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
1News Colmar Brunton poll
1News: 1 News Colmar Brunton poll: With time running out, National fails to close gap on Labour
1News: Greens down in latest 1 NEWS Colmar Brunton poll, NZ First sees small rise
1News: Analysis: As election looms, National needs to ‘give everything they have’ to close gap on Labour
Audrey Young (Herald): Some very unusual results in TVNZ Colmar Brunton poll (paywalled)
Luke Malpass (Stuff): New poll shows ACT the big winner as Labour still heads towards majority
Herald: Labour, Act steady, National, Greens dip
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Labour still well ahead in latest poll, but would need Green Party to govern
RNZ: Labour steady, National down in latest poll
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): ACT, Greens in race for third place
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Labour-led govt still most likely – latest poll (paywalled)
TVNZ Multi-Party Leaders Debate, minor parties
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Minor parties positioned to pounce in campaign’s final days
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Minor parties’ debate becomes a rushed, uninformative melee
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Pot shots and policy statements in second televised minor party debate
Anna Whyte (1News): TVNZ Multi-Party Debate: Fast-paced jabs over Covid, housing and dependence on China
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): The best moments from TVNZ’s multi-party leaders debate
Martin Bradbury (Daily Blog): TVNZ Multi-Party Debate – Winners and Losers
1News: Recap: Minor party leaders go head-to-head on the Covid-19 vaccine, housing, economy in TVNZ’s Multi-Party Debate
1News: ‘Must have got the silver bullet from the silver fox’ – David Seymour accused of swiping line from Winston Peters
1News:‘I think this is catastrophically bad’ – NZ’s dependence on China hot topic during debate
1News: James Shaw tells Jami-Lee Ross ‘you can’t believe everything you read on the Internet’ in heated Covid-19 clash
1News: John Tamihere wants New Zealand to become a republic once the Queen dies
Herald: Minor parties land jabs on their big night
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Newstalk ZB: Mike Hosking Leaders Breakfast: David Seymour
1News: James Shaw tells John Campbell the Greens will be returned to power ‘in 10 days’ time’
Toby Morris (Spinoff): The Side Eye: How to draw Marama Davidson and James Shaw
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Winston Peters’ good-humoured Waiheke jaunt, amid Serious Fraud Office revelations
Claire Trevett (Herald): NZ First leader Winston Peters’ search for a ‘surge’ of votes on Waiheke Island
Nicholas Jones (Herald): NZ First leader Winston Peters’ $100 bet with Mike Hosking over support ‘surge’
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Will the New Conservatives defy the polls?
Herald: Taupō New Conservative candidate Jan-Marie Quinn admits baby fraud conviction
Māori TV Curia Research Te Tai Tokerau Poll
Māori TV: A third of the North undecided – Te Tai Tokerau poll results
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Labour deputy leader Kelvin Davis well ahead in northern Māori electorate Te Tai Tokerau
RNZ: Poll shows scarce support for Billy Te Kahika
Election
Tim Watkin (RNZ): Collins & Peters on thin ice as Ardern finds her feet
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): National’s Little Helpers Have A Cunning Plan
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): The polls are getting out of control
Richard Harman (Politik): Fighting for political relevancy
Newstalk ZB: Is MMP on the way out? Trends show we could return to two-party system
Brent Edwards (NBR): Failed tactics in the Covid election (paywalled)
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Advance NZ election advertisement ruled ‘unfounded’ and ‘socially irresponsible’ but Party won’t stop using it
1News: Inspirational student leader urges politicians to move past ‘token’ responses to ‘real, tangible solutions’
Hamish McNicol and Brent Edwards (NBR): Election 2020: ‘terrible’ tax, fiscal drag and capital gains (paywalled)
Leonie Hayden (Spinoff): Te ao Māori policies in two minutes
Reweti Kohere (NBR): Election 2020: How much you say? (paywalled)
George Driver (AAP): Fact check: Has NZ spent more on Corrections in two years than on all Treaty of Waitangi settlements?
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Teenagers Luke Wijohn, William Wood on why they’re standing for Parliament
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): NZ’s best online tool to help you cast an informed vote just got even better
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Peter Dunne (Interest): Underwhelmed and undecided little more than a week out from the election
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Nearly a fifth of likely voters have already voted as early voting booms
Nick Truebridge (RNZ): Checkpoint: We can vote now, so why no election advertising on the polling day?
