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
Peter Dunne: This is the end of Ardern’s Golden Weather as Prime Minister
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Labour Party president Nigel Haworth has resigned – but it’s not over
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): If political capital was cash, Labour would be bankrupt
RNZ: The Detail: Labour’s badly bungled sexual assault investigation
Audrey Young (Herald): President’s resignation won’t end Labour’s crisis (paywalled)
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Labour’s Fatal Flaw
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: Ardern’s #MeTooLabour problem (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): More answers needed as Labour president departs
Jane Patterson (RNZ): How has Jacinda Ardern ended up in middle of scandal?
Newshub: Former Labour Party president surprised Jacinda Ardern wasn’t told about sexual assault claims
David Farrar: What you need to believe to accept the PM only heard of the sexual assault complaints this week
Newstalk ZB: Ardern’s senior staff knew about sexual assault complaints for months – Bennett
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Paula Bennett claims Grant Robertson and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s senior staff knew about alleged sexual assault
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Complainants reveal details of how much Grant Robertson, Nigel Haworth knew about sexual assault allegations
RNZ: Bennett names Labour figures she says knew of sexual assault allegations
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Labour cover-up alleged over sexual assault inquiry as president resigns
Zane Small (Newshub): ‘The PM needed a fall guy’: Simon Bridges brands Nigel Haworth’s resignation ‘inevitable’
RNZ: Labour Party President Nigel Haworth’s resignation accepted by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
Newshub: Labour Party President Nigel Haworth resigns amid alleged sexual assault scandal
Anna Whyte (1News): Jacinda Ardern makes ‘unequivocal’ apology to Labour complainants
1News: Labour Party President resigns over handling of sexual assault allegations levelled at staffer
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Labour Party President Nigel Haworth resigns
Derek Cheng (Herald): Woman alleging sexual assault calls Labour Party ‘cowardly
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): New Zealand Labour’s president resigns over handling of sexual assault inquiry
No Right Turn: Disgust
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): In defence of Jacinda Ardern’s handling of the sex scandal & the danger of trials by media
Local government
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Your place, your vote: welcome to Policy Local
John Hartevelt (Stuff): The Voting Climate: A Stuff survey of every council candidate
Dan Satherley (Newshub): GST charged on rates should be given back – economist
Tom McRae (Newshub): Auckland ratepayers to miss out on at least $100 million after much-touted Ports of Auckland cranes go unused
Matt Shand (Stuff): Tauranga councillor threatens legal action over million dollar land gift to Māori trust
Rikihana Smallman (Waikato Times): Anti-fluoride campaigner, and councillor, Siggi Henry supports continued use of fluoride
Newshub: Two years after bilingualism commitment, how is Rotorua going?
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Independent inquiry launched into Napier City Council’s social media scrutiny
Hawkes Bay Today: Wellington lawyer to lead a review into Napier City Council code of conduct saga
RNZ: Wellington lawyer to review Napier City Council social media monitoring
Christina Persico (Taranaki Daily News): New Plymouth councillors asked to consider living wage for all low-paid employees
Felix Desmarais (Dominion Post): Health board candidate Susan Turner at centre of $1.4m payout, but says ‘I’m not a bully’
RNZ: Vandals targeting Muslim candidate’s billboards
Stuff: Asset sales, rates and the Crusaders’ name fire-up Christchurch mayoral candidates
Tina Law (Press): Christchurch mayoral candidate Darryll Park wants to halt cycleways
Alice Gear (Timaru Herald): A vote for Lee could mean an expensive Mackenzie by-election
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Dunedin chief executive has increased on charity, mortgage spending after pay rise
John Lewis (ODT): 21% of Queenstown Lakes district residents still not enrolled
Logan Savor (Southland Times): Invercargill mayoral incumbent Sir Tim Shadbolt remains addicted to political arena
Blair Jackson (Southland Times): Health board candidates paint dire picture of health services in the south
Housing
Isaac Davison (Herald): Motel Nation: Quick-fix housing solution becomes a $100 million problem (paywalled)
Katie Bradford (1News): Children as young as 10 living on the streets, and youth advocates say problem is growing
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Woods takes aim at building material costs
Rodney Hide (NBR): Sweep away the rules and houses will come (paywalled)
Katie Todd (RNZ): Govt accused of hypocrisy after ordering its own batch of tiny home on wheels
Education
Jessica Long (Stuff): New Zealand history to be taught in schools by 2022, says PM Jacinda Ardern
RNZ: New Zealand history will be compulsory in all schools by 2022
Boris Jancic ((Herald): Government to announce New Zealand history teaching for all school students (paywalled)
Ayelet Zoran-Rosen (Spinoff): New Zealand history must be taught in schools – for the sake of our future
John Gerritsen ((RNZ): Auckland schools struggling to find teachers in ‘dire’ shortage
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Kōhanga reo fight to survive as numbers fall by 100 each year
RNZ: Kura kaupapa wins big at Prime Minister’s education excellence awards
Government
Claire Trevett (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s social media stealth propaganda (paywalled)
Zane Small (Newshub): Winston’s back: Deputy Prime Minister enjoys ‘fresh air’ walking dog Beau
1News: Winston Peters on the mend after surgery, posts picture of himself walking dog Beau
Foreign affairs
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Has NZ been played by China via Simon Bridges?
