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’s annual conference
Richard Harman (Politik): Labour finds its happy space
Audrey Young (Herald): PM Jacinda Ardern no longer feeling her way like some experimental PM (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Labour needs to be more than just Jacinda Ardern
Henry Cooke and Collette Devlin (Stuff): Labour pushes past uncomfortable year with optimistic conference
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Labour aims to balance the old and the new
Audrey Young (Herald): New Labour president Claire Szabo is confident, but cautious about the challenges she faces
Audrey Young (Herald): Claire Szabo elected new Labour Party president
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Claire Szabó named new Labour Party president
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Labour elects Habitat for Humanity CEO Claire Szabó as party president
Anna Whyte (1News): Labour Party announces Habitat for Humanity NZ CEO as new President
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Labour elects Claire Szabó as new party president
RNZ: Claire Szabo Labour’s new party president
RNZ: Labour to vote in new party president at annual conference
Jason Walls (Herald): Labour presidential hopeful proposes ‘capital fund’ similar to National and NZ First’s funds
Jason Walls (Herald): Labour deputy leader Kelvin Davis’ dig at National at party conference
Yvette McCullough (RNZ): ‘Whaea’ Jacinda and ‘Māui’ Jones let the light in – Kelvin Davis
Jane Patterson (RNZ): ‘Great behaviour, bad behaviour’: Labour Party on being ‘safest place for people’
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Labour Party members taught how to deal with safety issues to ensure positive culture
Henry Cooke and Collette Devlin (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern says Labour is ‘not a perfect organisation’ in party conference speech
Jason Walls (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has admitted that Labour is ‘not a perfect organisation’
Yvette McCullough (RNZ): Labour’s annual conference gets underway in Whanganui
MItchell Alexander (Newshub): Labour Party annual conference opens
Scott Palmer (Newshub): As it happened: Jacinda Ardern’s speech to Labour conference
—————
Audrey Young (Herald): Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Party is less forgiving and patient (paywalled)
Jason Walls (Herald): Spirits high ahead of Labour’s conference – but has the party been transformational enough?
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern heads to party conference ready to assert herself
Henry Cooke and Collette Devlin (Stuff): Labour has a lot to clear up at its annual conference this weekend
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Will Labour address the elephant in the room at annual conference?
Liam Hehir (Pundit): The Neglect, Or, The New Cosmogony Of The Labour Government
Education, infrastructure spending announcements
Jason Walls (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern: $400 million in new school spending is just the beginning
Jason Walls (Herald): $400m school property bonanza: What you need to know
Jason Walls (Herald): Revealed: 2000 schools to get $400m bonus – what yours will get
Stuff: What will your school get out of the $396m being spent on education improvements
Herald: ‘It will be good for the kids’: Primary school principal welcomes $400,000 boost
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Government funding boost for school like 40 fairs rolled into one
Henry Cooke and Collette Devlin (Stuff): Government pumping $400m into school property, almost $700 per student
Yvette McCullough (RNZ): Schools get funding boost of nearly $400m for property upgrades
Anna Whyte (1News): Schools to get $700 a student to fix run down buildings, Jacinda Ardern announces
Brent Edwards (NBR): Coalition chalks up school spendup to kickstart economy (paywalled)
Sae Strang (Newshub): Government gives schools $400 million to upgrade infrastructure
Stuff: Taranaki schools to benefit from Government’s $396 million property promise
—————
Jason Walls (Herald): Government plans on borrowing likely billions to fund a ‘significant’ infrastructure spending spree
Jason Walls (Herald): Finance Minister Grant Robertson denies being strong armed into spending more by RBNZ
Jason Walls (Herald): Former finance minister Sir Michael Cullen says Grant Robertson has the ‘hardest job in Labour’
Brent Edwards (NBR): Government deficit higher than expected but debt down (paywalled)
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Milldale and the money-go-round keeping debt off government books
Yvette McCullough (RNZ): Government signals big new infrastructure spend, looser purse strings
Collette Devlin and Henry Cooke (Stuff): Government promises boost to economy and job creation for youth with infrastructure cash injection
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Government announces ‘significant boost’ in infrastructure spending
