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.
Labour Party sexual assault allegations
Alex Casey (Spinoff): A Labour volunteer alleged a violent sexual assault by a senior staffer. This is her story
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Why Labour president must resign over sexual assault allegations
Andrea Vance and Alison Mau (Stuff): Young Labour abuse victims barred from Parliament offices
Herald: Labour Party complainants told to stay away from Parliament offices
Housing
John Armstrong (1News): Labour must ‘stop bathing in its own mythology’, admit KiwiBuild reset is hopeless
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Newshub Nation: Housing Minister Megan Woods compares KiwiBuild to First Labour Government’s state housing scheme
Andrew Bevin (NBR): Critics unconvinced by KiwiBuild ‘reset’ (paywalled)
David Hargreaves (Interest): Why does a housing obsessed nation like New Zealand keep electing governments that don’t know how to handle housing issues?
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Treasury: Govt help on housing useless without supply reforms
Eric Crampton (Newsroom): Where to now as KiwiBuild dust settles?
Kerre McIvor (Herald): Kiwibuild reset is another failure (paywalled)
1News: Wanaka KiwiBuild houses ‘overpriced’ compared to open market
Cherie Sivignon (Stuff): Housing affordability worsens in Nelson-Tasman region
Rikihana Smallman (Stuff): $530k for portion of homes in city’s new Special Housing Area subdivision
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Slider aerial images reveal extent of Auckland growth in just three years
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Auckland landlord must pay tenants $2700 for ‘ignoring’ insulation deadline
Government
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Interview: PM’s focus firmly on positive future
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Ardern likely to give advance notice of 2020 election
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Electorate change imminent
Audrey Young (Herald): Jacinda Ardern regains her mojo and tries to seize back the political agenda (paywalled)
Martin van Beynen (Stuff): Labour-led coalition tried too much too soon
James Shaw (Stuff): We have a plan and we’re doing it, Mr Joyce
Meka Whaitiri (Hawkes Bay Today): Talking Point: KiwiBuild reset will address our housing issues
Herald: Shane Jones causes fireworks over 60th birthday bash
Parliament
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Week in Politics: Was this the government’s worst week?
1News: Inside Parliament: A wrecking ball for KiwiBuild, water rules squeezed and Kiwi jihadi (video)
Claire Trevett (Herald): Beehive Diaries: PM Jacinda Ardern’s KiwiBuild aversion and Simon Bridges’ postcards from India
RNZ: The Detail: Is post-truth politics creeping into New Zealand?
Claire Robinson (Stuff): How Facebook has revolutionised the art of political persuasion
Damien Venuto (Herald): Election 2020: What Labour, National need to understand to win (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff):Our house of representatives are far older than New Zealand is. Is that a problem?
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Students care about politics, they just don’t trust politicians: study
Stephanie Ockhysen (Stuff): Petitions the last chance saloon to effect change in a democratic society
RNZ: Parliament locked down after protesters attempt entrance
Water
1News: Environmentalists want Govt’s waterways cleanup to be stronger, while farmers fear for their pockets
Duncan Garner (Newshub): National scaremongering over water policy
Harry Lock (RNZ): Freshwater plan could cost urban councils ‘many billions’
Troy Baisden (The Conversation): New Zealand launches plan to revive the health of lakes and rivers
Dominion Post Editorial: Action plan could be water under the bridge if left to regional councils
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Judith Collins accuses Fonterra of ‘cosying up’ to the Government after it backs water proposals
Brent Edwards (NBR): Nats attack fresh water policy (paywalled)
Local government
Bruce Munro (ODT): Decisions in the pipeline
Bevan Hurley (Stuff): Amongst a sea of apathy, New Zealanders are reclaiming a stake in local democracy
Julienne Molineaux (Stuff): Politicians must do more to earn the trust of their constituencies
Matthew Tso (Stuff): Who’s that council candidate? Name recognition a key factor in electoral success
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Local body elections: I’m one of ‘those’ millennials – here’s why we should vote
Christina Persico (Stuff): New Plymouth mayoral candidate considered quitting race because of body image struggles
Toby Morris (Spinoff): Face, name, tick: An analysis of NZ’s good, bad, and very bad election hoardings
Chloe Ranford (Marlborough Express): Teens reveal winning qualities for local government candidates
RNZ: Think tank group targets Muslim council candidates
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Simon Wilson (Herald): The reinvention of Auckland – Why the council election matters (paywalled)
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland mayoral election: Tamihere running mate Fletcher backs policy shifts (mostly)
Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): Should John Tamihere be allowed to shrug off past homophobic comments?
