Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.
Today’s content
Budget leak, SSC inquiry
Tim Watkin (Pundit): Gabriel Makhlouf’s already had three strikes. Can he really avoid being ‘out’?
Liam Hehir (Pundit): Sometimes with politics, you should sweat the small stuff
Richard Harman (Politik): What did Makhlouf say to Robertson
Audrey Young (Herald): Govt also needs answers from Gabriel Makhlouf inquiry (paywalled)
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): What lies ahead for the next Treasury Secretary (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Response to Budget data breach could be ‘dirty politics’ – Simon Bridges
Henry Cooke (Stuff): SSC to investigate Treasury Gabriel Makhlouf’s actions and statements during Budget ‘hack’ saga
Derek Cheng (Herald): Treasury boss Gabriel Makhlouf under investigation over Budget comments
RNZ: Investigation launched into treasury secretary Gabriel Makhlouf
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Secretary to the Treasury Gabriel Makhlouf to be investigated over Budget hacking claims
1News: Investigation into Treasury secretary launched by State Services Commission following Budget data breach
Stacey Kirk (Stuff): PM holding judgment on Treasury boss over bungled Budget for investigation
Derek Cheng (Herald): Should Treasury boss Gabriel Makhlouf be sacked? Jacinda Ardern refuses to say
1News: Jacinda Ardern calls out National for ‘political point scoring’ tactic in Budget leak
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Early Budget details release only ‘point-scoring’ – Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): I think almost everyone on the Left who are trying to underplay what Treasury did hasn’t read this…
Budget
Simon Chapple (The Conversation): Why NZ’s well-being budget should have focused on lifting employment rates
Michael Fletcher (Newsroom): Budget moves not nearly enough to meet child poverty targets
Jennifer Curtin and Suzy Morrissey (Newsroom): Where does gender equality fit into the Budget?
John Minto (Daily Blog): Budget 2019: Funding an industry to pick up the pieces at the bottom of the cliff
Liz Gordon (Daily Blog): Too many chicks in the nest
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Socialist group slams Labour with ‘tax the rich’ motorway banner
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Red alert – Labour Government in danger of plunging into deficit
RNZ: Nine to Noon – Gavin Ellis: Do ‘transformational’ budgets need a big bang? (audio)
Government
Graham Adams (Noted): Jacinda Ardern and the halo effect
Gordon Campbell (Stuff): On the fallacy of political moderation
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Not a lot has changed about firebrand MP Winston Peters from day one
Teachers’ strike
Simon Collins (Herald): Settling teachers’ dispute could cost $540m over four years – almost as much as a Poseidon (paywalled)
1News: As secondary teachers continue strike action Ardern reflects on ‘long term issues’ raised around schooling
Jessica Long (Stuff): Prime Minister says meeting between Education Minister and unions an opportunity to ‘reflect’
Simon Collins (Herald): Surprise gesture: Ministry of Education agrees to pay striking teachers ahead of talks on Thursday
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Unions quiet ahead of meeting to break teacher dispute deadlock
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): Teachers’ strikes roll on as union leaders eye crucial meeting with Education Minister
RNZ: Jacinda Ardern hopes teachers, govt can find longer-term solutions
Katy Jones (Stuff): Workload top of list for striking teachers heading into talks
Danielle Clent (Stuff): NZ secondary school teachers’ strike June 4: Everything you need to know
Education and training
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui, (RNZ): Kōhanga reo $32m post-Budget boost a relief for unpaid workers
Tema Hemi (Māori TV): Tears of joy over kōhanga reo funding announcement
Simon Collins (Herald): Kōhanga reo volunteers will get minimum wage by 2021 in Budget boost
Felix Desmarais (Stuff): $32m boost to kōhanga reo ‘just the start’ says Minister Kelvin Davis
1News: Government announces $32m funding boost to protect survival of Te Reo Māori
Jessica Long (Stuff): Government spends $3.5 million to teach young New Zealanders basic life skills
John Lewis (ODT): Question over timing of postal voting papers
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Auckland school bans phones – and students are happy about it
Herald: Auckland’s Diocesan School for Girls bans cellphones – and the students are happy
Wiremu Doherty (Herald): Māori languish ‘undeveloped’ in vocational training (paywalled)
Kids and sport
Dominion Post Editorial: Too many injuries: Let kids be kids and adults step up
Herald Editorial: Sports injuries among children could be too much of a good thing (paywalled)
Isaac Carlson (Spinoff): Kids playing sport is great. But how much is too much?
