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.

Local government
Michael Fallow (Stuff): Your council – what’s its job description?
Dileepa Fonseka and Todd Niall (Stuff): Behind-the-scenes of the companies running the country’s local body elections
Charlie Mitchell (Stuff): The white, male, middle-aged face of local government
RNZ: Paying voters? Idea floated to boost local body elections turnout
1News: Nominations for local body elections closed after last minute rush
David Hawke (Stuff): The odds are stacked against communities in the fight over alcohol outlets
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Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland elections: When is an election idea too big?
Simon Wilson (Herald): Is there a crisis? Rates, debt and Auckland Council (paywalled)
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Phil Goff tells supporters it’s a tight-run race with John Tamihere for the mayoralty
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Phil Goff puts environment first in campaign for re-election as Auckland Mayor
Matthew Theunissen (RNZ): Phil Goff’s clean, green mayoralty re-election campaign launch
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Phil Goff emphasises climate change in re-election bid
RNZ: Phil Goff launches Auckland mayoralty campaign with green focus
1News: Auckland Mayor Phil Goff aiming for the environmental vote as he takes swipe at John Tamihere
Hannah Martin (stuff): Phil Goff to scrap diesel buses, buy electric cars for Auckland council if re-elected mayor
Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): Inside the enclave of old that may win John Tamihere the mayoralty
Heather McCarron and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Expert praises John Tamihere’s ‘out-of-the-box’ bridge plan
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): John Tamihere’s 18-lane Auckland Harbour Bridge plan would be ‘costly and disruptive’
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Harbour Bridge to balloon to 18 lanes under John Tamihere’s proposal
Bernard Orsman (Herald): John Tamihere promising to turn the Auckland Harbour Bridge into a two-level superstructure
Dan Satherley and Giles Dexter (Newshub): John Tamihere proposes new 18-lane Auckland Harbour Bridge
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland mayoral race: 21-year-old to run
Herald: Local elections: Comedian Tom Sainsbury’s alter-ego Fiona running for Auckland mayor
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Comedian Tom Sainsbury has thrown his hat into the Auckland mayoral race
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Auckland local election billboards: A non-exhaustive ranking, from best to worst
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Council elections: Rodney and Franklin seats go uncontested
Kendall Hutt (Stuff): Auckland local body elections: DHB candidates announced
Kendall Hutt (Stuff): Auckland local body elections: Licensing trust candidates announced
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): West Auckland Licensing Trusts Action Group announces election line-up to ‘challenge the status quo’
Anne Gibson (Herald: Frustrated Mark Gunton sues council over Westgate, claiming contract breaches, no bus station
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Georgina Campbell (Herald): Sir Peter Jackson bankrolling Wellington mayoral candidate
Felix Desmarais (Stuff): Sir Peter Jackson backs Andy Foster for Wellington mayoralty
Stuff: Who is standing for council around the Wellington region
Laura Dooney (RNZ): Shelly Bay review to look at whether project followed correct process
Emma Hatton (RNZ): Community boards unite to lobby regional council over water bottling
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Denise Piper (Stuff): Local body elections 2019: Whangārei, Kaipara and Far North council candidates revealed
Denise Piper (Stuff): Opshop singer Jason Kerrison throws hat into Northland council race
Northern Advocate: Sitting mayors and slew of councillors in Northland seek re-election
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): Climate change-denying Hamilton mayoral hopeful James Casson puts up signs at Sir William Gallagher’s mansion
Shilo Kino (Herald): Local Focus: Controversial Hamilton mayoral candidate says he’s honest, not racist
Jimmy Ellington (Manawatū Standard): City council must change stance about not holding candidates’ meetings
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): Palmerston North City Council runs scared of hosting candidates’ meetings
No Right Turn: A real mayoral race
Chloe Ranford (Stuff): We have an election. Phew! Fears of auto-elected councillors a distant memory
Carly Gooch (Stuff): Who’s running for the Nelson city and Tasman district councils?
Dominic Harris (Stuff): Campaigners and perennials challenge Lianne Dalziel for Christchurch mayoralty
Paul Gorman (Stuff): Half the Environment Canterbury council is standing again
Emma Dangerfield (Stuff): New mayors for North Canterbury as incumbents step down
Oliver Lewis (Stuff): Candidate whose son died in suspected suicide running for health board to ‘make a difference’
Joanne Carroll (Stuff): Four in race to replace long-serving Grey mayor
Al Williams (Stuff): Waimate mayoral candidate Murray Ludemann promises to ‘fight’ for council’s future
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): 14 candidates eye Dunedin’s vacant mayoral spot
Laura Smith (ODT): Old hands and new faces to contest Southland elections
Richard Davison (ODT): Long-serving southern mayors unopposed
Pam Jones (ODT): Spending on `right people’ for water issues up 10-fold

