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

HEALTH
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Surgery wait lists: Māori, Pacific prioritised – why ethnicity is a factor (paywalled)
Rachel Maher (Herald): Royal Australasian College of Surgeons backs surgical equity policy, says it ‘reduces institutional biases’
Shilpy Arora and Jody O’Callaghan (Stuff): New ranking system prioritising patients on ethnicity to improve equity, experts say
Imogen Wells (Stuff): Newsable: why we need health scorecards for surgery waitlists, according to an expert
Tamara Poi-Ngawhika (BusinessDesk): Te Whatu Ora: clinicians make the ultimate decision on waitlists
1News: PM defends use of equity system for surgery prioritisation
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Chris Hipkins asks Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall to make sure new surgery equity tool isn’t discriminatory
Herald: National Party health spokesman Dr Shane Reti slams new surgery ranking policy based on race
William Hewett (Newshub): ACT’s David Seymour slams Government, says they’re promoting racial discrimination after report of surgeons having to consider ethnicity
Rob Campbell (Herald): It’s sickening how right-minded Kiwis react to poor Māori and Pasifika health outcomes
Will Trafford (Whakaata Māori): Under the knife fight: 4 Reasons Māori surgical priority shouldn’t be for debate
Madeleine Chapman (Spinoff): Ethnicities in New Zealand, ranked by how likely they are to die first
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): This policy should’ve been placed in the “not now, not ever” pile
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): Surgery ethnicity tick box sounds great, but…
David Farrar: Enough is enough
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): National Party calls on government to release Māori Health Authority report
Kaysha Brownlie (Newshub): Health bus hoping to help break down postcode lottery barriers
Jamie Morton and Rachel Maher (Herald): ‘Systemic failure’: Experts sound worries over support for Long Covid sufferers
1News: Covid-19: 30 deaths as case numbers continue to fall
Rachel Thomas (Post): Pharmac says it can’t afford to fund flu jab that is better for older people (paywalled)
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Shelving centre ‘appallingly short-sighted’ (paywalled)
Ian Powell: Hospital laboratory workers win Nelson ‘battle’ but Health Minister needs to end private control ‘war’

MENG FOON
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Human Rights Commission rejects Foon’s claim he declared conflicts
Glenn McConnell (Post): ‘Hand on heart I did declare’: Foon says housing conflict was no secret (paywalled)
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Chris Hipkins insists Meng Foon is no longer race relations commissioner
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Prime Minister Chris Hipkins responds amid confusion over Meng Foon’s resignation as Race Relations Commissioner
1News: ‘I’m not an idiot’: Meng Foon fronts over conflicts of interest
Adam Pearse (Herald): Meng Foon tweaks claim PM’s office leaked his planned resignation: ‘I can’t be sure, sure’
RNZ: Meng Foon says government handling of resignation ‘absolute shambles’
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Meng Foon accuses Prime Minister’s Office of leaking planned resignation, now reconsidering whether to resign as Race Relations Commissioner
Herald: Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon reveals he hasn’t formally resigned and makes call for explanation of potential removal
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Meng Foon is just another example of Govt ineptitude

CLIMATE CHANGE, ENVIRONMENT
Brent Edwards (NBR): ETS changes will be up to next Government (paywalled)
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): New additional ETS scheme floated in review of carbon market
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Māori could be ‘loser’ in Emissions Trading Scheme review
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): Government thinks its climate policy is planting too many trees
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): ETS changes proposed to reduce reliance on forestry offsets
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Govt consults on removing forestry from ETS
Brent Edwards (NBR): ETS proposal to make forestry carbon offsets less palatable (paywalled)
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): ETS reform options come with
costs and controversy (paywalled)
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): ETS reforms called a ‘dog’ that will only cause more uncertainty (paywalled)
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Emissions Trading Scheme review suggests lower price for carbon offsets
No Right Turn: Climate Change: Too many trees?
Laura Frykberg (1News): Unique Antarctic ecosystem under threat from climate change
Brendon McMahon (Local Democracy Reporting): Environmental complaints ‘whinging’ – West Coast councillor Allan Birchfield
Dita De Boni (NBR): The cost of editing GE-free out of our export DNA (paywalled)
Steve Urlich (Post): Spatial planning along the ecological tightrope (paywalled)

