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 First
David Fisher (Herald): Big Read: Where Winston Peters will hunt for votes this election (paywalled)
Audrey Young (Herald): The two contrasting faces of Winston Peters (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Balance is vital for Peters and NZ First (paywalled)
Richard Harman: Jones claims the Nats will get dirty in Northland
Dan Satherley and Delphine Herbert (Newshub): Can Shane Jones win Northland and save New Zealand First?
Newstalk ZB: Shane Te Pou: Shane Jones ‘has a good chance’ to take Northland seat
Tim Dower (Newstalk ZB): The electorate battle to watch this general election
Denise Piper (Stuff): Election decider? Shane Jones confirmed as NZ First’s Northland candidate
Derek Cheng (Herald): New Zealand First officially select Shane Jones as Northland candidate
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Shane Jones officially New Zealand First’s Northland electorate candidate
1News: NZ First’s Shane Jones will run for Northland seat in 2020 election
RNZ: NZ First MP Shane Jones to stand in Northland at election
Derek Cheng (Herald): NZ First MP Clayton Mitchell will not stand in election
Thomas Manch (Stuff): NZ First MP Clayton Mitchell to retire from politics
RNZ: MP who was thrown out of bar to leave politics
Zane Small (Newshub): New Zealand First MP Clayton Mitchell stepping down after 2020 election
1News: NZ First MP Clayton Mitchell to leave Parliament after election
Government
Andrea Vance (Stuff): What good is popularity if you fail to do anything with it?
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Portrait of Green leader James Shaw: ‘Labour wasted its political capital’
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Winston Peters and Jacinda Ardern’s star-crossed political relationship
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of … The Ardern Gang (paywalled)
Andrew Gunn (Stuff): ‘Now, about the achievements of this coalition government of equal partners’
Herald: Jacinda Ardern book stoush: PM’s office say Government played no role
Monika Barton (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on whether she’s offended by ‘Aunty Cindy’ nickname
Emily Brookes (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern wears Nadia Reid socks after attending the singer’s gig in Wellington
Polls and Parliament
Claire Trevett (Herald): No Mullermania yet for Todd Muller in first poll since leadership change
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Ardern under pressure as Peters fuels opposition attacks
No Right Turn: The pandemic law, deadlines, and the election
Phil Smith (RNZ): Debating without limits: the committee stage change-up
National Party
Derek Cheng (Herald): Todd Muller’s new hire Matthew Hooton may cause disquiet among National MPs
Dan Satherley (Newshub): The Nation: Nikki Kaye explains how National’s ‘moral obligation’ to win the election led to its Māori-free front bench
Dan Satherley (Newshub): The Nation: Why National dumped Simon Bridges
Duncan Garner (Newshub): How is ‘Mr Nothing to See Here’ Todd Muller going to beat Jacinda Ardern?
Election candidates
RNZ: Tania Tapsell National’s new East Coast candidate
Paul MItchell (Manawatū Standard): Rangitīkei Greens candidate Joe Boon bows out of election race
Rahul Bhattarai (Stuff): Greens vying for votes from young and old
Alert Level 1 decision
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Should New Zealand ease coronavirus restrictions? Cabinet faces an obvious decision
Derek Cheng (Herald): Level 1 – it’s now Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s decision today
Brent Edwards (NBR): Fact or Fiction: the argument over alert levels (paywalled)
Police
Mihingarangi Forbes (The Hui): Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis and Police Minister Stuart Nash disagree over claims of systemic police racism
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): The Nation: Kelvin Davis says police do a ‘great job’ but shouldn’t be armed
Jordan Bond (RNZ): Armed Response Teams trial: ‘Bizarre’ holes in callout data
No Right Turn: Its not an experiment if you don’t collect data
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Police union ‘appalled’ at Greens for connecting death of George Floyd to arming New Zealand cops
Zane Small (Newshub): Police Association angered by Green Party’s letter rallying against armed cops in wake of George Floyd’s death
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): Armed cops – The risks in taking it a step further (paywalled)
Collin Tukuitonga (Newsroom): Armed police not what NZ needs
Irihapeti Edwards & Stephanie Muller-Pallares (E-Tangata): Partnership and Privilege
1News: Govt needs to ‘trust Māoridom’ to fix worrying justice, policing issues – Race Relations Commissioner
Jared Savage (Herald): Police Commissioner’s gamble: Winners and losers from Andy Coster’s reshuffle
Black Lives Matter protests, racism
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): New Zealand minister says yes – Trump is racist amid George Floyd protests
Andre Chumko (Stuff): Greens co-leaders agree Donald Trump is racist
Marama Davidson (Stuff): Racism is not just a problem “over there” – we have to confront it here too
Aaron Smale (E-Tangata): The colonial problem
