Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.
Political donations
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Govt’s foreign donation ‘ban’ leaves loopholes untouched
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Andrew Little’s foreign donations ban is good politics, terrible lawmaking
Andrew Geddis (Pundit): Less Haste, More Beef, Please
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Foreign donation ban is half-arsed and conveniently timed
Peter McKenzie (Guardian): The foreign donation ban is a good thing – but it won’t protect NZ from political corruption
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Donation law is laudable bit ultimately pointless
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern admits political party ‘foreign donation ban’ won’t close loopholes
David Farrar: Government rushing electoral law changes through under urgency
Thomas Coughlan and Henry Cooke (Stuff): Government to ban foreign donations of above $50 under urgency
Jason Walls (Herald): The Government will ban most foreign donations to political parties and candidates
1News: Government moving to ban foreign donations to political parties to stop ‘interference’ in elections
RNZ: Government to ban foreign donations to political parties and candidates
Zane Small (Newshub): Foreign donations to political parties to be banned in New Zealand
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Govt to ban foreign political donations (paywalled)
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): New Zealand bans foreign political donations amid interference concerns
Julie Iles (NBR): Election donation law changes limit foreign donors to $50 (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern says in ‘perfect world’ political parties wouldn’t have to fundraise at all
No Right Turn: This is bullshit, and our democracy deserves better
Cannabis referendum
1News: New Zealanders more likely to vote against legalising cannabis in next year’s referendum – 1 NEWS Colmar Brunton poll
Peter McKenzie (Herald): We already know how to control cannabis use (paywalled)
Zane Small and Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Cannabis referendum: Proposed possession, purchase limits and supply details unveiled
Thomas Manch (Stuff): How will you vote? Law to legalise personal cannabis revealed
Damien Venuto (Herald): The rules of cannabis: Govt releases draft legislation for how cannabis could be bought and sold (paywalled)
RNZ: Cannabis referendum: Legal edibles, age restrictions and purchasing limits
1News: Question to be asked in 2020 cannabis legalisation referendum revealed
Newstalk ZB: Govt releases draft legislation for cannabis ‘reeferendum’
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Cheat sheet: NZ cannabis legalisation bill, and the referendum question, revealed
Newstalk ZB: Green MP defends draft cannabis law over age limit concerns
Herald: Drug Foundation praises the proposed cannabis law – but National says it’s not up to scratch
RNZ: National says details of cannabis referendum remain hazy
Bob McCoskrie: A Flawed Reefer-endum
Damien Venuto (Herald): ‘Not a lolly scramble’: Why running a cannabis business won’t be easy (paywalled)
1News Colmar Brunton poll
Audrey Young (Herald): Latest poll steers Labour in one obvious direction (paywalled)
Jason Walls (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has warned that NZ First should never be underestimated
1News: Colmar-Brunton poll ‘consistently underestimates Labour’, Jacinda Ardern says after low poll result
David Farrar: PM dead wrong
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern ‘proud’ despite latest poll results
Bryan Gould: Must do better
Education
RNZ: Education Minister Chris Hipkins details changes in big new bill
1News: Teachers will welcome changes to allow them to physically restrain students, says Auckland principal
No Right Turn: Reforming the Education Acts
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Education report makes for grim reading
Jessica Long and Mandy Te (Stuff): New Zealand top-end in OECD’s latest PISA report but drop in achievements ‘worrying
Lane Nichols (Herald): Latest international education rankings: 1 in 5 kids leave school unequipped for workforce
RNZ: NZ teenagers hit new lows in reading, maths and science tests
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Integrated schools upset over exclusion from property funding boost
Katy Jones (Nelson Mail): Nelson schools welcome cash injection but say it will get ‘gobbled up quickly’
Tara Shaskey (Taranaki Daily News): Taranaki principals embrace share of $396 million cash injection, but say it’s not enough
Briar Lipson (Stuff): Education minister fails to decipher fact from fiction
RNZ: Mobile phone ban: Students ‘a lot more active’
Brianna McIlraith (Stuff): Despite fees of $12,000-$24,000, New Zealand’s first Green School only has six spaces left
Elena McPhee (ODT):Polytech in good heart
ODT: Picturesque retreat for academics planned
Free speech on NZ university campuses
RNZ: Nine to Noon: Free speech crisis on New Zealand campuses?
