New Zealand Politics Daily is a collation of the most prominent issues being discussed in New Zealand. It is edited by Dr Bryce Edwards of The Democracy Project.
Items of interest and importance today
NZ FIRST CONFERENCE
Jessica Mutch McKay (1News): Never write off Winston Peters
Adam Pearse (Herald): How NZ First’s new guard evolved amid political oblivion (paywalled)
Adam Pearse (Herald): Can NZ First work with Labour and who will be on Winston’s team?
RNZ: Winston Peters puts Labour in the firing line at New Zealand First annual conference
Luke Malpass (Stuff): The Labour methane tax that could open the door again for Winston Peters and NZ First
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Winston Peters will refuse to form Government with Labour unless push for equal Māori leadership dropped
RNZ: PM Jacinda Ardern responds to Winston Peters’ attacks on Labour government
Thomas Manch (Stuff): NZ First kicks-off 2023 election bid with scathing attack of Labour’s ‘hallucinogenic objectives’
Newshub: Winston Peters lashes out at Labour as ‘one of worst’ Govts, predicts snap election in charged NZ First conference speech
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk): We aren’t naïve enough to vote for Winston again – are we?
Kelvin McDonald (Māori TV): Winston Peters attacks Labour government and policies based ‘purely on race’
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Winston Peters condemns Labour’s ‘malignant tinkering’
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Winston Peters determined to stir up race debate as election campaign kicks off in Christchurch
Thomas Manch (Stuff): NZ First sets the stage for a promised return to Parliament, once again
Adam Pearse (Herald): NZ First’s Winston Peters decries ‘seeds of apartheid’ in leader’s address
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The NZ First redneck jamboree: Winners, losers & predictions
Adam Pearse (Herald): NZ First conference: NZ First ethos set as Winston Peters’ grand plan awaits
Thomas Manch (Stuff): ‘They can’t match us’: Shane Jones attacks ACT after David Seymour unearths ‘conflict of interest’ allegation
Kelvin McDonald (Māori TV): NZ First members vote to repeal Treaty references in legislation, reject ‘racist co-governance’
Herald: ‘They thought we were over’: Winston Peters announces NZ First’s comeback
Zarina Hewlett (Today FM): Does New Zealand need a return of Winston Peters?
Thomas Manch (Stuff): NZ First sets the stage for a promised return to Parliament, once again
SHAKESPEARE DE-FUNDING
Chris Trotter (Interest): Cancelling Shakespeare
Lincoln Tan (Herald): ‘Complete knobs’: Creative NZ’s Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival funding cut slammed again
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Cut to Shakespeare funding not ‘indicative of a culture war in New Zealand’, says Jacinda Ardern
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): PM Jacinda Ardern says she disagrees with decision to pull funding for school Shakespeare competition
Eva Corlett (Guardian): New Zealand pulls funding for school Shakespeare festival, citing ‘canon of imperialism’
Terry Sheat (Newsroom): Creative NZ slammed, again
Stuff: Editorial Cancelling Shakespeare: Must we have FBoy Island but not The Tempest?
Herald: Top Auckland Uni English Professor slams move to defund Shakespeare festival
Abbey Wakefield (1News): Creative NZ accused of ‘cancelling’ Shakespeare in funding cut
Virginia Fallon (Stuff): To be or not to be, that is the question: New Zealand cancels Shakespeare
Jayden Holmes (Today FM): William Shakespeare: To cancel or not to cancel? Sheilah Winn funding cut
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Surprise, surprise – Stuff supports woke cancelling of Shakespeare
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The NZ Woke have just canceled Shakespeare for crimes of imperialism! This is cultural vandalism!
Dougal McNeill: Cancel the Green World
LOBBYING AND INTEGRITY
Emile Donovan (RNZ): Demystifying the world of political lobbying
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Ex-media minister’s hasty move to lobbying
Hamish McNicol and Calida Stuart-Menteath (NBR): What is the point of the Serious Fraud Office? (paywalled)
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Auditor-General asked to investigate over donation to Shane Jones’ election campaign
Adam Pearse (Herald): NZ First conference: Shane Jones rejects bias after donation precedes $9m PGF funding announcement
GOVERNMENT AND PARLIAMENT
Rachel Smalley (Today FM): It’s not about if Jacinda Ardern will stand down, it’s about when
Rachel Smalley (NBR): Ardern’s star has fallen (paywalled)
John MacDonald (Herald): Government needs to sort out its priorities
Steve Maharey (Stuff): The 2023 general election will be about who can fix things
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Te Pāti Māori underwhelmed by prospect of government
Henry Cooke (Spinoff): Three lessons for New Zealand politicians from the UK’s Trusstastrophe
Sam Olley (RNZ): Provincial Growth Fund: More than 140 projects awarded funding have had to pull out
Molly Swift (Newshub): Soft republicanism or constitution overhaul?: What could happen to New Zealand if we became a republic
Claire Trevett (Herald): The photo op PM Jacinda Ardern refused to do, Seymour and Peters compete for crowds (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Stuff): Here are the economic policies National says it will cull
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Labour’s mining stance bittersweet for the Greens, but a taste of victory for Te Pāti Māori
Michael Bassett: Jacinda: Full stream into the electoral hurricane
1News: Starting at the bottom: Elected TOP candidate wins party milestone
RNZ: National and ACT Party could form government – Taxpayers’ Union Curia poll
Thomas Going (Stuff): Queer politics in New Zealand can’t afford to be partisan
Muriel Newman (NZCPR): Message to the PM
Phil Smith (RNZ): Adrian Rurawhe: The accidental Speaker
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, AND ELECTIONS
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Just 15% of Auckland voted for new mayor. How do we resuscitate local democracy?