Steve Elers (Stuff): No way to rationale violence and looting as an acceptable response
Jehan Casinader (BusinessDesk): Black lives matter – but changing your Facebook photo does not (paywalled)
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Prayers and a punch-up as culture wars come to NZ
Dan Satherley (Newshub): National would have ‘arrested everyone’ at Auckland’s Black Lives Matter protest – Willie Jackson
Mike Treen (Daily Blog): The cancer of racism is bad for all of us
Coronavirus, social distancing, contact tracing, masks
Dan Satherley (Newshub): The Nation: ‘Let’s not get overconfident’: Celebrate COVID-19 success, but remain on edge – expert
Isaac Davison (Herald): Covid 19 coronavirus: 95% likely virus has been eliminated in New Zealand, modelling shows
Charlotte Graham-McLay (Guardian): ‘Can’t quite believe it’: New Zealand tiptoes towards elimination of coronavirus
Kiwiblog: Coronavirus in New Zealand: Cost of the world’s tightest lockdown
Chris Trotter: Protest In A Time Of Covid
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Close encounter with Avatar crew in hotel lobby ‘couldn’t have happened’, says official
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Photo of Jacinda Ardern, tumour survivor misused on Twitter to ‘slander’ PM for failing to stick to social distancing rules
Katarina Williams (Stuff): NZ ‘a week away’ from an Italy-style health system crash
Ann Zaki (RNZ): A ‘very good idea’ to wear masks on flights – expert
RNZ: Covid-19: WHO changes advice on wearing masks
Ada Pearse (Northern Advocate): Northland DHB defends not being on national contact tracing system (paywalled)
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Trust in COVID Tracer app needs to be built to see sufficient uptake – Anna Brown
1News: Government’s Covid-19 tracer app gains over 500,000 registrations
Katie Todd (RNZ): Hospitality businesses confused over future of contact tracing
Welfare, inequality
Glen Scanlon (RNZ): MSD asked to mind accuracy, quality assurance after redundancy pay error
Brian Easton (Pundit): Oliver Twist Dominates Too Much Of Social Policy
Ruwani Perera (Newshub): How the pandemic is proving to be a once-in-a-generation chance to end homelessness
Bess Manson (Stuff): Human teeth, faeces, clumps of hair – the shocking state of Wellington’s night shelter
1News: Demand for food banks remains high following Covid-19 pandemic
Wage subsidy
Isaac Davison (Herald): More private schools pay back wage subsidy after Government says they are ineligible (paywalled)
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Wage subsidy scheme criteria changes mean 40,000 extra businesses eligible, says Government
Anna Whyte (1News): Thousands more businesses eligible for wage subsidy scheme as Government extends support
Zane Small (Newshub): Wage subsidy tweaked to allow more businesses access to the extended scheme
Amelia Wade (Herald): Grant Robertson: Businesses with 40 per cent reduction in revenue will be eligible for wage subsidy
RNZ: Government widens eligibility for business wage subsidy
Heather Du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Wage subsidy scheme is working well
Robyn Walker and Blake Hawes (Stuff): Answers to common questions about the Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme
Economy, business, trade
1News: NZ’s economy would’ve suffered even without Covid-19 lockdown, study finds
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Actions speak louder than visions of the future (paywalled)
RNZ: Economic outlook brighter, but still terrible
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk):Lessons from family businesses to a post Covid-19 future (paywalled)
Dita De Boni (NBR): Importers charged triple or more to get goods into NZ (paywalled)
Zoe George (Stuff): Government’s commercial rent relief too little, too late for motel operator
Jenny Ruth (BusinessDesk): NZ should capitalise on Covid-free status and PM’s global profile
Grant Miller (ODT): Hope remains for Dunedin H&J Smith stores
Grant Miller (ODT): H&J Smith confirm closures in Balclutha and Te Anau
Employment
Maria Slade (NBR): Courts to the rescue of vulnerable workers (paywalled)
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Young people bear the brunt of first Covid-19 unemployment wave
Fiona Connor (Newshub): Calls for WorkSafe to investigate Lyttelton Port Company after employee’s suicide
Māori TV: Workers picket Temperzone plant in Auckland
Flight refunds, Air NZ job cuts
John Anthony (Stuff): From Walmart wonderboy to Air New Zealand: How Greg Foran’s handled a catastrophe
John Anthony and Rob Stock (Stuff): Anger and dismay at Air New Zealand plans to slash another 2000 jobs
Grant Bradley (Herald): Air New Zealand warns more jobs may go as it launches 800-day recovery plan
Andrew Bevin (NBR): Air New Zealand making further extensive job cuts
Stuff Editorial: Air New Zealand’s refund problem
RNZ: Checkpoint: Air NZ changes tack on credits for customer’s family
RNZ: Checkpoint: ‘Not enough cash in the bank’ for refunds – Air NZ boss
1News: ‘We need to brace ourselves’ – Air NZ CEO warns staff of more job cuts on the horizon
RNZ: Jetstar should offer refunds for cancelled flights – Consumer NZ
Media
Graham Adams (Democracy Project): Are the media gloves coming off for Ardern?
