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 by Dr Bryce Edwards.
Abortion
Claire Trevett (Herald): Abortion reform delivers Simon Bridges a conundrum (paywalled)
TVNZ: Q+A: Andrew Little says claims reforms will allow abortion up to birth are ‘absurd’
Stuff: New Zealand’s abortion reforms are a functional mess. How did we get here?
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Abortion reform debate has just begun
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Abortion law reform finally removed from the too-hard basket
Karl du Fresne: Balanced coverage of the abortion debate? Don’t hold your breath
TVNZ: Q+A debate: Pro-life campaigner calls NZ’s proposed new abortion reforms ‘absolutely disturbing’
Oliver Lewis (Stuff):‘A woman’s choice’: abortion reform plans welcomed by providers, advocates
Boris Jancic (Herald) Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern defends proposed abortion law
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Andrew Little’s abortion reforms could ban protests outside clinics
Anna Whyte (1News): Abortion ‘safe zone’ to stop women being ‘harassed, intimidated, confronted’ – Andrew Little
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Protesting outside clinics could be banned under new abortion reforms
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Abortion law to change in sweeping reform announced by Justice Minister Andrew Little
Boris Jancic (Herald): Sweeping abortion law changes: Woman’s right to choose until 20 weeks
Anna Whyte (1News): New Government bill seeks to remove abortion from Crimes Act, treat it as a health issue
Laura Walters (Newroom): No test for abortion up to 20 weeks
RNZ: Abortion law reform: Government announces Bill for 20-week medical test
Zane Small (Newshub): Justice Minister Andrew Little announces proposed abortion law giving women ‘right to choose’
Noted: Abortion to be removed from Crimes Act
Tema Hemi (Māori TV): Justice Minister takes abortion bill to parliament
Leonie Hayden (Spinoff): Cheat sheet: What the draft Abortion Law Reform Bill means for abortion rights
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): ‘Time for change’: New Zealand unveils bill to legalise abortion
No Right Turn: Labour chickens out on abortion
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Southern support for abortion law reform
Ihumātao
1News: Shane Jones labels protestors at Ihumātao ‘freedom campers’
1News: Ardern urges Ihumātao protestors to remain peaceful after police ramped up frontline numbers overnight
Michael Daly and Matthew Rosenberg (Stuff): Ihumātao: Ardern says still no plans to visit site
Jamie Ensor and Sophie Bateman (Newshub):Ihumātao protest: Pania Newton claims she was ‘rammed’ by police
RNZ: Ihumātao police presence ‘very intimidating’ – protest leader Pania Newton
Jamie Ensor and Ella Prendergast (Newshub): Ihumātao protest: Hope for resolution despite tense standoff with police
Herald: Ihumātao tension: Standoff ends dramatically
Matthew Ronsenberg (Stuff): Ihumātao: Police presence increased, then de-escalated at site
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Ihumātao dispute: Additional police deployed to site amid growing tensions
1News: Police send reinforcements to Ihumātao protest ‘to maintain order’
Māori TV: Large police influx divides protesters at Ihumātao
RNZ: Ihumātao: Police deploy more officers to front line
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Police assault Ihumātao leader, kettle protestors, using phone blockers & threatening mass arrests
Jordan Bond (RNZP): Ihumātao protesters move past frontline: ‘We’re in for the long haul’
Teuila Fuatai (Herald): Nasty criticism surfaces at Ihumātao
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Who says NZ First and Labour are on opposite sides over Ihumātao? Plus the only solution moving forward
Greens
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The Feeble Strength Of One
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: Have the Greens done enough to get re-elected? (paywalled)
Steven Cowan: The failed centrism of the Green Party
Heta Gardiner (Māori TV): 2020 election: Jack McDonald not standing for Greens in Te Tai Hauāuru
Labour Party, Government
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Exclusive: Labour forced to review investigation into bullying, sexual assault allegations against staffer
1News: New Zealand becoming known overseas for its progressive Prime Minister, marketing expert says
