data from 2018 Census to be released on September 23 after low turnout
David Hargreaves (Interest): Mind the gaps
BusinessDesk: Annual census could replace five-year form-filling
National Party
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Simon Bridges’ leadership uncertain as he faces more criticism from his own MPs
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Simon Bridges learning why Opposition leader is the toughest job in politics
1New: ‘I think Simon still has the support of our caucus’ – Amy Adams on National’s Bridges, in wake of ‘discipline and unity’ push and low polling
Jamie Ensor and Edward O’Driscoll (ewshub): Simon Bridges will be worried facing MPs at caucus meeting – expert
RNZ: Simon Bridges responds to National leadership and unity rumours
Alex Braae (Spinoff): Simon Bridges’s slushy tactics make it really hard to take him seriously
“Christchurch Call” social media campaign, Chch terror attack
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: Ardern’s ‘Christchurch Call’ might not be so simple
Katie Kenny (Stuff): How can upcoming social media efforts be ‘global’ if they ignore Asia?
Herald: Core group of world leaders to attend Jacinda Ardern-led Paris summit
David Seymour (Magic Talk): ‘Christchurch Call’ is classic Ardern
Southland Times Editorial: Christchurch terror attack: round up the unusual suspects too
Mona Krewei and Sabrina Karim (The Conversation): Is there a ‘feminine’ response to terrorism?
Katie Todd (RNZ): Zero-tolerance of hatred doesn’t work – Life After Hate group
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Free speech ‘vital’ in free society
Police, firearms
Harrison Christian (Stuff): Police bend to privacy watchdog’s finding over red flags in database
Newstalk ZB: Police launch security audit after 11 guns stolen from Palmerston North station
Collette Devlin and Alex Loo (Stuff): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern dismayed that open police door allowed theft of guns
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): PM Jacinda Ardern demands ‘please explain’ over Palmerston North police station gun burglary
Albert Redmore (Newshub): Gun theft from Palmerston North police station due to door being left open
Stuff: Alleged gun thief went through unlocked door to steal guns from police station
Ben Leahy (Herald): Eleven guns taken from police station after door left open
Corrections, justice
Collette Devlin (Stuff): PM Jacinda Ardern refuses to defend Corrections $1 million taxpayer slushy splurge
Newstalk ZB: Davis defends prison guard slushy machines: ‘Good on Corrections’
Dave Armstrong (Stuff): Hot and bothered over prison officers’ slushy fund
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Commissioner orders ‘dysfunctional’ prison managers at Spring Hill Corrections to shape up
Stuff: Man seriously assaulted at Rimutaka Prison
Leigh-Marama McLachlan (RNZ): Pre-sentencing reports for offenders criticised by judges and lawyers
Brian Tamaki
Andrew Geddis (Pundit): As the bishop said to the minister …
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says Brian Tamaki going about getting programme in prison the wrong way
1News: Brian Tamaki ‘irresponsible to try and incite violence’ over prison programme – Ardern
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): PM Jacinda Ardern condemns Brian Tamaki as ‘irresponsible’ for prison revolt threats
Zane Small (Newshub): Finance Minister Grant Robertson ridicules Destiny Church’s Brian Tamaki
Herald: Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki warns of prison revolts over Man Up programme
Zane Small (Newshub): ‘They must feel threatened’: Brian Tamaki responds to Government shunning Man Up
Alex Czerwonka (Newshub): The Bible is not the exclusive property of Brian Tamaki
Foreign Affairs
Richard Harman (Politik): Peters left on the side of the Belt and Road
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Huo steps down as chair to avoid conflict claims
Michael Reddell: The not-very-serious foreign interference inquiry
Zane Small (Newshub): China-Canada dispute: New Zealand’s lukewarm response called out
Health
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern defends another Government delay on mental health response
1News: Mental health support for all Canterbury primary and intermediate school children
Chloe Ranford (Stuff): Cancer patient left in annual leave limbo as oncologist takes one-month holiday
Hawke’s Bay Today: Hawke’s Bay DHB under fire after report on patient’s death
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Woman died in hospital after ‘pattern of poor care’
Felix Desmarais (Stuff): Hawke’s Bay Hospital patient died as a result of poor hospital communication – report
Mike Yardley (Press): Beefed-up Pharmac funding would be welcome Budget boost
Junior doctors’ strike
RNZ: DHB, union relationship at historic low – senior doctor
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Striking doctors criticised by PM
RNZ: Junior doctors strike: Picketers demand Health Minister David Clark step in
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Junior doctors ‘determined but disappointed’ as record five-day strike starts
Evan Harding (Southland Times): Striking junior doctors are frustrated but optimistic
Education
Simon Collins (Herald): NCEA pass rates drop slightly and ethnic gaps worsen
RNZ: NCEA pass rates fall for Year 11, 12, Māori and Pasifika
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Checkpoint: Company funds free lunches for secondary school students
Logan Savory (Southland Times): Southern Institute of Technology posts $2.8m surplus
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Student protests Auckland University’s response to white supremacy claims
Transport and road safety
Herald: Stretch of road where eight people died yesterday found to have several safety issues, NZTA says
Donna-Lee Biddle (Stuff): Safety barrier could have saved lives in crash near Taupō, expert says
Herald: Government has ‘blood on its hands’ after eight people die in head-on collision, campaigner says
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): ‘It’s time we got tough’: Greg Murphy calls for driving tests every 10 years, phone confiscations
Herald: Putting the brakes on the road toll: Horror crash prompts calls for change
Herald Editorial: It’s time all drivers got the message
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Julie Anne Genter hits back at claims road improvements have been ‘cancelled’
Leith Huffadine (RNZ): Our reliance on cars is hurting us and our environment, report says
Damian George (Stuff): Kiwis need to halve car use by 2050 to sufficiently improve health
RNZ: Agreement reached on rest, meal breaks for bus drivers – union
Ports
Stephen Forbes (Interest: Shane Jones floats the idea of one entity owning controlling stakes in the Ports of Auckland, Northport and the Port of Tauranga
Gavin Evans (Herald): West Auckland ‘inland port’ among new transport options
Laura Wiltshire (Hawkes Bay Today): Napier Port selloff consultation budget blows out to $200,000
Insurance
Marae: Why do so few Māori have any insurance?
