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: 18 September 2023
ELECTION, WEEK IN POLITICS
Chris Trotter (Interest): Failing to hold back the flood: The edgy politics of the twenty-first century
Andrea Vance (Post): Why the Great Uninterested aren’t buying what politicians have to sell (paywalled)
Julie Jacobson (Post): Election 23: Shaping up to be just a tick box exercise? (paywalled)
Audrey Young (Herald): National and Act – where the policy differences lie (paywalled)
Richard Harman (Politik): Not since the depression have we seen a proposal like this (paywalled)
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Election gets six of the best
Luke Malpass (Post): The election is all over bar the shouting … until it isn’t(paywalled)
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Everyone’s swinging and spinning. The campaign is getting feral
Grant Duncan: Bad uses of pre-election polling
Michael Wagener (The Blue Review): Polling 101: Chapter 3 – When can you trust the polls?
Bridie Witton and Anna Whyte (Post): ‘Bleak, selfish, petty’: Tensions flare on campaign trail as political parties scrap for every vote (paywalled)
Adam Pearse (Herald): Labour eyes living wage for more workers, National and Act target immigration and welfare
Audrey Young (Herald): The National Party’s tax costings problem isn’t going away (paywalled)
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Week in Politics: On the campaign trail
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Beehive Diaries: Who is the best debater, and what’s Chippy been eating?
Eric Frykberg (Interest): Week 2 of the election campaign draws to a close with actual policy announcements and political theatre balancing out
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): The wild West of political ad attacks – but what are the rules? (paywalled)
Eugene Bingham (Post): Māori as political footballs – again – in the election campaign (paywalled)
K Gurunathan (Post): Straying from bipartisan Treaty understandings risks chaos (paywalled)
Tainui Stephens (E-Tangata): Weave the people
Steven Cowan: Zombie centrism stalks the land
Haimona Gray (Spinoff): How to run for parliament (and win)
Janet Wilson (Post): Watch out for the rabbit holes and doppelgangers left behind by Covid (paywalled)
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Election party and candidate registrations close with 20 parties listed
Simon Wilson (Herald): The weird and wonderful ways that party votes become MPs (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): New Zealand guide: Dates, parties, how to vote, what you need to know
Bob McCoskrie: Explaining the “wasted vote” – Is it really wasted?
Eddie Clark (Post): What we’re lucky we can take for granted (paywalled)
James Nokise (Post): Never underestimate the fickleness of the voting public (paywalled)
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Getting ready with Chlöe Swarbrick, as the MP turns drag king on the campaign trail
Emma Hatton (Newsroom): National not showing Act, NZ First cards yet
NATIONAL
Rebecca Wright and Molly Swift (Newshub): National’s Christopher Luxon explains the figures behind his controversial tax plan
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub Nation): Christopher Luxon still refusing to rule out NZ First coalition after Chris Hipkins says no to working with Winston Peters
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): NewsHub Nation destroys Luxon in Tax Interview – you have to see it to believe it
Michael Reddell: Marketing brochure?
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Christopher Luxon says he’s ‘absolutely’ being accountable to Kiwis amid tax questions, walk-offs
Lloyd Burr (Newshub): National’s Christopher Luxon walks off again amid more questions over tax plan
Lloyd Burr (Newshub): Christopher Luxon looks like he has something to hide as he dodges tax questions
Claire Trevett (Herald): The questions Luxon won’t answer, Seymour waits and watches the polls (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: National takes incoming fire on its flagship policy (paywalled)
Press Editorial: National’s big tax gamble (paywalled)
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Another hole? Figures show National’s promise to reverse interest deductibility could cost more than planned for
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): National’s landlord tax break could cost $100m more a year
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Christopher Luxon continuously dismisses questions about how National’s tech plan could impact foreign buyers’ tax
Seni Iasona (Newshub): Nicola Willis says Kiwi don’t want Excel spreadsheets as pressure mounts for National to release foreign buyer tax costings
Mike Munro (Herald): Hole in Christopher Luxon’s tax bucket (paywalled)
Shaneel Lal (Herald): National’s Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis’ tax plan short on details
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): National’s tax dance is like watching Grand Designs
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Grant Robertson slams Christopher Luxon, Nicola Willis’ ‘rubble’ claims of ‘rock-solid’ tax plan
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Christopher Luxon goes on a quest for top talent (paywalled)
RNZ: National leader Christopher Luxon reveals technology and visa policy
Ella Scott-Fleming (Newsroom): National’s red carpet for tech elite
Victor Billot (Newsroom): An Ode for .. Baron Luxon
ACT
1News: Q+A: To target benefit frauds or tax evaders? ACT leader questioned
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Quit fixating on Winston Peters, says David Seymour
Mark Jennings (Newshub): Act’s high energy campaign launch turns into a fizzer
Toby Manhire Act launch derailed by Angry Fence Man and physical assault on media
Andrea Vance (Post): Attempt to revive ACT’s flagging campaign fails to fire (paywalled)
Gabrielle McCulloch and Andrea Vance (Stuff): Watch: David Seymour’s ACT Party re-launch disrupted by persistent hecklers
Adam Pearse (Herald): Hecklers disrupt Act Party campaign launch during David Seymour’s speech
Newshub: Screaming heckler interrupts David Seymour speech, prompting jeering from crowd
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Did protester at ACT campaign launch use fake moustache to get inside?
