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
Election, voting age
Henry Cooke and Luke Malpass (Stuff): Public still backing Government and Jacinda Ardern despite second outbreak, new poll shows
Liu Chen (RNZ): Poll shows large majority of Chinese New Zealanders still favour National over Labour
Claire Trevett (Herald): Judith Collins, Jacinda Ardern and the virus blame game (paywalled)
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The Left’s Dilemma
Glen McConnell (Stuff): National has a trust issue, but its plan to beat Covid-19 is increasingly solid
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Facebook advertising spends
Deena Coster (Stuff): TOP candidate takes up challenge to represent party again
—————
Nick Munn (The Conversation): Lowering New Zealand’s voting age to 16 would be good for young people – and good for democracy
Stuff Editorial: When do the kids get to vote?
RNZ: The Detail: Sixteen – but not sweet enough to vote
No Right Turn: The Make It 16 case
Border management, quarantine hotels
John Anthony (Stuff): Concerns international seafarers came to shore for medical treatment without being tested for Covid-19
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Covid-19 border regime ‘very robust’ – Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern hits back at Judith Collins for ‘implying without evidence’ COVID-19 outbreak came from border
Thomas Manch (Stuff): National points to another risk at the border: unknown number of returnees are not tested twice
1News: Govt rules out making day three testing compulsory at managed isolation facilities
Newstalk ZB: ‘Storm in a teacup’: Hipkins, HDPA butt heads on day three testing
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): I no longer trust Government to keep virus out
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): What has New Zealand Government learnt from virus?
Jack Vowles (Newsroom): A gap between criticism and reality
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Willie Jackson hits out at Mike Hosking for ‘rude’ interview with Jacinda Ardern over COVID-19 response
—————
George Block (Stuff): Military can now tell returnees to stay in their room
John Weekes (Stuff): Hotel where whistleblower raised fears now cleaned six times a day
Luke Kirkness (Stuff): Mother stuck in isolation concerned at cleanliness of hotel room
NZ’s coronavirus health response
Michael Baker, Amanda Kvalsvig and Nick Wilson (The Conversation): 6 months after New Zealand’s first COVID-19 case, it’s time for a more strategic approach
Public Health Expert: NZ’s COVID-19 response compared to selected other jurisdictions: Australia, Taiwan and the United States
Magic: NZ should move to similar approach to COVID as Sweden: WHO special envoy Dr David Nabarro suggests
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Are we still a team of five million?
Testing, masks, public health measures
1News: Aucklanders not heeding Govt’s call to ramp up testing despite increasing Covid-19 cases
RNZ: First day of week-long Covid-19 testing blitz steady but not busy
Emma Cropper (Newshub): Concern over Government’s testing blitz target as demand drops
RNZ: Immigration overstayers will not be pursued – government
RNZ: Auckland clinics confident of reaching 70,000 target
Liu Chen (RNZ): South Auckland doctors provide more test sites for community
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Māori voice in Coalition’s Covid-19 surveillance and testing strategy
RNZ: Pacific member to Covid panel to be announced this week
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): So you’ve tested positive for Covid. Here’s what happens next
Sela Jane Hopgood (RNZ): Funding boost to support Pacific communities
Sela Jane Hopgood (RNZ): Pasifika social service hopes for more aid after supplies depleted
1News: Pasifika volunteers desperate for sewing machines to help community amid face mask shortage
Anna Whyte (1News): Secondary students should wear masks on school bus, Health Minister says
RNZ: Mandatory masks: Taxi firm fears for passenger safety
Anna Whyte (1News): Covid-19 QR code display to be mandatory on public transport, starting next week
Katarina Williams (Stuff): QR codes to become mandatory on most forms of public transport
Zane Small (Newshub): David Seymour rubbishes NZ COVID Tracer App over no record of how close contacts are traced
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): The seven cases yet to be linked to the south Auckland cluster
Debrin Foxcroft (Stuff): Worker on other side of Auckland border: Sometimes they let us through, sometimes they don’t
Denise Piper (Stuff): No checkpoints in Northland ‘as long as Aucklanders stay away’
Wage subsidy, incomes, business
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Greens join National and ACT in calling for wage subsidy extension in Auckland
Herald: No extension to resurgent wage subsidy despite longer lockdown
RNZ: Grant Robertson on Covid-19 wage subsidy: ‘We are borrowing every single dollar we are paying out’
Zane Small (Newshub): The reason Jacinda Ardern thinks the COVID-19 wage subsidy should not be extended
