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.

Industrial relations
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Winston Peters holds the keys to new union laws. Will he unlock a solution?
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Why even Jacinda Ardern has gone cold on Fair Pay Agreements
Jason Walls (Herald): Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters takes swipe at unions while speaking to the CTU today
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern warns unions off radical industrial change
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Appreciation but impatience for Ardern at union conference
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Labour under fire from ‘frustrated’, ‘impatient’ unions calling for sector-wide fair pay agreements
Derek Cheng (Herald): PM confirms more consultation for Fair Pay Agreements
Debrin Foxcroft (Stuff): Time for government to get on with it with Fair Pay Agreements, says union head
RNZ: Fair pay agreements an urgent priority – Council of Trade Unions
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Winston vs the CTU – what’s really going to happen next year?
RNZ: SkyCity workers picket over unsociable hours

Parliament
Richard Harman (Politik): Bridges heads for confrontation
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): National Party calls Trevor Mallard’s bluff over attack ads
Derek Cheng and Jason Walls (Herald): Parliament video defiance: Mallard penalises Bridges but opts for light punishment
Jo Moir (RNZ): National leader’s questions slashed by speaker over attack ads

1News Colmar Brunton poll
1News: Being likeable doesn’t make a good PM, Simon Bridges says while shrugging off negative approval rating
1News: Ardern and Bridges approval ratings revealed in 1 NEWS Colmar Brunton Poll

Government
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: Labour’s ‘Year of non-Delivery’ bites (paywalled)
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern’s year of delivery has been sloppy and confused
Jason Walls (Herald): The Government’s ‘nine years of neglect’ defence has become a tired cliché (paywalled)
David Farrar: Labour’s Year of Delivery
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Outcry over Shane Jones playing with an AR15 is stupid

Operation Burnham inquiry
Thomas Manch (Stuff): SAS commander Jim Blackwell says Defence Minister Wayne Mapp was informed of possible civilian deaths
Boris Jancic (Herald): Defence Minister was told about Afghan civilian deaths report, top officer says
Grace Cocker (Newshub): Operation Burnham inquiry: Retired SAS commander Jim Blackwell denies hiding classified document
RNZ: Operation Burnham: Records system under spotlight

Defence
Boris Jancic (Herald): ‘National security’: Defence Minister overrules Whenuapai noise ruling
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): Defence Minister trumps Environment Court decision on Whenuapai Airbase engine noise
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Defence Minister Ron Mark overrules Environment Court on Whenuapai Airbase noise restrictions
RNZ: Defence Minister overrules environment court over Whenuapai Air Base

Local government – Wellington
Tommy Livingston, Collette Devlin and Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern will apologise for labelling Justin Lester an independent
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to apologise over Justin Lester Labour blunder
Tommy Livingston and Collette Devlin (Stuff): Justin Lester says Jacinda Ardern made a ‘mistake’ when labeling him independent
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Justin Lester Labour blunder ’embarrassing’
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Tom Hunt (Dominion Post):Can centre-right Foster wrangle a left-leaning Wellington council
Charlotte Graham-McLay (New York Times): Peter Jackson Has a Lot of Power in New Zealand. Some Say Too Much.
1News: New Wellington mayor Andy Foster concedes Sir Peter Jackson’s backing was crucial
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Lets Get Wellington Moving: Election promises v spades in the ground (paywalled)
Damian George and Tom Hunt (Dominion Post): New Wellington mayor looks to have a fight on his hands over extra Mt Victoria tunnel
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): New Wellington mayor wants action on second Mt Victoria tunnel
Caitlin Bishop and Felix Desmarais (Stuff): New Wellington mayor Andy Foster resolute the Central Library should be repaired

