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
NZ’s coronavirus response, public health strategy, Level 1 decision
Derek Cheng (Herald): Big Read: Ashley Bloomfield and Health Ministry’s different views on elimination
Peter Dunne: Public compliance and acquiescence during lockdown unlikely to be repeated even if future circumstances warrant it
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Dr Ashley Bloomfield says New Zealand has no ‘plan b’ and will rely on testing and tracing
Michael Plank (The Coversation): New Zealand hits a 95% chance of eliminating coronavirus – but we predict new cases will emerge
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): New Zealand’s ‘the envy of other countries’ still battling Covid-19
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Is New Zealand’s Covid-19 ‘elimination date’ June 15?
1News: Dr Bloomfield tells businesses to ‘get with the programme’ and adopt official Covid-19 tracing app
Emma Russell (Herald): New app might detect virus before symptoms show
Gavin Evans (BusinessDesk): Better framework needed for emergency law making, MPs told (paywalled)
Māori TV: Civil Defence Minister reflects on COVID-19 response
Newstalk ZB: Todd Muller takes on Jacinda Ardern: ‘She needs to get out more’
Audrey Young (Herald): National leader Todd Muller says Coalition Government is dysfunctional
Collette Devlin (Stuff): PM Jacinda Ardern’s level 1 ‘golden rules’ are more vague than useful
Government
Brent Edwards (NBR): New Zealand First’s political decision on Covid-19 (paywalled)
1News: NZ First reminding Labour who put them in power, with election around the corner
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Winston Peters denies NZ First being absorbed by Labour
1News: Shane Jones vows NZ First won’t ‘tolerate being absorbed’ by Labour ahead of election
Amelia Wade (Herald): Shane Jones: NZ First ‘won’t tolerate being absorbed’ by Labour
Parliament
Thomas Manch (Stuff): ‘Grandpa’, ‘bloody loser’: Insults cap off a boisterous week in the House
1News: Watch: David Seymour kicked out of Parliament after calling Winston Peters ‘grandpa’
Zane Small (Newshub): David Seymour criticises Speaker for booting him from Parliament after ‘grandpa’ jibe at Winston Peters
Claire Trevett (Herald): Act leader David Seymour kicked out after Winston Peters ‘grandpa’ jab
Herald: MPs trade barbs: Tamati Coffey tells Melissa Lee ‘stick to your job, love’
1News: Judith Collins dresses down Labour’s Tamati Coffey after he calls National MP Melissa Lee ‘love’
Zane Small (Newshub): National MP Melissa Lee offended by Labour MP Tāmati Coffey saying ‘stick to your job, love’
Welfare
Glen Scanlon (RNZ): Wrongful ‘redundancy’ benefit rejections affects 8.9% of applicants – MSD
Newshub: Red Cross packs thousands of parcels for families in need
Susan St John and Claire Dale (Newsroom): Don’t drop the ball on this one Jacinda
Melissa NIghtingale (Herald): Left out in the cold: The pensioners who won’t be getting this year’s upgraded Winter Energy Payment
Queenstown, migrant workers
Tim Brown (RNZ): Queenstown unemployment from 1.1% to 18.5% in a year – Infometrics
Hamish McLean (ODT): Queenstown will take years to recover – economists
Hamish McLean (ODT): $633m fall prediction for resort
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Queenstown welfare hub sessions booked out in hours
Hugh Collins (ODT): Info meeting reassuring, migrants say
Police, justice
Jordan Bond (RNZ): Armed Response Teams trial: ‘Bizarre’ holes in callout data
Michael Neilson (Herald): George Floyd and the failed US example: Greens call Armed Response Teams trial ‘a mess’, call to rule it out
Emilie Rākete (Spinoff): The whakapapa of police violence
Robin Martin (RNZ): Sister of Hāwera man who died in custody: ‘The police wouldn’t talk to us’
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Public deserve to know more about death of Hawera man, says advocate
1News: High number of Māori in justice system have ‘been failed by society’ – Police Association President
Marc Māori over-represented in lockdown police proceedings
David Farrar: Maybe it isn’t racism
George Floyd murder, Black Lives Matter
Stuff Editorial: Race and religion are boiling over in the US
Ian Hyslop: What is happening in the USA? – and why it matters to us
Dominic Godfrey (RNZ): Black Lives Matter protests galvanise Pasifika voices
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Māori encouraged to join the fight for Black Lives Matter
Border restrictions
1News: Judith Collins calls for clarity around ‘mind-boggling’ Covid-19 border exemptions
Newstalk ZB: Judith Collins on border restrictions, Todd Muller as leader