Anna Whyte (1News): Government announce plan to fast-track infrastructure package
Government
Chris Knox and Jason Walls (Herald): Interactive: How do you think the Govt has done? Test your knowledge
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Death threats ‘a sad fact of life’ as Prime Minister – Jacinda Ardern
Parliament, week in politics
David Slack (Stuff): All I want for Christmas is for our politicians to turn scapegoats into solutions
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Tough strategy: National sets out hard-line law and order policies
1News: Inside Parliament: Strike Force Raptor, Ihumātao protestors at Fletchers meeting (video)
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Winston Peters’ privacy lawsuit: defence costs taxpayers $500k so far
Zac Fleming (Newshub): Winston Peters’ superannuation trial could cost taxpayers $1 million
National on law and order, justice, gangs
John Armstrong (1News): National’s ‘dispiriting’ discussion document misses chance to push for justice reform
Tim McKinnel (Noted): National’s Strike Force Raptor gang solution as immature as name suggests
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of Simon Bridges (paywalled)
Zane Small (Newshub): ‘They demonise themselves’: National MP Mark Mitchell defends gang crackdown in heated debate
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Sixteen known gangs operating in Otago-Southland
Leighton Keith (Stuff): Mongrel Mob’s presence in Taranaki no cause for concern president says
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: Should we care about prisoners voting? (paywalled)
Steve Elers (Stuff): Defence lawyers in court can’t be expected to ignore details relevant to their arguments
Rachel Graham (RNZ): Criminal Cases Review Commission last hope for Lisa Blakie’s father
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): Give prisoners the vote they say! Here’s some legal history for you (paywalled)
RNZ: Drunk prisoners swim in skip, attack guard
Police
RNZ: Jacinda Ardern messages rap artist Tom Scott about armed police
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern messages Kiwi rapper Tom Scott over armed police
Mitch McCann (Newshub): NZ Police criticise social media giants for lack of action over child sex abuse
Sophie Trigger (Marlborough Express): Police considered using shipping container as cellblock
Housing
Kirsty Johnston (Herald): Changing face of Auckland: Swathes of state housing coming to a suburb near you (paywalled)
Tagata Pasifka: Pacific families bearing the brunt of the housing crisis – The Salvation Army report finds
RNZ: Northland housing woes: people living in trees, car ports, old cars
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): Families living in tree huts as New Zealand housing crisis bites
Piers Fuller (Stuff): Tackling homelessness in the provinces
Piers Fuller (Stuff): Areas miss out on programmes aimed at wiping out homelessness
Rob Stock (Stuff): Fletcher Building chairman’s praise for KiwiBuild
Denise Piper (Stuff): Housing NZ development goes ahead in Whangārei, Northland, to meet need
Charlotte Jones (RNZ): Tūhoe touts eco status of planned first of 40 co-housing villages
Ben Leahy (Herald): Property report: How globalisation shook up NZ’s property market
Lane Nicholas (Herald): LVRs ‘kicking first home buyers while they’re down’: chief economist David Norman (paywalled)
Carmen Hall (Herald): Gangs and blaring music: Neighbours given taxpayer-funded break from ‘nightmare’ tenant (paywalled)
Immigration, migrant workers, asylum
Harrison Christian (Stuff): Death of a migrant: Under the table workers building Auckland’s multi-million dollar homes
Elizabeth Mackie (ODT): Modern day slavery nothing new in Aotearoa
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Immigration NZ says sorry to 108 people it made overstayers with delays
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Man sentenced, to be deported for impersonating immigration officer
RNZ: Australia could agree to send Manus, Nauru refugees to NZ – reports
AAP:After trauma of six years on Manus Island, Behrouz Boochani feels ‘welcome’ in Christchurch
Smoking, vaping
Audrey Young (Herald): NZ First distances itself from move to raise the price of cigarettes
1News: Winston Peters says tobacco excise increase ‘gouges the poor’, refuses to support it
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): New Zealand First opposes planned tobacco excise hike
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): New Zealand First ‘agrees to disagree’ with Labour over upcoming tobacco tax increase – press release
Newstalk ZB: Michael Cullen backs NZ First on tobacco price hikes
Karoline Tuckey (RNZ): Advertising campaign launched to stop teens taking up vaping habit
RNZ: Tobacco laws preventing vaping crackdown – Health Ministry
RNZ: Lack of age checks for online e-cigarette sales, research finds
Health
Carmen Parahi (Stuff): What’s happened since the damning Waitangi Tribunal report on Māori health?
