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
Climate change, clean car scheme
Mark Blackham (Stuff): Declarations of climate emergencies will only increase apathy
No Right Turn: Climate Change: Timid and unambitious
Liam Dann (Herald): Kiwis are still too addicted to petrol, Govt had to act (paywalled)
Dominion Post Editorial; Better late than never for a plan to lower vehicle emissions
Rachel Stewart (Herald): Don’t bet the farm that technology will see us right (paywalled)
John Minto (Daily Blog): A shiny new Easter egg – but its hollow!
Jason Walls (Herald): Greenpeace wants the fee charged on higher emitting vehicles to be a lot higher than $3000
RNZ: Checkpoint: Government reveals road map to cleaner, cheaper vehicles
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Government’s ‘clean car discount’: Fees for high-emission vehicles would offset efficiency subsidy
1News: Farmers annoyed, others overjoyed as Govt rolls out details of electric vehicle discount
Lisette Reymer (Newshub): Farmers, tradies angered by Government’s proposed fees for high-emissions vehicles
Elena McPhee (ODT): EV market distortion concerns
John Anthony (Stuff): Standards proposed to make our national car fleet more efficient could drive up car prices
RNZ: ‘Clean car discount’: Supply standard ignores consultations – Imported Motor Vehicle Association
Henry Cooke (Stuff): National pushes back on clean car feebate but is far from rejecting
Jason Walls (Herald): National says the Government’s plan to get greener cars on the road could hurt NZ’s poorest
Rebecca Moore (1News): Government’s proposed vehicle tax taking from the poor to benefit the rich, Taxpayers’ Union says
Peter Griffin (Noted): EV subsidies won’t work without better supply of car
Zane Small (Newshub): The popular vehicles tipped for discounts and fees in 2021
RNZ: The Detail: What’s been stalling the drive to electric cars?
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Will RBNZ be the world’s first central bank to have an explicit climate change objective enshrined in its legislation?
Local government
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Councillors ask: Who are we selling Shelly Bay to anyway?
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): After multimillion dollar cost blow-outs, Wellington City Council changes its methods
David Hargreaves (Interest): Local Government NZ’s ‘Localism’ initiative – just say ‘no’
Eric Crampton: Is this subsidiarity?
Charlie Gates (Stuff): Christchurch bridge contest cost $90k before councillors dumped project
Chloe Ranford (Stuff): So you want to be a councillor? Think again
Newstalk ZB: Renewed calls for compulsory voting ahead of local elections
1News: Majority of young Aucklanders want voting to be compulsory, new survey finds
Imran Ali (Northern Advocate): Fireworks ban: Northland mayors vote against private ban at local government conference, but remit passed
Keri Mills (Spinoff): The sacred pōhutukawa and the Takapuna apartment dwellers walking all over them
Point of Order: Forget about invigoration – LGNZ should aim to restore the democracy its members have debased
Regional airports
Jo Moir (Stuff): Shane Jones calls on regional mayors to use Provincial Growth Fund money for airports
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Taxpayer-funded bailouts on the cards for cash-strapped regional airports
Herald: End of the runway? Struggling regional airports could get Govt bailout
Auckland mayoral race
Lane Nicholas (Herald): John Tamihere suing Mike Hosking, NZME for defamation
Victoria Young (NBR): Auckland mayoral race: Central government will tell rival John Tamihere to ‘rack off,’ Goff says (paywalled)
Victoria Young (NBR): Auckland mayoral race: Craig Lord ‘doesn’t need policies’ (paywalled)
Defence
David Fisher (Herald): The 12 seconds of deleted footage NZDF didn’t mention when seeking Beehive support (paywalled)
Point of Order: NZ’s Defence relationship with China has been reset to “cosy” – but it mightn’t fit cosily with the Pacific Reset
Police
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): NZ firearms licences granted to 639 people with criminal convictions in Australia
George Heagney (Manawatū Standard): ‘Stolen’ guns had actually been returned before burglary
Sam Farrell (Newshub): Police say they can manage gun buyback scheme despite an embarrassing mistake
Ben Strang (RNZ): Gun storage at up to a quarter of police stations needs ‘improvement’
RNZ: IPCA criticises Auckland police for losing track of man’s firearms
Don Rowe (Spinoff): ‘Inappropriate’ police social media posts criticised by Children’s Commissioner
Michael Reddell: Police: cosying up to tyrants, ignoring NZ law
Cannabis
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Exclusive: Further details of Government’s medicinal cannabis scheme revealed
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Government warned against commercial sale of cannabis-infused products like gummy bears, brownies
1News: Despite ‘encouraging’ new research, Paula Bennett not convinced legalising cannabis is the answer
Google, suppression order database
Steven Walton (Stuff): Law experts and media bosses back call for suppression order database after internet giant’s breach
David Farrar: Government was to blame, not Google
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Police contacted Google about suppression orders in Grace Millane case, sought to have name removed from searches
Herald: Grace Millane case: Police warned Google about suppression in British backpacker case
Government
Gordon Campbell: On New Zealand First’s stellar balancing act
Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): Winston Peters wonders why he does not get a thank you from farmers
Herald: Jacinda Ardern: I’m human, absolutely I suffer from parental guilt
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Why does Jacinda Ardern want to keep her holiday a secret?