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Risk of closures: Language schools plead for certainty over borders
Brad Flahive (Stuff): Stranded visa holders racking up debt as they wait to return
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Phil Twyford expects America’s Cup travel applications to ‘land on his desk’ soon
Mackenzie Smith (RNZ): Sir Ben Ainslie presses case for America’s Cup visas for UK team
Anne Gibson (Herald): Judith Collins grills Phil Twyford on America’s Cup challenger staff getting entry to NZ (paywalled)
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Matt Burrow (Newshub): ‘Smart border’ could allow New Zealand to reopen to countries beyond Australia, Pacific Islands
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): New Zealand’s Covid-19 border restrictions are about to get tougher
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Cabinet likely to consider budget bail-out for border agencies in July
Trans-Tasman bubble
Anna Whyte (1News): Winston Peters quashes July Wellington-Canberra business flight proposal
Lorna Thornber and Katarina Williams (Stuff): Air New Zealand distances itself from proposal to launch trans-Tasman flights on July 1
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Trans-Tasman travel bubble date down to Australians, Winston Peters says
Derek Cheng (Herald): No word from Aussies on when transtasman flights to begin – Winston Peters
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Trans-Tasman travel bubble trial touted for July by Chambers of Commerce
Calida Stuart-Menteath (NBR): Trans-Tasman bubble trial mooted for next month (paywalled)
Grant Bradley (Herald): Expert group lodges plan with New Zealand, Australian governments (paywalled)
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Trans-Tasman bubble details imminent – Canberra airport seeks attention
Business rent relief, job losses
Dan Satherley and Lydia Lewis (Newshub): Wage subsidy kept 89 percent of businesses going during lockdown – Sepuloni
Emma Hatton (RNZ): ‘Long time coming’: business tenants relieved over rent policy
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Andrew Little says NZ First’s plan for rent relief was ‘laughable’ and quickly withdrawn
Jane Patterson (RNZ): New Zealand First flexes coalition muscles over commercial rent deal
Marta Steeman (Stuff): Who’s eligible for the Government’s new $40m commercial rents disputes package
Zane Small (Newshub): Winston Peters criticises Labour’s COVID-19 rent dispute proposal as ‘a sledgehammer to smash a nut’
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Gift store chain says ‘vast majority’ of retailers will qualify for rent-relief arbitration (paywalled)
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Government will insert ‘implied clause’ to leases to spur rent relief and predicts thousands of disputes
Julie Iles (NBR): Commercial rent dispute law finally announced (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (1News): Small businesses ‘victim of coalition dysfunction’ between Labour, NZ First – National
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Would a GST holiday get you spending more?
Catherine Harris (Stuff): Big retailers ‘asking for months of rent relief’
1News: ‘Incredibly confronting’ – Around 24,000 small business job losses due to Covid-19
Aimee Shaw (Herald): More than 6000 businesses at risk of closing – report
Debrin Foxcroft (Stuff): Staff at The Warehouse Birkenhead told store will close next month
Economy
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Strict lockdown’s economic benefits starting to show – economist
BusinessDesk: Impact on NZ economy ‘may not be as severe’ as predicted
David Hargreaves (Interest): Now we wait…
Douglas Fairgray & Rodney Yeoman: Lockdown wasn’t so hard – and economic pain is overstated (paywalled)
Stephen Goldson & Caroline Saunders (Herald): NZ has a massive trade advantage and needs to protect it (paywalled)
Aimee Shaw (Herald): Three ways Covid-19 has changed consumer behaviour (paywalled)
Foreign affairs
Robert Ayson (Incline): New Zealand’s Useful Huawei Ambiguity
Thomas Coughlan (Newshub): NZ politician joins call for action over erosion of Hong Kong freedoms
Education and training
RNZ: Economic downturn likely to drive more schools into donation scheme
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): Wellington hall refusing to allow students out of contracts
1News: Investigation into university accommodations during lockdown receives unanimous party support
John Gibb (ODT): University boosts halls of residence rebate
Patrick Vakaoti (The Big Q): How are young tertiary students that work faring in the wake of COVID-19?
