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
Cabinet reshuffle
Audrey Young (Herald): Jacinda Ardern shows ruthless streak in Cabinet reshuffle (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff): KiwiBuild: Can Megan Woods do what Phil Twyford could not?
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Housing job split despite Bill to combine them
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Housing crisis history repeats as Ardern breaks up the housing job
Jane Patterson (RNZ): New housing team eases Phil Twyford’s indignity
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): The one thing that Jacinda Ardern and John Key have in common
Stacey Kirk (Stuff): Phil Twyford in Jacinda Ardern’s sights as first reshuffle squarely lands on Kiwibuild failure
1News: Jacinda Ardern’s housing reshuffle an admission KiwiBuild is a ‘nightmare’ – Jessica Mutch McKay
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Twyford main victim of PM’s ministerial ‘reset’
Richard Harman (Politik): Ardern: reading between her lines on Twyford
Ashley Church (Herald): More ministers won’t fix KiwiBuild
David Farrar: The yawn Cabinet reshuffle
Jo Moir (RNZ): Judith Collins says demotion shows KiwiBuild a failure, offers olive branch
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Cabinet reshuffle: Judith Collins ‘feels sorry’ for Phil Twyford
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Cabinet reshuffle – the ups and downs
RNZ: Winners and losers – PM reveals first substantive Cabinet reshuffle
Herald: From state housing to housing minister: Kris Faafoi moves into Cabinet
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Kris Faafoi’s rise through Labour’s ranks well-deserved
Paul Gorman (Stuff): New Housing Minister Megan Woods building her Cabinet credentials
RNZ: David Cunliffe says Megan Woods will be effective housing leader
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern’s Cabinet reshuffle: Phil Twyford’s Housing portfolio split into three
Anna Whyte (1News): Megan Woods becomes new Housing Minister, Kris Faafoi elevated in Ardern’s Cabinet reshuffle
Henry Cooke (Stuff): PM takes housing off Phil Twyford in first major reshuffle
Jason Walls (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has stripped Phil Twyford of his Housing portfolio
Jason Walls (Herald): PM’s reshuffle – Kris Faafoi promoted, Megan Woods to lead KiwiBuild ‘reset’
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Twyford loses housing, but stays part of ‘team’ of housing ministers
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest) Twyford’s housing duties to be divvied up
—————
Newshub: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Cabinet reshuffle limited by lack of talent in caucus – Tova O’Brien
Treasury, budget leak
Audrey Young (Herald): A case of good faith butt-covering by the head of Treasury (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Makhlouf falls short – so why the shortage of SSC action?
Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): Treasury boss says his integrity was not questioned; his boss says his reputation is damaged
Derek Cheng (Herald): Gabriel Makhlouf responds: ‘My honesty and integrity are not in question’
Herald: Outgoing Treasury boss Gabriel Makhlouf says sorry for Budget bungle
Zane Small (Newshub): Gabriel Makhlouf ‘apologises’ over Budget 2019 Treasury leak saga
RNZ: Makhlouf apologises over security of Budget information
Derek Cheng (Herald): Paula Bennett: Treasury boss Makhlouf ‘incompetent’ and should apologise
Richard Harman (Politik): What the Makhlouf report says
Brent Edwards (NBR): Report finds Treasury secretary acted in good faith but not reasonably (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (1News): Investigation finds Treasury Secretary’s handling of Budget saga a ‘clumsy response to a serious issue’
Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): Outgoing Treasury boss slammed for blaming others for early release of Budget material
Derek Cheng (Herald): Treasury boss Gabriel Makhlouf’s actions not reasonable over Budget ‘hack’ – SCC report
RNZ: Budget breach report: Treasury head ‘clumsy’ and unreasonable
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): The verdict on Makhlouf: ‘Not a sackable offence’
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Makhlouf’s hack claims ‘unreasonable’ – SSC
Zane Small and Mitchell Alexander (Newshub): State Services Commissioner slams Gabriel Makhlouf’s ‘clumsy response’ to Budget ‘leak’
Michael Reddell: The SSC on Makhlouf
David Farrar: State Services Commissioners damning comments on Makhlouf
Eric Crampton: Treasury Episode IV: A New Hope
No Right Turn: An unreasonable arse-coverer
Public service reform
Gordon Campbell: On the ways the public is being left unprotected by the public service reforms
Richard Harman (Politik): The bit that was missing from the Wellbeing Budget
Environment, conservation , DOC
Charlie Mitchell (Stuff): Greenhouse gas emissions have barely budged in a decade, new data shows
Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): Stats paint picture of the country we’re killing
Mark Quinlivan (Stuff): Greenhouse gases increased more than 19 percent between 2007 and 2017 – Stats NZ
RNZ: Cars drive New Zealand household emissions 20% up in 10 years
Jamie Morton (Herald): Expert: Why can’t NZ do climate action like it does cricket?