Corrections
Leigh-Marama McLachlan (RNZ): Hōkai Rangi: The plan to reduce Māori in prison from 52 percent to 16
1News: Government launches new strategy to break ‘devastating’ cycle of Māori reoffending
Dan Satherley and Hayley Jacobsen (Newshub): Can’t blame Kelvin Davis for Corrections’ mistake – Willie Jackson
Katie Todd (RNZ): Cabinet to discuss ability of inmates to send letters
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Second letter from Philip Arps calls for ‘traitors’ execution, disdain for Jacinda Ardern, Winston Peters
1News: TVNZ receives jailhouse letter from white supremacist Philip Arps praising Christchurch gunman
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Police investigating another Tarrant letter
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Mosque shooting video: White supremacist Philip Arps appeals sentence but alleged prison letters a concern
Katie Todd (RNZ): Woman receives dozens of abusive letters from imprisoned family member
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Ex-cop says there’s a good reason Mark Richardson gets prison mail: Human rights
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Mark Richardson, Duncan Garner both receiving letters from convicts despite asking Corrections to stop them
Duncan Garner (Stuff): Top brass at Corrections to blame for letters from prison debacle
Boris Jancic (Herald): Corrections call police to investigate accused mosque gunman’s letter 
Anna Leask (Herald): Christchurch terror accused: Corrections confirms no letters sent to victims, Muslim community
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Christchurch terror attack accused’s mother blasts 4chan
Kiri Gillespie (Bay of Plenty Times): A kick in the guts’: Victim’s father furious after double murderer Jason Reihana released early from prison

Pacific Islands Forum, climate change
Jamie Tahana (RNZ): We should have done more for our people’ – Forum climate fight leaves bitter taste
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Could NZ house 1 million Australian climate refugees? (paywalled)
Jamie Tahana (RNZ): Australia’s PM attitude ‘neo-colonial’ says Tuvalu
Kate Lyons (Guardian): Our people are dying’: Australia’s climate confrontation in the Pacific
Kate Lyons (Guardian): Fiji PM accuses Scott Morrison of ‘insulting’ and alienating Pacific leaders
Kate Lyons (Guardian): Revealed: ‘fierce’ Pacific forum meeting almost collapsed over climate crisis
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): New Zealand described as ‘more helpful than others’ at Pacific Islands Forum
Kate Lyons (Guardian): West Papua: Pacific leaders urge UN visit to region’s ‘festering human rights sore’
RNZ: Heads of maritime forces discuss Pacific safety

Southern Response, Canterbury quakes
Michael Hayward (Stuff): Southern Response engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct, High Court finds
John Campbell (1News): High Court slams Government-owned quake insurance company for ‘deceptive conduct’
Michael Hayward (Stuff): Christchurch Earthquake Insurance Tribunal settles first case
Charlie Gates (Stuff): Emergency power that took over 700 Christchurch buildings is still in force

Prisoner voting ban
Audrey Young (Herald): Labour squeezed from all sides on prisoner voting ban, no one happy (paywalled)
Martin van Beynen (Stuff): Prisoners have forfeited the right to vote
ODT Editorial: Prisoners and the right to vote

Election
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Election 2020 is going to be a huge mess
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Should Labour kneecap the Greens for NZ First in order to win 2020 election?

