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
Paris social media summit, social media, hate speech
Henry Cooke (Stuff): The risks Jacinda Ardern faces with her ‘Christchurch Call’ in Paris
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Jacinda Ardern being used by Emmanuel Macron to boost his image
Derek Cheng (Herald): Social media harm: What Facebook does and what it should be doing (paywalled)
RNZ: Calling Christchurch from Paris
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Christchurch call summit will look into how tech companies monetise hate with business models
Derek Cheng (Herald): PM Jacinda Ardern will raise ‘all profit, no responsibility’ with tech companies in Paris
Jo Moir (RNZ): PM not ruling out last-minute US delegate at summit on terrorism
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Helen Clark backs Jacinda Ardern’s Christchurch call: ‘All key players should be there’
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): Christchurch Call: details emerge of Ardern’s plan to tackle online extremism
1News: Changing hate speech laws would ‘not necessarily’ have prevented Christchurch attacks – Helen Clark
1News: Jacinda Ardern has ‘real opportunity’ for change at Christchurch Call summit – Helen Clark
Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): How to regulate social media
Kris Gledhill (Herald): Why hate speech legislation is a decent idea (paywalled)
Christchurch mosque shootings
Patrick Gower (Newshub): Christchurch attack: Warnings about threat from white supremacists were ignored
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Terror expert Paul Buchanan questions if right people chosen for Christchurch inquiry
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Christchurch attack: Lone gunman theory ‘incongruous’ – expert
RNZ: Special Muslim group to help Royal Commission into Chch attacks
Stuff: Muslim community reference group for royal commission into terror attack
Vita Molyneux (Newshub):‘It’s online, it’s in our homes, it’s people we know’: Patrick Gower on white supremacy in New Zealand
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Christchurch terror attack: Victim Support reveals how much to be paid to victims on Tuesday
RNZ: More money handed out from victims appeal
Jordan Oppert (1News): Teen denies mosque video charges, remanded on bail
Richard Davison (ODT): Claim police raids ‘over the top’
Mike Rehu (Spinoff): An argument for changing Christchurch’s name
Education
Simon Collins (Herald): External exams in NCEA ‘a gigantic step backwards’, college says
Jamie Ensor and Hayley Jacobsen (Newshub): Pasifika social service Fonua Ola welcomes NCEA fees being cut
Simon Collins (Herald): NCEA overhaul: More emphasis on exams, literacy and numeracy skills
John Gerritsen (RNZ): NCEA overhaul: fees scrapped, literacy and numeracy benchmarks brought in
RNZ: NCEA overhaul: fees scrapped, literacy and numeracy benchmarks brought in
Laura Walters (Newsroom): NCEA overhaul aims for accessibility and relevance
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): NCEA moving away from internal assessments, more focus on exams
Tema Hemi (Māori TV): NCEA fee canned, reduction in assessments planned
RNZ: Checkpoint: How an essential oil company courted an Auckland school
David Williams (Newsroom): The safety net catching struggling Christchurch kids
Karen Purdue (Southland Times): Bullying – time to take the burden off our schools
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Polytech staff fear losing jobs as enrolments drop, union says
1News: Four Kiwi university students accepted into international NASA internship programme
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Four Kiwi students score NASA internships
Teachers’ strike
1News: ‘This is the offer on the table’, Finance Minister says as teachers reject $1.2 billion offer
1News: Government and teachers locked at an ‘impasse’ as nationwide strike looms – Tracey Martin
John Lewis (ODT): NZEI: ‘indefinite’ strike possible
Michael Cropp (RNZ): Teachers say government presentation of offer misleading
1News: Schools encouraged to stay open during nationwide teachers’ strike
Patrice Dougan (Herald): Teachers mega-strike: Some schools may still open when 50,000 teacher take to the picket lines
RNZ: Education ministry calls for facilitation: ‘there are ways … we can address workload’
ODT Editorial: Sympathy for teachers at risk
RNZ: Mega teachers strike a ‘massive fail’ by government – National’s Simon Bridges
Dan Satherley (Newshub): ‘Uncharted territory’ for teachers as mega-strike looms
Eleanor Rarity (Timaru Herald): School teachers and principals combine for mass nationwide strike on May 29
Provincial Growth Fund
Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): Hundreds of millions of dollars later, the Provincial Growth Fund has not decided how to measure success
1News: Provincial Growth Fund officials front after criticism swirls
Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): Shane Jones tells Auditor-General he’s ‘alert’ to signs of special scrutiny
Audrey Young (Herald): Shane Jones: Provincial Growth Fund gets more attention because of my big mouth
RNZ: More than half of Provincial Growth Fund now committed
Foulden Maar dolomite mine proposal
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Who is the fossil mining company?
