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
Health and Disability System Review, hospital stocktake
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Health system overhaul would be a gigantic fight. Is the Government up for it?
Ben Heather (Stuff): Why we should be sceptical about big health reform
Richard Harman (Politik): Simpson splits up Bloomfield’s Ministry
Cate Broughton (Stuff): One DHB for the South Island would be “plenty”
Peter Davis (Stuff): Are these the first cautious steps towards a national health system?
George Block (Stuff): Elected Auckland DHB member Peter Davis welcomes plan to scrap elected members
Marty Sharpe, Bridie Witton and Piers Fuller (Stuff): Losing elected representation on health boards ‘a mistake’ – board members
RNZ: Concerns over political influence at health boards if overhaul proceeds
Alice Geary (Stuff): Concern as review votes against district health board elections
Josie Adams (Spinoff): Simpson health system overhaul: The experts weigh in
Whanganui Chronicle: Health review: Reform will be ‘like trying to move the titanic’ (paywalled)
Rosie Gordon (Newshub): Disability sector disappointed health system shake-up won’t give them their own authority
Bridie Witton (Stuff):‘It’s weak for equity’: Health and Disability review could do more for Pacific people, say experts
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): Direction of dramatic health reforms endorsed
RNZ: Checkpoint: Autonomy the solution to Māori health – Janice Kuka
Stuff Editorial: Once in generation chance to tackle our health problems
Herald Editorial: A health system we can depend on and be proud of (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): DHB proposals are already a disappointment
No Right Turn: Ending the DHB scam?
David Farrar: Labour kick for touch on health reform
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Carmen Parahi (Stuff): The Māori Health Authority plan that divided health review panel
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Health system review explainer: How would you be affected?
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Elected board members and DHBs to merge in health system shake-up
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Government aims to slash DHBs, create Māori health authority in overhaul of health system
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): David Clark wants to halve DHB numbers, but won’t say which will go
Jason Walls (Herald): Health Minister David Clark ‘absolutely committed’ to district health board reductions
Jason Walls (Herald): A major health report recommends a significant overhaul of NZ’s DHB system – PM to lead the charge
Jason Walls (Herald): Ministers eyeing up major health sector overhaul including district health board dismantlement
Carmen Parahi (Stuff): Halve number of DHBs, drop elected boards: sweeping health system reform plan accepted by Govt
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Health and Disability System Review aims to end racism in New Zealand’s health sector
Anna Whyte (1News): Major review finds health outcomes worse for people with disabilities, Māori
Zane Small (Newshub): Health and Disability Review: Māori health outcomes a ‘failure’, too many DHBs, centralised system proposed
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Review calls for ‘transformational shift’ in health system
Alex Braae (Spinoff): End to DHB elections, new agencies proposed in major health system review
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): Sweeping reform recommended for ‘complex, fragmented’ health sector
Samantha Gee (Stuff): Review could have ‘major implications’ for top of south
Libby Wilson (Stuff): Waikato DHB merger with Bay of Plenty, Lakes likely in health shakeup
Deena Coster (Stuff): TDHB’s future uncertain as Govt considers slashing number of country’s health boards
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Hawke’s Bay DHB would ‘logically extend to include Wairarapa’
Piers Fuller (Stuff): Loss of Wairarapa District Health Board ‘inevitable’ – former chairman
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Southern DHB boss: ‘Too early to tell how we will be impacted’
Katarina Williams (Stuff): Timeline: The evolution of New Zealand’s public health system
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Hospital stocktake pokes holes in Ministry of Health’s artificial intelligence vision
Samantha Gee (Stuff): National stocktake shows Nelson Hospital building in worst condition of all
David Williams (Newsroom): Health board’s PPE squeeze revealed
New cases, border, quarantine
Derek Cheng (Herald): Jacinda Ardern should be furious at embarrassing border failures (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff): New Zealand’s Covid-confidence gets punctured
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): A failure of New Zealand’s defensive wall against Covid-19
Hannah Martin and Collette Devlin (Stuff): ‘Our expectations have not been met’ says PM
1News: PM says circumstances surrounding new Covid-19 cases not considered acceptable by Government
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says protocol before two new coronavirus cases confirmed ‘did not meet our expectations’
Newstalk ZB: Clark grilled over new cases as PM admits checks were ‘not adequate’
1News: Medical expert calls decision to let two women with Covid-19 leave quarantine with no testing ‘completely unacceptable’
Jamie Ensor and Hayley Jacobsen (Newshub): Kiwis shouldn’t be ‘overly alarmed’ after new cases, but must remain alert – expert
Liz Macdonald (Stuff): New cases as thousands fly in from Australia, Asia, Pacific Islands and US.
