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
Economic response to Covid
Bernard Hickey (Newsroom): NZ’s ‘K’ shaped Covid-19 recovery
Kate MacNamara (Herald): Government mulls use of $400m fund to buy stakes in firms hurt by Covid 19 (paywalled)
Debrin Foxcroft (Stuff): Companies refusing to apply for Government sick leave subsidy to cover workers
David Fisher Herald): The Road Ahead: The missing piece in our Covid-19 puzzle
Tim Hazledine (BusinessDesk): No more silo money (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Businesses couldn’t bear another lockdown after this: NZIER
RNZ: NZIER predicts three-year recovery period for economy following Covid
Maria Slade (NBR): Small business loan scheme a flop so far (paywalled)
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Number of investor visa applications soar since outbreak
Stuff: Bank profits cut nearly in half by Covid-19 economic crisis
RNZ: Arts and hospitality sectors urge government to allow creative solutions
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Amelia Wade (Herald): Lockdown costs $1 billion as Government digs in heels over decision not to extend wage subsidy
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Judith Collins blasts Government for not extending wage subsidy but says she wouldn’t pay for every day businesses were closed either
RNZ: Judith Collins: Covid-19 wage subsidy should have been extended
Anna Whyte (1News): Extending wage subsidy ‘sensible and pragmatic’, says Judith Collins
Zane Small (Newshub): National wants wage subsidy to cover extended COVID-19 lockdown after Jacinda Ardern deems it too complex
NZ’s Covid-19 health response
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): We can eliminate Covid-19 without lockdowns
Jamie Morton (Herald): Why longer lockdown made beating outbreak 10% more likely
Newstalk ZB: WHO spokesperson says our lockdowns make sense
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): The ‘yellow flag’ case that shows why Covid-19 remains such a worry in Auckland
John Weekes (Stuff): The critical mystery case in New Zealand’s Covid-19 outbreak
Derek Cheng (Herald): What Jacinda Ardern’s decision means for level 1. Is it weeks away? (paywalled)
RNZ: ‘Most likely weeks’ before Auckland reaches tail of cluster, Jacinda Ardern says
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Toby Manhire (Spinoff): We asked New Zealanders: Are you complying with the Covid alert level rules?
Nikki Preston (Herald): Second lockdown sparks more fear and anxiety
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Anna Whyte (1News): Prime Minister pushes back on description of Chris Hipkins as ‘part-time’ Health Minister
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Judith Collins says Chris Hipkins is ‘essentially a part-time’ health minister
Zane Small (Newshub): Judith Collins probes Jacinda Ardern on COVID-19 accountability, labels Chris Hipkins ‘part-time’ Health Minister
Amelia Wade (Herald): National leader Judith Collins says she’d take the blame for any border slip-ups
Border management, managed isolation, testing
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Let’s redesign the border from the ground up to make sure it works properly
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): Public health professor wants Ōhakea set up as quarantine base
1News: Judith Collins raises concerns over foreign port worker leaving managed isolation without being tested for Covid-19
Peter Cullen (Stuff): Gaping holes at our border: Why are border workers not being tested?
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Government’s failure to test border staff for virus ‘a stuff up’ says Phil Goff
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Winston Peters attacks National’s offshore testing scheme
RNZ: Wellington cat Mittens butts up against Covid security
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Thomas Manch (Stuff): Health officials commit to 70,000 Covid-19 tests over the next week
Jason Walls (Herald): The Government targets South Auckland in new virus testing blitz
1News: Frontline Pasifika healthcare teams given $19.5m funding boost in fight against Covid-19
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Community testing must continue long-term, GPs warn
Karoline Tuckey (RNZ): Tauranga port workers all test negative
Parliament’s Health Select Committee to reconvene
Jason Walls (Herald): MPs allowed to question Bloomfield in committee next week after NZ First/National lobbying
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Health Select Committee to reconvene as National, New Zealand First call for scrutiny over COVID-19 response
Newstalk ZB: National and NZ First get health committee reconvened
RNZ: Health Select Committee brought back to assess Covid-19 response
Jason Walls (Herald): Grandstanding:’ Greens scoff at National and NZ First’s calls for reconvened health committee
Zane Small (Newshub): New Zealand First joins National in calling for parliamentary committee to scrutinise COVID-19 response
Masks
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Masks should also be mandatory in bars and restaurants – public health professor Nick Wilson
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Masking should be mandatory in bars, restaurant – expert
1News: Big Covid-19 clusters may’ve been prevented with earlier face masks rule – epidemiologist