ODT Editorial: Trades training key to recovery
D’Angelo Martin (Māori TV): Free Trades Training to open doors for Māori
Richard Davison (ODT): Pivotal role for Telford
Tourism
RNZ: Waitomo tourist attraction gets Covid-19 tourism recovery funding
Brent Edwards (NBR): Government to fast-track urgent tourism recovery fund applications (paywalled)
John Lewis (ODT): Tourism funding focus on regional significance welcomed
Transport
RNZ: Air New Zealand customers should get choice of refund or credit, Consumer NZ says
RNZ: Checkpoint: Customer ‘flabbergasted’ at difficulty of using Air NZ credits
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Air NZ non-refundable flights: Minister urges ‘sympathy’ for airline
1News: Air New Zealand apologises for call centre delays and flight credit confusion
Herald Editorial: More turbulence for Air New Zealand over refunds (paywalled)
John Anthony (Stuff): Jetstar planning return of NZ domestic services following months of hibernation
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Phil Twyford embroiled in second ‘secret letter’ fiasco
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Transport Minister Phil Twyford has never visited Transmission Gully site
Fishing industry
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Government delays mandatory cameras on fishing boats, again
No Right Turn: Still getting what they paid for
Environment
Amberl-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): New Zealand could be the first country in the world to ban plastic bottles, Greenpeace says
RNZ: Call for government to ban plastic drink bottles
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Greenpeace launches petition calling on NZ to ban plastic bottles
Brian Fallow (Herald): When climate fight gets real (paywalled)
Local government
Simon Wilson (Herald): The harsh reality of Auckland Council’s new budget (paywalled)
John Minto (Daily Blog): Christchurch City – Taking abuse of low-income families to a new level
RNZ: Gisborne council officially revokes decision to install Endeavour replicas
Māori TV: Ngāti Tūwharetoa could be first iwi to take over duties of regional council
Susan Botting: Far North jobs would be at risk if rates rise reduced – mayor
Harry Lock (RNZ): Wellington Omāroro Reservoir project: council approves $10m boost
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): Napier Council takes the plunge with risky sewage pipe repair
Luisa Girao (ODT): Confusion abounds after vote to adjust councillors’ pay
Luisa Girao (ODT): Museum, Art Gallery board concedes ownership ruling
Sport
Hamish Bidwell (RNZ): The glaring problem with sport
RNZ: Professional sports get more funding top up
1News: Basketball NZ ‘disappointed, frustrated’ at absence of Govt funding after NBL left out of $4.6m package
Marc Hinton (Stuff): Basketball New Zealand boss Iain Potter slams funding snub: ‘It’s a kick in the guts’
Mark Geenty (Stuff): Wellington Phoenix receive nearly $1m, Warriors $200k from Sport NZ relief package
Loan sharks
Joel Maxwell and Thomas Manch (Stuff): Predatory lenders in the crosshairs as Government’s consumer reform takes effect
David Hargreaves (Stuff): Snuffing out the sharks
Aroha Mane (Māori TV): Law passed to stop loan sharks targeting low-income whānau
Media
Wayne Hope (Daily Blog): Crisis, Disintegration and Hope: Where to for New Zealand’s News Media?
Kearama Wright (Māori TV): NZ mainstream media has responsibility to stop racism – Māori broadcaster
Tourism
RNZ: Covid-19 tourism $400m recovery funding welcomed by industry
Brent Edwards (NBR): Every inbound tourism operator can’t be supported, warns Tourism Minister (paywalled)
Tracy Neal (RNZ): Fiordland re-directs focus to domestic market
Health
Jean Bell (RNZ): Hospital security guard stabbing: Union demands investigation
Shannon Redstall (Newshub): Thousands sign petition against second KFC opening in south Auckland suburb
Mare Haimona-Riki (Māori TV): Mobile health care clinics set for whānau Māori
Internet
Peter Griffin (BusinessDesk): We don’t need a Great Kiwi Firewall (paywalled)
Curwen Ares Rolinson (Daily Blog): Against The Great Kiwi Firewall – Why I’m Concerned About Internal Affairs Proposal To Filter “Objectionable” Internet
Other
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Political Roundup: Why there’s still hope for National at the election
Brian Easton: Debunking the Egalitarian Myth
1News: Inside Parliament: Growing calls for Level 1 as Government holds the line (video)
Matt Vickers (Herald): A letter to my late wife Lecretia Seales
Joanne Carroll (Stuff): Pike River recovery achievable ‘on time and on budget
Richard Harman (Politik): Firing the Auditor General (not easy)
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): MAGA hats: A relic of a ‘dark and racist history’
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Investors may have paid price for online access to KiwiSaver
Alex Braae (Spinoff): Should we get more than five days’ sick leave a year?
RNZ: Naida Glavish ‘appalled’ at lack of action over Oranga Tamariki
1News: Influx of movie industry workers will ‘supercharge’ NZ’s economy, Film Commission says
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Fieldays 2020 called off, replaced by online event
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Homecoming for some New Zealanders as others stuck in India plead for approval
Dominic Harris (Stuff): Shift in work culture could ‘cripple’ small businesses
Andrew Bevin (NBR): Cassels: KiwiBuild criticism ‘politics at its worst’ (paywalled)
RNZ: Te reo Māori use by under-fours widespread – research
Nicholas Pointon (RNZ): Investigation into data theft from KiwiSaver provider grinds to halt
RNZ: Pacific women leaders identify social pressures amid pandemic
Ben Strang (RNZ): Court of Appeal ruling paves way for changes in child abduction cases
