Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – May 01 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
National Party
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Newshub understands Sir John Key has shown support for Judith Collins
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Rattled Simon Bridges is a National leader under siege
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Is Simon Bridges going to be forced to walk the plank?
Jessica Mutch McKay (1News): Bridges ‘needs to focus on getting wins against the Government to keep the wolves at bay’
Audrey Young (Herald): Simon Bridges and Judith Collins reach detente (paywalled)
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Simon Bridges can’t escape leadership questions
1News: Bennett defends National’s leader, Simon Bridges, amid rumours of a leadership coup
Jason Walls (Herald): National leader Simon Bridges says he trusts Judith Collins
Zane Small (Newshub): National’s Simon Bridges confirms he’s still leader
Derek Cheng and Jason Walls (Herald): National leader Simon Bridges confident in leadership despite Judith Collins refusing to rule out leadership bid
Jason Walls (Herald): Senior National MP Judith Collins won’t rule out a bid of the National Leadership
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Simon Bridges refuses to say that he trusts Judith Collins
Zane Small (Newshub): National’s Simon Bridges asked if he trusts Judith Collins
Zane Small and Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Judith Collins refuses to say she’s loyal to National leader Simon Bridges
1News: National’s Judith Collins ‘sure’ Simon Bridges can trust her
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): National’s Judith Collins refuses to rule out leadership bid, while leader Simon Bridges refuses to say he trusts her
1News: ‘Raising leadership issues today, bold call Mr Bridges’, Ardern says during exchange in Parliament
Health
Stacey Kirk (Stuff): Pharmac to be clearer about declining medicines as part of overhaul
Lucy Bennett (Herald): Pharmac changes funding processes for greater transparency
Felix Desmarais (Stuff): Pharmac unlikely to fund EpiPen despite pleas from allergy community
Dominion Post Editorial: Pharmac sheds a little more light on procedures in savvy political move
Stuff: Jacinda Ardern’s quandary with setting suicide-reduction targets
Jessica McAllen (Stuff): Māori voices ‘missing’ from Mental Health and Addictions Inquiry
Emily Brookes (Stuff): It’s time for the Government to take a position on vaccination
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Auckland in throes of measles ‘outbreak’ with 33 confirmed cases – public health service
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Fair care: Out amputation shame: Thousands of NZers lose limbs to diabetes (paywalled)
Isaac Davison (Herald): Overly cautious response to 111 calls led to ‘multiple patients suffering from preventable harm’ – St John medical director (paywalled)
Piers Fuller (Stuff): Martinborough’s emergency water chlorination pushed back to give winemakers more time
Hawkes Bay Today: $8.8 million given to earthquake strengthen Hawke’s Bay Hospital
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): No agreement for Te Anau medical practice to become a SDHB Maternal and Child Hub
Lucy Bennett (Herald):Anti-euthanasia campaigners spend afternoon at Parliament (paywalled)
Junior doctors’ strike
Gordon Campbell: On why we should support the junior doctors strike
No Right Turn: What’s their name again?
Rob Stock (Stuff): Health insurance claims rise thanks to doctors’ strikes
Environment
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Methane emissions deal kick starts climate change legislation
Mike Joy and Sylvie McLean (The Conversation): Despite its green image, NZ has world’s highest proportion of species at risk
Rachel Stewart (Herald): Earth is heating up and activism will too (paywalled)
1News: ‘A very expensive way to cut emissions’ – energy expert talks Government push to transition to 100% renewable electricity
Northland Age: Fish & Game: ‘Complete failure’ to protect environment by regional councils
Anna Whyte (1News): The plastic mountain: How our waste ends up in Indonesia
Hilary Blundell (Stuff): Dear NZ government, we need to adapt now or risk dying out
1News: Section of Ross Ice Shelf melting 10 times faster than the rest – study
Herald: Parts of massive Ross Ice Shelf melting 10 times faster
Laura Mills (Greymouth Star):Extent of Alps ice melt shocks
Paul Gorman (Stuff): Call for Environment Canterbury to be in vanguard of global change
Matthew Littlewood (Timaru Herald): Air quality breaches could slow Environment Canterbury consents
Joanne Carroll (Stuff): Waste-to-energy company urged to keep plant on West Coast
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Soft-plastic recycling to start again in May – but only in Auckland
Jono Edwards (ODT): No plans to monitor cruise ship emissions
Primary and extractive industries, biosecurity
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Government avoids drawing attention to itself, as it invites oil/gas explorers to onshore Taranaki after banning new offshore exploration
Simon Hartley (ODT): Block offer tendering round launched
Simon Hartley (ODT): NZOG seeks extension for Toroa permit
