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
Alert level decision
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Big questions linger after Covid-19 alert level decision
Derek Cheng (Herald): Travel spike could thwart Government’s level 1 plans – Covid modeller
Science Media Centre: Alert Level status quo stays a little longer – Expert Reaction
Crystal Wu (Stuff): Public health, economic experts react to Government’s alert level extension
1News: Infectious person at Auckland gym shows why Covid-19 restrictions remain necessary – expert
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Politics seeps into alert level decision as Winston Peters, Judith Collins question restrictions beyond Auckland
1News: Judith Collins says alert level restrictions ‘starting to look very political’
Heather Du Plessis-Allan (Herald): The Front Bench podcast: Why is the rest of New Zealand still at level 2?
Newshub: What you need to know about New Zealand’s alert level extension
1News: Jacinda Ardern explains why those outside Auckland will remain at Alert Level 2
RNZ: Cabinet extends current Covid-19 alert levels
Anna Whyte (1News): New Zealand, other than Auckland, to move to Alert Level 1 next Monday
Rotorua Daily Post: Rotorua Marathon can’t include Aucklanders this year
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Anna Whyte (1News): Winston Peters says there’s ‘no need’ for rest of NZ to spend another week at Level 2, amid Auckland’s virus outbreak
1News: Winston Peters says NZ First doesn’t support Cabinet’s decision to stay at Alert Level 2
Newstalk ZB: Inconsistency could see NZ in Level 2 for Christmas – Peters
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoiff): Majority of New Zealanders still backing Jacinda Ardern’s Covid-19 leadership
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Katarina Williams and Tom Hunt (Stuff): Physical distancing ditched on public transport
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Beehive’s on-the-fly virus reaction
1News: Masks to stay, but public transport and airlines can now fill seats
Emma Russell (Herald): Air NZ unveils cheap flights as physical distancing lifted for planes, public transport
1News: Air New Zealand releases 160,000 fares under $50 as physical distancing requirements eased
RNZ: Jetstar and Air New Zealand adjust after physical distancing on public transport eases
1News: Jetstar announces it will resume domestic flights this week
Grant Bradley (Herald): Air New Zealand’s Greg Foran: Rule change a boost for domestic airline landscape (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor and Miriam Harris (Newshub): Queenstown Mayor welcomes ‘sensible’ COVID-19 announcement
Quarantine management
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Concerns over Ministry of Health guidance after COVID-19-positive quarantine hotel nurse attends gym
Jamie Morton (Herald): The case to quarantine all travellers at Ōhakea air base
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Duncan Garner (Newshub): Exclusive details on Jacinda Ardern’s phone call to Scott Morrison about Bledisloe Cup
ODT Editorial: Dropping the ball
Stuff: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern shuts down talk of moving All Blacks’ Bledisloe Cup tests to Australia
Stuff: Bledisloe Cup: All Blacks and election day clash not an issue says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
Sally Murphy (RNZ): Bledisloe Cup tests will go ahead – Grant Robertson
1News: National questions NZ’s ability to host major sports events after missing out on Rugby Championship
Joe Porter (RNZ): Quarantine rules set to force key All Blacks out of Rugby Championship
Anti-lockdown march, rule breaking
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Far-right speakers featured at anti-lockdown march
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Controversial Christchurch pastor questions Government’s COVID-19 response after church gloats of ‘over 100’ people at service
Newstalk ZB: Are Police tough enough on lockdown breakers?
