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
Political donations
Danyl Mclauchlan (Spinoff): The donations mess reveals a vacuum in our political system. Who will fill it?
John Armstrong (TVNZ): Ardern must grow a backbone and remind Peters who’s the boss
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern’s silence on Winston Peters is deafening
Audrey Young (Herald): Political partner’s donations debacle tests Jacinda Ardern (paywalled)
Derek Cheng (Herald): NZ First Foundation saga: Greens break silence on ‘chilling’ photos of journalists
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Snooping on journalists is an attempt to silence and shut them down
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: Is Government policy for sale in New Zealand? (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Winston Peters’ flirtations with internet bringing trouble to him and Ardern (paywalled)
Jason Walls (Herald): National pressures PM Jacinda Ardern to pull her Deputy Winston Peters into line
M. B. Rodriguez Ferrere (RNZ): Winston Peters and those photos: The legal and ethical implications
Chris Trotter: Winston Peters’ Conduct Is Neither Smart, Nor Wise.
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Labour’s Willie Jackson says photographing journalists ‘unusual’ after Winston Peters’ admission, denial
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Prime Minister silent on Winston Peters covert photo controversy
Newstalk ZB: Peter Dunne reacts to NZ First taking photos of reporters
Jason Walls (Herald): E tū, Winston? Journalists’ Union demands Peters’ apology over ‘chilling’ photos of reporters
ODT Editorial: Keeping their noses clean
Press Editorial: Neutralising Peters was a smart move
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Swarm of apparent Twitter bots claim admiration for Winston Peters after difficult week
Andrew Gunn (Stuff): ‘… my people tell me the way to get around it is with social media, whatever that is’
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Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Calls for ACT to return far-right donation
Week in Politics, Parliament
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): ‘I’m over it’: will disillusioned voters spell trouble for Jacinda Ardern?
Peter Wilson (RNZ): The Week in Politics: Polls show election on a knife-edge
Phil Smith (RNZ): The House: ‘…and by opposing end them’: MPs practise for the election
Rob Munro (Southland Times): We send MPs into dynamic of conflict, cruelties, crises and uneasy compromise
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Two Dunedin MPs, McDonald’s and a sizzling Twitter beef
National
TVNZ: Q+A: National set to promise tax cuts in upcoming election
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Simon Bridges wants to cut taxes and boost growth to keep kiwis at home
Derek Cheng (Herald): Tax cuts: Simon Bridges to announce teaser in National’s economic goals
1News: Only a ‘disaster of a leader’ could shake National’s loyal voter base as election looms
Logan Savory (Stuff): Interest in National Party candidacy for Invercargill
Māori vote, Māori Party
TVNZ Q+A: Labour could be at risk of losing Māori seats – Māori leaders
Leigh-Marama McLachlan (RNZ): Māori Party lays out strategy for revival
Emily Brookes (Stuff): Māori Party wants apology for TVNZ logo blunder
Greens
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Green Party announces Auckland Action Against Poverty campaigner as new candidate
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The best news to come out of the Green Party in years
Steven Cowan: Greens gone wrong
Broadcasting
Rob Mitchell (Stuff)): Radio Gaga – Thompson, staff not in concert over RNZ plans
Ben Thomas (Stuff): Concert programme fiasco is a revealing glimpse of Labour’s priorities
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): RNZ Concert future brightens as staff told to prepare for ‘focus on growth’
David Slack (Stuff): And now we have Winston, Jacinda and Simon live and coming at you, ready or not
Richard Swainson (Stuff): Concert stoush a bitter symphony
Glenda Keam (Stuff): Concert argument should be about ‘what we cannot afford to lose’
Michael Norris (The Conversation): NZ’s classical music station is not safe yet. It now needs innovation and leadership
Rod Oram (Newsroom): Underestimating the power of classical music
Mediawatch: A model for RNZ’s new youth service?
Sela Jane Hopgood (RNZ): RNZ’s new youth station proposal: How will it impact Pacific Media Network?
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of Concert FM (paywalled)
Colin Peacock (RNZ): TVNZ chief faces future dilemma
Brent Edwards (NBR): National has big question mark over RNZ/TVNZ merger (paywalled)
John Roughan (Herald): RNZ-TVNZ merger in search of an explanation (paywalled)
Barrie Saunders: TVNZ – RNZ merger another broadcasting train wreck?
