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
Tiwai Point to close
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Government subsidising practically everything plays hardball with Rio Tinto (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Sudden closure of aluminium smelter worst outcome for jobs, consumers and the environment
Brian Fallow (Herald): Tiwai closure sad news – and an opportunity for the environment (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Rio Tinto are not good corporate citizens
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Why the Government was right not to bail out Tiwai
Richard Harman (Politik): Auckland votes close smelter
ODT Editorial: Post-smelter plan must be readied
Southland Times Editorial: Tiwai closure: let’s not cry catastrophe and go foetal
Stuff Editorial: Looking for silver linings in Tiwai Point pain
Catherine Harris (Stuff): Tiwai Point attracted controversy from the start
John Minto: Goodbye and good riddance to New Zealand biggest corporate bludger
No Right Turn: Dancing on Tiwai’s grave
David Farrar: Tiwai Point closing
Michael Fallow (Stuff): Departing NZAS told it must live up to environmental responsibilities
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Tiwai Point smelter closure: Government’s warning to Rio Tinto over $256 million clean-up of site
Leith Huffadine (Stuff): Tiwai Point smelter closure: What happens to the electricity sector
Nikki Mandow (Newsroom): Tiwai Point closure: benefits and fishhooks
Grant Bradley (Herald): Tiwai Point closure: What it could do to power prices
Grant Bradley (Herald): Tiwai Point closure: What Transpower must spend to shift excess power north (paywalled)
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Transpower considering bringing forward electricity grid upgrades at cost of up to $600m
Jenny Ruth (BusinessDesk): Tiwai closure: assured short-term pain but maybe long-term gain (paywalled)
Jamie Gray (Herald): NZ power company shares trade sharply lower on Tiwai Point’s closure plan
Dan Brunskill (BusinessDesk): Rio Tinto pulls the plug on Tiwai, wiping $2.8b off gentailers
Madison Reidy (Newshub): Tiwai Point aluminium smelter closure will cause some electricity to become useless – Meridian
Jamie Gray (Herald): Meridian Energy’s Neal Barclay on losing biggest customer, Rio Tinto’s Tiwai Point: ‘We will adapt’ (paywalled)
Grant Bradley (Herald): Contact Energy warns Rio Tinto decision could push up power prices
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): ‘Sense of inevitability’ as Government refuses to budge on saving Tiwai Point aluminium smelter
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): ZAS says there’s still a ‘small window’ to keep smelter open; Govt won’t provide lifeline
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Tiwai Point smelter closure: ‘A real blow for the people of Southland’ – Finance Minister Grant Robertson
RNZ: Tiwai smelter closure: A ‘tough day’ for Southland – Grant Robertson
Newstalk ZB: James Shaw: What Tiwai Point closure means for carbon emissions
Pattrick Smellie (NBR): Govt slams Tiwai smelter ‘window’ shut; expects lower power prices
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): ‘Closing Tiwai is game-changing’: What is Bluff without the smelter?
RNZ: Prospects slim for Tiwai Point aluminium smelter workers set to lose jobs
Blair Jackson (Stuff): Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter closure: ‘It’s a real tragedy for Southland
Luisa Girao (ODT): Southland faces ‘shattering impact’
Mike Houlahan and Luisa Girao (ODT): Hammer blow
Evan Harding (Stuff): Southland leaders vow to fight closure of Tiwai Point aluminium smelter
Evan Harding and Logan Savory (Stuff): Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt ‘absolutely shattered’ by news of Tiwai Aluminium Smelter closure
ODT: Smelter closure plans ‘shattering’: Shadbolt
Bronson Perich (Māori TV): Invercargill deputy mayor optimistic despite Tiwai Point closure
Melanie Reid (Newsroom): A dark day for the deep south
Laura Smith and Karen Pasco (ODT): Despite devastation, community determined to support one another
Logan Savory (Stuff): Reality kicks in for Tiwai Point aluminium smelter employees
Laura Smith and Louise Scott (ODT): Chief: closure decision is ‘devastating’
Jacob McSweeny (ODT): Many firms entwined with smelter
Jacob McSweeny (ODT): One third of port’s cargo at stake as closure looms
Blair Jackson (Stuff): South Port chairman: sad to see closure of mutually beneficial Tiwai smelter
Debrin Foxcroft, Rebecca Stevenson and Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Tiwai Point aluminium smelter to close, 1000 jobs to go
Bernard Hickey (Newsroom): Tiwai Point closure to hit 2,600 jobs
RNZ: Rio Tinto announces plans to close Tiwai Point smelter
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Tiwai Point aluminium smelter to close next year
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): Rio Tinto smelter in New Zealand to close with loss of 1,000 jobs
Michael Andrew (Spinoff): Environment, energy, jobs: The massive impact of the Tiwai Point closure
National Party
John Armstrong (1News): National ‘deserves the book be thrown at it’ after rogue MP’s ‘low-life behaviour’
Peter Dunne: It is not every day one of your most junior MPs turns your party into the best reason yet for re-electing your opponents
Selwyn Manning (Evening Report): Leadership, Vision, and Combating a Machiavellian Culture – Is Todd Muller National’s Solution?
