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
Winston Peters is back, Ministry of Health proposed complete border shutdown
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Winston Peters back on his podium with Covid-19 border closure bombshell
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Peters takes on officialdom
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Winston Peters comes back with a splash
Richard Harman (Politik): Reminding us that NZ First has a mind of its own
Zane Small (Newshub): Dr Ashley Bloomfield justifies Ministry of Health’s proposal to block returning Kiwis
No Right Turn: Defending the indefensible
Jason Walls (Herald): Foreign Minister Winston Peters reveals border shutdown rejected
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Winston Peters says Health Ministry wanted to close borders to Kiwis
RNZ: Cabinet rejected full border lockdown as ‘inconceivable’ – Peters
1News: Winston Peters reveals Government mulled complete border shutdown as Covid-19 crisis began
Zane Small (Newshub): Ministry of Health recommended closing border to returning Kiwis – Winston Peters
Parliament
Bryce Edwards (Guardian): Move over culture wars, New Zealand’s post-virus election will be about economics
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Next election fought on the economy, not identity politics – why that will hurt the Left
Claire Trevett (Herald): Jacinda Ardern and Simon Bridges need more than a slogan and ideology in times ahead (paywalled)
Simon Wilson (Herald): The future for One-lane Bridges (paywalled)
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Government officials blocked from using popular Houseparty video chat
Zane Small (Newshub): National MP squabbles with Speaker over COVID-19 social distancing rules in Parliament
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Fortress Aotearoa: What changes politically after the NZ pandemic?
Jason Walls (Herald): Former National MP Jami-Lee Ross is forming his own political party – Advance New Zealand
Government, public service pay cuts
Newstalk ZB: David Seymour: Government is lying about bill to cut MPs pay
Collette Devlin (Stuff): State Services Commissioner urges Crown entities and commissioners to slash pay
Public health response
Audrey Young (Herald): NZ ill-prepared, caught with ‘pants down’, says Professor Des Gorman; Jacinda Ardern rejects criticism
Derek Cheng (Herald): Top academic says NZ wasn’t ready for Covid-19 and was caught ‘with our pants down’
Zane Small (Newshub): Medical Professor urges health system reform in scathing review of COVID-19 response
1News: Not closing borders early ‘squandered our major advantage’ – expert
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Expert: NZ caught ‘with our pants down’ by Covid-19
Glen Scanlon (RNZ): A question about false negatives
Max Towle (RNZ): ‘New Zealand’s response has been one of the strongest’ – WHO
Jamie Ensor and Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Auckland lecturer claims COVID-19 too political and his ‘Plan B’ academic group is being ignored
Charlotte Graham -McKay (Guardian): ‘You can’t compare’: New Zealand looks on Australia’s loose lockdown with envy – and horror
Nicholas Holm (RNZ): Beyond health and wealth: Lockdown lament for social and cultural life
Level 3 and beyond
Rebekah White (National Geographic): How will this end?
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): The ‘what now?’ challenge
Esther Marshall (Newsroom): Post-lockdown democracy: lessons from Christchurch
Businesses breaking level 3 rules
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Businesses breaking level 3 rules: ‘Who you gonna call?
Herald: Densely-packed queues at takeaway outlets spark fears of disease outbreaks
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Crowded takeaways could lead to more Covid-19 clusters, expert warns
Herald: Wendy’s CEO slams big players for not following the rules
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): More than 700 complaints made about business practices in level 3
1News: Over 700 complaints around businesses flouting lockdown rules after takeaways return
Danielle Clent (Stuff): McDonald’s says delivery drivers failed to maintain social distancing
Danielle Clent (Stuff): Burger joint failed to meet social distancing obligations, PM says
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ‘concerned’ at overcrowding outside Auckland BurgerFuel
Unemployment
Cat MacLennan (RNZ): Post Covid-19 job guarantee scheme a bold solution
Kirsty Johnston and Chris Knox (Herald): Analysis – who are New Zealand’s new jobless? Right now it’s impossible to tell
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Benefit numbers exceed GFC – and worse to come
Priscilla Dickinson (Newshub): Unemployment higher than during GFC and rising – economist
Aimee Shaw (Herald): Up to 160 staff at Farmers, Whitcoulls, Pascoes face chop (paywalled)
Economy
Brian Easton (Pundit): About The Economic Future: Good Questions – Uncertain Answers
Newstalk ZB: Winston Peters: NZ economy can’t go back to the way it was
Newstalk ZB: Winston Peters: NZ needs to rebuild economy without globalisation
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Winston Peters wants New Zealand to start manufacturing domestically
Stuff Editorial: Can we remake New Zealand manufacturing after coronavirus?
