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.
Petrol prices
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Don’t be surprised if petrol study ends in a deal, not regulation
1News: Jacinda Ardern will be judged on what happens to petrol prices – Jessica Mutch McKay
Claire Trevett (Herald): Taxes and profits – who’s fleecing who in petrol price debate? (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: Paean at the pump – the chorus condemning petrol prices (paywalled)
Jason Walls (Herald): PM Jacinda Ardern doubles down on comments that consumers being ‘fleeced’ at the petrol pump
Anna Whyte (1News): Jacinda Ardern vows to ‘not stand by’ as petrol report finds Kiwis ‘are being fleeced’
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern says New Zealanders are being ripped off over petrol
Jamie Gray (Herald): Commerce Commission sends blunt message to fuel companies
RNZ: Fuel prices: Government urged to free up wholesale market
Katie Fitzgerald and Hayley Jacobsen (Newshub): Road lobby calls on Jacinda Ardern to cancel fuel taxes after Commerce Commission report
Kate Nicol-Smith (1News): Rise in fuel discounting loyalty schemes questioned by Commerce Commission
Stuff: How the rise of petrol discount schemes left motorists paying more for fuel
Aimee Shaw (Herald): Are fuel loyalty and discount schemes being used as a substitute for competitive prices?
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Where New Zealanders are paying the most for fuel
Brent Melville (ODT): South’s fuel too dear, report says
1News: ‘I don’t trust them’ – Simon Bridges slams Government as culprit for high fuel prices
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Petrol prices: Simon Bridges says Jacinda Ardern is ‘fleecer-in-chief’
Zane Small (Newshub):Simon Bridges labels Jacinda Ardern ‘Fleecer-in-Chief’ as fuel debate heats up
1News: Simon Bridges labels Jacinda Ardern ‘fleecer-in-chief’ as he blames Government for high petrol prices
Jason Walls (Herald): Petrol prices: Motorists pay too much at pump says Commerce Commission
Gavin Evans (BusinessDesk): Lack of fuel competition may be costing $400m annually – ComCom
RNZ: Fuel market not as competitive as it could be – Commerce Commission
Zane Small (Newshub): Commerce Commission finds fuel market ‘not as competitive as it could be’
Brent Edwards (NBR): ComCom signals changes to make fuel market more competitive (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (1News):‘Our profit has a purpose’ – Z Energy pushes back on petrol report findings
Parliamentary Budget Office
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Budget Office politics see post-truth come to Wellington
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Bridges digs himself deeper over policy costing plans
David Farrar: An excellent Government/Green initiative that National should support
Jo Moir (RNZ): Policy costings plan: Opposition’s response ‘absolutely ridiculous’ – Robertson
Richard Harman (Politik): Bridges withdraws support because of staffing dispute
Jason Walls (Herald): National Leader Simon Bridges won’t support Govt’s plans to set up new policy costing unit
Zane Small (Newshub): Simon Bridges reveals why he doesn’t support proposed ‘fiscal watchdog’
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Government keen to set up Parliamentary Budget Office, an independent watchdog to cost election policies, but National reject idea
Jason Walls (Herald): A new independent costing unit means ‘fewer political games,’ according to Minister
RNZ: Govt wants independent watchdog to keep eye on election campaign policy costings
Zane Small (Newshub): ‘Fiscal watchdog’: Political party policies to be analysed independently in 2020
Corrections
Kim Workman (Stuff): There’s a long way to travel towards a better prison system for Māori
RNZ: Hōkai Rangi: ‘We have to try and do things differently’ – Jacinda Ardern
Deena Coster (Stuff): Iwi leader praises new Māori prison plan but says wider problem of racism needs to be fixed
Tema Hemi (Māori TV): Hōkai Rangi wont reduce Māori numbers in prisons
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1News: Northland prison breached Convention against Torture, Ombudsman finds
Lois Williams (RNZ): Northland’s Ngawha prison taken to task by chief ombudsman over conditions
RNZ: Ngāpuhi elder ‘shocked’ by conditions at Ngawha Prison
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Just because the Prime Minister is embarrassed is not a good enough reason to suddenly change the law
Government
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Winston Peters will settle lawsuit against National for Paula Bennett’s scalp, Newstalk ZB understands
Brent Edwards (NBR): Chief ombudsman wants more teeth for OIA breaches (paywalled)
Jacinda Ardern visits King Tūheitia, Ihumātao
Yvonne Tahana (1News): ‘You hide away’ – young iwi leader challenges Ardern to ‘show the courage again’ on Māori issues
Boris Jancic (Herald): ‘You hide away’: PM Jacinda Ardern challenged during visit to Māori King
Māori TV: Te Ao with Moana:‘No logical reason’ govt can’t return private land like Ihumātao
Scott Palmer and Emma Cropper (Newshub): ‘We will be there’: Jacinda Ardern speaks out on Ihumātao
Māori tV: It’s not about me – PM on Ihumātao
Richard Harman (Politik): Ihumatao settlement looks close
Matthew Rosenberg (Stuff): Herbs launches film fundraiser for Ihumātao occupation
