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
Police
Zane Small (Newshub): Celebration or failed consultation? Police Association still at odds with Greens on armed cops
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Green Party overjoyed at police decision to dump Armed Response Teams
RNZ: Petitioner urges police to talanoa after Armed Response Teams scrapped
No Right Turn: A victory for public safety
Sam Sherwood and Collette Devlin (Stuff): Police Commissioner rules out bringing back Armed Response Teams
1News: Cops scrap controversial armed response teams, say it does not ‘align’ with how New Zealanders want to be policed
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Police scrap armed response teams following strong criticism
RNZ: Police ending Armed Response Teams after trial – Commissioner
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Police commissioner confirms no more Armed Response Teams in New Zealand
Phil Taylor (Guardian): New Zealand drops armed police trial after public concern
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Katey Thom and Khylee Quince (The Conversation): Black Lives Matter outrage must drive police reform in Aotearoa-New Zealand too
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Police admit to failings in arrest of young Māori boy
Government handling of coronavirus
Gerard Hehir (Democracy Project): The Covid-19 Miracles
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Has clean bill of health come too early for Jacinda?
Karl du Fresne (Stuff): Social and economic guantlet of Covid-19 leaves us in a brave new world
Alastair Campbell (Herald): Jacinda Ardern’s Covid 19 coronavirus response puts UK to shame (paywalled)
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters claims kudos for Alert Level 1 speed
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern recalls dark days during Covid crisis
Charlotte Graham-McLay (Guardian): A beautiful day’: New Zealand handshakes and hugs its way back to pre-Covid-19 life
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Dr Bloomfield makes his final comments at last live COVID-19 briefing
Kylie Klein-Nixon (Stuff): Dear Dr Bloomfield … so long and thanks for all the calm
Health
Phil Pennington (RNZ): The state of our hospital facilities: New stocktake paints dire picture
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Hospital stocktake shows $14b in upgrades required and outdated IT systems
1News: Covid-19 shows national agency ‘long overdue’ to protect New Zealand’s health – epidemiologist
Jame Morton (Herald): Anti-vax sentiment growing among a third of Kiwis
Nicki Jackson and Rachel Dixon (Newsroom): No place for alcohol industry in classroom
Sahiban Hyde (Hawkes Bay Today): Hawke’s Bay mum’s heartbreak as Pharmac refuses Spinal Muscular Atrophy drug for her two kids (paywalled)
Contact tracing, public health measures
RNZ: Manual contact tracing systems are ‘completely unacceptable’ – epidemiologist
RNZ: Covid Tracing app Bluetooth tech unreliable – NZDF
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): The chink in our Level 1 armour
Donna-Lee Biddle (Stuff): Woman stalked after contact tracing details stolen at SkyCity casino
Libby Wilson (Stuff): A novel enemy: the long road to victory against coronavirus
Libby Wilson (Stuff): A novel enemy: the antivirus arms race against Covid-19
Border restrictions, exemptions
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Secret film not secret – just ‘unannounced’
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Border restrictions ramp up to protect Kiwis from COVID-19
RNZ: No new cases of Covid-19 for 18th day, but stricter border measures in place – Bloomfield
RNZ: Nine to Noon: Immigration Minister on the government’s plans for migrants
Newstalk ZB: Immigration Minister clashes with ZB host over quarantine facilities
Trans-Tasman/Pacific bubble
RNZ: Enthusiasm for Pacific travel bubble grows
Jason Walls (Herald): Former Prime Minister Helen Clark pushes case for Pacific Island inclusion in transtasman bubble
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters moots state-by-state trans-Tasman bubble – starting with Tasmania
Zane Small (Newshub): Winston Peters digs in on trans-Tasman bubble: ‘No reason at all for us not to have started it’
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern admits New Zealand made it to alert level 1 earlier than expected, caution exercised with trans-Tasman bubble
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Trans-Tasman bubble is ‘great hope’ for New Zealand’s tourism sector, but also poses huge economic risk – economist
Dan Lake (Newshub): What is an ‘air bridge’ and why are we about to hear a lot more about them
Election
Alex Braae (Spinoff): Minor parties furious at low allocation for TV and radio campaigning
David Farrar: They should be grateful not whinging
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): Electoral Commission recruiting 25,000 people to run the general election
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): 101 days until 2020 NZ Election – predictions
Cherie Sivignon (Stuff): Jester House Cafe owner throws hat in ring for 2020 election
RNZ’s The Service, intelligence agencies
Guyon Espiner and John Daniell (RNZ): NZ’s independence from Five Eyes has slipped – Helen Clark
Guyon Espiner and John Daniell (RNZ): SIS spied on Labour MP Richard Northey
No Right turn: Undemocratic and unconstitutional
Richard Harman (Politik): Fancy footwork needed with Five Eyes
Wage subsidy
Jason Walls (Herald): What’s next for the multi-billion dollar wage subsidy scheme?
