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.
Today’s content
STUART NASH, OIA, LOBBYING
Tracy Watkins (Stuff): Stuart Nash scandal puts OIA and lobbyist laws in the spotlight
1News: Q+A: Nash saga erodes public’s trust in Govt – academic
David Fisher (Herald): Nash, National and the way politicians play games with the OIA (paywalled)
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Cock up over conspiracy? There is a more obvious explanation to the Stuart Nash scandal
Claire Trevett (Herald): PM Chris Hipkins has his worst week so far – how much has Nash affair hurt him? (paywalled)
Tim Watkin (Pundit): The Faulty Logic Of Stuart Nash & The Ombudsman’s Opportunity
Luke Malpass (Stuff): The Stuart Nash saga and Labour’s fight for political oxygen
Janet Wilson (Stuff): Questions about judgment swirl at worst time for Hipkins, Labour
Thomas Cranmer: Hipkins Struggles to Contain Official Information Act Scandal
No Right Turn: Investigating the culture of secrecy
Adam Pearse (Herald): Ombudsman reopens investigation into Stuart Nash’s OIA response, including redacted email
Newshub: Chief Ombudsman reopens investigation into former minister Stuart Nash’s refusal to release email
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Hipkins agrees to independent inquiry
Rebecca Stevenson (Interest): Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ email claims over Nash’s cabinet leak ‘doesn’t have any credibility’: TOP leader
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Stuart Nash donor Troy Bowker breaks his silence
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Prime Minister Chris Hipkins may announce minor Cabinet reshuffle as early as Monday after Stuart Nash axing
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says staffers made ‘mistake’ in handling of Stuart Nash email, had no ‘ill-intent’
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Chris Hipkins says it was ‘a cock up’, not ‘a conspiracy’, to overlook Stuart Nash donor emails
Herald: On the Tiles: Will the Stuart Nash drama resonate with voters?
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Timeline: The events that cost Stuart Nash his career, and how they unfolded
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Michael Wood fires back at National’s accusations on handling of Stuart Nash email
GOVT, PARLIAMENT, WEEK IN POLITICS
Peter Dunne: Prime Minister now faces an almighty challenge in trying to recapture control of the political agenda he and his government were enjoying barely a week ago
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Stuart Nash and Marama Davidson a headache for Chris Hipkins (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (Stuff): The week ahead in parliament: Jacinda Ardern to say goodbye, while questions around Nash won’t go away
Herald Editorial: Political landscape strewn with debacle (paywalled)
Simon Shepherd: Newshub Nation: Political panel discusses Nash, the economy, and cyclone-recovery
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Week in Politics: For Labour’s sake, Nash must go
Brent Edwards (NBR): Stuart Nash, white cis men, bus drivers, Jacinda Ardern
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Beehive Diaries: Parties, parties, parties (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Roy Morgan Poll – Hung Parliament – Māori Party are Kingmakers!
Grant Duncan: Māori voters
Wena Harawira (Whakaata Māori): More new and younger voters on Māori roll – Taonui
1News: Q+A: National’s election chair pins poor poll results on cyclone, new PM
Mike Williams (Hawke’s Bay Today): Election looks set to be closely fought contest
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Week of House firsts for southern MPs (paywalled)
RNZ: Little boxes: MPs and their offices
Gray Gibson (Newshub): Newshub Nation Backstory: Māori-Pasifika Green MP Teanau Tuiono
Jonah Franke-Bowell (Stuff): Georgie Dansey selected as Labour candidate for Hamilton East
JACINDA ARDERN
Kevin Norquay (Stuff): How will history recall Jacinda Ardern as PM?
Audrey Young (Herald): Remarkable or shambolic? Four PMs give their verdicts on Jacinda Ardern’s legacy (paywalled)
Mike Munro (Herald): For Jacinda Ardern, what a wild ride it’s been (paywalled)
MARAMA DAVIDSON
Steven Cowan: The disastrous politics of Marama Davidson
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The political danger of the Green Party war on white cis males
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The war on white cis males begins and it is publicly funded!
