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
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Judith Collins and David Seymour battle for the right wing
Richard Harman (Politik): How Collins and Seymour are divided
Andrew MacFarlane (1News): Vote Compass: Most New Zealanders support higher taxes for the wealthy
Claire Trevett (Herald): Are National and Labour both guilty of ‘misinformation’? (paywalled)
The Hui: Tāmaki Makaurau candidate debate: Peeni Henare, Marama Davidson, John Tamihere on Māori water ownership
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Botany candidate debate: A peek into the future
Deena Coster (Taranaki Daily News): New Plymouth candidates take to the floor for first time
Carol Mutch (Newsroom): The problem with the ‘vote ghost’ campaign
Madeleine Chapman (Spinoff): The week in memes: A cooked spinach tax policy from Labour
Dominic Harris (Stuff): Christchurch National Party candidate’s car vandalised and briefcase stolen
Denise Piper (Stuff): Man who smashed the America’s Cup standing for Te Tai Tokerau
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Key debate dates, when results will be released
Labour
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Will Labour ditching ‘fees free’ help get the Greens over the line?
Mandy Te, Matthew Tso, Laura Wiltshire and Henry Cooke (Stuff): University students may reconsider futures after Labour Party breaks promise of additional fees-free years
Henry Cooke, Akula Sharma and Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): Labour promises more school lunches, won’t extend fees-free programme
RNZ: Labour pledges to focus on apprenticeships, scrap decile system
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Free school lunches are great – ‘hoop-jumping’ to get them isn’t, principal says
Anna Whyte (1News): Labour promises to extend free school lunches to a quarter of Kiwi kids if returned to power
Zane Small (Newshub): Labour will replace school decile system with Equity Index, a change ‘likely to be disruptive for many schools’
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Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Speaker Trevor Mallard embroiled in Labour Hutt South donations controversy
Eugene Bingham and Adam Dudding (Stuff): Tick. Tick podcast: Trevor Mallard on Parliament’s toxic culture and his own retirement
Caroline Williams (Stuff): Auckland light rail will go ahead if Labour wins election, transport minister says
National
Ben Thomas (Spinoff): Judith Collins’ campaign gamble
Simon Wilson (Herald): The big challenge for Judith Collins (paywalled)
Crystal Wu (Newshub): NZ First says National’s plan to cut Government’s zoning requirements would lead to ‘white flight’
RNZ: National’s education policy: Charter schools, colonial approach to Māori disappoint
Vaimoana Tapaleao (Herald): Judith Collins flattered at being immortalised in ‘Bond girl’ tattoo
Anna Whyte (1News): National’s Judith Collins ‘couldn’t be more thrilled’ at supporter’s tattoo
Herald: National Party leader Judith Collins immortalised in ‘Bond girl’ tattoo
Dental care policies
Jonathan Broadbent and Murray Thomson (Newsroom): Time for a state boost for dental care?
