Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. Click here to subscribe to Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup and New Zealand Politics Daily.
Today’s content
National Party
Jane Patterson (RNZ): National Party’s annual conference: Something old, something blue – but little new
Liam Hehir (Guardian): Resolutions but no revolution as National ends its annual conference as divided as ever
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): National promises unity, but finds it has delivery problems (paywalled)
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): In her conference speech, the National leader shifted from demanding debates to announcing debates had started. But where, asks Toby Manhire, was the policy?
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Collins and the seven deadly debates
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): National Party ‘letting it all hang out’, losing public faith – political analyst Bryce Edwards
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Newshub-Reid Research Poll shows nearly half of National voters think Judith Collins should be replaced as leader
Richard Harman (Politik): Behind Peter Goodfellow’s re-election (paywalled)
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): National board elections
Jane Patterson (RNZ): David Carter resigns from National Party board with ‘zero confidence’ in Goodfellow
Katie Bradford (1 News): ‘No confidence’ – David Carter explains exit from National Party
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): David Carter has ‘no confidence’ in Peter Goodfellow to fix National’s fortunes
1 News: Goodfellow remains National Party president, Carter resigns
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Peter Goodfellow re-elected National Party president
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): National Party president Peter Goodfellow re-elected
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Judith Collins promises bruised National has learned its lesson, promises ‘extreme vetting’ of candidates
Henry Cooke (Stuff): National conference: Judith Collins says party can win in 2023 if ‘focused’
RNZ: National Party conference: ‘Bitter lessons’ to learn from 2020
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): ‘Extreme vetting’ in future for National candidates (paywalled)
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Collins signals focus shift to ‘big issues’ in conference speech
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Judith Collins says National can rebuild for ‘easily winnable’ election
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Judith Collins gets stuck into ‘spin over reality’ Government, insists election ‘easily winnable’ in AGM speech
Henry Cooke (Stuff): ‘No longer the party of rural NZ’ — National members furious following conference
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Former Speaker David Carter resigns as he has ‘no confidence’ in Peter Goodfellow as president
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Judith Collins promises National Party members unity as she launches conference
Henry Cooke (Stuff): National Party members vote to rein in board and seat-hopping MPs
Anna Whyte (1 News): Collins pledges ‘zero tolerance for disunity’ in National
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Judith Collins embraces tikanga Māori at National Party conference after week of demanding debate on New Zealand name change
Claire Trevett (Herald): National slathers plaster over its cracks, but can it hold? (paywalled)
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Political Roundup – National’s internal discontent and mood for change
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Pleas for unity as drums beat in National
Andrew Gunn (Stuff): When support flags. Dispelling the ghost of a prime minister past
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of … The Collins Gang (paywalled)
1News: Muller won’t attend National caucus meetings when he returns
Greens
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): James Shaw wipes floor with rival as Marama Davidson lets rip at National Party
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Green Conference vs Blue Conference 2021: So many feelings
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Greens challenge National stance on conversion therapy, use of te reo
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Davidson decries ‘ghost of Don Brash’ in National Party
Derek Cheng (Herald): Green co-leaders unleash scathing attack on National Party
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Shaw sees off challenger for Greens’ co-leadership
Bridie Witton (Stuff): James Shaw remains Green Party co-leader as National targeted at annual general meeting
Derek Cheng (Herald): Challenge to James Shaw’s Green Party co-leadership fizzles at AGM