Local government
1News: Councils need to ‘step up in national interest and build intensified housing – Twyford
Jordan Williams (Herald): For the centre-right to win elections, they have to turn up (paywalled)
Herald Editorial:Local body elections – New Zealand has spoken, now like it or lump it (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Online voting won’t lift participation but a midweek public holiday might
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Bernard Orsmasn (Herald): Auckland Council bonuses of $1.1m despicable, says Living Wage Movement (paywalled)
Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): 10 questions with Auckland’s re-elected mayor Phil Goff
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Auckland politician Paul Young urges police action after election sign shot
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Rotorua’s youngest councillor still in shock days after election win
Nicholas Boyack (Stuff): New Lower Hutt mayor Campbell Barry’s 100-day plan for the Melling Interchange
Joel Maxwell (Dominion Post): Maybe no easy options for CE, but we still need to know what happened, and why
Virginia Fallon and Joel Maxwell (Dominion Post): Dumped mayor Mike Tana calls for an investigation over leaked email
Cherie Sivignon (Stuff): Three votes separate two Motueka ward hopefuls ahead of final count
Chloe Ranford (Stuff): Marlborough’s Francis Maher vows to strengthen relationship between farmers and council
Emma Dangerfield (Press): Landslide victories for two new North Canterbury mayors

Building industry
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Two-thirds of buildings investigated by Palmerston North City Council may have structural problems
Jono Galuszka (Manawatū Standard): Report finds Palmerston North buildings possibly have design problems, opens up legal action
Anne Gibson (Herald): Experts question shoddy building claims: ‘no evidence’ steel being pulled from concrete
Dominion Post Editorial: Too many of our buildings are broken. We have been warned

Immigration
MItchell Alexander, Tova O’Brien and Zane Small (Newshub): National granted repeat drink-driver temporary visa in 2013
1News: Under fire for granting residency to six-time drink driver, Government says it had no choice
Derek Cheng (Herald): PM defends immigration decision: National would have done the same
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway defends residency of convicted criminal
Katie Fitzgerald and Mitchell Alexander (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern can’t intervene over repeat drink-driver granted residency
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Residency case ‘Sroubek 2.0’, National claims
Tova O’Brien (Newshub):Immigration Minister refuses to say if residency-granted drink-driver is war criminal or terrorist
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Iain Lees-Galloway chose ‘lazy’ option granting residency to drink-driver – Simon Bridges
Katie Todd (RNZ): Immigration NZ criticised for confusion around Electronic Travel Authority rules
RNZ: Fake visa websites fleecing overseas visitors

Police
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern puts pressure on to reach police staff targets
Ben Strang (RNZ): Police bullying claims: Minister says ‘two sides of every story’
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Public support for armed police up after Christchurch terror attacks
Laura Walters (Newsroom): More Kiwis now support arming of police
Anna Leask (Herald): Mosque massacre: Police commended for ‘relentless’ work following March 15 attack
Anna Leask (Herald): Organised crime evolving ‘rapidly’ in NZ as borders become ‘porous’ to illicit trade
Laura Macdonald (Newshub): Police face new challenge as organised crime moves to the regions

Gangs
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Police concerned for ordinary Kiwis – want powers to ‘hammer gangs destroying families’
Daisy Hudson (ODT): ‘Huge’ rise in gang numbers
1News: Gang competition in North Island meth market helps drive patched migration south

Environment
Zane Small (Newshub): Scientist knocks ‘complacent attitude displayed by Judith Collins’ on climate change
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Government fleet electric vehicle numbers not good enough – Jacinda Ardern
Md Arif Hasan and Ralph Brougham Chapman (Stuff): The carbon footprint of electric versus fossil cars
Basil Sharp (Newsroom): EV revision a reality check, not a back-down
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Penguins ‘living on a plastic beach’, Wellington clean-up crews say
1News: Mount Maunganui ‘could slide into the ocean’ if myrtle rust kills pōhutakawa

Primary industries
Gerard Hutching (Stuff): Western Saharan activist aims to end phosphate trade
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Environmentalist claims he’s being harassed in Southland
Gerard Hutching (Stuff): European aristocrats buy large North Island farms for forestry conversion
Anna Campbell (ODT): NZ must urgently rethink its future as a food producer

Education
1News: PM defends new university pastoral care code as not just ‘knee-jerk reaction’ to student’s death
Ella Prendergast and Juliet Speedy (Newshub): Students hope new rules will give them the support they’re missing
James Caldwell, Mare Haimona-Riki (Māori TV): Low decile schools look forward to additional support
Tom Dillane (Herald): ‘Thanks, but no thanks’ – Rotorua schools weigh up Government’s free lunch trial amid kitchen upgrade costs (paywalled)
Katy Jones (Stuff): ‘Tick box process’ fears over tertiary reform consultation

