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
Euthanasia
Derek Cheng (Herald): Hundreds of proposed amendments could push euthanasia bill well into next year
Tracy Watkins (Stuff): It’s down to the wire – the life and death battle over dying
Grant Illingworth (Stuff): Euthanasia bill would be rife for exploitation by the selfish and the abusive, says QC
Andrew Geddis (Pundit): Let’s keep things in proportion, shall we?
Hayley Jacobsen and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Seymour brushes off opposition to euthanasia from 1000 doctors
Simon Collins (Herald): 1000 Kiwi doctors sign letter against euthanasia
Cushla Norman (1News): Doctors oppose Euthanasia Bill: ‘We didn’t train to end someone’s life’
RNZ: Doctors sign letter against ‘assisted suicide’ Bill
RNZ: Checkpoint: Willie Jackson: Why I’ll vote in favour of euthanasia bill
Finn Hogan and Simon Shepherd (Newshub): ‘Just do it’: Terminal patient pleads politicians to pass euthanasia Bill
Simon Shepherd and Finn Hogan (Newshub): ‘We need politicians to protect us’: Terminal patient slams euthanasia Bill
Matt Vickers (Stuff): Lecretia would have been pleased with the End of Life Choice Bill
Lobbying, Government
Damien Grant (Stuff): Lobbyists help you change the rules of the game. That can be a dangerous thing
Kate NIcholls (Spinoff): Time to regulate the lobbyists
Stacey Kirk (Stuff): Public officials provide cannon fodder as ministers duck for cover
RNZ: Urgent surgery for senior Pasifika minister in NZ
ANZ
Kate MacNamara (Stuff): How did ANZ lose money on a house in the hottest housing market in memory?
Susan Edmunds and Rebecca Stevenson (Stuff): The fall of ANZ chief executive David Hisco
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Why ANZ KiwiSaver investors should be asking questions
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Sir John Key: ANZ directors failed due diligence obligations to Reserve Bank (paywalled)
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): ‘A tough call but the right one’: John Key on the Hisco affair (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): David Hisco’s departure the spark in tinder dry banking sector (paywalled)
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of John Key (paywalled)
Brian Gaynor (Herald): Hisco’s excesses were endorsed by directors (paywalled)
Herald: ANZ’s low sale price of luxury Hisco St Heliers house raises questions
Kate MacNamara (Stuff): ANZ bought $7.5m Auckland property for David Hisco
Rob Stock (Stuff): ANZ claims safety threat led it to hide Hisco’s mansion address
Janine Starks (Stuff): Did Hisco take the fall for ANZ board’s embarrassment?
John Roughan (Herald): David Hisco’s big contribution to NZ (paywalled)
John Weekes (Stuff): Work expenses furore: NZers using company credit cards on brothels, limousines
Christopher Luxon
Audrey Young (Herald): Why Simon Bridges has no need to feel threatened by Christopher Luxon (paywalled)
Richard Harman (Politik): How high can Luxon fly?
