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
Greens and Labour coalition deal
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Green deal radically strengthens Ardern while gagging Shaw and Davidson (paywalled)
Tracy Watkins (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern’s agreement with Greens shows her iron fist
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Labour gets to be magnanimous, the Greens get a good deal
Herald: Editorial: Jacinda Ardern shows deft touch with governing deal (paywalled)
Audrey Young (Herald): Greens had no grounds to decline generous deal from Labour (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff): The Green Party would find it hard to truly attack Labour under this deal – but it’s not clear if it wants to
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): What the Labour-Greens deal means for the next three years
No Right Turn: A gag order, not a partnership
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Labour-Green deal winners & losers – The sly red fox jumps over the sleepy green log
Andrew Geddis (Spinoff): The Greens are now part of the ‘governing team’, if not the government
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Greens ‘gagged’, ‘lapdogs’ under cooperation agreement with Labour – former MPs
Steven Cowan: The Baubles of office
Rawiri Taonui (Waatea News): Meaningful Labour and Greens Agreement
ODT: Editorial – Co-operative spirit
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Labour and Greens sign ‘win-win’ deal
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Greens hope for power and principle in Labour deal
Lana Andelane and Emma Stanford (Newshub): National ‘irrelevant’ to Parliament as Greens accept a post-election deal – professor
Newstalk ZB: James Shaw on new co-operation deal; Greens won’t ‘green-wash’ Labour
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Labour and Greens formally sign cooperation agreement
Derek Cheng (Herald): Labour-Greens: Jacinda Ardern, Kelvin Davis, James Shaw and Marama Davidson to ink co-operation deal
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern and Greens sign deal agreeing to agree to disagree
Jason Walls (Herald): Key Green Party membership overwhelmingly backs Ardern’s new Green deal
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Labour and Greens make cooperation agreement official
Thomas Coughlan and Henry Cooke (Stuff): Thomas Coughlan and Henry Cooke: Green Party votes to be part of next Government with Labour
Anna Whyte (1News): Greens to join Government after approving Cooperation Agreement with Labour
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): New Zealand Greens accept Ardern’s offer of ‘cooperation agreement’
Jason Walls (Herald): Deal or no deal?: Labour offers the Greens ministerial portfolios
Thomas Coughlan and Henry Cooke (Stuff): Green Party co-leaders get ministerships in deal offered by Labour
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Labour offers Greens two ministers, no parliamentary handcuffs (paywalled)
David Farrar: The Labour/Green deal
RNZ: Greens accept Labour’s offer for ‘cooperation agreement’
Julie Iles (NBR): Greens accept Labour’s deal to form a government
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The Greens humiliatingly swallow dead tofu rats for vacant baubles
Lyn Prentice (The Standard): Less buzz and more cooperative governing
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): New Green MPs: ‘There are expectations of us’
Sela Jane Hopgood (RNZ): NZ Greens Pasifika MP ready for the challenge
Gordon Campbell: On what lessons the Greens should take from the demise of Winston Peters
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): If you are in politics, what’s the point unless you’re in charge?
No Right Turn: Something I hope to be wrong on
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Signed, sealed and delivered
Rukuwai Tipene-Allen (Māori TV): Greens co-leader Marama Davidson says she will continue to stand for Ihumātao
Cannabis referendum results
Chris Trotter (Interest): What a bummer: New Zealand votes ‘no’ to legalised cannabis
Henry Cooke (Stuff): How drug reform advocates just lost the battle for a generation
Claire Trevett (Herald): Jacinda Ardern might be relieved to lose on cannabis referendum (paywalled)
Heather Du Plessis-Allan (Herald): It’s not Jacinda Ardern’s fault that NZ voted against legalising cannabis (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern voted ‘yes’ for both cannabis and euthanasia
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern defends refusal to say how she voted on cannabis until results came out
1News: Ardern rejects notion she didn’t have ‘courage of her convictions’ to reveal her cannabis vote before election
Crystal Wu (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern keeping cannabis referendum vote secret was ‘ethical’ – political analyst
Monique Poirier (Kiwiblog): Why the “yes” campaign wasn’t convincing
Jo Mckenzie-Mclean (Stuff): Did misinformation sway cannabis referendum votes?
