Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – February 11 2019
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.
The Beehive and Parliament Buildings.
Government, PM’s State of Nation speech
Bernard Hickey (Newsroom): ‘Let’s do this’ in a holding pattern
Simon Wilson (Herald): There is much mahi to be done
Dominion Post Editorial: Jacinda Ardern is in the business of getting stuff done
Audrey Young (Herald): Jacinda Ardern’s State of the Nation speech recognises the importance of business
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Too much left unsaid as Jacinda Ardern faces business
Richard Harman (Politik): Making the elephant smaller
Michael Reddell: The PM’s economic plan
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern outlines vision of economic growth and global challenges
BusinessDesk: PM warns slowing global growth will weigh on economy
Jenée Tibshraeny & Stephen Forbes (Interest): Ardern warns of slowing global growth, talks up trade, and announces vocational training reform
Anne Gibson (Herald): New study shows extra 57,600 people needed in building sector, as PM announces trade skills push
Nicole Lawton and Anna Loren (Stuff): Labour MP Tamati Coffey expecting a baby with partner Tim Smith
1News: Tamati Coffey announces he’s expecting a baby with his partner
International relations
Tracy Watkins (Stuff): Australia’s stand on Kiwi deportees a very stubborn stain on the relationship
Derek Cheng (Herald): Winston Peters pushes strongly against Australian deportation of NZers
Tom Furley (RNZ): Winston Peters raises concerns about Oz deportation policy
Joanne Carroll (Stuff): Deportee Wichman Uriaere ‘doesn’t deserve’ boot to New Zealand
Derek Cheng (Herald): NZ, Oz Foreign Ministers Winston Peters, Marise Payne stress Pacific in Waiheke Island bilateral meeting
1News: Foreign Minister Winston Peters meets with Australian counterpart on Waiheke Island
Audrey Young (Herald): Foreign Minister Winston Peters welcomes Australian minister Marise Payne to his home
RNZ: Samoa inks agreement with NZ during talks
Talisa Kupenga (Māori TV): Samoan PM’s first Waitangi visit leaves lasting impression
Chris Trotter: Hands Off Venezuela!
KIiwblog: Guest Post: Hehir on Venezuela
Vocational training reforms
Evan Harding (Stuff): Nat claims rebutted by education minister
Derek Cheng (Herald): Chris Hipkins says National is scaremongering over job losses
Derek Cheng (Herald): Government polytechnic reforms would see 1000 job losses, National says
Jane Patterson (RNZ): National leaks ‘far-reaching’ changes in vocational training
Heta Gardiner (Māori TV): More vocational education funding mooted by govt
Teaching NZ history, Treaty in schools
Aroha Harris (E-Tangata): Don’t get me started on compulsion
David Slack (Stuff): A brief impartial history of New Zealand
Peter Dunne: We need to know and understand properly who we are
Tom O’Connor (Stuff): Unacceptable not to teach children ‘complete’ NZ history
Education
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Investigation ordered into claims of packed and cancelled classes
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Early childhood centres like ‘kiddie prisons’, teachers say
Adele Redmond (Stuff): Nearly $14m donated to Canterbury schools in 2017
Imran Ali (Northern Advocate): Northland schools struggle to keep pools afloat; Whangārei primary’s $276K repair bill
Peter Lyons (ODT): Skilled people needed to fulfil Government’s aims
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Green Party calling for return of food in school guidelines to keep kids healthy
Ruby McAndrew (Stuff): NZ authority on resuscitation pushing for schools to teach life-saving skills
Simon Collins (Herald): NZEI and PPTA ‘optimistic’ that talks may stave off more teachers’ strikes
Alice Webb-Liddall (Newshub): Te Puke High School student Brody Hide told to shave off beard or face consequences
Nikki Preston (Herald): Wintec to spend $75,000 on appointing new chief executive
Waitangi
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Jacinda Ardern should have been able to recite the Treaty
Pete George: “Jacinda Ardern should have been able to recite the Treaty”
Māori TV: Tame Iti: planting the seeds of self-determination
Dominic O’Sullivan (The Conversation): The Crown is Māori too – citizenship, sovereignty and the Treaty of Waitangi
Jordan Watson (Stuff): How-to Dad: Waitangi Day is celebrated better in the UK, why not here?
