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
Budget leak
Derek Cheng (Herald): GCSB tried to stop Treasury boss Gabriel Makhlouf from saying website, Budget had been ‘hacked’ (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Shocking new GCSB claim – only Herald’s PayWall can save the Government now
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Truth gets lost in hacking claims (paywalled)
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: Who cares about the ‘Budget hack’? (paywalled)
Alexander Stronach: The 2019 NZ Budget Leak: what actually happened
John Anthony (Stuff): Irish Opposition party wants Treasury secretary Gabriel Makhlouf’s appointment as head of Ireland’s Central Bank suspended
Derek Cheng (Herald): Gabriel Makhlouf’s appointment at the Central Bank of Ireland called into question
Eric Crampton (Spinoff): The rot at treasury started years ago
Budget
Brian Easton (Pundit): Was it Really a Wellbeing Budget?
ESRA: Budget 2019 Report
Brian Fallow (Herald): Borrow & spend? Here’s why not (paywalled)
Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): New accounts show surplus could be billions larger than expected in Budget
Zane Small (Newshub): Government’s tax-take billions of dollars above forecast
Michael Reddell: Reading Treasury’s economic forecasts
Samantha Gee (Stuff): Budget is focused on health outcomes, but falls short of addressing inequality
Zane Small (Newshub): ‘Tax the rich’ advocate Justine Sachs grilled over what defines a wealthy person
Merepeka Raukawa-Tait (Rotorua Daily Post): Problems didn’t crop up overnight, and will take a while to fix (paywalled)
Cabinet reshuffle
Jessica Mutch (1News): The winners and losers – 1 NEWS political editor Jessica Mutch McKay’s picks for Government’s Cabinet reshuffle
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Cabinet reshuffle will expose how weak Ardern is
Health
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): MidCentral chief examines Europe’s health services
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Shortages putting patients at risk, say Hawke’s Bay doctors
Jason Walls (Herald): Treasury warns there is a ‘significant risk’ that further DHB deficits will be higher than expected (paywalled)
Indira Stewart (RNZ):‘Broken promises and lies, people like me don’t matter’
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Government is prioritising mental health over women dying of breast cancer
Dan Satherley and Miriam Harris (Newshub): Doctors want pharmaceutical drug adverts banned
Stuff: Ministry of Health investigator unfairly dismissed after anonymous tip wins job back
Taroi Black (Māori TV): Three decades of service – still unable to make a living
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Waikato Hospital attendants strike for living wage
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Waikato Hospital staff strike for Living Wage
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Ardern speaks to Health Minister about Lumsden Maternity
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Southland maternity like ‘Russian roulette’, midwife says
Amy Williams (RNZ): New Zealand faces flu vaccine shortage as illness surges
1News: Health officials prioritising who gets flu jab as stock runs low
Stuff: Flu shots restricted as national stocks set to run out
Jamie Ensor and Miriam Harris (Newshub): Pharmac running low on influenza vaccines as demand skyrockets
Zane Small (Newshub): Mental health expert labels priority of under 24-year-olds ‘confusing’
Kyle MacDonald (Herald): Is New Zealand at a turning point for mental health? (paywalled)
RNZ: Govt establishes fund to support LGBTQI youth
Herald: Bowel screening programme: Ministry hits back at delay claims
Hannah Martin (Stuff): National sexual harm helpline fields nearly 10,000 calls, texts in first year
Laura James (1News): Fundraising underway for mobile optometry unit with 10 per cent of Kiwi kids needing glasses
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Some 4-year-olds not referred
Lee Suckling (Stuff): One in 20 kids can’t see properly before they start school
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): ‘Morbidly obese’ an undesirable yet motivating term used by doctors, study finds
Drug and Alcohol Review studies
1News: ‘Hidden cost’ of alcohol to New Zealand workplaces more than $1.65 billion, study finds
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Study: alcohol could cost NZ economy $1.65 per year
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Hungover workers costing NZ businesses more than $1.65b a year
Dubby Henry (Herald): ‘Staggering’ cost of alcohol on workplaces put at $1.65b: Otago University study
RNZ: Booze impact on NZ business tallied at $1.65 billion
Stuff: Study suggests first timers most cautious after pill tests at music festival
Disability
Jono Edwards (ODT): Mayors raise ‘serious concerns’ over tendering process
ODT: Workers to strike again
Transport
RNZ: ‘Huge majority’ of NZers would prefer lower speeds on some roads – Genter
Cira Olivier and Stephanie Arthur-Worsop (Rotorua Daily Post): Should the speed limit on Rotorua’s urban roads drop to 40km/h? NZTA thinks so (paywalled)
Laura Walters (Newsroom): ‘Revolving door of drivers’ amid bus industry crisis
RNZ: KiwiRail funding: Finance Minister Robertson signals future Budget spending
