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
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Dileepa Fonseka (Business Desk): Why Hipkins visiting China is really about NZ politics (paywalled)
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): From New Zealand to Beijing – Chris Hipkins heads off to make his case with Xi Jinping (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): The next China is … China, but be careful what you wish for (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): John Key on what Chris Hipkins needs from China trip, and Xi Jinping’s sense of humour (paywalled)
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Chris Hipkins lands in China with a frenetic week ahead
Luke Malpass (Post): Friends and allies will be watching Hipkins’ China visit – even if voters are not (paywalled)
Jessica Mutch McKay (1News): Hipkins trading exports against diplomacy in China
Jane Patterson (RNZ): PM having to find his diplomatic feet fast ahead of high-stakes China visit
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Hipkins’ first big diplomatic test meeting Xi
Richard Harman (Politik): Hipkins gets warm welcome in Beijing (paywalled)
1News: Hipkins touches down in China ahead of Xi Jinping meeting
Newshub: Prime Minister Chris Hipkins lands in Beijing for week-long trade trip
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Chris Hipkins focuses on trade as he flies to China
Herald: Nanaia Mahuta received ‘dressing down’ from Chinese Foreign Minister – reports
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Chippy’s diplomacy tightrope walk with a threatening China just got harder
1News: Q+A: Shared interests or shared values? Expert on Hipkins China trip
Jason Young (Newsroom): ‘We must be broke again’ – our China policy is trade
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): The challenge for Chris Hipkins in China
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Wellington Water stands firm against Chinese embassy security fears
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Concern over Chinese scholarship drive in Pacific
Stephen Jacobi (Newsroom): Singapore points the way for NZ to avoid geopolitical conflict
NATIONAL PARTY CONFERENCE
Claire Trevett (Herald): National Party leader Christopher Luxon’s ‘lock ’em up’ law and order conference speech was not subtle, and that was the whole point
Richard Harman (Politik): National haunted by nightmare of 2005 (paywalled)
Emma Hatton (Newsroom): National party conference plays it safe on day one
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): National straddles two strategies as it prepares for nail-biter election
Thomas Manch (Post): Luxon’s challenge: Getting voters behind a ‘strong National government’ (paywalled)
Stuff: Take Five: Key questions about the National Party’s conference promises answered
Amelia Wade (Newshub): National promises tougher sentences, but lawyer, retired judge sceptical
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): National learns lesson from ‘boot camps’ with new policy
Michael Neilson (Herald): National law and order policy for harsher sentences welcomed by victims advocate, Labour says ‘egregious’ and will cost millions
Michael Neilson (Herald): National leader Chris Luxon launches law and order policy at party conference – harsher sentences, more focus on victims and rehab for remand prisoners
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Christopher Luxon pledges to stop judges discounting criminal sentences by more than 40%
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Labour brands National’s new policy ‘egregious overreach’ of politicians over judges
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): National wants limits on judges’ discretion during sentencing
RNZ: National promises limits on judge discretion in sentencing
Amelia Wade (Newshub): National sets goal of winning 45 pct of vote as it fires up base at party conference
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Christopher Luxon tells party ‘strong National Government’ needed for NZ’s ‘mojo’
Giles Dexter (RNZ): National Party conference: ‘This is nothing less than a fight for the future’ – Bishop
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): National’s Nicola Willis warns against ‘lazy politics of envy’
Brent Edwards (NBR): National’s prescription for fixing the economy (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): National’s 100 days to the start of early voting (paywalled)
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Claire Trevett (Herald): National Party leader Chris Luxon’s women drought – Luxon sets 50% women goal but men got most National’s winnable seats
Luke Malpass (Stuff): It’s National’s conference this weekend, but is it jumping at ACT’s shadow?
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub Nation): Chris Bishop claims New Zealanders sick of ‘Ardern-style politics’
LABOUR, CONFLICTS OF INTERESTS
Vernon Small (Stuff): Faced with tertiary sector challenges, Government should learn health’s lessons
Juliet Moses (Stuff): Politicians’ failure to manage their conflicts of interest highlights why they matter so much
Michael Hundleby (Post): Public sector employees must have a better understanding of conflicts (paywalled)
Hamish McNicol and Calida Stuart-Menteath (NBR): Full restrictions regime on MPs a step too far (paywalled)
Claire Trevett (Herald): PM Chris Hipkins should be ropeable about Michael Wood – and not just with Wood (paywalled)
Janet Wilson (Stuff): Outflanked Hipkins faces checkmate after soldiers let him down
Jacqui Van Der Kaay (Democracy Project): Rules can’t restore personal integrity
Steve Braunias (Herald): The Secret Diary of … Chris Hipkins (paywalled)
Darren Bevan (Newshub): National says changes to how ministers handle conflicts of interest ‘definitely needed’, should have happened ‘earlier’
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Three reasons why Wood’s departure is cause for celebration (paywalled)
Victor Billot (Newsroom): An Ode for .. Michael Wood
Nicholas Boyack (Stuff): In the PM’s hood – is it Hipkins or Hopkins? And what’s with the weight gain?