Duncan Greive (Spinoff): The winners and losers of NZ’s post-lockdown economy (and how the losers might win too)
James Perry (Māori TV): Could the economic recovery cause another Māori migration?
Dita De Boni (NBR): Idea to make NZ a billionaire’s paradise a non-starter (paywalled)
Business, wage subsidy
Kate Macnamara (Stuff):It’s not just the curve that Govt has crushed
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Government dismisses calls to help pay business rents
Liz McDonald (Stuff): Call for more help for cash poor small businesses
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): National calls for ‘direct support’ for small firms
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): Both sides of Parliament need to find answers for small businesses
Andy Hamilton (Stuff): Big businesses must do their part to help small businesses survive Covid-19
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): Z Energy considers wage subsidy
Kirk Hope(Stuff): Wage subsidy criticism of big employers is misguided
Inequality, welfare
Zac Fleming (Newshub): Charities run off their feet, delivering more food in a day than they usually would in a week
Matthew Mckew (ODT): More than 10K requests for support from Queenstown-Lakes District Council
Dileepa Fonseka (Newsroom): Migrants could soon be living on the street
D’Angelo Martin (Māori TV): South Auckland Māori wardens ramp up assistance
David Clark
Tova O’Brien and James Fyfe (Newshub): Prime Minister told David Clark’s house move took place prior to lockdown
Jason Walls (Herald): National leader Simon Bridges calls for Health Minister’s resignation after ‘third strike’
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Sacking David Clark should be considered an ‘essential service’
1News: Health Minister David Clark defends move as opposition leader hits out
Schools
RNZ: Schools, ECEs reopen with fewer children than expected
1News: Small crowds for early childcare centres reopening under Level 3
Joel Maxwell (Dominion Post): Porirua college has physical roll of one, with two teachers, as level drops
James Fyfe (Newshub): Education Minister Chris Hipkins adamant schools safe despite criticism
RNZ: Kōhanga reo student packs have fewer resources, parents say
1News: Thousands of students head back to school under strict new Level 3 rules
Stuff: Back to school: Thousands of students head back to class
Simon Collins (Herald): Address muddle slows Ministry of Education’s $88m free computers for students
Tom McRae (Newshub): Over 10,000 laptops ordered by Ministry of Education still delayed
Bronson Perich, Tapatahi (Māori TV): Education report shows whānau became closer locked-down
Universities
Joel MacManus and Laura Wiltshire (Dominion Post): Pay cuts being considered for Victoria University staff
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Victoria University delays charging students for unoccupied rooms
Andre Chumko (Stuff): Company prevented university from topping up cleaners’ wages
Tina Law and Lee Kenny (Stuff): Lincoln Uni asks staff to take pay cut due to ‘declining student numbers’
ODT: Hall rebate not enough — OUSA
1News: Universities across New Zealand face collective half billion dollar loss
Covid-19
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Healthcare workers make up 1 in 10 of New Zealand’s Covid-19 cases
Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris (Spinoff): Why getting tested quickly matters so much
Siouxsie Wiles (Spinoff): The prevalence puzzle: understanding the Covid-19 numbers
Rawiri Taonui (Waatea): COVID Update 29 April 2020 | Progress or Pitfalls? Data, Testing and PPE
Health system
Robin Gauld (Newsroom): Failing health IT system could learn from Air NZ
ODT Editorial: Health’s shape must be considered, now
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Apology for man turned away from Hutt Hospital during asthma attack
Anna Whyte (1News): GPs suffering low morale and feeling abandoned during Covid-19 crisis, MPs told
RNZ: Epidemic Response Committee hears from medical experts: ‘GPs are feeling almost abandoned’
RNZ: Canterbury DHB to allow visitors under alert level 3
RNZ: Sisters denied request to visit dying mother
Madison Reidy (Newshub): Mental health workers warn of dire consequences of COVID-19 lockdown
Nurses Union
Grant Brookes: Where to now for nurses?