Hayden Donnell (RNZ): The media and low local election turnout
John Roughan (Herald): Right-leaning winners in local elections a warning for Labour Government (paywalled)
Stephen Judd (Spinoff): Online voting isn’t the cure for low turnout
Brenda Harwood (ODT): Caution urged over electoral review
Sinead Gill (Stuff): Who is Dunedin’s new mayor Jules Radich, the man with a plan?
Otago Daily Times: Michael Laws squeaks back in: ‘I have been taught a lesson’
Erin Gourley (Stuff): It’s official: final results for Wellington’s local elections
RNZ: Grey District councillor wins after name pulled from basket
Carly Gooch (Stuff): Deadlock sees name pulled from a basket for Grey district council ward
Kelvin McDonald (Māori TV): Moko Tepania makes history as first Māori mayor of Far North
Richard Swainson (Stuff): ‘Backsides’ voted but fireworks are likely with one Hamilton councillor
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): On local govt’s death glide of nihilism, Roxette and wine cooler horror
Donna Miles (Stuff): Ascribing another’s beliefs to ‘ideology’ ignores that most of us follow one
Virginia Fallon (Stuff): ‘It’s not mine any more’: Wellington’s outgoing mayor Andy Foster looks back
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy reporting): Former pig mask-wearing cop makes Gisborne council, breaches campaign rules
Frank Newman (NZCPR): The biggest winners from Election 2022
Peter de Graaf (Herald): ‘A mayor for all’: Moko Tepania makes history in Far North (paywalled)
AUCKLAND CITY COUNCIL
Claire Trevett (Herald): Are Labour’s big reforms cooked? Wayne Brown victory puts pothole in Labour’s reform road (paywalled)
Stuff: Auckland mayor Wayne Brown hires former NZ First MP
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-government/300714071/auckland-mayor-wayne-brown-hires-former-nz-first-mp?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Matthew Hooton (Patreon): Detour through Mayor’s Office (paywalled)
Damien Grant (Stuff): Wayne Brown’s promised clean-out is overdue
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of Wayne Brown (paywalled)
Herald: Editorial: Wayne Brown works on his maverick credentials in week one (paywalled)
RNZ: Eke Panuku’s middle managers earn an average of $143,000 a year
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Council election: Final results confirm tiny rise in votes over 2019
Nick Truebridge (Newshub): Auckland councillors weigh in on new mayor Wayne Brown amid questions over work hours
THREE WATERS
Thomas Cranmer: Three Waters and the Debt that will tear us apart
Nona Pelletier (RNZ): Three Waters policy: Standard & Poors biding its time over adjusting credit ratings
ODT: MPs slam Three Waters reform
BARBARA KURIGER SCANDAL
David Fisher (Herald): How a National MP went to war for her son – and how it cost her her job (paywalled)
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Whistleblower alerted National to Barbara Kuriger matter two weeks ago, raised concern about MP’s actions towards ministry
Bridie Witton (Stuff): National MP Barbara Kuriger drops agriculture portfolios over ‘blurred line’ in family dispute
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Luxon: Barbara Kuriger’s position was ‘untenable’
Herald: National MP Barbara Kuriger quits portfolio amid dispute with government department
RNZ: National MP Barbara Kuriger resigns from portfolios over ‘significant conflict of interest’
Jamie Ensor (Newsroom): National MP Barbara Kuriger resigns from roles after what Christopher Luxon calls ‘serious lapse of judgement’
1News: National MP in MPI dispute resigns portfolios over ‘conflict of interest’
No Right Turn: A failure of management
Greg Presland (The Standard): What conflict of interest
DEFENCE AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Government fix-it man Sir Brian Roche to lead defence policy review panel
Michael Neilson (Herald): Defence Minister Peeni Henare announces review expert panel as ‘strategic competition’ between China, US in Pacific heats up
1News: Military members aren’t paid enough, Defence Minister says
Kelvin McDonald (Māori TV): Henare to talk defence with Australia’s Deputy PM
Anna Rawhiti-Connell (Spinoff): Defence force underpaid as major review panel announced
Erin Gourley (Stuff): NZ Defence Force seeing worst attrition rate in history
RNZ: Rocket Lab could be used to make war from space – Green Party
Jayden Holmes (Today FM): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern could be ‘using her voice and clout’ to say more to Iran
Nicholas Khoo (NBR): NZ must formulate response to US National Security Strategy (paywalled)
Chris Trotter: Jacinda’s hijab
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Sir John Key dollops praise on China in Chinese state media
CHILD POVERTY
Seni Iasona (Newshub): Cost of living: KidsCan survey paints ‘grim’ picture of kids going to school ‘hungry, cold and miserable’
Lauren Crimp (RNZ): Rising food costs push people into homelessness – Salvation Army
Isaac Davison (Herald): ‘The worst we have ever seen it’: KidsCan’s support for hungry children grows as food prices hit 13-year high
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The AM Show – Why the Prime Minister is wrong on child poverty
ECONOMY
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Finance Minister in Washington DC says everybody’s bracing for a tough 2023 (paywalled)
David Hargreaves (Interest): The inflation fire may be losing intensity – but can we put it out?
