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

CLIMATE CHANGE, NZ STEEL DEAL
Simon Wilson (Herald): Christopher Luxon gets it right and terribly wrong on NZ Steel deal (paywalled)
Duncan Greive (Spinoff): Why did we give $140m to a shady Australian corporate? Because we had no choice
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): The NZ Steel carbon deal: shape of things to come (paywalled)
Gordon Campbell: On the NZ Steel deal
No Right Turn: Climate Change: The uncertainty problem
Tom Pulllar-Strecker (Stuff): The real deal on NZ Steel: Climate change win or corporate welfare?
1News: Govt’s NZ Steel climate deal isn’t ‘corporate welfare’ – Swarbrick
Luke Malpass (The Post): Climate subsidy for group that made $2.85b profit in 2022 (paywalled)
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): I want to like the NZ Steel deal – but I can’t
Kerre Woodham (Newstalk ZB): Is the Government’s decarbonisation program a good deal?
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Labour & Green Steel Deal highlight what State can do to seriously reduce emissions
RNZ: NZ Steel wouldn’t have taken emissions-reducing step without govt funding – NZ Steel boss
Tess McClure (Guardian): New Zealand announces its biggest emissions reduction project in history
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): ‘Bullshit ambush’: Gas levy urgently passed on Budget night
Ian Llewellyn and Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Officials look at a carbon dividend, but the cash is getting squeezed (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The climate protest group that canceled itself for being racist is now begging white people to help them

FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Geoffrey Miller (Democracy Project): How successful was Chris Hipkins’ trip to Papua New Guinea?
RNZ: Prime Minister Chris Hipkins to take up offer to visit India and talk free trade
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Hipkins: US-PNG security deal isn’t ‘militarisation’ of Pacific
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Prime Minister Chris Hipkins calls United States-Papua New Guinea security deal ‘different’ to China’s pact with Solomon Islands
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): New Zealand’s nuclear-free stance brought up with United States, Papua New Guinea as duo signs new security pact
AP: US, Papua New Guinea sign security pact as China influence grows
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Prime Minister Chris Hipkins attracts huge crowds in Papua New Guinea, meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
Richard Harman (Politik): Yoga diplomacy (paywalled)
1News: Hipkins concludes ‘productive’ talks in Papua New Guinea
Christine Rovoi (Stuff): PNG summit: Security beefed up as NZ says no to Pacific militarisation
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): Chris Hipkins speed dates political leaders during Biden-less PNG visit
Aaron Ryan (Whakaata Māori): Prime Minister gets warm Pacific welcome in PNG

BUDGET, ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Inflation eats gains from Labour’s Working for Families package, pushing families out of support (paywalled)
Newstalk ZB: Economics professor: Working For Families abatement thresholds have fallen behind, should increase
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): New tax law, IRD rules, mean more research on rich, wealthy New Zealanders (paywalled)
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Economist Cameron Bagrie believes most New Zealanders would welcome tax hikes if ‘we’re getting results’
Hamish McNicol and Calida Stuart-Menteath (NBR): This is a major tax change (paywalled)
Vernon Small (Stuff): The mother of all budget blow-outs? Not really
Brian Easton (Pundit): Crises!
Cameron Bagrie (BusinessDesk): Spin and spend – a verdict on the 2023 budget (paywalled)
Oliver Hartwich (NZ Initiative): The “Yeah, right” Budget
Rob Campbell (Newsroom): Government plus business equals disaster
Eric Crampton (The Post): Government can’t have it both ways when it comes to tobacco (paywalled)
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): Luxon dropped the ball on the Budget
Mike Hosking (Newstalk): The Budget showed the bigger picture is a disaster
Herald Editorial: Is easy dose it with free prescriptions the best medicine? (paywalled)
David Hargreaves (Interest): The Reserve Bank is almost being ‘out-hawked’ by economists as they bid up the odds of higher interest rates ahead of this week’s latest OCR decision
David Hargreaves (Interest): The OCR peak – are we there yet? Well, yes…and no…
David Hargreaves (Interest): Households expect inflation to be 7.4% in a year – higher than now
Susan Edmunds (Post): Robertson: Government spending won’t be OCR deciding factor (paywalled)
Andrew Patterson (Newsroom): Reserve Bank faces new inflation headwinds as immigration surges
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): RBNZ could hike 50 basis points and signal more to come (paywalled)
John Gascoigne (Herald): How New Zealand fell to become one of the worst economies in the developed world (paywalled)
The Standard: How come government doesn’t improve our economy?
Dita De Boni (NBR): Fair Pay Agreements: productivity boon or bust? (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): What the hell’s going on with migrant workers?
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Cost of living: New Zealand food banks seeing wider variety of people who can’t make ends meet
RNZ: More applying for KiwiSaver funds under cost of living stress
RNZ: Almost 90 percent of Kiwis shop mindfully as result of cost-of-living and climate crises
Finn Blackwell (RNZ): Northland foodbank forced to scale back services due to high demand
RNZ: Job ads stable ‘and reasonably strong’ – Seek

