Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. Click here to subscribe to Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup and New Zealand Politics Daily.
Today’s content
Afghanistan
Henry Cooke (Stuff): ‘All up in smoke’: New Zealand’s 20 years and 10 lives lost in Afghanistan
David Fisher (Herald): After 20 years at war, this is what NZ got out of going to war in Afghanistan (paywalled)
Liam Hehir (Blue Review) The disaster in Afghanistan
Gordon Campbell: On the fall of Kabul
Dave Armstrong (Stuff): Helping those who helped us in Afghanistan is the least we can do
Robert Ayson (Newsroom): Afghanistan: The end of strategic optimism
No Right Turn: It was always going to end like this
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Afghanistan war: 20 years of blood and treasure – and for what?
David Fisher (Herald): As Afghanistan fell, our military’s interpreters sat in silence and feared for families they tried to bring to New Zealand (paywalled)
Derek Cheng (Herald): Taliban is new reality in Afghanistan – let’s talk to them: Former Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee
George Driver (Spinoff): ‘It might be too late’: resettled NZDF interpreter on fears for family in Afghanistan
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Political parties urge government to support Afghan nationals
Derek Cheng (Herald): ‘We are desperate’ – Terrified Afghans who helped NZ in hiding awaiting evacuation
Stuff Editorial: Government scrambles to react to Taliban resurgence
ODT Editorial: Tears for Afghanistan
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The Failure Of The West
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Who is scrambling faster? The Taliban taking Kabul or Helen Clark protecting her reputation?
Piers Fuller (Stuff): Amnesty International urges Government to ‘do all it can’ to help those caught in Afghanistan
Kirsty Lawrence (Stuff): Abandoned: My siblings served New Zealand, now they’re targets
Emma Hatton (RNZ): Afghan Kiwis plead with government to bring their families to NZ
1 News: NZ contribution in Afghanistan a ‘positive one’: Henare
RNZ: Checkpoint: Afghanistan deployment by Wednesday earliest – Defence Minister
Zane Small (Newshub): National leader Judith Collins fears ‘death cult’ Taliban will murder New Zealand allies if they haven’t been evacuated yet
Newstalk ZB: Getting Afghan Nationals out will be difficult
Tess McClure (Guardian): New Zealand to deploy troops to aid citizens’ evacuation from Afghanistan
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Our responsibility to support those who supported us: Jacinda Ardern plans to evacuate Afghan nationals and Kiwis amid Taliban takeover
Jody O’Callaghan (Stuff):‘We can help’: Kiwi couple fundraise to help those displaced in Afghanistan
Newstalk ZB: Former SAS Commander: We have a moral obligation to help Afghan civilians
Katarina Williams (Stuff): Afghans face ‘rule of the gun’ under Taliban control, retired major says
Tom Hunt (Stuff): ‘I cannot do anything’: Afghan man in Wellington watches homeland helplessly
1 News: NZ academic has reservations about Taliban despite its moderate claims
Derek Cheng (Herald): NZDF sending plane to help evacuate New Zealanders, local contractors from Afghanistan – PM Jacinda Ardern
RNZ: New Zealanders, at-risk Afghan nationals being helped to leave Afghanistan
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): NZ Defence Force plane to go on deployment with 40 personnel for Afghanistan evacuations
Michael Daly (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern has not ruled out sending Defence Force to Afghanistan to get New Zealanders out
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): A mercy mission: Jacinda Ardern deploys troops to Afghanistan just months after New Zealand pulled out
Herald: Fall of Kabul: Cabinet to act urgently to get Kiwis and helpers out of Afghanistan
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Cabinet calls on NZ troops for Afghanistan rescue
1 News: Govt to offer assistance to Afghan citizens who helped NZ forces
Stuff: Taliban’s retake of Afghanistan sparks anguish among New Zealanders
Jody O’Callaghan (Stuff): Calm urged among Afghan and Pakistan Kiwis as tensions rise abroad
Thomas Manch (Stuff): ‘Utterly surreal and devastating’: Former PM Helen Clark shellshocked to be ‘back where we were’ in Afghanistan as Taliban take over
RNZ: Former PM Helen Clark says Taliban control in Afghanistan ‘massive step backwards’
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Our responsibility to support those who supported us: Jacinda Ardern plans to evacuate Afghan nationals and Kiwis amid Taliban takeover
Zane Small (Newshub): New Zealand joins international statement on Afghanistan calling on Taliban to allow departures
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Defence Force to be deployed in Afghanistan to evacuate Kiwis, Afghan allies after Taliban takeover
Nicholas Boyack (Stuff): Former Afghan aid worker calls for sympathy rather than fear
Jody O’Callaghan (Stuff): Calm urged among Afghan and Pakistan Kiwis as tensions rise abroad
UMR poll
Claire Trevett (Herald): Political poll: Labour down, National up but Act’s David Seymour extends lead over Judith Collins
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): UMR poll: Why New Zealand First got a bump and how Winston Peters could return in 2023 – Jenny Marcroft
Zane Small (Newshub): New Zealand First on verge of political comeback in UMR poll as Labour slips
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Latest internal UMR Poll – Left plummet while Right rise
Richard Harman (Politik): How POLITIK was duped by fake news
Simon Bridges’ book
Danyl McLauchlan (Spinoff): It means no worries: a revealing interview with Simon ‘Simba’ Bridges
Steve Braunias (Guardian): Simon Bridges’ memoir reveals the candid, funny, vulnerable person behind the stiff exterior
Dita De Boni ((NBR):): Reading better than rugby: Simon Bridges the outsider in new memoir (paywalled)
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Simon Bridges’ book details events leading to toppling: ‘The bedwetters won’
Covid-19
Chris Trotter (Interest): Racism is always and everywhere the creation of elites and ‘perfect storms’ are invariably unleashed upon us from above
Nick Truebridge (RNZ): ‘A serious problem’: Vaccination rates not tracked at east Auckland border facility
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Decision to jab 12- to 15-year-olds coming in ‘not so distant future’, Ardern says
1 News: Ardern: ‘Talks ongoing’ about potential Covid booster jabs
Herald Editorial: The booster debate – by next year will we need an extra dose?