Gordon Campbell: On why Todd Muller needs to own the privacy leak scandal
Shaun Hendy (Guardian): Trust is paramount during a pandemic – scientists and politicians must protect it
1News: National MP Paula Bennett calls out Hamish Walker’s Covid-19 patient detail leak as ‘deplorable’
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Michelle Boag offers to resign from Simplicity KiwiSaver board
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): High interest in National seat vacated by disgraced MP Hamish Walker
Newstalk ZB: Peter Dunne on Hamish Walker saga: ‘MPs need more education’
Zane Small (Newshub): National’s Todd Muller recognises need to check in on ‘younger’ MPs with ‘less life experience’
Zane Small (Newshub): Expelling Hamish Walker from National Party was never on the cards – Todd Muller
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Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Is Todd Muller the heir to Key and English — or does he have his eye on a bigger prize?
Chris Trotter: A Party Of Honourable Men?
1News: Todd Muller rejects question suggesting National haven’t announced any policies under his leadership
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Todd Muller outlines five point economic plan, including big debt reduction push
Audrey Young (Herald): National leader Todd Muller promises five-point plan to address economic downturn
RNZ: Muller gives details on National’s economic plan
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): National Party Leader Todd Muller pledges a return to surplus and major government debt pay down without raising taxes or cutting benefits
Denna Coster (Taranaki Daily News): National MP Judith Collins holds court in Taranaki during whistle-stop visit
Border quarantine facilities, compassionate leave, vaccine
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Border oversights continue as Covid-19 walks into a supermarket
Jo Moir (RNZ): Ministry apparently MIA for hours after managed isolation escape
Derek Cheng (Herald): The absurdity of no health advice for the Covid-visited Countdown (paywalled)
Isaac Davison (Herald): Police officers and higher fences at isolation hotels from today
1News: Police to be at every quarantine facility as Megan Woods delivers stern message for those absconding
RNZ: Permanent police presence at Covid-19 isolation facilities from today
Zane Small and Lisette Reymer (Newshub): Government enforces 24-hour police presence at COVID-19 managed isolation facilities
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): New Zealand police to patrol quarantine hotels after breakouts
RNZ: Checkpoint: Police at isolation facilities may mean public less safe – police union
Newstalk ZB: Police Association says cops shouldn’t be babysitting those in isolation
Cyrstal Wu (Newshub): Expert says Government should consider the use of tracking bracelets for people in quarantine
1News: Stop smoko breaks to prevent more quarantine breaches, epidemiologist suggests
Katarina Williams (Stuff): Blurred lines – balancing quarantine rules and personal responsibility
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): No need for Kiwis to worry after man with COVID-19 escaped isolation – medical expert
Duncan Garner (Newshub): New Zealand must temporarily close its borders to new arrivals from today
Stuff: Auckland isolation escapee used free wi-fi, made 22-minute call on his way back to hotel
Anna Leask (Herald): Infected man who escaped Stamford Plaza hotel questions diagnosis and evidence on his trip
Megan Harvey (Herald): Stamford Plaza hotel escaper’s ‘selfish act’: Isolation hotel guests’ anger as they’re stuck inside
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Healthline operator ‘had no idea’ about COVID-19 escapee, told Countdown customer ‘don’t worry about it’
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Countdown says fully cleaned store opened for three minutes ‘in error’ after COVID-19 escapee visited, says ‘no risk’ to Patrick Gower or other customers
Kristin Hall (1News): ‘Go back to where you came from’ – Kiwis in managed isolation facing abuse from the public
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Patrick Gower (Newshub): Judge warns Government over ‘illegal’ ban on compassionate leave after Kiwi misses chance to farewell dying father
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): National vaccination tracking system too decrepit for Covid-19 vaccine rollout
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): So you’ve designed a vaccine. Then what?
Glen Johnson (Al Jazeera): How New Zealand’s media endangered public health
Election
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): The Greens will be vital to Jacinda Ardern’s re-election
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): A poorly performing Govt but one winning card
Joel MacManus (Stuff): TOP leader Geoff Simmons announces run in Rongotai
Euthanasia and cannabis referenda
Graham Adams (Democracy Project): Euthanasia – Who speaks for the disabled?
