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

CULTURE WARS, DISINFORMATION
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Rise in disinformation, conspiracy theories prompts calls for election protections
Thomas Cranmer: From Academic Research to News Headlines: The Disinformation Project’s Influence on New Zealand Media
Luke Malpass (Stuff): This election may be negative, but it won’t be about imported culture wars
Chris Lynch: The Disinformation Project: Guardians of truth or pawns in a political game?
David Fisher (Herald): Big read: The life and alternate realities of Chantelle Baker (paywalled)
David Farrar: Disinformation from the misinformers
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): According to the Ministry of Truth Disinformation Project you are all Transphobic Nazis & here comes a new $300million Spy Base
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): And here comes the Disinformation Project for Culture War Round 3 (Plunket is back on Twitter BTW)
Steven Joyce (Herald): Governing in the age of the social-media mob (paywalled)
Shaneel Lal (Herald): David Seymour backs freedom of speech – unless he disagrees
David Seymour (Herald): What free speech really is
RNZ: Police urge rainbow community to report threats, violence in wake of Posie Parker visit 
Julia de Bres (Stuff): The long shadow cast by the Posie Parker show
Sarah Sparks (Stuff): As trust in government declines, it’s time to get back to basics

MEDIA
Mark Jennings (Newsroom): Jackson’s Plan B for public media
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Mediawatch: Turning off the news?
Gavin Ellis: Terrorism, the media, and an awful dilemma
Caitlin Cherry (Stuff): Letter from the Wellington editor: We will not contribute to hateful discourse

ELECTION, MĀORI SEATS AND VOTE, POLLING
Michael Neilson (Herald): Willie Jackson on Labour’s campaign in Māori electorates as Te Pāti Māori threatens to take more seats (paywalled)
Taxpayer Union: New Poll: Māori Party Holds Balance Of Power, Henry VIII Power Grab, Time To End Beehive’s Lobbying Revolving Door
Herald: Māori Party holds balance of power in new poll – Labour and National both rise
Herald Editorial: Divisions in the electoral equations (paywalled)
Grant Duncan: Will Ilam give the Opportunities Party a chance?
Doug Laing (Herald): Labour Party calls for Napier candidate nominations
Puawai Hudson (Whakaata Māori): ‘The Māori or general roll has never been an option’ for Taranaki whānau 

LOBBYING, OIA
Ethan Sills (Herald): The Front Page: Do Kiwis need to pay more attention to the lobbyists targeting our politicians?
Cécile Meier (BusinessDesk): Delayed and forgotten OIAs – what we did not learn from Te Whatu Ora
Jim Tucker (Taranaki Daily News): Why the Official Information Act is a waste of journos’ time

GREENS
Chris Trotter (Interest): A test for The Greens
Claire Trevett (Herald): The Green Party and the Chloe Swarbrick crybaby crisis – Squid Games or Damp Squib Games? (paywalled)
Liam Hehir (The Blue Review): Terms of Reference: Investigation into “Crybaby” comments
Elle Hunt (Guardian): With a text message sent to the wrong group chat, New Zealand’s Greens have never been so relatable
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Dear Green Comrades – Chloe and Efeso need to be the co-leaders, NOT Elizabeth & Ricardo
Verity Johnson (Stuff): Why people bitch about Chlöe Swarbrick

PARLIAMENT, JACINDA ARDERN
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Points of Order: Jacinda Ardern leaves the House of ‘cry-babies’
Peter Wilson (RNZ): The Week in Politics: Former prime ministers rate Jacinda Ardern as she exits
Thomas Coughlan and Claire Trevett (Herald): Beehive Diaries: A visitor from Hollywood to Parliament – and why David Seymour was a no-show for Jacinda Ardern’s valedictory (paywalled)
John Roughan (Herald): Reflections on what we have lost with Jacinda Ardern’s departure
Tracy Watkins (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern has left the building – time to ditch the hate NZ
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Jacinda Ardern the Great of what? (paywalled)
Victor Billot (Newsroom): The final Ode for .. Jacinda Ardern
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Absolutely not the leaders’ state of the nation speeches
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Ministers reminded the clock is ticking on this govt (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): Money Talks: Roger Douglas on losing faith in all the parties – including Act