David Farrar: Which media are seen as most left and right leaning
Damien Venuto (Herald): MediaWorks TV sale nears completion to US giant Discovery, sources confirm
Duncan Greive (Spinoff): Senior MediaWorks source emphatically denies reports Three sold to Discovery
Dita De Boni (NBR): Discovery’s content trove might save MediaWorks TV, sources say (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): NZME rebels seek to break-up the media company
Michael de Hamel (RNZ): Big media players have forgotten the medium is the message
Hayden Donnell (RNZ): Mediwatch: Documentary Photography: The end of history
Imogen Wells (1News): Precious moments of NZ television preserved for future generations
RNZ: Standing Room Only: Saving those precious old tapes – Nga Taonga’s race against time
ANZ, banks
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Another black mark against country’s largest bank ANZ (paywalled)
1News: ANZ charged over ‘false and misleading’ credit card insurance policies impacting hundreds of customers
RNZ: Financial Markets Authority files charges against ANZ over credit card claims
Dan Brunskill (BusinessDesk): Regulator sues ANZ over credit card insurance (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Why mortgage holidays are a windfall for banks, who could net up to $100m
Local government
Alex Braae (Spinoff): While central government spends up large, councils face an age of austerity
Todd Niall (Stuff): Slashing rise in Auckland Council rates could cost jobs, services and even lives
Stephen Forbes (RNZ): Auckland mayor Phil Goff says Eastern Busway not at risk in budget cuts
Joel MacManus (Dominion Post): Wellington water woes: No independent assessment in a decade, despite aging and leaking pipes
Joel MacManus (Dominion Post): The greenest little capital: Major report shows dramatic fall in Wellington’s emissions
1News: Wellington seeing success with years-long effort to reach zero emissions status
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Christchurch’s new covered stadium: Council to encourage local firms to tender for $473m job (paywalled)
RNZ: Council proposes Ngāti Tūwharetoa board monitor water in Lake Taupō catchment
Logan Savory (Southland Times): Tension between Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt and some councillors festers
RNZ: Far North council curbs rates increase to 2.23%
Felix Desmarais (RNZ): Petition for free parking in Rotorua fails to win council support
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Dozens of heavy bells make Carillon high earthquake risk
ODT Editorial: The demise of The Mrs, The Mistress and Ginger Cougar
Health and disability
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Big read: Which DHBs could prioritise Māori and Pacific patients
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Revealed: More DHBs consider prioritising Māori and Pacific patients for elective surgeries
Jonathan Guildford (Stuff): Aged-care nurses fed up with wage disparity launch campaign for fair pay
RNZ: Cancer check catch-up urgently needed after coronavirus lockdown
1News; Over half of heart attack sufferers delaying treatment due to Covid-19 fears – report
Leah Tebbutt (Herald): Rotorua pharmacist calls for removal of ‘unfair’ prescription co-payments amid Covid-19 pandemic (paywalled)
RNZ: Review backs epilepsy drug funding, despite suspected deaths
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Lamotrigine concerns not addressed
Shannon Redstall and Ella Prendergast (Newshub): KFC drops plans for second outlet in south Auckland suburb
RNZ: Seismic work at hospital disrupts $32m in improvements
Andre Chumko (Stuff): Is it time to review New Zealand’s archaic blood donation laws?
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): St John moves digital with mental health first aid course
Laura James (1News): Autism NZ calls for more leadership, funding, resources
Cannabis
RNZ: Saturday Morning: How does cannabis use affect New Zealanders’ health?
