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
Government, lockdown legality
Branko Marcetic (Democracy Project): The prime minister should listen to her own mantra: “Be kind”
RNZ: Was Covid-19 lockdown legal? Professor Claudia Geiringer explains
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Legal challenge over coronavirus lockdown
Yvette McCullough (RNZ): Epidemic Response Committee to summons Solicitor-General to reveal legal advice for lockdown
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Parliament’s COVID-19 committee summonses Solicitor-General to reveal lockdown legal advice
Amelia Wade (Herald): Solicitor-General summonsed to reveal legal basis for lockdown
Donal Curtin: Restricted Budget ‘lock up’ not good enough
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Government’s lockdown ‘success’ fast fading
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Global experts say NZ Government best in world at COVID-19 communication
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): New Zealand’s Covid-19 response most impressive, US the worst
Paul Buchanan: Between push and shove
Kate Roger (Newshub): Temuera Morrison says Taika Waititi should put Jacinda Ardern in Star Wars
Wage subsidy controversies
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Not everyone will be happy: Govt shouldn’t prop rich corporates or students
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Bell Gully becomes the third major law firm in a day to say it will repay the wage subsidy
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): Law firms repay millions of dollars in unneeded wage subsidies
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): MinterEllisonRuddWatts joins Simpson Grierson in repaying millions in wage subsidies
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Big law firms repay millions of dollars in wage subsidies
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Simpson Grierson repays $2.3m subsidy
Victoria Young (BusinessDesk): Simpson Grierson pays back wage subsidy (paywalled)
John Anthony (Stuff): US billionaire’s companies claim nearly $1.3m in wage subsidies to pay luxury resorts and winery staff
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Multimillion-dollar subsidy for childcare centres slammed
Jamie Gray (Herald): Manuka honey is booming, so why are companies tapping into wage subsidies? (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: Covid 19 coronavirus – will the wage subsidy turn out to be a costly free lunch? (paywalled)
Health strategy, decisions
Simon Wilson (Herald): Being old in a Covid world (paywalled)
Jamie Morton (Herald): Big Read: Experts explain how NZ can get level 2 right
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): What is elimination, and what could defeat it?
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): Antibody testing ‘overdue’ to better understand silent spread
Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris (Spinoff): Why our run of low Covid-19 numbers does not mean jump now
1News: New Zealand won’t be able to cope with vaccine roll out, says expert
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Covid-19 vaccine our ‘only clear exit strategy’, so where is it?
Tom McRae (Newshub): Epidemiologist urges Government to make wearing masks in public compulsory at alert level 2
Richard Harman: Do we stay or do we go?
Claire Trevett (Herald): Jacinda Ardern, Simon Bridges and the ‘luxury’ of Opposition (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (1News):‘I will not roll the dice’ – PM pushes back as Simon Bridges continues lockdown criticism in Parliament
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Government to unveil Covid-19 alert level 2 rules today
Jason Walls (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to unveil new level 2 details today
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern hints at alert level 2 rules tweak, predicts level 1 will last until vaccine
Richard Prebble (NBR): Lift the lockdown now (paywalled)
RNZ: Nine to Noon: Policing under level 2: Andrew Coster
1News: Government allocates $25m for ‘cutting-edge products’ to fight Covid-19
Zac Fleming (Newshub): New Zealand fails to join global COVID-19 vaccine fundraiser
Bridges v Bloomfield
Stuff Editorial: Impatience in the public waiting room
Anna Whyte (1News): In fiery exchange, Simon Bridges accuses Dr Bloomfield of holding back info
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Ashley Bloomfield pushed by Simon Bridges on why NZ isn’t in level 2 yet
Trans Tasman bubble
Chris Keall (Herald): Transtasman bubble puts NZ in a contact-tracing bind (paywalled)
James Fyfe (Newshub): Trans-Tasman bubble viewed as a ‘favour’ to New Zealand by some Australians
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): Why I’d rather be in NZ than Australia right now
Foreign affairs, WHO
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Are We In A “New Security Environment”, Or Just The Same Old Anti-Chinese One?
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): World Health Organization let down by United Nations during pandemic – Helen Clark
Tracing app, testing
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): No voluntary Covid-19 tests for Matamata cluster – Waikato DHB
RNZ: Covid-19 screening expanded for rest home residents
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Health workers, Maori tested
John Lewis (ODT): Queenstown testing centre may be able to close
Michael Daly (Stuff): Kiwis a trusting lot when it comes to downloading Covid-19 tracing app
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Majority of New Zealand’s smartphone owners willing to download COVID-19 contact tracing app
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Tracing apps at cafe doors as Government-backed tech looks unlikely
Business and economy
Kate MacNamara (Stuff): Corona utopia or Kiwi myopia?
