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.

NZ Politics Daily: 12 September 2023

OPINION POLLS
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Newshub-Reid Research poll: Labour’s support collapses as National rockets into 40s
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Newshub-Reid Research poll: Heartbreak for Chris Hipkins as Christopher Luxon climbs to match him on preferred-PM ranking
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Newshub-Reid Research poll: Nearly half of Kiwis want Christopher Luxon to rule out Winston Peters
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Labour’s big bang promises fail to turn heads but David Seymour could be threatening chaos on the right
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Labour’s support collapses in latest poll: Is it over for Chris Hipkins-led Government? (paywalled)
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): National needs momentum – now (paywalled)
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Hipkins’ Hail Mary falls short in new poll
RNZ: Labour leader Chris Hipkins takes responsibility for party’s poor poll result
1News: Hipkins vows to ‘go for it’ as Labour hits rock bottom in polls
Andy Fyers (BusinessDesk): The centre/right bloc now has a clear lead (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): 5 Weeks until the 2023 Election: Winners, Losers + Predictions
Adam Pearse (Herald): National up, Labour plunges – new political poll reveals impact of first days on campaign trail
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): The polls four weeks out from election

NATIONAL COALITION PARTNERS
Matthew Hooton: Nats don’t want Nat-Act Govt, prefer NZ First or Greens
Derek Cheng (Herald): ‘Confidence-only’: An Act bluff or a real prospect of a policy-by-policy minority government?  (paywalled)
RNZ: Christopher Luxon dismissive of prospect of ACT offering confidence-only deal
Liam Hehir (The Blue Review): What the?
No Right Turn: This is not a “governing” arrangement
Dave Armstrong (Post): How will Wellington fare with a Nats/ACT government? (paywalled)
Chris Trotter (Interest): Act’s message: Cheerfully libertarian? Or, radically right-wing?

ELECTION CAMPAIGN
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Why Labour is so keen to paint this election as 2005 all over again
Audrey Young (Herald): Who’s running the campaigns and what have they got to spend? (paywalled)
Michele Hewitson (Listener): Attack ads are the political equivalent of unguided missiles (paywalled)
Gwynn Compton (The Blue Review): Blue cuts bad, red cuts better
John Plimmer (Spinoff): An advertising veteran judges the political party websites
Ella Scott-Fleming (Newsroom): Labour drags its social media heels
Michael Neilson (Herald): Māori Party’s Debbie Ngarewa-Packer takes the Herald surfing on Taranaki’s Surf Highway 45 (paywalled)
Herald: On the Campaign, September 11: What you missed on the election campaign today
Bridie Witton and Anna Whyte (Post): Storm clouds roll in on Labour after another bad poll (paywalled)
Post: Hipkins heads to Nelson while Luxon speaks at a retirement village (paywalled)
Leonard Powell (RNZ): Roads, petrol prices and kaimoana: Te Araroa on the election
Mike Hosking (Newshub): This weekend opened a gap in the election race
RNZ: Photos from the campaign trail, Monday 11 September
Daily Blog: 7pm Tonight live-streamed and simulcast Freeview 200 – Taxpayers’ Union Northland Electorate debate hosted by The Working Group
RNZ: What to expect and where to find RNZ’s election coverage
Stuff: NZ election 2023 live debates streaming on Stuff
Stuff: Stuff’s unrivalled election coverage is live from the campaign
Post: All the election news here (paywalled)
Bob McCoskrie: TVNZ’s ‘Vote Compass’ & its bias

PREFU, ECONOMY
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Government opens the books with Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal Update – how bad is it? (paywalled)
Luke Malpass (Post): Campaigns brace for fiscal storm as Government opens its books (paywalled)
William Hewett (Newshub): Government to open its books, Cameron Bagrie warns deficits could become new normal
Andrew Patterson (Newsroom): Treasury pre-election outlook to show economy under increasing pressure
Rob Campbell (Newsroom): Both main parties misreading business interests
Susan St John (The Conversation): The Labour-National consensus on family support means the election won’t change much for NZ’s poorest households
Jamie Gray (Herald): Ratings agency S&P gives its verdict on New Zealand economy (paywalled)
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Powerful Reserve Bank group appointments: Former board member Chris Eichbaum challenges public narrative (paywalled)

NATIONAL
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): Luxon shoots himself in the foot, time and time again
Simon Wilson (Herald): Christopher Luxon and the truth about schools (paywalled)
1News: Willis defends tax policy from ‘frontline’ service funding slash claims
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): National’s plan to expand online censorship needs more scrutiny
RNZ: Older Kiwis will be better off under National, Nicola Willis, Christopher Luxon say
Eric Frykberg (Interest): National Party re-states its policy on the age of eligibility for NZ Super, only ACT agrees among other parties
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): Road user charges for everyone not the answer
Kelly Makiha (Rotorua Daily Post):Rotorua MP Todd McClay makes emergency housing election promises, Labour says policy a ‘bad rehash’
1News: Mayor backs National’s vow to end motel emergency housing in Rotorua

NZ FIRST
Ian Allen (Stuff): Winston Peters to Air NZ: ‘So why don’t you change your name to Air Aotearoa?’
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): ‘Ugly’, ‘wrong’, ‘desperate’: Political leaders pile in to scold Winston Peters
Seni Iasona (Newshub): Labour, National Nelson candidates hit back at Winston Peters’ ‘ridiculous’ Māori are ‘not indigenous’ claim
1News: ‘He’s wrong’: Luxon disagrees with Winston Peters’ Māori comments
Peter Williams: Winston hits the spot – again
Mike Grimshaw (Plain Sight): The political theology of Winston Peters

