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.
Education
Audrey Young (Herald): Why Education Minister Hipkins has shot to the top of the class (paywalled)
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Chris Hipkins pushes schools co-operation over rivalry in school reform
Laura Walters (Newsroom): An education hub by any other name
Dominion Post Editorial: Hipkins gets a pass mark for shake-up of education
Simon Collins (Herald): The great school shake-up: Q&A (paywalled)
Simon Collins (Herald): New rules may force more students to attend their local schools
Simon Collins (Herald): Tomorrow’s Schools: Govt takes over school zoning powers
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Principals welcome education reforms, but need clarification
TVNZ Q+A: Unpacking the Tomorrow’s Schools review, which could see major shake-up of education system
Anna Whyte (1News): Major overhaul of New Zealand schools to set system up ‘for the next 30 years‘
Henry Cooke (Stuff): What the Tomorrow’s Schools shakeup means for you
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Biggest overhaul of school system in 30 years
Jessica Long (Stuff): Overhauling Tomorrow’s Schools ‘positive’ but devil’s in the detail, say educators
Jody O’Callaghan (Stuff): Government taking back school property control concern for quake rebuilds
Zane Small (Newshub): Tomorrow’s Schools review: Government rejects ‘disruptive’ Education Hubs idea
Sae Strang (Newshub): Auckland principal claims Tomorrow’s Schools report lacks crucial details
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Education hubs scrapped, focus remains the same
Alice Webb-Liddall (Spinoff): Cheat sheet: What is going to happen to our education system?
Michael Macaulay (Newsroom): Education ministry’s poor call on sex case
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Six hours of NCEA exams a day ‘really quite stressful’
Mikaela Collins (Northern Advocate): New study highlights severe behaviour in Northland schools (paywalled)
1News: Some teacher aides forced to rely on food parcels and petrol vouchers due to low wages and job insecurity
George Heagney (Manawatū Standard): Early childhood teachers call for improved pay and work conditions
Scott Palmer (Newshub): David Seymour condemns Massey University’s new free speech policy
David Farrar: Massey makes censorship on campus easier
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Auckland University white supremacy row sparked ‘major’ crisis incident
Ports of Auckland move
David Fisher (Herald): Will the North win Auckland’s port? ‘My eye is firmly on the prize,’ says Shane Jones
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Auckland ports’ move to Whangarei: explained
Jason Walls (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says moving Auckland’s port is a question of when, not if
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Auckland port move: Cabinet ministers deliberate on decision
1News: Jacinda Ardern says she doesn’t see Ports of Auckland’s future as ‘necessarily being political’
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Opinion: Moving Auckland’s waterfront port would be New Zealand’s largest infrastructure project
1News: Moving Auckland’s port north would be ‘stupid’ according to Auckland Chamber of Commerce
Euthanasia
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Euthanasia bill very likely to pass, Stuff poll of MPs finds
David Seymour and Dion Howard (Herald): End of Life Choice Bill: A case for and against (paywalled)
Bill English (Stuff): Why I oppose the End of Life Choice Bill, in plain English
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Lecretia Seales’ mother wants MPs to look past ’emotive rubbish’
Boris Jancic (Herald): Parliament faces historic final euthanasia bill vote
Boris Jancic (Herald): Euthanasia law critics gather for final push
Tema Hemi (Māori TV): 1,500 ‘Doctors Say No’ to End of Life Choice Bill
Parliament
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Mysterious foundation loaning New Zealand First money
Bevan Rapson (North & South): Caution ahead: Retail politics supercharged by power of social media
Zero Carbon Bill
Steve Abel (Spinoff): A weak climate law based on a feeble consensus is no ‘nuclear-free moment’
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Carbon bill might not save NZ from climate change, but it saved democracy from itself
No Right Turn: Climate Change: What happens next?
