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
POLITICAL FINANCE AND LOBBYING
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Why Labour is starting to look a little grubby
1News: Q+A: Allan defends decision not to declare Meng Foon conflict of interest
Benedict Collins (1News): Race Relations Commissioner donated thousands to Labour’s Kiri Allan
1News: Allan declares ‘perceived conflict of interest’ after Foon donation
1News: Who is Meng Foon and how does he know Kiri Allan?
1News: Nats say Govt doesn’t understand ‘public sector neutrality’
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Race Relations Commissioner under fire for financial support of Labour MP
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon donated to both Labour and National
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon ‘comfortable’, believes he can be independent after donation to Labour’s Kiri Allan revealed
Jamie Ensor and Amanda Gilles (Newshub): Human Rights Commission ‘carefully’ assessing reports of Meng Foon’s political donations, Kiri Allan updates conflict of interest info
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon made $1000 donation to National in same month as money to Labour
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Kiri Allan vs Meng Foon vs Barbara Kuriger
Greg Presland (The Standard): Much ado about nothing
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): Will new rules address lobbying conflicts of interest? (paywalled)
Thomas Coiughlan (Herald): Government makes changes to Cabinet Manual: New lobbying and royal honours rules
ELECTION, PARLIAMENT
Vernon Small (Stuff): National is no friend of change, but the devil is in the detail
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Purged, punted and pruned: the Chris Hipkins reprioritisation in full
Liam Dann (Herald): Money Talks: Raf Manji – The Opportunities Party leader on why he wants to do politics differently
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The problem with using Identity as the only lens for the Green Party List selection
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of Green MP Elizabeth Kerekere (paywalled)
Shaneel Lal (Herald): ‘I am not convinced Christopher Luxon will serve all New Zealanders’
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Beehive Diaries: Christopher Luxon gets a dairy farm lesson and Prime Minister wins a bet
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Week in Politics: Education, agriculture and MPs behaving badly
Alison Mau (Stuff): The demise of Stephen Jack, and why words actually do matter
Andrew Gunn (Stuff): ‘Dear would-be candidate, do you pinky-promise that you are telling the truth?’
Nick Truebridge (Newshub): Otago locals react to National candidate Stephen Jack’s resignation after social media controversy
Jim Tucker (Taranaki Daily News): Voting and the trouble at the top end of political parties
Johnny Blades (RNZ): Long game: activism at Parliament
Newshub Nation: Labour MP Priyanca Radhakrishnan shares her backstory
TRANS TASMAN CITIZENSHIP DEAL
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Jacinda Ardern’s Australian campaign delivers for Kiwis (paywalled)
Felix Desmarais (1News): Analysis: Citizenship rights for Kiwis in Aus will benefit Kiwis at home
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Trans-Tasman testiness over citizenship resolved, but nuclear sensitivities remain
Michael Neilson (Herald): Hipkins, Albanese bond over sausage diplomacy after citizenship deal, but tough questions remain (paywalled)
Michael Neilson (Herald): Citizenship pathway for Kiwis signals new chapter in trans-Tasman ‘family’; Australia makes moves on indigenous rights (paywalled)
Felix Desmarais (1News): Analysis: Aus citizenship pathway a massive win for fairness
Jo Moir (Newsroom): The days of politely begging for better Kiwi rights in Oz are over
Tracy Watkins (Stuff): The very big fish hook in Aussie’s trans-Tasman citizenship deal
Jack Tame (Newstalk ZB): The hidden pitfall in the citizenship deal for Kiwis in Australia
Jessica Mutch McKay (1News): Hipkins at ease on Australia trip
William Hewett (Newshub): Brad Olsen believes new Australia citizenship deal doesn’t ‘move the dial’ enough to see brain drain
Molly Swift (Newshub): Australia’s major visa changes could open floodgates for Kiwis to migrate across the ditch – commentators
1News: Fears of brain drain downplayed with lure of Australian citizenship