Housing
Martin van Beynen (Stuff): Labour-led Govt gets massive fail on homelessness
Liam Dann (Herald): Return of house price ‘wealth effect’ embarrassing for Labour (paywalled)
RNZ Checkpoint: Housing crisis: ‘I’ve rung hundreds of places to ask, you just get shut down’
Isra’a Emhail (RNZ): Housing crisis: I’m scared my kids are going to live that same struggle
Caroline Fleming (Herald): ‘The need is just so great’: Removing Rotorua homeless from motels welcomed by community leaders (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): First-home buyer’s dream shattered by Government purchase
TVNZ: Simon Bridges pledges changes to housing and renting rules
RNZ: Landlord organisations mount challenge to new rental rules
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): Infill housing horror stories – Hamilton ‘slum’ builders in council crosshairs
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RNZ: New Helen Clark Foundation report urges Capital Gains Tax
James Fyfe (Newshub): Capital gains tax, debt-to-income limits key to making housing more affordable – Helen Clark Foundation
Newstalk ZB: Borrowing limits and new taxes proposed to lower house prices
No Right Turn: Time to crack down on house-hoarding
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Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Flat owners to get $10m in cheap loans for quake fixes, repayable on sale or death
Caley Callahan (Newshub): Apartment owners say earthquake-strengthening loan scheme eligibility too strict
Poverty, inequality
Steve Elers (Stuff): Research project shines light on New Zealand’s poverty problem
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Inadequate housing and poor health in Glen Innes highlighted in campaign
Lawrence Gully (Stuff): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern backs Waikato’s target to reduce poverty
Adam Dudding (Stuff): Peter Singer: You’ve got to give till it (almost) hurts
1 NEWS Colmar Brunton Poll
1News: Almost two thirds of Kiwis want Government to prioritise free dentistry – poll
1News: Support for legalising euthanasia dips, but majority still in favour – poll
1News: New Zealanders likely to vote against cannabis legalisation – 1 NEWS Colmar Brunton Poll
Health
Cat MacLennan (Newsroom): A health system gap that should be an election issue
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Delay over bowel cancer screening decision ‘costing lives’: Māori Party
Elspeth McLean (ODT): NZ 35th in pandemic preparedness
Mike Houlahan (ODT): SDHB waits on $20m to keep buildings going
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Dunedin Hospital: Birthing unit to be on site
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Surgeons and investors build new $70million hospital in Hawke’s Bay to meet demand
Ben Heather (Stuff): Disruption for patients as Wellington Regional Hospital replaces 28km of faulty pipes
Amelia Wade (Herald): Get ’em off the stinkies: Is vaping really that bad?
Dale Husband (E-Tangata): Inia Tomas: ‘Get your arse back into the fight’
Abortion
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Select committee recommends allowing medical practitioners to refuse contraception in cases of sexual violence
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Abortion legalisation bill made more restrictive but is largely unchanged after select committee
Derek Cheng (Herald): Abortion law reform: Extra doctor consultation recommended for later than 20-week abortions
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Select committee delivers report on abortion Bill
Coronavirus
Newstalk ZB: David Clark: Coronavirus travel ban based on best available advice
RNZ: China travel restrictions extended by 8 days
TVNZ: Chinese Ambassador to NZ should ‘pull her head in a bit’ over travel ban plea – economist
Wang Zhijian (ODT): Travel restrictions an overreaction
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Coronavirus: Government ‘exploring all options’ to evacuate New Zealanders from cruise ship in Japan
Mike Houlahan (ODT): National playing a dangerous game over virus
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): NZ tourism reels from border closure and Chinese visitor drought
John Gerritsen (RNZ):Coronavirus: Universities seek travel ban exemption for students
RNZ: How coronavirus could affect our universities
John Weekes (Stuff): Auckland Mayor Phil Goff sickened at reports of racism at pools, buses, restaurants
Oliver Lewis (Press): ‘Horrifying’ impact of coronavirus misinformation for people with Asian background – Christchurch mayor
Damien Grant (Stuff): If reports out of China are to be believed, we are severely under-pricing the risk to the NZ economy
TVNZ: Coronavirus restrictions continue as Kiwis continue to self-isolate
Environment