Ben Strang (RNZ): Conflict of interest claim a conflict of interest – VINZ
Stuff: NZTA suspends Christchurch vehicle inspector, more than 2000 cars to be recalled
Luke Kirkness (Herald): Motorists who use phone while driving should be given three strikes before losing their vehicle: commentator (paywalled)
Todd Niall (Stuff): Free public transport: How to ride Auckland’s buses, trains and ferries for nothing this month
RNZ: One day of free train and bus travel for Aucklanders to celebrate milestone
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Auckland announces free public transport to celebrate the biggest year since 1951
Damian George (Stuff): High Court backs city council over process to develop Island Bay cycleway redesign
Denise Piper (Stuff): Drugs involved in many of Northland’s fatal road crashes, police say
Andrea Fox (Herald): Kiwi car dealer in Tokyo warns accident-damaged Japanese imports are on the rise (paywalled)
Listener Editorial: The Govt has missed a big opportunity to boost electric vehicles
Dominic Harris (Stuff): Funding delay forces Canterbury council to ditch dangerous road upgrades
Richard Bosselman (Stuff): Should one-star crash-test cars be banned? The AA says no
Education
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Secondary school teachers cancel next week’s strike action
Andrew Macfarlane (1News): Teachers’ strike marked for next week called off
Herald: High school teachers have called off planned strikes next week
Anna Bracewell-Worrall and Zane Small (Newshub): Teachers’ pay talks: Education Minister Chris Hipkins claims ‘progress made’ with unions
Guy Gifford (Stuff): Subsiding the private education of the wealthy is not my idea of ‘charity’
Lana Andelane (Newshub): The AM Show: Benefits of a 4-day school week – could it help New Zealand?
Herald: ‘It’s a no brainer’: Kiwis support widespread ban on phones in schools
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): Waikato University restructure draws rebuke from Tertiary Education Union
Herald: One in three university students are sexually assaulted during their studies
Press Editorial: Students are still at risk from rape culture
IRD, tax
Rob Stock (Stuff): Warning unheeded: Why the KiwiSaver tax scandal should have surprised nobody
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): KiwiSaver tax dodgers may have got away with $200m-plus reward
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): ‘Wrinkles’ with new IRD system adding up to a bigger headache, says top accounting body
Aimee Shaw (Herald): KiwiSaver blunder: What thousands paying the wrong tax rate says about society (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Here’s how the New Zealand tax system really work
Andrea Black: PIEs, timebar and tax fairness
Wellington
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Single-minute deals see Wellington iwi quickly sell millions worth of land
Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): Developers eyeing up Wellington Library
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): City defunds Wellington’s indoor arena in last-ditch attempt to pare back budget
Oliver Lovell (Dominion Post): Sue Kedgley will stand down from regional council re-election
RNZ: IAG will continue to insure Wellington properties – if risk isn’t too high
Peter McKenzie (Spinoff): Echoing Chlöe Swarbrick, a ‘youthquake’ rumbles through Wellington’s political scene
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Unique 1912 Wellington homes to be bowled for Chinese Embassy
Local government
Simon Wilson (Herald): Goff v Tamihere, the first poll numbers (paywalled)
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Councillors told not to attend meeting on controversial pool
Nick Truebridge (Stuff): City Rail Link boss concedes communication with struggling Albert St businesses ‘probably’ not good enough
Evan Harding (Southland Times): ICC refuses to pay Shadbolt’s court costs
Hawkes Bay Today: One of the first to walk on reopened Cape Kidnappers beach flees new landslide
Julie Iles (Stuff): Landslide-prone Cape Kidnappers path reopened despite ‘risk of death’
Christina Persico (Taranaki Daily News): New Plymouth trials putting recyclable plastic into roads
Alice Geary (Timaru Herald): Mackenzie increases camping compliance staff
Housing
Tina Law (Press): Unoccupied Christchurch quake home wrangle gets ministerial intervention
RNZ: Checkpoint: Linwood Park homes sit empty despite housing waitlist
1News: Conditions ‘utterly unsatisfactory’ at Auckland caravan park that booted John Campbell – Twyford
1News: John Campbell issued trespass notice while investigating caravan park declared unfit for children
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Auckland homeless shelter gets $5m makeover
Isaac Davison (Herald): Auckland landlord who once illegally rented out garages ordered to pay $180,000 in one of MBIE’s largest ever cases
RNZ: Checkpoint: Dodgy landlord ordered to pay $180,000
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Landlord to keep $50,000 tenant made by allegedly misleading Government agency
Regan Paranihi (Māori TV): Funding boost helps to repair Māori homes
Mining
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Financial offer dangled for fossil mine support
Gerald Piddock (Stuff): OceanaGold seeking judicial review into Waihi land buy decision
Environment