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Safe releases footage of deformed, dying chickens on free-range farm
Farrah Hancock (Newsroom): Spores set to fly in imported fungus hearing
MIchael Morrah (Newshub): Biosecurity review suggests ‘increasing and evolving’ threat at borders
RNZ: MPI considers new bag scanners at Auckland Airport
RNZ: Destruction of Banaba exhibited in New Zealand
Northland Age: Federated Farmers: Greens won’t even talk about genetic engineering potential
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Federated Farmers forced to fundraise to fight Southland Water and Land plan
Gerard Hutching (Stuff): Farm buyers cautioned over pollution limits cutting into profits
Kerry Worsnop (Stuff): Carbon-neutral goal could spell the end of hill-country farming
RNZ: Forestry company fined $71k over sediment pollution
Andrea Fox (Herald): Fonterra: In defence of the cooperative model (paywalled)
Census
RNZ: Census 2018: Population count ‘more accurate’ than before – Shaw
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Experts play the blame game over missing 2018 census data
Foreign affairs
Jason Walls (Herald): Foreign Minister Winston Peters ‘fully endorsed’ the Govt position on the Belt and Road initiative
Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): Government warms to China’s Belt and Road
1News: China ‘made clear’ rules should be fairly applied over Huawei – Trade Minister
RNZ: No real conflict of interest in Huo decision – PM
Stacey Kirk (Stuff): Top US naval fleet commander makes rare NZ visit for security talks on Pacific
Jared Savage (Herald): Money mystery: Secrecy over $300,000 seized from member of a foreign delegation invited to New Zealand (paywalled)
Government
Audrey Young (Herald): Who rates highly in our Cabinet report card – and who disappoints? (paywalled)
Audrey Young (Herald): Cabinet’s troublemaker – How much strife is Shane Jones in? (paywalled)
No Right Turn: When should the Greens get their Winston out?
Talisa Kupenga (Māori TV): Whaitiri keen for ministerial comeback in post-budget reshuffle
Budget
Justin Stevenson (Stuff): ‘Wellbeing’ Budget might need more, not less, focus on GDP
BusinessDesk: Govt’s capital programme $1.4b below expectations
RNZ: Government books show $2.5 billion surplus
Christchurch mosque shootings
Jo Moir (RNZ): Christchurch terror attacks: Police investigate leak of watchlist to media
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Police Minister Stuart Nash ‘playing with semantics’ over top-secret information leak
Katie Kenny and Stacey Kirk (Stuff): Asian social networks haven’t been invited but are ‘welcome to join’ Christchurch call
Kieran Ford (ODT): Moderate, extreme feed off each other
AAP: Winston Peters slams Sri Lanka-Christchurch link claim
Sophie Bateman (Newshub): NZ Government told Kensington Palace to delete tweets of young Christchurch victim
Sophie Bateman and Matt Burrows (Newshub): Kensington Palace deletes Christchurch victim tweets after potential breach of NZ law exposed
Stuff: Christchurch terror attack: $3m in donated funds given to victims and families
RNZ: More than $3m paid out to mosque victims and families
Steven Price: Censor right, but for the wrong reasons
Fee speech, hate speech
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Government won’t ban criticism of religious groups – Jacinda Ardern
Shalom.Kiwi: Why Golriz Ghahraman should not be the guardian of our speech
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Why the focus on Hate Speech is so utterly wrong footed as a response to keeping us safe from terrorist atrocity
Justice, corrections
Leigh-Marama McLachlan (RNZ): Strip probation officers’ power to recommend prison sentences says lawyer
RNZ: Hawke’s Bay prisoner treatment ‘degrading’ but progress being made – ombudsman
1News: Concerns raised for Hawke’s Bay prisoner safety after assault victim unable to call for help
1News: Man Up organisers defend programme aimed to help violent offenders despite its leader’s controversial tweets
Lucy Bennett (Herald): Government Ministers return fire over Destiny Church head Brian Tamaki’s latest tweet
RNZ: Brian Tamaki says tweet threatening violence in prisons ‘not serious’
Herald: ‘Gang rape’: Bishop Brian Tamaki lashes out at criticism from PM, senior Govt ministers
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Brian Tamaki accuses Jacinda Ardern of ‘political gang rape’
RNZ: Checkpoint: Women’s Refuge: Brian Tamaki’s words are verbally violent
Research and development funding
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Apple-owned business PowerbyProxi meets criteria for NZ growth grants, Callaghan Innovation decides
Chris Keall (Herald): Apple to keep $25 million in NZ taxpayer subsidies after PowerbyProxi buyout
Poverty and inequality
Julie Spray (Newsroom): The canary in the coal mine for inequality
1News: Jacinda Ardern quizzed by John Campbell over increasing number of Kiwis on hardship grants
RNZ: New scheme offers in-home help for saving on power bills
Housing
Lois Williams (RNZ): Housing New Zealand under fire for ‘rotten’ state houses in Whangārei
Greg Ninness (Interest): The Government has plenty of CGT alternatives to control house price inflation
Insurance
RNZ: Wellington mayor calls for forum on insurance premiums
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Wellington Mayor Justin Lester wants forum on increasing insurance premiums
Sport
