Political Roundup: 13 April 2022
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Items of interest and importance today
UKRAINE AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Matt Robson (Stuff): Sleepwalking to war: NZ is back under the nuclear umbrella
Peter Dunne: Is our independent foreign policy coming to an end?
Richard Jackson (Newsroom): Extremist or freedom fighter? NZ’s racist double standard
Stuff: Defence Force Hercules supporting Ukraine leaves for Europe
Lloyd Burr (Today FM): Govt hits right note with latest Ukraine package
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Attempt to summon Russian ambassador ‘not very useful’, foreign minister says
Gordon Campbell: On Sending A Hercules Off To Europe
RNZ: Defence Force confident ‘ageing’ Hercules aircraft can cope with Europe deployment
Andrea Fox (Herald): Was NZ’s $60m investment in the Dubai Expo value for money? (paywalled)
Pete McKenzie (New York Times): New Zealand to send troops to Europe to aid Ukraine war effort
Lincoln Tan (Herald): ‘Highly insensitive and disrespectful’: Organisers of Miss Russia NZ pageant urged to cancel or change
COVID
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): All of New Zealand to move to orange traffic light setting
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Ministry requested private RATs after just 2 per cent of January and February stock showed up
Derek Cheng (Herald): From red to orange; if not now, then when? (paywalled)
Dougal Sutherland (The Conversation): The overwork pandemic: Ashley Bloomfield’s resignation highlights burnout on the COVID-19 front line
Chris Marriner (Herald): ‘Not punk rock’: Music venue called out by landlord over vax passes
PARTNERSHIP POLITICS (CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM, CO-GOVERNANCE, THREE WATERS)
Mihingarangi Forbes (Newshub): Former Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson ‘remarkably relaxed’ on co-governance
Mihingarangi Forbes (Newshub): Waikato River Authority good model for co-governance since it shows multiple agencies can work together – iwi leader
Don Brash: Absolutely no logic in a separate Māori health authority
Anne Salmond (Newsroom): Te Tiriti and Democracy, Part 3
Dita De Boni (NBR): Smoke (signals) on the water (paywalled)
David Farrar: I thought the media cared about human rights?
Ben Kepes (Stuff): Embracing our cultural history and te reo Māori
PARLIAMENT AND GOVERNMENT
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Christopher Luxon says rich-lister donations don’t buy access to him
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Governing in a pandemic and without a coalition partner
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Greens launch student hardship investigation, claiming Govt is ignoring the issue
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): National Party’s health spokesman Shane Reti weighs into Australian election policy
Anna Whyte (1News): Tauranga’s Business CEO vying for National candidacy
SMALL BUSINESS POLITICAL POLL
BusinessDesk: SMEs want a change of government (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Luxon winning back SME support for National, survey finds (paywalled)
Today FM: 60 percent of small businesses dissatisfied with current government
COST OF LIVING, INEQUALITY AND POVERTY
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): NZ ‘a good place to be old’ but young people falling behind, the Treasury warns
1News: ‘Social investment’ key to cracking poverty – Luxon
Daniel Smith (Stuff): Young people feeling financial pressure: ‘I should be doing okay’
Rob Stock (Stuff): A third of households not coping with cost of living crisis and women carry the worry load – Westpac
Frances Cook (BusinessDesk): Brain drain 2.0? Younger New Zealanders feeling the squeeze (paywalled)
Richard Harman: The growing gap between young and old troubles Treasury (paywalled)
William Terite (Herald): Concerns over students again dropping out of school to support families
ECONOMY AND EMPLOYMENT
Richard Prebble (Herald): Debunking the delusions of ministers (paywalled)
Paul Goldsmith (Stuff): Mandatory union deals will weaken our economy
Susan Hornsby-Geluk (Stuff): Fair pay agreements: Why employers need to get organised now
RNZ: Businesses told to watch for staff burnout or face productivity drop
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Can we build it? NZ spends more and gets less
Whatitiri Te Wake (Māori TV): Pay gap widens for nurses working for Māori providers
Maria Slade (NBR): Clarify definition of ’employee’, says working group (paywalled)
