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
Māori wards in local government
Richard Harman: Brash loses Maori wards campaign
Audrey Young (Herald): Labour kept plans on divisive Māori wards under wraps (paywalled)
David Farrar: Govt proposes to use urgency to cancel local referenda!
Anna Whyte (1News): Government aims to overturn ‘uneven playing field’ for Māori wards on councils
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Government dumps law threatening Māori wards, halts petitions
Taroi Black (Māori TV): Mahuta to dump 5% ratepayer petitions that stop Māori wards
RNZ: Changes to ‘fundamentally unfair’ process to make way for Māori wards
Audrey Young (Herald): Govt set to abolish local veto on councils’ Māori wards
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Sweeping changes to ‘discriminatory’ law could open door for Māori wards in Wellington
National to stand in Māori seats
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Judith Collins confirms National will run candidates in Māori seats next election
Jo Moir (Newsroom): National’s hunt for votes ‘on the marae’
Zane Small (Newshub): Judith Collins vows to ‘never be made to feel bad’ about her ethnicity as National looks to diversify
Audrey Young (Herald): National leader Judith Collins explains why party will contest Māori seats
Jane Patterson (RNZ): National to ‘work towards’ running candidates in Māori seats
Māori TV: Judith Collins: ‘We’ve been absent from the Māori electorates too long’
Anna Whyte (1News): National ‘a party for all New Zealanders’ after decision to contest Māori seats — Collins
Zane Small (Newshub): Judith Collins pledges to put National candidates in ‘as many of the Māori seats as possible’
Herald: Meka Whaitiri sceptical of National’s Māori seat power play (paywalled)
National caucus retreat
Tova ‘O Brien (Newshub): Shane Reti’s bizarre theory on the Government baiting National with quarantine rendezvous scandal
Amelia Wade (Herald): National’s Chris Luxon takes a tumble as caucus urged not to fall for ‘Government’s bait’
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Judith Collins tells National MPs to resist ‘taking the bait’ from the Government at first meeting of year
Zane Small (Newshub): Judith Collins warns National MPs not to take the Government’s ‘bait’ and get ‘distracted’
Amelia Wade (Herald): National leader Judith Collins tells caucus: Don’t fall to distractions, stay focused
Mike Houlahan (ODT): National must work hard to win people back
Climate change
Chris Trotter (Interest): This is a red/green bullet Jacinda. You got that?
Robert McLachlan (Guardian): New Zealand will need a policy revolution to meet climate commission’s brief
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): ‘Not transformational’: climate commission’s blueprint disappoints green activists
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Climate Commission report levels with public on true costs of a total economic overhaul
Heather Du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Climate Change Commission report has practical and political problems
Stuff: Editorial – Time to use our rare level of influence
Bronwyn Hayward (Stuff): Shifting gears to a low-carbon future
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Government takes to the airwaves, promising big change on climate policy
Jamie Morton (Herald): Big Read: Five positive things we learned from major climate report (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Judith Collins suspects economic cost of climate action would be higher than commission estimates
Jane Matthews (Stuff): Climate Change Commission sees ‘no future’ for methanol production in Taranaki
Nick Truebridge (RNZ): Climate Change report: What’s the future of the gas BBQ?
Baz Macdonald (Re: News): What you need to know about the Climate Commission report
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Decarbonising New Zealand – the numbers that count
RNZ: Parts of energy sector back Climate Change Commission plan
No Right Turn: Climate Change: Culling the herd
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Why depoliticising the Climate Change Commission sets it up for failure
Eloise Gibson (Stuff): The price of ambition: $2-11bn to up our climate pledge to the UN
Kirsten Corson (Newsroom): Four things Govt must do on road transport – right now!
Rachel Thomas (RNZ): Electric cars too costly for some – Turners CEO
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Climate Commission chair on ‘a day for optimism’
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Climate Change Commission plan ‘a big challenge’ for New Zealand
Annabeth Cohen (Herald): Climate change – Why New Zealand needs a national wetland restoration plan (paywalled)
RNZ: Climate change report ‘incredibly encouraging’, PM says
Amelia Wade (Herald): End of petrol cars: NZ must ban fossil-fuelled imports by 2032, says Climate Change Commission
Newstalk ZB: Climate Change Commission chair: NZ must play its part as a developed nation
Kerre McIvor (Newstalk ZB): No point complaining about climate change recommendations
Laura Tupou & Lisette Reymer (Newshub): Climate Change Commission releases big plan for slashing New Zealand’s emissions
Parliament and government
Eleanor de Jong (Guardian): Jacinda Ardern faces Waitangi Day reckoning with Māori as progress stalls
Liam Schwarz (Newsroom): Centre-left claims ‘strong and stable’ motto
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Tied up for good: Speaker Trevor Mallard opts to keep requirement that male MPs wear ties in Parliament’s debating chamber
Amelia Wade (Herald): Tied to the ties: Speaker Trevor Mallard rules to keep jacket and necktie in the debating chamber
1News: Ties, jackets to remain in dress code for male MPs in Parliament
Stuff: Scramble in Trevor Mallard case when judge won’t rubberstamp suppression
Shane Te Pou (Herald): Honouring Mike Moore’s legacy (paywalled)
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Humbled after 2020, MPs take on new roles
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Labour urged to hurry on promised conversion therapy ban
David Farrar: Winston’s female ex MPs walk
Māori TV: Kelvin Davis ‘asleep at the wheel’ during Waikeria riot – Rawiri Waititi
Economy and work
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Philanthropist calls for owners of Farmers and Whitcoulls to repay wage subsidy
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): New Zealand’s unemployment rate ‘still has further to rise’
Greg Ninness (Interest): Most foreign workers and overseas students already in this country have stayed put during the pandemic
Liam Dann (Herald): Champagne crisis a reminder of economic challenge ahead (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Chronic under-investment in infrastructure needs fixing: CTU (paywalled)
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): The $1 billion cost of a whole year without Chinese visitors
Henry Cooke (Stuff): New Zealand backing UK’s bid to enter trans-pacific trade pact
Education
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Principals challenge Education Ministry over student failure
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): School reduces uniform costs, signs up for free lunches in bid cut costs for its families
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Schools focus on pupils’ wellbeing amid Covid-19 economic impact
Simon Collins (Herald):Why is NZ sliding in international maths surveys TIMSS and PISA?