Terror law
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Privacy Commissioner slams new terror law as ‘obnoxious’ and an intrusion of privacy
Zane Small (Newshub): Privacy Commissioner blasts ‘obnoxious’, ‘fundamentally flawed’ anti-terror law
Local government
Charlotte Jones (RNZ): PGF applications the cause of public exclusion from meetings
Pam Graham (RNZ): ‘Central government tends to have a one-size-fits-all mentality’
Infometrics: Chart of the month: Local election turnout zigs and zags
Nick Truebridge (RNZ): South Auckland neglected under Super city – Goff
Regan Paranihi (Māori TV): Whakatāne Council acknowledges ‘profound hurt’, calls for hui with Mahuta
RNZ: Māori representatives appointed to important council committees
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Mayors ‘ashamed’ of region’s health statistics and want a say in the appointment of DHB chair
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Breastfeeding ban confirmed for Wellington City Council pools
Sam Farrell (Newshub): Wellington councillor calls for revival of city’s old flag, featuring a colonial ship
Dominic Harris (Press): Deon Swiggs backers hope inquiry will ‘expose the truth’ about election ‘sabotage’
Immigration
Liam Dann (Herald): New data confirms this Govt hasn’t shifted the dial on immigration (paywalled)
Katie Bradford (1News): Government denies rift with NZ First holding up visa changes
Paul Chalmers (Newsroom): One redeeming feature in Jones’ migrant bashing
Health
Jason Walls (Herald): The total District Health Board deficit $170m higher than Govt had previously admitted
Jason Walls (Herald): Government to unveil ‘significant’ changes to New Zealand’s embattled DHBs next month
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Three deaths following epilepsy drug brand switch
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Oversight body introduced after bullying complaints at Middlemore neonatal unit
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Counties Manukau DHB refuse to disclose details of bullying at Middlemore
Andrew MacFarlane (1News): New laws to boost organ donation and transplant rates pass final reading in Parliament
Tema Hemi (Māori TV): Suicide rates for Māori men have doubled since 2016
Police
MIchael Neilson (Herald): Police use of force report: Taser used on three 15-year-olds in 2018, Māori disproportionately affected
RNZ: Suicide, self-harm attempts in custody nearly quadruple – police data
1News: Suicide, self-harm attempts in custody nearly quadruple – police data
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Well, well, well – surprise, surprise – barely 2 weeks in & NZ Police State over reach caught on camera
Charlotte Jones (RNZ): Tāneatua residents question long wait for vital police station
Firearms
Derek Cheng (Herald): Simon Bridges: Laws that breach human rights justified for dangerous people
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Firearms Prohibition Order proposal raises fears of warrantless search powers
Monetary policy
Richard Harman (Politik): Making life difficult for Robertson
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Weak inflation outlook could be enough to convince the Reserve Bank to cut the OCR
Herald Editorial: Housing lift means Reserve Bank should pause on rates
Infrastructure
Dileepa Fonseka (Newsroom): An infrastructure honeymoon with not enough action
RNZ: Infrastructure Commission promises faster projects
Infometrics: All aboard the $138b train
Environment and conservation
Jordan Bond (RNZ): Bird of the Year: Russian interest in contest piques suspicions online
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): NZ Bird of the Year: How Russia influenced the vote
Charlotte Graham McLay (Guardian): New Zealand twitchy amid claims of Russian meddling in bird of the year contest
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): EPA’s ‘inappropriate’ reaction to student’s speech
University of Otago: Bird of the Year not winning in real life
Emma Clark (Newshub): Hamilton bats on the ‘brink of extinction’, urgent action needed before they disappear
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Waikato building developments putting native bats at risk
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): More than 100 plastic-stuffed letters sent to Parliament this week
Govt department internet searches
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern makes her expectations clear on civil servants accessing porn
James Fyfe (Newshub): What are the rules around looking at porn at work?
