Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.
Whakaari / White Island eruption
RNZ: Jacinda Ardern speaks about deadly Whakaari / White Island eruption
RNZ: Live: Whakaari / White Island eruption – day 2
Zane Small (Newshub): ‘A significant issue’: Jacinda Ardern fronts on White Island eruption, says ‘thoughts’ are with those affected
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): White Island eruption: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s tribute to victims, ‘NZ cousins’
Māori TV: Whakatāne community opens arms to those affected by eruption
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Why were people on White Island volcano when it erupted?
Herald: White Island erupts: Why were tourists allowed on unsettled island?
Shane Cronin (Spinoff): Whakaari/White Island: the science of the eruption, and why there was no warning
Leith Huffadine (RNZ): Whakaari / White Island eruption: What scientists say about the volcano
Jamie Morton (Herald): White Island eruption caps off a decade of drama at angry volcano
Ports of Auckland move
Richard Harman (Politik): Can shifting Auckland’s port save NZ First?
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Auckland Port relocation decision could be a coalition breaker
Dileepa Fonseka (Newsroom): ‘Writing’s on the wall’ for port
Jason Walls (Herald): Ports of Auckland has to move, says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
Brent Edwards (NBR): Ardern reiterates the Ports of Auckland shift is ‘when, not if’ (paywalled)
Gavin Evans (BusinessDesk): Auckland not viable as main North Island import port long term – Ardern (paywalled)
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Cabinet agrees Ports of Auckland needs to move – where and when undecided
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland port move: Time for a deep breath by Cabinet
Auditor General resignation case
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern will not reopen Auditor-General case, saying it’s for Parliament
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Ousted Auditor-General Martin Matthews appeals Parliament for justice
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Secret report left him a “pariah”
Jason Walls (Herald): Joanne Harrison fraud: Ex Auditor-General Martin Matthews says MPs acted like ‘gangs and mafia’
RNZ: Former Auditor-General Martin Matthews seeks redress over resignation
Julie Iles (NBR): Ex-auditor-general says his resignation was due to MPs’ ‘abuse of power’ (paywalled)
David Farrar: Stuff should release the Wevers report
Eugene Bingham and Paula Penfold (Stuff): Fraudster Joanne Harrison’s hidden history: The life and crimes of a million-dollar conwoman
Poverty, inequality, welfare
1News: Higher benefits, more state housing needed to combat child poverty – Children’s Commissioner
RNZ: Child poverty: Commissioner says need for housing, income levels to improve
RNZ: First Up: Christmas spirit: Invercargill community helping struggling families
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): MSD should continue My Food Bag trial
Jason Kerrison/Kris Faafoi immigration case
Tova O’Brien and Fiona Connor (Newshub): Expert highlights potential racism in Jason Kerrison family immigration case
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): ‘Brawler’ Bridges the only winner in Faafoi fiasco
Transport
Breanna Barraclough (1News): Striking bus drivers march through central Auckland calling for better pay and conditions
Amy Williams (RNZ): Bus drivers march after NZ Bus lockout cancels services
D’Angelo Martin (Māori TV):NZ Bus suspends union drivers with no pay
No Right Turn: Another bus lockout
Harry Lock (RNZ): Wellington bus drivers say they’re working long hours without proper breaks
Damian George (Stuff): Regional council releases findings of review into bus network redesign
Georgina Campbell (Herald): National to launch campaign over second Mt Vic tunnel for Wellington
South Island flooding
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Government contributes $100k for weather-hit communities
Dominic Harris (Stuff): Flood protection money dried up last century
Pam Graham (RNZ):Floods trigger renewed LGNZ call for protection work funding
Laura Mills (ODT): Cut-off towns raise infrastructure
Tracy Neal (RNZ): Road transport group blames lack of spending on roads after weather causes damage
