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.
National Party
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Christopher Luxon taking Paula Bennett’s seat would be his first smart political move
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Simon Bridges Leads National Down Into The Dark
Claire Trevett (Herald): National Party’s Paula Bennett takes helm for battle (paywalled)
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): A positive campaign for a change
Collette Devlin (Stuff): National could be paving way for Christopher Luxon to take Paula Bennett’s seat
1News: ‘Amateur hour’ – Winston Peters ridicules Paula Bennett’s new campaign chair role
Zane Small (Newshub): Winston Peters’ theory on why Paula Bennett won’t seek Upper Harbour electorate re-election
Derek Cheng (Herald): Paula Bennett to run National’s 2020 campaign and vacate Upper Harbour seat
Zane Small (Newshub):2020 election: National’s Paula Bennett will not seek re-election as MP for Upper Harbour
Anna Whyte (Newshub): Paula Bennett will run National’s 2020 election campaign, not stand for Upper Harbour seat
Stuff: Simon Bridges: National open to working with blue-green party
Census and StatsNZ
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Census 2018: Review shows you could almost count on census failure
Andrew Geddis (Pundit): Let’s Not Turn An Omnishambles Into A Clusterf*Ck
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Simon Bridges’ comment ‘a very bad turn for NZ politics’ – James Shaw
RNZ: Botched census: Statistics Minister asleep at the wheel, says Bridges
Press Editorial: Māori have been let down by census botch-up
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): ‘They didn’t listen’ – Iwi leader on botched census
No Right Turn: Data Ventures: StatsNZ plays startup
Pacific Islands Forum, foreign affairs
Raijeli Nicole and Rachael Le Mesurier (Stuff): New Zealand must listen to Pacific voice on the climate crisis
Jason Walls (Herald): Government promises at least $150m for Pacific climate change projects
RNZ: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announces $150m Pacific climate funding
Yvette McCullough (RNZ): Jacinda Ardern to ‘talk frankly’ on climate change in Pacific
RNZ: New Zealand caught in the middle of Australia’s climate change tussle with the Pacific
Kate Lyons (Guardian): Jacinda Ardern says Australia has to ‘answer to Pacific’ on climate change
Rob Harris (Stuff): PM calls out Australia over climate change, as pacific nations confront grave threat
RNZ: Pacific won’t budge on climate change; neither will Australia
RNZ: Australia accused of using carbon credit ‘loophole’
Jason Walls (Herald): Tuvaluan children ask PM Jacinda to ‘save Tuvalu, save the world’ (paywalled)
Jason Walls (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the Pacific is ‘out of kilter’ when it comes to women in politics (paywalled)
Laura Walters (Newsroom):China interferes in Dalai Lama visits
Natasha Hamilton-Hart (Newshub): Opinion: New Zealand is between Huawei and a hard place
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Hong Kong protests: Mfat looking at evacuation of Kiwis in troubled city
Christchurch mosque shooting
1News: Corrections Minister can’t say where five letters Christchurch terrorist attack accused wrote in prison have been sent
Sophie Bateman (Newshub): Alleged Christchurch shooter Brenton Tarrant sent seven letters from prison
Stuff: Mosque attacks accused has sent seven letters, two others withheld, minister reveals
1News: Corrections CEO apologises after Christchurch terrorist attack accused sends letter to far right groups from prison
Heather McCarron and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Kelvin Davis showing ‘disdain’ for Christchurch victims – National
1News: Letter sent by Christchurch terrorist attack accused ‘should not have happened’, Jacinda Ardern says
James Fyfe (Newshub): ‘This cannot happen again’: Prime Minister and Corrections Minister respond to alleged Christchurch shooter Brenton Tarrant’s letter
Herald: Corrections boss ‘sorry’, blocks accused Chch gunman’s mail
Anjum Rahman (Spinoff): That this man is allowed to propagate hate from his prison cell is beyond grotesque
Sophie Bateman (Newshub): Alleged Christchurch shooter Brenton Tarrant’s letter from prison revealed
RNZ: Accused mosque shooter’s letter posted to 4chan
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Terror accused writes to far-right supporter from prison
Stuff: Corrections admits terror accused’s letter to supporter should not have been sent
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Christchurch mosque shooting accused excused from tomorrow’s court hearing
