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.
NZ First
Matt Shand (Stuff): Who are the donors behind the NZ First Foundation?
Matt Shand (Stuff): Clayton Mitchell NZ First donations bag man, as donors kept in dark
Matt Shand (Stuff): QComms: the mysterious firm revving NZ First’s campaign engine
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The Second (and Final?) Crucifixion of Winston Peters.
Audrey Young (Herald): The one question Jacinda Ardern could not afford to answer (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Explainer: How New Zealand’s convoluted electoral law works
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): If Winston goes down, Jacinda goes with him
No Right Turn: Winston is the PM’s problem
No Right Turn: Bridges should put his money where his mouth is
1News: With microscope on foundation funding NZ First, Ardern says it’s ‘a matter for the Electoral Commission’
RNZ: Ardern says New Zealand First loans to be investigated independently
Jason Walls (Herald): PM Jacinda Ardern grilled by National Leader Simon Bridges over confidence in the Deputy PM
Jason Walls (Herald): Act leader David Seymour says he might go to police over NZ First donation allegations
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): New Zealand First donation debacle: Questions over whether donors gained influence
Herald: NZ First Leader Winston Peters speaking to reporters about the NZ First Foundation saga (video)
Dubby Henry (Herald): Simple question Winston Peters refused to answer on New Zealand First Foundation
James Fyfe (Newshub): ‘Leopards don’t change their spots’ – Peter Dunne on Winston Peters
RNZ: Simon Bridges wants PM to take action over NZ First allegations
Electoral boundaries
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Electorate reform likely spells bad news for Labour
Jessie Chiang (RNZ): National could take new Flat Bush electorate – academics
Tina Law (Press): Boundary changes could swing Labour’s safe Port Hills seat toward National
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Could boundary changes make a red Dunedin seat blue?
Richard Harman (Politik): Too many South Island seats? — all you need to know about next year’s electorate boundaries
RNZ: Electoral boundaries change with new Flat Bush electorate
1News: Population growth spurs new electorate proposal for Auckland ahead of next year’s election
Henry Cooke (Stuff): New south Auckland electorate named “Flat Bush” proposed for 2020 election
Cherie Sivignon (Nelson Mail): Brightwater may move from Nelson to West Coast-Tasman electorate
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Clutha split three ways
World Children’s Day
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Checkpoint: New playground at Parliament as calls grow for poverty action
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Frustration over Government welfare inaction
Anna Whyte (1News): Parliament’s new playground ‘inaccessible, missed opportunity’, Disability Rights Commissioner says
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard tests out new slide and playground at Parliament
1News: Ardern opens playground on Parliament’s front lawn, Mallard tries out the slide
Media, broadcasting
Rob Stock (Stuff): NZME’s ‘Kiwishare’ plan to buy Stuff takes leaf from 1980s and 1990s privatisation playbook
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): TVNZ-Radio NZ merger would be a hare-brained mistake
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): TVNZ-RNZ merger should make NZME-Stuff merger less likely
Kate Macnamara (Stuff): A new state competitor won’t mend New Zealand’s media model
Stuff: Standards authority looks to oversee auto-play videos and social media livestreaming
Damien Venuto (Herald): NZ broadcasting watchdog takes aim at live-streaming (paywalled)
Overseas investment rules
1News: New Zealand bottled water exports skyrocket as Government struggles to decide whether to charge royalties
Dileepa Fonseka (Newsroom): Politicians grab full control of foreign investment brake
RNZ: Overseas Investment measures to counteract billionaire influence – Parker
NZ in Afghanistan
Gordon Campbell: On why New Zealand should be compensating the Afghan civilian casualties on its old firing range
Claire Breen (Stuff): Did New Zealand violate the right to life of Afghan children?