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Frustrations rising over Pasifika health inequities
Boyd Swinburn (Herald): No food policies to prevent fat, sad, toothless kids (paywalled)
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): DHB will remove reference to private provider following patient’s complaint
Bruce Munro (ODT): The drinking age
Katie Harris (Newstalk ZB): More Kiwi alcohol companies are giving charities a sip of profits
Jo Moir (RNZ): Hepatitis Foundation founder calls for entire board to resign over spending
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Fewer people skipping GP visits after cost lowered – survey
James Fyfe (Newshub): Closure of Opotiki birthing unit will lead to ‘babies born on the side of the road’ – College of Midwives
Will Harvie (Stuff): NZ cataract questionnaire flawed, study finds
Kate Green (Stuff): Huge deficit in funding for life-changing hearing device
Michael Hayward and Oliver Lewis (Stuff): Chch mayor suggests land swap to ‘solve’ hospital parking
RNZ: Insight: Curing New Zealand’s mental health crisis
Mike Wesley-Smith (Newshub): Lake Alice: UN to investigate New Zealand’s ‘national shame’
Samoa measles epidemic
1News: NZ sends more doctors, nurses and funding for 100k vaccines to Samoa as death toll rises
RNZ: NZ to send more medical staff, supplies to Samoa – Peters
Alex Perrottet (RNZ): Samoa measles: ‘the children are deteriorating in front of our eyes’
Logan Church and Alex Perrottet (RNZ): Checkpoint: Alternative healers threaten reporters as Samoa measles epidemic worsens
1News: Kiwi vaccinologist calls out anti-vax campaigners as leading a ‘pro-death movement’ in Samoa
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Full video: Newshub reporter confronts Samoa measles ‘healer’ who calls his people ‘stupid’
RNZ/ABC: Anti-vaxers send vitamin A to Samoa
1News: Death toll from Samoan measles crisis rises to 48 as total number of cases soar
RNZ: Samoa measles death toll now 48
RNZ: Samoa govt allocates more funds for measles epidemic
Florence Kerr and Chris McKeen (Stuff): On the deserted streets of Apia, a nation searches for salvation from a deadly measles epidemic
Florence Kerr (Stuff): Measles epidemic: Four more lives lost in Samoa
Florence Kerr (Stuff):Samoa’s public ban put on hold so children can attend Sunday service
Logan Church (RNZ): Children stay home, Christmas gatherings cancelled in Samoa
Oscar Kightley (Stuff): The thing I love the most about Samoa are the kids, it’s heartbreaking that so many have died
Primary industries
Eric Frykberg (RNZ): Fonterra report concedes palm kernal imports reverse emissions progress
Andrew MacFarlane (1News): Wairarapa farmers encouraged to use discount dung beetles to help protect waterways
Zane Small (Newshub): Simon Bridges tells farmers ‘don’t be grateful’ to ‘old crocodile’ Winston Peters
Sean Hogan (1News): Hawke’s Bay commercial fisherman installs live camera on boat for public to get close up look at industry
Cushla Norman (1News): One in four farmers feel under pressure from banks to reduce debt, survey finds
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Tamarind Taranaki: From legal loophole to cleanup black hole (paywalled)
Robin Martin (RNZ): Orphan wells: NZ’s abandoned oil and gas wells would cost $14.3m to plug
Education
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Canterbury schools take out unauthorised loans
Wilhelmina Shrimpton (Newshub): ‘It’s really embarrassing’: Teacher aide stressed over finances welcomes pay offer
Harry Lock and Karoline Tuckey (RNZ): Living wage on offer for teacher aides, school support staff – union
Alex Loo (Manawatū Standard): Māori and Pasifika students learning from their comfort zone is aiding academic success
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Former teachers at Auckland daycare chain blow whistle on ‘unsafe’ practices
Regan Paranihi (Māori TV): Tai Wānanga parents “fed up” with go slow Ministry of Education
Anna Whyte (1News): David Seymour wants law to cut funding to universities who don’t ensure ‘free speech’
Alex Loo (Manawatū Standard): Massey accused of stifling debate by placing limits on free speech
Emma Hatton and Karoline Tuckey (RNZ): Otago University marine department head quits to save climate, biodiversity jobs
Jo Hayes Twitter abuse
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): The one golden rule for politicians on Twitter
Michael Hayward (Stuff): Abusive personal tweet from MP Jo Hayes targeted someone she hardly knew
Michael Hayward (Stuff): National MP Jo Hayes abuses man, seemingly unprovoked, on Twitter
Jane Nixon (1News): Auckland man ‘mystified’ by National MP’s tweet calling him ‘nasty’
Cherie Howie (Herald): National MP apologises for mean tweet to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s former campaign manager Jeremy Greenbrook-Held
Newshub: National MP Jo Hayes apologises for ‘vile’ and unprompted Twitter attack
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): National MP calls man ‘ugly’ and ‘nasty’ on Twitter