ECONOMY
Shane Te Pou (Herald): Christopher Luxon and David Seymour are asking minimum wage workers to tighten their belts (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): OCR hike: Do 74,000 people really have to lose their jobs to save economy?
Vernon Small (Stuff): What will you do now, Grant Robertson?
Brad Olsen (Stuff): The stakes are high and getting higher in the war on inflation
Liam Dann (Herald): It’s not Adrian Orr’s job to be popular – thank goodness (paywalled)
Duncan Garner (NBR): Let OCR work before the pain changes lives forever (paywalled)
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Kiwis still not saving for rainy day despite repeated warnings, says ANZ
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Why Māori Party Financial Transaction Tax and Green Party Wealth Tax are real solutions

POVERTY, INEQUALITY
Max Rashbrooke (Stuff): What you get when no-one is focused on the common interest
Michael Neilson (Herald): Child poverty: Government considered making child support pass-on policy ‘income’ for the child (paywalled)
Janet Wilson (Stuff): Complex retirement village laws well overdue for untangling
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Cost of living: Pensioners living in pain, skipping meals as inflation pushes essentials out of reach
Hinemoa Elder (Herald): Do you really need that superannuation increase? (paywalled)

BUSINESS, EMPLOYMENT
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Mortuary workers were exposed to potentially dangerous amounts of formaldehyde
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Kiwi job hunters have one thing on their mind – money
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): Law firm tries to clean up living wage act but contractor might’ve missed the memo (paywalled)
RNZ: Work on new Fire and Emergency complaints system proceeding slowly
Greg Ninness (Interest): Building materials supply pressures ease back almost to pre-Covid levels, price rises starting to abate
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Big banks’ mortgage serviceability test rates now start at 8.5% and rise above 9%
Jenny Ruth (BusinessDesk): Would RBNZ’s bank resolution work? No, say the experts (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Reservations on industry transformation plans (paywalled)
Christoph Schumacher (NBR): How Okun’s Law affects New Zealand (paywalled)

CLIMATE CHANGE, ENVIRONMENT
Robin Martin (RNZ): Government warned over toxic chemicals on beach decades before flow stopped
Michael Neilson (Herald): Climate change: NZ could face $24 billion bill to hit 2030 international Paris Agreement targets in carbon credits, officials warn
Simon Wilson (Herald): After Cyclone Gabrielle, it’s time to get serious about rewilding (paywalled)
Rod Oram (Newsroom): Humanity’s chaotic response to the climate crisis
Claire Charters (Stuff): Māori should be front and centre of climate change and weather disaster responses
David Williams (Newsroom): Mackenzie solar bid shines light on a classic tension
Matthew Ronsenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): ‘We haven’t learnt much’: Environmental advocate lays down challenge to councils over flood mitigation
Shaun Lee (Newsroom): Hauraki Gulf Marine Park no place for trawling
Jill Herron (Newsroom): Tarras airport looms large on greenies’ radar
Shanti Mathias (Spinoff): Why the latest report on extinction in New Zealand should make all of us worried
Maxine Jacobs (Stuff): Southland: The underdog that was crowned Trash Kingdom of Aotearoa

FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TRADE, DEFENCE
Geoffrey Miller (Democracy Project): Why New Zealand is getting closer to NATO
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): US keen for early gains from Biden’s new Indo-Pacific trade pact (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: Securing alliances with Aukus and Nato (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Navy moves towards extra base in Whangārei
Ben Leahy (Herald): New Zealand navy patrol ship sale: Decade-old boats deemed not fit for service, transferred to Ireland

