New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.
Recommended Sponsor Painted-Moon.com - Buy Original Artwork Directly from the Artist

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.

Grace Millane trial
Khylee Quince (Spinoff): Defending the Indefensible? On the Grace Millane trial
1News: High profile criminal defence lawyer defends right to look at Grace Millane’s sexual experience in murder trial
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Laws around trial don’t need changing
Herald Editorial: Why was Grace Millane’s sexual history put to the jury (paywalled)
Teuila Fuatai (Herald): Deeper lessons to be learned from Grace Millane trial (paywalled)
Nicola Gavey (Spinoff): Men’s violence against women: the blind spots in the Grace Millane trial
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Suppression order for Millane killer’s name ignored online
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Justice Minister Andrew Little torn on how to stop victims’ humiliation
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): Why Grace Millane’s murderer still can’t be named
Sam Hurley (Herald): Several legal reasons Grace Millane’s killer continues to have name suppression

Prisoner voting ban, justice, corrections
Gordon Campbell: On the welcome restoration of prisoners’ right to vote
No Right Turn: Erasing the infamy
Dominion Post Editorial: Bridges belittles genuine effort to reform justice, prison systems
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): Anger over prisoner voting rights is a lot of hot air
1News: National mulling ‘targets and results’ system to get cases through courts faster
No Right Turn: National supports slavery

Poverty
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): The staggering number of Kiwi workers living in poverty
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Working, still poor: Is renting keeping us that way?
RNZ: Call to lift thousands of NZ households out of poverty
Stuff: Growing up poor: Missed chances, lost childhoods, struggling to survive
Stuff: Growing up poor: Dad was made redundant so I left school to help out
95bFM: How bad is poverty in New Zealand? (audio)

Welfare
Isaac Davison (Herald): ‘You can’t be friends with anybody anymore’: Flatmates say Winz thought they were lovers and cut their welfare
Isaac Davison (Herald): Love or welfare: Beneficiaries say penalties for getting into relationships unfair, old-fashioned
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Benefit relationship rules create lose-lose situation – advocacy groups
Alistair Lynn (Newshub)): Auckland woman owes Government $188,000 after lying about relationship

Primary and extractive industries
Eric Frykberg (RNZ): Farm animals suffering due to poor winter grazing practices, taskforce says
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Taskforce makes 11 recommendations for winter grazing
Sally Rae (ODT): Animal welfare taskforce reports on winter grazing
Eric Frykberg (RNZ): Otago farmers’ deemed permits to be renewed in a hurry
Brent Melville (ODT): Incoming cargo ship embroiled in protest
Lois Williams (RNZ): $14m bid to make Westport ‘whitebait capital of world’ gets backing
Laine Moger (Stuff): Auckland Santa Parade crashed by vegan protesters in cow-print onesies
Herald: Vegans in cow-print onesies crash Auckland Santa Parade
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Greenpeace’s OMV oil leak concerns
Eleisha Foon (RNZ): Protesters on oil company’s ship arrested in Timaru
1News: Eight environmental activists arrested after storming oil ship in Timaru
Alice Geary (Timaru Herald): Eight protesters removed from Skandi Atlantic in Timaru port
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Company in voluntary administration – Tamarind – could be responsible for tiny oil spill off Taranaki coast
Jane Matthews (Taranaki Daily News): Small amount of oil spilt off Taranaki coast
Tim Hunter (NBR): Tamarind’s risky strategy comes unstuck (paywalled)
Carly Gooch (Stuff): Honey prices slump as ‘trendy’ beekeeping boom floods the market

National Party
Audrey Young (Herald): How a schoolboy beat three able women in National’s Palmerston North contest (paywalled)
Zane Small (Newshub): Looking back on New Zealand’s youngest MPs as 17yo William Wood attempts to change history
Zane Small (Newshub): Simon Bridges pulls out ‘OK Boomer’ burn on Peter Williams over 17yo candidate doubts