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: Opportunities and obstacles for National and Luxon
Richard Griffin (Stuff): Christopher Luxon may be in for bumpy ride into politics
Duncan Garner (Stuff): Luxon’s political boarding pass reads economy, but first class awaits
Kim Baker-Wilson (1News):Electoral Commission to look into ads promoting Christopher Luxon in National, party claims ‘nothing to do with us’
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Judith Collins ‘smiling’ at thought of Christopher Luxon standing for National
Helen Castles (1News): Shane Jones takes dig at outgoing Air New Zealand CEO at Bay of Islands Airport opening
Juliet Speedy (Newshub): Man behind Luxon National Party leadership ad broke law – expert
Jihee Junn (Spinoff): The curious case of the #National2020 newspaper ad that National disavows
Political week in review
Claire Trevett (Herald): Beehive Diaries: Speaker a superannuitant, Simon Bridges on slippery slope (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR):The week in politics: hacking, farm debt, trees and Christopher Luxon
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Week in politics: Helping farmers and buying back guns
1News: Inside Parliament: Hit & Run
Electoral law changes
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Nick Smith dips his toes in very dangerous waters with electoral law spat
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Who really benefits from Government’s proposed electoral changes
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Electoral law change puts political parties in the firing line
Astrid Austin (Hawkes Bay Today): Pak ‘n vote: Ballot boxes in Hawke’s Bay supermarkets welcomed
No Right Turn: For election-day enrolment
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): Milk, bread, democracy: New Zealanders get to vote in supermarkets
Steven Cowan: Repackaging a failed electoral system
Migrant labour
Tracey Watkins (Stuff): Migrants: Young, poor, and not from here
Debrin Foxcroft (Stuff): Companies that exploit workers should be forced to wear a scarlet letter
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Calls every day from migrant workers saying they have been exploited
Debrin Foxcroft (Stuff): Liquor stores across New Zealand running on the labour of exploited migrants
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Shameful exploitation of vulnerable migrant workers
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Old bingo hall housing migrant workers in cabins labelled dangerous
Steve Kilgallon (Stuff): Rig company told to train up Kiwis after jobs sent offshore
RNZ: Claims rig company favouring foreign workers over New Zealanders
State care of children
Deborah Coddington (Stuff): Child abuse is a national disgrace – let’s not forget that
Martin van Beynen (Stuff): OK whānau, let’s see how you get on with baby and parents
Dale Husband (E-Tangata): Neville Baker: The answers were there in 1988
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Christine Rankin lashes out at Oranga Tamariki uplift critics
RNZ: PSA deplores recent coverage of Oranga Tamariki amid rise in staff abuse
Ruth Herbert (Newsroom): Child uplifts: Stop trying to plaster over the cracks
Leigh-Marama McLachlan (RNZ): Oranga Tamariki difficult to partner with – Iwi leaders
ODT Editorial: Putting the child’s interests first
Katie Todd (RNZ): Protests over Oranga Tamariki to be ‘almost daily’ in Christchurch
Julie Iles (Stuff): Allegations of domestic abuse sees mongrel mobster removed as survivor advisor in inquiry into state abuse
Herald: Mongrel Mob member Harry Tam’s role in state abuse inquiry being investigated: Reports
David Farrar: A rogue Royal Commission?
Report on children and policy
Hayley Jacobsen (Newshub): New legislation should undergo child impact assessment – Children’s Commissioner
Katie Doyle (RNZ): ‘Engaging with children’ would lead to better communities – commissioner
Gun buyback scheme, firearms
Dominion Post Editorial: Time for cool heads as gun buyback controversy heats up
Craig McCulloch (RNZ):Gun dealer says government buyback scheme a ‘gross misrepresentation’
Mark Longley (Newshub): Gun owners should stop whining about the new laws
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Gun recall will backfire unless Govt pays fair prices (paywalled)
1News: Is NZ’s gun buyback scheme unfair, or protecting firearms owners from themselves?