Amelia Wade (Newshub): James Shaw shrugs off leadership challenge, Chlöe Swarbrick features in preferred Prime Minister rankings
Stuff: Greens co-leader James Shaw easily beats off challenge
1 News: James Shaw fights off leadership challenge at Green Party AGM
1 News: Marama Davidson says National is haunted by ‘ghost of Don Brash’
Newshub: James Shaw’s full Green Party AGM speech
Newshub: Marama Davidson’s full Green Party AGM speech
Health
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Andrew Little’s hospital pass
RNZ: DHB reforms: Government reveals ‘accountability’ for new health system
Anna Whyte (1 News): New indicators released to show health sector performance
Herald: New health system will keep public healthcare service authorities accountable
Zane Small (Newshub): Health Minister Andrew Little introduces 12 new indicators to replace ‘arbitrary’ health targets
Derek Cheng (Herald): Health reforms: Andrew Little’s hostile reception from GPs at Wellington conference
Newstalk ZB: Andrew Little and Mike King on new health indicators
Alex Psirides (Stuff): New Zealand doesn’t have enough ICU capacity, even without the effects of a pandemic
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Wellington Hospital emergency department: 11 nurses resigned in 10 days amid health and safety complaints
Siobhan Wilson (1 News): Mark Solomon slams Ministry of Health as ‘Ministry of Incompetence’
Phil Pennington (RNZ): DHB confident resthome currently meeting expectations
Cecile Meie (Stuff): Plan for $250m refit of ‘squalid’ Christchurch Hospital wing downgraded
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Preferred contractor built Chch Hospital
Cate Broughton and Kate Newton (Stuff): Rise in anti-depressant use ‘positive’, Ministry of Health says
Dan Satherley (Newshub): ‘It’s too important’: Andrew Little frustrated at slow pace of mental health projects
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Matt Doocey slams Labour on mental health at party conference
Mark Longley (Newshub): Mike King says Gumboot Friday won’t be applying for Government’s Mental Wellbeing Innovation Fund
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Māori health expert supports mental health review
Grace Curtis (Newsroom): ‘The reality of one, single suicide’
Amelia Wade (Newshub): GPs at breaking point as labour shortages, COVID-19 and health system cause widespread frustration
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Students called out for lying about mental health to get work extensions
Lawrence Gullery (Stuff): Vaping ‘a scourge’ sweeping through high schools, deputy principal says
Mike Dinsdale (Herald): Whangārei list MP Shane Reti’s cancer medicines members bill pulled from Parliamentary ballot (paywalled)
Conversion therapy
Breanna Barraclough (1 News): Opinion: National’s U-turn on conversion therapy ban flawed and contradictory
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): Why it has taken so long to ban conversion therapy (paywalled)
Phil Smith (RNZ): Conversion practices & debate therapy
Dan Satherley (Newshub): National MPs defend vote against conversion therapy Bill, despite saying they support a ban
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Young Nats take fight to Judith Collins over gay conversion therapy at party conference
Newstalk ZB: Auckland Pride: National not welcome anymore after conversion therapy bill voting
Aotearoa or New Zealand?
ODT Editorial: Aotearoa v New Zealand faux fight
Jack Tame (Newstalk ZB): Don’t like ‘Aotearoa’? Don’t say it
Victor Billot (Newsroom): An ode for … Aotearoa
Budget documents
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Visa numbers tipped to fall after immigration reset, documents show
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Tax change expected to spur higher demand from cashed-up investors than owner-occupiers
Newstalk ZB: Deloitte tax partner: We could be seeing the beginning of a tax system rejig
RNZ: Abuse in care: Treasury recommended reducing investigations
Billionaire Larry Page granted entry to NZ
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): How fascinating are the Larry Page revelations?
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Google boss Larry Page secured New Zealand residency under wealthy investor category
Christine Rovoi (RNZ): Larry Page can travel to and from NZ due to residency visa
Tess McClure (Guardian): Google co-founder Larry Page is a New Zealand resident, government says
Covid-19
Claire Trevett (Herald): PM Jacinda Ardern on the next six months, a vaccination pass and the Delta plan
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Reopening NZ – a Pandora’s box (paywalled)
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Level 4 lockdown likely if Delta variant takes hold in NZ, experts say
Jordan Bond (RNZ): Just one Delta Covid-19 case could prompt lockdown – expert
Jamie Morton (Herald): Why aren’t we using tracer app, scanning QR codes?