MĀORI VOTERS, SEATS
Simon Shepherd (Newshub Nation): Political commentator says National will not win Māori seats but still benefit from standing candidates
Giles Dexter (RNZ): National Party’s annual conference kicks off by celebrating its commitment to stand candidates in Māori electorates for the first time in two decades
Bridie Witton (Stuff): National Party makes fresh pitch for Māori votes
Moana Maniapoto (E-Tangata): Chris Hipkins on his commitment to te ao Māori
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Labour MPs stake futures on winning Māori electorates
Whena Owen (1News): Q+A: Te Tai Hauāuru: A three-way race for the Māori seat
Finn Hogan and Gray Gibson (Newshub Nation): Māori electoral roll – why some Māori voters are strategically swapping rolls and what you need to know ahead of Election 2023
Simon Shepherd and Gray Gibson (Newshub Nation): Retired indigenous studies lecturer Rawiri Taonui predicts ‘a younger generation of capable Māori politicians’
Virginia Fallon (Stuff): Signs of the (racist) times: Māori, bilingual signage, still used for ‘race-baiting’
ELECTION, WEEK IN POLITICS, PARLIAMENT, PUBLIC SERVICE
Michael Neilson and Chris Knox (Herald): Herald’s poll of polls has Labour edging National – coalition with Greens, Te Pāti Māori well ahead (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury Daily Blog): Poll of Polls tells you what Daily Blog has been saying for 12 months
Adam Pearse (Herald): Labour and National accuse each other of advertising splurge in plea for donations (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: Wealthy donors a multi-edged sword (paywalled)
Grant Duncan: Where did our $640 million go?
Charlotte Graham-McLay (Guardian): Domestic squabbling and two men called Chris: what’s next for New Zealand politics after Jacinda Ardern
Gordon Campbell: On ACT’s anti-worker crusade, and Israeli settler violence
Shane Te Pou (Herald): National and Christopher Luxon squeezed by Labour and Act (paywalled)
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Week in Politics: National goes hard on law and order
Claire Trevett (Herald): Beehive Diaries: Why Grant Robertson said no-go to Taylor Swift funding, Act gets poetic about Meng Foon, David Seymour turns 40 (paywalled)
1News: Inside Parliament: Please accept my resignation
Herald Editorial: Hipkins gets break in China as National focuses on bread and butter (paywalled)
Herald: On the Tiles: Investigative series on catchphrases politicians use in interviews
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Southern voters in sights of party leaders
Mike Houlahan (ODT): ‘Change in govt critical’
RNZ: Push for ‘strong Green vote’ in south at campaign launch
Shayne Currie (Herald): Chlöe Swarbrick opens up on life, family, politics, Sir Ian Taylor and wealth taxes, abuse and why she’s not in Parliament forever (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Hateful Right vs Unforgiving Woke: Can the NZ Left win 2023 Election?
Joseph Los’e (Herald): Police yet to identify motorcyclist who hit Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson on pedestrian crossing
Bryce Wilkinson (NZ Initiative): There is evidence of public sector bloat – but the critical issue is lagging performance
HEALTH
Maxine Ronald (E-Tangata): Why do we have to keep explaining the ethnicity gap?