Environment and conservation
Ralph Brougham Chapman (The Conversation): Climate: Explained: Why we need to cut emissions as well as prepare for impacts
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): New Zealand glaciers won’t survive this century, scientists say
Simon Wilson (Herald): Better profits, fewer cows – dairy farmers can do it now, Jeanette Fitzsimons tells MPs (paywalled)
Peter Fraser and Mike Joy (Newsroom): Why NZ should say no to silver bullets
1News: Over 5000 Tauranga property owners receive warning their homes are located in potential flood zone
David Williams (Newsroom):Pragmatism sweeps into Mackenzie debate
Brent Edwards (NBR): Chief science adviser calls for ‘honest’ GE debate (paywalled)
Brent Melville (ODT): Call for revamp of GM rules
1News: National ‘want to turn the West Coast into a political football’ over whitebait – ag minister
Laine Moger (Stuff): Kānuka could halt kauri dieback disease, study finds
Local government
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: Climate change and the Swarbrick effect – Is this a local government youthquake? (paywalled)
Gary Farrow (Waikato Times): One horse mayoral races ‘alarming’, says political commentator
Nikki Preston (Herald): Mayors, councillors confirmed month before local election voting even opens
Denise Piper (Stuff): Local body elections 2019: No contest for some Northland Regional Council seats
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Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Truth, fibs and stupidity: the Auckland mayoralty
1News: Auckland mayoralty: John Tamihere and Phil Goff in heated debate on rates, traffic and Ihumātao
Herald: Phil Goff and John Tamihere go head-to-head in NZ Herald-Newstalk ZB live stream debate
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Phil Goff putting up his voice of experience for a second mayoral term (paywalled)x
Bernard Orsman (Herald): John Tamihere says appetite for change will hand him Auckland mayoralty (paywalled)
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): West Auckland’s licensing trusts election: Why it’s so different this year
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Auckland Council, Panuku reach compromise development design
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Georgina Campbell (Herald): Comment: Andy Foster’s experience will give him a one up in Wellington’s mayoral race (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Dominion Post): An idyllic seaside spot, even the terms of agreed review are contentious at Shelly Bay
RNZ: Shelly Bay review could cost more than $180k
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Lost in translation: Wellington City Council drops demands for quality control documents
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Wellington City Council to pay former employee $20,000 after ‘ongoing failure to investigate
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Tom Rowland (Herald):New Hamilton council to decide future of Māngai Māori system (paywalled)
Samantha Olley (Rotorua Daily Post): Call to vote: Hopes for higher Māori turnout in Rotorua local body elections (paywalled)
Herald: ‘Ebenezer Scrooge of Hawera’: Mayoral candidate criticised for his views on homelessness
Lucy Drake (Whanganui Chronicle): Local body elections: Whanganui District Health Board: 17 candidates stand
Media
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): The Government won’t help MediaWorks – there’s no money
John Anthony (Stuff): TVNZ CEO says ‘there will be consolidation’ in media industry as $17.1m loss looms
John Anthony (Stuff): Government working to ‘strengthen public media’, but will TVNZ remove ads?
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): TVNZ’s in trouble and they should blame their own bad decisions, not Google
Herald: NZME-Stuff merger plan back on, Aussie paper claims
Paul McBeth and Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Stuff pulls pin, ending big media companies’ joint ad-buying business
RNZ: Local Democracy Reporting scheme seeks journalists to cover the regions
Sky TV fined for broadcasting clips of Chch terrorist attack video
Sophie Bateman (Newshub): Sky TV ordered to pay $4000 for broadcasting ‘highly disturbing’ Christchurch attack livestream footage
1News: Sky Television NZ fined for use of Christchurch terrorist attack video
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): Sky NZ fined for broadcasting clips of Christchurch massacre live stream
RNZ: Sky fined for screening extensive footage of Christchurch attack
Police Dirty Politics raid
1News: Police breached Nicky Hager’s journalistic right in 2014 unlawful search, IPCA finds
Isaac Davison (Herald): Police did not intentionally deceive judge in Dirty Politics raid – IPCA
RNZ: Nicky Hager police raid in 2014 ‘unwitting neglect of duty’ – IPCA
Royal Commission into Abuse in Care
David Fisher (Herald): A new dawn – the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care takes careful, nervous steps into darkness (paywalled)
Health
RNZ:The Detail: How Big Pharma operates in New Zealand
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Health researcher says banning smoking in cars discriminatory to Māori
Mike Houlahan and Elspeth McLean (ODT): GPs ‘reluctant’ to refer for colonoscopies in fear request will be declined, says local GP
RNZ: Nurses’ open letter criticises Nurses Organisation union as ‘undemocratic’ over president
