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: 6 September 2023

ELECTION
Jenna Lynch and Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Council of Trade Unions closes doors to public, calls cops after concerning response to Christopher Luxon attack ad
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Chris Hipkins: National’s tax cuts falling ‘to pieces’, parties being scrutinised after having ‘easy run’
RNZ: Scrutiny and criticism just the ‘nature of the democratic system’, Labour leader says
David Harvey: The Chaos of Democracy
Steven Cowan: Both Labour and National are out of touch
Jessica Mutch McKay (1News): The two Chrises behind the scenes
Audrey Young (Herald): Christopher Luxon attack advertisement a timely distraction for National (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): David Seymour lashes out at Labour over ‘misinformation’, Chris Hipkins calls claim ‘nonsense’
Joseph Los’e (Herald): Willie Jackson says David Seymour is Aotearoa’s most dangerous man
Haimona Gray (Spinoff): Te Tai Hauāuru is big, it’s diverse – and it could go down to the wire
Georgina Campbell (Herald); Former Wellington Mayor Andy Foster running for New Zealand First
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Former Wellington mayor Andy Foster standing in Mana electorate for New Zealand First
RNZ: Former Wellington mayor Andy Foster standing for New Zealand First in the Mana seat
Piers Fuller (Post): Foster back in political ring (paywalled)
Ella Scott-Fleming (Newsroom): One more joins the disappearing Act
Madeleine Chapman (Spinoff): Huge news: The best voting tool in NZ is back
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): The latest charts and data on Election 2023
Tim Wilson (Maxim Institute): Our Trust Bust: What it means for the election
Liam Hehir (The Blue Review): Votes from the crypt: Your definitive guide to dead celebrity voting

NATIONAL PARTY TAX POLICY
Gordon Campbell: On the foreign buyers tax, and attack ads
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Revealed: National’s gambling tax plan currently illegal, would need law change
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Analysis: National is finding itself with economic credibility issue
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Christopher Luxon: Tax cuts plan ‘absolutely stacks up – Nicola Willis and I are good with numbers’
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): National’s tax plan would nix funding for climate work it’s championing, says Labour (paywalled)

BUSINESS ELECTION DEBATE
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Insults fly in first finance debate between Nicola Willis and Grant Robertson
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Where’s the policy? Ask Luxon and Shaw (paywalled)
Richard Harman (Politik): Seymour catches the mood (paywalled)
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Luxon’s tough love message to business (paywalled)
1News: Four MPs eyeing finance minister post clash over key issues
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Turning the corner, or turnaround job? Party leaders pitch big business
Luke Malpass (Post): Business has seen the pitches, time to place the bets (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Post): Politicians hock wares to ‘sombre’ business crowd (paywalled)
Jonathan Mitchell (NBR): MPs clash over fiscal holes and budget blowouts (paywalled)
Jonathan Mitchell (NBR): Businesses want politicians laser-focused on the economy
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Few businesses think there is a coordinated plan to raise economic performance
Brent Edwards (NBR):Leaders disagree on state of NZ economy (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR):Political parties make their pitch to business on boosting growth (paywalled)
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Political party leaders make pitches at business conference
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): David Seymour reckons Kate Sheppard, Māori chiefs who signed Treaty of Waitangi would back ACT
1News: ‘What next!’ Helen Clark stunned at Seymour’s Kate Sheppard quip

ECONOMY
Richard Prebble (Herald): The real election issue – are we a nation that rewards hard work, not freeloading? (paywalled)
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Risk of NZ credit downgrade not on cards despite deficits expected in pre-election fiscal update – S&P
Michael Reddell: Thinking about fiscal policy
Michael Reddell: Making the PREFU more useful
1News: ACT calls for Govt ‘productivity lens’ over climate, Treaty focus
Eric Frykberg (Interest): ACT Party wants to make it government policy to view all policy decisions through a productivity lens
Eric Frykberg (Interest): ACT’s David Seymour says whether the Productivity Commission should be continued is ‘an open question’
RNZ: ACT Party pledges to prioritise productivity, economic growth if elected

TAXPAYER’S UNION DEBATE
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): Loudest voices compete with the Chardonnay
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Willie Jackson clarifies claim ACT, Nats would lower minimum wage made during boisterous election debate
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Willie Jackson, David Seymour trade barbs over justice policies

PUBLIC SERVICE
Len Cook (BusinessDesk): Inside the world of ‘no surprises’ and political advisers (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): MBIE’s 6400 staff become election football (paywalled)
Jem Traylen (BusinessDesk): Business of Government: budget cuts, HUD gets the tick, and more… (paywalled)

HEALTH
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Revealed: Amazon’s efforts to work its way into the NZ healthcare system
Raysaa Almeida (RNZ): Oncologists pen open letter to Pharmac asking for more life-saving cancer drugs
George Heagney (Stuff): Campaign calls for better access to unfunded medications to solve crisis
John Minto (Daily Blog): Shooting the Pharmac messenger
Mark Quinlivan (Newsroom): Chris Hipkins rules out sugar tax after free dental policy announcement
Teresa Wall (Public Health Communication Centre): Where do the parties stand? Addressing Māori health inequity
Craig Ashworth (Local Democracy Reporting): National would demote Māori health boards
RNZ: Hospital doctors and dentists on strike over pay negotiations
Megan Wilson (Herald): Rotorua Hospital: Radiology department ‘criticially short’ of senior doctors, says department head
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Our doctors need better pay
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): Michael Wood, in from the cold?
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Women spend $20k on periods: ‘You can’t say it isn’t sexist’
Jenny Ruth: The curious case of Southern Cross’ disappearing benefit
RNZ: Transgender patients turn to internet to buy hormones, say they lack health system support
RNZ: Medicinal cannabis industry growing as regulation overhaul given green light

FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TRADE, DEFENCE
Geoffrey Miller (Democracy Project): New Zealand changes tack in the Gulf
Cushla Norman (1News): NZ wins trade dispute against Canada over dairy imports
Gyles Beckford (RNZ): New Zealand wins trade dispute with Canada over dairy access
RNZ: Dairy sector faces trade and infrastructure hurdles, despite export growth
Tina Morrison (Post): Dairy exports hindered by trade barriers costing billions, report says (paywalled)
Simon Ewing-Jarvie: Seeking Super Sunray – A New Chief of the NZ Defence Force
Denise Piper (Stuff): Kiwis thanked by Ukraine defence force for training and donations
Alexia Russell (RNZ): The Detail: New Poseidons zoom in on illegal fishers

PROBLEM GAMBLING, SKYCITY
1News: Problem gambling not about individuals but addictive machines, harmful products
Tim Hunter (NBR): DIA discloses SkyCity settlement in 2020 (paywalled)
Anne Gibson (Herald): SkyCity Entertainment Group among those ‘blacklisted’ by $5.2b fund manager (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Here’s how much licence suspension could cost SkyCity
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): SkyCity: the most expensive complaint in NZ history? (paywalled)

BUSINESS
Nona Pelletier (RNZ): Power retailer claims generators have ‘hoodwinked’ Electricity Authority, keeping prices high
Claire Dale (Newsroom): Buy now, pay more for it later
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Government commissioned studies will amount to nothing

TRANSPORT, INFRASTRUCTURE
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): ‘Substantive concerns’ over harbour crossing proposal (paywalled)
Adam Pearse (Herald): National commits to start building second Mt Victoria tunnel in first term
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Infrastructure is boring, but we need to pay attention
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): A look behind the scenes at Gisborne’s vulnerable water supply
Max Frethey (Local Democracy Reporting): Climate change challenges wastewater treatment plant

CRIME, CORRECTIONS
Melania Watson (Newshub): Government announces intervention programme targeting repeat youth offending
RNZ: Watch: Kelvin Davis launches youth intervention programme for recidivist offenders
Sam Sherwood (Herald): Number of gang members breaching home detention increased 60 per cent in six years

EDUCATION
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Disagreement over how to tackle the education crisis – or if it even exists
1News: National, ACT at loggerheads over free school lunches
Lloyd Burr (Newshub): Lunch in schools initiative likely to become permanent part of education system
Gianina Schwanecke (Post): Curriculum shaping up to be battlefield of education policies (paywalled)
Gianina Schwanecke (Post): $33m spent on teachers’ curriculum hub (paywalled)

CLIMATE CHANGE
Abigail Smith (Herald): The climate election – why nothing is more important when casting your vote (paywalled)
RNZ: Dunedin flood-prone housing sparks solution vs acquisition debate
RNZ: Dunedin council plans to buy up properties in flood-prone south
Dan Brunskill (Interest): ANZ thinks $10b of extra government borrowing will be baked into pre-election Treasury forecasts

IMMIGRATION
Mike Treen (Daily Blog): The system of mass migrant labour exploitation must be ended
Nadine Roberts (Stuff): How did an American fraudster get an entrepreneur visa?

SCIENCE
Greg Harrell (BusinessDesk): National and ACT both oppose government science reform policy (paywalled)
Oliver Lewis and Greg Harrell (BusinessDesk): National to review Science City proposal (paywalled)
Greg Harrell (BusinessDesk): Labour slams Act’s laissez-faire science policies as “ungrounded in reality” (paywalled)

HOUSING
David Hargreaves (Interest): BNZ economists say any improvement in housing affordability next year will be ‘glacial’ and affordability will start to deteriorate again in 2025
Jonathan Killick (Stuff): Developer ‘licking wounds’ after North Shore residents halt development of 81 apartments

OTHER
1News: Political parties remain split on raising retirement age
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): ‘Google Tax’ – Government risks $90m in tariffs if it pursues Digital Services Tax (paywalled)
Tommy de Silva (Spinoff): What would Act in government mean for co-governance and the Treaty?
Aaron Smale (Newsroom): Government botches response to Lake Alice torture finding
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): Toilets flush with cash after tourism fund distributed
Jim Tucker (Taranaki Daily News): Looking for a modern day Norman Kirk to take on toxic legacy of New Plymouth’s Paritutu site
Edward Gay (Stuff): Donor to Billy Te Kahika says complaint not motivated by anger
Susan Hornsby-Geluk (Post): What are the legal limits to employers’ cyber-snooping on workers? (paywalled)
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Working from home: Is it killing Wellington? (paywalled)
Hamish McNeeilly (Stuff): Leaked letter reveals racist abuse from Otago politician over pub food order
Koroi Hawkins (RNZ): Indonesia responds after claim official attempted to bribe RNZ Pacific journalist
RNZ: Invasive species cost global economy more than $400 billion per year, study finds