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): ACT’s David Seymour denies using beneficiaries, Māori as political punching bag
Adam Pearse and Michael Nelson (Herald): Labour accuses Act of using Māori as political punching bag as protester derails campaign launch
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): ACT hammers home treaty referendum pledge at campaign launch
RNZ: ACT launches campaign with vow to end co-governance
Bernard Hickey: An interview with ACT’s David Seymour about housing
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Seymour needs to stop panic statements (paywalled)
RNZ: ACT leader David Seymour wants to see more drug addicts, sickness beneficiaries rejoin workforce
Brent Edwards (NBR): Act’s plan to get more beneficiaries back to work (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Act promises to cut waste and red tape to help boost productivity (paywalled)
Catherine Delahunty (E-Tangata): Only joking
NZ FIRST
Vernon Small (Post): Is the old warhorse saddling up for one last rodeo? (paywalled)
Otago University: VOTE2023: Q&A with Winston Peters
RNZ: Election 2023: New Zealand First releases party list
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): NZ First releases party list with conspiracy theorist at No 11
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): New Zealand First’s Winston Peters proves a crowd-pleaser in Levin
Spinoff: Youth Wings: Selling NZ First as a young person
LABOUR
Newshub: Labour should be worried about losing big names this election – Paddy Gower
Steve Braunias (Herald): The Secret Diary of Shipwreck Chippy (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Labour promises to raise wages and protect workers’ rights (paywalled)
Eric Frykberg (Interest): Labour pledges to establish a formal class actions regime
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Hipkins says Labour will extend free breast screening if re-elected
RNZ: Labour will raise breast screening age, develop endometriosis action plan
Emma Hatton (Newsroom): Labour lists fresh policy, campaigns on National’s cuts
GREENS
John Campbell (1News): Just who the hell are the Greens?
RNZ: Greens promise five weeks’ annual leave
Shanti Mathias (Spinoff): Meet Lan Pham, the MP-in-waiting who loves native fish and hates politics
Rip Bhatia (Stuff): Sahra Ahmed was a mosque-attack first responder. Now, she’s running for Parliament
TE PĀTI MĀORI
Chris Wikaira (Newsroom): For Te Pāti Māori, it’s compromise or be compromised
RNZ: Election 2023 profiles: Who are Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi?
Tracey Tawhiao (Newsroom): Short story of a Te Pāti Māori candidate
ELECTORATES
Gray Gibson (Newshub): Newshub Nation Reid Research Poll: Labour’s Ibrahim Omer, Greens’ Tamatha Paul, National’s Scott Sheeran neck and neck in Wellington Central
Gray Gibson (Newshub): Wellington Central frontrunners – Labour’s Ibrahim Omer, Green’s Tamatha Paul, and National’s Scott Sheeran make their case for the electorate
Molly Swift (Newshub): Election 2023 hot seats: Three-horse race for Wellington Central with transport key focus for candidates
Arusha Bradley (RNZ): Ryan Hamilton: National’s anti-fluoride, anti-mandate MP-in-waiting
1News: Labour incumbents in 2 Wellington electorates facing stiff competition
1News: Hutt South electorate set to be the ‘Chris and Ginny show’
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): Electorates to watch: the battle for Northland
Ryan Boswell (1News): Could West Coast-Tasman flip? National candidate confident
DEBATES
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Let the debates begin
Gray Gibson (Newshub Nation): Health Debate: Labour’s Dr Ayesha Verrall and National’s Dr Shane Reti clash over whether National will increase frontline health funding
Trent Doyle and Simon Shepherd (Newshub Nation): Political panel says Aotearoa is in safe hands no matter who is next Health Minister
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): 8.30pm Live on Freeview 200: The Working Group/Taxpayers’ Union Post Leaders Debate analysis live from Backbenchers Pub
MEDIA
David Fisher (Herald): ‘I’m not a Russian agent’: RNZ journo behind ‘pro-Kremlin garbage’ tells his story (paywalled)
Duncan Garner (Listener): Why I refuse to vote in a general election (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The media to follow this Election
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Mediawatch: Stuff keeps Open AI at arm’s length
Amberleigh Jack (Stuff): Why won’t anybody talk about the deleted Duncan Garner and Dominic Harvey podcast?
RNZ: Media groups condemn alleged bribery attempt on RNZ Pacific journalist
Tracy Watkins (Post): A salute to Kim Hill and the golden age of the political interview (paywalled)
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Stuff): RNZ’s Kim Hill calls time on Saturday Morning show after 21 years
ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING
Charlotte Graham-McLay (Guardian): New Zealand voters search for relief from ‘shocking’ living costs as election looms
Annemarie Quill (Stuff): Meltdowns, dumped trolleys: Rise of food price anxiety in New Zealand
Liam Dann (Herald): Immigration boom creates headache for next government (paywalled)
Brian Easton (Pundit): What Is PREFU 2023 Really Telling Us?