RNZ: Urgent measles advice sought after 100 new cases confirmed in past week
MIchelle Duff (Stuff): ‘Measles ward’ opens to manage three children admitted each day with the preventable disease
Herald: Auckland faces measles ‘epidemic’ after 42 more cases confirmed overnight
ODT Editorial: Time for rethink on medicine adverts
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): Emergency department overcrowding creates risks for patients and staff
ODT: Lumsden midwife cover remains in place for another month
Southern Response, Canterbury quakes
Logan Church (RNZ): Quake-hit homeowners baffled as Southern Response bosses silent
Michael Hayward (Press): ‘Test case’ for on-solds quake insurance issue likely to go ahead
Education
Jessica Long (Stuff): Primary and intermediate principals vote ‘yes’ on Government’s latest pay offer
Vita Molyneux and Laura Macdonald (Newshub): Primary and intermediate school principals vote yes on Government’s latest offer
1News: ‘Hang in there’ principal advises parents of sleepy children after couple fined for teen’s no show at school
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Tertiary institutes look to tech firms to end ethnic disparity
Michelle Duff (Stuff): Massey University accused of mishandling allegations of a violent sexual assault
School lockdowns
James Fyfe and Hamish Clark (Newshub): Principal says students in lockdown saw Christchurch livestream
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Schools unsure of legal rights during emergency lockdowns
Banks
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): We need to give our starving regulators more money
Clancy Yeates (Stuff): ANZ may need to keep more profit in New Zealand
Primary industries
Rachel Stewart (Herald): Don’t say you weren’t warned (paywalled)
Joe Bennett (Stuff): Let’s mock Fonterra’s ‘velocity leadership’
RNZ: New Zealand wool industry clipped by China-US trade war
RNZ: Relief after New Zealand farm locations off Aussie animal rights website
Foreign affairs
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Campaign to scrap discriminatory refugee restrictions
Derek Cheng (Herald): Simon Bridges cautions PM on criticising Australia
Mackenzie Smith (RNZ): NZ funds human rights monitoring in Pacific
RNZ: Chinese diplomat calls Pacific criticism ignorant, prejudiced
Housing
1News: Laws haven’t kept up with NZ’s growing rental market, PM says amid concerns of power imbalance
Chris Hutching (Stuff): Is it really more expensive to build new in New Zealand
Tom Hunt (Stuff): ‘Next Steps Wainui’ shows two housing options for prime Lower Hutt land
Anuja Nadkarni and Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Heat still on in Wellington housing market and more to come, Trade Me says
Economy
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Westpac cuts NZ growth forecast but predicts ‘another turn’ on the merry-go-round
Liam Dann (Herald): Westpac bank: Economy has slowed, will get worse before it gets better
Infrastructure
Herald: Infrastructure report: The challenges — and possible solutions (paywalled)
Grant Robertson (Herald): Investing for New Zealand
Phil Twyford (Herald): Urban development on fast track
Paul Goldsmith (Herald): How to unlock NZ’s growth
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Meet the new infrastructure czars (paywalled)
Herald: A hand with the ‘heavy lifting’
Duncan Bridgeman (Herald): Time to change our regional incentives
Herald: Where do we go from here?
Alan Jones
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): ‘It’s not sexist to criticise the Prime Minister’ – Simon Bridges
Zane Small (Newshub): Unearthed audio reveals Alan Jones hoped Jacinda Ardern would get ‘a few backhanders’ from Scott Morrison
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): Alan Jones condemned after calling for Jacinda Ardern to be ‘backhanded’
Other
Rob Mitchell (Stuff): Your happiness is their biggest concern
Māori TV: Te Ao with Moana: The ‘hearts of the people’ will decide treaty justice, not Crown
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Rocket Lab’s eighth successful rocket launches US spy satellites from Hawke’s Bay
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Defence Force experience shapes new public service harassment rules
RNZ: Firefighting foam contamination tests to start at Christchurch site
Steve Braunias (Herald): Colin Craig back for new dog-fight in court (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): Adrian Orr heading to the banker pow-wow that can change the world (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): New blood for NZ Post board brings more regional focus (paywalled)
Aimee Shaw (Herald): Importers gaining 15 per cent advantage over local retailers (paywalled)
Joanne Carroll (Stuff): Group fighting West Coast waste-to-energy plant has blunt message: ‘Don’t bother
Chris Keall (Herald): GCSB gives Vodafone the green light for 5G
1News: Starlight navigators embark on waka voyage from Tahiti to NZ, honouring ancestors
Derek Cheng (Herald): Government mulls bill to ensure bars and clubs can serve booze during late RWC games
1News: Christchurch named seventh friendliest city in the world
1News: Former cop and Ngāti Te Whiti trust CEO jailed for defrauding hapū
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Hapū ready to occupy mountain to stop cell phone tower construction