Trent Doyle (Newshub): Indefensible, or necessary? The tool to solve health inequities that turned into a political football
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Ethnicity in health debate gets under MPs’ skin
Peter Davis (BusinessDesk): It’s not just about Māori on waitlists – what about their lifespan? (paywalled)
Patrick Gower (Newshub): ‘Race-based’ preference meaningless for ‘medical refugees’
Aaron Smale (Newsroom): The low Māori and Pasifika survival rates for breast cancer
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Rayssa Almeida (RNZ): Thousands of ACC cases probed for misuse, but only seven prosecutions
Issac Davison (Herald): Surgical mesh: Half of surgeons assessed for using mesh did not meet minimum standards
RNZ: Lack of data on medical workforce suicides – Te Whatu Ora
Jean Edwards (RNZ): Donation-based shuttle takes Ōamaru patients to Dunedin Hospital
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): The doctors who are not getting hired (paywalled)
Christine Rovoi (Stuff): ‘Tripledemic’? Flu, RSV and Covid may collide this winter, experts warn
Kim Meredith (Local Democracy Reporting): New study breaks down why Pacific patients’ are high users of EDs
Erin Matariki Carr (E-Tangata): How vape shops continue colonisation
Phillida Bunkle (Stuff): Health culture change for the better evident at Nelson Hospital
Eda Tang (Stuff): ‘Nothing about us without us’: Disabled woman now free after 18 years in care
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Kieran McAnulty says future of local democracy isn’t ‘bread and butter.’ He’s wrong
Maia Hart (Local Democracy Reporting): ‘Unfunded mandates’: Local Government review recommends more support from central government
Ben Tomsett (ODT): Controversial tour welcomed by Invercargill mayor
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark throws weight behind Stop Co-Governance Tour, police say claims people arming themselves untrue
Finn Blackwell (RNZ): Mayor Wayne Brown raises ire of union, councillor over port lease plan
Tom Hunt (Post): Wellington Mayor backs watered down version of pro-Palestine move (paywalled)
Erin Johnson (Stuff): Anonymous feedback to Auckland Transport will have names afterall
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): Cuts and job losses at Auckland Transport ‘across the board’
Tom Hunt and Rachel Thomas (Post): An extra $5 million since Friday: Golden Mile compromise on the cards (paywalled)
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): No official record of Gore councillors informal meeting to discuss vote of no confidence in mayor
Vaneesa Bellew (Newsroom): Gore’s unlikely mea culpa
Grant Miller (ODT): Former Gore council CFO wants an apology too (paywalled)
Grant Miller (ODT: DCC may go into bat for university (paywalled)
ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING
Gareth Kiernan (Stuff): Sorry, a recession is just what the Governor ordered
Patrick Gower (Newshub): ‘No issues’ with the recession
RNZ: Truck data shows a ‘flat’ economy, economist says
Ethan Te Ora (Post): Harsh benefit sanctions double after MSD holds ‘job workshops’ (paywalled)
Tracy Watkins and Craig Hoyle (Stuff): When you’re 65 and still working to pay the bills
Tracy Watkins (Stuff): Choices or no frills – which will be your retirement?
Ralph Stewart (Stuff): Let’s not waste energy debating the entitlement age for NZ Super
Jane Nixon (1News): Petrol becoming a privilege for New Zealand’s most vulnerable
Tom Hunt (Stuff): ‘Lonely, cold, hungry’: Pain even hits middle income schools in cost of living crisis
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): How much does it really cost to have a baby?
TAX
Damien Grant (Stuff): A wealth tax is ‘woke rubbish’, which is why we’ll eventually get one
Bryce Wilkinson (Herald): Wealth tax: the case against a predatory policy (paywalled)
Dan Brunskill (Interest): A super-majority of voters want to fix tax bracket creep but only two political parties agree
Terry Baucher (Interest): Te wiki o te tāke: “Why don’t we tax [more]?
