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 Party
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): “Goodfellas”: The Neoliberal National Party shows its ugly face
Henry Cooke (Stuff): National Party to examine election campaign and candidate selection process in review of devastating election loss
Herald: National Party review of disastrous election result announced
Zane Small and Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Exit polling, campaign staff feedback and social media to be scrutinised in National Party review
Gordon Campbell: National’s weekend of doing wheelies, going nowhere
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): National need to get their act together
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): John Key’s appearance highlights National’s current lack of leadership
RNZ: John Key backs Peter Goodfellow, Judith Collins after National Party AGM
Zane Small (Newshub): Greens co-leader Marama Davidson reacts to National leader Judith Collins’ ‘bizarre’ diversity theory
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): People believe Jacinda Ardern kept them safe – Sir John Key on why he thinks Prime Minister is so well-liked
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): National looks set to return to Māori electorates after two decades
Housing
1News: Ardern defends old tweets from opposition criticising rising house prices – ‘I have not changed my view’
Bernard Hickey: Q&A: Who is to blame for the housing crisis?
RNZ: The Reserve Bank and the housing crisis
Keith Rankin (Scoop): Fixing The 2020 New Zealand House Price Bubble
Michael Daly (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern and John Key weigh in on rising house prices debate
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Building more will stop runaway house prices, not ‘crazy and wacky ideas’ – Sir John Key
Jason Walls (Herald): Associate Housing Minister and Greens co-leader calls for wealth tax to cool the market
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): PM Jacinda Ardern gets prickly over Marama Davidson’s wealth tax comments, says she is ‘concerned’ over house prices
Cameron Bagrie (BusinessDesk): Rising house prices a sign monetary policy is working (paywalled)
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Market frenzy frustrates first-home buyers
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Development of 165 residential dwellings to go through streamlined consenting process
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): RBNZ’s COVID-19 response tilting the playing field against NBDTs
Paul McBeth (BusinessDesk): Govt awaits advice on land-bankers – Ardern (paywalled)
Melissa Nightingale (Herald): Covid 19 coronavirus: The upside of lockdown for Wellington’s homeless
RNZ: Second mental health unit keeps patients longer due to lack of housing
International relations and trade
Chris Trotter (Interest): Foreign policy fail
Stuff: Editorial – Behind China’s don’t-you-dare rhetoric
Thomas Manch (Stuff): China warns New Zealand to ‘refrain from doing bad things that harm friendship’ after Five Eyes criticism of Beijing over Hong Kong
RNZ: Jacinda Ardern not surprised by China’s threat to ‘pluck out eyes’ of critics
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): NZ-China relationship can withstand friction, trade negotiator says (paywalled)
Jason Walls (Herald): US President Joe Biden tells Jacinda Ardern he wants to ‘reinvigorate’ the NZ/US relationship
Newstalk ZB: PM unveils new job-creating fast-tracked projects; congratulates Joe Biden
Anna Whyte (1News): Jacinda Ardern congratulates US President-elect Joe Biden, invites him to NZ
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern speaks to US President-elect Joe Biden about climate change, COVID-19 and trade
Shane Te Pou (Herald): Chris Liddell’s last minute ‘reputation rehab’ is disingenuous (paywalled)
Economy and work
Todd Krieble (Stuff): A chance to create a more equitable economic model
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Big minimum wage boost would give NZ economy chance to reset: Helen Clark Foundation
Richard Harman: Parker gets around the RMA to rev up mattress factory
RNZ: Lack of tourist dollars could leave a $12.9b hole
Chris Keall (Herald): Total eclipse of the Hart: Peter Thiel becomes the richest New Zealander
Stephen England-Hall (Stuff): Business events critical to New Zealand’s recovery
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): McCarten answers Bryce Edward’s challenge & steers Left towards direct class based action
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): NZ losing $577m a year to ‘global tax abuses’, international study estimates
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): How NZ cities will set the tone for global covid recovery (paywalled)
Kate MacNamara (Herald): What Jacinda Ardern misses in hopes of tech rivers of gold (paywalled)
Amal Samaha (Spinoff): The searing report linking popular NZ brands to sexual abuse and slavery
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Cheaper, cleaner power – the political allure of ‘pumped hydro’ (paywalled)
Prisons and justice
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Gassed in their cells, ‘begging’ for food at Auckland Women’s prison
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Law Society considers probe into ‘unlawful’ deal with ex-Pike River coal mine boss Peter Whittall
Steven Walton (Stuff): Law Society considering complaint about ‘unlawful’ deal with Pike River families
Newstalk ZB: David Seymour fights back over Labour’s plan to repeal the three strikes law
Dr Liz Gordon (Daily Blog): Making progress on justice
Oranga Tamariki; adoption
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Oranga Tamariki report: Midwives and support workers detail heartbreak of whānau