Eric Crampton (Newsroom): Learn from the US response to the ‘heckler’s veto’
Gun buyback data breach
John Weekes (Stuff): Cops fear mutant pistols may fall into criminal hands after dodging ban
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Police say gun buyback data was breached by just one dealer – lobbyists disagree
RNZ: Police Minister denies responsibility for gun buyback privacy breach
1News: Police Minister ‘very disappointed’ by gun buyback data breach – but says Police did nothing wrong
Chris Keall (Herald): Data breach: ‘Star-struck’ police wrong to hand gun registry contract to SAP (paywalled)
Herald: Police confirm privacy breach on gun buy-back site, SAP apologises
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Gun buyback privacy breach: Police reveal number of victims
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Gun buyback data breach is why we don’t trust the Government
Climate change
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Climate lens to examine major Government decisions
Julian Hayes (Stuff): Climate Explained: How climate change will affect food production and security
Maddison Northcott (Stuff): Mass reading of landmark climate change report in Christchurch
Abbie Reynolds (Stuff): The world is watching how New Zealand tackles climate change – we have to act
Primary and extractive industries
Jordan Bond (RNZ): Deaths of nearly 200k chickens to be explained by Tegel
John Weekes (Stuff): Mass chicken deaths ‘catastrophic’ and unprecedented, experts say after nearly 200,000 birds die
1News: Seven Waikato farmers fined over $300,000 for discharging animal effluent in the environment
RNZ: Seven Waikato farms fined over $300,000 for unlawful effluent discharge
Brent Edwards (NBR): Dairy farmers keen to improve environmental footprint (paywalled)
Joyce Wylie (Stuff): Minister’s ‘shocking disrespect’ smacks of hypocrisy, shows a total lack of credibility
Jane Matthews (Taranaki Daily News): Protesters brave the weather for second day outside OMV New Plymouth
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Climate protesters nearly bottled during OMV blockade
Environment and conservation
David Williams (Newsroom): Blasting nature is a failure of duty
Brian Rudman (Herald): An unfortunate scalping of the maunga (paywalled)
Nicholas Boyack (Stuff): Nesting birds lose their home after Eastbourne residents object to smell
Chloe Ranford (RNZ): Sunscreen, chemicals, food sweetener found in Marlborough drinking water supplies
Pam Graham (RNZ): Severe toxic algae alert for Waipoua River
RNZ: Taranaki Maunga to be recognised solely for its Māori name
Christina Persico (Taranaki Daily News): Taranaki mountain name change is positive, say iwi members
Defence
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Russian comments on NZDF : ‘No reason for us to react’ – Peters
Carmen Parahi (Stuff): Defence Force may have changed its stance on compensation for Nepata brothers
Wellington Lifelines report
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Wellington earthquake report warns of $16b loss, massive damage, mass exodus
Damian George (Stuff): $1 billion cost makes Petone-to-Grenada highway ‘difficult’ – mayor
Harry Lock (RNZ): Report urges integrated approach to avoid heavy cost to capital after quake
RNZ: Big quake in Wellington could put power, infrastructure out ‘for months’
Samoa measles epidemic
RNZ :The Detail: Why Samoa is being devastated by measles
Press Editorial: Human tragedy on a mass scale
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): Boy turned down for measles jab before returning to Samoa
RNZ: NZDF supporting Samoa measles epidemic response
RNZ: Samoa’s measles epidemic: Death toll rises to 55
Florence Kerr (Stuff): Samoan measles: Death toll rises as two children die overnight
Alex Perrottet and Logan Church (RNZ): Toddler’s measles death in Samoa: ‘Unfortunately the Lord called him’
Bronson Perich (Māori TV): Measles epidemic ‘worse than tsunami’
RNZ: Checkpoint: Measles in Samoa: Many still visiting traditional healers