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): A guide to mandatory mask use during Covid-19 level 2 and beyond
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Government has no plans to require students to wear masks at school
Zane Small (Newshub): Chris Hipkins not keen on ‘heavy-handed enforcement regime’ for mandatory masks
Hamish Cardwell and Riley Kennedy (RNZ): Bus drivers call for security guards for mask enforcement
Hannah Kronast and Alexa Cook (Newshub): First Union calls for security guards on buses to enforce mask mandate
RNZ: Mandatory masks: Public transport staff not ‘enforcement agents’
Molly Houseman (ODT): Face mask onus on passengers; bus drivers not expected to enforce rules
Katarina Williams (Stuff): How making masks mandatory on public transport is creating challenges for Deaf community
Eugene Bingham and Adam Dudding (Stuff): Tick. Tick podcast: The politics and ethics of mask-wearing policy
Conspiracy theories, rumours
1News: Conspiracy theories, rumours rife as uncertainty remains around Covid re-emergence
Teuila Fuatai (Herald): A plea to engage with conspiracy theorists (paywalled)
Alex Braae (Spinoff): Grey Power branch president pumps out Covid-19 conspiracy
Election, voting age
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Rich-listers spreading cash across NZ’s political spectrum
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): Covid-19 isn’t going anywhere but still the clock keeps ticking on election 2020
Claire Trevett (Herald): Fact or Fiction: Did Jacinda Ardern’s video with Dr Ashley Bloomfield break the rules? (paywalled)
Catherine Groenestein (Stuff): Racist attack hits four election hoardings of Māori Party co-leader
Lynley Tulloch (Scoop): Defacing Billboard Of Jacinda Ardern With Dead Possum: What Does It Say About Us?
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): Ad mix-up leaves Electoral Commission temporary staff upset
1News: TVNZ’s Your Vote 2020 coverage: Debates, polls and election specials
Alex Braae (Spinoff): New Conservative party accuses Policy platform of ideological bias
David Farrar: Youth suing for 16 year olds to vote
Euthanasia referendum
Mike Houlahan (ODT): How would objection work?
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Hospice Southland says ‘no’ to End of Life Choice bill
1News: Euthanasia billboards vandalised in Auckland
Parliament
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Judith Collins tries new tactic in the extra-time Parliament
Derek Cheng (Herald): Pushback on Winston Peters’ privacy claims now part of official parliamentary record
Christchurch mosque gunman’s sentencing
Gordon Campbell: On the Royal Commission’s needlessly secretive inquiry into the mosque attacks
RNZ: Christchurch gunman’s sentencing ‘particularly challenging’ for judge – Law Society
Martin van Beynen (Stuff): Emotions run high at second day of mosque shooter’s sentencing
Tim Brown (RNZ): Mosque attacker’s sentencing: ‘You have failed completely’ victim tells gunman
Tim Brown (RNZ): Your act was ‘inhuman’ – Grief-stricken widow tells gunman
Anna Leaks and Kurt Bayer (Herald): Victim’s father tells Brenton Tarrant he will never forgive him
Anna Leaks and Kurt Bayer (Herald): Victims tell gunman Brenton Tarrant he is ‘gutless’ and a ‘coward’
Thomas Mead (1News): Applause rings out in court as shooting survivor faces down Christchurch terrorist
Thomas Mead (1News): Christchurch mosque shooter sniggers as victim reads out his impact statement
Thomas Mead (1News): Christchurch terrorist told his hateful attack has empowered NZ Muslims to share their faith
Thomas Mead (1News): ‘She never even stood a chance’ – nephew of March 15 victim speaks of killer ‘cowardly’ hiding behind his guns
David Clarkson and Holly Carran (Newshub): Victim’s nephew describes gunman as a ‘coward who hid behind his powerful guns’
Chief Ombudsman’s reports on mental health facilities
Emma Russell (Herald): Mental health: Chief Ombudsman calls for action against secure units – reports of ‘cruel’ and ‘inhuman’ treatment
Imogen Wells (1News): Two NZ mental health facilities found in breach of UN convention against torture, cruel treatment
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Mental health units breach UN human rights rules, Ombudsman tells Government
RNZ: Chief ombudsman finds two mental health units breached United Nations guidelines
Health, Canterbury DHB
Cate Broughton and Ceckle Meier (Stuff): Hundreds of staff, nurses and services may be axed at Canterbury DHB
Carly Gooch (Nelson Mail): Health boss to help Christchurch DHB following shock resignation of its CEO
Piers Fuller and Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Wairarapa’s orthopaedic patients face the highest threshold for surgery
Logan Walker (Newsroom): Let’s not forget other diseases
1News: Lack of treatment for Kiwis with severe irritable bowel disease labelled disgraceful
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Calls for Pharmac to fund better bowel disease drugs
Southland Times Editorial: Support for charity hospital project unflagging
Priscilla Dickinson (Newshub): Game of Monopoly with Grant Robertson and Paul Goldsmith raises over $10,000 on Trade Me
Local government
Damian Geroge (Dominion Post): Councillors to vote on giving iwi voting rights on Wellington City Council