RNZ: Gun dealer questions necessity of police raids to seize firearms
ODT: Gun buyback needs to work for farmers: Fed Farmer
Simon Ewing-Jarvie: Buyback Blowback
Breanna Barraclough (Newshub): Revealed: How many firearms were stolen in New Zealand last year – and how many were found
Education – tertiary
Derek Cheng (Herald): Another leak? National claims it has a Cabinet paper detailing vocation education overhaul
Jessica Long (Stuff): ‘Leaked’ cabinet papers shows vocational education reforms are steaming ahead
Anna Whyte (1News): ‘Less jobs, less opportunities’ – National claim polytech Cabinet paper leaked
RNZ: National Party claims another leaked government document
Skara Bohny (Nelson Mail): Leaked cabinet paper spells end for NMIT, says Smith
Cherie Sivignon (Stuff): Leaked Cabinet paper claims add to uncertainty for team at NMIT
Hayley Jacobsen (Newshub): Southland Institute of Technology head gobsmacked at tertiary reform draft
Logan Savory (Southland Times): Leaked Cabinet paper paints bleak picture for Southern Institute of Technology
Elena McPhee (ODT): Silence unsettles polytechnic
RNZ: Calls for more Māori input on polytech reforms shutdown – ITO head
Bridie Chetwin-Kelly (Stuff): Universities slammed for questionable animal testing
Elena McPhee (ODT): Terror links too much for affected students
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Terrorism ‘ethics’ exam question sparks apology from Otago University
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Auckland university staff ‘silenced’ over complaints about student with far-right views
Stephanie Ockhuysen (Stuff): Savings, scholarships and salary: How three people paid off their student loans
Graham Redding (ODT): Students’ welfare foremost concern
Education – early childhood, schools
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Kōhanga Reo trust must pay $500,000 to sacked whistleblower
Stuff: Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust spends $1.8 million defending case
Kate Nicol-Williams (1News): Petition seeks law change to allow ‘bush kindergartens’
Simon Collins (Herald): School camps may be cancelled to get $150 grant
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Auckland teacher not eligible for residency after four years in NZ as she isn’t paid enough
Katy Jones (Stuff): Boys are falling further behind, educators say, and nobody seems to care
John Lewis (ODT): School board silent over allegation
Leigh-Marama McLachlan (RNZ): Whanganui school gyms renamed in te reo Māori
Natalie Akoorie (Herald): Kerikeri High School students want inclusive ball dress that suits all body types, genders
Operation Burnham
Gordon Campbell: On this week’s Operation Burnham revelations
Chris Trotter: Operation Burnham Inquiry Can Now Blame Civilian Deaths On “The Fog of War”
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The real issue the media missed in the Burnham Inquiry this week
Local government
Andrew Cardow (Stuff): Invisibility isn’t good enough from our local body politicians
Audrey Young (Herald): Team Tamihere’s afternoon of politics at Morningside (paywalled)
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Phil Goff accuses John Tamihere of spreading ‘fake news’
Dan Satherley (Newshub): John Tamihere campaign ad misled the public, watchdog rules
RNZ: Complaint against ‘misleading’ Tamihere advert upheld
Josephine Franks (Stuff): John Tamihere mayoral campaign ad ‘misleading’, advertising authority rules
Herald: John Tamihere political ad ruled misleading
Mike Lee (Herald): Civic Administration Building sale is a lose-lose (paywalled)
Michael Neilson (Herald): Auckland Council crackdown on taverns with pokies acting as ‘gambling shops’ applauded (paywalled)
RNZ: Auckland Council pushes for private fireworks ban
Brad Flahive (Stuff): Auckland Unitary Plan changes: Complicated wording makes it hard for residents to understand
Piripi Taylor (Māori TV): Te Kotahi a Tāmaki explore social procurement opportunities for marae
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Porirua city’s credit card: The Wellington council that will keep borrowing until 2022
Virginia Fallon (Stuff): Porirua City Council spends millions to buy leaky townhouses
Felix Desmarais (Stuff): Generation Z leaders agitate for change through youth council
RNZ: Wellington Central Library’s rare book collection gets new home
Tim Miller (ODT): Council set to debate climate emergency declaration
Housing