RNZ: Time management ‘crucial’ to youth sport training
Kate Nicol-Williams (1News): Porirua principal labels ACC’s child sport advice nice but unrealis
John Key’s ANZ directorship, banking
Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): New Zealand’s banking sector inching close to warfare
Rob Stock (Stuff): Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr questions Sir John Key’s ANZ directorship
Tax
RNZ: Multinational tax will help NZ companies – tech lobbyist
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): ‘Facebook tax’: Government proposes taxes for digital giants as it calls for submissions on proposals
RNZ: Government proposes taxes for tech giants, multinationals
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Government releases digital service tax options
1News: Government eyes tax on digital platforms such as Uber, Instagram
Herald: Government’s two options for digital services tax
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): PwC partner warns against rushing into multinational taxes
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): 450,000 people have been paying wrong rate of tax on KiwiSaver and other investments, IRD discovers
Herald: Thousands of people paying the wrong tax rate for KiwiSaver and other managed investments
Health
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Free dental care petition with 10,000 signatures heads to Parliament
Meghan Lawrence (Herald): Head injury experts call for tougher rules on e-scooters following release of shocking figures
Herald: ACC forks out $700,000 in e-scooter head injury claims
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Allergy shock: Parents test kids in hospital carparks (paywalled)
Sophie Trigger (Stuff): Eye scan delayed four times for macular degeneration patient
Teuila Fuatai (Herald): Middlemore’s Dr David Galler on 30 years at the hospital (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): ‘Final’ 10% tax hike on tobacco hangs in the air
Health sector industrial action, employment conditions
RNZ: Urgent facilitation between junior doctors and DHBs fails
Samantha Gee (Stuff): Ongoing strike action prevents health board from meeting health targets
Laura Wiltshire (Hawkes Bay Today): $395 an hour to cover Hawke’s Bay junior doctor strikes (paywalled)
RNZ: Hospital attendants at Waikato Hospital to strike
Ruby Nyika (Stuff): Children of bashed Waikato Hospital guard say there are many ‘close calls’
1News: Children of security guard bashed at Waikato Hospital feared for mum’s safety before attack
Jessie Chiang (RNZ): Allied Security guard’s children speak out over safety concerns
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Auckland measles outbreak: 83 confirmed cases
Disability
RNZ: Checkpoint: Parents say govt policy violates rights of disabled people
Luke Kirkeby (Stuff): Disabled workers pay for wage pressures
Poverty, inequality
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Stop blaming the poor to break poverty cycle among Māori, report says
1News: ‘We can all do something to help’ – new foodbank initiative aiming to aid those in need this winter
Transport
RNZ: Speed limits too high on most roads, NZTA estimates
Lucy Bennett and Chris Knox (Herald): Speed limits ‘unsafe’ on nearly all NZ roads, says NZ Transport Agency’s Mega Maps planning guide (paywalled)
Mandy Te (Stuff): WOF inspector suspended, about 300 Auckland car owners advised to get retests
Sophie Bateman (Newshub): ‘Absolutely shattering’: 2019 Queen’s Birthday Weekend road toll is double last year’s
Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): Queenstown negotiating tough rules for Lime scooters
Amanda Chapman (Spinoff): A polite note to ute drivers screaming at cyclists to ‘Get off the road’
Parliament
Peter Cullen (Stuff): Parliamentary employees deserve a safe workplace
RNZ: Parliament’s rainbow room refurbished
Daniela Maoate-Cox (RNZ):‘I am Catholic, I am a Filipino, and a New Zealander’ Paulo Garcia’s maiden statement
Housing
Jordan Oppert (1News): Insulation companies struggling to meet demand as rental property upgrade deadline looms
RNZ: Auckland principal worried some evicted students may not get help
