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
National
Simon Wilson (Herald): Election diary: The real reason Judith Collins went to church (paywalled)
Ben Thomas (Spinoff): Keen to see Judith Collins jettisoned? Careful what you wish for
Thomas Manch (Stuff): A terrible day on the campaign trail for Judith Collins
RNZ: Party leaders reject accusations of planted supporters
1News: National’s staged walkabout in Auckland ‘cheeky and clumsy’ says 1 News political reporter
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): Judith Collins walks into a nightmare on Ponsonby Road
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): A low point on Ponsonby Rd
Ben McKay (AAP): Judith Collins faces indignity of National losing jellybean election poll during Auckland walk through
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Judith Collins fends off claims National planted supporters to bolster party’s popularity
Ben Uffindell (The Civilian): National Party scrambles to remove hundreds of supporters pre-planted over a week in advance
Amelia Wade (Herald): Should have gone to Specsavers – Judith Collins turned away from Auckland optometrist
Amelia Wade (Herald): Judith Collins determined to remain leader if National doesn’t win
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): National can’t afford any ill-discipline
Thomas Manch (Stuff): An ‘energised’ Judith Collins wants no distractions from her agitating MPs
Zane Small (Newshub): Judith Collins responds to Paula Bennett’s outburst: ‘I’m not worried about people finishing in a week or so’
RNZ: ‘Incredibly poor form’: Judith Collins critiqued after on-air announcement
RNZ: Judith Collins on border closures, Samoa and ‘policy on the hoof’
1News: Labour supporters were ‘derisory’, ‘disrespectful’ to Samoa in last night’s debate – Judith Collins
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Judith Collins says John Key and Bill English also made up policy without telling the rest of the party
1News: Judith Collins denies division in National Party, says matter of leaked email ‘dealt with’
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): I saw you praying in the chapel
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Judith Collins blames ‘the left’ for criticism of church photo
Zane Small (Newshub): How National’s proposed tax cuts compare to Australia’s
1News: National’s finance spokesperson points to Australia’s tax cuts as way forward for NZ
Jackson Thomas (Stuff): National mistakenly features ‘firm’ Labour supporter on pamphlet
Labour
David Williams (Newsroom): Does Labour really cut it on climate?
Derek Cheng (Herald): Greens say Labour’s climate policy not good enough
Derek Cheng (Herald): Climate change battle lines sharpen as Jacinda Ardern campaign hits Dunedin (paywalled)
James Fyfe and Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Labour unveils climate change policy, promises funding for farmers, decarbonised bus fleet
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Labour promises to make public buses emissions-free by 2035
Jamie Morton (Herald): Labour pledges to decarbonise public bus fleet by 2035
Charlotte Graham-McLay (Guardian): Ardern hails zero-emissions buses in Labour election pledge on climate
RNZ: Labour aims to decarbonise New Zealand’s bus fleets
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Downpour underlines policy points
Blair Jackson (Stuff): Students brave rain in droves to swarm Jacinda Ardern
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Students show love for PM in Dunedin
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Clarke Gayford shares photo of the pillowcase helping him not miss Jacinda Ardern ‘too much’ while she’s on campaign trail
Election
Charlotte Cook (RNZ): Electoral Commission fronts up after early voting errors
Herald: Voters referred to police for allegedly flouting rules
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Early votes pass entire 2011 advanced vote in just four days
Grant Duncan (The Conversation): The rise of ACT in 2020 highlights tensions between the party’s libertarian and populist traditions
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Lyttelton fan mob says debates don’t matter (paywalled)
James Nokise (Guardian): The New Zealand election, like watching a political fight through the Calm app
Richard Harman (Politik): Coming to the aid of the party
Keith Ng (Herald): Test your vote against policy choices in our interactive
Glen McConnell (Stuff): If you’re just tuning in now, here’s a guide to not making dumb decisions at the voting booth
David Cormack (Herald): Sometimes strength can be a weakness (paywalled)
Mike Hosking (Herald): This race is not over yet (paywalled)
Gordon Campbell: On last night’s debate, and beyond
Eugene Bingham and Adam Dudding (Stuff): Tick. Tick podcast: Behind the scenes of the moments that mattered at The Press Leaders Debate
Cas Carter (Stuff): Love them or loathe them, the leaders debates are here to stay
Sam Hurley (Herald): New Conservative fails in High Court to argue for TVNZ debate inclusion
Anneke Smith (RNZ): New Conservatives fail in bid to feature in TVNZ debate
Newshub: The New Conservative Party’s fight for inclusion in TVNZ multi-party debate dismissed
Stuff: Grant Robertson and Paul Goldsmith have plenty to prove in Stuff Finance Debate
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Ardern’s closing debate comments turned into ads
Justin Latif (Spinoff): Say a little prayer: What impact will faith have on the 2020 election?