Dan Satherley (Newshub): National MP Jo Hayes deletes Twitter account after sending late-night abusive tweet
Ihumātao, Ōwairaka
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern cares ‘deeply’ about Ihumātao, despite lack of visit
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Ihumātao: National would have ‘dragged those Māoris out by the throat’ – Willlie Jackson
RNZ: Ihumātao: Government ‘trying to escape public liability’ – Pania Newton
Nick Truebridge (RNZ): Ihumātao: Goff refuses to comment on Auckland Council land buyout
Lewis Holden (Noted): Two Auckland land occupations: Two very different agendas
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Opposing sides of the Owairaka debate clash over tree felling
Māni Dunlop (RNZ): Ōwairaka restoration: Rift grows between protesters and tangata whenua
Local government
Georgina Campbell (Herald): How much is too much? Councillors and their second jobs
Peter de Graaf (Northern Advocate): Council threatens Facebook group with legal action
Susan Botting (Stuff) Urgent $1.4 million Dargaville wastewater sludge removal planned
Chloe Ranford (Stuff): Kaikōura CEO refuses to cut ratepayers loose
Dominic Harris (Press): Staff behind falsified Christchurch council reports to stay secret
Alice Geary (Timaru Herald): Mackenzie District Council quote $23,620 for Tekapo resident’s hotel information request
Ports of Auckland move
Simon Wilson (Herald): Port in a storm: Leaked report says time for action on moving Auckland’s port is now (paywalled)
Andrea Fox (Herald): Could Northport’s brainwave for new car import system ease Auckland traffic hell? (paywalled)
Bill Ralston (Listener): Why Auckland’s port dilemma is going to cost a fortune either way
E-scooters
Duncan Garner (Stuff): Scooters make a mockery of council rules and NZTA
Laine Moger, Kendall Hutt and Caroline Williams (Stuff): Lime and Wave e-scooters to be withdrawn from Auckland
Sue Strang (Newshub): Auckland Council dumps Lime e-scooters in favour of new provider
1News: Auckland Council gives Lime and Wave the boot – but 70% more e-scooters will be on the street
1News: Lime and Wave scooters to be removed from Auckland – but others get licences
RNZ: Checkpoint: Lime insists it doesn’t know reason for Auckland scooter ban
1News: Lime ‘devastated’ as Auckland Council decides to pull its e-scooters
Perry Wilton and Dan Satherley (Newshub): New Auckland e-scooter provider says their scooters are safer than Lime’s
Charlotte Cook (RNZ): Uber e-scooters recycled after six months as they reach ‘end of life’
Waste
Michael Neilson (Herald): Revealed: New Zealand’s recycling waste ‘poisoning’ Indonesian villages – report (paywalled)
Julie Iles (NBR): Landfill levy leap won’t fly as plastic packaging deterrent, industry players say (paywalled)
Climate change
Charlie Mitchell and Felippe Rodrigues (Stuff): A comprehensive analysis of climate change debate in New Zealand’s Parliament
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Climate Change: Everything New Zealand needs to do to get to zero carbon
RNZ: Bridges condemns climate protest vandalism at his office
Herald: Simon Bridges’ office ‘defaced’ in Extinction Rebellion protest
Stuff: Protesters pour ‘oil’ on National leader Simon Bridges’ office steps
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Simon Bridges’ office defaced by Extinction Rebellion
Environment and conservation
Lois Williams (RNZ): Westland mayor calls for disbanding of Conservation Board
Lois Williams (RNZ): DOC scraps plan to expand Lake Ianthe campsite
1News: DOC dog Flint rescued from subantarctic island after being spooked by sea lion
Alistair Lynn (Newshub): New Taupo kiwi hatchery set to boost conservation efforts
Dave Hansford (Spinoff): Dead rats, a mystery lab, and the very curious antics of the anti-1080 lobby
Lisa Davies (1News): Paparoa Great Walk opens as tribute to Pike River miners
RNZ: Paparoa memorial track to Pike River miners opens to public
Conan Young (RNZ): Paparoa Great Walk, in tribute to Pike River miners, opens
Tracy Neal (RNZ): Vehicle ban on the cards for fragile Marlborough beaches
Cherie Sivignon (Nelson Mail): Richmond airshed ‘polluted’, Motueka appears to have air quality issue
Kereama Wright (Māori TV): Mt Egmont name to “finally” be scrapped – Taranaki Maunga
David Williams (Newsroom): The money behind big Queenstown development
Erebus
Jacinda Ardern (Herald): We must have a place to remember Erebus (paywalled)
MIchael Wright (Stuff): White Silence: ‘Deep emotions’ seeing last images of Erebus victims on passenger film
Katy Gosset (RNZ): White Silence: ‘you form a circle and protect each other’
1News: ‘Elation and sadness’ for family of Erebus pilot who’s finally received apology for unwarranted blame
Transport
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ):Transport Agency to take over speed cameras from police
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Waikato Expressway water temporary repairs, monitoring to cost nearly $60m