Danielle Clent (Stuff): Auckland candidate ‘disheartened’ by vandalism, derogatory comments
Nikki Preston (Herald): Hamilton City Council puts proposal to buy more riverside properties on hold until at least elections
Aaron Leaman (Waikato Times): Inaugural Hamilton Soapbox session showcases mayoral contenders Andrew King, Lisa Lewis
Shilo Kino (Bay of Plenty Times): Local Focus: Hamilton mayoral candidate Angela O’Leary says too many reckless decisions
Scott Yeoman and Samantha Motion (Bay of Plenty Times): Bella Vista saga: Damning internal Tauranga City Council report released (paywalled)
Matt Shand (Stuff): Report slams BoP building inspection team over Bella Vista debacle
RNZ: Report into botched Bella Vista subdivision ‘not helpful’
Kiri Gillespie (Bay of Plenty Times): ‘Selfless’ Western Bay of Plenty council votes for childcare allowance
Christina Persico (Taranaki Daily News): Fears of void votes under new voting system in New Plymouth
Gia Garrick (1News): Former Kapiti District councillor convicted of indecent assault up for re-election despite trying to withdraw
Alex Braae (Spinoff): A night at the nicest election meeting in New Zealand
Dileepa Fonseka (Dominion Post): Election 2019: Wellington City Council Lambton ward candidate profiles
Stuff: Local elections 2019: Meet the Upper Hutt Council candidates
Stuff: Local elections 2019: Meet the Hutt City candidates
Skara Bohny (Nelson Mail): Course correction in residents’ survey with positive trends for council
Nelson Mail: Hard choices for Nelson city’s future
Dominic Harris and Tina Law (Press): Christchurch – a city at a crossroads. What do residents want for its future?
Press: Creating a city for youth: ‘I don’t remember a Christchurch that wasn’t broken’
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Staff say living wage bill for Christchurch council contractors will reach $4.8m
Alice Geary (Stuff): Lee says he is ‘not seriously running’ for Mackenzie mayor
George Block (ODT): Gore council against gang patch ban
Critic: DCC Mayoral Forum Makes Critic Lose Faith In Democracy
Josie Adams (Spinoff): Race briefing: the betrayals and back-stabbing behind the Invercargill election
Dave Goosselink (Newshub): Sir Tim Shadbolt faces two challengers for Invercargill mayoralty
National Party
Brent Edwards (NBR): Bridges’ Trump-like strategies won’t fly here
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary … Judith Collins writes her autobiography (paywalled)
David Slack (Stuff): Judith Collins’ favourite thing: her memoir
Green Party
Jill Abigail: Solutions that are Fair to Everyone
Herald: Anger lingers over ‘transphobic’ article in Greens Party magazine
Steven Cowan: The cone of silence decends on the Green Party
David Farrar: Green vs Green
Steven Cowan: Identity politics threatens to split the Green Party
Frank Macskasy (Daily Blog): The Abigail Article and My Response
Poverty, inequality, welfare
Benedict Collins (1News): Women receiving less food than men in controversial Auckland beneficiaries trial
Stuff: Women get less food than men under Food Grant Trial in Auckland
John Weeks (Stuff): Complex challenges tipping Kiwi families into poverty, Auckland NGO says
John Weeks (Stuff): The Auckland group tackling the patchwork of poverty
John Weeks (Stuff): The ex-cop and the boxer battling poverty and poor health
John Weeks (Stuff): Auckland boy, 13, on a mission to reduce poverty
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Solo mums on benefits having to decide between food and fuel
Health
Boris Jancic (Herald: 200 women dead, 100 more may follow in wait for cancer drug decision (paywalled)
RNZ: Cancer among Māori often more lethal – Professor Diana Sarfati
Tim Newman (Stuff): National Portrait: Blair Vining – campaigning against cancer
RNZ: Health and disability review falls short for Māori
ODT Editorial: The neurosurgery mess
Elena McPhee (ODT): New citizens felt welcome from the start
Oliver Lewis (Press): Maternity ‘gridlock’: Staffing shortages cause care delays, staff stress
RNZ: Nurses’ union calls for fairer funding to rest homes
Miriam Harris and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Nurses clash with rest home provider over staffing hours
Fiona Connor (Newshub): Kiwi toddler fights spinal muscular atrophy in Australia after Pharmac stall access to life-saving drug