EDUCATION
Simon Shepherd and Gray Gibson (Newshub Nation): New Associate Education Minister Jo Luxton defends 20 hours early childhood education viability for parents
Robert Ayson & David Capie (Herald): Weaker universities will diminish New Zealand’s international resilience (paywalled)
Eddie Clark (Post): Labour’s silence on tertiary education cuts is deafening (paywalled)
RNZ: Victoria University proposed cuts: Vice-chancellor says funding unsustainable
Mark John (ODT): Tertiary education ‘a public good’ — Shaw
Fiona Ellis (ODT): University defends staff ratios (paywalled)
Gianina Schwanecke (Post): Class Struggles: Growing number of schools dropping NCEA level 1, but one is bringing it back (paywalled)
Indira Stewart (1News): Govt ‘doing nothing’ for school students supporting families
Anna Harcourt (Re:News): Auckland Grammar won’t let students buy single tickets to school ball
HOUSING
Kate MacNamara (Herald): Home ownership: Labour Government’s $400m Progressive Home Ownership scheme under pressure over targets and priorities (paywalled)
Maria Slade (NBR): Good on ya, Auckland Council, for sticking to your guns (paywalled)
Damien Venuto (Herald): The Front Page: $1 billion a year could be saved by improving quality of NZ homes
RNZ: More than 25 people sharing facilities at one house, charged $250 each a week, migrant says
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Queenstown revamp celebrated, but union points to rental housing crisis
CLIMATE CHANGE, EXTREME WEATHER, CIVIL DEFENCE
Brent Edwards (NBR): National’s plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions (paywalled)
Rod Oram (Newsroom): NZ’s laggard politicians see the climate crisis as a burden to be tackled
Mike Munro (Herald): Adapt to climate change or fight it? We’re going to have to do both (paywalled)
Tim Brown (RNZ): Flood-prone South Dunedin: Council says no options ruled out in dealing with complex challenges
Lauren Crimp (RNZ): Vote on Hawke’s Bay cyclone response review set for Monday
Lauren Crimp (RNZ): Mana whenua representatives considered for Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence
Louise Ternouth (RNZ): ‘We don’t know what’s going to happen next week’ – Flood victims still in limbo
Samantha Gee (RNZ): ‘We’re trying to do the right thing’ – Nelson mayor asks government to help with flood recovery
Jessica Roden (1News): Marlborough Sounds residents unhappy over $160m road repair plan
BUSINESS
Gordon Stuart (Stuff): Banking inquiry misses the mark
Rebecca Stevenson (Interest): Big money, smart criminals: are NZ’s banks and regulators doing enough to keep us safe from scammers?
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Privacy & security addressed in government’s proposed consumer data right law
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Government has no plans to investigate PwC despite Australian senator warning
Aimee Shaw (Stuff): The country’s most powerful retailers, ranked
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Govt looks at slashing RMA red tape for aquaculture
Rob Stock (Stuff): Battle to lift GST threshold for micro businesses faces Inland Revenue opposition
Dan Laufer (NBR): Should companies take a political stand on contentious issues? (paywalled)
1News: WorkSafe blasts AFFCO over worker’s ‘wholly avoidable’ death
MEDIA
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Surgery scoop sparks rows over equality and equity
Hayden Donnell (RNZ): Mediawatch: One weird trick for getting uncritical media coverage
Ethan Griffiths (Open Justice Reporting): Sean Plunket charges: Police apply to withdraw unlawful publishing charges against broadcaster
GANGS
Jarrod Gilbert (Herald): It’s election year – expect politicians to crack down on gangs (paywalled)
Denis O’Reilly (E-Tangata): The least of these, my brethren
Alexia Russell (RNZ): The Detail: A tale of two gang towns
PIKE RIVER
Donna-Marie Lever and Jessica Roden (1News): Revealed: The significant cost of the Pike River investigation
1News: Pike River: Remains of up to three miners located
Anna Sargent (RNZ): Pike River investigation: Police say more remains found inside mine
ANIMAL WELFARE
Atom Em & Summer Jayne (Stuff): The egg shortage is our opportunity to make better choices
Katie Stevenson (1News): South Island hunting competition draws protesters, despite rule change
JACINDA ARDERN BOOK DEAL
Herald: Dame Jacinda Ardern confirms book deal, former Prime Minister expected to receive $1 million-plus advance
Stuff: Jacinda Ardern signs book deals, writing about leadership – but not politics
1News: Dame Jacinda Ardern announces book in works
OTHER
Finlay Dunseath (Stuff): Māori most at risk of declining civil and political human rights
Irra Lee (1News): Statistics Minister unsure 90% census target will be hit
Andrea Vance (Stuff): ‘We’ve been played’. Locals’ fury as ‘jewel in the crown’ marine reserve stalled
André Chumko (Post): New Zealand lags behind world in moves to regulate generative AI (paywalled)
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): The lawyers getting the bulk of legal aid payments (paywalled)
Jonathan Killick (Stuff): From NIMBYs to legal beagles, these are the characters at public meetings
Paul McBeth (BusinessDesk): On the Money: Wayne’s world, burning Bridges, brutal Bubs and more (paywalled)
RNZ: Ex-Loafers Lodge residents gain legal reprieve over belongings
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): High Court’s ruling for stay of charges against former Lake Alice nurse angers survivors
1News: Q+A: Health is wealth: Ngāi Tahu chief exec explains its philosophy
1News: New Firearms Registry to assist police with tracking guns
Finlay Dunseath (Stuff): Refugees ‘praying God will open the door’ for disabled sister to enter New Zealand