Priscilla Dickinson (Newshub): Me and My Money: Geoff Simmons
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Jami-Lee Ross defies ad ruling as complaints surge
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Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): MPs boost Tāmati Coffey for ‘scrap’ in Waiariki seat
Simon Wilson (Herald): Why Chloe Swarbrick in Auckland Central? (paywalled)
Helen White (Herald): The voters will decide but I am staying put (paywalled)
The Hui: Watch: Te Tai Hauāuru contenders face off in The Hui debate
The Hui: NZ Election 2020: Te Tai Hauāuru contenders to face off in The Hui debate
Mandy Te (Stuff): New Labour candidate fighting to keep Mana red
1News: Labour not backing down in Rangitata despite Vote Compass results showing it’s NZ’s most conservative seat
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Stuff: Tova O’Brien, Patrick Gower and Duncan Garner prepare for election night 2020
Sarah Nealon (Stuff): Hilary Barry and John Campbell team up for election night coverage
Māori TV-Curia Research Te Tai Tonga poll, Te Tai Tonga candidate debate
Māori TV: Who do the numbers side with? – Te Tai Tonga poll results
Māori TV: Greens coalition favourite in Te Tai Tonga
Māori TV: Te Tai Tonga voters back euthanasia in poll
Māori TV: Another Māori electorate wants cannabis legalised
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Poll results released for the race in the southern Māori electorate
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Māori TV: Te Tai Tonga candidates critique – panelist reaction
Māori TV: Rino Tirikatene defends Te Tai Tonga in tonight’s debate
Voting age
Stuff: Judge knocks back campaign to lower the voting age to 16
RNZ: Challenge to minimum voting age fails in High Court
NZ First
RNZ: NZ First policy proposes to prioritise victims, change sentence terms for murderers
Joel Maxwell and John Weekes (Stuff): NZ First promises coward-punch law, 1000 new police officers
Jason Walls (Herald): Winston Peters wants ‘cowards’ who throw sucker punches locked up
Newstalk ZB: Winston Peters wants ‘cowards’ who throw sucker punches locked up
1News: NZ First pledges introduction of Coward Punch law ahead of October 17 election
Newstalk ZB: Virtual Town Hall – NZ First Leader Winston Peters live in studio
ODT Editorial: The warhorse’s last stand?
Re: Church and State: Winston Peters on how fish heads are the secret to youthful skin
Greens
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Greens follow ACT, National and Labour’s call for Pharmac review
John Lewis (ODT): Greens’ plans will go ‘further and faster’
Māori Party
1News: Māori Party promise $100m for legal aid service, want overhaul of ‘racist’ justice system
RNZ: Māori Party pledges overhaul of ‘broken’ justice system
Cannabis referendum
Newshub: Experts discuss the pros and cons of legalisation in cannabis debate
Scott Palmer (Newshub): New Zealand’s former leaders Helen Clark, Paula Bennett open up about cannabis use
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Helen Clark clashes with community worker over tinnie houses in south Auckland
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Dan Satherley (Newshub): Poll shows who’ll be responsible if the cannabis referendum fails
Ross Bell (Herald): Why I believe Jacinda Ardern is a ‘yes’ voter on cannabis (paywalled)
Euthanasia referendum
Alex Braae (Spinoff): Anti-euthanasia flyers in EasyVote packs: new complaints emerge
Kevin Campbell (Stuff): Referendum not about euthanasia, but a specific piece of legislation
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Euthanasia advocate says referendum about giving people choice in emotional interview
Carmen Hall (Herald): I watched my dad and sister slowly die. Here’s how I will vote (paywalled)
Coronavirus
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Govt was warned against closing Auckland testing sites as Covid spread undetected, documents show (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Ardern overreached by rejecting border failure
Gavin Evans (BusinessDesk): NZ’s covid response – good, not great (paywalled)
Herald: Ashley Bloomfield opens up on how he handles the stress of managing a pandemic
Lydia Lewis and Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Auckland joins the rest of New Zealand in coronavirus alert level 1, but expert warns serious risks will remain
Wage subsidy, corruption
John Anthony (Stuff): Accounting professor singles out NZX companies which ‘morally’ shouldn’t have taken wage subsidy
Harry Lock (RNZ):‘Devastating for workers’: 6000 complaints filed against bosses
Robyn Walker and Blake Hawes (Stuff): Time for wage subsidy recipients to make sure they’ve used it correctly
Dileepa Fonseka (Newsroom): The Covid corruption risks
Economy
Alan Bollard (Listener): Into the deep – where to from here for NZ’s economy? (paywalled)
Tim Hazledine (BusinessDesk): The deadweight of white collar drones (paywalled)
Provincial Growth Fund
Zane Small (Newshub): Shane Jones fends off ‘tawdry’ outrage over $100m PGF boost for marae close to election
Newstalk ZB: Labour and National at odds over Provincial Growth Fund
Denise Piper (Stuff): ACT, NZ First, in slanging match over Provincial Growth Fund
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Marae funding announcement ‘outrageous’
Health and disability
Ian Powell (Democracy Project): DHB ‘bailouts’ no longer the exception
Cecile Meier (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern suggests Govt cash will get new Christchurch hospital wards open. DHB says otherwise
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Dentists, health leaders frustrated over New Zealand’s fluoridation failure
Dita De Boni (NBR): Nothing ‘certain’ about getting an ambulance in New Zealand (paywalled)
Alex Perrottet (RNZ): Checkpoint: Palliative care can’t survive on ‘cakes and op-shops’
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): NZ Nurses Organisation ‘disappointed’ Jacinda Ardern, Judith Collins didn’t know nurse’s starting salary
Isaac Davison (Herald): Dame Rosie Horton ‘heartbroken’ at closure of Auckland disability facility (paywalled)
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Claim home care being cut arbitrarily
Education
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Ministry of Education rejects scathing New Zealand Initiative schooling report
Newstalk ZB: NZPF: Report criticising child-led teaching approach is wrong
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Back to testing Three Rs in schools?