Kaysha Bronwlie (Newshub): More than 900 tourists trapped on West Coast after slips close SH6
AP: Nearly 1000 tourists remain trapped as landslides and flooding isolate West Coast town
Amanda Cropp and Joanne Carroll (Stuff): Tourism business angered by comments about lengthy road closure
Conan Young (RNZ): Transport Agency hopes to re-open key West Coast road before Christmas
Climate change
Cindy Baker (Spinoff): The world thinks we’re leading the way on climate change – let’s prove them right
No Right Turn: Climate Change: Showing us how its done
Jamie Tahana (RNZ): NZ’s climate minister hopeful for Madrid COP talks
Brent Edwards (NBR): Hard yards still ahead on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Shaw says (paywalled)
Keith Woodford (Interest): Carbon neutrality requires permanent forests not production forests
Plastic
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Government needs to take on those responsible for producing plastic
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Ban all unnecessary plastic, not just polystyrene and PVC, advocates say
Dan Satherley and Delphine Herbert (Newshub): Environmentalists welcome crackdown on not-so-fantastic plastics
Zane Small (Newshub): Simon Bridges belittles single-use plastics phase-out as ‘hardly transformational’
Maxine Jacobs (Manawatū Standard): ‘War on plastic’ could be scaring off sponsors for charitable events
Local government
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland household rates could rise 4.5 per cent next year (paywalled)
Laurel Stowell (Whanganui Chronicle): ‘My two worlds had come back together’ – Meet new Horizons chair Rachel Keedwell (paywalled)
Cherie Sivignon (Nelson Mail): Advice sought on banning freedom camping in non self-contained vehicles
Dominic Harris (Press): Deon Swiggs’ backers lose bid to prove Christchurch City Council election ‘sabotage’
RNZ: Christchurch City Council Deon Swiggs decision stands – Judge
Michael Hayward and Liz McDonald (Press): Christchurch’s $470m stadium plan revealed: 25,000 seats, clear roof, finished in 5 years
Chris Morris (ODT):DCC seeking $1 billion of debt facility
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Minister: freshwater package creates ‘tension’ in Southland
Environment, conservation
Dominic Harris (Stuff): Illegal’ consents could have allowed water bottlers to ‘jump consents queue’
Paul Mitchell (Stuff): Government backs Ōhakea water scheme for PFAS-contaminated properties
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Legal proceedings underway to stop removal of trees on Auckland maunga
Anne Gibson (Herald):Council files 17 charges against Formosa Golf Club for sewage dumping
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Auckland Council files charges over alleged Formosa Golf Club sewage dumping
Laura James (1News): Charges laid after allegations thousands of litres of raw sewage discharged near stream from Auckland golf resort
RNZ: Developers, home owner, ordered to pay almost $70,000 for breaching resource consent
Stuff: Remuera property developers fined $67k for polluting streams with sediment
Andrea Fox (Herald): Fishing for fun: a Kiwi birthright in peril or a sector that needs reeling in? (paywalled)
Laine Moger (Stuff): Critically-endangered fairy tern at risk from illegal dam in Mangawhai
Education
Kirsty Johnston (Herald): Crimson Consulting once again fighting to keep court action secret (paywalled)
Herald: Crimson Education’s global offices empty with disconnected phones
James Fyfe and Delphine Herbert (Newshub): Exercise industry backs National’s ‘Daily Mile’ programme
Liam Hehir (Pundit): Integrated Schools: The Excuses For Discrimination Are Lame
Lee Kenny (Stuff): News Bites: New institute overseeing 16 merged polytechs, parking app on trial in Christchurch
Health
Niki Bezzant (Herald): Food industry has sweet-talked the Government (paywalled)
Lois Williams (RNZ): National slams government West Coast DHB chair appointment
Samantha Gee (Stuff): Longstanding DHB chair Jenny Black reappointed
RNZ: Call for food manufacturers to ‘clean up act’ after sugar content revealed
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): SDHB to review the pain relief it provides at its Lumsden Maternity Hub