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Welcome to Wayne’s world (paywalled)
Todd Niall (Stuff): Seven ways Auckland Council could earn more money
Todd Niall (Stuff): Wayne Brown tests relationships in his first half year as Auckland’s mayor
Erin Johnson (Stuff): Auckland mayor Wayne Brown talks about that budget and moving the port
Todd Niall and Erin Johnson (Stuff): Mayor Wayne Brown on his rational and ‘less rational’ Auckland councillors
Steven Walton (Press): Six months into his mayoralty, how is Phil Mauger doing as the leader of Christchurch?
Mike Yardley (Press): What is the obsession with trying to rebrand Christchurch?
Dave Armstrong (Dominion Post): Lamp roulette no laughing matter as authorities pass the buck
Tom Hunt (Dominion Post): Falling Wellington lamp problem first reared its head 22 months ago
Janhavi Gosavi (Spinoff): Why can’t I pee in the Wellington CBD?
RNZ: Wellington ratepayers face another steep rise
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Councils are transporting food scraps hundreds of kilometres as NZ tries to avoid dumping 350,000 tonnes of food waste into landfills each year

HERALD’S ‘PROJECT AUCKLAND’ SERIES
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Project Auckland: Mayor’s pragmatism lifts tempo
Herald: Project Auckland: Rebuilding with confidence (paywalled)
Tim McCready (Herald): Project Auckland: Opportunity costs lie in flood and cyclone response (paywalled)
Graham Skellern (Herald): Project Auckland: Kāinga Ora building in more resilience (paywalled)
Simon Bridges (Herald): Project Auckland: Infrastructure roadmap lacks informed decision-making (paywalled)

THREE WATERS
The Hui: Nanaia Mahuta left to defend Three Waters alone for too long – Chris Hipkins
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Four three waters entities to become 10 as reform options emerge (paywalled)
Steven Walton (Press): Airport and port fear being caught up in Three Waters, Govt says ‘no intent’
ODT: 3 Waters reform would take on $120m of council debt (paywalled)

TRANSPORT
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland harbour crossing: Chris Hipkins follows in the footsteps of Jacinda Ardern and promises light rail to Takapuna (paywalled)
Mike Lee (Newsroom): Auckland light rail’s legacy of strategic confusion
Mike Lee (Newsroom): How to build light rail, not bankrupt it
Farah Hancock (RNZ): Why are Auckland’s buses so routed?
Emma Hatton (Newsroom): Calls to scrap what’s left of speed limit reduction work

HOUSING
Sinead Gill (Stuff): ‘Scumlord’ who needs to be shut down, or housing crisis hero?
Ben Leahy (Herald): Orewa’s Strathmill housing development: Auckland councillor John Watson calls project ‘Wild West’ of poor planning
Erin Gourley (Stuff): Affordable housing developer gets $100k discount from council

COVID
Jamie Morton (Herald): Covid-19 may kill 1000 Kiwis, cause 10,000 hospitalisations in 2023 – Michael Baker
RNZ: Covid-19: Cabinet to consider whether to relax last restrictions
RNZ: Covid-19: Cabinet to consider whether to relax last restrictions
RNZ: Keep Covid-19 restrictions as is, epidemiologist Michael Baker says
Jamie Morton (Herald): Explained: Why ‘Kraken’ hasn’t caused another big Covid-19 wave in NZ (paywalled)
Siouxsie Wiles (Stuff): Bivalent Covid-19 booster gives added protection

EDUCATION
Gianina Schwanecke (Stuff): Fewer than half of students achieve UE, with only two thirds passing NCEA Level 1
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Low-decile kids risk ‘being a statistic’ due to school pool inequities
Penny Simmonds (Stuff): Mega-merger failure impacting polytech staff

OTHER
David Farrar: Another census disaster?
Jack Santa Barbara (Newsroom): Energy cannibalism will suck us dry
Trevor Richards (Spinoff): The Sunday Essay: The cancelled Springbok tour of 1973
Damien Grant (Stuff): When failings in romance should not determine a lawyer’s right to practise 
Alison Mau (Stuff): Baby born to a single gay man, thought to be NZ first
Matthew Ronsenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): ‘Stoked’: Relocatable homes arrive for some Tairāwhiti cyclone victims