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Annual inflation set to fall from its 7.3% peak
Hillmarè Schulze (NBR): Are we using the right power tools to tackle inflation? (paywalled)
HOUSING
Eric Crampton (Stuff): A confusion of National Policy Statements
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Call for Govt to do more to support build-to-rent development
Miriam Bell (Stuff): What help is available to first-home buyers?
Richard Walker (Stuff): Housing for the people: meet the developers leading the charge
Maria Slade (NBR): Housing projects face winter of discontent (paywalled)
Jono Galuszka (Stuff): Kāinga Ora paying $33.7m for 50 Palmerston North homes to tackle waitlist pressure
COVID
David Farrar (Patreon): Exclusive poll results on Covid-19 Royal Commission (paywalled)
Jamie Morton (Herald): Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: Another wave risks hundreds more deaths this year – Michael Baker
Jamie Morton (Herald): Covid-19: Five questions about NZ’s third Omicron wave
Mike Hosking (Newstalk): The cost of our Covid response is only going to grow
CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT
Jamie Morton (Herald): 20 years after Corngate – are we ready for genetic modification? (paywalled)
Herald: Science Digest: Is it time New Zealand re-examined its relationship with genetic modification?
Janet Wilson (Stuff): Agricultural emissions proposal piles pressure on Government to deliver
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Reckless climate tax will wreck industry (paywalled)
Steven Joyce (Herald): Government on agricultural emissions – Can’t see the food for the trees (paywalled)
Andrew Kirton (Herald): Political courage is needed to deal with climate change (paywalled)
Paula Bennett (Herald): Government’s agricultural emissions tax will up dairy, meat prices (paywalled)
Andrea Fox (Herald): Why farmers are upset about an emissions pricing plan the Beehive claims they largely ordered (paywalled)
David Williams (Newsroom): A year on, what has ECan done about the Rakaia?
1News: Leading climate policy expert calls for NZ to rethink agriculture
Rod Oram (Newsroom): We’re light years from the change we need
Sonya Holm (Stuff): From Parliament to food rescue: When red and blue make green
MEDIA
Suranjana Tewari (BBC): Kamahl Santamaria: Al Jazeera staff allege harassment and bullying went unchecked
Chris Trotter (BFD): The ‘Fire and Fury’ test
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Government expects to spend $6m on contractors working for public media mega-merger
Molly Swift (Newshub): Tracey Martin defends no cost-benefit analysis for TVNZ/RNZ merger
Mike O’Donnell (Stuff): Fboy Island isn’t the answer for TVNZ/RNZ merger
IMMIGRATION
Akula Sharma (Herald): Immigration NZ apologises for offending Sikh community
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Immigration Minister Michael Wood denies ‘sitting on our hands’ ahead of visa restart
Iain MacLeod (NBR): To immigration infinity and beyond (paywalled)
Iain MacLeod (NBR): Skilled migrant changes deceptively uncertain (paywalled)
Bernard Hickey: How many people do we want living in Aotearoa by 2100? (paywalled)
JUSTICE
Marine Lourens (Stuff): ‘Profoundly unethical’: Duty lawyers paid an extra $120 if clients plead guilty at first court appearance
Martin Van Beynen (Stuff): Peter Ellis case forced court to confront how tikanga converges with common law
Melanie Reid, Bonnie Sumner, and Paul Enticott (Newsroom): The Peter Ellis case: Hysteria, and an arrest
Krystal Gibbens (Stuff): New Zealand’s ‘brutal’ family court system has to change – campaign
Tom Pearce (Stuff): We deserve better than empty ‘tough on crime’ rhetoric
David Farrar: How can Parliament reign in the Judiciary?
Hamish McNicol (NBR): Law Society elects new president following ‘difficult time’ (paywalled)
DRUG REFORM
Sarah Helm (Spinoff): Why Aotearoa should decriminalise cannabis and overturn convictions
Jarrod Gilbert (Herald): The way NZ handles cannabis makes us look like dopes (paywalled)
Family First: Why we shouldn’t be pardoning or decriminalising cannabis use in NZ