No Right Turn: Climate Change: Ignoring the real problem
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Freshwater quality the country’s most identified environmental issue
Newshub: ‘We’re all in this together’: Farming group responds to greenhouse gas emissions report
Brent Edwards (NBR): Todd Muller & James Shaw: Climate change: crisis, what crisis? (paywalled)
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Fossil miner’s skink cash
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Please miss, can you teach us about climate change?
Charlotte Cook (RNZ): Plastic bag ban: ‘People know we have to change’
Jono Galuszka (Manawatū Standard): Environmentalists want ministerial intervention in One Plan changes
Laurel Stowell (Whanganui Chronicle): Environment groups want Horizons plan change ‘called in’ by Government (paywalled)
RNZ: Cape Kidnappers: DOC admits to ‘significant failures’ in assessing risk
1News: ‘Failures at multiple levels’ in DOC before Cape Kidnappers track slip seriously injured hikers
Jono Edwards (ODT): Climate emergency call to ORC
ODT: QLDC declares climate emergency
Laine Moger (Dominion Post): Climate emergency declared by Hutt City Council
RNZ: Soft plastic recycling in gradual return to Auckland
1News: Witnessing the beginnings of a fatberg in Wellington’s increasingly clogged sewers
Euthanasia
Graham Adams (Noted): David Seymour’s euthanasia win will have opponents scrambling
Press: Life and death are up for debate
1News: Euthanasia campaigner Lesley Martin has concerns about End of Life Bill, calls for more rigorous process
1News: Kiwi woman with rare connective tissue disorder speaks about the grey area of euthanasia eligibility
Boris Jancic (Herald): Parliament blessed as numbers crunched on euthanasia bill
Herald: Not going away: Euthanasia opponents vow to keep fighting
Stuff: MPs get emotional at the End of Life Choice Bill’s second reading
David Farrar: 70 to 50
No Right Turn: End of life choice advances
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The main issue about Euthanasia that its cheerleaders point blank refuse to engage in
Housing
Peter Lyons (ODT): Rising housing debt result of our refusal to face truth
Kirsty Johnston (Herald): KiwiBuild: Less than half of houses sold as Housing Minister Phil Twyford’s future on line in Cabinet reshuffle (paywalled)
Deena Coster (Stuff): First phase of New Plymouth KiwiBuild homes to be constructed by end of 2019
Hayley Jacobsen and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Tenants shouldn’t be afraid to dob in landlords with uninsulated homes – Property Investors Federation
Cira Olivier (Rotorua Daily Post): ‘Homelessness screws with your head’ – Rotorua’s homeless suspected suicides highest in 10 years (paywalled)
Banks
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Reserve Bank warns banks expectations are increasing
Rob Stock (Stuff): Do senior executives caught doing wrong get treated the same as junior employees?