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): National and Labour fall short on adult dental care
Zane Small (Newshub): NZ Election 2020: National promises $30 million boost to childhood dental services, but nothing for adults
Jason Walls (Herald): National promises $30 million a year expansion of kids’ dental programme
1News: National promises $30 million yearly boost to children’s dental care
RNZ: National announces $30m childhood dental services policy
Greens
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Leader interviews: James Shaw and Marama Davidson talk wins, losses and challenges
Deena Coster (Stuff): Green Party co-leaders front up to Taranaki principals
Jamie Ensor and Melissa Tapper (Newshub): First-term MPs: Golriz Ghahraman on dealing with New Zealand First, the MP walking group, and Parliament’s culture
New Zealand Public Party, Advance NZ
Matt Shand (Stuff): $255,000 in political donations to NZPP: a party that never registered
No Right Turn: A flaw in our electoral transparency regime
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): What the TVNZ Multi-Party debate should do with Advance NZ participating
Hone Harawira: Here’s the best argument for staying clear of Billy TK Jnr and friends
RNZ: Afternoons: David Farrier on ‘red-pilling’ and Covid-19 conspiracies
Richard Harman (Politik): Facebook cuts NZ election ad
Katie Doyle (RNZ): Little love lost as Jami-Lee Ross abandons Botany electorate
NZ First
Mike Houlahan (ODT): NZ First keen on the South
RNZ: The Elevator Pitch: ‘What’s needed is a party of common sense’ – Winston Peters
1News: NZ First pledges $10m to Mike King’s mental health initiative Gumboot Friday, if elected
1News: Winston Peters bumps into old school mate he hadn’t seen in 60 years while on the campaign trail
1News: ‘They’re a bit big’ – Winston Peters detours to The Warehouse in Gisborne on hunt for baskets
ACT
Brooke van Velden (Interest): The real roadmap to recovery
Ethan Griffiths (Whanganui Chronicle): Act leader David Seymour visits Whanganui
Economy
Jason Walls (Herald): National holds its breath ahead of tomorrow’s opening up of Government books
Luke Malpass and Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Grant Robertson on New Zealand’s ‘worst-ever quarter’ financial and PREFU
Julie Iles (NBR): Finance Minister Grant Robertson says GDP figures ‘won’t make for pretty reading’ (paywalled)
David Hargreaves (Interest): Caution: very large GDP fall approaching
Robert MacCulloch (Herald): Do not let this Covid crisis go to waste (paywalled)
Gordon Campbell: On the transTasman tinkering with Covid-related poverty
Paul McBeth (BusinessDesk): Be credible on spending – Greens (paywalled)
Oliver Hartwich (Herald): Why this is the biggest global bailout in history (paywalled)
Richard Prebble (Herald): Why is no one talking about the debt piling up (paywalled)
Employment
Evan Harding (Stuff): David Parker takes ‘hardass’ approach to labour shortage during Covid
Sean Hogan (1News): Worker shortage sees fruit bowl of NZ facing the prospect of rotting away
Joanne Carroll (Stuff): West Coast women hit hard by Covid-19 job losses
Susan Hornsby-Geluk (Stuff): Here’s why we should talk about what we’re being paid
Tourism rescue plan
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Flawed tourism rescue plan was almost dumped
RNZ: ‘I want to see proof’ – Tourism operator urges inquiry over Covid-19 recovery funding
NZ’s coronavirus response
Derek Cheng (Herald): Why Cabinet’s level 1 tease is out of step with its usual cautious approach (paywalled)
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Ashley Bloomfield says COVID-19 ‘must have’ come through the border, Jacinda Ardern remains unconvinced
Zane Small Newshub): Jacinda Ardern admits COVID-19 outbreak ‘obviously hasn’t come from within New Zealand’
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Close contacts not getting into isolation fast enough to minimise the risk of spreading the virus
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Still a risk of COVID-19 cases outside Auckland – Dr Ashley Bloomfield
1News: Winston Peters accuses Cabinet of cherry picking Covid-19 data to bolster Alert Level 2 decision
1News: Prime Minister insists alert level decisions are not political after criticism from Judith Collins
1News: Leading epidemiologist calls for mandatory face masks in New Zealand schools
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Singapore move ‘a validation’ of NZ’s CovidCard approach, says developer
Katarina Williams (Stuff): Other countries are routinely testing for historical Covid-19 cases, why isn’t New Zealand?