Jason Walls (Herald): ‘Anti the NZ way’ – Collins continues offensive over Govt’s refusal to extend wage subsidy
—————
1News: Judith Collins calls for more Covid-19 funds spent on businesses rather than ‘the dole queue’
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Raising taxes on the rich to pay for COVID-19: Where politicians and experts stand
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): $50b of Covid debt – are capital gains taxes back on table to repay it? (paywalled)
John Anthony (Stuff): Incomes fall for first time since records started in 1998, Stats NZ says
RNZ: Median weekly income falls 7.6% to $650
Herald: Kiwis’ median weekly incomes fall for the first time
John Anthony (Stuff): Air New Zealand set to post first full year loss since Ansett collapse era
Aimee Shaw (Herald): OfficeMax set to shut down its retail stores
RNZ: Restaurant subsidy petition presented to Parliament
Freshwater standards, primary industries
Jason Walls (Herald): National’s ‘gone by lunchtime’ comments on scrapping freshwater rules ‘stupid, ‘reckless’ – Govt
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Judith Collins says freshwater regulations will be ‘gone by lunchtime’ and Government is ‘destroying this country’
RNZ: Freshwater legislation ‘gone by lunchtime’ if National elected
No Right Turn:If you want clean water, don’t vote National
Sally Rae (ODT): Winter graze rule changes announced
Education
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Greens caught bending party policy to grant $11.7m to private school in Taranaki
Robin Martin (RNZ): Government to pump $11.7m into privately-run Green School in Taranaki
Brianna McIlraith (Taranaki Daily News): New Zealand’s first private Green School gets $11.7 million from government for campus expansion
David Farrar: Huge Green hypocrisy
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Some Auckland students feel ‘disadvantaged by lockdown’, schools planning catch-up classes
1News: Too many students forced to leave school as ‘act of sacrifice and love’ for families – head girl
Christchurch mosque attack sentencing
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): High possibility gunman gets life without parole – law professor
Graeme Edgeler (Legal Beagle): Can the Christchurch terrorist be deported or transferred to Australia to serve his sentence?
Juliet Speedy (Newshub): Christchurch mosque attack victims and families learn gunman won’t speak
Mariné Lourens (Stuff): Christchurch terrorist won’t speak at sentencing for mosque shootings
Mariné Lourens (Stuff): March 15 terror attack gunman ‘did not know us or our country’
1News: Christchurch mosque shooter won’t speak in court tomorrow before sentencing
Tim Brown (RNZ): Family of 3yo killed in mosque attacks confront gunman: ‘True justice is waiting for you in the next life’
Anna Leask and Kurt Bayer (Herald): Victim’s son describes Brenton Tarrant as trash who should be buried in a landfill
Tim Brown (RNZ): ‘You are in hell’ – Anger as victims face killer in court
Tim Brown (RNZ): ‘I saw the fear in his eyes,’ says man who chased killer
David Clarkson (Newshub): Judge praises victim who risked life throwing eftpos machine at terrorist
Thomas Mead (1News): ‘You should thank God I didn’t catch you’ – Linwood mosque hero confronts Christchurch shooter
Thomas Mead (1News): Christchurch mosque killer called a ‘maggot’ at sentencing
Rob Kidd (ODT): Killer mute in face of grief
Local government
Damian George (Dominion Post): Tensions among Wellington City councillors on show again during debate over iwi seats
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Wellington councillors block tangata whenua voting rights discussion
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington City Councillor turns his back on waiata
Karl du Fresne: I despair for Wellington
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Invercargill City councillors react to government review
Logan Savory (Stuff): Second Code of Conduct complaint laid at Invercargill City council
Luisa Girao (ODT): Approach to council issues ‘positive’
Logan Savory (Stuff): Advocates urge Invercargill City Council to look after lowest-paid workers
Luisa Girao (ODT: Call to pay living wage
Molly Houseman (ODT): ORC to keep first-past-the-post voting system — for now
Māori TV: Opponent explains why Tauranga City Council Māori ward plan is flawed
Kiri Gillespie (Bay of Plenty Times): Former Tauranga city councillor Leanne Brown reveals extent of abuse, death threats (paywalled)
Chloe Ranford (RNZ): Council fears law reforms will lead to higher burial costs
Chief Ombudsman’s reports into secure mental health units
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Our mental health system remains deficient. Fixing it will require funding things that aren’t shiny or new
1News: Damning report into NZ’s mental health units prompts Chief Ombudsman’s demand for answers
RNZ: Checkpoint: Degrading conditions at mental health units ‘disgusting’, change needed now – Shaun Robinson
Health
David Morrell (Stuff): Government must move decisively, and not through ministry
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Canterbury health workers to protest cuts, Bloomfield in talks with board, staff