Paula Bennett (Herald): Marama Davidson should apologise to white cis men and those who are offended on their behalf (paywalled)
ECONOMY, BUSINESS, EMPLOYMENT, COST OF LIVING
Matt Nippert (Herald): Taxman starts clawing back Covid millions (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Stuff): Recession warning: ‘Banks will find it increasingly difficult to be lenient’
Liam Dann (Herald): Economic pain about to get real as job losses mount (paywalled)
Brian Easton (Pundit): Why Are We Making So Little Progress Towards Reducing Child Poverty?
Rob Stock (Stuff): Living wage rises by 9.9% to $26 as cost of living crisis bites
Rachel Maher (Herald): Living wage set to increase in September to $26 as Kiwis feel inflation pinch
Damien Venuto (Herald): All the cash boosts Kiwis will get from 1 April – The Front Page
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): National, ACT want support for ‘ordinary taxpayer’ as Government hikes minimum wage, benefits, Superannuation
RNZ: Holidays Act overhaul delayed again
RNZ: Hospital staff to receive long-awaited unpaid backpay
Simon Shepherd and Gray Gibson (Newshub): Jo Cribb from Mind The Gap NZ urges Chris Hipkins’ Government to introduce pay transparency
1News: New Zealand strippers allege exploitation and wage theft
Simon Shepherd and Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Superannuation age: Debate flares over future of pension, call for it to be raised to 70, not given to rich
William Hewett (Newshub): Cost of living: Economist Brad Olsen says NZ’s superannuation age needs to be urgently reviewed
Michael Daly (Stuff): How much better or worse than the NZ version is the pension system the French are fighting to keep
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Here’s what the Reserve Bank doesn’t want you to know about its OCR decision this week
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): Reserve Bank will hike to 5%, highest in 14 years (paywalled)
Dan Brunskill (Interest): The Reserve Bank of NZ will likely lift the Official Cash Rate 25 basis points on Wednesday and give little else away
Warren Couillault (BusinessDesk): Reserve Bank ‘jawboning’ must continue (paywalled)
Jonathan Mitchell (NBR): Disaster economics: How NZ responds to shocks (paywalled)
IMMIGRATION, MIGRANT WORKERS
Steve Kilgallon (Stuff): Auckland farm’s ‘human trafficking’: $7 an hour, and a house ‘unfit for a dog’
Richard Harman (Politik): Immigration doesn’t check (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (Stuff): Government aims for better transparency in NZ’s immigration decisions
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TRADE, ASYLUM SEEKERS
1News: Q+A: Fears NZ will follow world on asylum seeker policy
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Defence Minister: ‘Independence is not isolationism’
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Closer ties for New Zealand with NATO ‘a logical fit’
Anna Whyte (Stuff): Nanaia Mahuta to attend Nato meeting of foreign ministers
Herald: Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta to attend Nato meeting ahead of potential Russian counteroffensive in Ukraine
1News: Nanaia Mahuta to attend NATO meeting in Brussels this week
Marco de Jong & Arama Rata (E-Tangata): Resist AUKUS — Protect Hawaiki
Steven Ratuva (E-Tangata): Protecting our Pacific mana
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Government sanctions Russian children’s commissioner over relocation of Ukrainian children
RNZ: Government announces new sanctions against Russia, Belarus
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): A little confidence-booster in nervous times (paywalled)
Tim Groser (BusinessDesk): UK joining CPTPP gives us a giant insurance policy (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Stuff): United Kingdom to join trans-Pacific free trade agreement
RNZ: Britain to join CPTPP Pacific trade pact this year
Simon Bridges (NBR): Passage to India? (paywalled)
EDUCATION
Peter O’Connor (Newsroom): The last thing schools need is National’s dull, narrow curriculum
David Cooke (Herald): National’s education policy shows politicians learn at different speeds (paywalled)
