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
Audrey Young (Herald): Election battlegrounds – Political parties eye strategic seats (paywalled)
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): An introduction to ‘The Outliers’: The political parties who aren’t in the daily headlines
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): With two Government parties under threat of political obliteration, is it time to rethink MMP?
Tim Watkin (RNZ): Timid tax, debating debates and say hello to Kinder Collins
Andrew MacFarlane (1News): Vote Compass: Majority of Kiwis say government should fund dental care for low-income adults
Andrew MacFarlane (1News): Vote Compass: 56% of Māori voters say welfare services should be easier to access
Andy Fyers (BusinessDesk): Election 2020: Every policy in one place (paywalled)
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): How the major parties plan to treat NZ Super age (paywalled)
RNZ: Checkpoint: Election 2020 Tourism Debate: Kelvin Davis and Todd McClay
No Right Turn: Says it all
Jane Clifton (BusinessDesk): Soaking the rich – a taxing issue (paywalled)
1News: Inside Parliament: Promises and elbow bumps on the campaign trail
Jamie Ensor and Vita Molyneux (Newshub): What are New Zealanders Googling in the lead up to the election?
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): Labour is crushing National in the polls, but Google data suggests the race may not be over yet
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Latest UMR internal poll: Lab: 53% Nat: 29% ACT: 6.2% NZF: 3.9% GRN: 3.2%
Amelia Wade (Herald): Stalking horse vs tricky accounting – Ardern and Collins trade barbs over policies
Chris Marshall (Stuff): Ardern talks environment and economy on campaign trail in Taupō
Rotorua Daily Post: On the campaign trail: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in Taupō
Anna Whyte (1News): Another public holiday could tip struggling businesses ‘over the edge’, Judith Collins argues
Amelia Wade (Herald): TOP wants a 20 per cent tax on junk food to pay for free dental care and $10 doctors’ visits
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): NZ First pledges $100 million to aquaculture
Toby Morris (Spinoff): The Side Eye: How to draw Jacinda Ardern
Labour Party tax policy
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Political Roundup – Labour gives up on tax transformation
Bernard Hickey (Newsroom): The even wealthier can breathe easier till 2023 at least
Geoff Simmons (Stuff): Who’ll gain from Labour’s plan to tax the rich? The rich
Tim Watkin (Pundit): Labour’s Tax Trauma Victims And How They Might Help The Greens
Jonathan Barrett (The Conversation): With their conservative promises, Labour and National lock in existing unfairness in New Zealand’s tax system
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Why no major political party will go near the behemoth that is housing
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Grant Robertson categorically rules out adopting Greens’ tax policy if Labour is re-elected
RNZ: Checkpoint: Labour’s top tier tax plan: Top 2 percent of NZ can ‘pitch in’ – Robertson
Newstalk ZB: Grant Robertson: Criticism shows we got tax policy right
1News: Grant Robertson shuts down National’s claims that Labour has more tax policies coming
Dan Satherley (Newshub): How Labour’s tax changes compare to Australia, the Greens’ policy and the past
David Seymour (Stuff): Labour’s tax policy is picking on the nerds who’ve done well
1News: Labour’s tax policy ‘picks on people who work hard’ – David Seymour argues
RNZ: No need for more tax ‘at a time like this’ – National’s Paul Goldsmith
Labour Party energy policy
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): 100 percent renewable energy is a red herring
Zane Small (Newshub): Labour’s ‘stingy’ energy plan fails to impress Greenpeace, ‘more action needed’ say Greens
Richard Harman (Politik): 100% renewable – but at a price
Zane Small (Newshub): Labour to bring forward 100 percent renewable energy target by five years to 2030
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Labour pledges 100 per cent renewable power by 2030
Anna Whyte (1News): Labour pledges 100 per cent renewable energy generation by 2030
Gavin Evans (BusinessDesk): Labour matches Greens on earlier renewable target
Greens, Green private school
Jason Walls (Herald): Greens prepared to walk away from part in next Government if post-election talks sour
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Marama Davidson says Green Party ‘hella-focused’ on just surviving election
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Greens beg for campaign volunteers as polling shows party flirting with oblivion
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Greens try to move past private school saga
Deena Coster (Taranaki Daily News): Taranaki educators still want answers over private Green School funding
Tara Shaskey (Stuff): Green School New Zealand principal quits after eight month
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Green School principal Stuart MacAlpine resigns, Newshub understands
RNZ: Private Green School principal Stuart MacAlpine resigns
National Party
Matthew Hooton (Herald): National’s plan betrays transparency (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): National’s infrastructure bank won’t dodge debt target, Paul Goldsmith says
Newstalk ZB: Judith Collins talks tax, meth and gender in schools