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1News: Bloomfield’s sobering warning: Hundreds of healthcare workers would have died without lockdown
RNZ: Winston Peters targets lack of shared financial advice over Covid-19 lockdowns
Ananish Chaudhuri (Herald): Beware of being damned with faint praise
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Katie Scotcher (RNZ): The Outliers: How the smaller parties vying for Parliament would handle Covid-19
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Susan Strongman (RNZ): Covid cluster confusion: What you need to know
Rawiri Taonui (Waatea News): MIQ source of Maori-Pacific OutBreak & Next Wave 14 September 2020
Sally Murphy (RNZ): Some Auckland rest homes allowing visitors, with restrictions
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): Mongrel Mob funeral is mocking all of us
Melanie Earley (Stuff): ‘Significant number’ of gang members at tangi despite Covid-19 rules
Herald: Gang members flout gathering limits at tangi for Mobster
Sally Murphy (RNZ): Some Auckland rest homes allowing visitors, with restrictions
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): NZ’s $10m punt on local Covid-19 vaccine science
Border exemptions, Bledisloe, quarantine
Victor Waters (1News): Ardern acknowleges ‘bespoke’ isolation arrangement for Wallabies ahead of Bledisloe clash
Crystal Wu (Newshub): Bledisloe Cup test to be held in New Zealand day after the election
RNZ: Bledisloe Cup: Wallabies can train together in quarantine in NZ – Jacinda Ardern
Zane Small (Newshub): Grant Robertson shakes head in disapproval as ACT’s Brooke van Velden blasts Jacinda Ardern over border promises
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Sweeping view from an isolation hotel
Cannabis and Euthanasia referendums
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Cannabis referendum: Jacinda Ardern reveals why she won’t publicly take a side
Catherine Marks and Colin Gavaghan (Stuff): Euthanasia referendum: There is no ‘slippery slope’ to the End of Life Choice Act, say senior legal professionals
Environment
Eloise Gibson (Stuff): Companies now have to disclose their climate risk. Will politicians disclose their policies?
Anna Whyte (1News): Government proposes forcing NZ’s top 200 businesses to report on their impact on the climate
RNZ: Mandatory climate-related financial disclosure proposed
Henry Cooke and Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Financial sector will have to report on climate change risk in world-first move
Charlotte Graham-Mclay (Guardian): New Zealand minister calls for finance sector to disclose climate crisis risks in world first
1News: Eels, whitebait among NZ freshwater species most threatened by climate change – NIWA study
No Right Turn: Climate Change: Carbon prices must rise
Eric Crampton (Newsroom): A pop quiz on climate
Yvonne O’Hara (ODT): Session on freshwater
Brianna Stewart (Stuff): Wellington sending more waste to landfill, not less
Extractive industries
Robin Martin (RNZ): Industry insider sounds warning over risk of potential Maari oil field sale
Chloe Ranford (RNZ): Victory for mining company in quarry battle with Marlborough residents
Housing
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Either fix the home-ownership crisis or get rid of EQC, you can’t have both
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Rent increases should be tied to inflation, tenants’ rights group says
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern’s message to landlords considering increasing rents
Georgina Campbell (Herald): New campaign draws battle lines over Wellington’s heritage buildings
Damian George (Stuff): Wellington housing development remains on hold with no funding yet available
David Hargreaves (Interest): Attempting to make sense of recent developments in our never-dull housing market
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Landlord group claims property investors ‘treated as scapegoats for years’
Local government
Harry Lock (RNZ): Councils call for more influence over housing, climate change policies
Harry Lock (RNZ): Proposal to turn Shelly Bay into national heritage park
Tom Hunt (Dominion Post): Rooster breeding and crim-tackling: The curious talents of Wellington councillors
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Petition to scrap first-past-the-post
Andrew Ashton (Gisborne Herald): Shane Jones pledges $45 million to East Coast port idea rejected by council
Waatea News: Huhu grub diet would deny coast $45m future
Nikki Preston (Herald): Hamilton City Councillors fail to score 100 per cent attendance
Todd Niall (Stuff): Watercare boss says political focus on his $775k salary triggered resignation
RNZ: Watercare boss says focus on salary contributed to resignation
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): Hawke’s Bay community says mountain bike park plan ‘disastrously bad idea’