Simon Collins (Herald): Maths decline – Ministry of Education calls in Royal Society to stop NZ mathematics rapid decline
Simon Collins (Herald): Back to school: Teacher shortage almost solved thanks to returning Kiwis
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): Waikato University acts to address sexual violence
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Mega polytech to spend $2 million on consultants and hosts staff workshop at a Wellington golf course
Health
Emma Espiner (The Guardian): Covid-19 has illustrated New Zealand’s hypocritical attitude to Māori health
Serena Solomon (Stuff): Experts concern over low rate of eye tests in children
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Vaccination decline: One in 10 children miss out on disease protection
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Hospital progress point of contention for politicians
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Hawke’s Bay Hospital defends ‘unacceptable’, ‘disgusting’ heat issues
Leighton Keith (Stuff): Taranaki vape retailer’s products now have warning labels in te reo
Housing
Simon Draper (Stuff): 2020 shows Asian migrants aren’t to blame for house prices
RNZ: First home buyers struggling: ‘How can we compete?’
Rob Stock (Stuff): The first-home buyers who cannot access their super savings
Local government
Damian George (Stuff): Former mayor hits back at criticism over the state of Wellington’s pipes
Jean Bell (RNZ): Commissioners for Tauranga City Council to be announced this week
Samantha Motion (Herald): Tauranga City Council’s credit rating downgraded (paywalled)
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Voter interference alleged in Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board byelection
Covid: MIQ
Katie Todd (RNZ): NZ’s managed isolation system booked out until June
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): What a microbiologist’s ideal COVID-19 MIQ facility would look like
David Fisher (Herald): Four isolation hotels face enforcement action over failures to keep staff safe (paywalled)
Steven Joyce (Newstalk ZB): Government’s border management is inconsistent, adhoc and tone deaf
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Faceless bureaucrats now making our life and death decisions
Stuff: Government takes ‘dim view’ of people trying to game managed isolation
Heather Du Plessis-Allan Drive (Newstalk ZB): Epidemiologist argues for stricter quarantine following breach
Covid: General
Tim Beveridge (Newstalk ZB): Government seems preoccupied by optics
1News: Shaun Hendy’s analysis: Why Pullman cases don’t appear to have spread Covid-19
Ben Strang (RNZ): Ministry of Health reveals increased stock of PPE, more ventilators available
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): Public servants, not government, are letting the team of 5 million down
RNZ: Two Auckland Waitangi Day celebrations cancelled over Covid fears
Cherie Howie (Herald): Almost 30 per cent of Auckland bus drivers not wearing masks
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): Why Hone’s Road Blocks are righteous and should be supported
Covid: Vaccine
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Vaccine nationalism ‘a worry’ for NZ – Helen Clark
Emile Donovan (Newsroom): The Covid vaccine roll-out
Joel Rindelaub (The Spinoff): On Covid vaccines, please listen to scientists, not random accountants
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): National’s Chris Bishop calls on Government to ‘move heaven and earth’ for coronavirus vaccine rollout amid European Union export threat
1News: Experts call for NZ to explore potential to manufacture Covid-19 vaccines
Jamie Morton (Herald): Will vaccine rollout help or hurt wider immunisation efforts?
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): Helen Petousis-Harris: the vaccine voice of reason for NZ
Siouxsie Wiles (Stuff): Covid-19 vaccine roll-out a ‘catastrophic moral disaster’
Other
Jacinta Ruru & Jacobi Kohu-Morris (The Spinoff): Why te Tiriti should place a limit on the supremacy of parliament
Gavin Ellis: They don’t give a Stuff about New Zealand
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Refugee community criticises lack of plan
Larissa Howie (1News): New way of tackling youth crime being trialled in Porirua District Court
Donna Chisholm (Spinoff): ‘It pisses me off hard out’: Brooke Stanley Pao on poverty and the power of protest
Jehan Casinader (Stuff): Do we really want ‘diversity’ if we expect ethnic Kiwis to lose their culture?
Damien Grant (Stuff): The logic of sanctions is appealing, but do not work with communist countries
Māori Party: Long-held customary interests of Ngāti Porou hapū recognised
Katie Kenny (Stuff): Behind the Government’s unexpectedly entertaining approach to sexual education
Alwyn Poole (Kiwiblog): How to improve “For the People” in NZ
RNZ: Insurers face strict solvency requirements from Reserve Bank
Michael Bassett: Myth-making and politics
Jack Tame (Newstalk ZB): Get rid of cars on Queen street
Thomas Manch (Stuff): New Zealand calls for release of Aung San Suu Kyi and detainees after military coup in Myanmar
Tom McRae (Newshub): New Zealand Government ‘deeply concerned’ by Myanmar coup, calls for Aung San Suu Kyi’s release
Fiona Connor (Newshub): ‘Wake up, now’: Music insiders say gender imbalance is at heart of industry after sexual harassment revelations
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Stuff covers everything about Pride parade but not Police marching in Uniform?