John Gibb (ODT): Cannabis study puts health first
Dan Satherley and Zac Fleming (RNZ): Cannabis referendum: Study finds most Kiwis have tried it, without negative effects
Child welfare
Leigh-Marama McLachlan (RNZ): Māori mothers describe child welfare system as dangerous and brutal in new report
Isaac Davison (Herald): Baby uplifts: Mother discovered her newborn would be taken while she was in labour
Mark Quinlivan ( Newshub): Another damning report into Oranga Tamariki uplifts reveals racism and inhumane treatment towards Māori mothers
Education and training
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): Thousands of Victoria students demand grade bump, in line with other universities
1News: Students worried as NZ universities take different approaches to grades amid Covid-19 disruption
Simon Collins (Herald): Schools still waiting for refunds on 35 cancelled overseas trips
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): Same qualifications, same duties, different pay: The ‘broken’ ECE mode
1News: School counsellors call for more funding for increased staffing as demand surges post-lockdown
Susan Murray (RNZ): Mothballed training farm reopening to help redundant workers
Environment and conservation
Rod Oram (Newsroom): Surviving 2020: Not the time to vote with the tribe
Vicki Anderson (Stuff): Possible national standards for rubbish and recycling may cut confusion
Dominic Harris (Stuff): Lazy recyclers in the firing line as landfill costs soar
Tess Brunton (RNZ): You sort of feel quite good’: Displaced workers fell wilding pines
1News: Conservation projects offer win/win for Queenstown’s tourism workers hit hard by Covid-19
Tracy Neal (RNZ): Surprise donation a boost for South Island eco-sanctuary
Robin Martin (RNZ): Birdlife, native bush set to benefit from biodiversity programme
1News: Great Walks bookings return next week as NZ reopens amid Covid-19 pandemic
Laura Smith (ODT): Call not to exempt Manapouri from standards
Matthew Mckew (ODT): 16 new jobs with wilding control grant
1News: Greenpeace calls for pest control measures to protect giant rātā tree
Housing
Robin Martin (RNZ): New Plymouth community wins battle against major subdivision
Nicholas Pointon (RNZ): Airbnb property owners switch to long-term rentals
Tony Alexander (Stuff): Spending plans drop – except in the housing market
Steven Walton (Stuff): Overseas Kiwis plan to buy homes in NZ sooner than they thought
Christian Fuller (Hawkes Bay Today): Hawke’s Bay rental shortage worsens as teens flee parents after lockdown (paywalled)
Mark Price (ODT): Wanaka KiwiBuild homes completed
Defence
1News: Peace group says Government should have bought Air NZ planes instead of $1.5b Hercules
Herald: Fearless MP: Defence Minister’s swipe at previous Govt while hanging out Air Force plane
Zane Small and Edward O’Driscoll (Newshub): Five new Super Hercules to join New Zealand Defence Force in billion-dollar upgrade
1News: Five new Super Hercules aircraft costing $1.5 billion to join RNZAF fleet
Primary and extractive industries
Sally Rae (ODT):Call for experts to review claims made about regenerative agriculture
Blair Jackson (Southland Times): Dairy industry feeling pinch of border restriction created vacancies
1News: Waihi Gold mine gives Hauraki locals jobs following Covid-19
RNZ’s The Service
Veronica Schmidt and Tim Watkin (RNZ): Why we are revealing SIS secrets
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Spy secret revealed: SIS and MI6 raided Czechoslovakian embassy in Wellington
Naomi Arnold (RNZ): What was the ‘Sutch Affair’?
Naomi Arnold (RNZ): What was the Cold War?
RNZ: The Service: The state, secrets and spies
Pacific
RNZ: Cook Islands to reopen borders
RNZ: NZ Pacific residents advised to check in about travel to the Pacific
Fuimaono Dylan Asafo (RNZ): Opinion: Confronting Tyranny in Sāmoa
RNZ: Regional law association calls on Samoa to reconsider
RNZ: EU support focus on Fijian families
Tourism
RNZ: National Party promises $100m tourism sector boost if elected
Zane Small (Newshub): National proposes $100m package to co-fund tourism projects amid Covid-19 crash
1News: National promises $100 million fund to get tourism sector ‘back on its feet’
Jo McKenzie-McLean and Thomas Manch (Stuff): National promises $100m tourism ‘accelerator’ fund for businesses willing to grow out of Covid-19 recession
Repatriation
Jean Bell (RNZ): ‘Welcome home’: greeting eases tension after long stay in India
Kaysha Brownlie (Newshub): Timaru boat sets off on treacherous journey to pick up Kiwis halfway around the world
Other
Joel Maxwell (Dominion Post): The cursed road from Wellington: Transmission Gully’s long journey continues
Tom Dillane (Heald): NZ firms Fletchers and Downer ‘fuming’ as $371m Govt KiwiRail contract goes overseas
Michelle Dickinson (Herald): Public battles over virus diminish trust in scientists
RNZ: Checkpoint: Auckland Airport boss urges govt for trans-Tasman blueprint
RNZ: EQC apologises again for delay in contacting homeowners over data leak
Stuff: Ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia start over in NZ after poisonings — report
Stephen Forbes (RNZ): ‘People are drowning in debt’ – crackdown on loan sharks welcomed
1News: New Re: podcast Third Culture Minds puts spotlight on refugee, migrant experience in NZ
1News: NZ insurance company to refund customers $7.2m, citing reduced claims during lockdown
RNZ: Eruption survivors threaten to sue White Island Tours
Reweti Kohere (NBR): Lawyer conduct rules set for shake-up (paywalled)
RNZ: The Detail: Why superannuation is political kryptonite (podcast)
Bronson Perich (Māori TV): New bill aims to throw John Key’s ‘Hobbit Law’ into Mt Doom
Regan Paranihi (Māori TV): Ngā Rauru elder fed up with desecration of historic land sites
Talei Anderson (RNZ): First ever Pacific focused sport show coming to NZ TV
