Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – May 06 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
Welfare
Tim Watkin (Pundit): Another chance to be transformational rejected… Labour’s cautious welfare response
Sue Bradford (Spinoff): No hope for progressive welfare reform from this government
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Greens fail to win major change with welfare review
Zane Small and Lisette Reymer (Newshub): Welfare reform: National says Greens received ‘nothing’
Chris Trotter (Interest): The State and welfare: Opportunity or cost?
Isaac Davison (Herald): Analysis: Government acts quickly, but serious reform of welfare not on the horizon (paywalled)
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni defends no increase to benefits in ‘wellbeing’ Budget
Sarah Robson and Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Government response to welfare expert advisory group ‘more rhetoric than action’ – Poverty group
Steven Cowan: Government response to welfare report is a shocker
Max Rashbrooke (RNZ): At last welfare emphasis will move from punishment to support
Māni Dunlop (RNZ): Whanau ora group says government needs to responsible to Māori while overhauling welfare
Danielle Clent (Stuff): Removing benefit sanction could help women leave violent relationships, domestic violence charity says
Brad Flahive (Stuff): Government to scrap benefit sanction for solo mums, among welfare changes
Isaac Davison (Herald): Beneficiaries will be able to earn more, face fewer penalties after review finds welfare system failing NZ’s most vulnerable people
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Recommendations on welfare system reform released
Leo Horgan (Māori TV): Whakamana Tāngata report calls for welfare “overhaul”
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): $72 million welfare tweaks announced as $5 billion overhaul recommended
Alex Braae (Spinoff): Big changes to the welfare system just announced: all you need to know
Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): Benefit increases put on hold
Mike Wesley-Smith (Newshub): Pregnant by rape and forced to pay child support
Cannabis referendum, medicinal cannabis
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Little guarantees binding cannabis referendum – but yet to define ‘binding’
1News: National’s Simon Bridges concerned cannabis referendum could see ‘Brexit-type situation’
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Simon Bridges won’t smoke out cannabis Cabinet source
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Talk of cannabis referendum flip-flop
Lucy Bennett (Herald): Leaked Cabinet paper from National proposes age 20 for legal cannabis use
Lucy Bennett (Herald): National releases cannabis referendum options ahead of Cabinet discussion
Thomas Manch (Stuff): National party claims cannabis referendum document leak, showing cannabis referendum won’t be binding
1News: Paula Bennett reveals leaked Cabinet Paper on cannabis referendum
Sam Farrell (Newshub): Leaked Cabinet document proves New Zealand not ready for cannabis referendum – National
Derek Cheng (Herald): Cabinet set to consider cannabis referendum on Monday
RNZ: Cabinet tipped to discuss cannabis poll next week
Pete George: Andrew Little vague on timing and form of cannabis referendum
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Health experts want medicinal cannabis to meet same standards as other medicine
John Roughan (Herald): Why the ‘health approach’ to marijuana won’t work
National Party
John Armstrong (1News): Collins’ seeming praise of Bridges maintains fiction she’s not plotting to oust him
Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): Who is the National Party?