Caralise Trayes (Newsroom): No room for error on assisted dying
1News: National’s Paula Bennett, Greens’ Chlöe Swarbrick go head-to-head over cannabis referendum
Health
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Ministry of Health finds records of 30 deaths of those with intellectual disabilities after Ombudsman investigation
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Ministry of Health unaware intellectually disabled people had died in its care, Chief Ombudsman report reveals
Edward O’Driscoll (1News): Doctors demand better pregnancy warning labels on alcohol bottles
1News: Pharmac to lift dispensing restrictions, caused by Covid-19, for most meds
Stephen Forbes (Stuff): Mental health admissions will spike post-lockdown – DHB
Māori TV: Government looks for new pathway for Māori mental health & addiction services
Sophie Trigger (Stuff): Government appointment ‘best way’ to get Māori on health boards, reps say
RNZ: Hawke’s Bay Hospital: ‘Vexed issue of air-conditioning’ may take 10 years for long-term fix
Environment and conservation
Rachel Thomas (RNZ): Pollution limit exemptions for food-growing areas ‘grossly inequitable’
Jono Galuszka (Manawatū Standard): Lake Horowhenua freshwater exemption shows nationwide rules don’t work, says National
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Iwi welcomes freshwater and environment package in wake of Covid-19
RNZ: Awatere River landfill spill: Council defends itself over earlier red flags
RNZ: ‘No easy solution’ to rubbish spill tarnishing sacred Awatere River, advisor says
RNZ: 1080 replacement poison, AI camera funded for predator free 2050
Jamie Morton (Herald): More hot days, fewer frosts: how NZ’s climate has already changed
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): Fighting climate change is a marathon, not a sprint
AP: World could hit 1.5-degree warming threshold by 2024, World Meteorological Organization says
Water
Charlie Mitchell (Stuff): Water bottling plants ‘lawfully’ approved, High Court rules
RNZ: Canterbury water bottling consents: Environmental group considers further action
Grant Miller (ODT): ORC signals opposition to bottling
Newstalk ZB: Government to bail out councils with $761m water services investment
RNZ: Hawke’s Bay mayors welcome $760m water upgrade package
Māori TV: National Māori Council wants High Court to decide water ownership
Employment
Rob Stock (Stuff): Feed the Cat Queen: Your money guide to Work and Income
Jody O’Callaghan (Stuff): Covid-19 could spell another economic downturn for Māori, report warns
1News: Ngāi Tahu, Waikato Tainui want to break cycle of Māori going into blue collar jobs
D’Angelo Martin (Māori TV): How to free Māori from blue-collar job bias
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): New Zealand’s job market bouncing back ‘faster, better than expected’ – Trade Me
RNZ: Checkpoint: Auckland programme to create 700 new jobs
Foreign affairs
Thomas Manch (Stuff): New Zealand to ‘review’ its relationship with Hong Kong, as Five Eyes countries respond to Beijing’s national security law
1News: New Zealand to review relationship with Hong Kong after China enforces national security law
RNZ: Foreign ministers of Five Eyes discuss Hong Kong on call – official
Danielle Clent (Stuff): Kiwis stuck in Australian detention protest deportation delays
Helen Clark to head WHO Covid-19 response panel
AP: Helen Clark to head new World Health Organization Covid-19 response panel
Stuff: Helen Clark to co-lead WHO panel looking into world response to Covid-19
Herald: Former prime minister Helen Clark to lead new Covid response panel
RNZ: Helen Clark to head WHO panel to review handling of Covid-19 pandemic
Primary industries
Esther Taunton (Stuff): NZ’s top dairy farmer ‘should be stripped of his award’
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Farmers question Government’s plan to add $44b in primary sector
Justice and corrections
Anna Whyte (1News): Amnesty concerned at prisoners missing minimum daily time outside cell during lockdown
1News: Violent offender tried 78 other programmes before South Auckland charity changed his life
Local government
David Farrar: Appalling misinformation from Auckland Council
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Auckland Council to cut over 500 permanent jobs
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): ‘Boutique hotel’, turned into central-city emergency accommodation, slammed by mayor
Housing
James Power (Herald): How 700,000 Kiwi houses just aren’t doing their job
Kendall Hutt (Stuff): Northland mum had cold showers for a month after landlords didn’t fix cylinder
Media
Damien Venuto (Herald): The big Kiwi spender that refuses to join Facebook boycotts (paywalled)
Julianne Evans (University of Auckland): What does the future hold for the New Zealand media landscape in a post-COVID world?
Other
Andrew Ecclestone: Why we need a full and independent review of the OIA
Simon Wilson (Herald): Another wretched Auckland port report – Sapere’s Manukau harbour idea (paywalled)
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): No guarantees for millions given to big tourism companies
Michael SW Lee (University of Auckland): A story of taxes, wealth and an Easter egg hunt
Debrin Foxcrot (Stuff): Consumer watchdog sets standards for environmental claims made by manufacturers
Chloe Blommerde (Waikato Times): Waikato University Vice-Chancellor remains tight-lipped on how he plans to attract new students post Covid
Bob Jones: The America’s Cup fiasco
Derek Cheng (Herald): Winston Peters’ surgery a success – Deputy PM thanks medical staff
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): ‘Confusing’ travel rules see tourists turned away from flights home
Kaitlin Ruddock (1News): Increasing carbon charges putting people relying on coal out of pocket
No Right Turn: Labour lied about control orders
RNZ: Economic activity and business confidence bouncing back
RNZ: The Detail: The yellow sticker crunch – Wellington’s earthquake strengthening problem
John Anthony (Stuff): New safety issue with Rolls-Royce Dreamliner engines ‘could lead to cracks’
Joel MacManus (Dominion Post): Two years on and nothing done – Petone to Grenada highway looks dead in water
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Californian family’s bid to recover son’s body from NZ lake rejected
Lindsay Wright (Herald): Our naivety sank with Rainbow Warrior 35 years ago