Ben Leahy (Herald): Expert urges use of face masks at airports after new coronavirus cases
Luke Kirkness (Herald): New Zealand’s border controls – all you need to know
Tom Hunt (Stuff): New Zealand hoping to increase quarantine capacity
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Anxiety after news of new cases ‘normal’ – experts
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Auckland hotel guests, staff isolated and tested after new cases
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Two Covid-19 cases in Wellington could put city confidence at risk
RNZ: Checkpoint: Health Minister temporarily suspends compassionate exemptions from quarantine
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Government suspends compassionate exemptions from managed isolation
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Compassionate exemptions suspended after new Covid-19 cases
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Government tweaks rules after two new COVID-19 cases emerge in New Zealand
Zane Small (Newshub): Government suspends compassionate exemptions from managed isolation
1News: Government suspends all compassionate exemptions for travellers
Alan Kenyon (1News): People granted compassionate travel exemption now required to test negative for Covid-19 before leaving managed isolation
1News: Woman who stayed at same hotel as two new Covid-19 cases says she wasn’t made to do test before leaving
1News: Timeline: New Zealand’s two new Covid-19 cases
Derek Cheng (Herald): 2 new cases – Government halts all compassionate leave from isolation at the border
RNZ: Two new Covid-19 cases in NZ visited dying parent – Bloomfield
RNZ: Two new cases in New Zealand, both arrivals from UK
Chloe Blommerde (Stuff): Two Hamilton teens flee funeral after isolation exemption
1News: Two teens given compassionate isolation exemption to attend Hamilton funeral located after breaking rules
Border exemptions, travel bubbles
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Government allowed 26 Rocket Lab employees into New Zealand
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): Checkpoint: ‘We should be allowed to be together’ – Auckland family kept apart by visa denials
Tracy Neal (RNZ): Vessel contract secures Nelson maintenance jobs ahead of 48hr deadline
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Contractors fear lack of local workers to fill hundreds of harvest roles
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Winston Peters hopes trans-Tasman bubble starts before September, confirms Government looking at Pacific nations
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): What other countries could NZ bubble with?
Brook Sabin (Stuff): The real reason why the Pacific travel bubble isn’t happening now
Election campaign
Andrew Geddis (Pundit): Who Controls The Present Now?
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Todd Muller’s speech shows the long shadow of the 1980s
Gordon Campbell: On Labour’s list, and our Victorian monuments
Julie Iles (NBR): Election 2020: Prolific social media spend begins (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Facebook ups political ad transparency, but won’t fact-check politicians
RNZ: Facebook makes transparency tool mandatory for New Zealand election
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): Facebook to ban foreign political ads in run-up to New Zealand election
Breanna Barraclough (TVNZ): Winston Peters quietly deletes ‘woke brigade’ campaign ad after accusations of copyright infringement
Michael Daly (Stuff): David Seymour is standing for ACT in Whangarei – but he’s not that David Seymour
RNZ: Checkpoint: ACT’s newest candidate – David Seymour, yes another one 53
Scott Palmer (Newshub): David Seymour selected as ACT’s candidate for Whangarei
Parliament
Amelia Wade (Herald): Jacinda Ardern is ‘frustrated’ she’s still on full pay despite promised cuts
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern still hasn’t had a pay cut – and she’s ‘frustrated
RNZ: Politicians still receiving full pay despite 20 percent cut promise
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern ‘frustrated’ she’s still earning full salary despite 20 percent pay cut promise
1News: Playground at Parliament labelled ‘monument to extravagance’ by National after running well over budget
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Trev’s bloody slide
Labour Party
RNZ: Labour Party tight-lipped on Ayesha Verrall’s future
1News: Health Minister should be worried as Labour recruits medical expert as list MP – commentator