Andrew MacFarlane (1 News): Helen Clark doesn’t see NZ’s Covid-19 strategy changing
Anna Whyte (1 News): Too early to consider state of bubble suspension – PM
Covid-19 – Border restrictions, immigration
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Health Minister Andrew Little throws support behind ‘terrific’ Ashley Bloomfield, despite misleading committee
Brittney Deguara (Stuff):Dr Ashley Bloomfield exchanged text messages with Foreign Affairs Secretary over Covid-positive UN worker’s evacuation from Fiji
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Director-General of Health apologises to select committee for providing incorrect information
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Ashley Bloomfield should explain memory lapse to select committee – Chris Bishop
Herald: Clearer border rules after vaccination required (paywalled)
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Kiwis would prefer no lockdowns over loosening border – Ardern
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern says there’s no magic vaccine number that will see NZ open the border
Peter Wilson and Julie Fry (Interest): Manākitanga in the age of Covid
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): How Aotearoa-NZ could live up to its kind ‘Team of 5m’ self-belief
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Migrants’ dilemma: Farewell dying family via video or be locked out of NZ
Nick Truebridge (RNZ): NZ resident for nearly a decade ‘helpless’ after Immigration stalls, refuses wife’s visa
1 News: Govt defends decision to let Wallabies into NZ for Bledisloe Test
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): South African travel agency still waiting on school trip visa refund after Covid cancellation
Covid-19 – MIQ
Andrea Vance (Stuff): After a year of MIQ the complaints mount up – it’s time for a watchdog to step in
Henry Cooke (Stuff): National Party floats idea of a points-based system for managed isolation spots
RNZ: ACT criticises setting aside 400 MIQ rooms for expo attendees
Claire Trevett (Herald): Sir John Key on Covid MIQ, vaccine ‘failures’, National Party, 60th birthday (paywalled)
Kristin Hall (1 News): John Key calls MIQ booking system a ‘failure’
Heather Roy (Stuff): MIQ should be run by the airlines, not the Government
Covid-19 – Vaccination rollout
Jane Clifton (Herald): NZ’s vaccine rollout is embarrassingly slow, should they be compulsory? (paywalled)
Corazon Miller (1 News): MMR vaccines worth around $10m at risk of being dumped
Jamie Morton (Herald): Right-wing, conspiracy beliefs linked to vaccine scepticism
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Ashley Bloomfield ‘in the market’ for annual Covid-19 vaccine booster shots
Amy Williams(RNZ): ‘They have just rocked up’: People getting vaccine early despite not being eligible
Robin Martin (RNZ): Taranaki residents relieved, pleased to be vaccinated against Covid-19
Parliament, Māori roll, voting age
Jon Johansson (Stuff): The clock is ticking for Labour
Henry Cooke (Stuff): As Jacinda Ardern stumbles, Judith Collins has trouble tripping her up
Stuff: Points of Order: Are you ‘jacked off’? National Party MP Chris Luxon reckons you might be
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Week in Politics: Labour slips off its pedestal
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Where do we begin on housing, migration, and almost everything else?
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): The Labour Party has a case of imposter syndrome (paywalled)
1 News: Inside Parliament: Beating the bots to MIQ, new RSE Covid bubble
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Tracing steps in fight against child poverty
James Elliot (Newsroom): Yesterdaze: The Band of the Wrong White Crowd
Craig Ashworth (Local Democracy Reporting): Make switch to Māori roll easier, say Taranaki politicians
Housing
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern accused of treating politics ‘as a game’ after post emerges of her calling for housing as human right
Cira Olivier (Herald): Housing crisis: Children in emergency housing rises 34pc in a year (paywalled)
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Being Māori is not a limitation to becoming a homeowner – Otago University study
James O’Sullivan (Stuff): Why are house prices so high? It’s our own delusional thinking
Cira Olivier (Herald): Child poverty ‘dire’, calls for practical community support as housing unobtainable (paywalled)
Jimmy Ellingham (Stuff): State house development rises from ashes of tragedy
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Mayor Andy Foster to meet with Minister in battle for social housing subsidy
Tina Law (Stuff): Plea for leafy suburb to be exempt from new housing density rules
Hate speech
Matt McCarten (E-Tangata): We need fewer restrictions on speech, not more
Dan Satherley and Perry Wilton (Newshub): Muslim group questions whether MPs should be allowed to spread hate ‘under the cloak of Parliamentary privilege’
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): My submission to the Hate Speech law review
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Faafoi is a coward for hiding from Free Speech debate but Labour/Green apologists are worse
Labour market, industrial relations, migrant workers
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): What is behind the immigration delays, and why are some proposing an amnesty to resolve the deadlock?
Janet Wilson (Stuff): Does last week’s apology foreshadow another one?
Liam Dann (Herald): Don’t let inflation panic overshadow jobs success (paywalled)
Chris Keall (Herald): Skills crisis: Tech boss says ‘anti-immigrant’ New Zealand moving the goalposts (paywalled)
Jonathan Mosen (Stuff): Businesses not employing disabled people a moral and economic failure
Matt Burrows (Newshub): MBIE investigating Waikato dairy company Maharaj Farms after migrant worker claims boss didn’t pay him for 20 months
Daniel Riordan (NBR): Labour shortage here to stay, says bank regional forecast (paywalled)
Kirsty Wynn (Herald): Work Wellbeing Index: Healthcare workers, tradies and teachers say wellbeing is ignored
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Iranian man’s permanent residency delayed by years due to ‘absurd’ suspicion he will build WMDs
Energy
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Has Labour been sitting on the solution to fix the power market all along?