Fiona Hutton (Newsroom): Cannabis: ‘lukewarm’ Govt left gap for fake news
Dan Satherley, Delphine Herbert, and Isabella Durant (Newshub): Cannabis: Drug policy experts look for silver linings in referendum defeat
RNZ: Calls for decriminalisation as legal cannabis looks unlikely
Alex Braae (Spinoff): NZ rejects cannabis legalisation in referendum, but glimmer of hope for yes camp
David Farrar: How the cannabis pollsters went
Dan Satherley (Newshub): ‘That plant will find a way to get legalised’ – Patrick Gower on weed referendum
Derek Cheng (Herald): Govt urged to reform cannabis laws despite reeferendum ‘no’ result
Barry Soper (Herald): Small spark of hope remains for cannabis legalisation
Mark Longley (Newshub): Despite what Chloe Swarbrick says the no vote was never about eliminating weed
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Chlöe Swarbrick’s message to cannabis haters after failed referendum: ‘Well done – it still exists’
RNZ: Greens not giving up on ‘yes’ vote yet
Helen Clark (Herald): A no vote won’t deliver a cannabis-free New Zealand
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Could special votes change the cannabis referendum?
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): We’ve made the right call rejecting cannabis
Zane Small (Newshub): Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick swipes at Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for holding back cannabis view
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): What now for the law and police?
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): Recreational cannabis no vote could hurt economic opportunity, entrepreneur says
Nina Hindmarsh (Stuff): Referendum results: ‘devastation’ for cannabis legalisation supporters
No Right Turn: Bugger
Thomas Manch and Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Cannabis legalisation abandoned by Government, Greens won’t concede defeat
RNZ: Māori Council calls for police to address discrimination in cannabis arrests
Francesca Rudkin (Newstalk ZB): Referendum results have massive consequences
Victor Billot (Newsroom): A poem for .. the cannabis vote
Euthanasia referendum results
Jeanne Snelling and Andrew Geddis (The Conversation): Assisted dying will become legal in New Zealand in a year — what has to happen now?
Eva Corlett (RNZ): Doctors prepare to put euthanasia law into action
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): New Zealand votes to legalise euthanasia in referendum
Isaac Davison (Herald): Euthanasia referendum: Bittersweet result for supporters who have lost loved ones
Matt Vickers (Herald): ‘Thank you New Zealand’: Matt Vickers’ emotional tribute after End of Life referendum result
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): David Seymour expects hundreds of Kiwis to choose euthanasia in first year
Hannah Kronast, Isabella Durant, Miriam Harris (Newshub): Euthanasia referendum: Medical experts call for increased support for palliative care
Huhana Hickey (Stuff): Where are the safeguards for Māori and the disabled in end of life law?
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): ‘What a great day to be a Kiwi’ — David Seymour celebrates euthanasia referendum passing
Mandy Te (Stuff): ‘From someone with terminal cancer, thank you’: euthanasia advocate elated at referendum ‘yes’ result
New Labour Government
Richard Harman: “A very strong mandate”
Derek Cheng (Herald) Jacinda Ardern’s new Cabinet: Who’s up or down, in or out? (paywalled)
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Today Jacinda Ardern names her new cabinet. These are the big calls to be made
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): The Government’s dramatic plan to fix planning laws that’s a lot less dramatic than you think
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): So now we have a new government. What’s next? (paywalled)
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Ardern: New government will have strong focus on Covid-19
Rawiri Taonui (Waatea News): Labour and the Māori Caucus
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of the Ardern Gang (paywalled)
Katarina Williams (Stuff): Tackling poverty in Mana: New MP Barbara Edmonds brings her lived experience to bear
Khylee Quince (Stuff): Why the ‘three strikes’ law should be gone by lunchtime under the new government
Zizi Sparks (Herald): Putting a Tauranga lens on Labour’s election promises – what are we in for?
Housing
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Labour caught selling off state homes to tenants after rubbishing National policy
Bernard Hickey (Stuff): Landlords racing to beat the return of loan-to-value restrictions
Rob Stock (Stuff): House vendors seeking to cash in on Covid with 12.7 per cent leap in average ‘asking price’
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): ‘Absolutely fed up’: NZ’s property market will take more than LVRs to fix
Rob Mitchell (Stuff): Skyrocketing rents push people out of NZ’s most expensive city: Porirua
Matthew Tso (Stuff): Council-owned property company gives first-home buyers a fighting chance
Tony Alexander (One roof): Why this astounding turnaround in such a short period of time?
Liz McDonald (Stuff): How will Christchurch’s housing look in 30 years?
Bindi Norwell (One Roof): Is 2020 on track to be a record year for the housing market?