Newstalk ZB: Ayesha Verrall touted as future Health Minister after Labour Party ranking
Herald: Labour’s Ayesha Verrall’s actions were ‘unacceptable’, says National leader Todd Muller
Kiwiblog: Guest Post: Labour’s List Changes
Statues, names, Black Lives Matter, racism
Herald: ‘I am a minority’: David Seymour criticises Andrew Little’s response to Black Lives Matter protesters
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern called out for saying NZ has always been against racism, despite dawn raids, Ihumātao, Bastion Point
Kendall Hutt (Stuff): Vandalism of Sir George Grey statue ‘misdirected anger’, historian says
RNZ: The Detail: Tearing down statues – and revisiting our histories
Stuff: New Zealand has long history of attacks on statues
1News: Recent statue attacks in NZ amid global Black Lives Matter movement ‘nothing new’, study finds
1News: Queen’s corgi statues in Christchurch join list of vandalised monuments
Scott Palmer (Newshub): New Zealand’s dodgy place names and who they’re named after
1News: ‘It’s wrong,’ education expert says of teachers in NZ who tore down Black Lives Matter posters
RNZ: Parent wants Marist College to meet with families over racism
Firearms
Derek Cheng (Herald): NZ First MP Ron Mark: Firearms changes may have kept March 15 terrorist from getting gun licence
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Labour yields to NZ First demands on proposed gun laws but still not a done deal
Zane Small (Newshub): Outrage over allegation Christchurch shooter not vetted properly as more gun law changes proposed
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Christchurch mosque shooter should never have been granted firearms licence, sources say
1News: Police Minister looks to tighten gun rules, create registry with proposed law change
RNZ: Gun laws: MPs continue debate on second phase of firearms reform
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Firearms reform set to progress in Parliament
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Farmers pleased with amendment to firearms bill
Police
RNZ: Police Commmissioner proposes restructure of top tier
Ben Strang (RNZ): Police halt recruitment after large increase in applications
Amberl-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): People need jobs – but police hiring has been put on ice for the rest of 2020
Foreigners stranded in NZ
Amelia Wade (Herald): Migrant workers get $37.6m temporary support package but it comes with a warning
RNZ: Foreigners in New Zealand offered relief, but no cash payments
Dileepa Fonseka and David Williams (Newsroom): ‘Go home’ is not a solution
Housing
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Hopes fast-tracked housing project will ‘streamline Māori housing’
Katie Bradford (1News): Signs rental property market turning in favour of tenants
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Kāinga Ora unaware of how many state houses meet accessibility standards
Nikki Preston (Herald): New Kāinga Ora deal to triple Te Kauwhata’s population within eight years
Auckland water shortage
Luke Kirkness (Herald): Auckland water woes: Council uses emergency powers to draw extra 15 million litres from Waikato River
RNZ: Watercare uses emergency powers to get extra 15m litres of water per day
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): More to be done to address Auckland’s dire water shortage – Mayor Phil Goff
Environment
Charlie Mitchell (Stuff): Watered down: A behind the scenes battle over politics, science, and water reform
Lauren Waller and Warwick Allen (Stuff): Planting non-native trees accelerates the release of carbon back into the atmosphere
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Climate change toll from two droughts tops $800m
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): Clarke Gayford’s latest dad cardie highlights the plight of Māui dolphins
Infrastructure
RNZ: Fast-tracking projects involves trade-off – Environment Minister
Eloise Gibson (Stuff): Fast-track plan “missed climate opportunity” – officials
Transport
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Auckland light rail now a campaign matter, Peters says
Georgina Campbell (Herald): No such thing as a free lunch: Free public transport cost $110m during Covid-19
Joel MacManus (Dominion Post): Wellington’s other century-old troubled transport project finally gets going
RNZ: Queenstown international airport decision ‘years away’ despite report – mayor
Alice Angeloni (Stuff): Six million work hours on Kaikōura coast as rebuild nears completion