Nicholas Pointon (RNZ): Wholesale electricity prices remain high despite above average hydro lake levels
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Petrol market about to become more competitive, Waitomo and NPD predict
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RNZ: Marsden Point potential closure: Government defends import-only strategy
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Marsden Point refinery closure threatens energy security, Maritime Union says
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Energy Minister offers sympathies to refinery workers after closure vote
Denise Piper (Stuff): ‘Devastated’ workers and Northland leaders upset with oil refinery closure
RNZ: Refining NZ shareholders vote to switch Marsden Point to import-only terminal
No Right Turn: Marsden Point and security of supply
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Marsden Point’s fuel company owners split over biofuels
Local government
David Williams (Newsroom): Conservation board bust-up: Minister weighs in, ex-chair speaks
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): Three resign from West Coast Conservation Board over Ngāi Tahu conflict
Jimmy Ellingham (Stuff): City council spent $30,000 on unsuccessful bid to stop public meeting
1 News: Concerns raised after Otago Regional Council hits pause on air quality work
1 News: Lianne Dalziel hopeful of bright future for rebuilt Christchurch
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): Franz Josef floodwall cash signed off
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Hearing reveals alarming alcohol harm among Southland youth
Tom Dillane (Herald): $192,000 to paint Auckland, Henderson intersection blue slammed as ‘shambolic’ waste of public funds
Jimmy Ellingham (Stuff): Council-run plant nursery’s $188k loss ‘favourable to budget’
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): P-card spending at New Plymouth District Council tops $1 million in two years, as review finds system is failing
Luisa Girao (ODT): City council committee to consider policy on allowances and expenses
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): A call to arms for honesty on Hamilton’s history
Environment, climate change, conservation
Peter Griffin (Stuff): Climate change: We need a post-growth world
Baz Macdonald (Guardian): New Zealand farmers have avoided regulation for decades. Now their bill has come due
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Mediawatch: Making sense of ‘Milk and Money’
Rod Oram (Newsroom): Time to put right the damage we’ve done to nature
No Right Turn: Climate Change: Should we buy out dairy polluters?
Laura Smith (ODT): Idea of monetary incentive for land use conversion raised
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): Calves’ stomachs can be trained to produce less methane, research finds
Will Harvie (Stuff): Environmental groups at odds over Christchurch estuary walkway
Sally Rae (ODT): Ambitious plan evolving
Will Trafford (Māori TV): Whitebait: New rules as experts warn species face extinction
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Aiming to make New Zealand the global exemplar for sustainable fashion (paywalled)
Transport
1 News: Auckland Council, AT, sued over RLTP’s failure to reduce emissions
1 News: Auckland councillor calls for free public transport to address fairness
Steve Stannard (Stuff): ‘Ute tax’ not the smartest way to get Kiwis driving down carbon emissions
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Survey claims Government’s clean car scheme could shift the market
Keith Lynch (Stuff): ‘The Hunger Games of transport’: One of Auckland’s busiest cycleways explained
Eric Crampton (Stuff): Deciding how to decide about transport
Simon Wilson (Herald): Why is the Government burning all the harbour bridges? (paywalled)
Simon Wilson (Herald): Blowout! Auckland harbour tunnels will cost $15 billion
Claire Trevett (Herald): Auckland harbour cycle bridge: Jacinda Ardern confirms Government looking at other options (paywalled)
Damian George (Stuff): Southern Hemisphere’s first fully-electric passenger ferry to launch on September 9
International relations
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): ‘Crushing’ deportation to NZ after four decades in Australia
Lucy Craymer (Stuff): The new militarisation of the Pacific
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Pacific leaders look back on 50 years, and ahead at ‘perfect storm’
RNZ: Pacific Islands Forum marks 50th anniversary
Clare de Lore (The Listener/Herald): ‘They will kill me’: Taliban target appeals to Jacinda Ardern for help (paywalled)
Kelly Dennett (Stuff): ‘The spy who came to Dor’: How French spy Christine Cabon, a ‘crucial’ part of the Rainbow Warrior bombing, fled NZ police
Media
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Mediawatch: Accountability in question after MediaWorks review
Alison Mau (Stuff): The MediaWorks mess: What will Cam Wallace do next?