Zane Small (Newshub): Judith Collins caught in stoush as Taiwan’s Auckland representative rejects China’s ‘overtly untrue’ message to her
NZ Public Party
Dan Satherley and Ella Prendergast (Newshub): Electoral Commission clears NZ Public Party of wrongdoing over donations
Matt Shand (Stuff): Billy Te Kahika kept Public Party cash under bed but denies wrongdoing
Amelia Wade (Herald): Electoral Commission drops investigation into NZ Public Party
RNZ: Electoral Commission drops probe into NZ Public Party donations
Euthanasia and cannabis referendums
Carmen Chan (Newsroom): Assisted dying’s inequity problem
Libby Smales (ODT): Act would mean fewer would suffer: advocate
Gary Walker (Stuff): More cannabis use not what the construction sector needs
Economy
Simon Wilson (Herald): The ‘magic money tree’ politicians don’t want to talk about (paywalled)
Kate MacNamara (Herald): Why productivity at the Productivity Commission seems to be at a low ebb (paywalled)
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): How recovery spending will benefit property (paywalled)
Mt Roskill cluster, NZ’s coronavirus response
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Pacific health leaders unimpressed with police involvement in Covid-19 contact tracing
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Opinion: Christians, we need to stop living in denial and treat COVID-19 seriously
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Move to alert level 1 unlikely amid growth of ‘sub-clusters’
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): ‘Malicious’ misinformation could block New Zealand’s move to alert level 1 – Chris Hipkins
1News: Health Minister says ‘deliberate and malicious spreading of misinformation’ will slow NZ’s return to Level 1
Katie Todd (RNZ): Public warned as fake news, misinformation, conspiracy theories threaten Covid-19 response
1News: Winston Peters says latest ‘lockdown’ outside Auckland ‘should never have happened’
Newstalk ZB: National suggests locking down suburbs to contain Covid-19
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): New Zealand mental health crisis as Covid stretches a struggling system
Anna Whyte (1News): Rare agreement among Ardern and Collins amid revelation Trump sought to ‘play down’ Covid danger
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): US hospital nurse urges Kiwis to ‘be thankful’ for COVID-19 response
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Managed Isolation cracks down on mask-wearing after video emerges of returnee speaking over a fence without covering
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Managed isolation provides cannabis cure
Environment and conservation
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Damien O’Connor says freshwater and winter grazing rules can be ‘tweaked’
Lois Williams (RNZ): New freshwater rules ‘terrible’ for West Coast – regional council chair
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern, Megan Woods explains why mining on conservation land continues despite promise to end it
Rachel Thomas (RNZ): Mining company overcomes attempts to block plans for a waste dump at Waihi
Matthew Littlewood (Timaru Herald): Oceania Dairy 7.5km wastewater pipeline consents granted
Sally Brooker (ODT): Consents granted for controversial wastewater pipeline
Sally Brooker (ODT): Permission to send treated wastewater to sea granted
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): City’s wastewater could flow into ocean as Nature Calls options narrow
Eloise Gibson (Stuff): Carbon auction cash could go towards easing climate pain
Chloe Ranford (RNZ): Test case: Port Otago wants coastal rules on environment relaxed
The Standard: How has Conservation Fared Under This Government?
ODT Editorial: Wildlife numbers cause for alarm
BBC: Wildlife in ‘catastrophic decline’ due to human destruction, scientists warn
Molly Houseman (ODT): Wildlife support groups hail relief funding
Corrections
Meg de Ronde (RNZ): Time for PM to step in over minister’s handling of prison concerns
Charlotte Cook (RNZ): Police investigating possible corruption at Rimutaka Prison – Corrections Association
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Police investigating ‘possible corruption’ at Rimutaka Prison
Education
Simon Collins (Herald) Ethnic and decile divides as students return to school after Auckland lockdown
1News: Just 75 per cent of Auckland school students returned to class the day after lockdown
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Cash-strapped education sector facing widespread job losses
1News: International children stuck in NZ allowed to go to school as domestic students for 2020
RNZ: State schools to open doors to international students for rest of 2020
Sharnae Hope (Stuff): Racism row professor distances job loss from racism claims
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui and Māni Dunlop (RNZ): Support for academics over allegations of structural racism at Waikato University
RNZ: Thousands sign letter calling for University of Waikato to eliminate structural racism
Grant Guilford (Stuff): Victoria University leadership requests a recount
Caley Callahan (Newshub): Victoria University warns of potential job cuts as international enrolments plummet
Jody Callaghan (Stuff): Caution urged over ‘out of blue’ proposal to limit special pathway for Māori, Pasifika at Otago Med School
RNZ: The Detail: Why do we have preferential entry into med school?