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Westpac ponders life after mass vaccinations
Daily Telegraph Opinion (Herald): Zero-Covid ‘hermit economies’ headed for catastrophe (paywalled)
Marty Bradbury (Waatea News): Let’s be clear – reopening the borders will kill Maori, Pacifica & the poor
Mike Hosking (Herald): Mike Hosking’s ‘seamless’ first vaccine jab
RNZ: Students told anti-vaccine campaigners to ‘go away’ – Deputy principal
Anuja Nadkarni (Newsroom): Vaccination Inc: Corporates step up to speed up rollout
Covid-19 – MIQ, immigration
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): I refreshed MIQ site 10,000 times and still no room
Hannah Martin (Stuff): 100pc of cases at the border in last three weeks were Delta variant
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): Covid exposure en route to MIQ
Liz McDonald (Stuff): Millions in visitor income at risk after Government says no to MIQ for SailGP
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern surprised 11yo cancer patient who flew to US for treatment can’t get MIQ spot
Michael O’Keeffe (Newshub): SailGP organisers hopeful of New Zealand leg after January plans scuppered by MIQ spot shortage
Liz McDonald (Stuff): Millions in visitor income at risk after Government says no to MIQ for SailGP
RNZ: The Detail: Immigration – who’s in, who’s out, who’s waiting?
Troy Bowker race comments
Claire Trevett (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern took a donation from Troy Bowker in 2017
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern vows to never again accept donation from Hurricanes board member Troy Bowker over ‘appalling and backward’ remarks
Peter Williams (Magic): Get that divisive cancel culture out of New Zealand
Health
David Farrar: Little says Cancer Society “off the planet”
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Southlanders call on Health Minister to prioritise cancer care
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Patients sent home, surgeries deferred as hospital nurses and midwives strike again
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): More than 30,000 midwives, health workers prepare to strike
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Lower Hutt birthing centre’s decision to close ‘theirs to make’ – Associate Health Minister
Imogen Wells (1 News): Hutt birthing unit closure ‘unfortunate’, says Health Ministry
Alexa Cook (Newshub): Wellington’s ‘code red’ as region’s only birth centre risks closure, expecting parents struggle to find midwives
Matai O’Connor (RNZ): Calls for more Māori health provider funding and Māori nurses pay parity
Esther Ashby-Coventry (Herald): Work to break down barriers to Māori health, recognised
Esther Ashby-Coventry (Stuff): Healthcare NZ withdrawal puts South Canterbury support workers on edge
Helen Harvey (Stuff): Taranaki waiting lists for specialists longest in the country
Housing
Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): ‘It’s a broken system’: A single father’s never-ending ordeal with an emergency housing model that gives him no security
Daniel Smith (Stuff): House price drop may test home loans with 5 per cent deposit
Priscilla Dickinson (Newshub): First-home buyers will need longer to save deposit under proposed loan-to-value restrictions – CoreLogic
Daniel Smith (Stuff): House price drop may test home loans with 5 per cent deposit
David Hargreaves (Interest): Households expecting house prices to continue rising over next year
Sahiban Hyde (Hawkes Bay Today): Napier housing, 3500 new homes needed in 10 years: The only way is up? (paywalled)
Tim Newman (Stuff): Proposal aims to bring affordable housing to Nelson’s central city
Samathana Gee (RNZ): Kāinga Ora eyeing chance to develop Nelson CBD land for housing
Anne Gibson (Herald): Auckland buyers could need an extra $90,000 after October’s Reserve Bank clampdown (paywalled)
Energy
Luke Blincoe (Stuff): Power ‘blackout’ highlights NZ’s electricity problem
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): Transpower’s social media posts lead to confusion on East Coast
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Contact Energy promotes ‘ThermalCo’ proposal as profit rises 50%
Jamie Gray (Herald): Contact lifts profit by 24%, makes a case for ‘ThermalCo’ (paywalled)
Jamie Gray (Herald): Contact Energy earnings lift by $107m, seeks thermal asset consolidation
Environment, climate change, conservation
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Defence Force’s most polluted bases revealed
Todd Niall (Stuff): Climate change: Who will lead Auckland emissions reduction if there is no leader?