No Right Turn: Government of disappointment
Point of Order: Sure, the PM made the Vogue cover – but polls suggest some of the lustre has been lost
National
Graham Adams (Spinoff): On euthanasia, National is out of step with its own voters
David Cormack (Herald): The biggest virtue signaller in New Zealand politics (paywalled)
Banks
Rob Stock (Stuff): First ANZ. Now BNZ: The time is now for a royal commission on banking
Alison Mau (Stuff): Adele Ferguson on investigating our banks and why whistleblowing matters
Aaron Gilbert (Stuff): BNZ leak shows uncomfortable reality of many KiwiSaver schemes
John Anthony (Stuff): Former BNZ chairman blames ‘weak and ineffective’ Reserve Bank for industry failings
TVNZ: Q+A: Banks would look to pass on costs to customers if capital requirements enacted – Shane Jones
Foreign affairs
Audrey Young (Herald): Ardern and Peters split their time between security heavyweights, Esper and Stoltenberg
Kim Baker Wilson (1News): Top American defence official says US and NZ are ‘brothers’
Matthew Rosenberg (Stuff): US Secretary of Defense marks Auckland arrival with bloody Shakespeare quote
RNZ: US defense secretary in NZ to ‘demonstrate the priority we place on our friends’
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Zane Small (Newshub): ACT leader David Seymour demands Chinese Consulate General explain ‘encouraging violent behaviour’
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Stop interfering in NZ’s internal affairs: Act Party Leader to Chinese Consulate General
RNZ: Seymour tells Chinese to ‘not interfere’ in New Zealand’s internal affairs
RNZ: Online portal to support Pacific businesses launched
Andrew Ferrier (Stuff): NZTE supports government move to develop Industry Transformation Plans
Defence
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Government says no to NATO over request for NZ to stay in Iraq
Alison Mau (Stuff): Hayley’s #metoo fight with NZDF a lesson for everyone
Tommy Livingston (Stuff): NZDF issues apology to former naval officer Hayley Browne over sexual harassment
Environment and conservation
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): NZ to world: We’re bringing back our dawn chorus
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Govt release new biodiversity strategy to try and save diminishing native New Zealand species
RNZ: Government seeks feedback on biodiversity strategy
RNZ: The Detail: What’s the point in trying to save a dying species?
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Half of New Zealand’s native birds have gone extinct since humans arrived
Tom Hunt and Virginia Fallon (Stuff): How vulnerable is your home? Wellington-region climate change report released
RNZ: Marae at risk of being ‘totally consumed by rising sea’
1News: Last month second warmest July in NZ records, as South Island town hits 21.6 degrees
Carmen Parahi (Stuff): The legal threat and the big opportunity in Māori engagement on climate change response
Sally Round (RNZ): Insight: Tuvalu’s fight to stay above the waves
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Te Mata Peak park application sent back over failure to consult with tangata whenua properly
1News: Westport ‘can’t wait’ for Government funds to stop erosion of Hector landfill
Housing
Anne Gibson (Herald): Economist’s house-building reforms: KiwiBuild no answer, three-point fix put forward
Cate Broughton (Press): 930 Christchurch council units without insulation
Stephen Forbes (Interest): Over 34,000 homes expected to be built in the Pukekohe and Drury areas by 2050
Cancer care
1News: Cancer treatment campaigner urges Government to double Pharmac’s funding
Southland Times Editorial: New cancer radiation equipment a welcome start – now what?
Dan Satherley and Ella Prendergast (Newshub): Will there be enough trained staff to operate the new radiotherapy machines?
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): Taxpayer money for linear accelerators frees up cash for MidCentral
Logan Walker (Press): Fight against cancer shouldn’t focus only on treatment
Health
Danielle Clent (Stuff): Health system partly to blame for inequity in New Zealand, academic says
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Diabetes: New Zealand’s greatest epidemic
Danielle Clent (Stuff): Study shows Pacific children should live longer than Pākehā – why don’t they?
Jamie Morton (Herald): DNA discovery: Which NZ kids pack potential to live longer?