Stuff Editorial: What does early voting do to electoral traditions?
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): What to do if your voting pack has not arrived
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Simon Wilson (Herald): Election diary – Seymour and Swarbrick on a telling night in Parnell (paywalled)
Nikki Mandow (Newsroom): Political campaigning: what a drag
Alex Braae (Spinoff): What happens to a West Coast without tourists?
Matthew Tso (Dominion Post): Remutaka – where they like their MPs red and well-connected
Labour
Claire Trevett (Herald): On the road with Labour leader Jacinda Ardern (paywalled)
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): Playing your support partner hand
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Ginny Andersen tells voters she’s been cleared by Commission, but Labour hasn’t
1News: Ardern acknowledges Labour asks supporters to show up for campaign walkabouts
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern not committing to more Māori in Cabinet
Jason Walls (Herald): Clarke Gayford joins Jacinda Ardern for Labour’s Gisborne campaign
National
Josie Pagani (Herald): Campaigns signal party preparations – and the Nats just aren’t there
Charlotte Graham-McLay (Guardian): New Zealand National party leader yearns for the star treatment
Craig McCullough (RNZ): Collins puts brave face on a difficult week
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Lack of sympathy from National MPs for Judith Collins over perceived disloyalty
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): The walkabout, the selfies and the cheese roll snub
Derek Cheng (Herald): Judith Collins tries for a fresh start in Taieri
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Sir John Key showers Judith Collins with praise, says she’s campaigning ‘really really well’
Caitlin Ellis (Newshub): Ponsonby store reveals why Judith Collins was refused entry
Media
Karl du Fresne: It’s not just the Labour Party that Collins is fighting
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The 2020 Election Public Broadcasting Debate – NZ is going nowhere fast
Gavin Ellis: Local Democracy Reporting Review
Cannabis referendum
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Cannabis referendum: Health experts lay out the case for voting ‘yes’
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Cannabis – The conservative vote is yes (paywalled)
Anna Rawhiti-Connell (Newsroom): Vote for those with a lot to lose
Ben Strang (RNZ): Grey Power accused of undemocratic stance on cannabis debate
Euthanasia referendum
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Terminally ill NZers on the End of Life Choice Act
Dominic Godfrey (RNZ: Euthanasia referendum divides Pacific community along generational lines
Wage subsidy, business
Aimee Shaw (Herald): The Warehouse Group posts profit – but only because of the wage subsidy
Crystal Wu (Newshub): The Warehouse Group announces $44.5m profit after receiving wage subsidy
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): The Warehouse Group posts $44.5m profit after $67.7m wage subsidy
RNZ: The Warehouse makes a profit, with help from govt subsidy
David Hargreaves (Interest): $67.8 mln wage subsidy windfall saves The Warehouse from a loss
Dan Brunskill (BusinessDesk): Wage subsidy keeps the Warehouse out of the red (paywalled)
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): Housing is hot – so why aren’t realtors repaying the wage subsidy?