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Christchurch terror attack accused excused from court appearance
Sophie Bateman (Newshub): Sydney stabbing: Suspect carrying USB with Christchurch massacre details
Budget documents, monetary policy
Richard Harman (Politik): Twyford gets knocked back
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Treasury advised Government against funding to prevent boats of asylum seekers
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Winston Peters went to battle with Treasury for racing industry tax break
Bryan Gould: More courage needed
Eric Crampton (Newsroom): Preparing for the monetary Rocky Horror
Productive land
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Productive land plans spark concerns
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Environment minister: ‘We actually prefer potatoes’
1News: Government proposes to protect food production by shielding fertile land from development
Boris Jancic (Herald): Potatoes vs property: Government proposes rules to slow development on farm land
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Govt keen to protect potatoes at the cost of property
Primary industries
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Gene editing could combat ‘weed trees’ and climate change
RNZ: Tougher animal tracking system roll-out after critical report
Susan Botting (Northern Advocate): Mycoplasma bovis: North particularly vulnerable (paywalled)
Brent Melville (ODT): M. bovis affects PGW results
Brent Melville (ODT): Biologicals’ time has come: MP
Pattrick Smellie (Herald): Pay back your bonus, Theo Spierings. It’s the right thing to do (paywalled)
Chris Keall (Herald): Fonterra poised to ditch NZ tech provider for Indian outsourcer: insider (paywalled)
ODT Editorial: Fonterra no longer a cash cow
Herald Editorial: Fonterra farmers deserve better (paywalled)
Climate change
Zane Small (Newshub): Zero Carbon Bill: Ministry of Primary Industries’ proposed methane reduction target was ignored
Eric Frykberg (RNZ): Dairy NZ wants greenhouse gas emissions decided farm by farm
1News: ‘Climate change contrarians’ receive 49 per cent more media coverage than scientists, US study finds
Jono Edwards (ODT): ORC opts not to declare climate emergency
Environment
David Williams (Newsroom): Agency’s three-year gap in consent checks
Debbie Jacobsen (Stuff): Industrial waste, sewage could be discharged into Queenstown waterways
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Wastewater proposal ‘offensive’
Paul Gorman (Stuff): Flood project protects $8 billion of Canterbury assets from ‘beast of a river’
Stuff: ‘Never seen it on such a scale’: Spat harvesters on Ninety Mile Beach concern locals
Kristin Edge (Northern Advocate): Spat over harvesting of mussel seeds from Ninety Mile Beach
Richard Davison (ODT): Emphasis on compliance by whitebaiters
RNZ: West Coast whitebaiters wary of restrictions as gov denies ban
1News: Emotion and outrage from West Coasters over proposed new law some say could spell the end of whitebaiting
RNZ: Activists handing over eviction notice to oil giant’s Wellington HQ
Prisoner voting ban
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: Will the Government reverse ‘fascist’ prisoner voting ban? (paywalled)
Kyle MacDonald (Herald): Should New Zealand prisoners be allowed to vote? (paywalled)
Daniel Wegerhoff (Newsroom): Vote would keep prisoners part of society
Transport
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Police open to using facial recognition from Auckland Transport CCTV cameras
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Bridges defends transport initiative after failed tech partnership
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Millions more poured into transport project after US partner dropped
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington haka pedestrian signals only granted at the last minute
Nicholas Boyack (Stuff): Chris Hipkins pushes for Melling planning and consenting
Rachael Ford (Stuff): Stop delaying saliva tests for drugged drivers, and we can save hundreds of lives
Media
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Taxing internet giants key to saving media industry – economist
Duncan Greive (Spinoff): Contemplating the end of Three
Hal Crawford (Newshub): Opinion: The problem with news in New Zealand
ANZ
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Valuation shows ANZ’s Hisco mansion sale under by $4m
Herald: Former ANZ CEO David Hisco’s St Heliers house was worth $11m – valuation
1News: Second valuation of ANZ Hisco mansion suggests a $4.1m discount for ex-CEO’s wife
RNZ: Court approves investors’ claim against ANZ Bank
