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
Coronavirus
John Gibb (ODT): Otago academic fears ‘massive’ impact
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Nothing Xenophobic Or Racist About The Chinese Travel Ban
Isabella Lenihan-Ikin (Spinoff): The COVID-19 travel ban is racist and disastrous for international students
Mandy Te and Andre Chumko (Stuff): Warnings of looming ‘crisis’ as prime minister, health ministry remain confident in measures
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): GPs feel vulnerable to Covid-19 as protective gear stock runs out
Press Editorial: Politics won’t take a sick day
Newsroom: A Chinese international student’s plea to NZ
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Universities not recommending Chinese students try to beat travel ban
Liu Chen (RNZ): Covid-19 travel ban: Students speak out about the restrictions and finding ways around it
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Covid-19: 13,000 visa applicants await decision in China
Richard Harman (Politik): First predictions of a recession
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Suddenly, markets see two RBNZ rate cuts this year
RNZ: Economic impact of coronavirus outbreak: Govt preparing for the worst
Liam Dann (Herald): Why the coronavirus correction is no GFC (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Recession, share market slump, interest rate cuts: What might coronavirus really bring?
Jamie Gray (Herald): Coronavirus impact: NZ economy likely to stall in first half – ASB
Zane Small (Newshub): David Seymour urges Jacinda Ardern to return from Fiji ‘as coronavirus situation gets worse’
Jamie Morton (Herald): Q&A: What will coronavirus mean for NZ?
RNZ: What is Covid-19 and how to protect yourself from the outbreak
Helen Petousis-Harris (Newsroom): It’s not the apocalypse, but yes, you should care
RNZ: New Zealand Olympic Committee monitoring coronavirus outbreak for changes
Lee Kenny (Press): Christchurch economy hurting with big-spending tourists barred by coronavirus
Political donations
Matt Shand and Thomas Manch (Stuff): Billionaires among the full list of donors supporting NZ First
Zane Small (Newshub): Shane Jones concerned New Zealand First donors will be put-off in election year
RNZ: Man charged over National Party donations planned to go to party’s candidate college
Foreign affairs
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Why climate change should be on the agenda for Jacinda Ardern’s meeting with Scott Morrison
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Jacinda Ardern floors her fans in Fijian village
Jo Moir (RNZ): New Zealand to give $2m to Fiji climate change relocation fund
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Climate change: NZ pumps $2m into helping Fijian villages relocate
Zac Fleming (Newshub): New Zealanders detained in Australia plead for help from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Simon Bridges wouldn’t deport mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant if found guilty despite calling for reciprocal policy
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): New global study shows why Jacinda Ardern’s time with Time is so valuable
Prisoner voting ban
Derek Cheng (Herald): Remedy to ban on prisoner voting still breaches human rights, Justice Ministry says (paywalled)
Newstalk ZB: Labour and National clash over prisoner voting rights
No Right Turn: Repealing the prisoner voting ban
Newstalk ZB: Greens candidate says prisoners have the right to vote
Child poverty, welfare
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: Is enough being done about child poverty? (paywalled)
Newstalk ZB: Government struggles to improve child poverty statistics
1News: Government’s ‘given up’ on getting people into work, Simon Bridges says amid benefit increases
Rodney Hide (NBR): What sort of parents don’t make their kids lunch? (paywalled)
Immigration
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): High fliers get fast-tracked residence visas
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Immigration Minister orders officials to handle more decisions after Sroubek case
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Call for freeze on temporary visa numbers: ‘A sixfold increase with no consultation’
Education
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Teachers hit back at proposed NCEA level 1 changes
Amy Williams (RNZ): Foreign interference in Australia ‘bound to be true for NZ as well’, expert says
Jamie Morton (Herald): Massey marine scientists facing axe: ‘We feel betrayed’
Newshub: The importance of early childhood
ODT Editorial: Good sports
Health
Kate Nicol-Wiliams (1News): New criteria for deciding whether firefighters’ cancer was caused on the job labelled a ‘lucky dip’
James Fyfe (Newshub): Bowel cancer screening programme needs to be extended to more Kiwis – Bowel Cancer NZ
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Māori patient calls on govt to lower bowel cancer screening age
RNZ: Smear Your Mea disappointed over Ministry national cervical screening programme
Dan Satherley and Emily O’Connell (Newshub): NZ’s needle exchange kept HIV epidemic at bay- study
Justice, corrections
Andrew Geddis (Guardian): Why are New Zealanders still not allowed to know the identity of Grace Millane’s killer?
