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
Parliamentary bullying and harassment report, National’s review into party culture
Jamie Ensor (Newshub):Former National MP Tau Henare lets rip on bullying in Parliament after review release
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Speaker of the house Trevor Mallard must lift the lid on bullies
1News: Speaker Mallard regrets some of his past behaviour as an MP, after report finds ‘systemic’ bullying in Parliament
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Bad apples in the Parliament’s barrel
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): We should not bear Parliament’s ‘bear pit’ any longer
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Working in Parliament is a hazardous task
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: Toxic politicians under scrutiny (paywalled)
RNZ: Checkpoint: Parliament a ‘perfect storm’ for bullying, bad behaviour – report
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): MPs accused of treating staff like servants in bullying review
Zane Small (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern details how Parliament will respond to toxic culture revelations
Andrea Vance (Stuff) :Parliament a toxic workplace with systematic bullying problem – Francis Review
Anna Whyte (1News): Bullying and harassment widespread in Parliament, report finds
Lucy Bennett (Herald): Francis review into harmful behaviour in Parliament released
Zane Small (Newshub): ‘Power imbalance’: Sexual assault, bullying claims revealed in Parliament
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Serious bullying rife at Parliament – report
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Parliament bullying report calls for sweeping change
Newsroom: Parliament bullying: in their own words
Alice Webb-Liddall (Spinoff): Report finds bullying and sexual harassment rife in parliament
No Right Turn: A toxic workplace
1News: Working at Parliament ‘tough’, Jacinda Ardern says ahead of bullying and harassment inquiry release today
Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): Mixed messages from National on culture review
Golriz Ghahraman
Zane Small (Newshub): David Seymour denies responsibility over threats to Golriz Ghahraman
Jason Walls (Herald): Green MP Golriz Ghahraman gets a security escort after increased threat level
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Security escort for Green MP Golriz Ghahraman after death threats
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Golriz Ghahraman gets security escort following David Seymour’s ‘menace’ comments
1News: Green MP Golriz Ghahraman to get extra security in part due to David Seymour’s ‘menace to freedom’ comments
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Pieces of work that led David Seymour to compare Golriz Ghahraman to Chinese President Xi Jinping
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): On a brief history of death threats
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): ACT vs Greens, culture wars & threatening Golriz
Budget
Ganesh Nana (Pundit): Frustrations of an unreconstructed, unrepentant Keynesian
Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): A focus on wellbeing does not change the reality of a slowing economy
New parties
RNZ: Alfred Ngaro confirms he’s contemplating getting party started
Herald: Destiny Church’s Brian Tamaki signals return to politics
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki considering launching political party
John Stringer (Kiwiblog):‘Christian’ Votes since 1996
Abortion
Anna Whyte (1News): Alfred Ngaro rules out Botany deal, calls abortion a ‘tragedy’
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): No woman has been made to feel like a criminal for abortion – Alfred Ngaro
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Government ‘poked the bear’ with discussion about abortion rights – Ngaro
Henry Cooke (Stuff): National Party MP Alfred Ngaro says number of abortions in New Zealand is a ‘tragedy’
Jason Walls (Herald): National MP Alfred Ngaro says he regrets sharing a post that likened abortion to the holocaust
Lynn Williams: On Abortion
Paula Penfold (Stuff): Abortion law reform: Women are in fact made to feel criminal, Mr Ngaro
Liz Beddoe (Stuff): As US protection of abortion rights weakens, NZ should strengthen laws
Bob Jones: The abortion debate (again)
Emma Espiner (Newsroom): Abortion – a life on my terms
Martyn Bradbury: The arrogance and ignorance of Alfred Ngaro is as breathtaking as his misplaced self-assured smugness
Housing
Claire Trevett (Herald): Housing Minister Phil Twyford’s Waterloo: Will KiwiBuild cost him? (paywalled)
Zane Small (Newshub): Phil Twyford defends Government purchasing seven unsold KiwiBuild houses