Herald : Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Clarke Gayford’s Rarotonga getaway
Cook Islands News: PM Ardern here for holiday
Parliament
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: How to achieve transformational change in politics (paywalled)
1News: ‘One of our aims is to not harm diplomatic relations’: Kiwi MPs swap legislation for leg-breaks
ACC
RNZ: ACC asbestos rules review on hold – Minister Iain Lees-Galloway
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Landmark case for asbestos lung cancer claimants
Stuff: ACC ponders its loss in ‘hug of death’ asbestos case
1News: Rejection of ACC proposal highlights compensation gaps for those traumatised in Christchurch terror attacks
Health
Tony Wall (Stuff): Pharmac has spent tens of millions on OxyContin, blamed for America’s opioid crisis
Ruby Macandrew (Stuff): Breast cancer specialists throw their weight behind long-running fight for increased Government drug funding
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Nurse critical of own hospital care
Luke Kirkeby (Stuff): Widow’s grief as husband goes from mild concussion to fatal cancer
Kaitlin Ruddock (1News): Nelson MP Nick Smith calls on hospital bosses to apologise to victim of brutal rape
Stuff: Nelson MP Nick Smith calls on DHB for apology
Elspeth McLean (ODT): In the dark over concerns: Fleming
Martin van Beynen and Sam Sherwood (Press): Woman accused of defrauding Canterbury health board of over $1m
Sophie Trigger (Stuff): GP registrars choose city training as under-doctored regions flounder
Imran Ali (Northern Advocate): Number of new flu vaccinations for Northlanders depends on demand
RNZ: Measles: Flight passengers told to be wary of symptoms
Tim Newman (Stuff): Nelson pharmacy puts a freeze on patient’s prescription charges
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Local companies in mix for rebuild
Donna Chisholm (North & South): The war against infection: Superbugs vs super drugs
RNZ: Diabetic amputations 40 percent of all Fiji surgery
Education
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Thousands get NCEA credits after debt write-off
1News: Over 65,000 people to receive NCEA qualifications today after outstanding fees wiped
Boris Jancic (Herald): Nearly 150,000 given NCEA credits in fee wipe
Katie Ftizgerald (Newshub): Nearly 150,000 students granted NCEA credits initially withheld due to fees
Simon Collins (Herald): Childcare fees may rise as relief teachers’ pay soars above $45 an hour in Auckland
Jennifer Eder (Stuff): Why be a rural principal when you can be a senior teacher?