Marcus Anselm (RNZ): Masterton District Council set to approve ‘overdue’ name change
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): Cost ‘blow-out’ for Hastings’ Municipal Building means $5.5m extra for ratepayers
Education
Danielle Clent and Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Auckland University students ‘appalled’ classes will resume on campus
Kirsty Wynn and Jake McKee Cagney (Herald): University students want masks and distancing before return to lectures
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Students impacted by lockdown can return to school for Year 14
ODT: University stands by its equity measures
Grant Miller (ODT): Medicine pathways face legal challenge
Martin van Beynen (Stuff): Otago Uni will fight legal challenge to its med school special entry scheme
John Weekes (Stuff): Massey University silent on links to alleged human rights abuses in China
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Bid to retain work visa option for students stuck overseas
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Payment for past prejudice: Te Wānanga o Raukawa to get $8m state boost
Dilworth School
Charlotte Cook (RNZ): Old boy claims Dilworth School knew of continued abuse
RNZ: Dilworth investigation: Another arrest in relation to sexual offending claims
1News: Charges laid against another man over alleged sexual abuse at Auckland’s Dilworth School
Health
1News: Primary health care nurses, medical staff to stop work for two hours over pay dispute
Cherie Sivignon (Nelson Mail): MP calls for freeze on changes at community mental health service
Te reo Māori
Aaron Smale (Newsroom): Stop colonising the Māori language
Sharnae Hope (Stuff): More non-Maori, fewer Maori learning te reo in recent years at Te Wananga O Aotearoa
Leigh-Marama McLachlan (Guardian): I have lost much of my childhood fluency in te reo Māori – we must fight for its survival
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Record for biggest te reo Māori celebration yet
Place names
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): John Tamihere concedes changing New Zealand to Aotearoa ‘might not’ happen by 2026 but ‘our aspirations to achieve it will never stop’
Julia de Bres (Stuff): Changing place names: what do we lose, but what do we gain
Jody O’Callaghan (Stuff): Should Christchurch be renamed Ōtautahi
Chinese intelligence list
Anne-Marie Brady (Herald): How China’s ruling party secretly builds ties around the globe (paywalled)
Matt Nippert (Herald): Warning as Kiwis ‘targeted on a grand scale’ by Chinese big data firm
Thomas Manch (Stuff): China intelligence firm’s ‘crude’ database capturing Kiwis likely aimed at projecting Beijing’s power
Thomas Manch and Sophie Cornish (Stuff): New Zealand politicians, diplomats, judges, and fraudsters found on massive Chinese intelligence database
Matt Nippert (Herald): Jacinda Ardern and John Key’s families caught up in Chinese social media dragnet (paywalled)
RNZ: NZ academic on Chinese intelligence list with 793 other New Zealanders
Tiwai Point
Richard Harman: Parker hints at Tiwai Point survival
Laura Smith (ODT): Most promising industry no substitute for smelter: Parker
Media
Claudette Hauiti (Waatea News): Pākehā media playing ‘Gotcha’
Herald: Broadcasting complaint upheld against Mike Hosking
Other
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Major report reveals $75 billion infrastructure deficit, warns of recession risks
Dileepa Fonseka (Newsroom): The immigration toss-up
Brian Fallow (Interest): The US election – a geopolitical risk being underplayed
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): Collins says govt dropped ball on UK FTA; Parker refutes claim
Juliet Speedy (Newshub): Christchurch lines company Orion and insurer IAG reach settlement over 2017 Port Hill Fires
George Heagney (Stuff): Iwi feels betrayed over location of new KiwiRail freight centre
Michael Hayward (Stuff): Film studios easier to set up after Crown uses quake recovery powers to change rules
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Interest-free credit cards: Not as unlikely as you might think
Phil Pennington (RNZ): ‘Serious concerns’ raised about safety of Pūhoi-Ōkahu highway north of Auckland
Deena Coster (Stuff): New Plymouth mayor slams lack of progress on ‘diabolical’ highway
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Mosque shooter: Transport to court cost almost $40,000
RNZ: Timaru’s Theatre Royal to get multimillion dollar upgrade
RNZ: Haul of contraband found being smuggled into Rimutaka Prison
Juha Saarinen (Herald): Social media giants: Is it too late to rein them in? (paywalled)
RNZ: Air NZ sells 70,000 seats in six hours after rules relaxed
1News: Epineha Ratapu, one of the last members of the Māori Battalion, farewelled in Tokomaru Bay