1News: KiwiBuild homes snapped up in Tauranga as scheme finally shows some success
Mike Hosking (Newstalk): No magic trick will save KiwiBuild
Henry Cooke (Stuff): 11,067 families waiting longer and longer for housing – but growth in list has stalled
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): More than 11,000 people still on the waiting list for social housing
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Higher numbers of Māori on the housing waiting list
1News: Taranaki woman battling Huntington’s disease left waiting for state house for over a year
1News/Sky: Social housing waiting list up 40 per cent on same time last year
RNZ: Fewer people placed into permanent homes
Anne Gibson (Herald): DIYers can build Bunnings flatpack homes, say experts
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): House prices could shoot up if new building fees approved, critics warn
Pike River
Anna Osborne (Stuff): Pike River re-entry: ‘We were told it could never happen and we kept fighting’
Katie Fitzgerald and Mel Logan (Newshub): Pike River re-entry efforts begin in earnest
David Williams (Newsroom): What happens now at Pike River
Joanne Carroll (Press): Pike River re-entry finally a reality after eight-year battle
1News: ‘We just couldn’t contain our tears’ – Pike River families hail first re-entry to mine in over eight years
1News: Watch: Pike River Mine door pushed open to cheers from victims’ families
Laura Mills (Greymouth Star): Emotions run high at Pike River mine re-entry
Thomas Mead (Newshub): Entry makes way for long-awaited forensic examination to begin
RNZ: Relatives elated as Pike River Mine re-entered
1News/Sky: Relief for families as Pike River mine re-entry goes ahead
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): “Today’s milestone belongs to the families” – Pike River Mine re-entered
Jamie Searle (Stuff): Invercargill sister of Pike River mine victim pleased re-entry has begun
Herald: ‘Just incredible’: First images inside the Pike River Mine, almost nine years after it was sealed
Stuff: Pike River mine re-entry: A momentous day captured in pictures
RNZ: Pike River agency confirms mine has been entered
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Pike River re-entry ‘beginning of the end of a journey’ – Sonya Rockhouse
RNZ: Families witness as Pike River mine re-entry attempt begins
Breanna Barraclough (Newshub): Pike River timeline: From the first explosion to the re-entry
Charles Anderson (Guardian): ‘Symbolic moment’: Pike river mine reopened as search begins for 29 victims
Foulden Maar mine proposal
RNZ: Battle at Foulden Maar: Fighting to stop fossils being ground into feed
Chris Hutching (Stuff): Diatomite miner’s land application will take more time – OIO
Tim Miller (ODT): Foulden Maar’s developer defends mining diatomite
Health
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Government cash injection nice, but not enough for staff pay – St John CEO
Sam Farrell (Newshub): Staff would rather focus on saving lives than raising funds – St John
Karen Brown (RNZ): Ambulance services to get funding boost from government
Jason Walls (Herald): Government will spend $40 million to help relieve the pressure from ambulance service providers
1News: Ambulance services get $38 million funding boost, but falls short of amount St John want
Zane Small (Newshub): Budget 2019: $21 million boost over two years for ambulance services
Stacey Kirk (Stuff): Budget 2019: Ambulance services get $21 million funding boost
Jessica Long (Stuff): Wellington Free to feel relief as Government injects $21m into ambulance services
Amy Wiggins (Herald): Hundreds of deaf adults missing out on life-changing surgery
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Calls to increase funding for cochlear implants as hundreds wait for surgery
Ben Leahy (Herald): Headphones and smartphones causing alarming rates of hearing loss in New Zealand kids
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Māori employed by DHBs must double in the next 15 years – report
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): Health board deficit could signal service cuts, deputy chairman warns
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Auckland measles outbreak: 63 confirmed cases
Crime, justice, corrections
Tema Hemi (Māori TV): The right to vote from behind bars
Howard League: Over 1,000 prisoners sign voting petition
Brad Flahive (Stuff): Alcohol is a factor in at least a third of all homicide cases
Katie Doyle (RNZ): Almost 200 youth offenders held in police cells – some for up to a week
Phil Pennigton (RNZ): No offending identified during paedophile’s stint at music centre – police
RNZ: No prosecutions yet despite Millane accused being named several times
Christchurch mosque shootings
Luke Kirkness (Herald): Prosecution of accused mosque gunman would be country’s first under Terrorism Suppression Act