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Ministry of Education brushes off school bus safety concerns from union
Dan Satherley (Newshub): New school speed limits still too fast – campaigners
James Fyfe (Newshub): Free bus rides for half of Auckland, as drivers go on partial strike
RNZ: Auckland buses to give free rides due to strike action
Danielle Clent (Stuff): Auckland buses to provide free fares during strike action
RNZ:Bus fare hike and tech provider for new service announced
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Congestion charges only work for the rich – road safety campaigner
Karoline Tuckey (RNZ): Five killed in crashes, a day after safety campaign launch
Crusaders
Jamie Wall (Spinoff): The Crusaders had a chance to make a clean break. They flunked it
Olivia Caldwell (Herald): New Zealand Rugby have pleased no one but themselves on Crusaders’ rebranding (paywalled)
Nicholas Pointon (RNZ): Canterbury Crusaders keep name, but with new koru logo
RNZ: Crusaders ‘smart’ to keep fans onside with new logo – brand strategist
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Why Crusaders fans won’t rush out to buy new gear
Peter Williams (Newshub): Crusaders’ new identity likely to be woke, politically correct
Gun laws
Sarah Bradley (1News): Hundreds of gun owners rally outside several gun buy-back events
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Destruction of now-illegal guns ‘desecration of NZ history’, shooting champion says
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Firearms owners express anger over more gun reform
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Dozens protest gun buyback events
Lydia Lewis and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Gun owners protest buyback events
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Gun debate well reasoned on both sides
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Submissions heard in Dunedin on gun law proposals
Tuia 250
RNZ: Protesters disrupt Wellington Tuia 250 event
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Endeavour ‘not welcome in our harbour’ – Taranaki whānui descendants
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Māori movement lights ‘beacons of warning’ in Wellington to oppose Endeavour ship
Māori Council
Leonie Hayden (Spinoff): The firebrand: meet the new man at the helm of the Māori Council
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Māori Council’s outgoing chair defends its role, relevance
Banking sector
Liam Dann (Herald): Horrible year for bankers … and it’s not over yet (paywalled)
David Chaston (Interest): A long overdue rebalancing is required
SkyCity fire
Dan Satherley (Newshub): SkyCity fire: One sick employee’s story
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): SkyCity Convention Centre fire could burns lucrative international conferences
GST
RNZ: Online shopping: GST on products under $1000
Herald: Overseas retailers hit with new GST laws
Tourism, freedom camping
ODT Editorial: Unwelcome tourism impacts
Chloe Ranford (RNZ): Kaikōura curbs freedom camping ahead of summer
Auckland Pride
Jade Winterburn (Spinoff): Our wellbeing, our terms: OurPride 2020 is going to pop off
Ethan Sills (Herald): Auckland Pride to focus on liberation and celebration in 2020
Other
Ricardo Menendez March (Spinoff): Dear Prime Minister: Please stop punishing beneficiaries in relationships
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Whistleblower alert system could uncover dodgy engineering
Dan Satherley and Perry Wilton (Newshub): Civil Defence replaced by new agency
Zane Small (Newshub): Labour MP thanks National’s teen candidate William Wood for ‘speaking up’ against attack ad
Samesh Mohanlall (Timaru Herald): South Canterbury Finance investors dealt further blow as author gives up compensation fight
Eric Frykberg (RNZ): US redwood sequoia company wins approval to buy more NZ land
Liam Dann (Herald): The Interview: Why GDP growth doesn’t make people happier
Karoline Tuckey (RNZ): Coffin protest to highlight violence in West Papua
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): What the Christchurch Call means for international law
Dan Satherley and Lydia Lewis (Newshub): Cotton On workers accuse employer of virtue-signalling, go on strike over pay
Cherie Sivignon (Nelson Mail): Traditional Santa returns to Nelson Santa Parade, as does Hana Kōkō
Rawinia Higgins (E-Tangata): Celebrating our reo warriors
Dale Husband (E-Tangata): You shouldn’t forget where you come from – Moera Tuilaepa-Taylor interview
Brent Edwards (NBR): Take away secrecy in trade negotiations to win public trust, report says (paywalled)
Helen Castles (1News): Could part of Devonport’s naval base be relocated to Whangarei?
RNZ: The Detail: Christchurch has rebuilt – now it needs people
Herald: Growing threat as kids become more comfortable meeting strangers online
Scott Palmer (Newshub): New poll shows support for legalising cannabis use rising
Peter Griffin (Stuff):In the balance hangs our well-being
RNZ: Consumer confidence perks up, adds comfort to economy