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Twyford and Goff to skip KiwiBuild Summit
Susan St John (Daily Blog): Housing is a mess. Stop messing with the solutions
Cherie Sivignon (Stuff): War veteran, 89, urges Tasman District Council to keep pensioner cottages
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): Goodbye ‘McMansions’, hello compact living: What life in New Zealand could be like in 2039
1News: Around 150,000 rental homes won’t be insulated by deadline, officials believe
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Here’s what you can do about your cold rental
Dan Satherley (Newshub): The trick that could save you paying your landlord hundreds of dollars
Rebecca Stevenson (Stuff): Let’s lay it out: no landlord is really getting professional carpet cleaning every year
Mary-Jo Tohill (Southland Times): Bank offers new mortgage package for prebuilt homes
Carmen Hall (Bay of Plenty Times): Waiting for a house: Father protests by living in a tent on Mount Maunganui’s Arataki Reserve (paywalled)
Christchurch mosque attacks
Laura Walters (Newsroom): 51 deaths to secure funding boost for ethnic communities
Jason Walls (Herald): Government responds to some of the concerns of March 15 mosques terror attacks victims
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Victims tell US newspaper the New Zealand Government is falling short
1News: Memorial held to honour four victims of Christchurch terrorist attack
Donna-Marie Lever (1News): Counselling for front-line Christchurch responders could continue into 2020
Health and disability
RNZ: Call for Royal Commission of inquiry over Pharmac model
Damian Rowe and Evan Harding (Southland Times): Southern District Health Board fails to meet national cancer treatment target
Boris Jancic (Herald): ‘He doesn’t speak for me’: Cancer patients hit back at Shane Jones (paywalled)
RNZ: GPs ‘left in dark’ over bowel cancer test results
Herald: Patients at ‘unnecessary risk of death’ from bowel cancer test process
Mike Houlahan (ODT): ‘Alarming’ slide in southern cervical screening rate
MItchell Alexander (Newshub): Exclusive: Pressure mounting to fund sanitary products in schools and universities
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Man who had ‘unnecessary’ surgery after melanoma misdiagnosis wants system to change
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Epilepsy medicine worry
Hamish McLean (ODT): 22 resign in wake of hospital restructure plan
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Publicly funded fertility treatment in NZ a postcode lottery
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Unexplained infertility: Long wait for funded IVF in NZ creates ‘dilemma’ for couples
Michelle Duff (Stuff): Most mums want to breastfeed. It’s easier if they can afford it
Māori TV: One dead and hundreds hospitalised with influenza in Tauranga
Jake Kenny (Stuff): Old and lonely: Inevitable or avoidable?
Abby Nunn (Stuff): Working group set up to help Nelson’s deaf community following ‘crisis meeting’
Oliver Gaskell (Newsroom): Mental health in the workplace – the last frontier
Southern maternity services
Tracey Roxburgh (ODT): ‘Lives at risk’ after car park birth
1News: Baby’s birth in carpark of Lumsden maternity hub sparks MP’s call for Ardern to ‘urgently intervene’
RNZ: Checkpoint: Southern DHB playing ‘Russian roulette’ with lives – midwife
Jo McKenzie-McLean (Stuff): Babies born around dead mice and droppings in Lumsden hub
Emma Cropper (Newshub): Giving birth in a car park – a far from ideal way for Southland babies to enter the world
Environment and conservation
Stuff: Climate Change action: How NZ’s ‘insufficient’ targets stack up against other countries
Gerald Piddock (Waikato Times) Ten per cent fewer cows will see 2030 emission reduction targets met
Stuff: Canterbury water could be ‘undrinkable’ in 100 years because of nitrates
RNZ: NIWA scientist defends linking dolphin deaths to cats
Pat Baskett (Newsroom): Some urgent truths about methane
Jamie Morton (Herald): How climate change is driving bigger NZ deluges (paywalled)
Matthew Littlewood (Timaru Herald): Still gaps in planning processes for Mackenzie Basin, report says
Lee Kenny (Stuff): ‘Consumers’ lazy attitudes’ means two thirds of recycling in central Christchurch goes to landfill
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Junk mail and windscreen wiper fliers could soon be regulated in Wellington