Charlie Mitchell (Stuff): Climate subsidies not ‘environmentally defensible’, Environment commissioner says
Charlie Mitchell (Stuff): Polluters making ‘windfall gains’ from scheme to reduce emissions
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): NZ uses accounting trick to seem climate-friendly
Amy Ridout (Stuff): How the sands have shifted on Awaroa, ‘New Zealand’s beach’
Elspeth McLean (ODT): Recyclable plastic still being dumped – waste report
RNZ: The Detail: Our gigantic e-waste problem
Rio Tinto
RNZ: Gore mayor puts heat on mining company to remove toxic waste
Jared McCulloch (TVNZ): Mataura locals want potentially-toxic paper mill waste gone – and fast
Karen Pasco (ODT): Mataura asks Govt to act
Transport
Brian Easton (Pundit): Who Pays For The Roads? (paywalled)
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland gets its first downtown electric bus fleet
RNZ: Auckland’s CityLink bus fleet to go electric
Bernard Orsman and Demelza Jackson (Herald): Auckland traffic: Mayor Phil Goff bids Mike Hosking farewell from City of Cones
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The awful moment when Mike Hosking is right
Laurel Stowell (Whanganui Chronicle): Could Whanganui bring back the glory days of public transport? (paywalled)
Pattrick Smellie (Herald): Why EV innovator is quitting NZ (paywalled)
Andrew Bevin (NBR): Transmission Gully crosses $1b mark (paywalled)
RNZ: Proposal to cut speed limit in tourist areas around Queenstown
John Anthony (Stuff): Auckland Airport called into meeting with transport minister over runway problems
Mike Moore
Tim Watkin (Pundit): A Happy Warrior Comes Home: Mike Moore’s Funeral
Simon Wilson (Herald): The man who would be king: Simon Wilson on Mike Moore’s funeral (paywalled)
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Mike Moore — global public servant (paywalled)
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): They all came to honour Mike
RNZ: Tributes flow at former Prime Minister Mike Moore’s funeral
Kendall Hutt (Stuff): Former prime minister Mike Moore remembered as ‘working class hero’
Anna Whyte (1News): At former PM Mike Moore’s funeral, Jacinda Ardern pays tribute to ‘working-class hero’
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Mike Moore exemplifies how hollow politics has become
Immigration, refugees
Dileepa Fonseka (Newsroom): Coalition landmine awaits in residency range call
Whanganui Chronicle: Whanganui’s intake of refugees on hold: Immigration NZ, iwi in talks (paywalled)
Education
RNZ: Number of children attending school regularly continues to fall – latest figures
Kate Nicol-Williams (TVNZ): Almost half of NZ students not attending school regularly, new data suggests
Herald: Wagging warning to parents: Take school attendance seriously
Kim Moodie (Herald): Girls who want to wear pants or shorts to Southland school have to see counsellor first
Chē Baker (Stuff): Girls must talk to guidance counsellor before wearing pants/shorts to school
Simon Collins (Herald):School rolls jump: ‘There’s only so many broom cupboards one has’
Brianna McIlraith (Taranaki Daily News): Green School New Zealand has official opening to end first week of school
Robin Martin (RNZ): Climate change-focussed school opens in Taranaki
Steve Kilgallon (Stuff): Church apologises after schools learned of priest’s conviction through media
Deena Coster (Stuff): Demand for Catholic education high, as parish numbers dwindle
Steven Walton (Stuff): Universities called on to make drug testing kits available during Orientation Week
Will Harvie (Stuff): Alcohol harms fall after a decade of Otago University reforms
Child welfare
Sahiban Hyde (Hawkes Bay Today): PM Jacinda Ardern’s message to beaten 4-year-old’s silent family members: ‘Come forward’
Mandy Te (Stuff): ‘I urge them to come forward’ – PM’s plea in Flaxmere child abuse case
RNZ: Government urged to monitor under-fives after Flaxmere attack
Lynley Tulloch: Disturbing The Silence On Child Abuse In New Zealand
1News: Councillor calls on Flaxmere locals to ‘snitch’ to find who’s responsible for badly beating boy
Kerre McIvor (Newstalk ZB): Pulling no punches on child abusers (paywalled)
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Newshub removes photo after complaint from Kōhanga Reo National Trust
Becky Manawatu (E-Tangata): Nothing bad, not ever again
Local government
John Weekes (Stuff): Auckland Mayor Phil Goff’s hacked personal emails included ‘campaign material, not council business’
RNZ: Ombudsman investigating Deon Swiggs’ complaint
Steven Walton (Press): Earthquake-hit Christchurch suburb’s street ‘forgotten and neglected’
Joel MacManus (Dominion Post): Bottomless’: The cost of fixing Wellington’s water woes
Auckland water supply
Todd Niall (Stuff): Is Auckland’s water supply half-empty or half-full?