RNZ: Risk-based insurance premiums ‘impossible to predict’ – IAG
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): IAG rolls out new pricing to reflect weather, natural disaster risk
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): IAG ups the ante on risk-based pricing and denies move is a money grab
Employment
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): More than 200 call centre jobs going at Vodafone, says former staffer
RNZ: Labour market figures crucial to next interest rate step
Steve Hart (Yudu): Is your boss stealing from you?
Rodney Dickens (Interest): Is technology really a threat to employment?
Robert Greenberg (Newsroom): Robots won’t replace all that makes us human
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): Manawatū remembers workplace casualties
Primary industries
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Hundreds of visitors approved to pick kiwifruit as labour shortage bites
Joanna MacKenzie (RNZ): Fungal disease worsens woes of feijoa growers
Environment
Virginia Fallon (Stuff): Costs rise for crumbling coastlines as council makes it clear: homeowners are on their own
Jono Edwards (ODT): Drilling protest becomes a ‘celebration’
1News: Residents warned to use alternative water source as ‘foamy discharge’ pours into Waikato River
Herald: What’s foaming up the river? Mystery detergent-like substance still unknown
Michael Daly (Stuff): Sun-warmed surface seawater drives fast melt in Ross Ice Shelf region
Kate Gudsell (RNZ): Ross Ice Shelf: part melting ten times faster than the rest
Hawke’s Bay Today: Hastings recycling: Council stops collecting anything plastic, apart from grades 1 and 2 bottles
Housing
RNZ: Hawke’s Bay housing crisis: 440 children living in motels this winter
Lois Williams (RNZ): Housing New Zealand under fire for ‘rotten’ state houses in Whangārei
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Rent crunch goes on – and single mothers say they’re feeling the pinch
Poverty, inequality
1New: A look at poverty in New Zealand: Kiwis struggle to pay bills, stay fed
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Beneficiaries, smokers feel squeeze of rising costs
Paul McBeth (BusinessDesk): Tobacco tax hike drives up cost of living for beneficiaries, Māori
Local government
Felix Desmarais (Stuff): Sir Peter Jackson takes to Facebook again over Shelly Bay
BusinessDesk: Councils paid out $1 billion for faulty buildings in past decade
Media
David Williams (Newsroom): Terror in its patch: a newspaper responds
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): MediaRoom: Hark the Herald Paywall
Herald: Business key part of Herald’s premium digital subscription offering
Newstalk ZB: Newstalk ZB Drive’s new host revealed
Other
Max Rashbrooke (Spinoff): Rating the odds of a wealth tax in New Zealand anytime soon
1News: Power companies and Government team up to help struggling households reduce their electricity bills
David Cormack (Herald): Do the Greens deserve to be re-elected?
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): “Only Ngāti Hine will speak for Ngāti Hine” – Tipene
1News: Synthetic cannabis caused or contributed to deaths of 80 people in New Zealand in less than two years
Tema Hemi (Māori TV): KiwiSaver yet to recognise people with chronic illness
1News: Demoted Government minister Meka Whaitiri defends interview where she denies grabbing staffer
Anna Whyte (Newshub): Funding shortfall in services that help sexual violence victims ‘causing further harm’ – report
Liu Chen (RNZ): Chinese social media scams going unreported in New Zealand
Chris Keall (Herald): More Spark Sport app woes: Another Formula One streaming stuff-up
Evan Harding (Southland Times): Sir Tim Shadbolt knighted at Government House
ODT Editorial: The ring king’s image issue
Christina Persico (Stuff): Gas important for clean energy transition worldwide, says National energy spokesman
Jake Metzger (RNZ): The House: Parliament’s Suicide Squad
