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

BUDGET
Grant Duncan (The Conversation): Wellbeing is so last year – Labour’s ‘no frills’ budget points to an uninspiring NZ election
Kate Prickett (The Conversation): NZ is finally making progress on child poverty – but a ‘no frills’ budget puts that at risk
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Less is more for Finance Minister Grant Robertson in his sixth Budget (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): Budget 2023 explainer: What it does, why it matters to you (paywalled)
Hanna McCallum, Jo Lines-MacKenzie and Nadine Roberts, Tatiana Gibbs, Justin Wong (Post): Overwhelmed and crushed: The faces of those struggling to survive
Susan Edmunds (Post): Tax questions: Seven proposals likely to be in the spotlight this election (paywalled)
Brigitte Morten (NBR): Grant Robertson’s sixth Budget a small-target one (paywalled)
Gareth Hughes (Post): Budget challenge is to deliver wellbeing for today and tomorrow
Chlöe Swarbrick (Herald): New Zealand needs Govt’s bread and butter Budget to be bold, not beige
Robert McCulloch: Finance Minister Grant Robertson must resign: he’s lost interest in the job
Callum Purves (Post): If the Government really wants to tackle cost of living, it needs to kick its spending habit (paywalled)
Mana Wikaire-Lewis (Whakaata Māori): ‘Fairly balanced approach’ to Budget 2023 – Hipkins
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Don’t forget the climate, government warned ahead of Budget
Damien Venuto (Herald): The Front Page: What nurses and teachers want from Budget 2023
Damien Venuto (Herald): Stock Takes podcast: ANZ economist on what Government needs to focus on in Budget 2023
Nick Leggett (Herald): Budget 2023: What Infrastructure NZ wants to see on Thursday (paywalled)
Nicola Gaston (Spinoff): The research sector needs investment now – for the good of our planet and people
Chris Keall (Herald): Budget 2023: What the tech industry wants – and what you need (paywalled)
RNZ: PM Chris Hipkins on National’s fiscal transparency policy: ‘They need to actually put out their plan’
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Political leaders embrace higher debt ahead of Budget 2023 deficit

PARLIAMENT, ELECTION
Anna Whyte (Stuff): Whiskey, Billy Joel and a helicopter flight: List of MPs’ property interests and gifts released
Gordon Campbell: On trying to pass National on the right
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): 60-60 vision: What happens if the election is a dead heat?
RNZ: Christopher Luxon touts ‘tremendous progress’ as personal polling falls
William Hewett (Newshub): Marama Davidson says National would have to do ‘backwards turn’ to work with Greens
Felix Desmarais (1News): ‘Don’t tell us what to do’: Waititi hits back at Hipkins
Corina Shields (Plain Sight): Māori MPs – are they really the representation Māori need?
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): Where, how and why Māori vote will decide 2023 election
Jem Traylen (BusinessDesk): The Business of Government: carbon, holiday pay and more… (paywalled)
David Farrar: The Rest is Politics on Mark Mitchell

LOAFERS LODGE FIRE TRAGEDY
Thomas Manch (Post): Hostel fire poses first major test for Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau (paywalled)
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Loafers Lodge had a building WOF, but what exactly does that mean?
RNZ: Loafers Lodge fire: Engineer wants safety rules revamped
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Why were there no sprinklers in Loafer’s Lodge, Wellington?
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Why Loafers Lodge didn’t have sprinklers – and Wellington firefighters’ fears over ageing trucks (paywalled)
Anne Gibson (Herald): Wellington fire: What fire protection systems or features were in deadly Wellington Loafers Lodge? (paywalled)
Nicholas Boyack and Erin Gourley (The Post): Did the alarms sound for fatal Loafers Lodge fire? Residents tell of confusion (paywalled)
Hanna McCallum and Bess Manson (Post): Loafers Lodge housed some of Wellington’s ‘most vulnerable’
Michael Neilson (Herald): Newtown Wellington fire tragedy: MPs speak after lives lost, ask questions about building code, lack of sprinkler systems
Leighton Heikell (Newshub): Loafers Lodge fire: Survivors of Wellington hostel fire raise questions over its safety systems
RNZ: Prime Minister Chris Hipkins on fatal Wellington hostel fire: ‘It is a horrific situation’
RNZ: Wellington hostel fire: Luxon offers ‘thoughts and prayers’ to victims and families
1News: ‘I am very, very angry’: MPs reflect on Wellington hostel tragedy
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Wellington hostel fire: Parliament offers condolences for victims, praise for responders
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Rongotai MP Paul Eagle on the hostel fire: ‘I knew it probably would be Loafers Lodge’
Glenn McConnell (Post): Loafers Lodge fire an indictment and tragedy, MPs say, as focus turns to cause (paywalled)
1News: A ‘dark day’ for Wellington – Mayor on tragic hostel fire
RNZ: Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau praises Loafers Lodge emergency responders
Bill HIckman (RNZ): Wellington rallies to help displaced survivors of fatal hostel blaze
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Police to enter gutted Wellington hostel after green light from Fire and Emergency
RNZ: Wellington hostel fire: What you need to know
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington fire: ‘We’re all battling’ says building owner

