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
Ihumātao deal
RNZ: Ihumātao: SOUL marks the beginning of the end
1News: Ihumātao protest leader celebrates land deal with Government, but not sold on housing proposals
Justin Latif (Spinoff): The story behind the fight to save Ihumātao
NZ Herald: Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson denies Ihumātao will spark more deals for private land
RNZ: At Ihumātao after the breakthrough: Relief, exhaustion – but work not over yet
Zane Small (Newshub): Ihumātao deal: Labour accused of ’empowering radicals’ as Grant Robertson celebrates fending off his generation’s Bastion Point
Pattrick Smellie (Business Desk): Ihumātao: far from a done deal (paywalled)
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): Ihumātao sacred site bought by New Zealand government for $30m
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Ihumātao: Deal struck between government and Fletcher Building to buy disputed land
Claire Trevett (Herald): Ihumātao deal done: Government’s $30 million deal to buy the land
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Fletcher must front up over Ihumātao deal
No Right Turn: A good first step
Zane Small (Newshub): Ihumātao deal reached: Government to purchase south Auckland land from Fletcher Building for $30 million
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Government to buy Ihumātao for housing
Julie Iles (NBR): Crown agrees to purchase Ihumatao land for $30m
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): Ihumātao campaigners say they can ‘begin to heal’ after Crown land purchase
David Farrar: Taxpayers fork out $30 million for Ihumātao
Business Desk: Fletcher to sell Ihumātao land to govt for $29.9m (paywalled)
Economy and work
Kate MacNamara (Herald): Was the $14b wage subsidy well-spent? (paywalled)
Herald: Editorial – New Zealanders saved our economy (paywalled)
Brian Fallow (Herald): Covid’s clouds look less gloomy (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): GDP jump of 14 per cent completes NZ’s ‘V’-shaped recovery
Jamie Gray (Herald): NZ economy bounces out of recession with 14% gain in GDP
Gyles Beckford (RNZ): GDP figures show economy rebounds from recession
1News: Economy’s ‘roller coaster ride’ to continue into 2021, expert predicts
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Lockdowns less damaging than feared
Liam Dann (Herald): Top of the world – GDP soars as Kiwis party for their country (paywalled)
Rebecca Howard (Business Desk): Historic yo-yo as scarred economy bounces back (paywalled)
David Farrar: Labour economist who thinks capitalism is a scam appointed to head Productivity Commission
Steven Cowan: Fighting Coronavirus Capitalism
Dita De Boni (NBR): Criticisms follow appointment of new productivity commissioner (paywalled)
Covid, vaccine, and border
Stuff: Editorial – Vaccine deals wrapped in hope and caution
Michael Daly (Stuff): Covid-19: Why New Zealand is waiting to roll out vaccines, when some other countries have already started
Thomas Manch (Stuff): New Zealand to offer free Covid-19 vaccines to everyone from mid-2021
RNZ: Covid-19: Big challenge of vaccinating New Zealand is scale – microbiologist
1News: Michael Baker warns against Covid-19 complacency following vaccine announcement – ‘End is in sight, but it’s not here yet’
The Science Media Centre: ‘There are still many unknowns’: experts on the big NZ vaccine plan
Thomas Manch (Stuff): New Zealand to purchase Covid-19 vaccines for Pacific Island neighbours, including Samoa and Tonga
Anna Whyte (1News): Two new Covid-19 vaccines secured by Government, enough for every New Zealander
Anna Whyte (1News): New Zealand spending $75 million to help Pacific nations access Covid-19 vaccine
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Government secures two new vaccines, enough for every New Zealander to be immunised
Rebecca Howard (Business Desk): NZ has enough covid vaccines for everyone – Ardern (paywalled)
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): Bring on the Pacific bubble
Guardian: Ardern reveals the moment she chose Covid elimination strategy
Luke Henriques-Gomes (Guardian): New Zealanders in Australia hope travel bubble will end months-long wait for quarantine hotel places
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): Ardern unveils New Zealand Covid vaccine deals as economy rebounds
Housing
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): More homeowners seek Govt help to make their mortgage payments
Dan Satherley (Newshub): TOP calls for ‘housing emergency’ declaration as prices skyrocket further out of reach
Mikaela Wilkes (Stuff): TOP to Government: Declare housing emergency now
Newstalk ZB: ANZ: Falling house prices may be needed to solve housing crisis
Mike Yardley (Newstalk ZB): We should embrace ANZ’s move on property investors
Ashley Church (One Roof): Are NZ home-ownership rates really dropping?
