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

Cancer care
Newshub: Expert slams successive Governments’ approach to cancer
Stacey Kirk (Stuff): Government promises to cancer patients could come back to bite as politics takes over
RNZ: Terminally ill father garners 130k signatures for cancer reform
Laura Smith (ODT): ‘Massive support’ as petition closes
Duncan Garner (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern should apologise for the health system failing all of us
Elspeth McLean (ODT): Fear review was punitive exercise
Amy Wiggins (Herald): ‘Miracle drug’ Keytruda approved for use earlier in melanoma treatment

Funded Family Care
Albert Redmore (Newshub): Concerns remain over new disability funding
Derek Cheng (Herald): Family carers for disabled welcome Govt changes to Funded Family Care
Jono Edwards (ODT): Fair pay for carers welcomed, but questions remain
Emma Russell (Herald): Looming crisis: Nearly 500,000 unpaid carers and a rapid ageing population (paywalled)
Derek Cheng (Herald): PM announces spouses will be paid for caring for ill or disabled loved ones
To Hunt and Felix Desmarais (Stuff): Caregiving parents and partners of disabled people to be paid – Govt
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Government announces major changes to family care policy
Kate Nicol-Williams (1News): Government announces changes to Funded Family Care policy
RNZ: Family carers to be paid fairer wage

Waikato DHB
Dave Macpherson (Daily Blog): Serious Fraud Office sends terrible message over former Waikato DHB CEO’s $200k ripoff
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Serious Fraud Office faces criticism over Nigel Murray Waikato DHB no prosecution decision
No Right Turn: What good is the SFO?
Natalie Akoorie (Herald): Review damning of Waikato DHB leadership, governance; highlights financial instability
Libby Wilson (Stuff): Unstable leadership, growing deficit and ‘change fatigue’: Waikato DHB critiqued in review

Poverty and inequality
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Struggle to put food on table in 20% of households with children – report
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Families surviving on less than $7 a meal: Auckland City Mission
Ella Prendergast and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Thousands feeding their families on only $20 a day – report
1News: ‘New Zealand is in the grip of a hunger crisis’ – thousands of Aucklanders struggling to afford basic needs
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Thousands of Aucklanders living in food poverty – City Mission

Health
Ella Prendergast (Newshub): Charities shouldn’t have to provide basic healthcare – advocate
Danielle Clent (Stuff): The Salvation Army sets up free Auckland health clinic for those struggling during winter
RNZ: Salvation Army to trial free GP clinic in west Auckland
Laura Tupou (Newshub): The Salvation Army offers free GP clinics at West Auckland centre to make healthcare accessible for clients
Newshub: The Hui: How can we fix the health system for Māori?
John Boynton (Newshub): Poor treatment of gout crippling Māori communities
Paul Hobbs (1News): Victim of brutal rape blames DHB for failing to care for her attacker
Janet McIntyre (Stuff): Rape survivor says health system failed her and mentally ill attacker
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Obese patients stuck in hospital because nowhere suitable for discharge
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Senior clinicians tell Hawke’s Bay DHB they fear for safety of patients due to pressure and under-investment
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Signs of recruiting progress
Stephanie Ockhuysen (Stuff): Taranaki District Health Board $19.55 million in the red
RNZ: Palmerston North Hospital struggles with influx
Luisa Girao (ODT): Petition started to reinstate home-care services for elderly
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Counties Manukau DHB offering parents petrol vouchers and nappies in return for vaccinating children
RNZ: Flu vaccine: Thousands more doses available from mid-July
1News: Thousands more doses of the flu jab are on the way
Jared McCulloch and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Not enough vaccines ordered despite flu predictions – National
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): Debunking the myths and urban legends around vaccinations
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Men, women injured by surgical mesh get chance to share their pain
1News: Woman who suffered ‘dreadful pain’ after surgical mesh implant, welcomes restorative justice forums
RNZ: Surgical mesh sufferers should be compensated, campaigner says
John Gibb (ODT): ACC conciliation welcomed
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Eye services under pressure as new technology rolled out (paywalled)
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): College of Midwives elects first Māori president
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): Police search for missing Adam Tan, found dead in Auckland stream, ‘shows flaws’ in system
RNZ: Wellbeing of Pacific climate migrants to be studied
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): How does the cost of contraceptive pills in NZ compare to the rest of the world?