Tom McRae (Newshub): Residents forced to sell homes to make way for Auckland SkyPath feel robbed
Grant Bradley (Herald): Air New Zealand: What latest top level departure means for brand rebuild (paywalled)
Apprentice training subsidy, wage subsidy, business
RNZ: Government unveils $390m subsidy for employers training apprentices
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Mining company claimed $84k subsidy before director disappeared
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): Childcare firm Kindercare proposes restructure after $7.4m wage subsidy
Emma Dangerfield (Stuff): Inland Revenue penalises small business for late lockdown payment
RNZ: Consumer confidence drops in survey but glimmers of hope further out
Belinda McCammon (RNZ): Queenstown tour operators lash out at first post-lockdown event
Education
Simon Collins (Herald): Playcentres win $3.7m to cover their deficit
1News: Playcentres get urgent $3.7m boost, after fears jobs and centres may be lost
Newshub: Education advocate calls for change in teaching dyslexic children
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Students motivated to enrol by fees-free policy struggle with university, research finds
Herald: Exam escape: Massey University glitch locks students out mid-online exam
Primary and extractive industries
Cat MacLennan (Newsroom): A seldom-acknowledged animal problem
BusinessDesk: Farmers reliant on five countries for animal feed: MPI
Gavin Evans (BusinessDesk): MPs move to prevent forestry price controls
BusinessDesk: Red meat sector’s election wish list
Brent Edwards (NBR): Mixed outlook for primary sector (paywalled)
RNZ: Primary sector exports tracking $1.7 billion higher
Local government
Mike Mather and Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Waikato council CEOs following through on 20 per cent pay cut
Grant Miller (ODT): Groups call for ORC to get on with job
Johanna Mckenzie-Mclean and Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): ‘Selfish’, ‘irresponsible’ ORC chair slammed for forcing three-week stasis
Samantha Motion (Herald): Kelvin Clout switches sides in Tauranga City Council deputy mayor row: What he gave up (paywalled)
Christina Persico (Taranaki Daily News): NPDC gets $9m release from investment fund to offset rates
Employment
Peter Cullen (Stuff): Working from home – is your boss watching you?
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): ‘Significant consequences’ caused to mental health when employers ignore workplace bullying
Other
Catherine Hutton (RNZ): Family carers lament Labour’s delay on critical law reform
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Minister won’t bow to treaty group refusing to hold elections
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Housing development destroyed historic rua after flawed consents process – Ngāti Tamainupō
Katy Jones (Stuff): Māori land owners lose legal bid to stop land sale
Ani O’Brien (Stuff): The elite readily accepted authoritarian rule, until their own political interests were at stake
Josh Van Veen (Democracy Project): Why politics? Review of Madeleine Chapman’s Jacinda Ardern: A New Kind of Leader
Helen Heath (Newsroom): In defence of dumping 600,000 books
Damien Venuto (Herald): Bauer magazines sold to Mercury Capital – Australian media
1News: New Zealand Embassy in Iraq to permanently close
Thomas Manch (Stuff): New Zealand to close its embassy in Iraq
Newstalk ZB: Survey suggests Kiwis are ill-prepared if they lose their job
RNZ: New Zealanders urged to rethink spending habits by ‘saving first’
1News: Christchurch terrorist attack victims to receive another Victim Support payment
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Victim Support reveals additional money for victims
1News: ‘Legends’ – Red Cross honours refugees who served as essential workers during lockdown
Rebecca Reider (Newshub): Why medicinal cannabis patients are desperate for a yes vote in the referendum
Russell Brown: Cannabis research: there’s a lot of it about!
RNZ: $18m from PGF for tourism on West Coast
Denise Piper (Stuff): Costs ‘will not keep increasing’ for $30m Hundertwasser Art Centre in Whangārei
RNZ: Aurora Energy customers face up to $30 price hike a month
Damien Grant (Stuff): Prosecutorial over-reach an abuse of state power
Anneka Smith (RNZ): Sentry Taitoko inquest ends six years after death in police cell
1News: Kiwis need to stay aware that alcohol is an addictive drug, author of The Wine O’Clock Myth says
Susan Strongman (RNZ): Covid-19 bleach ‘cure’ sold by New Zealand man rusts steel