Richard Davison and Luisa Girao (ODT): Mayor says issues can be resolved
Logan Savory (Southland Times): ‘Significant conflict’ at Invercargill City Council raised with Local Government Minister
RNZ: Rising tensions in Invercargill City Council could lead to intervention
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland councillor apologises to colleagues for floating a partial sale of Ports of Auckland
Matt Shand (Waikato Times): Maori ward to be established for Tauranga City Council in 2022 election
Samantha Motion (Bay of Plenty Times): Tauranga City Council votes to establish Māori ward
Sam Kelway (1News): Tauranga City Council vote to establish Māori ward
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Tauranga City Council votes for Māori ward
Joanne Carroll (Stuff): Westland council has lifted its game with the help of Government oversight
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington earthquake-prone building owner resorts to demolition after court action
Housing
Dileepa Fonseka (Newsroom): State paid $3k a week for ‘uninhabitable’ houses
No Right Turn: This is corrupt and should be prosecuted
John Minto (Daily Blog): Labour’s Shame
Transport
Dileepa Fonseka (Newsroom): Transmission Gully: Behind the spin
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington’s Transmission Gully price too good to be true
John Anthony (Stuff): Air NZ can’t offer cheapest fares while physical distancing rules apply, CEO says
1News: Jetstar suspending all domestic NZ flights until September 6
Calida Stuart-Menteath (NBR): Jetstar won’t resume flights until NZ is at level 1 (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): The Govt’s fault your flights are going to get expensive
Robin Martin (RNZ): Existence of hapū opposing Mt Messenger bypass questioned
Jane Matthews (Taranaki Daily News): Cultural rights are not legal in $200 Mt Messenger bypass project, court hears
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): Multibillion-dollar cost of Hamilton to Auckland rapid rail service revealed
Primary industries
Richard Harman (Politik): Parker moves to quell farmer protests
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Millions of tonnes of food at risk without foreign contractors, farmers say
Maja Burry (RNZ): M bovis investigations for 28 more farms after milk tests
KiwiSaver
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Regulator should name and shame KiwiSaver providers who are not living up to promises (paywalled)
Andrew Bevan (NBR): No significant link between KiwiSaver fees and active management (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): No car, no job, falling behind on mortgage — but only allowed fraction of KiwiSaver
Media
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Media funding proposal never made it to Cabinet – Minister Faafoi
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): TVNZ says Government has agreed to chip another $30m ‘if needed’ after it posts $26m loss
Chris Keall (Herald): TVNZ plunges to $25m loss – but says Covid not the only factor
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Crown promises $30m ‘rainy day’ capital injection for TVNZ
Mark Jennings (Newsroom): TVNZ: We will be back after the break
Laura James (1News): TVNZ emerges from Covid-19 slump ‘a whole lot stronger’
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): NZME profit rises despite Covid-19 shrinking business
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Never let a crisis go to waste
RNZ: NZME turns a page on profits after slump
Dita De Boni (NBR): NZME faces increased demand for content but decreased ad revenue (paywalled)
Paul McBeth (BusinessDesk): NZME eyes 2021 dividend after covid tightening (paywalled)
Duncan Bridgeman (Herald): NZME on track to return dividend in 2021 after tough cost-cutting measures (paywalled)
Justice
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Govt needs to be braver on justice reform
Laura Walters (Newsroom): By community, for community – funding justice
Foreign affairs
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Seoul apologises over its handling of diplomat sexual abuse allegations
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Korean foreign minister apologises for ‘public concern’ over sexual assault case in New Zealand
Conor Whitten (Newshub): South Korea apologises for mishandling sexual assault claims against former diplomat in New Zealand
Other
Newstalk ZB: Jacinda Ardern clashes with Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking on virus response, other matters
Jonathan Mitchell (RNZ): Defence Force accused of neglecting sexual violence programme
Joel MacManus and Mandy Te (Dominion Post): Police raids and pacifism: Burned Wellington heritage building was home to activists, controversy
Nessa Lynch (Spinoff): Facial recognition technology is here. New Zealand’s law is nowhere near ready
RNZ: The Detail: The murky depths of water reform
Simon Collins (Herald): Māori Party says all NCEA students should be allowed to pass this year
Maria Slade (NBR): Decades’ old convictions the reason for ban (paywalled)
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Prime Minister’s office intervened after Health Ministry closed bank branches in Auckland (paywalled)
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Travellers face losses as STA Travel goes into voluntary administration