Tracy Watkins (Stuff): National’s sinking feeling after Jacinda Ardern springs engagement news
Audrey Young (Herald): Judith Collins’ meteoric rise from dead last to first contender (paywalled)
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Week in Politics: National leadership speculation starts from the inside
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): National needs a coalition partner (paywalled)
Bill Ralston (Noted): Simon Bridges can save himself, but not with slushies
Southern Response
1News: Under Surveillance
John Campbell (1News): Exclusive: Major Australian law firm backing around 3000 Canterbury homeowners in class action against Southern Response
Political party donations
Henry Cooke (Stuff): National Party donations in 2018 topped $700,000 – more than any other party
RNZ: National Party donations dwarf Labour’s by more than $500k
Zane Small (Newshub): The Government coalition partner with the least donations revealed
David Farrar: 2018 party donations
No Right Turn: Labour’s MPs don’t support their own party
Ardern engaged, marriage and divorce in NZ
Spinoff: Jacinda and Clarke: the wedding planner
Kristin Price (Herald): Wedding of the year: Ideas for Jacinda Ardern and Clarke Gayford nuptials
Emma West and Stacey Kirk (Stuff): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Clarke Gayford engaged
RNZ: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern engaged to partner Clarke Gayford
Herald: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Clarke Gayford engaged
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): ‘Clarinda or Jarke?’: New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern and Clarke Gayford engaged
Stuff: Leaders send well-wishes to Jacinda Ardern and Clarke Gayford over engagement
Dan Satherley and Delphine Herbert (Newshub): How Jacinda Ardern’s engagement bucks the trend
Emily Brookes (Stuff): Finances, unnecessary, and not important – why Kiwi marriage rates are dropping
Herald: ‘We don’t’: NZ’s marriage rate lowest since 1971
RNZ: Marriage hits lowest rate in almost 50 years
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Later-life divorces a financial hurdle for New Zealanders
Shelly Bay
Tom Hunt and Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): Long shadow over development of Wellington jewel Shelly Bay
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Shelly Bay land sold to fund Eastbourne development
Media
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Tapping the readers for revenue
Martyn Bradbury: 5 reflections on a week of the Herald’s Paywall
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Mediawatch: Uncharted waters for media freedom
David Robie (Asia Pacific Report): Pacific media freedom and news ‘ black holes’ worsen for World Press Day
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Court order to reveal Campbell Live story sources overturned
RNZ: Court order forcing two reporters to give up documents quashed
David Farrar: International criticism of NZ media for collective decision on the Tarrant trial
Dale Husband (E-Tangata): Indira Stewart: When one of us wins, all of us win
Hayden Donnell (Stuff): John Campbell’s first week on Breakfast – the good, the bad and the bizarre
Joanna Hunkin (Herald): A marvellous start? TVNZ positive as John Campbell debuts on Breakfast
Karl Puschmann (Herald): Can you stomach John Campbell’s hard-hitting Breakfast? (paywalled)
John Roughan (Herald): From Muldoon to Key: 45 years in the middle of it all (paywalled)
Cancer
Herald: Cancer series: Experts on failing system, need for medical accountability (paywalled)
Emma Russell (Herald): Cancer: $15 million paid to cancer sufferers let down by public system (paywalled)
Emma Russell (Herald): Cancer: Couple’s dreams shattered after man waits months for life-saving scan (paywalled)
Emma Russell (Herald): Cancer: Woman watches two loved ones fighting cancer suffer ill treatment (paywalled)
Health and disability
Oliver Lewis (Stuff): Intellectually disabled man has spent 15 years in a locked mental health unit, in breach of his rights
Oliver Lewis (Stuff): Emaciated mental health patient received ‘excellent’ care – CDHB
RNZ: Woman under DHB care was emaciated, injured – brother
Libby Wilson (Stuff): Clock ticking on health minister’s commissioner call for Waikato DHB
Raniera Harrison (Māori TV): Rural Northland school raises $20k for meningitis vaccines
Lois Wiliams (RNZ): Meningitis vaccinations: ‘This is such a relief’
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Nearly 100 New Zealanders have contracted measles so far this year
Jonathan MItchell (RNZ): Petition for better disability access gains momentum
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Filthy fountains: Auckland’s dirty public drinking fountains (paywalled)
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Emergency medical staff to get te reo, tikanga training
Helen Harvey (Stuff): Mother’s terrifying ambulance ride highlights St John’s funding issues
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Serious dog attacks rise: Researcher calls for review of breed ban
Jessica Long (Stuff): Celebrating New Zealand Sign Language Week and working toward an accessible future
Jessica Long (Stuff): Deaf children need better access to New Zealand Sign Language to close the education gap
Eric Janssen (Stuff): Together we stand: Why The Dominion Post has a sign language masthead