Election
RNZ: Election fake news weekly report to monitor New Zealand campaigning
Nikki Preston (Herald): Strong similarities between National and Labour’s short ads
Liam Hehir (Newsroom): It’s votes, not hoardings, that matter
Stephen Judd (Stuff): Online voting isn’t the be-all and end-all
Andrew MacFarlane (1News): Vote Compass: New Zealanders want water bottling companies to pay up
Mihingarangi Forbes (Spinoff): Five whare rules to avoid getting booted from my TV debate
Jacob McSweeny (ODT): Employers reveal their priorities
David Farrar: Herald supports a voting age of 16
Advance NZ
Nick Krause (Times Online): Jami-Lee Ross not contesting Botany seat
1News: Controversial former National MP Jami-Lee Ross won’t contest Botany electorate this year
Luke Kirkness (Herald): Advance NZ’s Jami-Lee Ross abandons attempt to retain Botany seat
David Farrar: Ross pulls out of Botany
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The Left’s Lost Allies
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): The Outliers: Fears about Te Kahika’s controversial Covid-19 views
Shane Te Pou (Herald): Why TVNZ should withdraw its debate invitation to the Advance Party (paywalled)
Labour Party
Max Rashbrooke (Stuff): Labour’s middle-class inequality problem
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Reinstating training incentive allowance ‘not going to cut it’ – beneficiary advocate
Hamish McNicol (NBR): Why Labour’s ‘symbolic’ top tax policy won’t work (paywalled)
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Labour dedicated to Hillside — Ardern
Molly Houseman (ODT): Net effect of prayers — meeting the PM
National Party
RNZ: National’s education policy: Charter schools, colonial approach to Māori disappoint
Henry Cooke (Stuff): National promises to boost funding for students with extra needs, teacher aides, and charter schools
RNZ: National promises $1.9bn for education in learning support, teacher aides, character schools
Anna Whyte (1News): National pledge investment in school learning support, more teacher aides
Zane Small (Newshub): National commits $1.9 billion to learning support, plans to scrap Government’s school zoning powers
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): National unveils $140 million transport plan for lower South Island
Daisy Hudson and Mike Houlahan (ODT): National promises $140m for transport
RNZ: National South Island transport plan focuses on safety, cycling, rail and bridges
Victoria Young (BusinessDesk): National leader says Bezzant issue ‘dealt with’ (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff): National sticking by Upper Harbour candidate Jake Bezzant following ‘thorough’ investigation of allegation about his business record
Jamie Ensor and Melissa Tapper (Newshub): First-term MPs: Simeon Brown on his youth, synthetic drug law, and door-knocking
ACT
Thomas Manch (Stuff): ACT wants to unwind the Government’s climate and energy efforts
Zane Small (Newshub): ACT supports mining on low-value conservation land to fund ‘real conservation where it counts’
Te wiki o te reo Māori, election policies
1News: Jacinda Ardern says changing NZ’s name to Aotearoa not on her agenda, but wants people to use it
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): National and Labour won’t commit to compulsory te reo Māori lessons
Melissa Nightingale (Herald): Winston Peters on Māori Party policy to rename New Zealand Aotearoa: ‘Headline hunting’
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Māori Party wants New Zealand to be officially renamed Aotearoa within six years
RNZ: Māori Party pledges to change New Zealand’s name to Aotearoa, Greens, Labour spell out te reo Māori policy
1News: Māori Party reveals policy to change NZ’s name to Aotearoa, make Māori history core part of school curriculum
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Māori Party promises to rename New Zealand to Aotearoa if elected
Newstalk ZB: Dame Tariana Turia: Original Māori ingoa to replace Pākehā names
Bridie Witton, Matthew Tso and Mandy Te (Stuff): Support for Wellington to be called Te Whanganui-a-Tara following Māori Party’s language policy announcement
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): Greens focus on free te reo Māori education to help fill void in classrooms
RNZ: Greens warned fertiliser tax ‘will create pressure on farmers’
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Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): Don’t just change your email sign-off: Embracing te ao Māori more than one week a year
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Opinion: This week has lasted centuries – a link to our past and our future
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): One million New Zealanders celebrate te reo Māori at the same time
Susan Botting (RNZ): Far North councillor to speak only te reo Māori during meetings for Māori language month
1News: Watch: Aotearoa’s first Māori Supreme Court Justice leads waiata practice as week celebrating te reo kicks off
Stuff Editorial: Te reo Māori needs its advocates. But so does satire
Greens
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Tick. Tick podcast: No time for anger as Marama Davidson accepted James Shaw’s apology immediately
Anna Whyte (1News): Greens promise to push for ‘fair, decent pay’ across retail, cleaning, security if in Govt
Economy, rebuild
Newstalk ZB: Grant Robertson: ‘This will be the worst quarter NZ has seen”
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Here comes New Zealand’s biggest quarterly GDP drop ever
Brent Edwards (NBR): No let-up in government borrowing over next couple of years (paywalled)
Gyles Beckford (RNZ): Awful economic numbers already ‘ancient history’
Liam Dann (Herald): ASB Regional Scorecard: Which provinces are coping best with Covid economy?