Andrea Chumko (Stuff): Three more resignations at New Zealand Nurses Organisation
Environment, conservation, animal exploitation
Andrea Vance (Stuff): ‘Overexploitation of nature’ spreads diseases like Covid-19
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): Climate change: lakes and rivers will become drier, increasingly infectious and toxic
Lois Williams: West Coast council reverses wetlands decision
Quarantine
Donna-Lee Biddle (Stuff): 24-hour walk ban for Kiwis isolating in hotels during alert level 3
Kendall Hutt (Stuff): New case in Auckland quarantine centre proves system is working – PM
James Fyfe (Newshub): Quarantined travellers in Auckland hotel complain of poor food, rude staff
Foreign affairs
Matt Burrows (Newshub): China promises not to punish New Zealand for joining Australia’s inquiry into COVID-19 origins – Winston Peters
RNZ: Foreign Minister Winston Peters on NZ’s foreign policy response to Covid-19
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): How NZ can aid the world in the Covid-19 response
Register of Pecuniary and Other Specified Interests
RNZ: Elton John, U2 tickets among gifts given to PM
Jason Walls (Herald): Jacinda Ardern’s perks: Concert tickets from U2’s Bono, Time magazine subscription
Zane Small and Rachel Sadler (Newshub): From U2 tickets to cigars from Cuba: The weird and wonderful gifts given to MPs
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): Concerts, sports games, cigars and a painting: Here’s what our MPs were gifted
Jason Walls (Herald): Money from mysterious NZ First Foundation used to fund a NZ First MP’s UK travel junket
RNZ: NZ First Foundation funded MP’s trip to Europe
Provincial Growth Fund
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): $48 million being pumped into regional economy through Provincial Growth Fund
Herald: Farming irrigation main beneficiary of $50m in PGF loans
Care of our elderly
Charles Waldegrave (Stuff): Elderly need balance between protection and isolation
Anna Blackwell (Stuff): Aged-care sector doing its utmost to protect the vulnerable
1News: ACC, TVNZ partner to launch show aimed at keeping elderly Kiwis active
Housing
Mandy Te (Stuff): Tenants going without food to pay rent during lockdown
Skara Bohny (Stuff): Chance for ‘meaningful change’ for the homeless
Liam Dann (Herald): More than 100,000 Kiwis taking mortgage relief (paywalled)
Andrea Fox (Herald): Sir John Key’s property market predictions (paywalled)
Checkpoints
Leigh-Marama McLachlan (RNZ): South Taranaki checkpoint discovers many flouting level 3 rules
Karl du Fresne (Stuff): Iwi checkpoints might be polite, but that doesn’t make them legal
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Police step in after community roadblocks unlawfully close off access to Northland beaches
1News: ‘My two-year-old son was confused’ – Auckland couple turned away from beach by iwi
Media
Steve Maharey (Pundit): The New Zealand Media: A Few Modest Proposals
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Great taste of Threedom
Transport, freight
RNZ: Checkpoint: Air NZ crews hoping to halt redundancies until alert level 2
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Air traffic boss says two years at least for partial Covid-19 domestic flight recovery
Brook Sabin (Stuff): When can we travel internationally again?
Stuff: Coronavirus NZ podcast: Grounded – Will we ever fly again?
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Future hazy for Dunedin airport
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Cook Strait ferry operator StraitNZ consults staff as freight volumes drop 50%
Cycling
RNZ: Cycling popularity changes gear during lockdown and supporters look to capitalise
Joel MacManus (Dominion Post): Bike lanes should be a priority for stimulus investment, Wellington cyclists say
Kiwisaver
1News: Recently redundant Northlander fights to use KiwiSaver to pay off mortgage
Michael Littlewood (Stuff): KiwiSaver hardship rules must be changed
Rob Stock (Stuff): Government must let unemployed use KiwiSaver to clear debt, Picton man says
Local government
Grant Miller (ODT): Most local govt staff have work
Lois Williams: Kaikōura must make cuts before considering rate hike – councillor
Stuff: West Coast Regional Council scraps rates rise, votes to borrow instead
Charlotte Jones: Kawerau to spend nearly $1m on drinking water, flood protection
Justice, corrections
Stuff: Deportees are sitting in prison cells after police cancel escort duties
Stuff: From ‘Oh dear, this is hopeless’ to OK
Other
Chris Keall (Herald): What’s wrong with Australia’s tracing app – and an NZ firm’s alternative (paywalled)
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Questions over Ruby Princess health declarations in NZ
Andy Fyers and Felippe Rodrigues (Stuff): How movement changed across New Zealand during Covid-19 lockdown
Kristin Hall (1News): Concern for vulnerable children after dramatic drop in reports to Oranga Tamariki
Catherine Harris (Stuff): Infrastructure and home building sectors vye for ”shovel ready” cash
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Cruise ships set sail, leave debt behind
RNZ: Cook Islands relaxes Covid-19 restrictions
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Surge in demand for budgeting advice during Covid-19 outbreak
Jacob McSweeny (ODT): Reduced income means budgeting
RNZ: NZ had $672m trade surplus in March
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Fiordland tourism operators frustrated with national park rules
Christine Rose (Newshub): It’s time to end duck shooting for good
Laura Smith (ODT): Legislator surged to act to get ouvea premix out of old mill
David Williams (Newsroom): Extradition possible for Lake Alice torture