GANGS, CRIME
Gordon Campbell: On the crackdown on gangs
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Gangs are the result of many problems – being Māori is not one of them
Herald Editorial: Tough talk is light on solutions (paywalled)
William Hewett (Newshub): ACT leader David Seymour says Labour is ‘saying something true’ about National’s new gang policy
William Hewett (Newshub): Chlöe Swarbrick says Labour lacks courage to implement ‘evidence-based policies’ to tackle NZ’s gang problems
1News: Mongrel Mob member reacts to National’s latest gang policy
Shannon Redstall (Press): Top brass urged to step up efforts amid crime spike (paywalled)
Mike Yardley (Press): Increase in crime feels too close for comfort (paywalled)

ELECTION
Duncan Garner (NBR): Who loves (scares) who the most? The plus-ones election (paywalled)
Simon Wilson (Herald): Green Party’s poverty plan for Election 2023 – and the silence of the wolves (paywalled)
Chris Trotter (Interest): Who’s got the mojo?
Rob Campbell (Newsroom): Does ‘social cohesion’ actually matter?
Grant Duncan: Will NZ see a change of government?
Shane Jones (Herald): Mob mentality needs a short, sharp shock (paywalled)
Mike Williams (Herald): When it comes to voting the fun is in the details
Charlie Mitchell (Stuff): Political party DemocracyNZ in turmoil after candidate exodus
Imran Ali (Herald): DemocracyNZ candidates leave over dispute with party board
Robert MacCulloch: The biggest issue of Election 2023 will not be debated (since both Nats & Labour have no answer)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Why the Cross-benches suddenly got very popular this election

STUART NASH
Peter McKenzie (Newsroom): Stuart Nash breached official information laws – Ombudsman
No Right Turn: Killing the hat game

GOVT’s ECE, PAID PARENTAL LEAVE ANNOUNCEMENTS
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Election 2023: How the Government’s pumping up its pitch to parents with two big announcements
Adam Pearse and Claire Trevett (Herald): PM Chris Hipkins claims childcare providers playing politics amid Budget policy backdown
Gianina Schwanecke and Anna Whyte (Post): ‘Most troublesome’ conditions removed, but ECE leaders say funding overhaul needed (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (Stuff): Government changes ECE policy after ‘loud and clear’ concerns from sector
RNZ: Government backs down on early childhood 20-hours funding requirement
Newshub: Government backs down over early childhood education concern

FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TRADE
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): Chris Hipkins to visit China, a changed country and economy (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Hipkins confirms Xi meeting as US-China tensions in spotlight
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Chris Hipkins to meet Xi Jinping in China next week
RNZ: Prime Minister Chris Hipkins to meet with China’s President Xi Jinping
1News: Chris Hipkins to meet China’s President Xi Jinping
Brent Edwards (NBR): Trade the focus on prime ministerial trip to China (paywalled)
Gerald Hensley (NBR): Daydream diplomacy: Recover realistic foreign policy boundaries (paywalled)
Hillmarè Schulze (NBR): New Zealand exports – we swapped one master for another master (paywalled)
Tina Morrison (Stuff): Markets wrap: China’s central bank tipped to cut interest rates to stimulate demand, boding well for NZ exporters
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): NZ will continue to fight for the relevance of the WTO (paywalled)
RNZ: Travel bans extended to more Iranian officials over protest crackdown

IMMIGRATION, MIGRANT WORKERS
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): The immigration ‘reset’ looks more pointless every day (paywalled)
Tim Brown (RNZ): Migrant workers being exploited, Queenstown Citizens Advice Bureau says

EDUCATION
Niva Chittock (RNZ): Teachers strike to hit extra-curricular activities
Kate Nicol-Williams (1News): Frustration mounting as high school teacher strikes roll on
Jane Nixon (1News): Striking teachers costing the next generation, parent says
RNZ: Students to protest in support of teachers amid rolling strikes
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): The Detail: What it’s like to be a high school teacher in New Zealand
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): National could pay off teacher loans
Rachel Maher and Ethan Griffiths (Herald): Christian teacher loses registration after refusing to use trans student’s pronouns
Sapeer Mayron (Stuff): Teacher’s registration cancelled for ‘hysterical’ response to trans student
1News: Teacher struck off after refusing to use student’s pronouns
RNZ: ‘Disgraceful’ actions of teacher in dealing with student’s request to use preferred name and pronouns
Andrew Rogers (Herald): Bureaucrats have missed that science education is dying (paywalled)
Nicola Gaston (Conversation): Starved of funds and vision, struggling universities put NZ’s entire research strategy at risk
Catherine Abou-Nemeh (Newsroom): In underfunding universities, we have so much to lose
Gary Hamilton-Irvine (Herald): EIT Te Pūkenga lecturer says treatment of staff ‘appalling’ as job losses proposed
Mary Williams (ODT): Polytech job cut numbers stay secret