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): MediaWorks directors seem set on lying low after blistering review (paywalled)
Katie Harris (Herald): MediaWorks review: How things got so bad – the tight-knit culture that enabled toxic behaviour to thrive
Liz Gordon (Daily Blog): Mediaworks and sexual harassment
RNZ: The Detail: The group guarding NZ’s media freedom
Commerce Commission supermarkets report
Daniel Eb (Stuff): Cracking the code on a failing food system.
Mike O’Donnell (Stuff): Competition in the grocery sector is not working for consumers, so what could be an alternative?
Education and training
Katy Jones (Stuff): Three students: why no roll growth at special school saved from closure?
Kerre McIvor: (Herald): Don’t like their rules? Don’t choose that school for your child (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: The f-word and a lack of class at Macleans College (paywalled)
Laura Smith (ODT): Pupil petitioning Govt to raise boarding grant
Brooke Hunter (1 News): Palmerston North school keeping bathroom camera despite concern
John Cosgrove (ODT): Engineering academy launched
Laura Walters: (Stuff): Universities tweak relationships with China to protect academic freedom and autonomy
Matt Heath (Herald): Why being wrong is good – and being offended is cowardly (paywalled)
Critic investigation into Action Zealandia
Elliot Weir (Critic): Investigation Sheds Light on Aotearoa’s Largest Neo-Nazi Group
Elliot Weir (Critic): Fascism 2.0: Lessons from six months in New Zealand’s largest white supremacist group
Elliot Weir (Critic): I spent six months undercover in a neo-Nazi group and it was not fun
Pike River
Dan Satherley (Newshub): ‘He never went down’: Andrew Little slams Winston Peters’ Pike River claims
Conor Whitten (Newshub): Winston Peters alleges Govt broke its word on Pike re-entry, is taking fight to court
Other
Brian Easton (Pundit): How Broken Is The Public Service?
Katharine Cresswell Riol and Sean Connelly (ODT): Facing up to the hurt of hunger
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Inequality has exploded under Labour – is the egalitarian dream dead?
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Benefit sanctions: study reveals many unaware cuts can be challenged
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Work and Income to remove ‘shameful’ poster after social media outrage
Phil Pennington (RNZ): ACC cover for volunteer firefighters would be unfair, govt says
Steve Kilgallon (Stuff): ‘An avoidable tragedy’: A problem gambler blew his life savings, then dropped dead
Jarrod Gilbert (Herald): Gun register vital to keep them out of gangs, other wrong hands (paywalled)
1 News: Influence of gangs in prisons rising, exclusive figures show
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): Salvation Army throws support behind Tairāwhiti programme
Liu Chen (RNZ): Youths kept at residences for too long – report
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Oranga Tamariki apologises after violent father repeatedly told where to find son, despite protection order
Laura Smith (ODT): Winter grazing scrutinised again
Nadia Lim (Stuff): We need to bridge the urban-rural divide
Donna Miles (Stuff): An effective apology for the dawn raids must end with action
Khylee Quince (Stuff): Dawn raids apology highlights case for cultural justice
Bill Ralston (Herald): Isis bride Suhayra Aden was a teen who made a very poor choice. She deserves a second chance in NZ (paywalled)
Steven Joyce (Herald): Overheated economy about to burn borrowers (paywalled)
1 News: Greyhound deaths put NZ racing on notice
Kelly Dennett (Stuff): Ministry reviews regulations, as businesses fear bust amid slow-moving Medicinal Cannabis Scheme
Mike Dinsdale (Northern Advocate): Former Te Runanga-a-iwi o Ngāpuhi Chair Raniera “Sonny” Tau pleads not guilty to sex charge
Herald: Ministry of Justice survey: Cybercrime and sex attack victims reluctant to involve police
Rob Stock (Stuff): Shock end to James Hardie class action lawsuit prompts calls for controls over litigation lenders
Lawrence Gullery (Stuff): Defining moment for Ngāti Maniapoto as iwi urged to vote on Treaty settlement
Will Trafford (Māori TV): Australians use British dictionary definition in Mānuka trademark battle
Sela Jane Hopgood (RNZ): Pasifika abuse survivor calls for change in Catholic church
Cushla Norman (1 News): Clown bashed by police in 1981 Springbok tour wants answers