Trees and climate change
RNZ: One billion tree plan flawed, says climate scientist
RNZ: Sunday Morning: Dr. Jim Salinger: Billion Trees Programme ultimately flawed (audio)
Mark Maslin and Simon Lewis (The Conversation): Reforesting an area the size of the US needed to help avert climate breakdown, say researchers – are they right?
Seth Borenstein (Stuff): Planting a trillion trees declared best way to deal with climate change
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Kiwi charity at forefront of fight against climate change
Phil Smith (RNZ): The House: A call for ideas on climate catastrophe prevention

Week in politics
Peter Wilson (Stuff): Week in Politics: Parliament in recess but there’s plenty of action
Claire Trevett (Herald): Beehive Diaries: Claire Trevett’s highlights of the week in politics (paywalled)
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Ructions for health select committee

Parliament
John Armstrong (1News): Opinion: Report critiquing Government swept under the rug along with thoughts of the future
Newshub: Backstory: ‘Silence is how abuse continues’ – Marama Davidson on her painful past
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Kris Faafoi and Judith Collins reveal their pro-wrestling alter-egos

National Party
Claire Trevett (Herald): Will Paul Goldsmith have the Midas touch for National? (paywalled)
Richard Harman (Politik): National makes a right turn
Finn Hogan (Newshub): Paul Goldsmith says he isn’t ‘humiliated’ by Epsom deal
Jane Bowron (Stuff): Collins ready to step up for battle of the two queens

Education
Morgan Godfery (Spinoff): Elites always protect their own: inside the Kōhanga Reo saga
Simon Collins (Herald): School choice set to tighten as population squeezes school rolls
Simon Collins (Herald): Govt plans 61 new schools – but only one new one funded
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Government to build new schools and classrooms for 100,000 students
1News: $200m for new school, classrooms in Auckland
Zane Small and Edward O’Driscoll (Newshub): Multimillion-dollar boost for Auckland schools to counter population boom
Te Kuru o te Marama Dewes (Māori TV): Three Māori schools get new classrooms
1News: Principal working 70 hours per week warns Education Ministry, ‘the well of goodwill is dry’
Cira Olivier (Herald): Rotorua schools back campaign to eliminate period poverty
Simon Collins (Herald): Young international students bypass NZ
Felix Desmarais (Stuff): Victoria University of Wellington changing its name all but officially

Banks
Sam Stubbs (Stuff): The banks are roaring like cornered animals; we should let them
Liam Dann (Herald): Aussie bankers overplayed their hand with sell-off threat (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Stuff): Banks write a new ‘script’ following axing of staff sales targets
Bryan Bruce (Daily Blog): Civics & History should be compulsory in schools
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Gambling on the bank: New Zealand ‘behind’ on credit card restrictions (paywalled)

Housing
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: The crisis in public housing (paywalled)
Damien Grant (Stuff): Labour’s KiwiBuild plan failed because of decades of over regulation
Zane Small (Newshub): Bay of Plenty: KiwiBuild’s glimmer of hope?
Henry Cooke (Stuff):New insulation law sparks 40 Tenancy Tribunal complaints in first four days
RNZ: Dozens of insulation complaints in first week of law
Elena McPhee (ODT): Uninsulated rentals left
Jonathan Guildford (Stuff): Desperate people are living in garages and sleepouts – they’re putting their lives at risk
Herald: What it’s like living in a home with no insulation: Condensation, mould and large power bills
Greg Ninness (Interest): Renting households increasing at almost twice the rate of owner-occupied households
Libby Wilson (Stuff): Cancer sufferer given Housing NZ home after 10 months of living in caravans and motels
1News: Lack of rules around leaving flats ‘reasonably’ clean causes Tenancy Tribunal backlog – REINZ
Greg Ninness (Interest): Rents in Wellington are rising so strongly they are closing in on Auckland
Taroi Black (Māori TV): Kiwis banding together to give one koro hope
Carmen Hall (Bay of Plenty Times): Millions spent on emergency housing as Rotorua rents ‘skyrocket…it’s crazy’ (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Stuff): More than 5000 previous homeowners are tapping KiwiSaver to buy new homes each year

Transport
Phil Pennington (RNZ): NZTA chose American IT firm over cheaper NZ firms, documents reveal
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): We’re on a road to nowhere (paywalled)
Josie Pagani (Stuff): How can a broken train track and a building repair bring our cities to a halt?
Damian George (Stuff): Data on bus passengers may have contributed to problems with Wellington’s new bus network
RNZ: App developed for learner drivers to help pass restricted test

Euthanasia
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Plenty of MPs want legalised euthanasia, but how many are prepared to gamble on a referendum?
Samesh Mohanlall (Timaru Herald): End of life choice Bill to affect society’s vulnerable the most says hospice doctor
Leighton Smith (Herald): When should the law on euthanasia be broken? (paywalled)
Wyatt Creech (Pundit): The best way through to the end of life

Employment
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Should the Employment Relations Authority name bad bosses but hide the identity of exploited workers?
Stuff: Employers urged to comply with minimum employment standards