Kate Nicol-Williams (1News): NZ will fall behind unless archaic gene editing law is updated, scientists say
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): ‘Trapping just doesn’t cut it’: Native species under threat as rat population explodes
Tara Shaskey (Taranaki Daily News): Nationwide protest training kicks off in ‘the heart of the oil fight’
Will Harvie (Stuff): PM’s chief science adviser urges ‘overarching umbrella’ for Antarctic science sector
Greg Bruce (Herald): Jane Goodall: World renowned conservationist on hope, action and the need for photos (paywalled)
Primary industries
Rod Oram (Newsroom): Ireland goes where NZ fears to tread
Gia Garrick (1News): Farmers concerned that international foresters are taking the best land
Jamie Gray (Herald): Discontent ‘smoulders’ in NZ regions as pastoral land goes to forestry – REINZ
Andre Chumko (Stuff): Slash and burn in Tolaga Bay
Jason Walls (Herald): The Government once offered Westland a $10m loan but news of bonuses makes NZ First turn on the dairy co-op
Eric Frykberg (RNZ): Westland Milk Products shareholder sits on the sidelines during sale vote
Fisheries
George Block (ODT): Fishing for the truth
RNZ: Salmon ‘crisis’ causes catch limit to be halved in Canterbury rivers
Foulden Maar
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Fossil-mining company broke with millions in the bank
Simon Hartley (ODT): Plaman cash in law firm’s trust account
Simon Hartley (ODT): Spotlight on Plaman Resources
Insurance
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): New Zealanders unconvinced insurers have their interests at heart, Consumer NZ study shows
Herald: Insurance market not working for consumers says watchdog
RNZ: Most consumers don’t trust insurers to give them good advice – research
Earthquakes, EQC
Michael Hayward (Stuff): Threats to kill among dozens of hostile acts against Earthquake Commission staff
Alice Angeloni (Stuff): Dealing with insurers and EQC worse than earthquake
Juliet Speedy (Newshub): Christchurch couple discovers fault in house’s earthquake repairs, may reflect wider issue
Immigration, refugees
RNZ: More than 100 Chinese asylum seekers last year applied to NZ – UNHCR report
Lincoln Tan (Herald): NZ Government failing in anti-trafficking duties: US State Department annual report
Phillipa Tolley (RNZ): The Pacific Ballot – Ticket to a new life
Bruce Munro (ODT: A world without welcome
Stuff: World Refugee Day: Auckland aid worker living in world’s largest refugee camp shares how NZers can help
Tax, IRD
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): NZ talk of taxing digital giants smart if it’s a negotiating tactic, OECD tax boss suggests
Andrea Black: Taxing multinationals (3) – Digital Services Tax
Luke Appleby (1News): IRD error where babies were sent income tax letters cost taxpayers more than $80k, wasted half a tonne of paper
Martin Hawes (Interest): Two specific things needed to help sort out the PIR tax problem that now bedevils so many KiwiSaver members
Transport
Ben Strang (RNZ): New road safety strategy to focus on reducing deaths and injuries
1News: NZ roads said to be one of the country’s biggest issues for drivers – survey
Todd Niall (Stuff): The hidden price of the public transport Auckland want
John-Michael Swannix (Newshub): Why is Government dragging its wheels on electric cars?
RNZ: Public transport becoming a more popular option in Wellington
Todd Niall and Caroline Williams (Stuff): Auckland public transport booms in popularity with region’s first fare-free day
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Free ferries prove popular in Devonport during AT’s free fare day
Michael Hayward (Stuff): Bus lane on year-old Christchurch road rebuild falling apart
Christine Rose (Daily Blog): Auckland, transport, cycling gentrification and class bias
Joanne Harrison
RNZ: Politicians warned to scale back criticism of judges
Catherine Strong and Fran Taylor (Stuff): Suppression orders like Joanne Harrison’s are outdated and endanger future victims
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Fraudster Joanne Harrison changed home ownership as fraud came to light
Civil Aviation Authority
Michael Morrah (Newshub): ‘Secrecy and cover-up’: Explosive allegations from within the Civil Aviation Authority
Grant Bradley (Herald): Aviation leader to the CAA: ‘Let’s focus on the issues that are killing people’
The Lines Company
Mihingarangi Forbes (Newshub): The Hui: ‘We made a mistake’: TLC chief executive apologises for refusing to connect power for five months