Alice Wilkins (Newshub): ‘We miss out’: Deaf Māori plead for more trilingual sign language interpreters
Sugar tax
1News: Renewed calls for sugar tax as research finds Kiwis more addicted to sugary drinks than ever
Ben Leahy (Herald): Tax needed to curb New Zealand’s deadly sugar rush: University of Auckland study
RNZ: Sugar more harmful in drinks than food, study finds
Stephanie Ockhuysen (Stuff): Sugary drinks are worse for you than sugary food
Bridget Grace (Newshub): Sugary drinks even worse than sugary food – study
Education
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Public onside as teachers vote on mega-strike
Hayley Jacobsen and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Public overwhelmingly backs more money for teachers – poll
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Primary and secondary teachers to vote on mega-strike
Belinda Feek (Herald): New Zealand’s shame: Kiwis lead the world in student bullying (paywalled)
Simon Collins (Herald): Modern learning: It’s reading, but not as we knew it (paywalled)
Simon Collins (Herald): Modern learning: Maths – getting the right answer is not enough (paywalled)
Simon Collins (Herald): Cellphone ban helps propel low-decile Māori school to top of NCEA ranks (paywalled)
Talisa Kupenga (Māori TV): More support needed to increase Māori teacher numbers – Iwi leaders
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Teaching still a tough job few people want to do – National
Ernie Barrington (E-Tangata): The history I wasn’t taught
Deena Coster (Stuff): Māori language programme for educators gets underway in Taranaki
George Heagney (Manawatū Standard): Manawatū schools shun overseas qualifications for NCEA
Alex Loo (Manawatū Standard): Students struggle to make ends meet on government allowances
Dominic Harris (Stuff): Academic accused of ‘racism’ for saying ‘Pākeha’ after championing ethnic communities
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Discrimination, climate change and mental health: The big issues worrying young NZ leaders
Parliament
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Ex-Parliament staffer accused of breaching NDA, Speaker Trevor Mallard says they shouldn’t exist
Alison Mau (Stuff): Gag orders don’t work, here’s why
Phil Smith (RNZ): Feeding the hand that bites you
Daniela Maoate-Cox (RNZ): A briefing, a farewell, and a paycheck at Parliament
Jessica Mutch-McKay, Maiki Sherman and Benedict Colins (1News): Inside Parliament: Slushies, census and Brian Tamaki (video)
Pamela Wade (Stuff): Wellington’s Parliament Tour provides an inside look at our government buildings
Māori MPs
Jo Moir (RNZ): Prime Minister reins in MPs over attacks on Paula Bennett’s Māori heritage
Jamie Ensor (NEwshub): Willie Jackson claims he ‘attacked’ Māori National MPs as they didn’t support Nuk Korako
Daily Blog: Willie Jackson hits back
Jo Moir (RNZ): National’s Paula Bennett and Labour’s Willie Jackson in ‘racism’ row
Anna Whyte (1News): National’s Paula Bennett and Labour’s Willie Jackson locked in spat around ‘racist taunt’
Pike River
Jaime Ensor (Newshub): Andrew Little open to cancelling Pike River re-entry if progress cannot be made safely
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Faulty monitoring equipment ‘almost certain’ to be behind Pike River delay – Andrew Little
RNZ: Pike River: Families accept conveyer belt finding, Anna Osborne says
Heather MCarron and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Pike River: Finding cause of first explosion more important – widow
RNZ: Pike River: No evidence 2nd explosion from conveyor belt
Scott Palmer and Laura Tupou (Newshub): Pike River: Police conclude conveyor belt didn’t cause second explosion
RNZ: Pike River: Faulty monitoring equipment likely to blame for re-entry delay
RNZ: Pike River delays: ‘We’ve just got to carry on’
Herald: Pike River: Speeches and ceremony to go ahead despite delay
Stuff: Oxygen in Pike River tunnel didn’t get in through mine entrance
Patrick Gower (Newshub): ‘The man in the mountain’: Pike River child visits resting place of father she never met
Environment and conservation
Judy Lawrence (stuff): New Zealand needs transformational change for a changing climate
Sarah Thomson (Spinoff): Hey, Jacinda. Listen to Greta
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Survey reveals most of us believe climate change is man-made
Michael Cropp (RNZ): Kaipara ‘sending a signal’ about climate change
Isobel Eweing (Newshub): No plans for New Zealand to ban polystyrene – Government
David Williams (Newsroom): Why ecologists think Govt’s high country plan will fail
RNZ: New Great Walk decision delayed, more work needed – Department of Conservation
Jamie Morton (Herald): Fears of overuse as crowds flock to ‘People’s Beach’ at Awaroa, long-visiting ecologist says
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Wood plant’s illegally leaking waste to be fixed
Brianna McIlraith (Taranaki Daily News): National MP Erica Stanford backs school climate strikes, unlike party leaders
Piers Fuller (Stuff): Conservation minister launches wetland project in South Wairarapa
Carla Penman (1News): Surge in Northland Kiwi numbers offers new hope for survival of national icon
Primary and extractive industries
Richard Harman (Politik): Green Minister under pressure over gold mine turndown
Grant Bradley (Herald): Row over oil exploration heating up ahead of Just Transition Summit (paywalled)