John Anthony (Stuff): Shareholder donates Briscoe Group’s ‘wage-subsidised dividend’ to charity, calls for others to do the same
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Employers and Manufacturers Association blasted for ‘gross’, ‘outdated’ employment presentation
Esther Taunton (Stuff): EMA under fire over ‘gross’ employment presentation
RNZ: ‘Remarkable’ return of business confidence – ANZ
Economy
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): The full guide to every fiscal hole, gap and typo of the campaign
Toby Moore and Max Harris (Newsroom): Recovering from our Muldoon-shaped hangover
Michael Reddell: Debating the economy
Madison Reidy (Newshub): Reserve Bank says house prices falling would be ‘worst-case scenario’ for NZ’s economy
Gyles Beckford (RNZ): Reserve Bank considers lowering cost of borrowing
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): RBNZ unveils what its ‘Funding for Lending Programme’ could look like
Brent Edwards (NBR): RBNZ ponders next moves on unconventional monetary policy (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Billions in cheap finance for businesses and homebuyers
Housing
Dan Satherley (Newshub): TOP’s plan to hit the property investors
Ben Leahy (Herald): Herne Bay homes make almost seven times more money in one year than average city worker
Robin Martin (RNZ): Keen interest in Marfell KiwiBuild homes, but locals remain sceptical
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Mouldy, damp flats making Wellingtonians sick, miserable and unproductive
Sophie Cornish (Stuff): Funding boost to help get homeless youth as young as 11 off Wellington streets
NZ First Foundation case
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Duo accused in NZ First Foundation scandal keep identities a secret, for now
Herald: New Zealand First Foundation scandal: Charged pair alleged to have deposited $740,000
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Pair charged after SFO’s investigation accused of using ‘fraudulent device’
1News: Winston Peters heads for Waiheke as foundation donation scandal hits courtroom
Coronavirus, travel bubble
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): New Zealand tops world for response to coronavirus market crisis management – Bloomberg survey
Dan Satherley (Newshub): US doctor who moved here to avoid COVID-19 full of praise for NZ’s response
1News: Nearly 170 health professionals contracted Covid-19 during first outbreak – report
Rachel Thomas (RNZ): Privacy, security concerns delay CovidCard trials
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Report shows CovidCard struggled in cafes, parties
RNZ: State borders in Australia complicate trans-Tasman bubble – Hipkins
Health
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Dentists plead for fluoridation and pain relief service as infections increase
ODT: Lack of dental service funds ‘could lead to deaths’
Stuff: ACC accused of causing harm to long-term claimant
Joanne Carroll (Stuff): Refusal to lower bowel screening age for Māori labelled ‘institutional racism’
RNZ: Pharmac appoints Māori chief advisor role
Education
John Gerritsen (RNZ): What’s changed for schools and ECE under Labour-New Zealand First?
Claire Amos (Spinoff): A ‘rot at the core of schooling’? The new report that gets education in NZ wrong
Laura Wiltshire and Lee Kenny (Stuff): The dark side of university: 28 per cent of students experience sexual assault, Otago study find
Emma Russell (Herald): Sexual assault among university students in New Zealand a ‘really concerning’
Employment
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Countdown workers, FIRST union members celebrate almost $100 extra a week under new rates
Catherine Harris (Stuff): Supermarket workers get $2-an-hour pay rise
Catherine Harris (Stuff): Tauranga man charged with migrant worker exploitation in the kiwifruit industry
Reuters: Criticism neither Labour nor National addressing women’s unemployment issues
Local government
Tom Hunt (Dominion Post): Māori representation on Wellington council a step closer
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington City Council moves on mana whenua voting rights
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Island Bay cycleway: Wellington City Council’s biggest embarrassment
Environment
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Murky waters in council enforcement
Jamie Morton (Herald): Climate: La Nina spells another dire summer for New Zealand’s melting glaciers
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): Why telling people how to save the planet may backfire
Primary and extractive industries
John McKenzie (1News): Farmers bring tractors to Southland streets to protest new rules around freshwater and winter grazing
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Tractors take to Gore streets as farmers protest freshwater rules
Phil Pennington (RNZ): New freshwater protection rules being heckled from all sides
Gavin Evans (BusinessDesk): ‘Daft’ wetlands regulation puts quarries at risk (paywalled)
Gavin Evans (BusinessDesk): Mining conference cancelled on security concern (paywalled)
Foreign affairs and trade
Henry Cooke (Stuff): New Zealand joins 38 countries in statement criticising China
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Exposure to China puts tourism, seafood and kiwifruit sectors at risk: report
RNZ: Economist warns of risk to exporters if trade relationship China changes
Other
Kate Prickett (The Conversation): Covid-19 is predicted to make child poverty worse. Should NZ’s next government make temporary safety nets permanent
Yvette McCullough (RNZ): Correcting Corrections: Are prison reforms repairing Māori inequities?
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Sexual assault victim says youth politics ‘all talk, no support’
RNZ: The Detail: Artists, arts grants, and Creative New Zealand
1News: AA says motorists are ‘flying blind’ about potential traffic congestion charge in main centres
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): RMO bypassed for plans for major coastal walking, cycling link
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): New Zealand to get its first pacifist memorial
RNZ: Energy sector grapples with fallout from low demand