Stuff: Accused mosque shooter now facing terrorism charge
RNZ: Police lay terrorism charge against man accused of mosque shootings
1News: Christchurch mosque attack accused charged with engaging in terrorist act
Kate Lyons (Guardian): Christchurch mosque attacks: suspect charged with ‘terrorist act’
Jason Walls (Herald): Government data paints a clear picture as to how the world reacted to the Christchurch attacks (paywalled)
Environment and conservation
Richard Harman (Politik): Culture clash on climate
Henry Cooke (Stuff): National supports climate change bill through first reading
Jason Walls (Herald): National will vote with the Government on the first reading of the Zero Carbon bill
1News: National pledge to support first reading of Climate Change Bill
Northland Age: Act won’t vote for zero carbon bill
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Think climate strike kids can’t change anything? A new study says otherwise
Katy Jones (Stuff): U-turn from schools on student climate change strike
Lindsay Wood (Stuff): Nelson City Council climate declaration sets new course
Michael Neilson (Herald): No fishing: Large swathes of Hauraki Gulf could be placed in marine reserves or closed to fishing to reverse dramatic declines in marine species (paywalled)
ODT Editorial: Marine scheme means pain for some
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Predator Free 2050 ‘dream’ called too costly, too unlikely at Biological Heritage conference
Sam Kelway (1News): Opportunities for ‘struggling economy’ lost if Chinese water bottling plant expansion in Whakatāne fails, court hears
Sam Kelway (1News): Chinese water bottling plant’s proposal to take water from Whakatane aquifer ‘sustainable’, court hears
Gerard Hutching (Stuff): Fungal disease is killing New Zealand’s rare kākāpō
Liz McDonald (Stuff): Pet owners warned over calicivirus rabbit cull in Christchurch red zone
RNZ: Virus deadly to rabbits to be released in Christchurch red zone
Primary industries
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Oil and gas ban could force rethink of Fonterra’s plans to cut coal
RNZ: Fonterra fears oil, gas exploration ban will limit its emissions reduction
Sally Rae (ODT): ‘M. bovis’ response farms now all contacted
Transport
Dileepa Fonseka and Damian George (Stuff): Commitment questioned on $4.4b promised for wider region in Let’s Get Wellington Moving
Damian George (Stuff): Public transport tendering model to be reviewed in an attempt to stem driver shortage
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Unions say new bus driver rest breaks is off to a bad start
RNZ: Council lawyers defend handling of Island Bay cycleway
Jono Galuszka (Manawatū Standard): NZ Transport Agency stands by advice to associate minister, despite turning back on it
Matthew Littlewood (Stuff): Proposed Timaru ‘on demand’ public transport service could face age barrier
Chris Keall (Herald): ACC’s e-scooter bill hits new high – but stats also back Lime exec’s safety claim (paywalled)
1News: Auckland Transport’s new parking warden camera cars can read your plate and give you a fine as it drives past
Patrick Reynolds (Spinoff): The story of a revolution: How public transport transformed Auckland
David Loughrey (ODT): CAA needs more funding so it can do its job: pilot’s family
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Ministry of Transport fraudster Joanne Harrison’s home and Rolex seized
Herald: Police seize $600,000 worth of assets from Ministry of Transport fraudster Joanne Harrison
RNZ: Police seize deported fraudster Joanne Harrison’s assets
Huawei
Juha Saarinen (Herald): US ban a double punch for Huawei (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Huawei says smartphone owners needn’t panic as Spark warns of ‘evolving situation’
Chris Keall (Herald): ‘No need to panic and return phones to retailers’ – Huawei NZ exec
1News: Vodafone says buyers should be wary of Huawei phones as ‘uncertainty’ over Google software continues
Legal profession
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Junior lawyers union started after law industry scandal
Charlie O’Mannin (Critic): SOULS to Decline Russell McVeagh’s Money
Joel MacManus and Alison Mau (Stuff): Otago law students not ready to forgive Russell McVeagh
Crusaders
Tony Smith (Stuff): Crusaders bosses taking a risk by not standing down accused players
RNZ: Crusaders ‘desperately’ want CCTV footage of alleged incident
RNZ: Wellington lawyer to investigate Crusaders harassment allegations
1News: ‘They are clearly gutted’ – Crusaders CEO says investigation underway into homophobic abuse allegations in Cape Town
Stuff: Crusaders and NZ Rugby to investigate homophobia allegations after Cape Town incidents
RNZ: NZ Rugby and Crusaders launch joint investigation