Tim Miller (ODT): Public lacks facts about mine: MP
RNZ: Otago community takes on major international mining company
Simon Hartley (ODT): Clark joins opposition to Middlemarch mine proposal
Environment and conservation
Richard Harman (Politik): Peters trying to avoid being stranded on climate change
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: The watered-down Zero Carbon Bill
Paul Gorman (Stuff): ‘Climate emergency’ vote one of Environment Canterbury’s biggest moments
Skara Bohny (Stuff): Nelson mayor moves to declare climate emergency
Eric Frykberg (RNZ): Disease bigger worry than bycatch for rare dolphins – NIWA
Crime
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Largest-ever New Zealand crime survey shows 77 per cent of ‘shadow crime’ unreported
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): 77 percent of crimes in New Zealand go unreported, according to largest-ever crime survey
RNZ: Almost half of crime experienced by 4 percent of New Zealanders
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Will robust evidence change crime and justice policy?
Lucy Bennett (Herald): Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters seeks more from Ministry of Justice crime and victims survey
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Winston Peters questions accuracy of Ministry of Justice’s crime research
Blair Ensor (Stuff): Serious criminal underworld problems highlighted by The Homicide Report
Blair Ensor and Katie Kenny (Stuff): Seventy homicides a year sounds like a lot, but is it, really?
Chris Cahill (Stuff): Let’s start building a gun register now
Justice, corrections
1News: Corrections staff failed to give inmate heart and HIV medication, put his health at risk – commissioner
Herald: Department of Corrections found in breach of Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights
RNZ: Prisoner not given HIV medication ‘unacceptable’
Elisabeth McDonald (Stuff): The seed of reasonable doubt in rape cases involving intoxication
UN Secretary General visits NZ
1News: ‘Vetoes have paralysed’ many decisions on crises – UN Secretary General
Jason Walls (Herald): UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres challenges Government to tax pollution
Paul Hobbs (1News): UN Secretary General urges governments to tax polluters in bid to cut carbon emissions
RNZ: UN Secretary-General meets James Shaw and climate activists
Jason Walls (Herald): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says his generation should have done more on climate change
Indira Stewart (RNZ): UN Secretary General issues challenge to youth
Nicole Lawton (Stuff): UN Secretary General António Guterres shares breakfast with school children for climate change talk
RNZ: Oxfam gives NZ Zero Carbon Bill cautious thumbs up
1News: Foodstuffs will allow customers to bring containers from home for over-the-counter products
Housing
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Healthy Homes standards legislation signed off into law
Herald: Healthy homes: Final standards to be released outlining minimum requirements for rental properties
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Government to announce final healthy home standards
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): State houses, single parent families more likely to be burgled, crime study finds
Newshub: Are we doing enough to combat homelessness? (video)
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Government policies to blame for rising rent – expert
Health
Natalie Akoorie (Herald): Fair Care health: Specialists could benefit financially from long wait times – report (paywalled)
Elspeth McLean (ODT): Urgent changes needed to fix colorectal cancer care – report
Veronia Schmidt (RNZ): Why ACC is turning away traumatised mosque survivors
Phil Pennington (RNZ):Cost estimates for Middlemore Hospital’s leaky buildings balloons
Stuff: Waikato DHB commissioner seeks new chief executive
Herald: Pre-drinking not just for the young: Study finds Kiwis over 30 also drink heavily
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Southern DHB hits back at criticism of northern Southland maternal and child hubs
Parliament
Liam Hehir (Stuff): Parliament’s ref continues to drop the ball and it can’t continue
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Speaker ‘running interference’ for Labour – Simon Bridges
Wellington
Dave Armstrong (Dominion Post): Somebody stand for mayor and ask Justin Lester some awkward questions
Felix Desmarais (Stuff): Central Library closure set to plunge Wellington City Council a further $10m in debt
Dominion Post Editorial: Public libraries are crucial, as Christchurch knows and Wellington must embrace
Damian Geroge (Stuff): Debate over light rail versus trackless trams heats up as Wellington transport announcement looms