Māni Dunlop (RNZ): Oranga Tamariki report: Government must transfer power to Māori – Children’s Commissioner
Melissa Nightingale (Herald): Children’s Commission recommends Government transfer power to Māori to care for at-risk babies
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Inquiry: Turn child protection over to Māori
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Social workers ‘hated’ no matter what – but Children’s Commissioner says give power of Oranga Tamariki ‘to Māori, for Māori’
Jody O’Callaghan (Stuff): Māori babies ‘doubly colonised’ by closed adoption process – researcher
Green Party
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Green Party reshuffle puts Julie Anne Genter and Chlöe Swarbrick in key finance roles
Jason Walls (Herald): Parents, anti-poverty activists, environmentalists’ – Greens unveil new portfolios
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Green Party reveals portfolio reshuffle ahead of official Parliament opening
Zane Small (Newshub): Green Party reshuffle: Chloe Swarbrick, Julie Anne Genter take over finance and revenue as portfolios get dished out to new MPs
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Green Party MP Ricardo Menéndez March blasted for ‘OK, Boomer’ reference
Wellington; Shelly Bay
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Wellington’s best days are ahead of it – if we stop obsessing about the past
Dave Armstrong (Stuff): Now here’s an idea that would really get Wellington moving
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington mayor’s latest Shelly Bay move is a declaration of war on his own council (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Occupation not the solution for Shelly Bay
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Shelly Bay fiasco: Mayor says he was being a good camper
Damian George and Tom Hunt (Stuff): Wellington mayor on tent furore: I did not realise it was a protest
Herald: Wellington mayor Andy Foster helps protestors pitch tents at Shelly Bay development
Charlotte Cook (RNZ): Wellington iwi begins occupation at Shelly Bay
Herald: A ‘determined occupation’: Shelly bay protesters vow to stage ‘peaceful resistance’ until at least March
Local government
Todd Niall (Stuff): It’s time to deliver what was promised to south Auckland
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland Council looks set to hike rates and water bills to plug $1 billion Covid-19 hole (paywalled)
Mike Yardley (Stuff): Council’s creaking water infrastructure a concern
Alice Angeloni (Stuff): Gisborne councillors vote for Māori wards
Chris Marshall (Stuff): Majority on Taupō council vote for Maori wards for next election
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Councillors vote for Māori wards in Gisborne
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Universal water metering in Wellington necessary to avoid drought-like summer conditions, report says
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Wellington mayors split over proposal for water meters in homes across the region
1News: Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt struggling to do his job, independent review finds
RNZ: Sir Tim Shadbolt found increasingly unable to fulfill duties – review
Herald: Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt hits back after report says he is ‘struggling’ in role
David Farrar: A new role needed for Sir Tim
Election and Parliament
Graeme Edgeler (Democracy Project): The Vague promise of a better tomorrow: Why a three-year Parliamentary term is good for New Zealand
RNZ: Support growing for four-year parliamentary term, poll shows
Deane Galbraith (Newsroom): How Billy TK is using the far right
Ethan Griffiths (Herald): Election 2020: Te Tai Hauāuru recount complete
Democracy Project: Video: Victoria University of Wellington Alumni post-election panel discussion
Covid
Katie Todd (RNZ): Healthcare worker shortages at Auckland isolation hotels amid new restrictions
Isaac Davison (Herald): ‘Stateless’: New Zealanders working overseas struggle to return home (paywalled)
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): From quarantine facility to holiday destination: Will hotel reputations suffer from Covid-19 association?
Health
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): Health minister concerned about St John strike
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Report claiming St John in severe ‘financial risk’ shows it has poor money management – union
Herald: Study finds Māori women not screened properly for diabetes during pregnancy
Education
Simon Collins (Herald) Online learning reduces children’s reading enjoyment – study
Cherie Sivignon (Stuff): Government aims to get ahead of school roll growth curve: Hipkins
John Gerritsen (RNZ): ‘The trend is of concern’ – School leavers with no qualifications rises
Other
Susan St John (Daily Blog): 30 years of neoliberalism has failed the poor – so why is Labour continuing it?
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Poverty advocacy group issues scathing response to Labour’s policies for low-income families
David Farrar: Why have media deleted stories on Helen Clark?
Karl du Fresne: Why Guled Mire irritates me
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Immigration not refunding unprocessed visas: ‘Robbery, but it’s legal’
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland light rail: Link from Albany to airport detailed in new report
Herald: Ngāti Toa names key structures on Transmission Gully
RNZ: Pokies see 116% profits increase after Covid-19 lockdown
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Public servants warned to stop being cheap by sharing logins to flout media paywalls
Dolores Janiewski (Newsroom): Removing books an induced amnesia