Michael Johnston (Newsroom): Ideology trumps evidence at the Ministry of Education
Amy Wiggins (Herald): Education Minister Jan Tinetti considering transition period for new NCEA literacy and numeracy tests (paywalled)
John Gerritsen (RNZ): ‘Kids were disillusioned’ – Pacific teachers worried about new NCEA test rates
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Low staff morale and hundreds of job losses but Te Pūkenga boss adamant polytech merger was the right move
RNZ: Union furious as hundreds of mainly managerial jobs set to be axed at Te Pūkenga
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Enrolments fall at all five North Island universities, record numbers at Canterbury
Titus Lambert-Lane (ODT): Move from European languages to te reo Māori
THREE WATERS
Kate MacNamara (Herald): Thirsty Work: Three Waters consultant and contractor spend gushes past $50 million (paywalled)
John Roughan (Herald): Decision on Three Waters needed to prevent regret in October (paywalled)
Yashas Srinivasa (Timaru Herald): Three Waters could cause ‘massive operational issues’ by draining staff from councils
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Gordon’s Campbell: On Auckland’s dysfunctional mayor, and air travel chaos
Anne Gibson (Herald): Auckland Council $295m budget hole: Five-building cost-cutting retreat underway (paywalled)
Anne Gibson (Herald): Vast Auckland change: 307ha land rezoning application from Super Fund, Māori
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Councillors vote to lower helicopter noise limits on Hauraki Gulf islands
Erin Johnson (Stuff): Councillor tells ‘Champagne hamper’ folk to catch bus to heliport
Michael Fallow (Southland Times): Invercargill council seeks public view on voting systems
Michael Fallow (Southland Times): Net-zero carbon emissions can be done, says Invercargill deputy mayor
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Gore mayor Ben Bell walked out of meeting addressing issues between him and council chief executive
RNZ: Gore District Council conflict: Local Government NZ aware of issues
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): ‘Traumatic time’: Gore’s councillors discussed ‘vote of no confidence’ in Ben Bell
David Williams (Newsroom): Underpaid council staff leave in droves
Keiler MacDuff (Stuff): Bid to make Environment Canterbury meetings more open closed to the public
HEALTH
William Hewett (Newshub): National MP Erica Stanford says axing of Te Whatu Ora staff shows Govt is out of touch and ‘distracted’
Stephen Forbes (Local Democracy Reporting): National calls for Te Whatu Ora to release nationwide staff survey results
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Do what I do: Double jabs for PM and health minister as winter looms
RNZ: Prime Minister gets flu and Covid vaccinations at community event
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Family doctors fear losing staff as GP nurses not included in pay parity package
Wena Harawira (Whakaata Māori): No pay rise for nurses in primary care and Māori health providers
RNZ: Nearly two thirds of GPs plan to retire in next 10 years
Sarah Rhodes (Newsroom): Beyond the Soapbox: Time for Govt to put up money on Long Covid
Olivia Shivas (Stuff): Disabled man stuck in hospital for 3 months with nowhere to go
Waimanea Nuri (Whakaata Māori): ‘My heart is excited’: Te Teko war veterans to receive health care from Te Puna Ora o Mataatua
MEDIA
Kelly Dennett (Stuff): As Today FM implodes, why can’t New Zealand get the news right?
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Today FM turned off – and erased
RNZ: Powerful rival Newstalk ZB and fixed listener habits led to Today FM’s failure – editor
1News: Today FM a victim of short-term corporate strategy – expert
Hayden Donnell (RNZ): Today FM goes up in flames after on-air explosion
Duncan Garner (Stuff): Dead man talking: Duncan Garner opens up
Rachel Smalley (NBR): Here Today, gone tomorrow
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Tova and Today the canaries in the economic mine
Raphael Franks (Herald): Today FM closure: No redundancy pay for several contracted radio stars
James Halpin (Stuff): Who is on the MediaWorks board that axed Today FM?