Alexander Gillespie (Herald): NZ obliged to address remnant explosives (paywalled)
Ihumātao
Leigh-Marama McLachlan (RNZ): Ihumātao: Mana whenua disappointed over talk of $40m loan to council
Press Editorial: Ihumātao needs to be resolved before 2020
APEC
Jo Moir(RNZ): Bill allowing APEC security firearms, surveillance passes first reading
No Right Turn: The APEC police state enabling bill
Local government
Marta Steeman (Stuff): Auckland Council puts the former Franklin District Council headquarters and land on the market
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Council cuts jobs en route to 350 fewer positions than forecast
Nikki Preston (Herald): Hamilton City Council-owned flat has safety and hygiene concerns (paywalled)
Gerald Piddock (Stuff): Ex-Hamilton mayor made no threat to withhold funding if groups backed casino pokies bid
Charlotte Jones (RNZ): Opotiki only council with all-female leadership
Damian George (Dominion Post): City councillor Malcolm Sparrow objects to pay increase but others say it’s fair game
Damian George (Dominion Post): New Wellington City Council chief executive hired from within
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Pomp and circumstance returns to Wellington City Council
Jessica Long (Stuff): Parents given back priority after council staff massages moved to another room
Tina Law (Press): Ombudsman asks Christchurch’s mayoral adviser not to attend meeting
Jono Edwards (ODT): Planning ‘overhaul’ ordered
Katie Todd (RNZ): Aurora Energy Otago power lines price hike raises concerns
Daisy Hudson (ODT): More price increases for Aurora
Petrina Wright (ODT): Key investor believed to have left Invercargill project
Public sector CEO pay
Catherine Harris (Stuff): Ex-Treasury boss Gabriel Makhlouf tops list amid shrinking CEO pay packets
Julie Iles (NBR): Three public sector CEOs pre-empted pay rise law changes (paywalled)
Environment and conservation
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Plan to stop accidental killing of seabirds won’t go far enough to save them – Forest & Bird
Catherine Harris (Stuff): NZ’s oil and gas exploration ban a ‘role model’ in climate change report
Natalie Jones (Stuff): We must give the Government a strong mandate for climate action
Rodney Hide (NBR): Grand gestures ultimately hollow without pathways (paywalled)
RNZ: New theories emerge to explain dead rats washed up in Westport
RNZ: No 1080 in rats found dead on North Beach – toxicology
RNZ: Otago to get lower level, more expensive LED street lights
RNZ: Predators destroy three Waitākere kōkako nests as breeding season begins
Primary industries
Southland Times Editorial: Apology not required, Hamish
Guy Trafford (Interest): Rural resistance
Education
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Placement scam medical students ‘let off with a slap on the wrist’
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Medical students ‘scapegoats’ for Otago University’s failure – parent and health professional
Stuff: Doctor says med school rort happening for ‘decades’
Tony Ballantyne (ODT): ‘Hard work, thought, effort’ in change management process
Simon Collins (Herald): Childcare centre plans to open 6am-8pm, sell takeaways to meet demand for long care hours (paywalled)
Police
Sean Hogan (1News): Hawke’s Bay police to remain armed as region grapples with increasing gang violence
RNZ: Armed patrols throughout Hawke’s Bay, police reveal
Cherie Sivignon (Nelson Mail): Front-line policing level causes ongoing concern in Motueka
Ports of Auckland move
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Port move criticised in two reviews
Pattrick Smellie (Herald): Shifting Auckland’s port north may not be feasible (paywalled)
Housing
Jenna Lynch(Newshub): Government can’t sell KiwiBuild homes to Housing New Zealand due to design standards
Herald Editorial: Government trying to shift balance of property rights in changes to tenancy laws (paywalled)
Denise Piper (Stuff): Healthy Homes requirements could see pensioner homes in Northland demolished
Health
Peter McKenzie (Newsroom): NZ tobacco companies use tax hikes as cover
Libby Wilson (Stuff): Public should see report on former Waikato health boss Nigel Murray: union
Libby Wilson (Stuff): Chop at the top: Waikato DHB proposes shrinking management team
Katarina Williams and Eleanor Wenman (Stuff): Shock over Hutt Valley DHB chief executive’s response to midwives
Karen Rutherford (Newshub): Auckland widow’s wish to give away leftover cancer medication illegal under Medicines Act
Carly Gooch (Stuff): No government funding no fun for Type 1 diabetic
RNZ: The Detail: Will a new suicide plan bring down the numbers?