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): A curious case of fluoride and pregnancy
Alison Mau (Stuff): Secret toilet cam doctor should not be let back in the profession
Jane Phare (Herald): Auckland surgeon donates $1m to help Pasifika students become doctors
Mental health
Boris Jancic (Herald): Medical centres get mental health boost as Government starts spending
1News: Government pledges $6 million for mental health, targeting GP providers
Delphine Herbert and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Govt tops up mental health services funding
Katie Scotcher (RNZ):Underfunded mental health services to get funding boost
Michael Hayward (Stuff): Govt package to boost mental health support for Cantabrians
Joel MacManus, Tom Hunt and Felix Desmarais (Stuff): New Zealand depression website exposed test results to third-party companies
Anan Zaki (RNZ): Mental health test participants could be identified, group warns
Hannah Brown (North & South): An 87-year-old on the struggle to find meaning in old age
Deena Coster (Stuff): Tackling suicide: The job of trying to stop people taking their own lives
ODT Editorial: The challenge of suicide
Measles
Scott Yeoman (Herald): Operation Measles: Inside the public health response to an escalating outbreak (paywalled)
RNZ: No measles vaccine shortage, minister says
Tom O’Connor (Waikato Times): Time to make anti-vax parents pay for neglecting their children
Laura Macdonald (Newshub): Fears Tauranga’s AIMS Games could be measles ‘ground zero’
Laura James (1News): Thousands of school kids around NZ, Pacific Islands warned of measles risk ahead of AIMS Games
Samantha Motion (Bay of Plenty Times): Measles fears for Tauranga’s AIMS Games (paywalled)
Dan Satherley and Hayley Jacobsen (Newshub): Measles epidemic: All eyes on Tauranga as students gather for AIMS Games
RNZ: Government criticised by South Auckland doctor over measles response
RNZ: Auckland measles: clinic gives more than 400 vaccines in a day
Cira Olivier (Rotorua Daily Post): Mother turned away eight times due to measles vaccination shortage
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Debunking measles myths: Is there a vaccine shortage and are you still safe if you were immunised in the 90s?
Herald: Measles outbreak: 881 cases in Auckland
Tim Miller (ODT): Unvaccinated ski staff kept away
1News: Confirmed number of measles cases in Queenstown rises to 15
Foreign affairs and trade
Zane Small (Newshub): Ministry’s chilling warning: How ‘economic and security issues’ led to ‘populist sentiment’
Fran O’Sullivan (paywalled): NZ-Aust relationship faces hefty issues (paywalled)
Richard Harman (Politik): Why NZ need not follow Australia on defence policy
1News: Brazil expats plan protest in New Zealand as Amazon fires continue
Will Harvie (Stuff): Undiplomatic: What US diplomats really thought about NZ
Economy
Liam Dann (Herald): Can the NZ dollar win a global race to the bottom? (paywalled)
Brent Melville (ODT): Confidence still at its lowest since GFC
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): ANZ economists make dramatic change to their OCR forecasts
RNZ: ANZ Bank: ‘OCR of 1 percent probably isn’t going to do it’
Damien Grant (Stuff): The Ponzi scheme that underpins our economy cannot go on forever
Peter Ellis
Mark Jennings (Newsroom): Melanie Reid: We all failed Peter Ellis
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): Was Peter Ellis scapegoat for prejudices of the time? (paywalled)
Environment and conservation
Jose Fuentes and Jim Salinger (Herald): Forestry’s climate change ‘collateral damage’
Eloise Gibson (Newsroom): The unpopular tree sucking carbon from our air
Catherine Groenestein (Stuff): Seabed mining ban could be part of plan to save Maui’s dolphin off Taranaki coast, minister says
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Dirty, filthy, horrible: Litter comes with a huge cost for Wellington and New Zealand
Virginia Larson (Listener): Litter bugs and butts: Kiwis not doing ‘the right thing’
RNZ: Residents begin testing water quality of popular Auckland river
RNZ: Mana whenua frustration over illegal bike tracks on Mt Victoria
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Illegal bike tracks carved into Auckland’s historic Mt Victoria
