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
Primary and extractive Industries
Angie Skerrett (Newshub): ‘An alarming trend’: Call for ‘national interest test’ after Westland Milk deal to Chinese dairy giant
Andrea Fox (Herald): Confidence in dairy co-op business model shaken and stirred
Thomas Mead (1News): ‘Sad day for the West Coast’ – Farmers agree to sell 150-year-old dairy co-op to Chinese firm
Angie Skerrett (Newshub): ‘A sad day for the West Coast’: Westland Milk heads to Chinese ownership
Gerald Hutching (Stuff): Westland Milk shareholders vote 94 per cent in favour of sale to Yili
Joanne Carroll (Stuff): Sale of Westland Milk Products was ‘inevitable’
Greymouth Star: Overwhelming ‘yes’ for sale of Westland
Angie Skerrett (Newshub): Westland Milk sale given go-ahead by farmer shareholders
Herald: Westland dairy farmers vote yes for sale to China’s Yili
RNZ: Sale of Westland Milk Products approved by shareholders
Michael Morrah (Newshub): MPI Director General apologises to farmers for the way the Ministry handled M. bovis eradication
Sally Rae (ODT): Ngai Tahu Farming to pay $211K to company
Mike Hosking (Herald): Eugenie Sage’s muddy thinking on Waihi mine risks helping wreck economy
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): A rousing speech to a silent room
Cancer care
1News: Armed with the largest cancer petition in NZ history, oncologist calls for national cancer agency
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Labour is failing to deliver for cancer patients
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Cancer treatment in this country is a national shame
Health
Dan Satherley and Delphine Herbert (Newshub): Ex-Waikato DHB board member angry former CEO won’t be charged
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Serious Fraud Office faces criticism over Nigel Murray Waikato DHB no prosecution decision
Natalie Akoorie (Herald): SFO closes investigation into former Waikato DHB boss Dr Nigel Murray
RNZ: SFO probe into DHB head Nigel Murray ends, criminal proceedings too costly
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Former Waikato DHB boss Nigel Murray won’t face criminal charges
1News: Serious Fraud Office closes investigation of ex-Waikato DHB boss Nigel Murray
Stuff: No criminal charges for former Waikato DHB boss Nigel Murray
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Nicholas Jones (Herald): Exclusive: Kiwi war on superbugs downsized (paywalled)
Michael Gousmett (Stuff): Capital charge makes it hard for DHBs to do their job
Jo McKenzie (Stuff): Grieving husband calls for Otago hospital to address surgeon shortage
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Deal done on how to assess whether DHBs owe staff millions
Brittany Keogh and Hannah Martin (Stuff): Call for compulsory vaccinations, as NZ grapples with measles outbreak
1News: Health officials urge flu sufferers to stay home as influenza hits Christchurch hard
Donna Chisholm (Listener): Busting fat myths: How new research will revolutionise Māori and Pacific health
Albert Redmore (Newshub): How much sugar is really in our food?
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Treatment of hospital staff ‘appalling’
Mike Houlahan (ODT): SDHB ordered to pay cardiac sonographer $120k in backpay
Elena McPhee (ODT): GP and academic hails rural health bus idea
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Inquiry head glad, but wary
Herald: Suicide-hit families feel left out of Government prevention plan
Daisy Hudson (Mountain Scene): Mental health cry for help
Environment
Kate Gudsell (RNZ): West Coast councils want to be excluded from conservation mining ban
Eloise Gibson (Newsroom): Lighter farm methane target about equity, not science: report
James Young-Drew (Stuff): Zero Carbon Bill: Why the next decade is crucial for a safe climate
Gareth Shute (Spinoff): Seven excuses for ignoring climate change, debunked
Victoria University of Wellington: From pets to burgers – behind our eco-footprints
No Right Turn: Why Parliament hasn’t declared a climate emergency
Michael Reddell: Emissions and immigration policy
The Standard: Southland and Thames think they don’t have climate crises
Kaitlin Ruddock (1News): Red-robed, ghostly faced activists demand action on climate change from Tasman decision-makers
Damian Carrington (Guardian): Tree planting ‘has mind-blowing potential’ to tackle climate crisis
Lindsay Wood (Nelson Mail): “We can do this!” – the power of many
Verity Johnson (Stuff): I just couldn’t be a feminist if I didn’t have a KeepCup
Ben Goodale (Herald): Thumbs up for BP. It’s great at marketing and, greenwashing
Harry Lock (RNZ): Air NZ’s reason for dumping newspapers questioned
1News: Publisher hits back after Air NZ cans Koru Lounge newspapers for ‘sustainability’ reasons
RNZ: Kauri dieback: Need for better cleaning stations for Waiheke visitors
Herald: ‘Border controls needed at Auckland ferry terminals to stop kauri dieback’
RNZ: Lake Wanaka weeds targeted by government’s $7.5m Land Informationweed biosecurity fund
Alexia Johnston (ODT): Linz funding to control lake weed to double to $2m
Joanne Carroll (Stuff): 81-year-old volunteers for Fox River rubbish clean-up
RNZ: Rāhui placed on Lake Taupō after sewage spill
Alice Angeloni (Stuff): Blenheim hosts sustainability hui as part of top of south strategy
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Plastic free July: Is ‘compostable’ packaging any better?