LABOUR
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Chris Hipkins is up for the challenge, but could do with an energy drink
RNZ: Labour promises free cervical screening, as new self-test rolls out
Melania Watson (Newshub): Labour promises to make cervical screening free for all New Zealanders if re-elected
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Labour Party promises to fund new cervical screening self-test if reelected
Tova O’Brien (Stuff): Advertising complaint laid against Labour MP over housing claims
Emma Hatton (Newsroom): The Sure Things: Gym owner Georgie Dansey relies on people power

PUBLIC SERVICE, SECTOR
Nikitin Sallee (BusinessDesk): The mysterious disappearance of Peter Hughes (paywalled)
Jem Traylen (BusinessDesk): Will Brian Roche be NZ’s next top public servant? (paywalled)
Herald: Chateau Tongariro: The tangled web of cost and how taxpayers are enmeshed (paywalled)

MEDIA
Gavin Ellis: Radio and television will follow Marconi and Baird to the grave
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Stuff joins media firms blocking ChatGPT from learning from their content
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): NZ media cleared in Posie Parker coverage

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Tommy de Silva (Spinoff): Should there be Māori seats on Auckland Council?
Todd Niall (Stuff): Aucklanders face a much bigger rates debate than the 7.7% they’ve just been dealt
Grant Miller (ODT): Sophie Barker resigns as deputy mayor
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Dunedin deputy mayor Sophie Barker resigns over working relationship with the mayor
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Under-fire chair to discuss ‘code of conduct matter’ after racist remark
ODT Editorial: No justification for racism (paywalled)
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Gore District Council to ditch its independent governance review
Rituraj Sapkota (Whakaata Māori): Masterton and Carterton district councils to keep talking on potential merger
Maia Hart (Local Democracy Reporting): Councillor questions if Resource Management Act overhaul a ‘waste of time’
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): The southern mayor who fixes damaged election hoardings

TRANSPORT
Krystal Gibbens (RNZ): Wellington City Council plans rollout of AI sensors to monitor traffic
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland could be $111 billion better off by eliminating carbon emissions
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Review needed for Auckland rapid transit network (paywalled)
RNZ: Govt announces $12m boost to help with roading repairs at top of South Island
Melanie Earley (Stuff):Passengers stranded in Samoa after Air NZ halts flights describe ‘nightmare’ scramble to get home

BUSINESS, EMPLOYMENT
Eliesha Moon (RNZ): Pay parity an electoral issue among South Island Pasifika
Tim Hunter (NBR): Trust the energy market, or not, that is the question (paywalled)
Susan Edmonds (Stuff): National win ‘could be good for financial markets’
RNZ: Five political parties ‘completely missed the mark’ when asked about issues of sole traders
RNZ: Multi-billion dollar facilities management industry calls for designated Cabinet minister
Andrew Bevin (Newsroom): Ruapehu bidder says fields don’t make financial sense
RNZ: Staff taking more sick leave, increasing cost to economy by $1b – survey

HEALTH
Damien Venuto (Herald): The Front Page: Why NZ lags behind Australia on cancer treatment
RNZ: Checkpoint: Cancer patients have to travel for treatment due to doctor shortage
Ian Powell: Health leadership control culture threatens mental health services (and beyond)
Rob Campbell (Herald): The Pae Ora reforms, public health and making it work
ODT Editorial: Doctors and nurses needed, and how (paywalled)
Luke Bradford (Post): It’s time to stop underestimating the importance of our GPs (paywalled)
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Hope ‘game changer’ new HPV screening test could aid in eliminating cervical cancer
Rip Bhatia (Stuff): Government announces $114.2m to transform disability support services
Fiona Ellis (ODT): Reversal of cuts to Dunedin hospital hailed
RNZ: Covid-19 update: 3458 new cases, 15 more deaths

DENTAL CARE
Leonard Powell (RNZ): Biting issue: Waihau Bay locals ‘resort to pliers’ over seeing dentist
Fox Meyer (Critic Te Ārohi): An Inconvenient Tooth

HOUSING
Seni Iasona (Newshub): Nelson Labour, National candidates play blame game over housing crisis
RNZ: Rapid growth in number of people looking for rentals in last six months
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Huge spike in Auckland CBD rental demand
David Hargreaves (Interest): Latest QV House Price Index shows NZ houses nationally have had their first three-monthly increase in values since the start of the downturn in late 2021
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): QV: First quarter of house price increases since downturn began

TE REO MĀORI
Jody O’Callaghan (Stuff): Teachers need to embrace te reo Māori ‘if serious about equity’
Te Karere: From desolation to resurgence – te reo Māori in 2023
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Stuff): Business network launched in support of te Reo Māori

OTHER
Craig Kapitan and Isaac Davison (Herald): Billy TK trial: Jury finds failed Advance NZ political hopeful William Te Kahika guilty of election fraud
Graham Adams (The Platform): Posie Parker to test Hipkins on free speech
Hawkes Bay Today: ‘Lack of honest public debate’: Co-governance meeting planned in Hastings
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): Governments falling short of global warming pact
Erin Gourley (Post): Wellington faces highest level of water restrictions this summer (paywalled)
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Fast-fashion jewellery store Lovisa was investigated for incorrect sick leave, underpaid wages
Nadine Roberts (Stuff): Far right activist arrested on firearms and ammunition charges