ODT cartoon on Samoa measles epidemic
Barry Stewart, editor ODT: Apology for cartoon
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): ‘Embarrassed’ Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon blasts ‘appalling and distasteful’ Samoan measles cartoon
Kate Lyons (Guardian): New Zealand newspaper publishes cartoon mocking Samoa measles crisis
Herald: Otago Daily Times apologises over ‘shameful’ cartoon about Samoa’s measles crisis
Campaign to dramatically increase Pharmac funding
Dubby Henry (Herald): Patient advocacy group demands doubling of Pharmac budget to fund life-saving treatments
Nicole Bremner (1News): Potential for new political party as lobby group pushes to increase Pharmac funding
Mare Haimoana-Riki (Māori TV): Petition to increase medicine funding launched today
Health
Jo Moir (RNZ): Charities Minister Poto Williams did not read report into Hepatitis Foundation’s spending
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Drop bowel cancer screening age for Māori and Pacific New Zealanders, Cancer Society urges
Herald: Blair Vining’s ‘tireless advocacy’ recognised as Cancer Control Agency opens
Louisa Steyl (Southland Times): Grant hopes new structure will ‘future-proof’ SDHB
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Maintaining the health of the system
Libby Wilson (Stuff): GP shortage predicted as graduate doctors eye other specialties
Dubby Henry (Herald): Nurses at Nelson Hospital ‘burnt out’; hospital reacts to claims of unsafe workplace (paywalled)
Laura Wiltshire (Hawkes Bay Today): Disability service IDEA denies allegation of ‘cover-up’ in Napier case
Ports of Auckland
Simon Wilson (Herald): Port in a storm: Where else could the Auckland port go (paywalled)
RNZ: Emissions and goods prices for Aucklanders to rise if port moved north – report
Emma Cropper (Newshub): ‘Locked out’: Iwi reveal plans for Port of Auckland – but needs $1 billion to get there
RNZ: Auckland iwi eyes Ports of Auckland property
Aroha Mane (Māori TV): Ngāti Whātua support Auckland Port moving north
Graham Skellern (NBR): Auckland’s Ngati Whatua forms consortium to bid for port land (paywalled)
Local government
Charlotte Jones (RNZ): Rural areas holding highest rate debt in Whakatane
Nick Truebridge (RNZ): Reasons why complaint against Auckland councillor Josephine Bartley was dropped revealed
Laine Moger (Stuff): Auckland e-scooters: Wave to contest ‘unfair’ withdrawal from city
RNZ: First Up: Neighbours at war over planted garden berm in Manly, Auckland
Nicholas Boyack (Stuff): Lower Hutt joins London and New York raising awareness about homelessness
Christine Dann (Daily Blog): Foster-ing climate change, Wellington style
Blair Ensor (Stuff): Colleen Case killed at Christchurch intersection with worn road markings
Pacific
Daniela Maoate-Cox (RNZ): ‘Of the Pacific’ – Why NZ MPs visit their Pacific neighbours
Benjamin Robinson-Drawbridge (RNZ): NZ’s silence on West Papua ‘costing lives’
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Family of NZer who died in Samoan jail want to meet with Samoa’s Attorney-General
Tiwai Point
Virginia Nicholls (Stuff): Tiwai smelter’s case for an even playing field
Jamie Gray (Herald): Tiwai speculation prompts Transpower to re-start network upgrade
Gavin Evans (BusinessDesk): Meridian, Contact invest $10m to accelerate smelter options (paywalled)
Housing, real estate
RNZ: Housing pressure making Otago residents increasingly vulnerable
Jamie Gray (Herald): Sistema founder Brendan Lindsay backs community housing funding model (paywalled)
Leonie Hayden (Spinoff): A life together: The rise of cohousing, papakāinga and the ‘social mortgage
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): House prices shoot ahead again, as majority of Kiwis say ownership unachievable
RNZ: House prices rise again amid low interest rates and listings
Brent Melville (ODT): Dunedin sale behind form change
Anne Gibson (Herald): Three Bayleys agents fined $5500 after $551k loss claimed on leasehold deal (paywalled)