Geoff Simmons (Stuff): A universal basic income would help us put economy back together
Liam Dann (Herald): Govt freezes Customs fee hikes to help exporters and importers
Rob Stock (Stuff): Economy will still be almost 9% under power during level 2, Reserve Bank says
Madison Reidy (Newshub): COVID-19 lockdown wipes billions from New Zealand’s economy
RNZ: Pandemic disruption creates economic opportunity, KPMG leader says
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): Worksafe issues 11 notices after 80 surprise fast food checks in three days
Jordan Bond (RNZ): Notices sent to fast food companies over level three breaches
Mike O’Donnell (Stuff): Supermarkets may regret their penny-pinching
Lana Andelane (Newshub): New Zealand’s small businesses divided over likelihood of survival during COVID-19 response
Chloe Blommerde (Stuff): Small businesses drowning in Covid-19 lockdown debt
Leigh-Marama McLachlan (RNZ): Doing business in a post-lockdown world
Tourism
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Our Hometown
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): 98 per cent of Queenstown hotel rooms empty in April
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Ngāi Tahu Tourism lays off 300 staff
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Ngāi Tahu Tourism confirms plans to cut hundreds of jobs, workforce slashed from 348 to 39
Matthew Mckew (ODT): Massive job cuts at Shotover Jet confirmed
Matthew Mckew (ODT): Millbrook, Nomad announce lay-offs
Lorna Thornber (Stuff): New Zealand’s immediate focus should be on domestic tourism before we look at a trans-Tasman bubble
Matthew Mckew (ODT): Operators say booking agents should go
Employment, job losses
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Unemployment rate jumps to 4.2 percent
Caroline Williams (Stuff): 12,400 job losses in Auckland CBD, report predicts
Matthew Theunissen (RNZ): Job losses in Auckland could be three times worse than GFC – report
Glen Scanlon (RNZ): Redundancy payment will leave cleaner ‘worse off’
RNZ: Smiths City to restructure and likely to cut jobs
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): TAB consults on plan to cut 30 per cent of jobs
Emily Brookes (Stuff): 15 jobs go as top winery restaurant at Pegasus Bay shuts
Jacob McSweeny (ODT): Farra forced to shed 15 staff in ‘time of crisis’
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): New Zealand Office Supplies placed into voluntary administration
Immigration
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Immigration NZ in ‘disarray’ over remote working as new law offers ‘unbridled power’
RNZ: Immigration processes causing delays need updating – Ian Lees-Galloway
Microsoft
Chris Keall (Herald): PM lauds Microsoft plan for NZ data centre, but details sketchy
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern attributes Microsoft’s big New Zealand data centre venture to ‘safe haven advantage’
Katie Kenny (Stuff): Microsoft’s “significant investment” shows faith in NZ’s digital future
RNZ: Microsoft seeks new datacenter region in New Zealand
1News: PM welcomes Microsoft’s plan to invest in New Zealand
Māori voice at Epidemic Response Committee
Newshub: Māori Council holding own meeting following ignored proposals for Māori representation at Epidemic Response Committee
Heta Gardiner (Māori TV): “Mark my words, I’ll ensure that happens” – Bridges vows more Māori voice at Epidemic Response Committee
Tema Hemi (Māori TV): Māori Party claims ERC exclusion is deliberate
Epidemic Response Committee
Anna Whyte (1News): Cancer diagnoses have plummeted 30% during NZ’s coronavirus lockdown
Newstalk ZB: Cancer Society: Health system ‘must catch up’ or lives will be lost
RNZ: Epidemic Response Committee discusses palliative care
Newshub: Epidemic Response Committee hears about funerals, cancer treatment disrupted by COVID-19
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Government promises to do better in face of heartbreaking COVID-19 lockdown experiences
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern admits ‘expectations have not been met’ as COVID-19 lockdown testimonies shock MPs
RNZ: No support person allowed as wife told of miscarriage
RNZ: New mum recalls trauma of birth during lockdown to Epidemic Response
Zane Small (Newshub): Strict COVID-19 lockdown birthing rules separating partners left new mum feeling like ‘an animal’
Anna Whyte (1News): Call for minute’s silence to commemorate deaths without funerals during lockdown
Local government
Catrin Owen and Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Council contract cleaners paid under minimum wage due to Covid-19 pay cut
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland drought: Council likely to impose water restrictions from next week
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Locked out: Wellington City Council media flip-flop
RNZ: Appointments announced as council looks to hear Māori voice
Mike Fallow ( Stuff): South’s councils can’t provide cut-rate infrastructure
ODT: Invercargill City council keeps paying even idle staff 100%