Timothy Welch (The Conversation): To get New Zealanders out of their cars we’ll need to start charging the true cost of driving
Alice Angeloni (Local Democracy Reporting): Airstrip in East Coast wetland area consented despite objections of DoC, council ecologist
Herald: Waikato Regional Council lays 44 charges against Huntly landfill over fire
RNZ: Dozens of charges laid in wake of long-running rubbish dump fire
Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): Identifying source of neon green substance in Queenstown creek may take weeks
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Cause of green water in Wakatipu may take weeks to establish – council
Jared McCulloch and Maddy Lloyd (1 News): NIWA and schools combine to get to bottom of Cromwell’s air quality issues
Parliament
Spinoff: After many years responding to OIA requests, I have an idea to make it actually work
Sarah Templeton (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern weighs in on viral ‘bridezilla’ Reddit thread on The AM Show
Lord of the Rings
Newstalk ZB: Grant Robertson: Doesn’t accept Amazon’s decision to not film in NZ due to MIQ
Oliver Lewis (Spinoff): They may take our Amazon series, but they’ll never take our giant airport Gandalf
Local government
Mike Yardley (Stuff): Axe Three Waters model, co-fund infrastructure projects
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Sir Tim Shadbolt upset over email leak that led to ‘let’s attack the mayor fest’
Moana Ellis (Local Democracy Reporting): Marae hui call for more Māori seats in Ruapehu council proposal
Ted Wells (Stuff): Trying to solve New Plymouth’s parking problem
Auckland
Simon Wilson (Herald): Cheaper and easier, but do trackless trams make sense? (paywalled)
Adam Jacobson (Stuff): Trackless trams on Auckland’s Dominion Rd won’t solve congestion, urbanist says
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland’s potential $400m transport funding hole puts roading and public transport projects at risk (paywalled)
Bernadette Basagre (Stuff): Auckland’s climate likely contributed to train track damage, causing speed restrictions
Todd Niall (Stuff): Contractor fined for theft of mains water in Auckland
Miriam Burrell (Herald): Crime in the City: Auckland security guard on ‘new generation of bad behaviour’
Mike Scott (Herald): Crime in the City: The cost of violent crime on Auckland’s health services
Labour market, industrial relations, migrant workers
Chris Keall (Herald): Skills crisis: Video gaming boss unloads on Immigration NZ (paywalled)
Mariné Lourens (Stuff): Booze baron’s record scrutinised as authority considers cancelling liquor licences
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Gisborne grower hopes to pay half his workforce $27 an hour
Education and training
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Regular ERO audits help ‘turnaround’ problem schools
Cas Carter (Stuff): Why can’t we accept that girls are smarter?
Business, economy
David Hargreaves (Interest): ANZ economists point to a ‘sharp disconnect’ between what NZ analysts and offshore pundits believe the Reserve Bank will do on interest rates this week
Gyles Beckford (RNZ): Reserve Bank poised to increase OCR to ease economic pressures
Cameron Bagrie (BusinessDesk): Full employment, but more people are on benefits
Simon Draper (Stuff): We need to increase our export opportunities, not isolate ourselves from the world
Nona Pelletier (RNZ): Price increases v cost inflation likely key focus of earnings season
RNZ: Services sector and employment levels continue to expand
Primary industries
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Groundswell NZ plans more protest action against Government regulations
Sally Rae (ODT): Howl organisers planning even larger protest
Conversion therapy
1 News: Law professor: National’s vote against conversion therapy bill ‘odd’
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Will Gay Conversion becomes Jacinda’s Anti-smacking curse?
Other
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Marsden Point closure yet another loss for community next door
Barry Erickson (Hawkes Bay Today): It’s 2021 – could NZ trains be made safer? (paywalled)
Janine Rankin (Stuff): Iwi stand up to KiwiRail plans to claim land
Jimmy Ellingham (Stuff): Thirty-one Manawatū Prison ‘action points’ outstanding after four years
Antonia Fisher and Vivienne Crawshaw (Herald): The Family Court has a backlog of cases but is not broken (paywalled)
Gain Ellis (Knightly Views): Please don’t quote me on that
Tumamao Harawira (Māori TV): Lecturer says police have undue influence on Police Ten-7
Siouxsie Wiles (Stuff): Science: Some studies better than others
John Anthony (Stuff): Event organisers distance themselves from sponsor’s ‘rant’ over call for inclusion of Māori speakers
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Oranga Tamariki CE on leave for health reasons
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): NZ wades into South China Sea dispute
Susan St John (Interest): There may be a better way to deal fiscally with our ageing population