Leigh-Marama McLachlan (RNZ): Māori disappointed ancestral land up for tender for oil and gas drilling in Taranaki
RNZ: Company’s application to buy land for mining waste declined
Virginia Nicholls (ODT): Cleaner hydrocarbons needed for transition
Emma Dangerfield (Stuff): Farmer-led group lobbying for changes to Waimakariri water plan
Transport
RNZ: Auckland Transport to cancel 40 bus services next week
David Farrar: Govt tries to fix problem they created
RNZ: NZTA suspends three more vehicle inspectors from issues WOFs
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Roads would be safer if last government focused on safety, not big road projects – Genter
Matthew Rosenberg (Stuff): E-scooters strain emergency departments, cost ACC $1.4m reports show
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Truck driver not at fault in Dunedin lime scooter crash – report
Rikihana Smallman (Stuff): Hamilton City Council joins e-bike revolution
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Infrastructure not keeping up with cycling boom – researcher
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Protesters to march across Auckland Harbour Bridge to demand action on bridge walkway and cycleway
Bernard Orsman (Herald): A look at how Auckland’s motorway projects and transport plan is progressing (paywalled)
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland Transport told to change its culture after claims it is ‘arrogant’ and doesn’t listen to people (paywalled)
Employment, migrant workers
Debrin Foxcroft (Stuff): Better pay and more support for migrant builder
Tema Hemi (Māori TV): Positive changes to employment law for Kiwi workers
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Court backs posties who want compensation for being available for work
Maria Slade (Spinoff): The robots are not coming for your job. With a few exceptions
Tom Hunt (Stuff): A 59-year career with the arts in Wellington ends with an email
Treaty settlements
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): An iwi nearly extinct reclaim identity through treaty settlement
Stuff: Ngāti Hinerangi and Crown settle Treaty breaches
Taroi Black (Māori TV): Waikato iwi gifts land to Tauranga Moana
Insurance
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Insurance price rises: Govt told to take responsibility for its part
Rob Mitchell (Stuff): Fears rising insurance and body corp costs could make apartment living unsustainable
Rob Mitchell (Stuff): Wellington apartment owners walking away from insurance
Sam Farrell (Newshub): Wellington apartment owners abandoning insurance as premiums spike
Dominion Post Editorial: Risk-averse insurers creating threat to NZ economy
Local government
Henry Cooke (Stuff): LGNZ say online voting could be needed for local elections as postal votes cannot be guaranteed
David Farrar: Postal voting is dying
Todd Niall (Stuff): Phil Goff’s first election policy: Review Auckland Council agencies
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland Mayor Phil Goff promises review of council-controlled organisations if re-elected
Debrin Foxcroft (Stuff): Controversial Waiheke marina passes another hurdle as court rejects extension request
Dominic Harris (Stuff): Christchurch City Council tightens belt over spending on consultants
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Wellington mayor’s attack ‘grossly unfair’, says developer accused of neglecting dangerous building
Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): Proposed Queenstown bed tax drops to 5 per cent after concerns
Christchurch mosque shootings
Veronica Schmidt and Max Towle (RNZ): Chch families desperate as Victim Support holds onto donated millions
RNZ: Mosque terror attacks inquiry to begin hearing evidence this month
Sam Sherwood (Stuff): Conspiracy theorist claims police have visited him five times after Christchurch terror attack
Derek Cheng (Herald): United Nations head Antonio Guterres to pay respects in Christchurch visit (paywalled)
Carolyn Meng-Yee (Herald): The unremarkable town where Brenton Tarrant grew up: Accused Christchurch gunman’s family, friends scared of retribution (paywalled)
Social media
Branko Marcetic (Spinoff): Jacinda Ardern must not let Emmanuel Macron co-opt the Christchurch Call
Paul Brislen (RNZ): Opinion: Facebook changes will let extremists flourish in peace
Max Towle (RNZ): Anonymity on the internet and fighting extremism
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): More copies of Christchurch mosque attack video found on Facebook, Instagram – report
Taroi Black (Māori TV): “Fat, useless, ugly- I should’ve died” – the rise of digital self-harm
Simon Draper (Stuff): Kiwi leaders blind to power and reach of Asian social media in New Zealand
Firearms
RNZ: Gun lobby seeks legal advice on new legislation
Florence Kerr (Stuff): Gun equipment company’s remarkable ‘red tape’ excuse
Joanna MacKenzie (RNZ): Reports Auckland shooting club continuing to operate despite court order
Crusaders name change
RNZ: Rebranding the Crusaders
Steve Deane (Newsroom): (Almost) nobody says it better than us
Oranga Tamariki, child abuse in state care
Newshub: What is Oranga Tamariki doing to improve our child abuse rates? (video)
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Oranga Tamariki confident Budget will deliver ‘hundreds’ more social workers
Duncan Garner (Stuff): Our rotting dark shame is worse than we think
Kerri Cleaver: The Royal Commission into Abuse in State Care: Where is the survivor voice?