ELECTION, PARLIAMENT
Verity Johnson (Stuff): Why doesn’t Luxon harness Auckland rage?
Duncan Garner (NBR): Popularity pips policy when it comes to deciding preferred PM (paywalled)
No Right Turn: Labour chickens out on the voting age again
David Farrar: Who gets in on the Green Party List
Paul McBeth (BusinessDesk): On the Money: tight budgets, outrageous lobbies, MPs trading and more (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Why any new Labour led Government must use 100 day window to out manoeuvre the self serving Public Service
Maioha Panapa (Whakaata Māori): Father and daughter weigh options to represent Te Pāti Māori in Hauraki-Waikato

LOAFERS LODGE FIRE TRAGEDY
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Fire Service advised council to reject Loafers Lodge consent in 2007 documents show
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Street identity ‘Mike the Juggler’ among Loafers Lodge fire victims
Soumya Bhamidipati (RNZ): Loafers Lodge fire survivors still waiting for bond refunds
Dave Armstrong (Post): The misunderstood suburb that is Newtown (paywalled)
Tess McClure and Charlotte Graham-McLay (Guardian): ‘It can be quite Dickensian’: life in New Zealand’s boarding houses

HOUSING
Tom Taylor (RNZ): Long-term tenancies or home-ownership – what are New Zealand’s aspirations?
Philippa Howden-Chapman (Public Health Communications Centre): Budget 2023 goes a long way to improving housing and wellbeing
Tumamao Harawira (Whakaata Māori): Report into Māori homelessness doesn’t go far enough
Kate Green (RNZ): Māori-led housing effort bringing peace of mind to Tai Rāwhiti
Greg Ninness (Interest): About 13,000 recent home buyers could now be facing negative equity
Rob Stock (Post): House price falls will be ‘orderly’, but more households will fail to repay their mortgages, analysts say (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Stuff): Spiralling mortgage rates see Westpac’s earnings from interest up $1.2 billion

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Piers Fuller (Post): Public Service Watch: Wairarapa’s woeful wastewater (paywalled)
RNZ: New signs for Heretaunga/Hastings use both Māori and English
Niva Chittock (RNZ): Christchurch councillor wants Local Government Minister to help reverse water chlorination
Cira Olivier (Herald): Memorial Park drowning: Tauranga City Council rejected fountain safety improvements more than 20 years ago
Maia Hart (Local Democracy Reporting): Dad’s drowning fears in flash subdivision as ‘swimming pool’ ponds left unfenced
Erin Gourley (Post): Matariki time to look to stars, not artificial fireworks – expert (paywalled)
Erin Gourley (Stuff): No fireworks for ‘reflective time’ of Matariki in Wellington
Vita Molyneux and Nick James (Herald): No fireworks for Wellington Matariki celebrations – but plenty more to enjoy