STUART NASH TEXTS TO POLICE COMMISSIONER
Benedict Collins (1News): Bang gang members’ ‘bloody heads together’ – Nash’s text to Police Commissioner
Adam Pearse (Herald): Sacked minister Stuart Nash texts to Police Commissioner contradicted PM’s comments on cyclone crime
RNZ: Communications between police minister Stuart Nash and police commissioner Andrew Coster released

EDUCATION
Amelia Wade: Newshub-Reid Research poll: Kiwis send resounding message to Jan Tinetti over literacy and numeracy
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Pandemic had little effect on Kiwi kids’ test scores by end of 2020 – report
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Reading level of 10-year-olds tested against international counterparts
Stephen Ward (Waikato Times): Sack the boss and the board – ex-Te Pūkenga exec’s petition heads to Parliament (paywalled)

FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Daniel Falcone (Counterpunch): The Challenges of New Zealand and Progressive Foreign Policy in a Multipolar World
Richard Prebble (Herald): The new Cold War in New Zealand’s Pacific patch (paywalled)
Christine Rovoi (Stuff): Top Papua New Guinea official quits ahead of Joe Biden’s visit as US eyes defence pact to counter China
Stephen Knowles and John Crump (Newsroom): Where NZ doesn’t pull its weight on the world stage
Eda Tang (Stuff): Petition calling for New Zealand to recognise Palestine as a state delivered to Parliament
Eric Frykberg (Interest): Govt treks on despite tough environment for trade deals

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
1News: Gore mayor Ben Bell survives symbolic no confidence vote
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Vote of no confidence in Gore mayor Ben Bell not passed
RNZ: Vote of no confidence in Gore Mayor Ben Bell fails to get support
RNZ: Christchurch told to chlorinate its drinking water after bid for exemption
RNZ: Timaru District Council buys gang pad, immediately tears it down
Brooke Black (Timaru Herald): Council buys Timaru gang pad, begins demolition amid tensions
Alistair Boyce: After the Goldrush – “A Dying City”
Waimanea Nuri (Whakaata Māori): Future of Māori Battalion exhibit unknown as Rotorua Museum fate decided

HEALTH
RNZ: NZ should be ’embarrassed’ with third-world diseases hospitalising children – researchers
Amanda Gilles (Newshub): Latest child health report reveals ‘dire’ situation for New Zealand’s children – Cure Kids
Ian Powell (BusinessDesk): The winter plan that isn’t really a plan at all (paywalled)
Lucy Thomson (Newshub): Study identifies four key factors affecting youth mental health

COVID RELIEF FUND
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Man jailed for 20 months after fraudulently claiming Covid loan
Herald: Auckland man jailed over $13K Covid relief fraud

IMMIGRATION
Lydia Lewis (RNZ): Pasifika were raided in the lead up to the historic Dawn Raids apology
Karanama Ruru (Stuff): ‘Dawn raids’ on pause as Government reviews out-of-hours immigration visits
Katie Harrs (Herald): Inside the Immigration NZ decision to allow activist Posie Parker into New Zealand

TRANSPORT
Felix Desmarais (1News): Govt announces new law to crackdown on fleeing drivers
RNZ: Government introduces new fleeing driver penalties legislation
Trent Doyle (Newshub): Road safety advocate Greg Murphy calls for harsher punishment for boy racers
Ben Strang (RNZ): Weaknesses in Waka Kotahi’s crisis response strategies exposed
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Highway network at ‘tipping point’ – Waka Kotahi CEO (paywalled)
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland Transport vows to change its tarnished image and respond to needs of Aucklanders

BUSINESS, INFRASTRUCTURE
Bridie Witton  (Post): Construction worker shortage could harm Government’s infrastructure plans (paywalled)
Amanda Gilles (Newshub): Man says he was bullied so badly while working at MBIE he had to quit job
Andrew Macfarlane (1News): Organisers of four-day working week label trial a success
RNZ: Insolvencies up, with construction firms worst affected – report

ENVIRONMENT
David Williams (Newsroom): Landscape fears after rush of consents
Diane McCarthy (Local Democracy Reporting): Lessons from Bola unheeded: ‘We created a false sense of security’

DISINFORMATION
David Harvey: The Disinformation Project and the Evidence – Methodologies, Analysis and Conclusions
Oscar Francis (ODT): Govt to take action against disinformation (paywalled)

HOUSING
Stephen Minto (Daily Blog): Dystopian urban vision – Part two. National, Labour and Greens (NLG) are trashing liveability
RNZ: Investors with mortgages crowded out by cashed-up buyers, first-home buyers
Miriam Bell (Post): Mortgaged investors’ share of home purchases at record low (paywalled)

OTHER
Sela Jane Hopgood (Spinoff): A final call for Pacific people to complete the census
Hearld: Statistics NZ will ask questions that get a better response from Māori for Census 2028
Shanti Mathias (Spinoff): The New Zealand military spends $5m a year on recruitment advertising. Is it enough?
Muriwai Hei (Whakaata Māori): ‘Get these items home to the people of Ngāti Hine’
Meriana Johnsen (Newshub): Calls for more safe houses to stop addicts ending up back in prison
The Facts: Meth still dominating NZ drug use