Whanganui Chronicle Editorial: Shouting down Don Brash at Waitangi not the answer
Pete George: Don Brash championing Apirana Ngata, but…
Steve Braunias (Herald): Secret Diary of Waitangi
Auckland Pride, sexuality
Michael Neilson (Herald): Jacinda Ardern returns for first Big Gay Out as Prime Minister
1News: Jacinda Ardern says we must ensure our communities remain inclusive to LGBTI
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern, Simon Bridges take stage at Big Gay Out
Michael Neilson (Herald): Sun, rainbows and a baby announcement for the Big Gay Out 20th anniversary
1News: Thousands flock to Auckland’s 20th Big Gay Out
Alison Mau (Stuff): Pride after the fall – what next?
1News: Auckland’s Pride March draws hundreds after bigger parade scrapped
Anna Loren and Tommy Livingston (Stuff): ‘By us, for us’: Auckland Pride march takes over central city
Stuff: Auckland’s 2019 Pride march: all the best photos
Jordan Bond (RNZ): Auckland’s Pride march bursts with colour, joy
Herald: Rainbow flags aplenty as Our March takes over Auckland CBD
Laura Tupou and Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Thousands turn out for new Auckland Pride March up Queen Street
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): LGBT Pride and dating: How bisexual women face stigma and hostility in relationships
Lizzie Marvelly (Herald): Our love was turned into a circus act
John Roughan (Herald): Freeing sexuality from politics is the last hurdle
Mandy Te (Stuff): New Zealand’s first HIV-positive eatery launches for Big Gay Out in Auckland
Isobel Ewing (Newshub): ‘I’m not really into homosexuality’: Simon Bridges’ former gay views revealed
National Party, Jami-Lee Ross
Audrey Young (Herald): Strong performance by a few National MPs forced Jacinda Ardern onto the defensive
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Simon Bridges doesn’t look like a Prime Minister in waiting yet, but he’s trying
ODT Editorial: Does Bridges have a plan after all?
Derek Cheng (Herald): Jami-Lee Ross taunts National Party leader Simon Bridges over mental health
Tommy Livingston (Stuff): Jami-Lee Ross takes Simon Bridges to task over mental health tweet
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Jami-Lee Ross rips into Simon Bridges in mental health tweet
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): National discusses sinking Winston Peters’ vote at caucus retreat
1News: Commentator says support for Sarah Dowie appears slim within National Party
Tax
Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): IRD admits fault over ‘overtly political’ $125,000 poll questions
John Armstrong (1News): Labour’s capital gains tax push is political Russian roulette
Geoff Simmons (Interest): On why we need to kill, not tax, capital gain
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Wealthiest Kiwis would pay vast majority of capital gains tax
Zane Small (Newshub): PM Jacinda Ardern confirms changes to tax system coming
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): Capital gains tax: Discussion still to come on Tax Working Group report, PM Jacinda Ardern says
Leighton Smith (Herald): I’m sick of hearing ‘pay your fair share’ of tax
Govt to ban smoking in cars carrying children
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Car smoking ban: ‘10,000 less asthma episodes’
1News: Smoking, vaping in cars with kids to be banned in NZ by year’s end, Govt announces
Herald: Smoking to be banned in cars when children under 18 are present, Govt announces
Scott Palmer and Laura Tupou (Newshub): Government bans smoking in cars with children
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Government to ban smoking in cars with children
Stuff: Smoking and vaping in cars with children to be banned
Katie Doyle (RNZ): Govt to ban smoking in cars carrying children
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Simon Bridges backs ban on smoking in cars with kids
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): Will police really enforce a ban on smoking in cars with kids?