Week in politics
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Week in Politics: Political row follows chief statistician’s resignation
Claire Trevett (Herald): Beehive Diaries: PM Jacinda Ardern’s new bestie and a run-in with Australian socks
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): Ranking MPs’ legal expertise (paywalled)

National Party
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Outgoing Air NZ boss Chris Luxon could win a seat, but not the leadership: National MPs
Brent Edwards (NBR): Bennett promises voters a clear election choice (paywalled)
Andrew Gunn (Stuff): ‘It looks like I’ll have my work cut out’

Sustainable NZ, Coalition NZ
John Armstrong (1News): Fledgling ‘blue-green’ party Sustainable New Zealand clever in theory, not so clever in practice
Derek Cheng (Herald): Hannah Tamaki’s Coalition NZ Party denied party registration
Kendall Hutt (Stuff): Electoral Commission refuses to register Destiny Church-derived party, Coalition NZ
Zane Small (Newshub): Hannah Tamaki’s party Coalition NZ declined registration over ‘misleading’ name
RNZ: Hannah Tamaki’s Coalition New Zealand political party registration rejected
No Right Turn: Not destined to be

Environment and conservation
Will Harvie (Stuff): Nature’s recovery will exceed the time that humans have existed
Dan Satherley (Newshub): July was New Zealand’s hottest ever, new data confirms
Simon Henderson (ODT): Climate change scenario: Region could heat up 7degC
RNZ: Cutting construction emissions could equal taking 500,000 cars off the road – report
Heather McCarron and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Construction industry’s impact on climate change highlighted in new report
1News: Kaimai protestors disappointed with government’s conservation values
Nicola Martin (Stuff): We’re kidding ourselves over sustainability
John-Michael Swannix (Newshub): Mussel spat: Ninety Mile iwi says no to mechanical harvesting to baby mussels, MPI seeks compromise
Kimberley Collins  (Spinoff): The giant parrot proves we have to save Foulden Maar
ODT Editorial: Penguin protection
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Robyn Malcolm lobbies Government on Māui dolphin plight
Heather McCarron (Newshub): Petition calls for better protection of Māui dolphins
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Boats removed from Okahu Bay: ‘The mauri has been restored’

Ihumātao
Boris Jancic (Herald): Ihumātao looms over Ardern’s visit to Māori King (paywalled)
Morgan Godfery: Ihumaatao: where to from here?
Lucy Mackintosh (RNZ): Unearthing the history of Ihumātao, where the land tells stories
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Treaty expert on Ihumātao battle: ‘Crown playing dictator of iwi’
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Ihumātao protest: Contractor’s vehicles removed
Caroline Williams (Stuff): Ihumātao: Police numbers reduced at protest site
Jamie Wall (Māori TV): TJ Perenara shows his support for Ihumātao protest

Media
Mark Jennings (Newsroom): Garner’s strange outburst fitted PR strategy
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Mediawatch: A media cry for help
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Let’s talk honestly about the crisis in NZ news media and what the Government needs to do to solve it
Duncan Greive (Spinoff): Mediawatch: Assessing the TVNZ, RNZ and Māori TV merger that everyone is talking about
Jeremy Rose (RNZ): Media’s worldwide push for climate change coverage
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Mediawatch: Do reports of gun owners’ anger stack up?
RNZ: Retraction and apology to Donghua Liu for untrue statements

Cannabis
Scott Palmer (Newshub): New poll suggests recreational cannabis referendum won’t pass
Neil Reid (Herald): Cannabis poll: Support plummets for legal pot
RNZ: Nope to dope: Teen cannabis use declining, research shows
Elena McPhee (ODT): Student meeting to discuss cannabis sales

Productive land, primary industries
Richard Harman (Politik): Jones speaks frankly about farmers and the environment at private meeting
Stuff: We can’t continue to pave paradise and put up a parking lot
Kerre McIvor (Herald): The land needs our protection (paywalled)
Gerald Piddock (Stuff): Compliance costs and age see an increasing number of Waikato farmers call it a day
1News: Kiwis could pay more than double the price for strawberries this season, grower warns
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Worker shortages and dumb rules are kneecapping business
1News: Horticulture companies spend over $30 million to accomodate workers
Hawkes Bay Today: Farming over forestry: The Wairoa man who gave up ‘a few extra zeros’ to keep land in beef and sheep (paywalled)