Housing
Peter Lyons (ODT): We need to know just who home buyers are
Damian George (Stuff): Record numbers of people buying first homes as rent prices continue to escalate
Ihumātao
Taroi Black (Māori TV): Where are they going to go when Auckland gets too big? – Nanny Betty
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Fletcher Building to close road, blocking home of protesters at Ihumātao
Inequality, poverty
Hinemoa Elder (Stuff): On luxurious Waiheke Island whānau are sleeping rough, the Wellbeing Budget must deliver
Rob Stock (Stuff): How rich are you? Stats NZ’s wealth calculator will tell you
West Coast floods
RNZ: Govt’s Fox River landfill clean-up cash falls short – Forest and Bird
RNZ: $400k more to help West Coast recover from March flooding
Auckland Pride
Felix Desmarais and Kelly Dennett (Stuff): Rival Auckland pride group set to run own parade – with uniformed police
Felix Desmarais (Stuff): Police Inspector ‘really offended’ in email to-and-fro with Auckland Pride
Other
Charlie Mitchell (Stuff): Who is this public agency’s chief executive? It won’t say
John Anthony (Stuff): New Zealand will not always see eye to eye with China, Prime Minister says
Tom Dillane (Herald): HBO hoping NZ Government will pay for Game of Thrones visual effects done by Peter Jackson’s Weta Digital (paywalled)
Matt Shand (Stuff): Domestic violence victim encouraged to accept cash and halt prosecution
Southland Times Editorial: Pokies need better official watchdog, not citizen underdog, vigilance
Finn Hogan (Newshub): NZ embracing gene-editing is a ‘no-brainer’ – Geoff Simmons
Rod Oram (Newsroom): There should be more to capitalism than capital
Kirsty Johnston (Herald): Documentary ‘Fighting The Demon’ inside New Zealand’s methamphetamine crisis launches
Bruce Logan (Herald): NZ law already covers prosecuting ‘hate speech’ (paywalled)
Stuff: Lottery Grants Board chips in $792,000 for Tasman fire relief
RNZ: Controversial statue of Captain James Cook to be moved
Newshub: Capt Cook statue going from mountain to museum
Martin van Beynen (Stuff): Give the royals a break – set them free
RNZ: Waitohiariki Quayle is the world’s first Māori woman bishop
Albert Redmore (Newshub): Maori Council leader Matthew Tukaki bombarded with hateful messages
Liam Dann (Heald): Big Wednesday looms on Reserve Bank rate-cut chances (paywalled)
BusinessDesk: Reserve Bank’s rate cut decision on a knife edge
Matthew LIttlewood (Timaru Herald): Andrew Falloon, Jo Luxton will vote in favour of End of Life Choice Bill
Nicholas Boyack (Stuff): Museum exhibits under threat, as the way we see museums changes
Heather McCarron and Dan Satherley (Newshub): ‘The reality is we’re hunters’: Duck season scrap over claims thousands of injured birds will be left to die
Richard Meadows (Stuff): Easy money: How the new era of tax refunds affects your back pocket
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Battle heats up to become the cheapest KiwiSaver provider