Michael Neilson (Herald): Plastic bag ban: Sandringham Indian takeaway shop Paradise makes change to paper bags amid strong reaction
Annabelle Tukia (Newshub): Carrots laced with K5 strain of Calicivirus to be used as bait for Christchurch’s significant rabbit population
Liz Gordon (Daily Blog): A one-child policy worldwide now
Productivity Commission report into local government funding and financing
Brian Fallow (Herald): Keeping the council coffers full (paywalled)
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): Small councils ‘not coping’ with climate change, call for more Government help
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Councils will struggle to pay for climate adaptation – report
RNZ: Local govt needs climate change help – Productivity Commission review
Boris Jancic (Herald): Let them tax beds: Productivity Commission calls for help for councils
RNZ: Bed tax would put Kiwis out of pocket, says tourism body
Guy Williams (ODT): Q’town bed tax: ‘NZ doesn’t need new taxes
Local Government
Simon Wilson (Herald): The good – and the bad – of John Tamihere (paywalled)
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Goff and Tamihere Are Both Wrong. (But Bernard Hickey Is Right On The Money.)
John Minto (Daily Blog): John Tamihere and water – flaky opportunism
Simon Collins (Herald): Man lay dead for days in Auckland Council flat: probe launched (paywalled)
Ollie Rusden (Spinoff): Dude, where’s my kauri? The pitched battle over Titirangi trees
Michael Neilson (Herald): Bermageddon 2: Residents hit back over Auckland Council parking ban proposal as ‘impractical’ for narrow streets
RNZ: Council parking fine plan opens a can of berms
Sophie Bateman (Newshub): Auckland drivers could be fined for parking on berms – even on streets with no warning signs
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): John Tamihere lashes out at Phil Goff, Auckland Transport over berm parking
Felix Desmarais (Dominion Post): Big picture ideas for Wellington at ‘Creating Tomorrow’ forum
Rikihana Smallman (Waikato Times): Hamilton mayor Andrew King wants free public transport for all city residents
Taroi Black (Māori TV): Koro struggles to make ends meet
Public Service
Brian Easton (Pundit): Doubts and Hopes About The Treasury
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Government by the bureaucrats (paywalled)
Gun buyback scheme
RNZ: Details of gun buyback scheme revealed
Derek Cheng (Herald): Thousands of firearms to be handed in for no compensation
Māori TV: How will collection events operate during guns buy-back process?
