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.
Māori prison strategy, prisoner voting
1News: Kelvin Davis admits parts of prison system ‘extremely racist’
Tania Sawicki Mead (RNZ): ‘Treating people in prison with basic human respect should be a given’
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): New Māori prison strategy revealed, pressure now on Corrections
Elena McPhee (ODT): ‘Fantastic’ Maori prison strategy welcomed
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Hope Māori-focused Corrections plan will deliver for families
Derek Cheng (Herald): New Corrections Māori strategy: Prison should not traumatise inmates more than loss of liberty
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Corrections’ new strategy to break cycle of Māori imprisonment and reoffending
Zane Small (Newshub): ‘Humanising’ prisoners: Strategy launched by Corrections to reduce Māori reoffending
Tema Hemi (Māori TV): Hōkai Rangi – designed to lower Māori incarceration and reoffending
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Herald Editorial: Voting ban on prisoners is all stick, no carrot (paywalled)
Corrections
Katie Fitzgerald and Hayley Jacobsen (Newshub): No need to change the law around prison mail – Graeme Edgeler
Derek Cheng (Herald): Govt eyes hate speech and online reach as reasons to block prisoner mail
Collette Devlin (Stuff): PM Jacinda Ardern says Cabinet will consider ‘digital age’ law change after Corrections letter botch-up
Sam Sacheva (Newsroom): Govt mulls law change after prisoner letter fiasco
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Government considering law changes around inmates sending offensive letters
RNZ: Prison letters: Cabinet pushes ahead with law changes to Corrections Act
1News: Cabinet to discuss prison mail policies today, in wake of 4chan letter controversy
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Prisoners’ mail: ‘The law could be made a little bit clearer’ – Corrections boss
Derek Cheng (Herald): Corrections sets up 0800 number and email but also wants stronger laws to stop prisoners’ mai
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Corrections sets up public helpline for unwanted prisoner mail
Zane Small (Newshub): Corrections sets up 0800 number to report unsolicited prisoner letters
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Kiri Gillespie (Bay of Plenty Times): Department of Corrections ‘sorry’ for distress over Jason Reihana’s release (paywalled)
Liz Gordon (Daily Blog): Opening up our prison
Health
Bruce Munro (ODT): Up to no good: What impact is lobbying having on public health?
Jamie Morton (Herald): Researchers reveal troubling gap facing NZ cancer survivors
1News: Cancer researchers to focus on inequities between Māori and non-Māori in New Zealand
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Govt cancer plan: ‘strong leadership’, early access to medicines
John Potter (Stuff): Hospitals should start cutting out meat from their menus
Nicholas Jones (Herald): DHBs act over controversial ‘premium’ room charges at rest homes (paywalled)
ISO: Solidarity with Nurses Organisation President Grant Brookes
Dubby Henry and Ben Leahy (Herald): Measles outbreak worse than 2011 as cases jump by a third in 10 days (paywalled)
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Measles outbreak largest in a decade, 51 new cases in Auckland at the weekend
RNZ: Measles cases on the rise, people urged to get vaccinated
Brittany Keogh and Caroline Williams (Stuff): Period shaming: Three in four Kiwi women say menstruation is stigmatised
Hannah Martin (Stuff): District Health Board psychologists vote for further strike action, will not accept new patients
Dave Macpherson (Daily Blog): End of dispute between Nicky Stevens’ family and Waikato DHB means a new phase of the mental health work starts
NIkki Preston (Herald): Skateboarding, bike or horse riding worst for serious head injuries in kids
Ihumātao
Jo Moir (RNZ): PM on not visiting Ihumātao: ‘Crown not a party in negotiations’
Boris Jancic (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern won’t visit Ihumātao ahead of march
Mark Quinlivan and Alistair Lynn (Newshub): Ihumātao protests: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern rules out visiting site before Thursday
1News: Ardern won’t rule out going to Ihumātao, but no visit this week
RNZ: Hikoi to Mt Albert, petition to urge PM Jacinda Ardern to visit Ihumātao
Teuila Fuatai (Herald): Ihumātao division leads to legal action among senior whānau leaders (paywalled)
G L Smith (Herald): Are we moving in the right direction on Ihumātao? (paywalled)
Vaimoana Tapaleao (Herald): All Black TJ Perenara visits Ihumātao and encourages others to do the same
Local government
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: Will more than a third vote in the local government elections? (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): I’m getting the same feeling about local elections I did with the Census