RNZ: Simon Bridges reveals what he said when asked about Communist Party of China
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): New Zealand opposition leader criticised for ‘alarming’ stance on China
Curwen Ares Rolinson (Daily Blog): Why Simon Bridges’ Enthusiasm For The Chinese Communist Party Is Utterly Unsurprising
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Police issue warning after Uni Hong Kong protest
Primary industries
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Live cattle export on troubled ship
Gerard Hutching (Stuff): Ship with poor animal welfare record due at Napier for cattle export
RNZ: Chinese ship stopped for biosecurity breach heading to Napier
Peter de Graaf (Northern Advocate): Northland kiwifruit uneconomic without controversial spray, industry body says
Environment
Jodie Bruning (STuff): Gene-editing risks are still too great to warrant a change in the law
Pattrick Smellie (Herald): Waterways push will change farming (paywalled)
Herald: Jamie Mackay asks Jacinda Ardern ten questions on water quality (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Nats say government is failing farmers (paywalled)
Georgina Oldfield (Southland Times): Government’s Freshwater Action Plan an environmental disaster for some
Dominion Post Editorial: Taking stock of risky riverside spots and past mistakes
Fonterra
David Hargreaves (Interest): The Fonterra chickens took a few years to come home to roost
David Hargreaves (Interest): Fonterra faces fire – and its many problems are our problems
Andrea Fox (Herald): Fonterra has a bigger problem than red ink (paywalled)
Suicide
Mark Quinlivan and Miriam Harris (Newshub): Government’s Suicide Prevention Strategy shifts responsibility onto everyone to do better – Mike King
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Concerns over lack of Māori suicide prevention strategy
Euthanasia
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): David Seymour accuses opponent of slowing euthanasia bill vote count
Boris Jancic (Herald): End of Life Choice Bill euthanasia law inches closer to final vote
Boris Jancic (Herald): Dutch euthanasia critic’s warning as New Zealand debate continues
Air NZ seeks to trademark Kia Ora
RNZ: Māori Council accuses Air NZ of appropriating Māori culture
1News: Māori Council threatens to take Air NZ to court over ‘hairbrained’ request to trademark Kia Ora
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Air NZ wants to trademark ‘Kia Ora’
Herald: Air New Zealand applies to trademark Kia Ora logo for in-flight magazine
Synthetic drugs
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Chilling map shows which synthetic drugs are killing Kiwis around New Zealand
Anna Leask (Herald): Synthetic drugs: epidemic examined by Crown forensic experts, new trends emerge
Health
Carmen Parahi (Stuff): The ongoing racial inequities uncovered in decades of health research
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Ministry of Health, Medsafe grilled over med brand switch
Sommer Kapitan and Patrick van Esch (Stuff): The promotion of vapes as a lifestyle choice is dangerous
Laura Smith (ODT): Buoyed by support for charity hospital
RNZ: Plan for charity hospital in Southland being launched
Damian Rowe (Stuff): MP queries use of social messenger service for on-call midwives
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Lumsden midwife ends short contract
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Energy drink ‘addicts’ call for ban after Countdown restricts sales to kids
Measles
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): The most vulnerable are missing out on measles vaccines, Ministry of Health warns
Imran Ali (Northern Advocate): Northland clinics run out of measles vaccine
Amy Williams (RNZ): School nurses get equipped to administer measles jab