Local government
Tracy Neal (RNZ): Shane Jones says councils need to lift their game
Bernard Hickey (Newsroom): Beehive told to help councils out. A bit.
Dominion Post Editorial: Local councils at a crossroads as climate change looms
Felix Desmarais (Stuff): Firework bans and AirBnB registrations could be coming to your slice of NZ
Jonathan Mitchell (RNZ): Councils call on government to ban private fireworks
Helen Castles (1News): Northland Māori make push for greater representation in local government
Juliet Speedy (Newshub): Increased number of young candidates looking to stand in 2019 local body elections
Dan Satherley (Newshub): John Tamihere targets Jacinda Ardern in fight to win Auckland more cash
Dan Satherley (Newshub): John Tamihere’s plans for Watercare will cost Aucklanders $300 a year – Phil Goff
Simon Collins (Herald): Council flat death: Family of pensioner found dead calls for more care
Danielle Clent (Stuff): Pensioner ‘lay dead for days’ in Auckland Council flat despite residents’ pleas for welfare check
Albert Redmore (Newshub): Auckland Council investigating after pensioner’s body was found days after death
RNZ: Council investigation after man lay ‘dead for days’ in Auckland flat
Māni Dunlop (RNZ): Polarised views on boardwalk through tapu trees in Takapuna
Herald: Bermageddon: Auckland Council loses first round on bid to ban parking on berms
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Auckland Council loses first berm-parking ban battle
Kendall Hutt (Stuff): Auckland food waste collection service roll out delayed by a year
Martin Johnston (Herald): Horowhenua mayor’s pitch – form a party of mayors to contest seats in Parliament
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Not absolutely positive about Wellington – Wellington Local Government Election Watch 2019
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Green candidates say they want Wellington to become a ‘plastic free’ city
Andre Chumko and Piers Fuller (Stuff): Local body elections 2019: The issues facing Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne and Wairarapa
Guy Farrow (Stuff): Five-year dispute between Waikato family and council over wildlife sanctuary headed for court

Primary and extractive industries
Tom O’Connor (Stuff): Nitrate issues beg the question, is the goal food or profit?
Geoff Simmons (Interest): Westland Milk is gone, Will Fonterra be next?
Keith Woodford (Interest): Uncertainty plus unique ownership structure drive Fonterra share volatility
Madison Reidy (RNZ): No reason for share drop – Fonterra
Kate Nicol-Williams (1News): New Zealand scientists lead the way to global breakthrough in methane reduction
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Climate change brings pressures for farmers
Hawkes Bay Today: Rotten reality: Apples still on trees in July a visual reminder of Hawke’s Bay picking struggles
Daniel Birchfield (ODT): Group aims to help farmers, improve ‘M. bovis’ response
Simon Hartley (ODT): Drilling opponents ask why company is bothering
Simon Hartley (ODT): OMV confirms plans to drill off Otago coast

Environment
Tracy Watkins (Stuff): Generation Rubbish and its toxic legacy
Samantha Gee (Stuff): Historic landfill sites across Nelson Tasman at risk of sea level rise
Paul Gorman (Stuff): Leaking gelignite dumped into Fiordland’s ‘pristine’ Doubtful Sound
Amy Williams (RNZ): 200 protest over dumping of waste near Great Barrier Island
Talisa Kupenga (Māori TV): Ngāti Waewae unveil first pou at Kahurangi National Park
Stuff: Ngāti Waewae represented by pou whenua in Kahurangi National Park
Charlie MItchell (Stuff): The dams, the science, and the tiny industry clinging to life
Charlie Mitchell (Stuff): Managed to extinction: Are we at risk of losing our ‘creature of mystery’?
Charlie Mitchell (Stuff): Discovery of new kiwi population ‘most significant in recent times’
Jess Cartwright (1News): Rare discovery of Tokoeka kiwi brings hope for the bird’s survival
Regan Paranihi (Māori TV): Northland native bird recovery centre stuck for funds
Skara Bohny (Stuff): Picture of poisoned ‘blue’ cockroach watershed moment in tuatara deaths
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): Auckland neighbours who opposed felling of Titirangi kauri tree ordered to pay court costs
Denise Piper (Stuff): Kaitaia flood scheme designed to save lives and ‘millions’ in damage completes more projects
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Controversial Te Mata Peak track land to be turned into regional park
Melanie Earley (Stuff): No oil seen after reports of spill near Three Kings Islands, off Cape Reinga coast

Plastic
Natalie Akoorie (Herald): 36 complaints for flouters of single-use plastic carrier bags ban in first week
Oscar Kightley (Stuff): Bags ban shows we can change for good
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Plastic-free: conscientious versus convenience 
Daniel Dunkley (Stuff): Fast-food giants slow on plastic

Christchurch mosque shootings, Far Right
RNZ:Christchurch mosque shootings: Families of struggling widows may stay in NZ
Stuff: After the Christchurch mosque attacks, New Zealand’s far right still a threat
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Populist and far-right rhetoric gains currency in New Zealand’s political fringe
Michael Hayward (Stuff): Christchurch and London mayors meet to discuss ‘rise of right-wing extremism’ following terror attack
Nosheen Iqbal and Mark Townsend (Guardian): Christchurch mosque killer’s theories seeping into mainstream, report warns
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Racist concerns over SI independence site