Simon Wilson (Herald): A new Auckland, one year after virus hits (paywallled)
Neville Peat (ODT): Bold actions needed on longer-term issues
Inequality
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Solo parents face NZ’s biggest financial struggle, data shows
Ian Hyslop: Tough Times
Cannabis and euthanasia referendums
1News: Explained: The Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill referendum
Matt Vickers (Newsroom): Euthanasia never anything but a plan B
Kadambari Raghukumar (RNZ): Making a choice – a New Zealand resident’s journey with euthanasia in the Netherlands
Media
Liam Hehir (Democracy Project): What the voting age debate tells us about our disconnected political media
RNZ: The Detail: The goodies and baddies of the 1pm covid presser
Gavin Ellis: We could all do with a laugh
Environment
John McCrone (Stuff): Why they want to bin the Resource Management Act and how that is a big deal
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Environment Minister: ‘We thought it was right at the time’
Lois Williams (RNZ): Planners seek help with protecting West Coast’s notable trees
Erin Gourley (Critic): Student Group Forces Ravensdown to Care About the Environment
Health
Mike Beard (Press): What should be done about the CDHB crisis?
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Doctors still keen to have voices heard
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): National accuses Government of failing to deliver on Dunedin Hospital as candidates battle to win safe red seat
Stuff: New $1.4 billion Dunedin Hospital to feature two main buildings
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Suicidal teen put on a six-week waiting list, as mental health services overwhelmed
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): New suicide prevention research aims to help Kiwis understand why people take their own lives
Housing
Eva Corlett (RNZ): Landlords expected to act quickly after rent freeze ends
David Farrar: Homelessness four times as great as in 2017
Gulf Livestock 1, Live exports
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): A case against exporting live animals
1News: Family of Kiwi missing after livestock ship sinking engages experts to create map of where crew could be
Dilworth School
Melanie Earley and George Block (Stuff): Dilworth School: What we know about the school at the centre of sex offending claims
Melanie Earley and George Block (Stuff): Alleged historical sex offending casts ‘dark shadow’ over Auckland’s Dilworth School
Giles Dexter (Newshub): Dilworth headmaster speaks out after alleged sexual abuse of 17 boys casts ‘dark shadow’ over school
Chelsea Boyle (Herald): Dilworth School investigation: Headmaster appalled following six arrests for historical sexual offending
1News: Six men arrested after police investigation into historic abuse at Auckland school for boys
RNZ: Six men arrested and charged in relation to historical offences
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Six men in 60s, 70s arrested over alleged indecent assaults at Auckland’s Dilworth School
Local government
Dileepa Fonseka (Newsroom): The Council-Government divide
Dominic Harris (Press): Polls up and running for Christchurch local elections – which are 753 days away
Justice, corrections
Sophie Cornish and Blair Ensor (Stuff): Rimutaka Prison: Drugs, tobacco and cellphones found in packages attached to delivery truck
Elizabeth Stanley (Spinoff): Why a radical approach is needed to fix our broken justice system
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Labour’s cowardice on prison reform mirrors their cowardice to reform WINZ – will symbolic gestures be enough?
Employment
No Right Turn: A bill to criminalise wage theft
RNZ: Health and safety measures at Auckland port under review
Other
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Helping 6100 foreigners stranded in NZ has cost $7 million in 10 weeks
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Overseas immigration employees on full pay, New Zealand staff struggle with tech
Grant Bradley (Herald): What’s eating Waihi? Battle lines drawn in the dig for more gold (paywalled)
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Otago University staffer claims senior leadership tried to push medical admissions caps
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): Covid-19 bringing New Zealanders home, Stats NZ data show
Mike Yardley (Press): Fair-handed accommodation regulation a complex matter
Lawrence Gully (Stuff): Proposal for $1b Sleepyhead development under the microscope of independent commissioners
Danielle Clent (Stuff): Northland flooding: $37m worth of damage to homes, land and vehicles
RNZ: Censor praises Netflix for response to use of mosque attack footage
Breanna Barraclough (1News): Chief Censor lobbies for warning after Christchurch terrorist attack video used in Netflix movie
Chris Trotter (Interest): Most New Zealand politicians would rather appease a minority than unleash the majority
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Pumice layer delaying $140m highway was known about before work started
RNZ: 500 survivors speak with Royal Commission for Inquiry into Abuse in Care
Damian George (Stuff): ‘You look better in the paper than you do in real life’ — concerns raised over transport boss’ ‘sexist’ comment
Jordyn Rudd (1News): Social media influencers must now say whether their post’s an ad or not
