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: 20 September 2023

TVNZ LEADERS’ DEBATE
Spinoff: TVNZ Leaders’ debate #1, NZ election 2023: The verdicts
Claire Trevett, Audrey Young, Thomas Coughlan and Shayne Currie (Herald): The verdicts on Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon – Who won TVNZ leaders’ debate? (paywalled)
Farah Hancock (RNZ): Hipkins vs Luxon: The first leaders’ debate by the numbers
Matthew Hooton (The Australian): Low quality New Zealand debate shows leaders’ lack of seriousness (paywalled)
1News: Vote Compass: Who took out the first TVNZ Leaders’ Debate?
Luke Malpass (Post): First blood Luxon: A battle fought in National’s territory (paywalled)
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Leaders debate: The Chris’ning of the next Prime Minister
Felix Desmarais (1News): Luxon exceeds expectations in first debate
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Hipkins vs Luxon: What voters learned from the first head-to-head debate
Richard Harman (Politik): Hipkins – Luxon stalemate (paywalled)
Jo Moir (Newsroom): First leaders’ debate light on new insights
Maree Mahony (RNZ): Hipkins’ and Luxon’s fast-paced debate fails to get pundits’ pulses racing
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): A few surprising things from the first leaders debate
Derek Cheng (Herald): Chris to Chris in the leaders’ debate: ‘What are you afraid of?’ versus ‘I’m not afraid of anything’
Mark Jennings (Newsroom): The Relieving debate
Steve Braunias (Herald): Searching for an ounce of charisma in the TVNZ leaders’ debate (paywalled)
Grant Duncan: Did the leaders’ debate live up to the low expectations?
Jess Rayner (1News): First Leaders’ Debate: The big issues from Luxon v Hipkins clash
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Election 2023 debate moments: Christopher Luxon misspeaks, Chris Hipkins makes unexpected announcement, calls KiwiBuild ‘unrealistic promise’
1News: Experts give debate verdict: Hipkins waffly, Luxon dog-whistling
Molly Swift (Newsroom): Political commentators give verdict on who won Chris Hipkins, Christopher Luxon debate
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Leaders’ views clash on cost of living, crime
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): First Leaders Debate – A carnival of mediocrity where NZ was the loser
Tova O’Brien (Stuff): Election 2023 first leaders debate: Voters might feel they’re the losers
Anna Whyte (Post): Leaders clash over core policy, find common ground in scrappy debate
1News: Full video: Your Vote 2023, First Leaders’ Debate
———-
Mark Jennings (Newsroom): Debate day is D-Day for Hipkins
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Hipkins brushing up his messages – and memory
Danyl McLauchlan (Listener): What to expect from tonight’s election debate (paywalled)
Liam Hehir (The Blue Review): How to watch the debate without losing your mind
Gabi Lardies (Spinoff): All new 2023 leader debate bingo (or drinking game if you like)
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Chris Hipkins reveals ‘weakness’ as leaders prepare for first debate

MĀORI ELECTORATES
Deborah LaHatte (Whakaata Māori): Neck and neck race for Te Tai Hauāuru
James Perry (Whakaata Māori): Te Tai Hauāuru debate shows commitment to electorate will be the difference on election day
The Hui: The Hui panel analyses Te Tai Tokerau debate between Hūhana Lyndon, Mariameno Kapa-Kinga, Kelvin Davis
The Hui: As it happened: The Hui Māori electorate debate – Te Tai Tokerau candidates
Aaron Smale (Newsroom): The race to represent a battered region
Wena Harawira (Whakaata Māori): Peeni Henare seeks fourth term in Tāmaki Makaurau

ELECTION
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Political Roundup: A Very hollow election
Steven Cowan: The illusion of democracy
Andrew Shepherd (Post): An election campaign of empty silences and emptier slogans (paywalled)
Glen McConnell (Stuff): Surprising amount of common ground found in infrastructure election debate
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): Greens want to stop scrapping over small spending bucket
Nick Kelly: Understanding the New Zealand General Election 2023 – Historical trends and perspectives
Serena Solomon (Guardian): Why is Jacinda Ardern absent from New Zealand election campaign?
Graham Adams (The Platform): Is Ardern a liability for Labour?
Audrey Young (Herald): First leaders debate is Christopher Luxon’s to lose (paywalled)
Lloyd Burr (Newshub): Big talk of big cuts on campaign trail ahead of first debate
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Kaupapa Māori polling places to counter voter discrimination
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Greens, Te Pāti Māori and TOP ace disability issues scorecard
Rayssa Almeida (RNZ): Former state care kids quiz politicians on their plans
Ben Thomas (Spinoff): Who is Karl Mokaraka?
Charlie Mitchell (Press): Liz Gunn’s party fails to register nearly all candidates (paywalled)
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): Liz Gunn party only registers three candidates
Jonathan Leask (RNZ): Election candidates locked for hotly contested Rangitata sea
Anna Whyte (Post): Why these six candidates want to roam the halls of power (paywalled)

GREENS
Mihingarangi Forbes (RNZ): Mata episode 19: An interview with Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): The Sure Things: ‘Steve from Spotify’ wants to bring activism to Parliament
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): The former Wellington mayor set to swap the bush for the beltway
RNZ: Green Party wants free lunches expanded to 365,000 children
Newshub: Green Party promises to continue, expand free lunches programme paid for by wealth tax