Fonterra
Rod Oram (Newshub): Fonterra’s last chance to reform and rebuild
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Fonterra needs an ego check (paywalled)
Tom O’Connor (Stuff): Time for the Fonterra bull to be fenced
Brian Gaynor (Herald): Fonterra needs to get out of its rut (paywalled)
Matthew Theunissen (RNZ): Theo Spierings’ Fonterra payout slammed

Education and training
Simon Collins (Herald): Ministry of Education adopts phonics approach to teaching reading (paywalled)
Kate Nicol-Williams (1News): Schools angry they’ve missed out on long-awaited influx of learning support staff
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Disappearing students: How NZ is wasting opportunities with our Chinese graduates
Tom Rowland (Herald): Waikato schools to get more than 100 new classrooms
Felix Desmarais (Stuff): Mindfulness and meditation a strategy for teenage mental health resilience, says charity
Denise Piper (Stuff): Northland trust empowers young Māori by following the Māori Battalion
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Universities excluding Pacific minorities from Pasifika programmes ‘unfair’
Nathanael Rother (NBR): Hammer time! … Or not (paywalled)
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Virtual reality to prepare Māori for construction mahi
Alice Wilkins (Newshub): Virtual construction training to fill industry vacancies

Poverty, inequality
Susan St John (Daily Blog): Time for emergency measures?
Pete Jones (Stuff): If our kids are hungry, how can they be expected to learn?
Jessica Long (Stuff): Teachers are handing out hot meals to students – for some it’s their only one

Health
David Menkes (Spinoff):NZ needs to join the rest of the world and ban prescription medicine ads
Oliver Lewis (Stuff): Nurses’ union board seeks to oust president after investigation into ‘inappropriate’ message
Phil Taylor (Herald): Call for Government to act after study finds most packaged food unhealthy 
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Lack of transparency hampers cancer drug debate
Evan Hardina (Southland Times): Southland Hospital surgeons call on SDHB to take immediate action
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Toxic workplace claims ‘bang on’
Zizi Sparks and Samantha Olley (Rotorua Daily Post): Lakes DHB staff strike 10 times in five months, 226 procedures postponed (paywalled)
Simon Collins (Herald): Anxious online millennials reach out for help
RNZ: Call for compulsory car seats for children over seven years old
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Christchurch Hospital building in hot water over plumbing tangle
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): Patients give up waiting at Palmerston North Hospital’s emergency department
Mitch McCann (Newshub): Firefighter mental health a ‘crisis’ – union

Housing
John Minto (Daily Blog): The quiet desperation of low-income families Vs middle-class angst
RNZ: Helping people stay in tenancies a ‘critical’ step toward ending homelessness
Boris Jancic (Herald): Government announces $54 million to help keep people off the streets
Matthew Tso (Stuff): Government annouces $54 million for homelessness initiatives
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Government announces $54m for homelessness initiatives
RNZ: Government announces an extra $54m to stop homelessness
Florence Kerr and Tony Wall (Stuff): The Far North social agency putting people into their own ‘recycled’ homes

Monetary policy
David Hargreaves (Interest): Cloaked in mystery: We will need to know more about unconventional monetary policy
Damien Grant (Stuff): Easier access to cheap money isn’t going to save us from a financial crash
Rebecca Howard (Herald): Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr defends Reserve Bank’s big rate cut
David Chaston (Interest): Assessing how borrowers & savers are being impacted by the OCR cut
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): The RBNZ hits back at BusinessNZ criticism 

Defence
Kurt Bayer (Herald): New Zealand Army gets $100m funding for modern warfare high-tech upgrade
Jonathan Mitchell (RNZ): Hercules fleet: ‘It’s amazing they’ve managed to keep them flying’
Point of Order: Anti-submarine upgrades reflect the return of reality to Defence thinking
Herald: Defence Force prepares for move to new Wellington headquarters
Libby Wilson (Stuff): Former defence force interpreter’s family may have to leave brother behind in Afghanistan
RNZ: A day to remember New Zealand’s Vietnam veterans
Aroha Mane (Māori TV): Vietnam veterans salute lost comrades