George Heagney (Stuff): Request to withdraw Massey staff gagging order denied
LIve exports, animal abuse
Rosemary McLeod (Stuff): Humans’ cruelty to animals enough to make me clucky
Brianna MciLraith (Taranaki Daily News): Candidates give their views on live animal exports from Port Taranaki
Border exceptions, immigration
RNZ: Concern border exceptions won’t ease labour shortage but dairy sector reassured
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Two orchestra conductors granted exemptions to enter NZ
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Immigration backlog – Nearly 34,000 interim visas granted to applicants waiting on decisions
Maia Hart (Stuff): Immigration minister hints at further visa extensions to get next year’s grapes in
Housing
RNZ: Concern as landlords advised to get rid of ‘problem’ tenants soon
Mandy Te (Stuff): Wellington could become ‘city no one wants to live in’, councillor says, as housing debate divides
Greg Ninness (Interest): Is the suggestion house prices double every 10 years an urban myth or fact?
Chloe Ranford (Stuff): Driveways driven away by new rule
Health
Ian Powell (Press): Culture threat to New Zealand’s health system
David Williams (Newsroom): Why we left: Ex-DHB bosses speak out
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Kiwis turned to cannabis and alcohol to cope during lockdown – study
Suicide
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Zero Suicide Aotearoa: What is the report and what does it recommend?
Alice Webb-Liddall (Spinoff): NZ’s suicide rates are dismal. ‘Zero Suicide Aotearoa’ is looking to change that
Air NZ
John Antony (Stuff) Air NZ extends Boeing 777 groundings as international recovery outlook worsens
1News: Air NZ grounds entire Boeing 777 fleet until at least September 2021 due to ongoing impact of Covid-1
Transport
Michael Hayward (Press): Changes needed to stop Christchurch congestion as population grows
Marcus Anselm (RNZ): Road cash cuts may cause slashed services, rates rises
Tourism
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Auckland and Northland take lion’s share of $50 million regional events fund
Tracey Roxburgh (ODT): $10m boost for events
Tracey Roxburgh (ODT): Call to drop distancing on planes
RNZ: Airlines need chance for full flights during school holidays – tourism boss
Weta Digital
Kristin Hall (1News): Workplace Relations Minister calls for independent inquiry into Weta Digital misconduct allegations
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): Workplace Relations Minister calls for investigation into Weta Digital culture
Local government
ODT: Councillors ‘happily’ agree to no pay rise
Aaron Leaman (Waikato Times): Waikato leaders laud new blueprint for growth
Wellington Central Library
Harry Lock (RNZ): Wellington Central Library recommended for top heritage status
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Heritage New Zealand proposes listing Wellington’s Central Library, built in 1991
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): Wellington’s 30-year-old Central Library may be given heritage status
Other
Alison Mau (Stuff): NZDF and Government spend close to $900k fighting Mariya Taylor sex abuse case
RNZ: Poverty requires same urgency as Covid-19 – Wellington City Mission
Stuff Editorial: Let’s look further into the Whaakari/White Island tragedy
Florence Kerr (Stuff): Unicef NZ board chair says CEO was not pushed as she resigns a week after child wellbeing report controversy
Bruce Munro (ODT): Global Insight: Can NZ trust Brexiteer Boris?
David Farrar: Some good changes to Standing Orders
Luke Appleby (1News): Drug testing expert and former drug squad cop says Government’s drug driving bill is ‘over-ambitious’
AP: NZ Rugby has ‘a lot to work through’ if Aotearoa wants to host Rugby Championships – Health Minister
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Hamilton real estate agencies slapped with $4 million fine for price-fixing
1News: Two Hamilton real estate agencies ordered to pay $4 million for price fixing
RNZ: Covid-19 ensures rocky ride for Super Fund
Jessica Roden (1News): Central Otago could see 200 extra jobs as Govt looks to fast track lines upgrade
Teresa Cowie and Claire Eastham-Farrelly (RNZ): What Pasifika families’ unpaid work means to New Zealand
RNZ: Gulf Livestock 1: Search for crew of capsized cattle ship called off
Mitch McCann (Newshub): East Coast local giving Māori battalion descendents their never-presented war medals
Vita MOlyneux (Newshub): Signed poster of ‘Queen of Science’ Siouxsie Wiles up for auction
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Bizarre Jacinda Ardern themed cereal for sale on Trade Me