Parliament
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: Fixing the problems of money in politics (paywalled)
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Why Chlöe Swarbrick shouldn’t have been surprised by trolls
Derek Cheng (Herald): Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick targeted by hateful online abuse
Herald: Jacinda Ardern at home with significant facial swelling after wisdom tooth surgery

Stuff/YouGov poll
AAP: Jacinda Ardern gets poll boost as she recovers from wisdom tooth extraction
David Farrar: A new poll

Auckland Port move
Richard Harman (Politik): Port row gets messy
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Port move: John Key and Steven Joyce split over proposed shift to Northland
Herald: Former Prime Minister John Key calls for Auckland’s port to be moved
Susan Botting (Northern Advocate): Strong benefit for shifting Auckland port to Northland – regional council
Andrea Fox (Herald): Ports of Auckland stoush turns personal: Shane Jones accused of bullying (paywalled)

Local government
Taroi Black (Māori TV): Hinerangi Goodman will return to challenge 2022 mayoral race
RNZ: Ousted Whakatāne councillor decides to ‘bow out graciously’
Herald: Chamberlain Park to keep its 18-hole golf course, small community park to be built (paywalled)
Stuff: Vote saves Auckland’s Chamberlain Park Golf Course
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Ngāti Kahungunu claims trickery over Hawke’s Bay TANK water project
Georgina Campell (Herald): Bullying claims and the war of words at Wellington City Council
Georgina Campell (Herald): Oops! Justin Lester allegedly mixes up email, sparking complaint
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Complaint laid as bullying claims fly at Wellington City Council
Mike Yardley (Press): Sam wants rates addressed to give ratepayers confidence in council
Matthew Littlewood (Timaru Herald): Timaru District Council to push forward on $100m waste management contract
Logan Savory (Southland Times): Invercargill councillors mixed on Mayor Tim Shadbolt’s push for review

Police
Damian George (Stuff): Angry people and more firearms are leading to more fatal police shootings – former cop
Tony Wall (Stuff): Children in Tauranga hostage drama need counselling as soon as possible, says woman whose brother was shot by police

Housing
Evan Harding (Southland Times): Invercargill housing development on hold for short term
Tina Law (Press): Christchurch housing project seeking $900,000, wants half from ratepayers
Michael Reddell: The unimaginable dystopias we live in
Brian Fallow (Herald): Reserve Bank revs up house prices (paywalled)
1News: Unusual new scheme helping people get on the Auckland property ladder
Ben Leahy (Herald): Mould is lurking as a silent killer in more than one-third of all Kiwi homes
Kelly Mihaka (Rotorua Daily Post): Rotorua tenants afraid to complain about mould, landlords make cleaning plea (paywalled)

Health
Katarina Williams (Stuff): More foreign doctors could help improve ‘precarious state of NZ hospitals’ – union
Michael Neilson (Herald): New Zealand’s health system at ‘tipping point’ with doctors, surgeons reporting burnout
Mitchell Alexander (Newshub): Government owes community a ‘big apology’ over Lumsden Maternity Centre downgrade – MP Hamish Walker
Elena McPhee (ODT): Maternity hub decision ‘alarm bells’
Elena McPhee (ODT): DHBs wait as med students punished
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Mounting pressure on Auckland DHBs to meet MRI targets, technician says
Oliver Lewis (Stuff): Canterbury DHB hunting new site for bowel cancer tests
Donna Chisholm (Listener): Are prescription drug ads helping or harming us?