Welfare
Sarah Robson (RNZ):Benefit levels need to rise to relieve cycle of debt – advocates
John Gibb (ODT): Debt rethink is needed

Health
John Gibb (ODT): Vape flavours ‘tragedy waiting to happen’
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): Prefabs considered to create space at Palmerston North Hospital
Katie Fitzgerald and Mel Logan (Newshub): Staff at Christchurch’s Hillmorton Hospital taking time off due to attacks
Victoria Young (BusinessDesk):Fletcher in $31m dispute with ministry over Greymouth hospital
Chris Keall (Herald): Taxpayer-backed prostate cancer startup Caldera Health goes into liquidation (paywalled)

Cannabis
Scott Palmer (Newshub): US cannabis expert explains our reform options (video)
Hannah McGowan (Spinoff): Weed and woo: Separating facts from fiction on the health benefits of cannabis

Transport
Katie Todd (RNZ): Lower SH6 speed limits a ‘terrible and senseless’ idea – drivers
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland speed reductions: Decision looms on proposal to cut limits on 700 roads
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): NZTA has no idea how much it’s spending on roadside artwork

Tuia 250, James Cook
Graeme Lay (Listener): Hero or villain?: The still-debated legacy of Captain James Cook
Karl du Fresne (Stuff): Pākehā and Māori should acknowledge all of colonisation’s consequences
Brian Gil (Herald)l: Captain James Cook put NZ birds on the map (paywalled)

Economy
Peter Lyons (ODT): NZ interest rates joining race to the bottom
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Keep adapting to adversity as summer and party time beckon (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): Building confidence: NZ’s gloomiest economist – We’re still glass half-full (paywalled)

Banks
Madison Reidy (RNZ): Big banks cop capital changes on both sides of Tasman
Michael Reddell: Holding the Bank to account: OIA requests

Online extremism
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): ISPs react cautiously to extremism internet filter
RNZ: Funding to open up more jobs in Chief Censor’s office

Foreign affairs
Jason Walls (Herald): The Government has contacted the Turkish ambassador to directly raise its concerns around developments in Syria
Anneka Smith (RNZ): Samoa prison death: Jurisdiction separate to New Zealand – Winston Peters

Justice
1News: New Chief District Court Judge wants to see more focus on tikanga Māori
Taroi Black (Māori TV): Judge Heemi Taumaunu seeks transformative change in justice system

Other
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Government wants to crack down on its algorithms, urging more human oversight and transparency
Paul Buchanan: The rot at the top (2).
Susan Hornsby-Geluk (Stuff): A New Zealand guide for whistleblowers
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Green investment fund yet to invest a cent, but minister says it is on track
Tommy Livingston (Stuff): Child-protection cases investigated by police continue to rise
1News: Jami-Lee Ross prepares to fight for Botany electorate, one year on from explosive feud
RNZ: The Detail: The drug testing dilemma – how we are getting around it
Tracy Neal (RNZ): Survey prompts call to add stalking to Harrassment Act
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Man killed in Northland sailing tragedy was ACT Party candidate Stuart Pedersen
Derek Cheng (Herald): Police Minister Stuart Nash rules out extending outlawed guns amnesty
Max Whitehurst and Anisha Sankar (Spinoff): How the ‘free speech’ excuse targets people of colour and trans people alike
Jordan Oppert (1News): KiwiSaver members should be able to use funds for investment properties – Retirement Commissioner
1News: Jacinda Ardern responds to Sir Elton John wanting to be her – ‘I was surprised’
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): The far right links of the Trump-style hats
Herald:‘Make Ardern Go Away’ hats make a comeback on Trade Me
RNZ: First Up: World Rugby rules discriminate against Pacific players – Impey
RNZ: Pacific language weeks not enough – Aupito William Sio
Aimee Shaw (Herald): Bill English co-founds Wellington start-up that measures impact of philanthropic investment (paywalled)
Katie Fitzgerald and Lydia Lewis (Newshub): Problem Gambling Foundation issues warning ahead of $38 million Lotto draw
Matthew Littlewood (Newshub): Opinion: Sir Roger Douglas wrong to say Government should have a ‘$30 billion deficit’

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