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Plea from GP for pain relief drug at maternal and child hub
Hearld Editorial: Ambulance services need long-term, sustainable solutions (paywalled)
Newstalk ZB: Ambulance union: Public needs reassurances services are well funded
Samoa, Samoa measles epidemic
Dave Armstrong (Stuff): NZ’s attitude towards Samoa is a toxic spot on our history
Teuila Fuatai (Herald): How did measles crisis in Samoa get so bad? (paywalled)
Christine Rovoi (RNZ): Measles outbreaks due to ‘complacency’: UNICEF
1News: As Samoa reels in grief, fears grow that not all child measles deaths have been reported
Jenny Meyer (RNZ): Distraught parents taking kids with measles out of hospitals in Samoa
RNZ: Samoa’s measles death toll rises to 70
RNZ: Samoa anti-vaccination activist faces court today
Parliament
Mike Yardley (Stuff): Pot referendum risks becoming New Zealand’s Brexit
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Report into 2017 general election tipped to be published shortly
John-Michael Swannix (Newshub): Backstory: Tracey Martin (video)
Corrections, justice
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Ex-prisoner’s plight exposes systemic lack of agency co-ordination, say advocates
David Cormack: (Herald) ‘Tough on crime’ policies don’t actually help (paywalled)
Police
RNZ: Police get new armoured vehicles for high-risk incidents
Scott Palmer (Newshub): New Zealand police to drive new blast-proof vehicles
Primary industries
Rob Stock (Stuff): Queen of cream: A2 chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka’s 18-month reign
Duncan Bridgeman (Herald): Comment: Jayne Hrdlicka’s exit raises more questions for delicately poised a2 Milk (paywalled)
Stuff: A2 Milk Company’s interim CEO Geoffrey Babidge’s pay revealed
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): A2 Milk boss steps down, NZSA says board must be held to account (paywalled)
Jamie Gray (Herald): A2 Milk chair says Jayne Hrdlicka’s departure was not performance-related (paywalled)
Reweti Kohere (NBR): A2 Milk’s chair remains tight-lipped on CEO’s departure (paywalled)
Stuff: Protesters in boats meet ship bringing ‘blood’ phosphate into Christchurch
Banks
Peter Lyons (ODT): Why we are not on the brink of financial armageddon
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Final RBNZ bank capital decisions a pragmatic compromise
Media
Gaurav Sharma (Spinoff): New Zealand is a far more multicultural place today – its mainstream media is not
Harrison Christian (Stuff): Steven Joyce takes defamation over Hooton column to High Court
Victoria Young (BusinessDesk): Joyce vs NBR defamation suit hits court (paywalled)
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Tweeting lands publisher in court
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): ODT Cartoon outrage misplaced
Other
Gavin Evans (BusinessDesk): Fuel review ends 30 years of inertia (paywalled)
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Uncertainty remains after Northland hui over Treaty settlement
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Labour Party criticism shows PC culture trumps productivity
Marcin Betkier (Newsroom): We need a ‘backbone’ for online privacy
No Right Turn: Public sector dysfunction should not be allowed to undermine freedom of information
RNZ: Civic rights eroding in the Pacific – report
Herald: New Zealand’s High Commissioner to Cook Islands Tessa Temata dies
RNZ: NZ High Commissioner to Cook Islands dies
Katarina Williams (Stuff): Bereavement leave proposed for parents affected by miscarriage and stillbirth
Herald: Jacinda Ardern: Motherhood is ‘joyful but tough’
Herald: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to front Christmas episode of Goodnight Kiwi
Stuff: Jacinda Ardern to read classic Hairy Maclary for Goodnight Kiwi
Zane Small (Newshub): ‘He’s fragile’: Jacinda Ardern backers bite back as #TurnArdern trends on Twitter
Debrin Foxcroft (Stuff): Jucy accused of raising prices before Black Friday sale
RNZ: $500,000 for recreational hub in Nelson
Paul Cully (Stuff): Highlanders have ‘no appetite’ to follow Crusaders’ brand, logo review
Roger Moroney (Hawkes Bay Today): Waka fleet set to gather in Hawke’s Bay for Tuia 250 commemoration (paywalled)
Louis Day (Star News): Politics and farming a true blue mix
1News: Finland’s new young female prime minister takes record from Jacinda Ardern