COVID
Jane Nixon (1News): ‘Currently between jobs’ – Ardern speaks at WHO’s 76th Assembly
Herald: Jacinda Ardern reflects on Covid 19 at World Health Organisation assembly
RNZ: Covid-19 case numbers: 14,657 new cases, 43 further deaths
RNZ: Immunisation experts concerned at low uptake of Omicron booster
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Reported Covid-19 cases in school kids more than doubled since term 2 started

HEALTH
RNZ: Asthma Foundation calls for NZ to follow Australia in banning disposable vapes
Anna Whyte (Stuff): National’s Christopher Luxon open to looking at banning disposable vapes
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): Preparing for the winter illness wave
RNZ: Te Whatu Ora takes court action against nurses striking
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Lab tests group backtracks on plans to slash jobs in Nelson-Marlborough
Michael Cugley (Whakaata Māori): Christchurch safe haven for rangatahi has begun construction

EDUCATION
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Teachers strike actions suspended after talks with minister
Frances Chin (Stuff): Union pauses potential strike in light of Education Minister negotiations
Finlay Dunseath (Stuff): Teachers’ unions pause strike action after meeting with Government
Gabrielle McCulloch (Stuff): Teacher strikes: Everything you need to know about the ongoing pay talks

TRANSPORT
Ben Strang (RNZ): Transport Minister Michael Wood: ‘Real possiblity’ some roads will be abandoned
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland’s City Rail Link won’t open until 2026 at the earliest
Isaac Davison (Herald): Auckland Harbour Bridge wind closures: Waka Kotahi causing ‘mayhem’, local board member George Wood says
Katie Ham (Stuff): Bus bosses hail ‘return to full timetables’ with 559 new drivers on board
Joel Maxwell (Post): Happy travels: Rednecks in for surprise when they spot new traffic signs (paywalled)
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Bilingual traffic signs in te reo Māori edge closer to reality
RNZ: Tarras airport plan: Proposed runway site to be revealed soon

CRIME, CORRECTIONS
Debra Wilson (The Conversation): It’s time to fix NZ’s Sentencing Act, which lets too many young sex offenders avoid jail
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Do you feel safe in this country right now?
Robin Martin (RNZ): New Plymouth dairy owner feared death as armed teens ransacked his store
Emmaline Pickering-Martin (RNZ): Opinion: ‘Positive reintegration is key to preventing reoffending’ – so give people a chance

PRIMARY INDUSTRIES
Andrea Vance (The Post): Landmark legal challenge to mega-irrigation scheme in Canterbury (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Trademarks commissioner rejects Govt-backed bid to own ‘mānuka honey’
Sally Murphy (RNZ): New Zealand mānuka honey producers lose trademark bid
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Battle for NZ to have trademark rights for mānuka honey unsuccessful
Tess McClure (Guardian): New Zealand loses fight with Australia over mānuka honey trademark
Monique Steele (RNZ): Ratio of sheep to people drops below five to one for first time in 170 years
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Ratio of sheep to people falls below 5:1 for first time since 1850s
RNZ: Drop in number of seabirds captured in deepwater fishery, according to industry group

MEDIA
Gavin Ellis: News deserts and how New Zealand can avoid them
Herald: Māori in the media given putea to build more capacity across the media landscape

WHANAU ORA
Katie Doyle (Stuff): Whānau Ora launches new campaign ‘Our Future is Māori’
Tamara Poi-Ngawhika (BusinessDesk): More investment needed in Whānau Ora

OTHER
Jacob Johnson (1News): Aucklanders trying to sell flood-damaged homes could see big losses
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Hit hard by Covid-19, tourism brick-and-mortar icon i-SITEs still have a place, industry says
Paul Buchanan: The dirty power of culture wars
Craig Ashworth (Local Democracy Reporting): Hapū and Greenpeace take windmills to appeal court
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Problem Gambling Foundation says UK report heightens its concerns over TAB deal