Brad Flahive (Stuff): Albany Primary School rezoning plans conflict with Govt announcement of new school
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Keen to keep ‘best of what we have got’
Stuff: Victoria University of Wellington’s unveils new design plans as it moves to ‘rebrand’
Welfare
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The Toxic culture of WINZ & MSD laid bare
Steven Cowan: Carmel Sepuloni: Economical with the truth
Steven Cowan: Paying the price for Jacinda Ardern’s austerity policies
CPAG: Half of children on benefits are food insecure, and need urgent support increases, says CPAG
Sarah Wilson (Spinoff): The consequences of love: how finding a partner left me penniless
Environment and conservation
Matthew Littlewood (Timaru Herald): Changes to set-netting could put some fishermen out of business, says Timaru fisherman
Tema Hemi (Māori TV): No end in sight for Motiti Islanders
Jono Edwards (ODT): Ban on paua fishing considered
Herald: Mako shark washed up on Waihi Beach likely killed by fishermen
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Harbour dredgings can be dumped off Coromandel
Dave Goosselink (Newshub): Native Kākāpō suffer outbreak of fungal disease, seven dead so far
Skara Bohny (Nelson Mail): Poison that killed tuatara at Nelson’s Natureland on priority review list
1News: Volunteers find medical waste, needles, asbestos as Fox River clean-up boosted
RNZ: Defence Force begins work at Fox River
Tom Kitchin and Liz McDonald (Stuff): Large diesel spill at Lyttelton Port after boat hits bridge
Primary industries
Tracy Neal (RNZ): Log price drop may signal market reset, industry warns
Mike Watson (Stuff): Port Taranaki resembles “ghost town” as export log prices drop 30-40 per cent
Jono Edwards (ODT): Salmon company set to monitor whale migration
Otago Daily Times Editorial: Milk spilt: Only one whey for Westland
Keith Woodford (Interest): It’s time for a stocktake on Mycoplasma bovis
ODT: Mining water permits ‘not as simple’ as first thought
Fair Pay Agreements
Brent Edwards (NBR): Fair pay agreements debate heats up (paywalled)
Simon Hartley (ODT): Think-tank opposes fair pay agreements
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): NZ Initiative comes out swinging against labour reforms
Christchurch mosque shootings
RNZ: Mosque shooting victim feels let down by ministers
Matthew Weaver (Guardian): Christchurch mayor on mass shooter: ‘I’ve no idea what his name is’
Liz McDonald (Stuff): Christchurch mayor calls for ban on expanding bullets ‘designed to do great damage’
TVNZ’s That’s A Bit Racist programme
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): A Bit Pointless: Jam TV’s “That’s A Bit Racist” Treats It’s Subject Matter Far Too Lightly
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Review: TVNZ’s That’s A Bit Racist doco is nothing new
Anna Murray (Herald): That’s A Bit Racist injects humour into a taboo subject without watering down the message
Euthanasia
Belinda Feek (Herald): End of Life Choice Bill: Elderly man pleads from his deathbed for MPs to pass new law (paywalled)
Danielle Gibbs (Stuff): No-one is beyond help’: Why euthanasia should never be an option
Abortion
1News: Progress on abortion law reform could be announced soon, Andrew Little says
Boris Jancic (Herald): Government abortion law announcement ‘weeks away’ . . . again
Justice, corrections
Anneka Smith (RNZ): Funding cultural reports a matter of ‘natural humanity’ – lawyer
Liz Gordon: Prison and the politics of kindness
Rugby
Herald: NZ Rugby ‘lacks emphasis on morals’: Study calls for All Blacks selection changes
Olivia Caldwell (Stuff): New Zealand Rugby lacks ‘moral’ compass in player selection, says Otago University study
RNZ: Moral values should be considered in ABs selection – study
Ryan Bridge (Newshub): Top sportspeople don’t need to be saints
Other
RNZ: Checkpoint: A life of abuse: Woman says everyone knew, but no one helped
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Infrastructure ‘at crisis point’ (paywalled)
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Statistics New Zealand money troubles led to talk of up to 200 job losses
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Troubles at the Office of Ethnic Communities
Gia Garrick (1News): One week after Wellington train derailment, KiwiRail no closer to knowing cause
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Immigration NZ ‘grey-listing’ advisers who make complaints
Eloise Gibson (Newsroom): What MBIE told Woods on super-scope
Virginia Fallon (Dominion Post): Salvation Army to tackle ‘predatory’ mobile shopping vans in Porirua City
Te Kuru o te Marama Dewes (Māori TV): A celebration, or a commemoration?
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): The travelling Wikipedia salesperson
1News: Moola’s alleged interest rate breaches shows system ‘not working like it should’ – finance expert
Susan Edmunds (Stuff):Should you be able to use your KiwiSaver account to repay debt?
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Crown agency didn’t stonewall Taxpayers’ Union – Ombudsman
Ben Strang (RNZ): Child custody case calls Hague Convention into question
RNZ: Cactus Outdoor acquires Albion Clothing with hope to drive production back to NZ
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Tower to stop asking: Anything else we should know?
Nikki Mandow (Newsroom): DomPost embroiled in Reserve Bank battle with CBL
Maria Slade (Spinoff): Forget quotas: How an opt-out system could boost women in leadership
Julie Iles (Stuff): Law Society building in Wellington due closed to earthquake risk
1News: Capacity impacting plunging business confidence
Herald: Give paedophiles ‘involuntary euthanasia’: Adviser for Hannah Tamaki’s Coalition NZ Party