RNZ: Wellington Mayor to reveal major transport project
Auckland
Simon Wilson (Herald): Free buses and trains for kids on weekends, says Goff
Todd Niall (Stuff): Free public transport trips for Auckland under-15s get nod from Auckland Mayor Phil Goff
RNZ:Auckland Council considers free weekend transport for under-15s
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Auckland Mayor wants to make public transport free to under 15s on weekends, public holidays
1News: Phil Goff wants free Auckland weekend public transport for under-15s
Melanie Earley and Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Declaration of war’: Railway workers to be suspended after preparing for strike, union says
RNZ: Auckland commuters face disruption as train engineers strike
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Luxury hotel seeks compensation after years of disruption caused by the $4.4 billion City Rail Link (paywalled)
Local government
Southland Times Editorial: Supporters to National: fix our councils
Tim Miller (ODT): Labour names candidates for local body elections
Jono Edwards (ODT): Reaction mixed to ORC seats for iwi
Denise Piper (Stuff): Call for heads to roll after Far North District Council lets bylaws lapse
Te Mata Peak
Sean Hogan (1News): Mongrel Mob patching ceremonies will continue to be allowed on Te Mata Peak after council meets with gang members
James Perry (Māori TV): Mongrel Mob, Hastings Council reach agreement on Te Mata Peak
RNZ: Strong public support to remove contentious Te Mata Peak track
Child welfare
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Call for investigation over attempt to remove baby from hospital
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Parents demand more robust assessments from Oranga Tamariki
Transport, road safety
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Waverley crash families speak in support of petition for road-side drug testing
Anna Whyte (1News): Family of south Taranaki crash victims join calls for roadside drug testing
RNZ: Families of Waverley crash victims call for roadside drug testing
Tim Newman (Stuff): Petition calling for roadside drug testing re-opens
Primary industries
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Government admits delays in tracing cattle with Mycoplasma Bovis may have caused disease to spread
1News:Egg prices soar to record high as farmers shift away from caged hens
Fonterra sells Tip Top to overseas buyer
1News: NZ First calls Tip Top sale ‘alarming trend’
Herald: Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters says the sale of Tip Top is a ‘sad day’ for New Zealand
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Winston Peters has a crack at Fonterra’s management for getting the company into a debt situation that prompted it to sell Tip Top to an overseas buyer
RNZ: Global ice cream giant buys Tip Top for $380m
Angie Skerrett (Newshub): ‘Credit where credit’s due’: Farmer behind Tip Top petition says sales deal a good one
Vodafone sold
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Vodafone NZ sold for $3.4b
Herald: Vodafone NZ sold for $3.4b
Kim Savage (RNZ): Vodafone NZ sold to private investors for $3.4b
Other
Bevan Rapson (North & South): Is Judith Collins really the answer for National?
Herald: Tobacco, alcohol and gambling tax costing Māori over $1b a year
Liam Dann (Herald): Robertson: Budget 2019 more like a company ‘annual report’ (paywalled)
David Cormack (Herald): Are we finally doing this? (paywalled)
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): NZ First’s xenophobia is dangerous in government
RNZ: Captain Cook 250-year commemoration to tell Māori side of history – Minister Kelvin Davis
RNZ: Review reveals ‘challenges that Māori media organisations face’
Teuila Fuatai (Herald): Saying names right is about respecting cultural identity (paywalled)
David Farrar: Why National shouldn’t fall into Labour’s trap of under-estimating the Prime Minister of the day
Michael Reddell: Championing high immigration
1News: Simon Bridges slams Government for ‘massive fail’ over teachers, Kiwibuild
Mark Reason (Stuff): New Zealand’s workplace bullying is shameful – but don’t blame the bullies
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Fears tourism providers exploiting Māori culture for profit
Dominic Harris (Stuff): Future hangs in balance for embattled rebuild agency Regenerate Christchurch
Nicole Lawton (Stuff): Sexist murals ‘part of the fabric’ of Auckland rugby club for decades
Steve Maharey (Pundit): The Giddens Project: New Times, the Third Way and the future of politics
Cherie Sivignon (Nelson Mail): Mayoral Disaster Relief Fund closes with over 100 applications, $2.3m to distribute
Arvind Kumar (Stuff): Ramadan a chance to learn about each others’ cultures and religions, says Jacinda Ardern