National Party
Peter Dunne: It is time for National to rule out New Zealand First altogether
Zane Small (Newshub): ‘Draw the line’: National urged to stop ‘courting’ New Zealand First
Banks
Peter Cullen (Stuff): Public outrage at Hisco saga reflects frustration with ‘fat cats’
ODT Editorial: Protecting bank deposits
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Why is NZ’s head in the sand on financial fails? (paywalled)
Michael Reddell: Reserve Bank still spinning
Housing
Jordan Bond (RNZ): Rotorua man’s mortgage shelters hundreds of homeless
Lindy Laird (Herald): Salvation Army terminates family’s emergency housing contract
Julie Iles (Stuff): Wellington rent rises outstripping wages and it’s tipped to get worse
Elise Badger (Spinoff): In defence of co-living
Liz McDonald (Stuff): Inner neighbourhood residents hope law changes could ease intensive development
Daniel Brunskill (Herald): Rental property inspections too frequent, say landlords
Welfare
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): People queue from 2am outside Work and Income for help
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Welfare system needs to change how it defines relationships – report
Child Poverty Action Group: New report reflects outdated and damaging Welfare relationship rules
Education
RNZ: Kindergarten teachers seek pay rises to keep up with school teacher pay
Jessica Long and Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Parents of college facing closure say they will research options to buy the school
Giles Dexter (Newshub): Parents, students distraught after Porirua’s Samuel Marsden School announces closure
ISO: Teachers’ Strikes: a win, and the coming challenge
Simon Collins (Herald): Primary school principals confirm six-week ban on working with Ministry of Education
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Principals vote to stop working with the Ministry of Education until August
RNZ: Principals to boycott work with Education Ministry for six weeks
Katy Jones (Stuff): Donations rule ‘grossly unfair’, biggest top of south school says
Colin Harvey (Herald): Crown Research Institutes are dragging our universities down (paywalled)
Transport, roading
Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): Inside NZTA’s terrible year
Damian George (Stuff): Wellington rail meltdown would have been averted if planned contingency was in place
Tom Hunt (Dominion Post ): The 55-year-old wagon that
Katarina Willams (Dominion Post): Government could ask cyclists to share bike lanes with e-scooters
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Police ‘shocked’ by 75 motorists caught using cell phones while driving in two-hour period
1News: Seventy-five drivers caught using cellphones at one intersection in two hours
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Milestone for Auckland’s $4.4 billion City Rail Link is no silver lining for affected businesses
Virginia Fallon (Stuff): ‘Significant find’ of human remains unearthed by new Kāpiti Coast expressway
Oranga Marae
1News: Marae around Aotearoa get $12 million Government funding boost for their work during emergencies
Talisa Kupenga (Māori TV): Govt invests additional $12m into Oranga Marae
Stuff: $12m to make marae disaster-ready
Justice, corrections
Anna Leaks (Herald): Strangled, suffocated, beaten: New family violence laws lead to thousands of arrests
David Clarkson (Stuff): Judge calls convicted murderer a ‘coward’ for bashing prison officer
John Weekes (Stuff): Dishonesty allegations over Māori Prison Support Services debts
Free speech
Muriel Newman (NZCPR): Muzzling Free Expression
Richard Dawson (ODT): Words: taking Jesus’ lead
Employment
1News: Kiwi employers need to do more to keep older people in workforce – research
Georgina Oldfield (Stuff): Three Farmers staff picket for Living Wage in Invercargill
Sevu Reece selection
Hamish Bidwell (RNZ): Sevu Reece’s All Blacks selection deplorable
Ben Francis (Newshub): All Blacks coach Steven Hansen defends Sevu Reece selection
Patrick McKendry (Herald): All Blacks coach Steve Hansen says Sevu Reece deserves chance to better himself
Other
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Why businesses have lost confidence in the New Zealand economy
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Oranga Tamariki staff harmed children in care, documents reveal
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): Into the light: New Zealand’s cannabis growers gear up for referendum
1News: Government should hold Google to account over Grace Millane name suppression breach – law expert
Teresa Cowie (RNZ): Left to perish: Lack of support for Coastguard a ‘national disgrace’
Gordon Campbell: On the usual grumbling over screen subsidies
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Former prisoner takes on China’s ‘so-called’ justice system
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Training organisations call truce to make construction industry safer
Zane Small (Newshub): Poto Williams: The new minister with a new $200k+ salary
Te Kuru o te Marama Dewes (Māori TV): Endeavour replica reveals racism
Amy Maas (Stuff): Foster parents battle minister for more day-to-day rights
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): So what could a Kiwi utopia look like today?
RNZ: Homeowners could sue lawyers over faulty post quake Christchurch homes, expert says
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Mum trapped in ‘black hole of debt’ after taking out loan with 365 per cent interest rate
Matthew Theunissen (RNZ): Antiques store selling Nazi replicas upsets west Aucklanders
Derek Cheng (Herald): ‘We are all in this canoe together’ – Mfat to Red Cross on search for Kiwi nurse
Laurel Stowell (Whanganui Chronicle): How Whanganui region voted and what they think about the End of Life Choice Bill (paywalled)
Simon Draper (Stuff): Businesses wanting to export to Asia should not assume politics won’t interfere with trade
Janine Starks (Stuff): Can your KiwiSaver provider get your money out?
Kirk Hope (Stuff): Taxing Google is a bad idea for New Zealand
RNZ: The Detail: Why businesses are lining up for the tick