Nicole Bremner (1News): Renewed calls for sugar tax to help health outcomes for Māori and Pasifika
Isaac Davison (Herald): ‘It has occurred across the country’: NZ’s preschool obesity rates are unique worldwide. Now, researchers want to know why (paywalled)
Felix Desmarais (Stuff): Partner of asbestos cancer victim Deanna Trevarthen: ‘It pays to lie in a broken system’
Catherine Groenestein (Stuff): Plans under way to cut non-urgent cases at Hāwera Hospital emergency department
ODT Editorial: Doing better by our babies
Emma Russell (Herald): Suicidal teen loses only support, DHB blames psychologist strikes (paywalled)
Education
John Gerritsen (RNZ): New NZ digital curriculum set for 2020, are schools ready?
Liam Hehir (Stuff): Country schools fight for survival
Simon Collins (Herald): ‘Despondent’ primary school principals to vote on one-day strike
1News: Primary principals to vote on further strike action for pay parity
John Lewis (ODT): Trades, nurses feeling nervous over decision to merge polytechnics
Luisa Girao (ODT): SIT concerns Southland representation will be lost
Dave Armstrong (Stuff): Uni brand tweak will make world of difference to overseas students
Parliament
Anna Connell (Newsroom): Battle lines drawn in race for election clicks
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Tangling with the Godfather of Parliament
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Wow – David Seymour goes where few NZ Politicians dare – he just attacked China!
Karl du Fresne: Pull the other one, James Shaw
Economy
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Ardern urged to relax spending constraints
Liam Dann (Herald): On the rise: Unemployment, the statistic that can sink govts (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Government needs a plan to save the economy
RNZ: Investor confidence: ‘You would think people would be more upbeat’
RNZ: What’s driving the drop in our commodity export prices
Local government
Todd Niall (Stuff): Ihumatāo and City Rail Link fall-out both cases where real leadership is overdue
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Councillors’ campaign cars banned from council parks
Tim Miller (ODT): Calvert returning to local politics
Blanton Smith (Taranaki Daily News): Council candidates needed, Stratford District Council chief says
Transport
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Taxpayers deserve to know what Julie Anne Genter and Phil Twyford are hiding
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Transport Minister Phil Twyford was warned about Civil Aviation Authority’s sexual harassment claims
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland Transport hiring public relations firms for heavy workload (paywalled)
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland Council facing years of disruption from $4.4b City Rail Link
Nick Truebridge (Stuff): Auckland City Rail Link: $4.4b project finds just $72k to help business owners
Primary industries
Esther Taunton (Stuff): North Waikato farmer among the first to hit ‘zero bobbies
Keith Woodford (Interest): Forestry decisions need to be made now
Christchurch mosque shootings
Audrey Young (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s message after El Paso shooting, NZ links
Thomas Mead (1News): On visit to Christchurch mosque, Secretary General of NATO warns lone wolf attackers ‘use each other for inspiration’
Stuff: ‘Lone wolves’ inspire each other, Nato official warns during Christchurch mosque visit
Don Rowe (Spinoff): How Christchurch became a ‘high score’ for the El Paso shooter to aspire to
Whaleoil
Alex Braae (Spinoff): Liquidators stamp brutal message on Whaleoil site claiming ‘misappropriation’
Herald: Whale Oil businesses liquidator warns customer database ‘illegally used’
Other
David Williams (Newsroom): Christchurch’s quake exit plan: What’s the rush?
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Rise of fake rich: Kiwis look like they’re doing well, propped up by loans
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Immigration NZ Mumbai office under pressure as many visa applications unallocated (paywalled)
Tom O’Connor (Waikato Times): Protecting the drugged from themselves
Greer Berry (Stuff): New Zealand Geographic Board retracts Ohakune macron after iwi complaint
RNZ: Iwi raises concern after Ohakune spelled wrong officially
Karl du Fresne: On Ihumatao, child uplifts, the media and a few other things
Kaysha Brownlie (Newshub): Heritage advocates disappointed by decision to demolish Christchurch’s Catholic cathedral
Hannah Tamaki (Herald): Coalition NZ party wants to put Kiwis first (paywalled)
Duncan Greive (Spinoff): The two big resignations which have everyone in NZ television talking
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): More men needed to help combat domestic violence