Southland Times Editorial: Local government – enough of the same-old same old
RNZ: Younger diverse range of kiwis make bid at local elections
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Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): The invisible mayor: Phil Goff launches stealth campaign to keep his job
Dan Satherley (Newshub): 18-lane Auckland Harbour crossing virtually already funded – Tamihere
Stephen Forbes (Interest): Auckland Council says there would be economic and administrative issues with introducing a vacant land tax and questions whether it could be justified
Tom Hunt (Stuff): QC-led Shelly Bay review to cost ratepayers $180,000-plus
David Farrar: Lester helped by multiple challengers
Laurel Stowell (Whanganui Chronicle): Ruapehu hill-country farmer Richard Steele stands for Horizons
George Heagney ((Manawatū Standard): Council candidates want to improve city’s housing
Jono Galuszka (Manawatū Standard): Mayoral hopeful Maruna Engu committed public indecencies
Cherie Sivignon (Stuff): Hearing panel revises Port Tarakohe proposal after considering 162 submissions
Mary-Jo Tohill (Southland Times): New mayoral hopeful for Southland District comes forward
RNZ: Mayoralty campaign heats up in cold southern winter with record candidates
Southern Response, Canterbury quakes
Logan Church (RNZ): Checkpoint: Southern Response boss silent as calls for inquiry grow
Michael Hayward (Stuff): Gerry Brownlee says Southern Response ordered to behave in a ‘fair and reasonable manner’
Tina Law (Press): Plans to address earthquake issues in coastal Christchurch fall short, residents say
Foreign affairs
Paul Karp (Guardian): Visa character test change likely to make ‘bad situation worse’, New Zealand says
1News: Thanks for being a good sport’ – Jacinda Ardern wins Bledisloe Cup bet with Scott Morrison
James Fyfe (Newshub): Charities ask for New Zealanders’ help to get more Government funding for Syria
Pacific
RNZ: Call for Australia to be cut from Pacific Forum over coal
RNZ: Pacific aid could lead to exploitation, academic warns
1News: ‘We’re getting to boiling point’ – Pacific rugby nations fed up with treatment of players and unwinnable financial battles
1News: John Campbell investigates: Odds stacked against Pacific minnows like Manu Samoa at Rugby World Cup
Environment and conservation
Paul Gorman (Stuff): Carbon dioxide-capturing pine forests could be nurseries for native trees in NZ
RNZ: Drones wanted in fight to protect Māui dolphins
RNZ: Arguments for and against Māui and Hector’s dolphin protection plan
Boris Jancic (Herald): Outrageous Fortune’s Robyn Malcolm calls for help for Māui dolphin
Heather McCarron (Newshub): Petition calls for better protection of Māui dolphins
RNZ: Kākāpō face space limitations as population tops 200
1News: Nearly 75,000 native trees, shrubs to be planted on Auckland’s volcanic cones
Stuff: ‘Very rare’ shrub found in Rotorua forest
Primary industries
RNZ: Farmers, vets, environmentalists and scientists on winter grazing taskforce
Brent Melville (ODT): Environmental campaigner appointed to grazing task force
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times):MP Hamish Walker critical of environmentalist appointment to Government winter grazing taskforce
Gerald Piddock (Stuff): Farmers furious at Australian animal rights activists publishing addresses and location on map
Tracy Neal (RNZ): Log price war and protected economies hurting NZ’s wood processors
Liam Hehir (Stuff): The science of climate and its discontents
ODT Editorial: GM laws must be re-engineered
Brent Melville (ODT): Call for revamp of GM rules
Christchurch terror attacks schools lockdown
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Schools thought Christchurch terror attacks lockdown order was a hoax
1News: Confusion, delays in schools lockdown amid Christchurch terrorist attack, report finds
Dominic Harris (Press): Schools’ lockdown during Christchurch terror attack ‘hindered’
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Parents assaulting staff, lack of communication among weaknesses identified in school lockdown review
Welfare
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Even wealthiest households get Government handouts
1News: Beneficiaries failing drugs tests still hit with sanctions
Government
Stuff: Winston Peters off Parliament for a week to recover from an operation on his leg
Herald: Deputy PM Winston Peters set to recover from old rugby injury; missing a week of Parliament
Zane Small (Newshub): Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick ‘frequently thinks about leaving Parliament’
National Party
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): National’s ‘desperate’ attack ads to be investigated by Advertising Standards Authority
David Cormack (Herald): Entry of the Gladiators (paywalled)
Royal Commission into abuse in state care