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Economic credibility missing in action (paywalled)
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Economic doomerism for political benefit
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): National good for investors? Why this time it may not be so simple (paywalled)
David Hargreaves (Interest): Out of ‘recession’ we go – but the economy is certainly not flying
Gareth Kiernan (Stuff): Treasury’s forecasts give a false picture of business-as-usual
Kirk Hope (Post): Election 2023 is ‘one for the books’ (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Decent chance recession we thought we just had could be called off on Thursday (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): NZ’s recession probably over: Was that it?
Liam Dann (Herald):: Odds of a soft landing? Seven big questions with S&P Global’s chief economist (paywalled)
Katie Bradford (1News): Business Watch: GDP, tax, housing and leaders’ debate
MIGRANT WORKERS
Mike Treen (Post): Recent visa scandals are just the tip of the immigration iceberg (paywalled)
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Full-time staff monitoring migrant worker hire applications halve despite harrowing cases of exploitation
Kevin Norquay (Post): Seasonal workers’ pay is ‘life-changing’, but new rules put that at risk (paywalled)
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE
Geoffrey Miller (Democracy Project): Who will be New Zealand’s next foreign minister?
Audrey Young (Herald): Former prime minister Helen Clark joins select global group The Elders
Christine Rovoi (Stuff): Mahuta meets foreign ministers to discuss Pacific priorities
Caley Callahan (Newshub): Revealed: Most recent estimate of New Zealand’s veteran suicide rates
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Why Wellington’s ‘financial crisis’ is being kept secret (paywalled)
RNZ: Wellington Water on burst pipe: ‘We’ll always see failures in this type of network’
Kevin Niorquay (Post): Population influx has Auckland facing a double-edged sword (paywalled)
RNZ: ‘Incredibly wasteful’: 1936 brick building to be torn down for car park
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Former staff member calls on Gore District Council to release details of any payouts to Stephen Parry
Evan Harding (Southland Times): Invercargill mayor’s list of things to do before he steps aside
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Councillor’s shock announcement: He’s standing as an MP
Local Democracy Reporting: IT upgrade costs Rotorua council about $14.9m more than originally budgeted
Sue Teodoro (Local Democracy Reporting): Booze ban for Wairarapa holiday hotspots
HOUSING
Lloyd Burr (Newshub): Revealed: Emergency housing tenants owe government over $60m in unpaid rent
Emma Hatton (Newsroom): Kāinga Ora ups the ante in race to build more homes
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Mega Landlords: investor stops buying after tax change, renovating instead
Ged Cann (Post): Mega Landlords: The father and son with more than 100 homes
Samantha Gee (RNZ): Bid to ditch Nelson housing intensification plan fails, more consultation sought
BUSINESS
Susan Edmunds (Post): Was the end of prompt payment discounts a rip-off? (paywalled)
RNZ: Manufacturing sector contracts for sixth consecutive month
RNZ: Sealord moves to acquire Christchurch-based Independent Fisheries
Kate Green (RNZ): Rail freight services from Napier Port back on track from Monday
HEALTH
Tim Tenbensel (Newsroom): Health targets may be good politics, but they’re not good policy
Luisa Girao (ODT): Pressure in system creating inequality
Caleb Fotheringham (RNZ): Action demanded on diseases at Paciifc health summit
RNZ: Midwives to vote on proposed pay equity deal
Lois Williams (Newsroom): Damning report into rest-home closure
EDUCATION
1News: Q+A: Children are taught ‘habits of poor readers’ – expert
Damien Grant (Stuff): The failure of New Zealand’s teachers
Gianina Schwanecke (Post): Where did all the university students go this year? (paywalled)
Jerry Coyne: University of Auckland continues to promote indigenous ways of knowing while not allowing a promised debate between that and modern science
CLIMATE CHANGE, PROTEST
Alexander Gillespie (The Conversation):Another day, another roadblock: how should NZ law deal with disruptive climate protests?
Herald: Jacinda Ardern heckled on Canadian streets during her visit for Global Action Summit
Amberleigh Jack (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern heckled in Canada: ‘Leave the former prime minister alone’
Steve Urlich (Stuff): Economic prudence in the age of environmental tempests
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Farmers to apply political pressure through new Methane Science Accord
OTHER
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Amazon celebrated ‘ambitious partership’ in letter to PM
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Health Ministry seeks review of contracts it has awarded to firm with links to Peeni Henare
RNZ: Posie Parker cancels trip to New Zealand over safety concerns
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Thank Jesus – Posie Parker cancels NZ visit and saves the Woke from themselves
Pokere Paewai (RNZ): Interest in learning te reo Māori grows amid goal for one million speakers
Nadine Roberts (Stuff): Former leader of neo-nazi group met ex-soldiers in America prior to arrest on firearms charges
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Man who spent Covid-19 wage subsidy on gambling and adult entertainment to remain in jail
William Terite (Newshub): Māori experts frustrated with delay over bilingual road signs decision
Jane Phare (Herald): How come ‘sexist plonkers’ are still thriving in New Zealand? (paywalled)
Alexia Russell (RNZ): The burning question on rubbish