RNZ: Rugby Australia faces a potential Pacific player mutiny
Stuff: ‘Might as well sack me’ – ‘Tongan Thor’ comes out in support of Israel Folau
Stephen Hewson (RNZ): Players’ sexuality shouldn’t matter…but it does
Drugs
Jared Savage (Herald): Methamphetamine still the drug of choice in New Zealand according to new police data from national wastewater testing
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Meth, coke and MDMA: Police reveal how the drugs are in our wastewater
1News: Cocaine more prevalent in Auckland, meth use highest in Northland according to wastewater tests
Martin van Beynen (Stuff): Meth NZ’s top drug – it’s in the water
RNZ: Wastewater testing programme reveals NZers’ drug habits
Eric Crampton: The Price of Meth
Ihumātao
Nicola Short, Frances Hancock and Tim McCreanor (The Conversation): How a bias towards built heritage threatens the protection of cultural landscapes in New Zealand
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Power cut to protesters in bitter fight over land at Auckland’s Ihumātao continues
Shelley Bay, Peter Jackson
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Group preparing legal action over Wellington’s Shelly Bay becomes incorporated
Grant McLachlan (Herald): Sir Peter Jackson exposes property industry cynicism (paywalled)
Felix Desmarais (Stuff): Wellington businessman Ian Cassels hits back at Sir Peter Jackson in open letter about Shelly Bay development
Parliament
Phil Smith and Daniela Maoate-Cox (RNZ): The House: A roadmap to Parliament’s week
Phil Smith (RNZ): Parliament’s to-do list: 30 April 2019
Media, broadcasting
Merja Myllylahti (The Conversation):How the decision to paywall NZ’s largest newspaper will affect other media
Michael Andrew (Pacific Media Centre): NZ: Journalists focusing on ‘tragedy prevention’, says CJR research
Glen McConnell (Stuff): Rare win for Radio New Zealand over The Edge
Emily Brookes (Stuff): MediaWorks fined for screening Daily Mail TV in after-school time slot
Education
RNZ: ‘P babies, aggression, bullying’: students’ mental health concerns up – survey
Tema Hemi (Māori TV): Free lunches for Taita College students
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Avonside Girls’ and Shirley Boys’ student begin lessons at new shared Christchurch campus
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Academics at Victoria and Auckland University top research assessment
D’Angelo Martin (Māori TV): Learning a trade vs getting a degree
Ben Leahy (Herald): University of Auckland student protests white supremacy at graduation
Sexual violence
1News: ‘It just doesn’t work here’ – new policy for England, Wales sex assault victims to hand over phones as evidence to police unlikely to happen here
Action Station: For the Wellbeing of New Zealanders: An urgent call for full funding for sexual violence prevention and support services
Julie Iles (Stuff): Report criticises Govt underfunding of sexual violence support and prevention
1News: Concern over lack of specialist support for sexual abuse survivors in LGBTQI community (video)
Karl du Fresne (Stuff): Rethinking the legacy of James K Baxter, darling of the literary elite
Transport
Richard Harman (Politik): Twyford won’t answer road building claims
Damian George (Stuff): Unions and bus companies granted exemption to deal with new break legislation
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Bus driver meal breaks law: Disruptions likely despite ‘maximum flexibility’ agreement
Martin Johnston (Herald): Govt-brokered deal avoids widespread cancellation of bus services over driver breaks
RNZ: Checkpoint: Wanaka locals concerned about infrastructure amid airport plans
Other
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Pike River Mine re-entry ‘personal’ for team leader Dinghy Pattinson
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): 18 months till election 2020 – how is the NZ Political landscape?
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): The RBNZ’s proposals to increase bank capital requirements could be good for both NZ banking competition and NZ taxpayers
Zane Small (Newshub): UN Global Migration Compact: Winston Peters attacks National’s ‘principles’
Tim O’Connell (Stuff): Nelson firefighter’s residency put on ice by immigration minister
RNZ: PM Jacinda Ardern on capital gains tax: ‘I could not get the support of NZ First
Stuff:Jacinda Ardern defends decision to exclude rate caps from payday loan law
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: What happened to the Greens’ dream? (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Groan – Oh come on Green Party – are you even trying now?
Steven Cowan: International Workers Day 2019
Herald: Auckland Council sells central city building for $58m, plans to reinvest in local service centres
Gareth Shute (Spinoff): How much David Seymour is too much David Seymour?
Christina Persico (Stuff): Land Wars memorial won’t be ready for commemoration
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Advertising Standards Authority rejects complaints about anti-cannabis billboard
RNZ: Tasman council wants funding help for this year’s big fires
Brook Sabin (Stuff): New Zealand: It’s too expensive to see our own country
Newshub: Invercargill mayor Tim Shadbolt knighted (video)
Matt Nippert and Keith Ng (Herald): Boardroom power ranking: Who’s delivering and who needs to do better (paywalled)