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Chris Hipkins and Anthony Albanese deny citizenship changes for Kiwis in Australia will lead to New Zealand brain drain
Grant Duncan: ANZAC Day
Felix Desmarais (1News): Kiwis in Australia will have pathway to citizenship
Amy Remeikis (Guardian): Chris Hipkins hails ‘biggest in a generation’ citizenship reforms for New Zealanders in Australia
Giles Dexter (RNZ): ‘Injustices have been reversed’: Citizenship pathway reveal met with elation
Felix Desmarais (1News): ‘New Australian Kiwis optimistic for those who follow
Felix Desmarais (1News): ‘A weight lifted off my shoulders’: Kiwi in Aus on citizenship changes
Thomas Manch (Stuff): ‘Blimmin’ good day’: PM Chris Hipkins celebrates Australia citizenship for Kiwis
1News: Hipkins: ‘Blimmin’ good day for Kiwis living in Australia’
1News: Hipkins welcomes drop in Australian 501 deportations
1News: Hipkins and Albanese meet after historic citizenship announcement
RNZ: Prime ministers Chris Hipkins and Anthony Albanese speak in Brisbane: ‘True friends have equal relations’
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Newshub Nation: New Zealand has ‘no plans for AUKUS at this point in time’ – Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni
Matthew Hooton (The Australian): Trade, AUKUS more important to Chris Hipkins than NZ crims in Australia (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The New OZ/NZ relationship as war drums sound in Pacific: Winners, Losers & Predictions
Thomas Manch (Stuff): UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly cancels Wellington meetings over Sudan crisis
Tess McClure (Guardian): Britain’s top diplomat James Cleverly skips part of Pacific tour to focus on Sudan
Mihai Sora (Guardian): British foreign minister’s belated visit to the Pacific a welcome counter to Chinese influence
THREE WATERS
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Kieran McAnulty admits Three Waters is undemocratic (paywalled)
John Roughan (Herald): There’s something murky in the water reform (paywalled)
Brian Easton (Pundit): Watering Down Three Waters?
Connie Buchanan (E-Tangata): Carwyn Jones: The value of sharing the decision-making
Steven Joyce (Herald): Three Waters ‘reform’? It’s like arguing that black is white (paywalled)
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Council loses $381m cash payout in Three Waters change
Diane McCarthy (Local Democracy Reporting): Ōpōtiki to lose over $14 million in funding after Three Waters changes
Rob Scott (Southland Times): ‘Even the hardest puzzles have a solution’
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Erin Gourley (Dominion Post): Wellington mayor’s first six months: No sign yet of the promised transformation
Damien Grant (Stuff): You may not love him, but at least Wayne Brown is trying to do what he said he would
Erin Johnson and Todd Niall (Stuff): Wayne Brown proposes big changes to how Auckland is governed
RNZ: Government may be forced to intervene in Gore council stoush – expert
Vaneesa Bellew (Newsroom): Gore council war could outlast inquiry
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Gore mayor Ben Bell says he felt like ‘a council of one’, CEO Steve Parry says their relationship is ‘irreparable’
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Gore Mayor Ben Bell and rift with CEO: Inside the relationship breakdown tearing a town apart (paywalled)
Jared McCulloch (1News): ‘Shambolic’ – Details emerge of public-excluded Gore Council meeting
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Former Gore mayor Tracy Hicks will not stand in by-election
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Leaked emails reveal tension between councils after ‘basket case’ comments
Laura Smith (Local Democracy Reporting): Rotorua Lakes Council jobs on the line under draft Annual Plan, confidential report shows
Craig Ashworth (Local Democracy Reporting): Iwi owner keen on co-management of beach reserve
TAX, BUDGET
Max Rashbrooke (Stuff): What’s really going on behind the scenes of the latest tax battles?
1News: Q+A: Expert: Some parts of NZ tax system unfair ‘by design’
Claire Trevett (Herald): The enemy PM Chris Hipkins has to avoid – confusion over Labour’s tax plans (paywalled)
Terry Baucher (Interest): Shots fired in the debate over the true tax burden in New Zealand, and lessons from FATCA
Herald: On the Tiles: What can we expect from Budget 2023?
ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Reserve Bank’s attention turns to Government’s tax and spend plans (paywalled)
Susan St John (Daily Blog): A prayer to the god of small things
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): Degrowth is not glamorous (paywalled)
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Auckland University’s Tim Hazledine offers a range of suggestions to help the Reserve Bank fight inflation
Warren Couillault (BusinessDesk): The R Word: bad news, NZ, this is what’s coming (paywalled)
RNZ: ‘Inflation in New Zealand has peaked’ – Kiwibank economist
Cameron Bagrie (BusinessDesk): A credit rating adjustment wake-up call likely on the horizon for NZ (paywalled)
Oliver Hartwich (NZ Initiative): Supercharge NZ with supply-side reforms
Tina Morrison (Stuff): Fuel tax subsidy won’t be extended beyond June deadline, Robertson says
Conor Whitten (1News): Cost of living hitting pensioners in the pocket
Annabelle Parata Vaughan (Critic Te Ārohi): Opinion: The System Isn’t Broken
EDUCATION
Kevin Norquay (Stuff): Covid’s created a long-tailed education crisis, says AUT vice chancellor Damon Salesa
Annabelle Parata Vaughan (Critic Te Ārohi): Crushing the Critic and Conscience: How Neoliberalism and Inadequate Funding is harming Higher Education
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Bosses to blame, say Otago University staff
RNZ: Otago University ‘just doesn’t have any financial resilience’ – union
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): ‘The hard work starts now’: Otago University yet to confirm which jobs on chopping block
Lee Kenny and Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Several hundred jobs to go at University of Otago as student numbers plunge
Hanna McCallum (Stuff): Wellington’s Victoria University not ruling out redundancies as enrolments fall
Sam Sacheva (Newsroom): Victoria University grilled by US regulator over political predictions site
Iris Hehir (Critic Te Ārohi): Faux Poverty
Virginia Fallon (Stuff): Students caught cheating with ChatGPT offered amnesty for confession
Gavin Brown (Stuff): Not worse, but not better: The challenge of raising student achievement in Aotearoa
Finlay Dunseath (Stuff): Primary school principals to begin 2-month ban on after hours work
Gabrielle McCulloch (Stuff): ‘Exhausted’ teachers tired of being ‘political footballs’ as election looms
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Rolling strikes, home learning still on cards as teachers’ pay dispute rumbles on
RNZ: Strikes loom as students head back to secondary classrooms
Gabrielle McCulloch (Stuff): Kids still ‘trickling’ into school as term 2 set to start
HOUSING
David Hargreaves (Interest): NZ housing crises – bring on the next one
Sam Stubbs (Stuff): Would a land tax help solve our housing problem?
Anne Gibson (Herald): Environment Minister allows Auckland Council reprieve on Government intensification push after floods, cyclone (paywalled)
EMPLOYMENT, MIGRANT WORKERS, BUSINESS
RNZ: Almost half of employers pay KiwiSaver as part of total wages – survey
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Death by dust: New Zealand may be on the cusp of a silicosis epidemic
Liam Dann (Herald): Is immigration the biggest policy U-turn in NZ history? (paywalled)
RNZ: Accredited work visa businesses have until July to deal with immigration matters – lawyer
HEALTH
Martin Van Beynen (Stuff): Health contractor already paid over $1m earns another $600k filling interim management roles
Maddison Gourley (Stuff): Gore and Lumsden drinking water samples breach nitrate standards
1News: Q+A: Kiri Allan says further alcohol law reforms not off the table
Ian Powell (BusinessDesk): Rob Campbell: a good person trying to make a bad system work (paywalled)
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Nurses plead for more staff as violence and abuse surge in hospitals
Jan Rivers (Herald): Questions mount around the use of puberty blockers for children (paywalled)
Dale Husband (E-Tangata): David Tipene-Leach: I wanted to make change
Katie Stevenson (1News): Dame Sue Bagshaw steps aside after 28 years leading Chch youth health centre
Siouxsie Wiles (Stuff): Low immunisation rates mean measles is on the march
COVID, PARLIAMENT PROTEST
Seni Iasona (Newshub): Police Commissioner Andrew Coster reveals why conversation with politicians about Parliament occupation made him ‘uncomfortable’
1News: ‘We got complacent’ – Police Assn president on Parliament protest
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Officers sent to quell Parliament protest with ‘gardening gloves’, borrowed gear
Anna Whyte (Stuff): Potential for violence if Ardern had talked to Parliament protesters: Expert
David Farrar: So what is undue influence?