RNZ: Outgoing Canterbury DHB nursing director warns about cuts
Newstalk ZB: Crown Monitor: Canterbury DHB’s defecit has got out of control
Ian Powell (Second Opinion): Resetting general practice in New Zealand
Michael Hayward (Stuff): Seven-storey building offering medical services, luxury recovery rooms planned for Christchurch
Maddy Lloyd (1News): Thousands of NZers with inflammatory bowel disease plead for better access to medication
Environment and conservation
Anna Whyte (1News): Critical recycling report pushes for food waste collection and nationwide approach
Zane Small (Newshub): Government invests $36 million in ‘high-tech optical sorters’ to help end manual rubbish sorting
Laura James (1News): Auckland golf resort whacked with $86k fine for raw sewage violations
James Fyfe (Newshub): Golf resort fined $86,000 for environmental pollution
Joanne Carroll (Stuff): Three takahē died following 1080 drop in Kahurangi National Park
1News: Three takahē dead following 1080 drop in regional park, DOC confirms
1News: Auckland protestors suspend platform from native tree in attempt to save it
Māori TV: Māori arborist suspends himself in native trees in protest
Housing
Newstalk ZB: MSD initiative saw landlords paid $3k a week for emergency housing
Kelly Makiha (Rotorua Daily Post): Rotorua motelier warns of potential emergency housing scam (paywalled)
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Auckland’s rough sleepers all housed in temporary accommodation ‘for first time ever’ – Lifewise
Isaac Davison (Herald): Auckland charities bracing for second wave of homelessness
Bronson Perich (Māori TV): Not all homeless are jobless – Matthew Tukaki
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Hundreds more to head to Kāpiti Coast as plans for 300-home retirement village revealed
Kendall Hutt (Stuff): Auckland rental posed ‘safety risk’ to children who locked themselves in bedroom
David Hargreaves (Interest): How would you like your mortgage deferral? Mild discomfort? Or long slow burn?
Murphy (RNZ): Young queer and trans people face growing housing barriers in level 3
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): ASB expects house price fall to be far less dramatic than previously forecast
Immigration, migrant workers
Newstalk ZB: Winston Peters doubles down on tractor comments
RNZ: RSE workers stranded in NZ: ‘Tonga needs to look after its own citizens’ – employer
Amy Williams (RNZ): Orchestras and ballet company fail to secure visas for top overseas talent
George Block (Stuff): South African migrants separated from families plead for help
America’s Cup
Todd Niall (Stuff): America’s Cup allegations: The road to resolution for Team New Zealand
Todd Niall (Stuff): America’s Cup allegations: Audit finds no wrongdoing at Team NZ
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Team New Zealand cleared by America’s Cup funding probe
1News: Investigation clears Team NZ of any misuse of public funds
RNZ: America’s Cup: Team NZ cleared of wrongdoing over finances – MBIE
Paul McBeth (BusinessDesk): No Team NZ wrongdoing, but record-keeping poor: report (paywalled)
Bonus Bonds
Rob Stock (Stuff): Why nobody should mourn the end of Bonus Bonds
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): ANZ winds up Bonus Bonds scheme due to historically low interest rates
1News: Bonus Bonds scheme set to end after 50 years due to ‘historically low’ interest rates
RNZ: Bonus Bonds coming to an end after 50 years
Anarchist house destroyed by fire
RNZ: Wellington’s ‘anarchist house’ facing demolition after fire
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington landmark on Abel Smith St gutted by fire to be demolished
1News: Historical Wellington building to be demolished following fire
Other
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): New poll: How many New Zealanders have seen Covid conspiracies online?
Dylan Asafo (Newsroom): The ‘choices’ Māori and Pasifika don’t have
Tara Shaskey (Stuff): Manslaughter-accused police officers facing second charge of manslaughter
Katie Doyle (RNZ): More than 20 youth escape from secure residences since 2015
Sam Sherwood (Stuff): Royal Commission of Inquiry gathering evidence relating to Gloriavale
John Weekes (Stuff): Billy TK Junior terminated as White Ribbon ambassador after complaints
Michael Andrew (Spinoff): New Zealand’s stock exchange may be under attack from Russian cyber gangs
1News: Serious cyber-attack on NZX could have been ‘easily avoided’ – expert
Dita De Boni (NBR): Hugh Rennie QC: Adventures in business journalism (paywalled)
Bronson Perich (Māori TV): Landlord refuses to renew lease for Manurewa community centre
Pete McKenzie (Newsroom): Aotearoa’s unique identity crisis
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Meridian suggests fresh government talks on smelter underway as it contemplates $1.3b write-down
Tracy Neal (RNZ): Aviation industry member questions CAA report on drones
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Support around the country for struggling Book a Marae platform
RNZ: New tourism data programme to help track recovery of sector