James Halpin (Stuff): MediaWorks backtracks after broadcasting wrong information on Today FM closure
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Stuff): Gone by lunchtime: The story of the last 24 hours at Today FM
Katie Harris (Herald): RNZ presenter Māni Dunlop tells listeners ‘when you don’t get the top job, it’s time to go elsewhere’
POSIE PARKER RALLY, FREE SPEECH
Damien Grant (Stuff): We’re having a free speech moment. It isn’t going well
RNZ: Mediawatch: Media mismatch on an ‘out-of-control mob’
Ian Powell: Class, transphobia and ‘street democracy’
Thomas Cranmer: Violent Suppression of Free Speech: Kellie-Jay Keen’s Assault by Transgender Activists in New Zealand Sparks Global Outrage
ENERGY
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Lake Onslow estimated to cost between $8b and $28b, depending what’s included
Jill Herron (Newsroom): Lake Onslow battery losing its charge
Anna Whyte (Stuff): National promises to ‘turbocharge’ renewable energy development
RNZ: Luxon takes aim at red tape in ambitious plan to boost renewable energy production
EXTREME WEATHER
Tom Dillane (Herald): Inside Waka Kotahi the night of Auckland’s floods: Damage control, urgent requests from Govt ministers (paywalled)
Todd Niall (Stuff): Review of Auckland Council’s flood response is a month late, and still no sign
RNZ: Government cyclone business recovery fund over-subscribed as some concerned they’ll miss out
Jemima Huston (RNZ): Concerns about companies looking to buy up cyclone-damaged homes
CLIMATE CHANGE
Herald Editorial: Sign of the times underscores climate’s importance in election (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Treasury warns of skyrocketing bills if carbon price used to cut emissions
Guy Trafford (Interest): If democracy doesn’t deliver, maybe the common law will
Greg Hurrell (BusinessDesk): NZ glaciers melting away: ‘You’d be shocked’ (paywalled)
Shane Te Pou (Herald): We need climate change-aware policies from all political parties (paywalled)
SLASH INQUIRY, PRIMARY INDUSTRIES
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Member of group advising Government on improving health of Hauraki Gulf resigns after criticism, ideas shut down
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): MPI are nothing more than gimps for fishing industry interests and this political cowardice is rife throughout Government agencies!
Gary Hamilton-Irvine (Herald): Calls intensify for slash inquiry to include all of Hawke’s Bay after sacking and resignation (paywalled)
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Logging trucks using closed bypass road – Tokomaru Bay local
Sally Round (RNZ): Golden Bay farmer opposes virtual fencing
TREATY OF WAITANGI
Alistair Reese (E-Tangata): Restoring the mana of the Treaty
Robin Martin (RNZ): ‘No more Egmont’ – Taranaki Maunga officially welcomed at treaty settlement
Craig Ashworth (Local Democracy Reporting): Crown agrees to give up Taranaki Maunga, admitting failure and harm
HOUSING
1News: Q+A: National ‘open to’ changes to housing intensification accord – Bishop
Ashleigh McCaull (RNZ): ‘Get out of the way’ and let Māori help whānau – Housing advocate
TRANSPORT
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): The two big risks of Auckland’s new harbour crossing (paywalled)
Eric Crampton: Everyone is stupid except me: Auckland harbour crossing edition
RNZ: New Auckland harbour crossing: Tunnel and tolls would support economic productivity – National Road Carriers Association
Farah Hancock (RNZ): The ‘crisis’ of our urban bus networks: Hundreds of services cancelled every day
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland bus drivers eke out further pay rise, but not quite $30 an hour
POLICE
Jarrod Gilbert (Herald): Mums, meth and mahi – a new focus for policing (paywalled)
Giles Dexter (RNZ): New Police Minister Ginny Andersen in opposition’s sights
OTHER
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Government has been secretly building a $300m data centre at an Auckland air force base
Roger Partridge (Stuff): Three strikes against David Parker’s RMA reforms
RNZ: Whakaari eruption: WorkSafe to cover NEMA’s $40,000 court action charge
Kelvin McDonald (Whakaata Māori): Vatican’s rejection of ‘racist’ doctrine justifying colonisation ‘not enough’ – advocate
Ethan Griffiths (Open Justice Reporting): Colin Craig’s latest defamation claim fails, court rules he sexually harassed press secretary