RNZ: 13 cases of measles confirmed in the Waikato
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Plan to deal with wider measles outbreak
Justice
Danica MacLean and Michael Neilson (Newstalk ZB/Herald): Smaller prisons, better visiting hours mooted as part of ‘whānau-facing’ justice system to address Māori incarceration rates
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Former Marist brother who sexually abuse three girls avoids jail
Edward Gay (Stuff): Sexual abuse by Catholic Brother during prayer haunted victim for 40 years
KiwiSaver
Julie Iles (NBR): Minister cool on KiwiSaver, capital markets reform (paywalled)
RNZ: KiwiSaver changes recommended in industry report
Cannabis
Sophie Bateman (Newshub): Patrick Gower: On Weed aims to educate voters in place of ‘disgraceful’ lack of Govt information
Chlöe Swarbrick (Spinoff): 420 stars: Chlöe Swarbrick reviews Paddy Gower’s new cannabis doco
Kelly Tantau (Waikato Times): Paula Bennett cracks down on cannabis referendum in Thames
Kristin Edge (Herald): Cannabis: Northland man Matt Grant’s battle to be pain-free (paywalled)
Christchurch mosque shootings and Christchurch Call
Herald: Six months on from the Christchurch mosque shootings – what has changed? (paywalled)
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Who is an ‘everyday New Zealander’, anyway?
Ben Uffindell (The Civilian): Let me explain what I meant by Everyday New Zealanders
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Simon Bridges describes Christchurch Call ‘nebulous, feel-good thing’
Transport
RNZ: ACC pours $5m into road safety programmes in Auckland
Phil Twyford (Herald): Yes, fixing our killer highways is years overdue (paywalled)
Sam Farrell (Newshub): Wellington’s trolley buses will not be retrofitted as city moves towards electric bus fleet
ODT Editorial: Time for buses to belt up?
Immigration
Stephen Forbes (Interest): Migrant exploitation, people trafficking, fraud & allegations of non-compliance challenge immigration system – MBIE report
Tim Newman (Nelson Mail): Petition to grant Nelson firefighter residency presented to Parliament
Parliament
Derek Cheng (Herald): Speaker has no plans to have Jesus Christ reference put back into Parliament’s prayer
Zane Small (Newshub): Speaker Trevor Mallard explains why he removed ‘Jesus’ from Parliament prayer
Other
Thomas Manch (Suff): Sir Jerry Mateparae and high-ranking military officials to appear before Operation Burnham inquiry
Michael Hayward (Stuff): Southern Response unsure if it will appeal major court decision
Kate Nicol-Williams (1News): Streaming video services set to show programme classifications next year
Zane Small (Newshub): New rules tipped for Netflix shows like 13 Reasons Why
Laura Kvigstad (University of Auckland): Q+A: Why does the government remove Māori babies from their family?
Reuben Friend (Spinoff): Calling out Cook: Porirua’s Pātaka gallery confronts the complexities of Tuia250
Sophie Bateman (Newshub): English auction house selling 18th-century hei-tiki pendant for $50,000
RNZ: Government supports 5 percent bed tax in Queenstown
Tracey Roxburgh (ODT): Bill a sensible solution: Boult
1News: Tonga’s Prime Minister medevaced to Auckland
RNZ: Tongan PM, ‘Akilisi Pohiva, medevaced to Auckland
Newstalk ZB: Hosking takes fake ad complaint direct to Facebook NZ boss
Anna Whyte (1News): NZ’s adoption and surrogacy laws ‘complicated, expensive and convoluted’, says father who aims to change them
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Finance industry urged to change now or face legal clamp-down, regulator (paywalled)
1News: Workers’ advocate calls on Government to ‘lead the way’ by paying living wage
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Trade guru warns of ‘economic earthquake’ (paywalled)Herald: Hollywood star Anna Faris says ‘Tourism Minister’ banned her from New Zealand