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Kiwibank’s low rate card puts pressure on other banks
Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): Banks could face $23b safety bill
Joshua Hitchcock (Spinoff): From Kiwibank to iwi bank: the argument for a Māori-owned bank
National Party
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Christopher Luxon crashes on takeoff (paywalled)
Listener Editorial: Christopher Luxon’s success shouldn’t hinder his political prospects
1News: Shane Jones leaves Paula Bennett, Breakfast crew baffled after saying Judith Collins is ‘lurking in the corner’
Brent Edwards (NBR): Political career comes at a cost (paywalled)
Transport
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Hiring troubleshooters has cost the Transport Agency almost $2.2m
Deena Coster (Stuff): Transport heavyweight adds voice to growing calls for roadside drug testing
Simon Wilson (Herald): On the convenience of cars (paywalled)
Michael Cropp (RNZ): Wellington bus network troubles blamed on city’s challenges
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Driver shortages and city council’s moves on bus priority blamed for Wellington network problems
Mandy Te (Stuff): E-scooter safety: Auckland Transport considers special training for bus drivers
Pike River
Sam Sherwood (Stuff): Second Pike River mine explosion data ‘not relevant’, police say
RNZ: Pike River Mine ‘black box’ data of no use – police
RNZ: Pike River: Police backed after emergence of key ‘black box’ data
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Pike River ‘black box’ data critical for investigation – electrical expert
Operation Burnham inquiry
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Formerly secret US military evidence of controversial SAS raid to be released
No Right Turn: What are they trying to hide?
Police
RNZ: Officer using excessive force in arrest said kids were getting ‘what they deserved’
1News: Cop trying to break up out-of-control Huntly party not justified in kneeing suspect
No Right Turn: The IPCA ignores torture
Toby Morris (Spinoff): The Side Eye: The receiving end
Justice, corrections
Anne Marie May (RNZ): Māori recidivism: Whānau to take greater role in government initiative
Deena Coster (Stuff): Offenders and victims waiting months for sentencing dates in busy NZ courts
George Block (ODT): Report finds OCF concerns
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Otago prison criticised for use of pepper spray, CCTV monitoring of toilets
Rob Kidd (ODT): Detention address metres from school
Education
ODT Editorial: Teachers and pay claims merits
Brianna McIlraith (Stuff): Global interest shown for New Zealand’s first Green School as construction begins
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Former students praise Christ’s College’s ‘incredible’ support of transitioning senior
George Heagney (Stuff): Wahine student numbers up in UCOL trades training
Richard Davison (ODT): Still no certainty over future of Telford
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Auckland Women’s Centre calls on universities to hire only female academics
Maria Folau, Israel Folau
Stuff: Maria Folau is being bullied by sponsors – former Human Rights Commission head
Rosemary McLeod (Stuff): Israel Folau: A castaway from a galaxy far, far away
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Like it or not, Israel Folau has support
Herald: ‘Back the heck right off’: Hannah Tamaki applauds Maria Folau, asks for attacks to stop
Mosque shootings
David Williams (Newsroom): Attack donation tensions boil to the surface
Katie Fitzgerald, Heather McCarron and Emily O’Connell (Newshub): New charity to distribute $6 million to mosque attack victims
RNZ: Donations to Christchurch Foundation almost double to $10m
RNZ: Watch: Victim Support announces final mosque attacks donation
Herald: Public invited to submit on inquiry into Christchurch terror attacks, Victim Support reveals final payments
RNZ: Mosque shootings inquiry on lookout for public submissions
RNZ: Mosque attack widow struggling to keep parents in NZ for support
Media
RNZ: The Detail: How NZ media plan to report the news but block the propaganda
Pacific Media Centre: NZ: Herald paywall could turn readers to Stuff, warns AUT lecturer
Brent Edwards (NBR): Government indicates more money for public broadcasting (paywalled)
Kyle MacDonald (Herald): Dunedin woman suffering OCD and the line between curiosity and compassion (paywalled)
Local government
Evan Harding (Southland Times): Shadbolt and deputy mayor feud intensifies