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Royal Commission hearing: Churches consider dropping confidentiality agreements
Josephine Franks (Stuff): State care abuse not just ‘historical’, inquiry told
Education
Simon Collins (Herald): Phonics debate: Ministry of Education says it is not a U-turn on reading
1New: School principals to reveal today whether they’ll accept Government’s latest pay offer
Rob Kidd (ODT): Parents fined for failing to get lethargic son to attend school: ‘He refuses to get up’
Media
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): StuffMe 2: the return of the beast
Herald: Eight journalists sought as part of $1 million pilot scheme
Ruby Macandrew (Stuff): Regional reporting gets a leg up with $1m made available to hire eight new reporters
Anna Rawhiti-Connell (Newsroom): No way back from media’s forbidden fruit
Police
Anna Leask (Herald): Cash for convictions: Police offer more than $1.65 million in reward money (paywalled)
Hawkes Bay Today: Bribe or gift? Items Bay police had to say ‘thank you, but no thank you’ to
Transport
Shamubeel Eaqub (Herald): The case for lower speeds in city centre (paywalled)
Damian George (Dominion Post): Wellington commuters’ confidence in region’s public transport plummets
Alex Braae (Spinoff): Shrink time, not space: How trains could revitalise the regions
Cath Gilmore (Newsroom): Queenstown and Wanaka unite: no more noisy jets
Housing
Jessie Chiang (RNZ): Concerns new guidelines for landlords won’t protect tenants
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Property managers told not to go through prospective tenants’ bank statements
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Landlords, property managers told not to go through potential tenants’ bank statements
Stuff: Housing New Zealand property a drug den, neighbour believes
Mike Yardley (Stuff): Christchurch police failed to act over drug house
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Upper Hutt residents oppose new housing due to flooding fears
Oranga Tamariki
Andrew McRae (RNZ): Māori families ‘feel as if they don’t rate’, hui on Oranga Tamariki inquiry hears
Libby Wilson (Stuff): Māori leaders launch inquiry into tamariki being taken from their whānau
Adam Hollingworth (Newshub): Oranga Tamariki: ‘Listening posts’ for families to detail their social work experiences launched as part of inquiry
Florence Kerr (stuff): Abused and suffering in the care of Oranga Tamariki: Karisma Emery’s story
Cannabis
Chris Fowlie (Daily Blog): The only cannabis poll that counts is the Referendum itself
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The slumping failure of the cannabis reform movement in NZ
Economy, monetary policy
RNZ: NZ will keep ‘head above water’ amid recession fears
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): RBNZ publishes the analysis behind its view that OCR cuts remain effective
Gaming
RNZ: Government report urges support for gaming and interactives industry
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Fund to help boost NZ’s fast growing interactive media industry sought
1News: Video game developers say they desperately need more support from Government
Nelson Club
Charles Anderson (Neslon Weekly): Nelson Club members gagged after ‘racism’ allegations
Hannah Bartlett (Stuff): Nelson Club member who made racist comments keeps his membership
Other
Rob Stock (Stuff): BNZ whistleblower says bank is still driven by sales targets
Max Towle (RNZ): Taking a spin: More New Zealanders pouring money into online gambling
Heta Gardiner (Māori TV): Whānau Ora providers accuse Māori MPs of failing their people
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Real Fascists Don’t Use Swastikas
Collette Devlin (Stuff): New rules aim to stamp out inappropriate workplace behaviour for public servants
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): All eyes on Commerce Commission’s fuel study
James Perry (Māori TV): Sports stars finding their voices on issues
Nick Truebridge (Stuff): Former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig back in court to defend defamation lawsuit
Chloe Ranford (Stuff): Look who’s talking: Ngāti Kuia
Chris Keall (Herald):Consultant to PM’s department promotes 5G conspiracy theories (paywalled)
Chloe Ranford (Stuff): Submitters want partial freedom camping ban at Kaikōura surf break
Donna-Lee Biddle (Stuff): Raglan campervan killing: Shooting shatters ‘Safe NZ’
Kendall Hutt (Stuff): Ex-police inspector appointed SPCA’s new inspectorate general manager
ODT: Adjustment pains of IRD’s new system costs taxpayer trust
Giacomo Lichtner (Stuff): Is poor awareness of the Holocaust just the tip of the iceberg?
Alexis Carey:Advertisers desert shock jock’s show over Jacinda Ardern comments
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern reveals the best way of getting revenge on Alan Jones after controversial comments