Ben Leahy (OneRoof): New OneRoof data shows how current housing market compares to boom years
Economy and work
Steve Kilgallon (Stuff): Bottle-O boss Grant Simpson steadfastly refuses to speak about migrant exploitation in some of its stores
Liu Chen (RNZ): New migrant group: ‘No exploitation of any kind is tolerated’
Litia Tuiburelevu and Hugo Wagner-Hiliau (E-tangata): ‘Pick your own damn fruit’
Liam Dann (Herald): Unemployment figures to reveal extent of economic damage from Covid-19 (paywalled)
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): Wage subsidy questions raised after more than 10,000 audits
Andy Fyers (BusinessDesk): Waiting for the third wave of unemployment (paywalled)
Brian Gaynor (BusinessDesk): Spending huge to save us all (paywalled)
Steven Joyce (Herald): It’s when, not if, world kicks our assets (paywalled)
Jason Ennor (Stuff): The good (and not so good) changes to NZ employment law
Brian Easton (Pundit): Kindness And Samfundssind
Taxation and wealth
Katrina Shanks (Stuff): What does it mean to be wealthy in New Zealand?
Tim Hazledine (BusinessDesk): It’s too late to tax the rich (paywalled)
Terry Baucher (Interest): The tax tipping point
Catherine Harris (Stuff): Here’s how high-earners might avoid new top tax rate
International relations
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Iran threatens legal action against New Zealand government if SIS raid is ‘proven’
Alexander Gillespie (The Conversation): A Biden presidency might be better for NZ, but the big foreign policy challenges won’t disappear with Trump
Nina Hall (Spinoff): What would a President Joe Biden mean for New Zealand?
Liam Dann (Herald): Why Jacinda Ardern can’t call Donald Trump a creep … even if he is (paywalled)
Peter Griffin (BusinessDesk): Expect no favours at the OECD from ‘local boy’ Chris Liddell (paywalled)
Simon Wilson (Herald): Why I’m afraid – for the US and NZ (paywalled)
Local government
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Council: Has the super city merger brought prosperity or pain?
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Council enters its challenging teenage years – and there’s plenty still to do
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Council super city merger not perfect but ‘better’ than what came before
Phil Goff (Stuff): Auckland’s biggest challenge lies ahead in providing for booming population
Ngarimu Blair (Stuff): More must be done so younger Māori see themselves represented by Auckland leadership
Māori TV: Ruapehu District Council backs Māori Wards
Tom Hunt (Stuff): ‘We needed to sell land to survive’: Wellington iwi bares soul to council
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Taxpayer Union lends support to Dunedin council over unapologetic councillor
Parliament
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Three year terms, 5 per cent threshold, and coat-tailing could all change under electoral law shake-up
Nikki Preston (Herald): Public should decide on four-year term – not the Government: National MP
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Political Roundup – A diverse yet narrower Parliament
Julie Iles (NBR): Fact or Fiction: Does the 5% threshold need to be lower? (paywalled)
Claire Trevett (Herald): Beehive Diaries: National Party’s shrinking pains, the Greens take a leap
Former MPs
Audrey Young (Herald): Winston Peters’ future job prospects – could he be the next ambassador to US? (paywalled)
Zoe Hunter (Herald): Former National deputy leader Paula Bennett tells of her journey from politics to property (paywalled)
Simon Shepherd and Finn Hogan (Newshub): ‘I felt frightened’: Tracey Martin reflects on controversial tenure as Minister for Children
Other
Nikki Mandow (Newsroom): The beauty and unfairness of ACC
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Porirua, Wellington, doctor bending rules to get help for mouthfuls of rotten teeth
Denise Piper (Stuff): Yachties criticise price for New Zealand entry as favouring the rich
John Anthony (Stuff): Government air freight funding needs to continue beyond border opening, airlines say
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): New Zealand ranked the most ‘Islamic country in the world’ in annual index
Merepeka Raukawa-Tait (Stuff): Our Māori babies were failed by the State – who will make it right?
Jason Walls (Herald): ‘With power comes responsibility:’ Govt departments warned over sensitive spending of taxpayers’ cash (paywalled)
Damian Rowe (Stuff): National Park review is now three years overdue
Genaro Oliveira and Brian Tweed (Stuff): Education crucial in overthrowing racism in New Zealand
RNZ: More than 200,000 abusive tweets towards female candidates during elections – Twitter bot
Jehan Casinader (BusinessDesk): Pokie machines: they’ve got to go (paywalled)
Nicholas Agar (Newsroom): Aotearoa needs a truly inclusive Ministry for the Future
Tom Peters (World socialist website): What is behind the crisis in New Zealand’s National Party?