Michael Neilson (Herald): ‘It is pretty dire’: Calls for incentives to connect Auckland water tank users to city supply
Helen Castles (TVNZ): Auckland without rain for 40 days, residents tanks run dry
TVNZ: Milk tankers brought in to ease strain on struggling Auckland water carriers
Primary industries
Richard Griffin (Stuff): Perception of law changes doing more harm than good in the rural sector
TVNZ: Q+A: ‘Blame game’ taking place as Far North plagued with water issue
Denise Piper (Stuff): Northland drought: Government support just fraction of feed costs, farmers say
Philippa Tolley (RNZ): Insight: Farmers fear new water rules could push them under
RNZ: Protecting wetlands on private property
Sean Hogan (1News): Forestry families feeling the pinch after log prices drop significantly
Bob Jones – Renae Maihi defamation case
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Renae Maihi hopes court case won’t end conversation
Leonie Hayden (Spinoff): Bob Jones is not just a racist. He’s also a coward
No Right Turn: We need to fix defamation law
Stuff: Filmmaker Renae Maihi still believes in the petition that landed her in court with Bob Jones
TVNZ: ‘I am not a racist’, Sir Bob Jones says after dropping defamation case against filmmaker Renae Maihi
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Sir Bob Jones withdraws defamation case against filmmaker Renae Maihi
Michael Neilson (Herald): Sir Robert Jones abandons defamation case against Renae Maihi
Leonie Hayden (Spinoff): Bob Jones abandons ‘Māori Gratitude Day’ defamation case against Renae Maihi
Gangs
Newstalk ZB: Labour and National weigh in on Tauranga gang incidents
TVNZ: Public ‘shouldn’t have to tolerate’ increase in violence in Tauranga – Police Commissioner
Jared Savage (Herald): Inside the gang tensions which brought a city to a standstill (paywalled)
Florence Kerr (Stuff): Gang landscape shake-up in the Bay of Plenty
Southland Times Editorial: We face a widening vortex of gangland violence
Tom O’Connor (Waikato Times): Leopards, and gangs it seems, don’t change their spots
1News: Cops fed up with ‘armed attacks, drive by shootings’ want hui with Bay of Plenty gang leaders
Derek Cheng (Herald): Victim’s family says Mongrel Mob boss Sonny Fatu’s attempt at reform is ‘offensive’ (paywalled)
Sam Sherwood (Stuff): Tensions grow as new bikie gang sets up base on outskirts of Christchurch
Martyn Bradbury: Oh look at that, Gang war exploding just as TDB warned 6 months ago – why National’s Task Force Raptor won’t work
Gambling
Cushla Norman (TVNZ): More Kiwis using internet to gamble as online sales surge
Aaron van Delden: Recruitment woes leave Tairāwhiti gambling addicts without free support
Other
Graeme Edgeler (Public Address): On the possibility of laws further regulating hate speech
RNZ: Moriori Treaty settlement signed
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): Russell McVeagh scandal two years on – lots of talk, very little action (paywalled)
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Record $109 million taken out of KiwiSaver retirement savings
RNZ: Think Big: The Sequel?
Kate MacNamara (Stuff): A year of anger between Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr and NZ Initiative’s Roger Partridge
Bevan Hurley (Stuff): ScoMo Dundee: A future Aussie PM’s role in New Zealand’s great tourism wars
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): The interview: Making the case for New Zealand in DC (paywalled)
Ani O’Brien (Stuff): I won’t stand by while ‘woman’ becomes a dirty word
George Block (Stuff): Domestic violence in police: rising reports of abuse by officers
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Airbnb backs bed taxes, data-sharing with IRD, in push for nationwide regulation (paywalled)
RNZ: Bullying at work lies at heart of NZ’s mental health crisis – advocate
Tim Brown (RNZ): Southland still in state of emergency with repairs set to cost millions
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): New Zealand’s tax take ‘middle of the pack’ – but is it fair?
Scott Mason (ODT): Donee status no done deal
Brian Gaynor (BusinessDesk):Charity sector needs far more transparency
Ben Doherty (Guardian): Australia’s offshore detention is unlawful, says international criminal court prosecutor
RNZ: Fiji calls for a new Pacific trade pact
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Forty percent fall in deportations from New Zealand
Rob Stock (Stuff): Family trusts past their ‘use by’ dates are tricky and costly to wind up
Bruce Munro (ODT): Our part in the rising