Drug law reform
Anna Whyte (1News): Cannabis concerns: What experts say as referendum on legalisation looms
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Drug reform impact lost in war of words

Google
RNZ: Andrew Little welcomes Google backdown
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Google U-turns, apologises after standoff over Grace Millane suppression breach
Albert Redmore and Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Google apologises to Andrew Little over botched name suppression
1News: Google apologises over publishing Grace Millane murder accused’s name
Stuff: Search giant Google changes tack on suppression issues related to Grace Millane murder case
Reuters/Newshub: Google suspends Trends email notifications for Kiwis following Grace Millane mistake
Guardian: Google suspends Trends feature in New Zealand after naming murder accused

Media
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Cancer campaign coverage puts heat on Pharmac
Jeremy Rose (RNZ): Giving Austria’s far right a platform

Oranga Tamariki
RNZ: Jacinda Ardern says significant changes on way for Oranga Tamariki
Leonie Hayden (Spinoff): Whānau, whāngai and Oranga Tamariki: What Māori families look like

Colmar Brunton Public Sector Reputation Index 
Michael Neilson (Herald): Public sector report card: Fire and Emergency, Tourism NZ, DoC rank highly for New Zealanders
1News: Fire and Emergency NZ tops poll as most trusted agency in public sector

Foreign Affairs
Jared Savage (Herald): Customs returns nearly $302,000 to foreign diplomat who failed to declare the cash in breach of money laundering laws (paywalled)
RNZ: It’s inevitable deportees will turn to crime – Goff

Defence
Jonathan Mitchell (RNZ): NZ ‘resets relationship’ with China – defence expert
Point of Order: Re-equipment decisions are welcomed by the Army and reassuring for NZ’s allies

Welfare
Michael Daly (Stuff): Auckland Action Against Poverty hits back at Government over WINZ queues
Michael Daly and Joel MacManus (Stuff): Minister responds to Manurewa Work & Income queue problem

Police
George Block (ODT): Dunedin police breached check policy
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Police fitness test has to be hard – Police Commissioner Mike Bush
Anna Leask (Herald): Fit for purpose? Cops call on top brass to overhaul ‘broken’ physical competency test
Anna Leask (Herald): Police cars to be fitted with barriers to protect officers from violent passengers

Sevu Reece
Chris Rattue (Herald): All Blacks coach Steve Hansen’s Sevu Reece selection shocker (paywalled)
Alison Mau (Stuff): Why Steve Hansen should have quit while he was ahead on Sevu Reece
AP: Steve Hansen under fire for justifying Sevu Reece’s domestic violence charge

Other
Martin van Beynen (Stuff): Captain James Cook: Destructive coloniser or intrepid explorer?
Will Harvie (Stuff): When American justice came to New Zealand
Simon Wilson (Herald): If girls can do anything, why do boys rule the world? (paywalled)
Sasha Borissenko (Herald) Raising the Bar: Changes to the legal industry – more than lip service? (paywalled)
Laura Walters (Newsroom): More than a year without race relations commissioner
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Police demonstrate how guns will be destroyed
Stephen Forbes (Interest): Shane Jones’ infrastructure insights from Asia
David Hargreaves (Interest): The regulatory failing in the CBL case should not be repeated  
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): The $750m fallout from a time the RBNZ was more timid…  
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Indian loan shark victim allowed to stay in New Zealand for a year
Jamie Morton (Herald): Paper reveals why NZ Government dropped out of super-scope project
Chris Hutching (Stuff): OIO probe forces foreigners to sell property for no profit and pay nearly $3m
1News: Overseas investors fined nearly $3 million for illegal purchase of rural properties north of Auckland
RNZ: NZ govt criticised over UN trans and gender rights protection delays
1News: Christchurch tradies talk mental health as NZ construction industry experiences high suicide rates
Alex Loo (Stuff): Financial support needed for earthquake strengthening works, building owners say
Māni Dunlop (RNZ): Govt funding for Treaty inquiry welcome by wāhine Māori
Guy Williams (Stuff): New Zealand’s small towns are really struggling
Fiona Rae (Listener): That’s a Bit Racist: The new doco exploring New Zealand’s racial biases
Terry Baucher (Interest): The latest in tax law, new business-use claim rates, the PIR fix, and the odd and unequal world of international data sharing
Taroi Black (Māori TV): Tūwharetoa dispute ‘Whakapapa’ albums that were on TradeMe?
Eleanor Wenman (Stuff): Step into a 1970s lounge to explore the history of dawn raids in New Zealand
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Superannuation: An intergenerational fiscal hole?