Samoa measles epidemic
RNZ: Samoa measles epidemic: Death toll reaches 25
Herald: Samoa measles outbreak: Death toll rises to 25, mostly children under 5
RNZ: Samoa ‘calling for help’ amid measles epidemic

Education
Jamie Ensor (Newshub):‘Concerned’ Education Minister Chris Hipkins calls for answers from NZQA over exam mistake
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): What was wrong with the NCEA Level 2 Maths problem?
Dave Armstrong (Stuff): It doesn’t add up: making exams too hard will put students off maths
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Union raises concerns to ministers over school bus safety and tender
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Massey working with Chinese firm blacklisted over human rights

Environment, conservation
John McCrone (Stuff): Why NZ ought to allow genetic engineering – and why avoiding it might be even better
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Tamariki urge New Zealanders and visitors to protect Aotearoa
David Williams (Newsroom): Rat-aclysm tests forest defences
Michael Neilson (Herald): Tūpuna Maunga Authority holding hui this Thursday on Ōwairaka/Mt Albert but protesters staying away

Oranga Tamariki, survey on Māori concerns
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Waitangi Tribunal gets to grips with uplift ‘octopus’
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Survey reveals fear over Oranga Tamariki keeping Māori awake at night

Media
RNZ: The Detail: The confusing picture of television services in NZ
Emily Brookes (Stuff): ‘Run out of money before we got on air’: Mark Jennings on Three’s first day
Jamie Searle (Southland Times): Southland cartoonist’s work features on front cover of French news magazine

Tiwai Point
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Meridian ‘has offered concessions’ to Rio Tinto (paywalled)
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Treasury says smelter closure would reduce emissions and delay new investment

White Ribbon
Denise Piper (Stuff): Whangarei White Ribbon installation challenges link between clothes and rape
Anna Whyte (1News): White Ribbon bikies descend on Parliament to call out violence against women
1News: White Ribbon ambassadors who grew up with violence, drugs and gangs aim to break cycle of violence
Regan Paranihi (Māori TV): White Ribbon Ride shines light on domestic violence
Yvette McCullough (RNZ): White Ribbon Riders challenge ‘boys don’t cry’ stereotypes

Transport, roading
Derek Cheng (Herald): Light rail project ‘hugely disruptive’ to central Auckland businesses – report (paywalled)
Kate Nicol-Williams (1News): National joins Horowhenua locals’ calls for four lane Ōtaki to Levin highway

Other
David Cohen (RNZ): Royal Commission or royal mess: Abuse in Care inquiry’s first year of troubled waters
Shamubeel Eaqub (Stuff): They’re paid millions but it’s not easy to see what value top chief executives ad
George Block (Stuff): Green MP questions why $16,000 military exercise held at SkyCity
Brent Edwards (NBR): Property insurance shake-up on the cards (paywalled)
RNZ: No bias against Middle East and African refugees – Lees-Galloway
RNZ: Tonga police confirm NZ investigation into PM death threat
1News: Islands in the sun: A look back at 50 years of Pacific news
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): West Auckland business owner concerned over kebab shop owner’s feed-the-homeless project
1News: Auckland kebab shop owner told off for giving free kebabs to homeless by local business association
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Chinese visitors don’t respond to questions about their spending
John Anthony (Stuff): New Zealand ranked seventh in 2019 global prosperity ranking
Jennifer Duke (Sydney Morning Herald): Jacinda Ardern comments come back to bite Australian shock jock Alan Jones
Brian Easton (Pundit): The Capital Of Banks
Damien Grant (Stuff): Falling interest rates pose financial problem for Boomers
Donna Miles-Mojab (Spinoff): Why Behrouz Boochani should indeed seek asylum in New Zealand
Chris Keall (Herald): Uber NZ to drivers: take sexual harassment education by January or take a hike (paywalled)
Jane Matthews (Taranaki Daily News): Tuia 250 waka set to sail again after broken mast replaced in Taranaki
Rob Baigent-Ritchie (Taranaki Daily News): We deplore past mistakes, but land confiscation is still occurring in the modern world
RNZ: Woman takes cannabis stash to court, escapes with warning
1News: New Zealand’s first female High Commissioner to South Africa appointed
1News: ‘They’re genuinely changing’ – Meet the Waikato Mongrel Mob’s new PR representative

NO COMMENTS