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): New ways to use KiwiSaver funds to get Kiwis into homes
1News: National average house asking price reaches record high – Trade Me
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Housing: Asking prices hit all-time high again, but Auckland bucks one trend – Trade Me
Cate Broughton (Stuff): ‘No fixed abode’ a recipe for an early death, study finds
Rob Mitchell (Stuff): Council-owned houses abandoned and sitting empty in Wellington, as redevelopment plans drag on
Herald: $16.5 million in a week: Christchurch property market showing no signs of slowing down
Parliament, and end of year reviews
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Call time on politicians’ four-year quest (paywalled)
Spinoff: Politics in 2020: How to describe the year in one sentence?
Richard Harman: Big sister Jacinda
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern reveals candid snap that ‘really captures 2020’
Jessica Mutch McKay (1News): 2020 political winners and losers
Brent Edwards (NBR): Government still struggling to make progress on key issues Brent Edwards (paywalled)
Deena Coster (Stuff): National looks to future as it comes to terms with loss in New Plymouth
Chris Trotter: The Twelve Days Of (Jacinda’s) Christmas
Liz Gordon (Daily Blog): Can’t bear the gloom? An alternative 2021
Newstalk ZB: ‘Absolute hospital pass’: Judith Collins on a challenging year
Local government
Damian George (Stuff): Ratepayers fork out $354,000 for PR firms following Wellington water woes
Robin Martin (RNZ): New Plymouth faces decade of rates hikes to tackle infrastructure woes
Logan Savory (Stuff): Invercargill City Council confirm external observers
Sally Murphy (RNZ): Serious Fraud Office clears Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel over election complaint
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Serious Fraud Office clears Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel over election expenses
Stuff: Serious Fraud Office clears Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel over election complaint
Matt Shand (Stuff): Tauranga City Councillors plea for Minister not to appoint Commission
Delilah Whaitiri (Herald): Local Focus: Gisborne Māori wards depend on 5 per cent opposition
Lou Gane (Stuff): Getting a Grasp on Māori Wards in New Plymouth
Health
Stephen Forbes (Stuff): Union says Middlemore Hospital’s emergency crisis part of a national problem
Cecile Meier (Stuff): Canterbury DHB’s $360,000 spend on external reviews ‘a huge waste of money’
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Auckland clinic’s night closure could mean ‘difference between life and death’
Andrew Barnes (Herald): Substance testing at festivals should widen debate on drugs (paywalled)
Bonnie Sumner (Newsroom): Damning review into mental health unit
Angela Lim (Herald): Mental health support that is fit for purpose (paywalled)
Minimum wage annual increase
Amelia Wade (Herald): Advice warning 9000 jobs could be affected by $20 minimum wage deemed ‘out of date’ by Minister
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Minimum wage rise ‘at precisely the wrong time’
RNZ: Minimum wage hike will boost local economy – minister
No Right Turn: Delivering last term’s promises
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Government confirms 2021 minimum wage hike
Media
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Media Person of the Year
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): NBR threatens Newsroom as fresh allegations emerge
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Stuff referred to police over ads in community papers breached election day rules
Roast busters arrests
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Roast Busters ringleader: ‘I’m ready to face any consequences’
Katie Todd (RNZ): Roast Busters arrests welcomed by anti-sexual violence campaigners
Newstalk ZB: Top defence lawyer on the Roast Busters case
Other
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Understanding the state we’re in
John Moore (Democracy Project): Jim Flynn – a philosopher with “dangerous” ideas
Simon Wilson (Herald): Steinlager’s anti-nuclear campaign ad – when corporates go good? (paywalled)
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Members of 1995 Moruroa anti-nuclear flotilla ‘incensed’ that Steinlager ‘appropriated’ protest for new ad campaign
Nicholas Lee (Stuff): Transforming transport for climate is key to reducing emissions in Auckland
Jody O’Callaghan (Stuff): Water bottling shows ‘complete disregard’ for Māori rights, rūnanga says
Stuff: Freshwater regulations must be tweaked, but not tweakened
Tumamao Harawira (Māori TV): Dennis Makalio: ‘Stop connecting abuse of women to the Mongrel Mob’
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Defence Force in court over death of SAS trooper Lance Corporal Nicholas Kahotea
John Weekes (Herald): Defence Force in court, charged over death of Lance Corporal Nicholas Kahotea
Lydia Lewis, Rachel Sadler and Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Coca-Cola removes ‘mum’ and ‘bub’ packaging after backlash
Newstalk ZB: Police Commissioner responds to allegations of bullying in the force
Julia Gabel and Chelsea Boyle (Herald): Whakaari/White Island tragedy: Charges revealed in WorkSafe prosecution (paywalled)
RNZ: Ngāi Tahu wants Rio Tinto to engage with iwi over Tiwai Point closures
Tim Hunter (NBR): Ministry redacts emails on Stiassny resignation (paywalled)