Transport
Matt Rilkoff (Stuff):Electric vehicles just the beginning of a necessary transport revolution
Tom Pullar-strecker (Stuff): EV feebate plan winning support says minister, as submissions deadline approaches
Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): Civil Aviation Authority won’t give grieving family witness statements about fatal skydive
Laura Macdonald (Newshub): New Zealand charity support push to ban hands-free phones while driving
Andrew McRae (RNZ): Fast rail link between Auckland and Hamilton mooted for the future

Tax
Andrea Black: Where have all the audits gone?
Nikki Mandow (Listener): Trade Me dragged feet on GST rort, retailers say

NZers claiming refugee status
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): New Zealanders seeking asylum abroad – UN report
Dan Satherley (Newshub): 38 New Zealanders have claimed refugee status – UN report

Nelson Club
Nelson Weekly: Turmoil at exclusive Nelson gentleman’s club over racist and homophobic comments
Hannah Bartlett (Stuff): Male only Nelson Club to consider future of ‘racist’ member

Alan Jones
Toby Manhire (Stuff): 14 times Alan Jones revealed himself to be basically just an utter cretin
Finlay Macdonald (Stuff): No-one should be shocked by the ravings of Alan Jones
AAP: Ardern says she won’t give Alan Jones’ ‘sock down throat’ comments ‘the light of day’
Latika Bourke (Sydney Morning Herald): Malcolm Turnbull blasts ‘misogynist’ Alan Jones over his Jacinda Ardern comments
Stuff: Australian PM slams Alan Jones’ call to ‘shove a sock down throat’ of Jacinda Ardern
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Alan Jones threatened with termination over Jacinda Ardern comments
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Australian broadcaster Alan Jones loses lucrative deal over Ardern attacks
Dan Satherley and Zane Small (Newshub): ‘I wish she would shut up’: Australian broadcaster Alan Jones launches fresh attack on Jacinda Ardern
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of … Alan Jones (paywalled)

Other
RNZ: The Detail: Banks behaving badly
Bevan Hurley (Stuff): Govt agency leaves website open to ‘catastrophic’ hack attack
Brian Easton (RNZ): What can we learn from the 2018 Census debacle?
Harrison Christian (Stuff): Kiwi publishers face censorship demands from Chinese printers
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Newshub Nation: GCSB and Corrections urged to hire experts in alt-right extremism right away
Finn Hogan (Newshub): Newshub Nation: Shane Jones claims Provincial Growth Fund has generated ‘well over’ 1000 jobs
Heather McCarron and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Experts call for more political input from children
Moana Maniapoto (E-Tangata): Treaty Negotiators: Not a job for wimps
Alison Mau (Stuff): Labour’s sexual harassment blind spot needs fixing
John Roughan (Herald): Show me the money when you get a clue (Herald)
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Southern list MP facing challenging times
Dale Husband (E-Tangata): Peter Cordtz: Learning to talk about money
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Homeless housing ministry almost home
Zane Small (Newshub): David Seymour hits back at National MP seeking ‘protections’ for institutions over euthanasia
Liz Beddoe and Eileen Joy (Reimagining social work): Time for social work to make a clear stand for abortion law reform
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): NZ’s oldest YWCA chapter breaks away from national body
Stuff: Battling to keep up mail volumes, NZ Post appoints new chairperson
Blair Voorend (Hawkes Bay Today): Tomoana Freezing Works closure, 25 years on: The day 1500 lost their jobs
Daisy Hudson (Mountain Scene): Cabinet to decide on levy within fortnight
Kereama Wright (Māori TV): Divide over Tauranga land site
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Plea to save old Cadbury factory buildings
Elle Hunt (Spinoff): Everyone says they’re moving to New Zealand – ray of light in a bleak world
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Mike McRoberts will return to Syria, as he calls for more NZ aid
Dubby Henry (Herald): Trump card: Kiwi music producer Sebastian Kereti takes on president over copyright 
Derek Cheng (Herald): Rugby World Cup: Govt urged to ensure bars and sports clubs can serve alcohol for games (paywalled)

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