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland waterfront foot bridge won’t be built before America’s Cup due to funding
Christina Persico (Taranaki Daily News): Five New Plymouth councillors not standing for reelection in October
Paul Gorman (Press): Former Christchurch mayor says goodbye to city council for second time
State care of children
Melanie Reid (Newsroom): QC questions legality of uplifts
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Support for fourth Oranga Tamariki inquiry led by Māori
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Oranga Tamariki accused of trying to ‘wean’ child off parents by slashing contact
Emily Keddell: ‘Don’t give them a reason’
Health
Laura Smith (ODT: PM replies to Lilly; petition on 100,000
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Academic: maternity downgrade flawed
Anna Leask (Herald): ACC botch mental-health claim, traumatised paramedic left to struggle for months (paywalled)
Katie Fitzgerald and Heather McCarron (Newshub): New Zealand urged to stop poaching other countries’ doctors
Ruby Macandrew (Stuff): Influenza outbreak hits Wellington schools with high absenteeism recorded
Hannah Martin and Danielle Clent (Stuff): Vaccine ignorance a ‘risk’: Auckland measles outbreak sparks warning to parents
Libby Wilson (Stuff): EDs under pressure: patient numbers up in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty
Mare Haimona-Riki (Māori TV): Antidepressants not a “silver bullet”
RNZ: Queer people twice as likely to report depression
Ruby Macandrew (Stuff): Grassroots group giving young Kiwis with dementia an alternative to rest home care
NAISA conference
Mare Haimona-Riki (Māori TV): Māori and First Nations students strengthen indigenous bonds
Kawe Roes (Māori TV): Indigenous conference brings the world to Waikato
Freedom camping
Todd Niall (Stuff): Government asked to curb freedom camping
Chloe Ranford (Stuff): Freedom camping bylaw to be reviewed for fourth time in Marlborough
Primary industries
Jono Edwards (ODT):Sixth sea lion dead in squid trawling nets
Maja Burry (RNZ): Lift in rural confidence thanks to improved sentiments among sheep and beef farmers
Other
Chris Trotter: That Seventies Show
Damien Venuto (Herald): Orange Guy gets new creative team for 2020 election (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Analysis: NZ politics compares well by international standards (paywalled)
RNZ: ‘Red flags’ raised about US ambassador to NZ during vetting – US media report
1News: Tokoroa anti-pokie activist says machines should come out of high deprivation areas
Lorna Thornber (Stuff): New Zealand has eleventh best reputation in the world, study says
Sophie Bateman (Newshub): New Zealand has the 11th best reputation in the world – study
David Farrar; Stats Sexuality data
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Forced marriage in NZ: Lack of statistics ‘disappointing’ after Government vowed action
Kerry Harvey (Stuff): Documentary filmed before Christchurch attack finds inequality in New Zealand
Scott Hamilton (Spinoff): New Zealand’s long and violent history of anti-Indian racism
Paul McBeth (BusinessDesk): Kris Faafoi seeks enduring iwi framework from 5G spectrum talks
Madison Reidy (RNZ): Outgoing Spark boss Simon Moutter: ‘Huawei technology is superior’
Jihee Junn (Spinoff): The frustrating complexity of the new R&D tax scheme
Danielle Clent (Stuff): Waitangi Treaty Grounds made NZ’s first National Historic Landmark
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Smaller players big winners in fight for power customers
Matthew Rosenberg (Stuff): Auckland’s bare food bank shelves leave groups crying out for support this winter
RNZ: Picton to Kaikōura ‘Whale Trail’ gets government funding
Christine Rovoi (RNZ): What’s in a name? Pacific scholars back Moana over Oceania
Nevil Gibson (NBR): Soaring tax revenues boost government surplus to $7b in May (paywalled)
RNZ: Cash windfall: Tax take almost $2b higher than forecast
RNZ: Wellington predicted to be economic powerhouse in new report
RNZ: Businesses more pessimistic about the future – ANZ
Hilary Calvert (ODT): Oxymorons and gibberish; plain English please
Catherine Groenestein (Taranaki Daily News): Taranaki Maori prisoners’ tale is told, 150 years after they were taken to Dunedin
Toby Morris (Spinoff): Watch: Two Sketches draws and chats with trans cartoonist Sam Orchard
RNZ: Eyewitness: the Sisters Overseas Service and the 1977 Abortion Act
Jessica Halliday (Press): An insight into the role good building design can play in our lives