Jordan Bond (RNZ):Initial 12-week Covid-19 wage subsidy coming to an end
Warehouse job cuts
Stuff Editorial: Job cuts gash The Warehouse’s reputation
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Why Jacinda Ardern needs to take a breather (paywalled)
Heather Du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Jacinda Ardern’s attack on The Warehouse a bad call
RNZ: Warehouse job cuts: ‘I’m angry’ – Jacinda Ardern
Amelia Wade (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ‘angry’ at The Warehouse for axing more than 1000 jobs
Stuff: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ‘angry’ at the Warehouse Group for proposing 1080 job cuts
Jacob McSweeny (ODT): Shock proposal ‘hasn’t sunk in yet’ for workers
Priscilla Dickinson (Newshub): ‘Remain viable’: The Warehouse Group CEO explains staff layoffs despite $67m wage subsidy
RNZ: Checkpoint: Sticking to knitting ‘not the best phrase to use’ – Goldsmith
Herald: Paul Goldsmith doubts PM Jacinda Ardern upset by ‘stick to knitting’ jibe: ‘she’s pretty tough’
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern should ‘stick to her knitting’, not criticise struggling businesses – Paul Goldsmith
Amelia Wade (Herald): Paul Goldsmith tells Prime Minister to ‘stick to her knitting’ after Ardern’s outrage as mass job cuts
Zane Small (Newshub): Retail NZ calls for ‘kindness’ as Jacinda Ardern slams Warehouse Group over proposed layoffs
Air NZ
John Anthony (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern criticises Air NZ over its handling of cancelled airfares
John Anthony (Stuff): Government ‘tone-deaf’ on financial situation facing Air New Zealand, aviation expert says
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Air NZ ‘dug in heels’ over refunds during meeting, consumer watchdog says
1News: Consumer NZ wants law change over Air New Zealand refund stoush
Annie Newman (The Standard): Industrial Democracy for Air New Zealand?
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Jetstar sale fares: First volley in post-Covid flight price war?
Business
1News: Jacinda Ardern fiercely defends Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis amid Covid-19 criticisms
ODT Editorial: Big names highlight struggle
1News: Max clothing chain planning to close 17 stores after ‘considerable loss’ during lockdown
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Women’s fashion brand Max to close 17 stores across New Zealand
RNZ: ANZ business surveys show slow return of economic activity and confidence
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): Business confidence improves in early reading – still dire
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Foodstuffs accused of hypocrisy over Buy NZ Made campaign
Economy, trade
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): A CGT makes even more sense now – James Shaw
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Let’s not forget every Reserve Bank decision has consequence
Kate MacNamara (Stuff): Independent advice found Reserve Bank’s capital plan ‘risky’ and biased
Jenny Ruth (BusinessDesk): RBNZ bank capital proposals slammed in advice to minister (paywalled)
Infometrics: Second wave of unemployment approaches
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Farmers cheesed off over EU’s ‘insultingly low’ trade offer
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Global supply chain’s ‘absolute mess’ could take six months to begin operating – economist
1News: GST holiday for shoppers ‘an idea we need to take seriously’ to kickstart economy – expert
Employment
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Tens of thousands of businesses urged to check if they’ve been underpaying staff
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Two thirds of Wellingtonians want to work from home more
Katie Bradford (1News): Insurer AMP among NZ businesses planning exodus from expensive city centre properties
Debrin Foxcroft (Stuff): Countdown offers staff shares: What does that really mean?
Child welfare
David Farrar: Tell us the histories
Luke Fitzmaurice (Spinoff): A former Oranga Tamariki employee on why change must start at the top
Cannabis referendum
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): We need transparency in referendum debate
Bob McCoskrie: NZ Pro-cannabis referendum campaign funded by secret foreign donors?
Joseph Boden (Spinoff): What 40 years following thousands of NZ people tells us about cannabis harm
Electricity
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Big power shake-up after a decade of deliberation and a lot of compromise
Thomas Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Tiwai smelter may get break as decision day arrives on how to carve up Transpower’s $1b annual bill
NZ First
TVNZ: Q+A: Shifting Auckland’s port to Northland a ‘bottomline’ for NZ First
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Shane Jones signals to Matthew Hooton what the price of NZ First is at the election
Environment and conservation
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Why the delay to get cameras on boats?