Pacific measles outbreak
RNZ: Samoa holidaymakers told to immunise against measles
RNZ: People infected with measles on Samoa to Auckland flight
RNZ: Fiji measles: Number of cases rises to nine
Royal Tour
Peter de Graaf (Northern Advocate): Doing what’s right – Prince Charles opens up at Waitangi
Māori TV: HRH Prince Charles recommits to honouring the treaty
Caroline Williams (Stuff): Royal visit, day three: Prince Charles and Camilla visit Waitangi Treaty Grounds
RNZ: Prince Charles, Camilla visit Waitangi Treaty grounds, local schools
Parliament
Anna Whyte (1News): Quickfire: Chris Hipkins and Nikki Kaye on worst concert experiences, rental laws and fees-free education
Zane Small (Newshub): MPs laugh as Speaker Trevor Mallard tells Simon Bridges who he reminds him of
Alan Kenyon (1News): Watch: Speaker says Simon Bridges reminds him of Michael Cheika during reprimand in Parliament
Retirement
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Retiring comfortably in a city? Better save $800k
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Worried about not having enough in retirement? Here’s how to reduce the pressure
Banks
RNZ: Reserve Bank keeping close eye on Westpac Australia’s findings
Jamie Morton (Herald): Westpac probe: Australian regulator looking at child exploitation claims (paywalled)
Ben Butler (Guardian): Westpac accused of more than 23m breaches of anti-money laundering laws
Stephen Colbert
Chris Reed (Herald): Stephen Colbert in New Zealand – Marmite, jandals and jokes about sausages
Angela Cuming (Guardian): Bohemian Rhapsody and a BBQ: Stephen Colbert visits Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand
Alex Casey (Spinoff): All the reasons Stephen Colbert is going to jail for a very long time
RNZ: Stephen Colbert in New Zealand: Jacinda Ardern, Lorde and BBQs
1News: Ardern should focus on NZ First allegations instead of ‘hanging out with Colbert’ – Simon Bridges
Other
Zane Small (Newshub): The number of New Zealanders fined for not filling out Census 2018 revealed
Simon Wilson (Herald): Anatomy of a dispute: The trees on Ōwairaka/Mt Albert (paywalled)
Brian Easton (Pundit): The Tragedy Of Privatisation
Dita De Boni (NBR): No real mystery as to cause of ‘grumpflation’ (paywalled)
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Gangs urged to take part in ‘no questions asked’ gun amnesty
Rob Stock (Stuff): Every worker should have a KiwiSaver-linked personal redundancy account
Madison Reidy (RNZ): Workers should have redundancy insurance – commission
Max Rashbrooke: Green shoots of open government
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): The one powerful similarity between Donald Trump, Chlöe Swarbrick and Shane Jones
RNZ: Crown called on to favour Māori for cannabis production if NZ votes yes to legalisation
Carrie Coddington (Stuff): A rise in the benefit is long overdue – I know, because I struggle to survive on it
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Hawke’s Bay TANK freshwater plan has ‘fatal flaws’ – Ngāti Kahungunu
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Sleepyhead signs agreement with Waikato-Tainui
Mare Haimona-Riki and Tema Hemi (Māori TV): ‘We have failed them’ – Rangatahi Advocate
RNZ: NZ police called in after death threat to Tongan PM
AP: After six years, refugee writer Behrouz Boochani tastes freedom in New Zealand
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Aucklanders need clarity around uncertain light rail project, says business leader (paywalled)
Tracy Neal (RNZ): Tuia 250: Commemoration for Cook visit to Tōtaranui, Queen Charlotte Sound
1News: Government’s crackdown on cowboy wheel clampers passes third reading in Parliament
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Government clamps down on overzealous wheel clamping ‘cowboys’
Rob Stock (Stuff): Climate scientists from NIWA will clean up beaches during strike