Herald: Treasury blames pop-ups for white supremacist site searches
Media
Mark Jennings (Newsroom): Buyers line up for TV3, but should be wary of TVNZ
Peter Griffin (Listener): The streaming wars have only just begun
Jihee Junn (Spinoff): Five interesting takeaways from a survey on how NZers consume media
Primary and extractive industries
Eric Frykberg (RNZ): Call for urgent review of foreign forestry investment
Keith Woodford (Interest): Conversion of farms to forestry is now ramping up
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Austrian oil company hoping to drill off Otago coast questioned over ‘optimistic’ claim
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): MPI backs down over fine for honey declared on boarding card
RNZ: Women shearers recognised with new grade at competition
Ōwairaka/Mt Albert trees
Ben Thomas (Spinoff): Who really owns Ōwairaka?
Herald Editorial: Mt Albert tree cull is all about the timing (paywalled)
Herald: Mt Albert protesters say police, arborists arrived before dawn to start chopping down trees
Telecommunications
Harrison Christian (Stuff): Chinese media reports ‘softening’ of Huawei 5G ban in NZ
Chris Keall (Herald): Telcos urge govt to combat 5G scaremongering, Chorus insists it’s on board (paywalled)
Juha Saarinen (Herald): 5G and the ongoing disinformation war (paywalled)
Winston Peter’ privacy breach case
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Peters case: ‘The dog that didn’t bark
Susan St John (Newsroom): The real problem in Peters’ case
Peter Williams interviews Winston Peters
Magic Talk: Winston Peters defends “demonstrably false’ comments from 2017 (interview)
Zane Small (Newshub): Winston Peters lashes out at social media’s freedom to ‘ruin people’s reputations’
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Suicides will increase if social media isn’t regulated – Winston Peters
Sustainable NZ
Gordon Campbell: On why Sustainable NZ isn’t self-sustaining
Catherine Delahunty (Spinoff): A former Green MP on the new Sustainable NZ party
Tourism
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): 4 million overseas visitors, but Chinese numbers are still dropping
Grant Bradley (Herald): Tourist numbers from China slump, overall holiday arrivals down (paywalled)
RNZ: Drop in number of tourists to New Zealand
Erebus
Michael Wright (Stuff): Opinion: Air New Zealand should apologise for Erebus disaster
RNZ: White Silence: New World Order
Other
Bryce Edwards (Guardian): Chlöe Swarbrick is the voice of young progressives but can she stay the distance
Lewis Holden (Noted): Could Shane Jones be the next NZ First leader?
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): ‘Girlfriend, you are so on’: the curious Jacinda Ardern fixation in the US Democratic race
Herald: Jacinda Ardern as you have never seen her before – a comic book superheroine
David Parker (Stuff): Trade deals tether New Zealand to calm, predictable shores
Guardian: We asked how New Zealand should prepare for 5 million: here are your answers
RNZ: Pop-up convention centre idea floated in SkyCity fire aftermath
Nicholas Boyack (Stuff): Historians accuse Defence Department of under-valuing our history
Michael Hayward (Stuff): Dispute over medicinal cannabis advocate’s local hero award ‘ban’
Levi Joule (Newshub): Mongrel Mob PR compares gang to Christchurch mosque attack victims
1News: Government invests $3 million in NZ space technology, universities big winners
Luke Appleby (1News): Neo-Nazi website hack reveals far-right users in New Zealand as young as 15
Anna Connell (Spinoff): Trial by push notification
Jade Kake (Spinoff): An insider’s guide to the Ngāpuhi settlement
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Running the numbers on Tiwai Point
Aaron Hendry (Noted): Benefit time limits for young people are not the solution
RNZ: Siblings win gold to become NZ’s first-ever Pasifika chess champs
Teuila Fuatai (Herald): Failings of state’s care laid bare (paywalled)
Madison Reidy (RNZ): FMA ‘don’t know what they’re doing’ – burned currency trader
Susan Hornsby-Geluk (Stuff): Employers need to make their voice heard on Fair Pay Agreements
Denise Piper (Stuff): Northland MP proposes bill to publish candidates’ convictions, jail time
Dubby Henry (Herald): Ho, ho, no – Controversial Santa won’t feature at Auckland parade this year