Giles Dexter (Newshub): Forest and Bird calls for Government funding to eradicate wallaby ‘plague’
Jenny Suo (1News): Plight of the kiwi looking up after boosted efforts from conservationists
Primary industries
Andrea Fox (Herald): NZ Super Fund dragged into dairy grazing row as video footage prompts farm investigation
Allan Barber (Interest): Social licence to operate just as important as methane reduction
Education
John Gerritsen (RNZ): School disability services fall short of rising demand
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ):Ministry apologises for continued contracts to struck-off principal
Danielle Clent (Stuff): International Literacy Day: More than 440,000 Kiwi adults not reading books
RNZ: $27m for new school, 20 classrooms in Otago and Southland
Kirsty Wynne (Herald): Top school broke law when declining 10-year-old boy as ‘not Catholic enough’
Paul Little (Herald): Vaccinating kids against stupidity (paywalled)
Tom Dillane (Herald): Non-union Hastings teacher makes complaint to Human Rights Commission over pay-deal ‘discrimination’
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Lessons in catastrophe: How schools can help take the fear out of climate change
1News: Less student debt, improved student well-being in first year of Fees-Free
Derek Cheng (Herald): One third of fees-free students fail or withdraw from course (paywalled)
Lana Lopesi (Noted): When Pasifika students feel tokenised, it’s no wonder there’s a lack of Pasifika professors
1News: Massey University encourages staff and students to attend climate change strike
Ruby Macandrew (Stuff): Animal rights activists protest against animal testing at Victoria University
Hamish McNeill (Stuff): CCTV identifies ‘non student’ uplifting controversial Critic magazine
Te reo Māori
Brittany Deguara (Stuff): ‘Normalisation’ of te reo Māori in schools could take 20 years
Steve Elers (Stuff): Māori language Week should acknowledge state-sanctioned abuse for speaking te reo
Daniela Maoate-Cox (RNZ): ‘Honour the language’ – Māori for MPs
Mike McRoberts (Newshub): Māori Language Week: Kelvin Davis encourages fluent speakers to teach their children Te Reo
Michael Neilson (Herald): Te reo Māori: From a 1972 petition to save it, to ‘booming’ numbers of students
Deena Coster (Stuff): Week-long spotlight on te reo Māori part of wider focus on language revitalisation
Hayley Jacobsen (Newshub): All Kiwis urged to give Te Reo a go, as Māori Language Week kicks off
Siena Yates (Herald): Wait, is te reo Māori finally going mainstream? (paywalled)
Northern rail line
Mike Dinsdale (Northern Acvocate):$94M to upgrade Northland to Auckland rail line announced
Nick Truebridge and Denise Piper (Stuff): Northland rail line: KiwiRail boss says rail track would have closed within a year without Crown cash
Zane Small (Newshub): Northland rail line gets more than $90 million to bring it ‘out of decline’
RNZ: Northland rail gets almost $100 million makeover to address ‘decades of under-investment and neglect’
1News: Northland’s rail line gets $95 million boost from Government
Stephen Forbes (Interest): NZ First’s Shane Jones and Winston Peters announce $98.4 million investment from the Provincial Growth Fund in Auckland to Whangarei rail line
Brent Edwards (NBR): Northland rail line gets $95m cleanup (paywalled)
Transport
Rod Vaughan (Herald): Fixing our killer highways is years overdue (paywalled)
RNZ: A free ride: Bid to attract next generation of Auckland public transport users begins
1News: Auckland’s under-16 public transit users to travel free on weekends, starting tomorrow
RNZ: Lack of plan for Horowhenua expressway ‘untenable’
Aviation
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Team leaders at Aviation Security Services accused of allowing people to board flights with illegal items
Emily van Velthooven (1News): Whenuapai locals say John Key promised no commercial airport at airbase
Chris Keall (Herald): Whenuapai airport plan: Christopher Luxon should heed John Key’s historic advice that it’s ‘foolish’
1News: Air NZ chief’s Whenuapai airport idea a ‘cynically timed parting cheap shot’, critics say
Matthew Rosenberg (Stuff): Whenuapai airport plan gets mixed reaction from residents