Jamie Morton (Herald): Warmest autumn ever, climate scientist says
Michael Neilson (Herald): Eight more tracks to be reopened in Waitākere Ranges following consultation over kauri dieback
Alice Angeloni (Stuff): PM Jacinda Ardern to check if local bill would work for marine guardians in Marlborough
Waatea News: Tree fund sparks surge in native planting
Peter Olorenshaw (Stuff): Navigating the climate emergency: low density sprawling suburbs not the answer
Peter Olorenshaw (Stuff): Navigating the climate emergency: using timber in commercial buildings
RNZ: Chickens supply pest control to Great Barrier, eggs to City Mission
Primary industries
Robin Martin (RNZ): Dirty dairying: Effluent spills lead to record Taranaki fines for farming companies
Paul Gorman (Stuff): Funds for more frequent inspections of Crown pastoral lease land
Eric Frykberg (RNZ): Fonterra gets autonomy to reject non-compliant milk from farmers
Sally Rae (ODT): Dairy law changes spur dissent
Andrea Fox (Herald): Dairy industry law changes greeted with frustration, disappointment (paywalled)
Eric Frykberg (RNZ): Danone wins OIO approval to buy Waikato dairy plant
Nicola Martin (Stuff): It makes sense to do the right thing by the environment
Maia Hart (Stuff): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says salmon farm shift needs careful consideration
Foreign affairs
RNZ: NZ’s Deputy PM says Air NZ should reassess Vanuatu flights
Talisa Kupenga (Māori TV): Solomon Islands’ youth seek new paths to employment
NZ’s Deputy PM says Air NZ should reassess Vanuatu flights
RNZ: New Zealand says it isn’t pressuring Solomons to back Taiwan
1News: Winston Peters visits Solomon Islands as Pacific nation eyes establishing ties with China
RNZ: NZ aid to Vanuatu students affected by Ambae eruption
Rebecca Powell (Overland): Questions of fairness: New Zealander experiences of Section 501 and the case of Shane Martin
Mitch McCann (NEwshub): Exclusive: Kiwi mistakenly deported by Australia speaks out
No Right Turn: Not a good international citizen
Chloe Ranford (Stuff): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says support given to slain sailor’s family
Media
RNZ: Australian whistleblowers under attack through the media
Joel MacManus (Stuff): New Zealand media condemn police raids on Australian broadcaster ABC
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Has anyone in the NZ Govt decried the astonishing abuse of power the Australian Govt have committed against journalism in the last 24 hours?
Patrick Crewdson (Stuff): Survey: How should Stuff cover climate change?
Police
Harrison Christian (Stuff): Police pay $10k compo after releasing man’s personal details to media
Herald: Police found to have unlawfully arrested three young suspects
Tema Hemi (Māori TV): Growing number of wāhine Māori in the police force
Christchurch mosque shootings, Intelligence and Security agencies
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Insight: Christchurch Attacks: What security agencies are keeping us safe?
Katie Kenny (Stuff): Twitch broadcasts Christchurch terror attack video just after its parent company signs the Christchurch Call
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Christchurch terror attack: Photos of alleged gunman Brenton Tarrant’s face no longer suppressed
Stuff: Christchurch mosque shooting accused can be shown, judge rules
Joel MacManus (Stuff): The story behind Hagen Hopkins’ defining image of grief after the mosque shootings
Gender
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Why New Zealand is lagging behind Australia in pursuit of gender equality
RNZ: Discrimination and harassment hold women leaders back – survey
World Wars
1News: ‘They have really been overshadowed’ – New book recognises untold Māori contribution in WWI
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Story of Māori soldiers’ WWI contribution told in new book
Emma Hatton (RNZ): Former Spitfire pilots attend D-Day commemorations
Other
Richard Harman (Politik): The reality behind the boom
Carmen Hetaraka (Spinoff): The time to decide on prisoner voting rights is now
Rebecca Stevenson (Stuff): The Census is a shameful debacle; but don’t worry engagement on social is great
Chris Morris (ODT): Abuse fund boost short, lawyer says
Jono Edwards (ODT): Pokie money dilemma for charity work
David Williams (Newsroom): Police vs Pike River conveyor belt theory
Andre Chumko (Stuff): Abuse and conflict: The reality of life for Kiwi social workers
Robin Martin (RNZ): Frustrations grow as Barrett St Hospital site cleanup grinds to a halt
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The Tamakis Quest For Dominion: More “Handmaid’s Tale”, Less “Modern Family”
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Adrian Orr’s war with the Banks and why it matters
Harmeet Singh Sooden (Spinoff): Qayyarah West and the deliberately obscured role of NZ troops in Iraq
Chris Hutching (Stuff): Landowners in the clear when it comes to recreational risk
Bruce Logan (Family First): When is an anthem not an Anthem?
Nona Pelletier (RNZ): Young families flee Auckland: 33,000 people in four years
Vera Alves (Herald): Auckland: It’s no city for young people (paywalled)
Stephen Jacobi (Spinoff): Why NZ shouldn’t panic about the growth of China’s domestic milk powder market
Reuben McDougall (ODT): Turn it up! A racing revolution
RNZ: NZ Pacific communities to drive language promotion