Newshub: Duncan Garner: Smokefree by 2025 a farcical goal
Health
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: When cancer is political
Duncan Garner (Stuff): Wellbeing Budget total nonsense when too many are dying early
Jess McAllen (RNZ): Mental health working group replacement criticised
RNZ: Meningococcal clinics set up in Northland high schools
Eva Corlett (RNZ): Nicky Stevens’ mother devastated at DHB’s payout delay
Tim Brown (RNZ): Ministry of Health releases Dunedin hospital rebuild plans
Jordan Bond (RNZ): Midwives to strike next week
RNZ: Admin and clerical workers in hospitals to stop work for two hours
Simon Wallace (Herald): Rest homes need to keep up with pay
Employment
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): A new frontier for employment law
Stuff: Cafe worker awarded $9000 for a day’s work by ERA
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Employment Relations Authority awarding $9000 to cafe worker on trial is ridiculous
Commercial fishing
Russel Norman (Spinoff): Nash and Jones are leading NZ fishing into rotten waters
Andrew Gunn (Stuff): There’s something fishy going on, Minister
Housing
Peter Lyons (Herald): Good data crucial to interpreting housing issue
Herald Editorial: A big KiwiBuild contract could get materials more cheaply
Phil Taylor (Herald): Government told to hire overseas builder to drive down costs
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Six Wanaka KiwiBuild houses on open market
Tom Hunt (Stuff): $700,000 state home on Kāpiti Coast sits empty for 20 months
Deena Coster (Stuff): Taranaki charity putting the humanity back into housing
Libby Wilson (Stuff): Bed maker eyes north Waikato for possible factory, affordable housing
Immigration, refugees
Liam Dann (Herald): Lower immigration numbers could have changed history
Greg Ninness (Interest): New estimates showing much lower levels of migration have probably reduced the size of Auckland
Meghan Lawrence (Stuff): Fireman fighting Nelson fire bush fire faces ‘unfair’ deportation: Online petition questions immigration
Megan Lawrence (Herald): Fireman fighting Nelson fire bush fire faces ‘unfair’ deportation: Online petition questions immigration
Alexandra Nelson and Scott Palmer (Newshub): Hundreds rally in support of Ukrainian family facing deportation
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Possible new bid for residency as Czech drug smuggler Karel Sroubek obtains passport in real identity
Sam Farrell (Newshub): Former refugee concerned about Government’s regional resettlement options
RNZ: Refugee group unhappy with new settlement location
Zane Small (Newshub): Bangladeshi couple charged with human trafficking in New Zealand
Air NZ
Richard Harman (Politik): Why was the AirNZ plane turned back
Vaimoana Tapaleao and Chris Keall (Herald): Aviation experts say Air NZ Auckland to Shanghai flight debacle airline mistake
Chris Keall (Herald): Air NZ flight to Shanghai forced to turn back to Auckland mid-flight
Charlotte Carter (Stuff): Air New Zealand flight bound for Shanghai, China turned around mid-flight
RNZ: Air NZ flight turned back from China
Transport
Tom Furley (RNZ): Roading contractors nervous as projects finish: ‘All of a sudden we see a dramatic ramp down’
Dominic Harris (Press): Sweet result for Lime fans as scooter trial gets set for extension
Katie Todd (RNZ): Keep Lime scooters in Christchurch – recommendation
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Shuttle company ‘out of business, just overnight’
RNZ: Concrete poured for northern Auckland rail tunnel
Justice, corrections
George Block (ODT): Many in fear at Milburn prison
Harrison Christian (Stuff): Northland prison inmates allegedly locked in ‘inhumane’ hot cells all day
Mitch McCann (Newshub): Corrections dismisses hundreds of harassment complaints as ‘reasonable’
Melissa Nightingale (Herald): Prisoners care for kittens in fostering programme at Arohata Prison wing in Upper Hutt
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Te reo in the courts and ‘language trauma’
Stuff: Veteran prisoner Arthur Taylor released from prison: ‘It’s a great day to be free’
RNZ: Career criminal Arthur Taylor released from prison
Alice Webb-Liddall (Newshub): Notorious career criminal Arthur Taylor released from prison
Police
Emilie Rākete (Spinoff): Police uniforms were a deal breaker at Pride. So why weren’t they at Waitangi?
1News: Police launch internal investigation after protestors strip naked on busy Auckland road
Herald: Police investigating assault of two females on Karangahape Rd following powerful protest
Hannah Martin and Charlotte Carter (Stuff): Women stand naked on Auckland’s Karangahape Road in protest of police inaction after alleged assault
Imogen Neale (Stuff): Samoan cop sacrifices years with his family to study cannabis in New Zealand
Media
Moana Maniapoto (E-Tangata): Brown were in town. We were on a high. Hope was in the air.