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Whenuapai airport proposal ‘unrealistic’ – local councillor
RNZ: Whenuapai regional airport would cost ‘up to $200m’ – Luxon
Ben Uffindell (The Civilian): Air New Zealand identifies this enormous plot of unused land as possible second airport site
Child welfare
Bernard Orsman and Anna Leask (Herald): Baby uplifts: Distressing new videos emerge showing newborns being uplifted
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Arrests made during uplift of newborn in Auckland
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Two arrested during uplift of baby by Oranga Tamariki at Auckland City Hospital
RNZ: Two people arrested as Oranga Tamariki take baby
Kim Dungey (ODT): Advocating for our youth
Justice, corrections
Darroch Ball (Manawatū Standard): Youth justice system failing to stop reoffending or serious offending
Alex Mason (Newstalk ZB): Inmates getting a cut rate for tattoo removals
Race relations
Dale Husband (E-Tangata): Meng Foon: A journey in te ao Māori
Herald: ‘Disappointed’: Race Relations Commissioner on Hobson’s Pledge local govt campaign
Media
Finn Hogan (Newshub): The Broken Estate: Why New Zealand is uniquely vulnerable to global journalism crisis
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Broken Estate: an expat expert surveys our media
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Mixed messages and health news we can really use
Steve Kilgallon (Stuff): Paddy Gower: Politics drove me to the brink
Barbara Dreaver (1News): Newly-launched Pasifika TV to be broadcast across 13 countries
Science
Jamie Morton (Herald): Science still dominated by ‘old boys’ club’, NZ study finds
Peter Griffin (Stuff): Old boys’ club still dominates NZ science
Jamie Morton (Herald): National questions Government’s spending towards bold R&D target
Ardern to meet with Twitter CEO
1News: Ardern to meet with head of Twitter to discuss eliminating online terrorist content
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern asked to tell Twitter to kick 8chan out
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to meet with Twitter boss Jack Dorsey
Other
1News: Government urged to pay out Christchurch earthquake claimants allegedly underpaid by insurer, Southern Response
Ben Strang (RNZ): Bullying in the police: ‘It just builds up and builds up’
Finn Hogan (Newshub): The Pitch: David Seymour pushes education reform but hasn’t asked to renew Epsom deal
Matthew Rosenberg (Stuff): Michael Cullen on treaty negotiations, Ihumātao, and whether we’re set for another foreshore-style debate
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Why do bureaucrats want online gambling?
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Newshub Nation: Helen Clark backs letting ex-criminals sell cannabis legally
Stuff: Following your own path to happiness
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Pike River Mine: Police evidence destruction ‘truly unbelievable’ – electrical expert
Susan Strongman (RNZ): Department refuses to rule out funding anti-abortion charities PCS and CPS
RNZ: Commerce Commission takes UDC Finance Limited to High Court over unreasonable default fees
Gyles Beckford (RNZ): Fonterra delays release of financial result
Jane Phare (Herald): Revealed: Which NZ rich-listers are the most generous (and why some aren’t) (paywalled)
RNZ: SkyCity Casino workers to strike for second weekend
Chloe Ann-King (E-Tangata): ‘Most times you let it go’
Michelle Duff (Stuff): Jay-Jay Feeney stands among the women who have spoken up and copped it for all of us
Charlie Gates (Stuff): Royal Commission deadline pushed out for families affected by March 15 terror attack
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Immigration review after Karel Sroubek debacle – delayed
John-Michael Swannix (Newshub): Ruakākā community calls for macrons on road signs to stop ‘two poos’ mistranslation
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Simon Bridges suggests New Zealand teams up with India on space exploration
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Australian-based Māori man speaks out after being refused restaurant entry because of his tā moko
Robin Martin (RNZ): Whanganui’s Sarjeant Gallery gets further $12 million
Kate Nicol-Williams (1News): Government gives $12m to Whanganui gallery