Firearms
Kate Prickett and Simon Chapple (The Conversation): Survey reveals a third of NZ gun owners distrust gun lobby
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Govt shoots itself in the foot with its bungled buyback (paywalled)
Local government
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland mayoral race: Phil Goff hoists billboard over Tamihere’s car park
Nick Truebridge (Stuff): Tamihere campaign: Industry says candidate’s begging policy is designed to be ‘provocative’
Chris Morris (ODT): Vandervis, Elder to contest mayoralty
Education
Jessica Long (Stuff): Gap in kids’ digital knowledge feared as teachers not up to speed on new tech curriculum
Derek Cheng (Herald): ‘Undemocratic’: National hits out on Govt plan to axe school donations
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Price tag puts govt off university merger
Clare Curran (Stuff): Putting greater value on working with your hands
Ruby Macandrew (Stuff): Whitireia backtracks on plan to transfer students studying early childhood education
Luisa Girao (ODT): Southland voices on reform
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Polytech offering first health science diploma with a Māori worldview
Health
Peter Dunne: Current ad hoc pharmaceutical funding is demeaning, debilitating and unfair
Karen Brown (RNZ): Drinking damage: Call for national plan to stop alcohol harm
RNZ: Flaxmere bottle shop battle heads to High Court
Scott Palmer (Newshub): New Zealand cannabis hospitalisations more than double in decade – Ministry of Health
1News: Child respiratory hospital admissions could be slashed if homes free of damp, mould – research
John Gibb (OD)T: Study on young children with chest infections ‘a wake-up call’
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Homeopathic treatment claims to ‘cure’ autism in NZ
Emma Russell (Newshub): Code Red: Auckland Hospital reaches highest ever patients numbers
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): Waikato DHB battling to resolve payroll glitch, 4000 staff impacted
Isaac Davison (Herald): #MeToo: Sexual abuse and rape claims to ACC soar – ‘It is sheeting home to every one of us’
Julie Iles (Stuff): Wind-related injuries around the country rack up a $9m ACC bill
Archives
Tom Hunt and Felix Desmarais (Stuff): A new home for our national treasures comes with a big cost
1News: New Zealand set to get new archives facility to store nation’s taonga
Boris Jancic (Herald): Government announces new home for Treaty of Waitangi
No Right Turn: Drowning our taonga
Justice
1News: Czech drug smuggler Karel Sroubek in front of parole board next month
Gill Bonnett (Stuff): Sexual violence courts to be permanent after pilot’s success
Charlotte Cook (RNZ): Success of sexual violence courts leads to calls for nationwide funding
Melissa Chan-Green (Newshub): New Zealand’s first sexual violence court shown to be quicker, less painful process for victims
Royal Commission into abuse in state care
John Weekes (Stuff): Survivor backs push to lift veil on church child abuse secret deals
Anna Whyte (1News): Victims can take part in Royal Commission into state abuse without breaching Crown confidentiality causes
Housing
Jeremy Hanson (Spinoff): The future of housing is whānau
Brent Melville (ODT): First-home buyers borrowing 4-5 times pre-tax earnings
Liu Chen (RNZ): Checkpoint: South Auckland charity warming homes with bubble wrap
Tourism
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Visitor levy to fund kākāpō support plans
Holly Carran (Newshub): Government announces how international visitor levies will be spent on NZ’s tourism industry
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Visitor levy funds research
Other
RNZ: A Poor Outcomes: Māori, poverty and the struggle for survival
Pete McKenzie (Herald): The NZ Greens’ German dream (paywalled)
Mitchell Alexander (Newshub): Revealed: The huge amount of money Government agencies spend on furniture
Derek Cheng (Herald): Labour’s response to bullying complaints criticised as not victim-led
Zane Small (Newshub): Moriori: The forgotten tribe one step closer to a multi-million-dollar Treaty of Waitangi settlement
Andrew McRae (RNZ): Waikato gets $1.5m boost from PGF
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuf): No confirmation yet on Waikato Regional Theatre funding
Māni Dunlop (RNZ): Man calls out racism after airport security says tiripou weapon
Laine Moger (Stuff): Ihumātao: Miss Universe New Zealand beauty queens visit protest site ahead of Auckland final
1News: Miss Universe beauty pageant contestants visit Ihumātao occupation in South Auckland
Josie Adams (Spinoff): The dark side of horse racing