David Williams (Newsroom): Fears for Mackenzie Basin landscapes
Peter Gluckman (BusinessDesk): The Environment is Now (paywalled)
DIta De Boni (NBR): Top UK environmentalist calls NZ leaders to action (paywalled)
Christina Persico (Stuff): Plastic recycling set to be cut back – 300 tonnes sent to landfill
Aaron van Delden (RNZ): Changes afoot for East Coast camping as dune damage puts highway at risk
Education
Simon Collins (Herald): Free internet routers for hundreds of students who don’t need them
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Teachers vote no confidence in Teaching Council over fee increase
Simon Collins (RNZ): National Party promises to scrap teacher registration fees
Thomas Manch and Danielle Clent (Stuff): National promises to cut teacher registration fees, as Teaching Council faces public backlash
Anna Whyte (1News): National promises to scrap teacher registration fees if it becomes next Government
RNZ: National vows to scrap teacher registration fees if elected
Zane Small (Newshub): National aims to scrap teacher registration costs after Teaching Council proposal to double fees
RNZ: School handles Black Lives Matter poster removal internally
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): AUT offers ‘cannabis 101’ paper exploring cultivation and history
Simon Collins (Herald): Auckland University inches up global rankings but Waikato takes a tumble
Racism, NZ’s colonial history, Black Lives Matter
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Akaroa restaurant Bully Hayes, named after 19th Century rapist slaver, to change its name
Steven Walton (Stuff): Akaroa restaurant named after ‘notorious’ slave trader seeks new name
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Photos resurface of New Zealand Ku Klux Klan marches as Kiwis told to get off their high horse
D’Angelo Martin (Māori TV): Aotearoa’s colonial past remnants still hotly-disputed (video)
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Spark launches investigation into staffer over Black Lives Matter post
Justice, corrections
Micah Thompson (Māori TV): New commission to investigate possible miscarriages of justice
Sam Hurley (Herald): Jury trials to return in August after NZ hits zero active cases, says Chief Justice
Māori TV: Jury trials to restart, courts hang on to pandemic tech
Transmission Gully
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Transmission Gully fines a ‘slap with a wet bus ticket’
Dileepa Fonseka (Newsroom): CPB ‘trying to weasel out’ of Aussie deals
Provincial Growth Fund
RNZ: Ruakura Port project closer to reality with more than $30m in funding
Alison Smith (Herald): Winston Peters takes aim at Auckland during Coromandel announcement
RNZ: Government announces $20m funding for Sugarloaf Wharf expansion
Local government
Christina Persico (Taranaki Daily News): Final costs in for New Plymouth’s 2019 election
RNZ: Far North council rates to increase 2.23%
RNZ: Record number of Aucklanders have their say on Emergency Budget
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Council split on $60m George St upgrade
Grant Miller (ODT): Shake-up of ICC staffing proposed
Māori TV: Māori ward on cards for New Plymouth
Felix Desmarais: Rotorua to trial Lime e-scooters for six months
Cell tower attacks
Luke Appleby (1News): Cell phone towers burned in latest ‘senseless’ arson attacks in Auckland aren’t 5G towers
Chris Keall (Herald): Vodafone, Spark take security steps after three more ‘5G’ celltower fires – taking total to 18
National Library
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): Good stewardship or cultural vandalism – axing our overseas books
Dolores Janiewski (Newsroom): Lest we forget the power of knowledge
Pike River
1News: Covid-19 Pike River recovery mission ‘making good progress’ despite lockdown delay
1News: Robot sent in to assess Pike River Mine damage after explosion is first big find of re-entry
Whaakari/White Island eruption
Anna Whyte (1News): ‘It will still be incredibly raw’ – PM waiting for opportunity to commemorate Whaakari disaster
1News: Community ‘still raw’ six months on from deadly White Island eruption – Whakatāne mayor
Other
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Bank and insurance licensing law change doesn’t go far enough, Consumer says
Leigh-Marama McLachlan (RNZ): Waitangi Tribunal reveals next chapter to major King Country inquiry
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): New funding package in the pipeline for Māori media sector
Point of Order: How NZ First has made its mark on NZDF by re-equipping our forces for humanitarian as well as military work
RNZ: The Detail: NZ’s new internet laws – sensible censorship?
RNZ: New public housing apartments open in Onehunga
Thomas Mead (1News): Antarctica New Zealand slashes science programme to protect Scott Base from Covid-19
1News: Dr Bloomfield says ‘no guarantee’ we won’t see more Covid-19 cases as initial ‘weak positive’ result causes scare
Victor Waters (1News): Singapore Airlines has first passenger flight to return to New Zealand after lockdown
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Todd Muller undergoes surgery, has pre-cancerous moles removed
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Demolition of Cadbury facades sought
RNZ: Antarctica NZ limits activity in continent to stay Covid-19 free
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Wellington Airport expansion plans delayed
Monika Barton (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern’s DJ setlist from Laneway festival 2014 resurfaces as George FM plans level one party
