New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.
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Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.

New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.

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

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