Billie Jo Ropiha (Newshub): Forced to live without power over deceased grandmother’s debt
Corrections
Gia Garrick (1News): Minister of Corrections keen to make volunteer work inside prisons easier
George Block (ODT): Staff at prison disciplined
Emergency Services
RNZ: GPS improvement: Funding will allow pinpoint accuracy
Lisette Reymer (Newshub): Government announces $2 million investment in life-saving GPS technology for emergency services
1News: ‘This will save lives’ – Government announce $2 million investment into GPS technology
RNZ: Safety measures ensure firefighters can again pressure test fire hoses
Media
RNZ: The Detail: Paying for online news
Daniela Maoate-Cox (RNZ): Access to MPs crucial for democracy – Pacific Journalists
Thomas Coughlan and Laura Walters (Newsroom): Chinese NZ Herald retracts misleading article
Judith Collins
Tracy Neal (RNZ): Judith Collins takes legal action over damage to her rental home
Sam Farrell (Newshub): Judith Collins suing Nelson couple over landslip which damaged her rental home
Herald: Judith Collins sues couple, council over Nelson landslip
Neve’s first birthday
Michelle Duff (Stuff): The important legacy of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern having a baby while in office
1News: ‘Happy birthday, Neve!’ PM Jacinda Ardern’s daughter turns one today
Stuff: It’s Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford’s first birthday
Zane Small (Newshub): New Zealand’s First Baby Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford celebrates first birthday
Herald: Jacinda Ardern reveals cake she baked for Neve
Stuff: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has baked a cake for baby Neve
1News: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern shows off cake-baking skills for daughter Neve’s first birthday
Cherie Howie (Herald): Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford’s birth-day bonanza: Gifts from around the globe sent to first baby of New Zealand
1News: Clarke Gayford reveals ‘amazing gift’ from Neve’s royal birthday twin
Herald: Clarke Gayford reveals Neve’s special birthday gift from Prince William
RNZ: Prince William sends special gift to Neve Te Aroha on first birthday
Other
Chris Trotter: Biculturalism Is A Lie
John Armstrong (1News): ACT ‘seriously out of sync with New Zealand’s political culture’
Phil Quin (Stuff): Here’s my beef with the entitled and pampered fat cats
Jared Savage (Herald): Colin Craig defamation case: ‘Hard for Jordan Williams’ lawyer to say no’ to colleague’s sailing holiday with Supreme Court judge (paywalled)
Finlay Macdondald (Stuff): Is there a problem with Mark Richardson’s transition into politics?
Don Rowe (Spinoff): TAB on-track for huge world cup earnings
Lorna Thornber (Stuff): New Zealand’s ‘economic migrants’ say life is better abroad
Bethany Reitsma (Stuff): Girl who played in Hawke’s Bay rugby tournament last year asks ‘what’s changed?’
Rob Stock (Stuff): Young Pacific people struggle under debts incurred to help family
Kate Lyons (Guardian): The new drug highway: Pacific islands at centre of cocaine trafficking boom
Point of Order: Here’s a Labour election promise that may be gathering dust (but we hope not) somewhere down in the archives
Taroi Black (Māori TV): A battle over iwi mandate continues
Liz Beddoe (Newsroom): Abortion law reform. We’re still waiting ….
Martin van Beynen (Stuff): NZ police thwarted from bringing back alleged killers who flee the country
Zane Small (Newshub): Winston Peters rejects Paula Bennett’s claim National halved meth use
Bill Ralston (Listener): Why Mike Hosking is wrong about cannabis
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): Key on the NZ flag: ‘I’d just change it’
Talisa Kupenga (Stuff): Te Puni Kōkiri CEO fronts for select committee for last time
John Minto (Daily Blog): Israeli ambassador should apologise to New Zealand over refugee spending
Alice Peacock (Herald): Rise of the side gig: The millennials on a quest for meaning and extra money outside of their day job
Alison Mau (Stuff): The ‘token woman’ approach to our boardrooms doesn’t cut it
Kirsty Wynn (Herald): New safe sex HIV campaign billboard sure to ‘ruffle feathers’
Richard Wagstaff (The Standard): Results matter
RNZ: Treaty of Waitangi proclamation of sovereignty to be auctioned
Grant Shimmin (Timaru Herald): There’s nothing to stop us using our speech to drown out the bigotry