ECONOMY, TAX
Rob Stock (Post): Govt told capital gains tax is not a ‘universally accepted’ taxation principle (paywalled)
Terry Baucher (Interest): Te wiki o te tāke: Election tax policy reveals starting
David Hargreaves (Interest): 2023 is turning out much as expected and, no, that’s not a good thing
Andrew Paterson (Newsroom): The recession you have when you’re not having a recession
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Yes extend free food in schools AND cut GST off food and why Max Rashbrooke’s incrementalism is part of the problem
Nicholas Boyack (Post): Hutt foodbank running out of money and food

EMPLOYMENT, BUSINESS, WAGE SUBSIDY
Rob Stock (Stuff): Ministry pushes back on $10b wage subsidy overpayment claim
Greg Hurrell (BusinessDesk): MSD disputes claims it’s failing to chase wage subsidy cheats
George Block (Herald): NZ Post paying private eyes to investigate staff, as more than a dozen found pilfering packages or mail (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Post): Government poised to become part-owner of Ruapehu ski fields (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Many Kiwi businesses oblivious to modern slavery issues, are buying risky goods, survey finds as Government action languishes

COMCOM INQUIRY INTO BANKING INDUSTRY
Raphael Franks and Sam Hurley (Herald): Bank profits: Commerce Commission inquiry set to be launched tomorrow after political calls for action
Eric Frykberg (Interest): Government set to launch market study into banking industry
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Inquiry into banking sector to be announced

HOUSING
Megan Wilson (Herald): Homelessness crisis: Government is ‘building more houses’, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says (paywalled)
Damien Venuto (Herald): The Front Page podcast: Why aren’t more Kāinga Ora tenants evicted over complaints?
RNZ: Nearly 50 new Kāinga Ora homes planned for Nelson South

TRANSPORT
Erin Gourley (Stuff): Brakes hit on Wellington speed reduction plan after $250m error spotted
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): We love roads, so let’s get on with building them
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Dire Strait: KiwiRail selling Interislander freight ferry
RNZ: Kiwirail to sell freight-only ferry just six months after buying it
1News: Paywave coming to Auckland public transport next year
Mary O’Sullivan (Herald): Digital payments for Auckland public transport commuters within a year
Rob Stock (Stuff): Air New Zealand and Government scope feasibility of making sustainable aviation fuel in New Zealand

MEDIA
Peter Bale (BusinessDesk): Radio NZ’s blunder: the danger of overreaction
Steven Cowan: Ukraine: Creating the new Russian bogeyman
Gavin Ellis: No news is bad news
Chris Keall (Herald): The surprising truth about misinformation (paywalled)
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Google agrees to news deal, but Facebook and others won’t talk without pressure

PRIMARY INDUSTRIES
Rebecca Howard and Riley Kennedy (BusinessDesk): Politics trumped spending at this year’s Fieldays (paywalled)
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Council ‘more interested in the line on the map than the actual landform’ – farmer in legal battle
Gerhard Uys (Stuff): Petition to apply equal animal welfare standards to imported pork fails

PARLIAMENT OCCUPATION
Jessica Roden (1News): ‘Random’ group of Kiwis caught protesters who lit Parliament fires
Tracy Neal (Open Justice Reporting): Home detention for Tākaka man responsible for igniting fires outside Parliament
Stuff: First fire lighter at Parliament anti-mandate occupation sparked what became a riot

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Piers Fuller (Post): Public Service Watch: Wairarapa’s three councils considering merger options (paywalled)
Neil Holdom(Taranaki Daily News): The cost to councils of Government’s bright ideas

OTHER
Eric Frykberg (Interest): A new paper by three prominent academics says the rich might value free speech in theory but the poor need it in practice
Alex Penk: The COVID crisis and the state of perpetual emergency
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Auckland housing growth puts water supply for firefighters at risk, FENZ says
1News: Whakaari: US court win for survivors suing cruise operator