Kirsty Johnston (Herald): Rape victims still face ‘brutal and humiliating’ cross-examination at trial, new study reveals
Stuff: Plea for top court to stop extradition to China – ‘He’s had enough’, judges told
Cushla Norman (1News): ‘Enough is enough’ – lawyers for man accused of murder in China tell Supreme Court decade-long case has gone on too long
Cushla Norman (1News): Extraditing New Zealander accused of murder in China could put him at risk, court hears
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Australian prison contractor slams Corrections after contract terminated, may pull business
Local government
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington water woes: Mayoral task force criticised for shutting out public
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Wellington council expands mayor’s water taskforce
Damian George (Stuff): Councillors agree to involve experts and community members in investigation into water problems
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Councils, not immigrants, to blame for water crisis
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Out of control immigration to blame for Auckland’s water shortage
Brian Rudman (Herald): Phil Goff, ratepayers have right to be upset over $150,000 splurge on cultural consultant
Charlotte Jones (Stuff): Whakaari/White Island eruption causes rate debt rise in Whakatāne district
Hamish MacLean (ODT): DCC earmarks funds for new policy role
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Regional council drawing from port, reserves plus rates rise
Phillipa Yalden(Stuff): Waikato Regional Council prosecutes Matamata District Council over discharge
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Waikato Regional councillors put off budget due to staff numbers
Evan Harding (Southland Times): Southland floods cause millions of dollars damage to council infrastructure
Environment and conservation
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Climate change a ‘potentially devastating’ risk to tourism sector
Danielle Clent and Kendall Hutt (Stuff): Auckland drought: Growing alarm about demand for water as dry conditions continue
RNZ: Auckland water use records broken three times in a week
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Auckland water: Serious restrictions imminent if skyrocketing water usage isn’t reduced
1News: Battle to combat Northland drought ramps up with NZDF stepping in
Mitch McCann (Newshub): Northland’s water shortage reaches crisis point in worst drought on record
Michael Neilson (Herald): State of the Hauraki Gulf: Crayfish in peril, snapper just hanging in there – report
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Government proposes phasing out of wood burners and coal burners
Jason Walls (Herald): Government moves to ban old-style wood and coal-fueled burners to improve air quality
1News: Proposed changes to air quality rules could see many wood-burning stoves phased out
Whitebait
Kevin Hague (Stuff): Proposed whitebait changes leave out meaningful options
Blair Jackson (Southland Times): Fish & Game councillor who made ‘chick scientists’ comment asked to resign
Laura Smith (ODT): Councillor ordered to resign
Mike Watson (Taranaki Daily News): Taranaki Whanganui Conservation Board yet to decide on whitebait fishing submission
Ihumātao
RNZ: Heritage New Zealand bestows highest level of recognition on disputed Ihumātao land
Stuff: Ōtuataua Stonefields reportedly granted top heritage status by Heritage NZ
Lake Ōkaro returned to Te Arawa by Crown
Taroi Black (Māori TV): Lake Ōkaro returned to Te Arawa in a filthy state
RNZ: Crown returns Lake Ōkaro to Te Arawa
1News: Lake Ōkaro returned to Te Arawa by the Crown
Tiwai Point
Mark Patterson (Stuff): Pressure on Rio Tinto mustn’t recede with the floodwaters
Gavin Evans (BusinessDesk): Offer Tiwai transmission discount now – Meridian
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Meridian says Rio Tinto’s antics are getting old
Primary industries