LABOUR
Suze Wilson (The Conversation): Controlling the political narrative is key to winning the NZ election – no easy task for Chris Hipkins
RNZ: Labour’s Chris Hipkins shies from curbing spending promises
William Hewett (Newshub): Labour leader Chris Hipkins ‘concerned’ supermarkets not treating consumers well
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Chris Hipkins intervenes over another inaccurate post from MP, Labour launches new attack ad
Will Trafford (Whakaata Māori): Labour dumps prison population reduction target
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Labour’s finally admitted reducing prison populations was a bad idea
Spinoff: Youth Wings: The Young Labour chair who refuses to be in a centrist party

NATIONAL
Gordon Campbell: On National’s (lack of) plans for El Nino
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Christopher Luxon reveals stance on fuel excise duty as petrol prices soar
William Hewett (Newshub): Christopher Luxon promises to ‘cut red tape’ with economic plan
Eric Frykberg (Interest): Nats promise to cut red tape, deregulate
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): Matt Doocey: From National’s ‘toxic’ years to a mental health minister-in-waiting

NZ FIRST
Blessen Tom (RNZ): Indian-origin New Zealand First candidate withdraws from Auckland electorate race
Bob Jones: The Winston Dilemma

ECONOMY
Max Harris (Newsroom): Pulling tax from one part of teetering Jenga tower to place it in another
Richard Prebble (Herald): Mass immigration isn’t working. We need to get more Kiwis into jobs (paywalled)
Tim Hazledine (Newsroom): Show us the (maths behind the) money!
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Take the ideas from left, right and centre and it looks like half an economic plan (paywalled)

HEALTH
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Off the Shelf: Sugar, salt and portion size limits pushed by health officials
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Rest homes forced to sedate dementia patients due to lack of psychiatrists
Adam Burns (RNZ): Donated air purifiers hoped to help asthmatics deal with Bromley’s ‘putrid smell’
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Queenstown businesses angry about delay as gastro cases double
Rachel Thomas (Post): Striking lab workers to picket employer’s future-shaping conference (paywalled)

PETROL PRICES
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): New Zealanders stuck in a ‘car dependency cycle’ as fuel likely to rise to record-breaking prices
Nona Pelletier (RNZ): Petrol prices: 91 octane expected to rise to $3.50 a litre by Christmas
Susan Edmunds and Shilpy Arora (Stuff): Pain at the pump: ‘I can never afford to fill it’

KIWISAVER
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Are you missing out on money in your KiwiSaver?
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Hardship withdrawals and savings suspensions have jumped in the past year as households struggle with the high cost of living
Rob Stock (Post): Big bank ‘dinosaur’ KiwiSaver schemes struggle to hold onto savers (paywalled)

BANKS
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Bank pays nearly $30k after customer falls for fake website scam
Rebecca Stevenson (Interest): Show me the (scammed) money: Banking Ombudsman says scammed New Zealanders lost on average $57,000

CLIMATE CHANGE, ENVIRONMENT
Aaron Ryan (Whakaata Māori): Napier: The most climate-change-vulnerable city in Aotearoa
Rob Stock (Post): Country’s largest insurer IAG begins insure ‘retreat’ from flood-prone homes
Barney Irvine (Herald): Five waste and recycling priorities for the next Government(paywalled)
RNZ: Fewer places to swim in Canterbury this summer, thanks to pollution

LOCAL DEMOCRACY REPORTING
Julie Jacobson (Post): Secrecy surrounding mayoral trip to Asia criticised (paywalled)
Ellen Curnow (Westport News): West Coast councillor Allan Birchfield’s spat costs ratepayers $40,000
Kim Meredith (Local Democracy Reporting): Submissions low on introducing dedicated Māori seats to Auckland Council

EDUCATION, DILWORTH SCHOOL
Jessica Roden (1News): Future of NZ’s schools for students with high needs remains in limbo
Alisha Evans (Local Democracy ReportING): Reducing specialist teachers ‘shockingly irresponsible’
Laura James (1News): Calls for former Dilworth leaders to face criminal charges

FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TRADE
Damien Venuto (Herald): The Front Page: Why New Zealand will struggle to get a free trade agreement with India
RNZ: Forum foreign ministers address key priorities for the region

CRIME
Blair Ensor (Stuff): Family of bus exchange stabbing victim angry he was deported to New Zealand
Louise Ternouth (RNZ): Checkpoint: AT says anti-social behaviour a growing issue after stabbing
RNZ: Albany Bus Station death tragic, Hipkins and Luxon say
RNZ: November opening planned for community hub tackling crime in Rotorua

OTHER
Jem Traylen (BusinessDesk): Business of Government: another Nats tax hole? OIA wins and fails, and more… (paywalled)
Mana Wikaire-Lewis (Whakaata Māori): Iwi looks at overseas partnerships to build cost-effective mobile houses
Soumya BhamidipatI (RNZ): Kim Dotcom fights decision to release hard-drives, passwords to United States FBI
Jordan Dunn (RNZ): Trans activist accused of assaulting Posie Parker applies to have charge dismissed
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): One positive from the pandemic
Sharon Brettkelly, (RNZ): The Detail: Tarras locals gear up for a fight over airport
Susan Hornsby-Geluk (Post): Room for improvement in workplace gender identity decision-making (paywalled)
Poppy Clark (Stuff): Radio host Barry Soper off air and in hospital for major surgery
Matthew Slaughter (Stuff): Elizabeth Kerekere: The power of activism for the rainbow community