Jamie Morton (Herald): Massey science cuts: National MP wants Govt to step in
George Heagney (Stuff): Science staff on the chopping block in Massey restructure
Giselle Byrnes (Spinoff): We know there is structural racism in our universities. So how should they change?
Local government
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Auckland, stand by to be ‘fixed’ again
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Shelly Bay: From firm stances at election time to an um and a hum
Lois Williams (RNZ): Freshwater reform concerns: Govt farm funding ‘nowhere near enough’
Felix Desmarais (RNZ): Rotorua’s recycling travels 150km daily, no data on emissions
Sally Murphy (RNZ): $12m rescue buy-up for Christchurch Town Hall company
Charlotte Jones (RNZ): Residents plead for more time as redesign of flood-hit area begins
Environment and conservation
Mike Treen (Daily Blog): There is no alternative – We need a Green New Deal Now
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Southland’s water quality largely unchanged in 10 years, Environment Southland says
Tom Kay and Marnie Prickett (Stuff): Don’t unite in anger – unite to keep decades-old promises
Josephine Franks (Stuff): School climate strikers call last-minute Auckland action on day before election
Michael Daly (Stuff): Huge electricity generation farm could be viable in Cook Strait – if costs come down
Richard Davison (ODT): Yellow-eyed penguin numbers plummet
Housing
Andy Fyers (BusinessDesk): The Chart – election edition: Not enough houses
Terry Baucher (Interest): How our politicians could stop kicking the housing tax can down the road
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Megan Woods: ‘We are not going to lose money on housing’
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): Checkpoint: A fight for housing help while caring for dying mother-in-law
Daniel Dunkley (Stuff): An economy built on rising house prices: Is property our path to recovery
Harry Lock (RNZ): Land on old Wellington prison site ‘too sacred’ for housing – Mau Whenua
Primary industries, Lake Ōhau fire
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Forest company fined and council labelled ‘disgraceful’, but innocent farm still paying for clean-up
RNZ: Lake Ōhau blaze: Farmed areas are very flammable – professor
Steven Walton (Stuff): Planting more natives could help reduce fire risk as NZ’s wildfires get bigger
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Farmers reject conservation minister’s ‘cheap shot’ over Lake Ōhau blaze
RNZ: Growers hopeful for government support to address labour shortage
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): New Zealand sheep and beef farms close to being carbon neutral new study shows
Transport
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Call to can Let’s Get Wellington Moving and start again
Todd Niall (Stuff): Automobile Association wants debate about congestion charging resume
Chid welfare
Māni Dunlop (RNZ): Assistant Māori Commissioner for Children appointed for first time
Herald: Glenis Philip-Barbara is NZ’s first Assistant Māori Commissioner for Children
Duncan Garner (Newstalk ZB): We should demand next Oranga Tamariki head be Māori
Defence
RNZ: Expert panel set up for Defence Force review
Jonathan Mitchell (RNZ): Twenty unused light armoured vehicles remain in NZDF storage
Other
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Legal reform advocates question why lawyers with convictions can continue to practise law
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): ‘$150,000 should be enough’: Does Biden’s definition of wealth stack up in NZ?
Nona Pelletier (RNZ): NZ, Australia consumer protection laws diverge – report
Chris Keall (Herald): Facebook doesn’t front with NZ financials, academic calls for change (paywalled)
RNZ: Pacific will continue to say no to nuclear weapons, UN told
Herald: New Zealand among 39 nations to criticise China over Hong Kong, human rights
Brent Edwards (NBR): NZ Super Fund considers climate change a market and policy failure (paywalled)
Kirsty Johnston (Stuff): ‘We’ve failed’: NZ women’s groups give scathing update to United Nations on gender-based violence
RNZ: Checkpoint: ‘These people are voiceless, we’re here to be a voice’ – ex-Gloriavale member urges inquiry
Stuff Editorial: History is forever lost in the national book cull