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Big issues, barbecues and curly questions at Waitangi
Jeremy Rose (RNZ): Cancer and the unbearable asymmetry of BS
Mediawatch: Brett Phibbs: A life in pictures
Environment, conservation
Graham Adams (Noted): The shaming of the West Coast refuseniks
Rod Oram (Newsroom): Red herrings and wrong notes from Nats climate change spokesperson
Isobel Ewing (Newshub): Potential protection order for Hawke’s Bay river divides region
Jamie Morton (Herald): The battle to save New Zealand’s under-threat ‘warm’ forests and our birds
Jamie Morton (Herald): What these creatures are telling us about climate change in NZ
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): ‘Crisis’ in native plant industry
RNZ: Police appeal for info on little blue penguin theft
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Two armed men caught on camera sought over endangered bird killings
Zane Small (Newshub):Images show men suspected of shooting ‘most endangered gull’ in Rotorua
RNZ: Water bans possible for coastal Taranaki
Sean Connelly (ODT): Eating in a safe space
Primary industries
Stuff: New Zealand apple industry under threat from climate change
Nicole Rosie (Stuff): To the farmers of New Zealand – Quad bike change must be led by you
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): Farmer confidence in economy lowest since 2009
Finance
Rob Stock (Stuff): Misery caused by high-interest loans revealed by budget agency survey
1News: More than a quarter of budgeting service clients have crippling debt, survey finds
Brian Gaynor (Herald): The power of banks to create money
Damien Grant (Stuff): Public servants exceeding their legal authority is far more serious than troubles in the insurance industry
NZ Cricket
ODT Editorial: Silence is not an option
Herald: Sexual consent protest banners removed again following apology by New Zealand Cricket
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Martin Devlin in wild on-air attack on ‘chick from the Spinoff’ over cricket banner
Local government
Evan Harding (Southland Times): Mayor Gary Tong reports to councillors on China dealings
Dominic Harris (Press): How will Christchurch find the $1.19 billion it has to spend next year?
Racism, culture
Danyl Mclauchlan (Spinoff): Not a racist bone in your body? Please meet implicit bias
Sally Blundell (Listener): Did Pākehā painters Goldie and Lindauer exploit their Māori subjects?
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): Woman slams ‘racist service’ after group referred to as ‘Asians’ on Auckland cafe receipt
Herald: Auckland Falls Restaurant accused of racism after group called ‘Asians’ on receipt
Michael Neilson (Herald): Misuse of haka Ka Mate ‘tramples’ on mana, call for greater protection in New Zealand and overseas
Gender
RNZ: Nine to Noon: The complexity of gender transition in children
Susan Strongman (RNZ): Sex self-identification debate a ‘cesspool of harmful stereotypes’
Susan Strongman (RNZ): Person with wrong sex on birth certificate feels ‘like a fraud’
Drug reform
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Cannabis referendum could be New Zealand’s Brexit – Simon Bridges
Peter Griffin (Stuff): New Zealand’s relationship with illicit drugs changing rapidly
Lana Hart (Stuff): Cannabis: I wish this referendum had a third option
Tourism, freedom camping
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): ‘Ain’t no toilet in there’: New Zealand flush with fake ‘self-contained’ bumper stickers
ODT: Queenstown working on local visitor tax
Trade
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): NZ exporters urged to ready for ‘no deal’ Brexit as UK warehouses hit capacity
Simon Draper (Stuff): There’s reason to be optimistic about trade in 2019
Other
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Week in Politics: Regional fund could become election liability
Jason Walls (Herald): National casts doubt over bulk of expected Provincial Growth Fund jobs to come from one project
Bill Ralston (Listener): The problem with the Provincial Growth Fund
Stacey Kirk (Stuff): Uphill battles await both parties upon return to Parliament
Pattrick Smellie (Stuff): Māori land reforms moving back on track
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Next development in Huawei saga may not be about 5G
RNZ: Shane Jones fires back at Brian Tamaki’s ‘spud’ comment
Chris Keall (Herald): Facebook ‘doubling down’ on data
RNZ: Privacy failure: ‘She felt vulnerable and unimportant’
Liz McDonald (Stuff): Minister reject payout to red-zoned retirement village residents left thousands out of pocket
Charlie Gates (Press): Christchurch’s new Anglican Bishop takes on restoration, dwindling congregations and same sex blessings
Madison Reidy (RNZ): Iwi becoming a growing financial force – report
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Dunedin’s rubbish problem could be shipped out of town
Caroline Williams (Stuff): Women’s Refuge opposes R. Kelly’s NZ show amidst sexual misconduct allegations
Matt Shand (Stuff): Ministry of Education concerned about ‘fire-resistant’ plywood
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Inside the mission to trap and desex Auckland’s stray cats
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): Opinion: This kitten is adorable, but she shouldn’t exist
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub): New technology could stop misuse of mobility parking
Regan Paranihi (Māori TV): Wellington City encouraged to give te reo Māori a go
Phil Taylor (Herald): Online contract terms and conditions unreadable, study finds
Deborah Russell and Stuart Smith (Stuff): Why families earning $100,000 still struggle
Alison Mau (Stuff): A lesson NZ could learn from Julie Bishop, the woman who ought to be PM