Herald Editorial: Parliament protest a wake-up call (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The IPCA review into the Parliament Lawn violence is a white wash
Stuff: Most unvaccinated teachers lost jobs, haven’t returned to profession, court told
MEDIA
Hayden Donnell and Colin Peacock (RNZ): What’s the government’s post-merger media plan?
Colin Peacock (RNZ): New regional news network seeks reporters and backers
Duncan Greive (Spinoff): The big dreams and cursed history of NZ’s abandoned youth media brands
Heald: What the Actual?! NZ Herald launches Gen Z news service – exclusive to social media
Katie Harris (Herald): Today FM’s latest ‘consultation’ meeting: Journalists, newsreaders told to reapply for jobs
PRIMARY INDUSTRIES, FORESTRY SLASH
Newshub Nation: National MP Nicola Grigg defends controversial live animal export policy
Reuters: Last live animal export shipped as ban takes effect
Rod Oram (Newsroom): The planet burns on a bonfire of farming regulations
David Williams (Newsroom): Councils’ winter grazing approach raises concern
Katie Doyle (Stuff): Land rights group takes forestry concerns to UN
Jessica Roden (1News): Marlborough Sounds homeowners pay to remove logs that destroyed properties
Jem Traylen (BusinessDesk): Fishing industry calls for wider inquiry into impacts of erosion (paywalled)
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): Relief may be coming for farmers as costs ease (paywalled)
JUSTICE, CRIME
Newshub: Police Minister Ginny Andersen says she doesn’t feel unsafe going out
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Government pumps another $9 million into small retail crime prevention programme as ram raids continue
Jamie Ensor and Ashleigh Yates (Newshub): Government plans new legislation to support victims of sexual violence in courts
1News: More support for sexual assault victims in court – Govt
Emma Hatton (Newsroom): Government considers funding child UN complainants
ENVIRONMENT
David Hall (Stuff): What if we think about native forests as public infrastructure?
Catherine Hubbard (Stuff): Concern over decline in third of Tasman district’s monitored waterways
Benjamin Plummer (Herald): ‘It’s time to take action’: Greenpeace and Forest & Bird protest bottom trawling in Hauraki Gulf at Auckland’s Mission Bay
RNZ: Protesters take aim at bottom trawling in Hauraki Gulf
Kelvin McDonald (Whakaata Māori): Protest against bottom trawling of Hauraki Gulf gets underway
Deena Coster (Taranaki Daily News): Watchdog gives big tick for compliance at controversial city site
Brendon McMahon (Local Democracy Reporting): Stop banks ‘strangle’ West Coast river over 60 years
Maia Hart (Local Democracy Reporting): Strong push’ from community pays off as air quality monitoring stations approved for Picton
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Climate change risks to Bay of Plenty spelt out in region’s first report
EXTREME WEATHER
Adam Pearse (Herald): Will you live in your cyclone-hit home again? Minister details three categories to decide future
Fiona Connor (1News): Why has Red Cross spent just $3m of $21m Cyclone Gabrielle cash?
DEFENCE
Whena Owen (1News): With retention rates plummeting, how can NZ keep soldiers?
Aaron Smale (Newsroom): Nuclear test veterans seek recognition
Kim Baker Wilson (1News): NZ Defence Force contingent heading to London for King’s coronation
TRANSPORT
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): New Auckland Harbour crossing may not include extra traffic lanes
Erin Gourley (Dominion Post): Supermarket giant threatens legal action over Wellington cycleways
RNZ: Seafarers rally over Maersk decision to pull New Zealand coastal service
OTHER
1News: Q+A: Kiri Allan insists she’s committed to hate speech laws
Janet Wilson (Stuff): Retirement village life may be happy, but it’s not necessarily fair
Newshub Nation: Woman reveals harrowing realities of online gambling addiction as Government faces pressure to regulate
Moana Maniapoto (E-Tangata): Rob Campbell: We know the problem and we know the solution
James Perry (Whakaata Māori): UN forum hears concerns about slow progress of UNDRIP in Aotearoa
Ross Palethorpe (Spinoff): The Sunday Essay: The longest month
