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
Parliament, and end of year reviews
Chris Trotter: 2021 will be about brown poverty and white guilt
Steve Braunias (Guardian): Photos of New Zealand politicians and their bookcases are creepily revealing
Claire Trevett (Herald): The lol-lights and comedy awards of 2020 (paywalled)
John Minto (Daily Blog): We are a little people
Mark Jennings (Newsroom): David Seymour: My best year in politics
Brent Edwards (NBR): Fact or Fiction: the 2020 year in review and what lies ahead for 2021 (paywalled)
Herald: Face off: Jacinda Ardern follows through with Christmas promise
Herald: Editorial: Don’t forget the lessons of 2020 (paywalled)
Housing
Matthew Hooton (Herald): No more excuses for Jacinda Ardern in 2021 (paywalled)
Steven Walton (Stuff): Lawyer says client on bail told to leave emergency housing days before Christmas
Anne Gibson (Herald): Housing spending rises $12b in just 11 months: new Real Estate Institute data out
Jenny Ruth (BusinessDesk): Some of us blew $60.8 billion on houses in 11 months
Economy and work
Andy Fyers (BusinessDesk): How NZ’s economy continued to defy the forecasts in 2020
Andre Chumko (Stuff): Government-funded Covid insurance considered for 12 upcoming films
Daniel Dunkley (Stuff): Which businesses are on 2020’s naughty list?
Fergus McDonald (Spinoff): Happy new year? The oddly rosy economic outlook for 2021 and beyond
Transport
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Auckland light rail project too complex for existing public body – officials
Stephen Forbes (Stuff): Ministry of Transport rapid transit plan ‘needs to include local government’
Alice Neville (Spinoff): What’s with Auckland’s sluggish return to public transport?
Claire Breen (The Conversation): Bilingual road signs in Aotearoa New Zealand would tell us where we are as a nation
Covid, vaccine, and border
Brook Sabin (Stuff): The Covid-19 problem at our domestic airports and how to fix it
Herald: Cheaper to beef-up contact tracing than lock down Auckland, Government told
Katie Todd (RNZ): Relatives struggle with life expectancy requirement for urgent MIQ places
Justice and policing
Stuff: ‘Cell buster’ pepper spray okay for now, but Corrections put on notice
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): Change of Police chase policy long overdue
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Children’s Commissioner probing how widespread police photographing incidents are
Hamish Cardwell and Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): IPCA to take ‘very good look’ at police photography policy
Environment and conservation
David Williams (Newsroom): DoC boss to rule on river fence
Steve Stannard (Stuff): Pure New Zealand’s marketing machine will have to do better
Kim Reilly and Nigel Billings (Newsroom): The water pressure is high, but reform may bring some certainty
The Standard: A Few good green wins
Health
Stuff: New Canterbury District Health Board chief executive announced
Herald: Dr Peter Bramley appointed as new CDHB chief
Local government
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington Mayor Andy Foster’s year in review (paywalled)
Herald: Invercargill City Council compliance staff wear body cameras to record abuse
Other
Stuff: Editorial – Feeding the hungry is more of a mission than ever in 2020
RNZ: ‘Racism is well and alive’ in New Zealand – Race Relations Commissioner
Jake Kenny (Stuff): Canterbury pub swaps colonial name for te reo Māori translation
Herald: Editorial – Our history needs wise words and even wiser heads (paywalled)
Stuff: Breakfast host Indira Stewart on using her voice to speak up for those who can’t
Stuart Smith; Arena Williams (Stuff): Peaceful resolution at Ihumātao was always the aim
Herald: Tūpuna Maunga Authority wins court battle in Ōwairaka/Mt Albert tree war
Herald: Major milestone reached in Pike River operation
RNZ: ‘Horror, disappointment’: Hate material at Queenstown mosque investigated
Sam Hurley (Herald): Auckland farmer loses sentence appeal for misrepresenting 3 million caged eggs as free range (paywalled)