Blair Jackson (Stuff): Research: Southland farmers must speed up adaptation to climate change
Gerard Hutching (Stuff): Indebted farmers offered $6000 to receive financial advice
Maja Burry (RNZ): New fund for farmers struggling financially now running
Media
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Commerce Commission must rethink NZME-Stuff merger
Stuff: Stuff posts 3 per cent rise in revenue, ‘remains held for sale’
Catherine Harris (Stuff): NZME says new merger deal would be ‘up for discussion’ after time
Michael Andrew (Spinoff): NZME’s 2019 financial report: The good, the bad and the huge loss, explained
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): NZME staff brace for cuts to local radio shows at The Hits
Herald: TVNZ news boss John Gillespie quits state broadcaster
Siobhan Downes (Stuff): TVNZ head of news and current affairs John Gillespie quits
Sinead Gill (Critic): Editorial: F The 2020 Election And F Anyone Who Wants Me To Cover It
Josie Adams (Spinoff): ‘F the 2020 election’: Critic editor on student mag’s party politics stance
Steven Cowan: Sinead Gill: Sick of the politics of centrism
Erin Gourley (Critic): Goodbye, Salient FM
Hannah Tamaki Dancing with the Stars controversy
Finlay Macdonald (Stuff): Was Hannah Tamaki’s reveal on Dancing with the Stars just a big PR exercise?
Belinda Feek (Herald): We are still and always will be friends’: Hannah Tamaki on former campaign manager Jevan Goulter
Stuff: Hannah Tamaki says she will ‘always be friends’ with Jevan Goulter
Terrorism, Far Right extremism
Sam Hurley (Herald): Auckland terrorism charge the second case after Christchurch mosque shootings
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Man becomes second person in New Zealand to be charged with terrorism
No Right Turn: A secret trial
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Australia’s top spy reveals spike in right-wing terrorism following March 15 terror attacks
Mariné Lourens (Stuff): Man jailed after sharing image of mosque terror attack
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Germany shooting a Christchurch copycat?
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Why is Facebook accepting money to promote white supremacists in New Zealand?
Transport
Joel Maxwell (Dominion Post): November 1 deadline to have Transmission Gully opened to region’s eager driver
Jason Walls (Herald): MPs told to expect a significant increase in Auckland rail’s popularity by 2028
Michael Neilson (Herald): Ngāti Whātua ‘angered’ by Auckland Transport plans to shift SkyCity bus terminal to hapū land
Other
Gavin Evans (BusinessDesk): No clean hands in Matthews saga
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones uninvites ‘bit player’ Simon Bridges from infrastructure conference
1News: Shifting vital services online leaving thousands of Kiwis struggling – report
Ross Stitt (Quillette): Peter Singer and the Narrowing of Discourse
Newshub: Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman reveals multiple sclerosis diagnosis
Felix Desmarais: Minister Megan Woods announces tailored ‘place-based’ housing in Rotorua
Waatea News: Too slack to enroll, too slack to vote
Brian Easton (Pundit): Consultation And Generic Managers
1News: Is Lotto a gateway to more harmful gambling? Public health official calls for restrictions
RNZ: Victims of Ponzi scheme seek $80 million from ANZ Bank in lawsuit
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): KiwiBank facing potential compo payout over credit disclosure issues (paywalled)
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): NZ Super costs up as NZ retirees on $100k passes 30,000
Brent Edwards (NBR): Electric vehicle subsidy could be saved by compromise (paywalled)
Michael Hayward (Press): More than 550 claims lodged for ‘on-sold’ Christchurch houses with quake damage
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Five key questions for this economically muddled Government
Jim Rose (Herald): Yes case for marijuana referendum is being rolled (paywalled)