Ethan Griffiths (Herald): ERA complaint after Ministry of Education intern says she should be recognised as an employee
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Interest rate rises, and the risk of a ‘hard landing’ for the economy
Jenny Ruth (BusinessDesk): Non-viable firms propped up by govt and other supports: KPMG (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Businesses pessimistic but still hiring: NZIER report (paywalled)
RNZ: Burned out workers 5 times more likely to consider resigning
BANKING
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Consumer NZ: Nearly half of Kiwis don’t trust banks
Rob Stock (Stuff): Bank profits rise again, as homeowners face costlier home loans
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Trust in banks is being eroded, Consumer NZ says
MIGRATION AND TOURISM
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Brain drain: Officials estimate 50,000 Kiwis could leave over the next year, but number could surge to 125,000
Greg Ninness (Interest): The number of NZ citizens returning to NZ long-term fell to a record low in February
RNZ: Fewer than 12,000 foreign students remain in New Zealand
Natasha Yacoub (The Conversation): Aus-NZ refugee deal is a bandage on a failed policy. It’s time to end offshore processing
Brook Sabin (Stuff): The big hole in our border reopening that could cost millions
Regina Scheyvens and Apisalome Movono (The Conversation): As borders reopen, can New Zealand reset from high volume to ‘high values’ tourism?
TRANSPORT
Henry Cooke (Stuff): National’s Christopher Luxon backtracks on public transport subsidy gaffe
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Public transport ultimately ‘can’t be subsidised or underwritten’ – Christopher Luxon
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Transport Minister Michael Wood tried to water down emissions, citing lack of green utes (paywalled)
Adam Jacobson (Stuff): Call for public bus ownership as most Auckland services now owned by foreign investors
Brigitte Morten (NBR): The road to zero (paywalled)
Bernard Hickey: Luxon incoherent on transport (paywalled)
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Petrol tax discount might not be removed gradually
Phil Pennington (RNZ): NZTA taking control of NZ’s supply of bitumen for roading
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Let’s Get Wellington Moving consultation shows support for light rail and second tunnel
Ben Strang (Stuff): Let’s Get Wellington Moving report shows broad support for mass rapid transport but divisions over car use
ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND SPEECH DEBATES
Michael Johnston (Herald): The demise of the University (paywalled)
Eric Crampton: Academic freedom – survey says
Ani O’Brien (The Platform): Manifesting the racial divide
Jonathan Ayling (NBR): A bob both ways: commercial argument for free speech (paywalled)
Steve Stannard (Stuff): Eye of the public a volatile variable for many academics
Rachel Stewart: Cows and cowards
HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT
Herald: The majority of Wellingtonians don’t think they could afford a house, despite price drop
Catherine Masters: OneRoof-ConsumerLink Housing Survey – March 2022
Anne Gibson (Herald): Landlord borrowing falls annually as mortgage tax deductions phase-out kicks in (paywalled)
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): ‘Unsophisticated’ developers increasingly offloading cash strapped projects (paywalled)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland Mayor Phil Goff warns of service cuts in dire financial update
Georgina Campbell (Herald): What every new mayor in the country needs, but can’t promise (paywalled)
Tracey Roxburgh (ODT): ‘Time to pass on mayoral chains’: Boult not seeking third term in Queenstown
Jono Galuszka (Stuff): Decision to reduce number of Manawatū councillors overturned
Moana Ellis (Local Democracy Reporting): Local Government Commission overturns Ruapehu wards decisions
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): What’s going on at the Christchurch City Council?
Jean Edwards (RNZ): Call for better monitoring after asbestos fibres detected in Christchurch water
POLICE AND LAW AND ORDER
Audrey Young (Herald): The three candidates who could replace Police Minister Poto Williams (paywalled)
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Supporters of strong law and order are losing the battle
Jared Savage (Herald): Police gangs crackdown: ‘Resounding success’ or ‘business as usual’? Poto Williams, Mark Mitchell clash over Operation Tauwhiro (paywalled)
RNZ: Call for NZ to follow Australia’s lead on jail terms for ‘coward punches’