RNZ: Crusaders management to meet players about allegations of homophobic behaviour
1News: ‘The were laughing at us’ – witness stands by friends’ allegations of homophobic slurs from Crusaders players
Robert van Royen (Stuff):Crusaders say independent witnesses have joined players in rejecting alleged homophobic behaviour
Herald: Super Rugby: Crusaders coach names George Bridge as player involved in alleged ‘homophobic’ incident
Stephen Foote (Stuff): Super Rugby 2019: Crusaders coach Scott Robertson denies allegations of homophobic incident
1News: History behind the Crusades as the Crusaders consider a name change
RNZ: Fresh allegations: Crusaders player Richie Mo’unga accused of inappropriate touching
Newshub: Super Rugby 2019: Crusaders’ Richie Mo’unga accused of groping, spitting beer at woman in South Africa
Social media
David Fisher (Herald): Exclusive: ‘Watchlist’ social media user talks about views on Jacinda Ardern and others which may have made him a target (paywalled)
Michael Daly (Stuff): Deepfakes and synthetic media: The new age of disinformation is growing
Education
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Secondary principals want 15 percent pay rise
Tracy Neal (RNZ): Emotions high over allegations of teacher’s inappropriate behaviour
Nikki Preston (Herald): Video of teacher and pupils linked to investigation at Marlborough Boys’ College
RNZ: Marlborough Boys’ College: Allegations about staff member referred to police
Foreign affairs
Michael Reddell: National on international affairs
Mackenzie Smith (RNZ): NZ-funded parliament in Niue runs into legal dispute
RNZ: NZ gives $NZ1m to improving electoral process in Tonga
RNZ: NZ Defence Force dentists bring relief in Samoa
1News: Hundreds of ‘high-needs patients’ in Samoa get dental work from NZ Defence Force
Pacific
Benjamin Robinson-Drawbridge (RNZ): Manus Island suicide attempts spike after Australian election
RNZ: Aus govt cannot ignore Manus Island suicide attempts – advocate
Mackenzie Smith (RNZ): China promising more than delivering in Pacific – US official
Defence
No Right Turn: NZDF’s secret rules of engagement
Imogen Neale, Caroline Williams and Kendall Hutt (Stuff): Soldier shot during training at SAS facility in south Auckland
RNZ: Soldier injured in live-fire training exercise
Local government
Matt Shand (Stuff): Another Tauranga City Council project under review
Dominic Harris (Stuff): Christchurch imam Gamal Fouda bids to enter local politics
Gerald Piddock (Stuff): Cat de-sexing fund creation hailed as ‘a game changer’
Consumer protection
Alex Loo (Stuff): Loan scheme for low-income earners helps beat loan sharks
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): Van halo: the truck shop in New Zealand that drives off profiteers
Other
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): World-leading Te Papa mollusc expert misses out on curator job
Emily Writes (Spinoff): Say no to KFC’s PR bullshit and stand with the striking workers
Marie Russell, Lucy Telfar-Barnard and Hera Cook (Stuff): Why are taxpayers subsidising licensed firearms owners?
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Is it in the national interest? (paywalled)
Susan St John (Newsroom): Media must interrogate menacing privacy breaches
Brian Rudman (Herald): 2018 Census debacle a diversion from system meltdown (paywalled)
Josie Pagani (Herald): Australian result signals seismic change in working-class voting patterns (paywalled)
George Block (ODT): 148 police in South on $100K
Sophie Bateman (Newshub): New York Times says Jacinda Ardern ‘won’t save’ the UK or US
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Opinion: What our tamariki really need when it comes to sexual violence support
Phil Pennignton (RNZ): New Christchurch office building has serious flaws – engineers
Shane Te Pou (Spinoff): Review: An overly diplomatic biography of Labour grandee Dame Annette King
Point of Order: Open letter to associate professor sharpens the focus on Treaty of Waitangi and its influence on governance
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): New $1.6 billion IRD system got tax calculation wrong, says accountant
Paul Hunt (Spinoff): The dangers of ‘one of us’: The Chief Human Rights Commissioner on othering
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): What we pay at the pump: why does the price of petrol vary so much?
Glen McConnell (Stuff): Younger viewers tune in for John Campbell on Breakfast
Katie Doyle (RNZ): Latest pursuit crash involving youths prompts more calls for review
Martin Hawes (Spinoff): KiwiSaver flagging? Be brave, stand firm
Sam Hurley (Herald): Auckland man admits ‘vicious’ homophobic attack on NZ reporter Aziz Al-Sa’afin
Imogen Neale (Stuff): Man admits assaulting Newshub journalist Aziz Al-Sa’afin on Auckland’s K’ Rd