Tax
Dan Brunskill (BusinessDesk): Microsoft tax settlement a ‘really good deal’ – tax expert (paywalled)
Joe Pagani (Newsroom): Cut taxes and earn the right to reform
Jordan Williams settles with Colin Craig over false allegations
Harrison Christian (Stuff): Colin Craig receives apology, compensation from Jordan Williams
Herald: Colin Craig gets compensation and apology from Jordan Williams at Taxpayers’ Union over ‘false allegations’
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Colin Craig and Jordan Williams reach confidential settlement
National Party
Bernard Orsman (Herald): National Party candidate William Wood removes social media photo of hand gesture adopted by white supremacists
Zane Small (Newshub): National’s teen candidate William Wood deletes photo with white supremacist-linked gesture
Media
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Google apologises for accessibility Christchurch terror attack video but clip remains searchable
Stuff: Google apologises to people who saw Christchurch shooting video on YouTube
Cushla Norman (1News): Tech giants gather in Wellington for workshop on internet’s terror response
Mark Jennings (Newsroom): Stuff considers its paywall options
Mark Jennings (Newsroom): Kathryn Ryan: Radio’s low-key star
Emergency services
Derek Cheng (Herald): Tougher sentences loom for assaulting first responders (paywalled)
George Block (Stuff): Auckland firefighters forced to use rental vehicle after truck break down
Employment
Maxine Jacobs (Manawatū Standard): Calls for employers to educate themselves about workers with disabilities
Jonathan Mitchell (RNZ): Carers striking over ‘zero-hour’ contracts at Masonic Village
Other
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: Labour risks losing the Māori vote (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Government debt changes are more important than just a number
Herald Editorial: Fair fiscal winds blow Finance Minister’s way (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Govt reveals plans to change insurance laws
Dileepa Fonseka (Newsroom): The ‘start-stop’ cycle of our infrastructure spend
Wyatt Creech (Pundit): Democracy And Referendum
Stuff: Poll: Climate change trending up list of top issues for New Zealanders
1News: Government changes tack over stalled Ngāpuhi treaty negotiations
Chris Morris (ODT): Invermay staff seek details on their future
John Gibb (ODT): Archives New Zealand reading room hours cut has implications for researchers
Breanna Barraclough (1News): Labour MP Tāmati Coffey using his personal experience to fight for change in surrogacy laws
Stuff: Tamati Coffey says Jacinda Ardern is his role model for being a working parent
Danielle Clent (Stuff): Decision to not uphold ‘Jew’ slur about All Black slammed by Jewish Council
Herald: Rugby: Broadcasting Standards Authority condemns racist comment by Super Rugby star
Neil McMahon (Sydney Morning Herald); Australia’s Kiwi envy extends to the climate crisis in the Pacific Islands
Hamish Bidwell (RNZ): Crusaders’ logo change not good enough
RNZ: NZC lodge complaint with police over Archer abuse
Tom O’Connor (Stuff): Time for some consensus on tackling gangs
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Johnsonville Kiwibank to close in January, ‘steady decline’ of customers cite
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Ho Ho Hokitika Christmas sign slammed as ‘disgusting mispronunciation’
Mark Quinlivan and Perry Wilton (Newshub): Pōwhiri can be used as a tool for tourism if it’s respectful – Te Reo expert
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Petition calling for free legal representation for suicide bereaved families handed to MP
John Gibb (ODT): NZ’s economic challenges discussed
Lloyd Jones (Spinoff): Bit by bit, New Zealand book culture is being dismantled
Julie Iles (NBR): Government takes aim at small business cashflow problems (paywalled)
Amy Williams (RNZ): Return journey: Ex-pupils regroup to save Auckland bus service