Matthew Tso (Stuff): Upper Hutt drops rates below inflation level in response to Covid-19 crisis
Education
RNZ: Efforts needed to help children avoid mental health consequences of lockdown
Mandy Te (Stuff): Victoria University of Wellington’s vice-chancellor Grant Guilford and senior leadership team take pay cuts
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Victoria University remains hopeful of expansion plans despite redundancy warnings
Erin Gourley (Critic): Vice-Chancellor’s “Frustrating” Response to Exam Timetable Complaint
1News: Early childhood centres call for relaxation of Covid-19 spacing rules at Alert Level 2
Health system
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Surgeries on the line as private hospitals war with DHBs
Tova O’Brien and Wilhelmina Shrimpton (Newshub): Kiwi in quarantine granted exemption to see dying mother
Michael Hayward and Jonathan Guildford (Stuff): Campervan quarantine camps killed off after costing Government $2 million
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Southern District Health Board looks to needs of future
Andrew MacFarlane (1News): NZ’s coronavirus lockdown has created ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ to squash HIV, too – health advocates
Community roadblocks
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Iwi ponders continued use of checkpoint during alert level 2
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Local iwi’s ‘travel permits’ at Bay of Plenty community roadblocks mean nothing, police say
Environment
Eloise Gibson (Stuff): New Zealand will miss climate deadline by more than a year
RNZ: Auckland Council secures overseas market to restart some recycling
RMA, infrastructure
Hamish Rennie (Spinoff): The sprint to shovel-ready must not ignore the marathon
Bronson Perich (Māori TV): The Crown needs to work with all Māori to amend RMA – Linda Te Aho
Steve Forbes: Plans to change RMA offer chance to complete $1.4b busway project earlier – Goff
Transport and roading
Matt Lowrie (Greater Auckland): Time’s up for PPPs
No Right Turn: A death-knell for PPPs?
Charlotte Cook (RNZ): Transmission Gully project a ‘circus’, sections to be re-laid
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Former Civil Aviation Authority director told colleague to ‘have a joint’ to relax
Pacific
Teuila Fuatai (Newsroom): Is Samoa using Covid-19 to push constitutional changes?
RNZ: Samoa PM hits out at NZ Law Society
RNZ: NZ Law Society offers support to Samoa Law Society
RNZ: Samoa union concerned about contract termination processes
RNZ: China, US feature in Pacific perceptions of Covid19
RNZ: NZ govt urged to apply more scrutiny in West Papua
RNZ: Fiji media “victims of govt intimidation”- RSF
Tiwai Point and Rio Tinto
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Rio Tinto remains committed to Southland premix removal
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): Tanking aluminium prices don’t bode well for Tiwai smelter (paywalled)
RNZ: Call to pressure Rio Tinto over destruction in Bougainville
Sport
RNZ: $25 million sport relief package announced
Stephen Foote (Newshub): Sports NZ announce further relief funding for community sports
1News: Sport New Zealand announces $25m package for clubs and regional organisations
Sharon Brettkelly (RNZ): Covid-19 sails off with NZ’s America’s Cup income
Primary industries
Robin Martin (RNZ): Drought relief ‘too little too late’ – Hawkes Bay farmer
Maja Burry (RNZ): Half-million dollar fund to help farmers recover from drought
Other
Guyon Espiner and Kate Newton (RNZ): Foundation donations not named on NZ First electoral return
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): 5 months until the 2020 NZ election – where are we at?
Andre Chumko (Stuff): Former New Zealand Nurses Organisation presidents call for dissolution of board
Lynn Bower and Deborah Stevens (Stuff): Better to decriminalise cannabis rather than legalise it – bill opponents
Alison Maui (Stuff): Demand for emergency lockdown food service doubles
Briar O’Connor (Newsroom): What lockdown revealed about child abuse reporting
Lynn Freeman (RNZ): Uncertain futures of museums and galleries
Ben Strang (RNZ): Gang numbers on the rise, but a slight drop in gang crime comes with a warning
Rob Stock (Stuff): ‘Stupid law’ prevents man from buying his first home with KiwiSaver
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Cash Converters sent client to debt collectors despite her attempts to work out payment scheme
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland’s City Rail Link boring machine to be named after land rights campaigner Dame Whina Cooper
Steve Kilgallon (Stuff): Events industry asks Govt for $80m Covid-19 rescue package
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Fletcher construction ordered to pay $7.5 million to utilities contractor over Christchurch justice precinct project
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): Wildlife organisations ask public for money to keep animals fed as revenue plummets
Eleisha Foon (RNZ): Petition to ban all freedom camping when borders reopen