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): No room to add three kids to seven-adult household, tenant has limited options
Kerrie Waterworth (ODT): Wanaka housing costs prompt move to attract teachers
Primary industries
RNZ: M Bovis: 129 farms cleared of cattle disease, 43 ‘actively infected’ – MPI
Tony Watson (Newshub): Quad bike rollover protection a ‘no-brainer’
Foreign Affairs, Pacific, trade
Talisa Kupenga (Māori TV): Peters in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu for Pacific Reset
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Winston Peters condemns China over Tiananmen Square massacre on 30th anniversary
Walter Zweifel (RNZ): Stalled nuclear compensation irks Tahiti claimants
RNZ: NZ science showcase on climate heads to Tonga
RNZ: New US visa rules to only affect a few New Zealanders
Liam Dann (Herald): Government can’t blame trade war for low growth (paywalled)
Justice and corrections
Harrison Christian (Stuff): Drones likely to have dropped contraband into prisons, says Corrections
Claire Trevett (Herald): More prisoners, more tuck-shop money: $4.4m boost to prison canteen takings (paywalled)
Lisette Reymer (Newhub): Kim Richmond’s family want better custody rights after battling her killer over their grandchildren
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern asks Minister of Justice to look at prisoners’ custody rights
Danielle Clent (Stuff): Family of missing Auckland student Laurence Wu didn’t want police to close case
Michael Neilson (Herlad): ‘We are holding on to hope’: Missing Auckland student Guoquan ‘Laurence’ Wu’s family desperate for answers
George Block (ODT): Desire to return to prison behind homeless man’s alleged crime spree
Guy Williams (ODT): ‘Medicinal’ cannabis user escapes conviction
Environment and conservation
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Scientists reject fossil land swap
Dubby Henry (Herald): ‘Indefensible’: Auckland councillor wants city to stop using Roundup in public areas
RNZ:Department of Conservation gets $11m to protect staff from anti-1080 protesters
Robin Martin (RNZ): Mayor calls for climate-focused tertiary institute in Taranaki
Alice Angeloni (Stuff): Climate group doubles down on emergency declaration
No Right Turn: Climate Change: Left in the dust
No Right Turn: Odious secrecy II
Alison Collins (Press): The ripple effect: How driving your car might affect the food on your table
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Council with ’emergency’ sewerage overflow pipe has until next week to produce plan to fix it
Rotorua Daily Post: Study shows ‘significant’ improvement of lake water clarity around Rotorua
RNZ: Thousands of reptiles saved in black market crack down
Local government
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): National Party stays out of Auckland mayoral race
Brian Rudman (Herald): Deal of the century could burn ratepayers (paywalled)
RNZ: What’s happening with Auckland’s port?
Joanne Carroll (Stuff): Council and Government say no money to clean up old West Coast rubbish dump mess
RNZ: Invercargill CBD development worth millions to go ahead
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Hamilton Airport’s multi-million dollar upgrade
RNZ: Whangarei council reveals site for new $37m offices
Coalition NZ Party and Destiny Church
Marae: New direction? Hannah Tamaki lets the cameras in as she prepares to run for Parliament
Herald: Jevan Goulter: How I brought Destiny Church’s Brian Tamaki and his apology to the rainbow community – and what came next (paywalled)
Other
Stuff: Mana of North Island iwi damaged by Crown Treaty breaches – Waitangi Tribunal
Lionel Carter and Mike Rudge (Briefing Papers): Behind the scenes at Te Papa
Tom Saunders (Newsroom): Why can’t taxpayers access the research they fund?
Liz McDonald (Stuff): Earthquake Commission secures reinsurance worth $6.2b for the next 12 months
Emma Hatton (RNZ): Pokie machines should go, says recovering gambler
Susan St John (Daily Blog): Break open the Champagne
Jarrod Gilbert (Herald): White supremacy – An ugly problem that is becoming harder to measure (paywalled)
Emily Brookes (Stuff): Love Island at 5pm is ‘pornification of our culture’, says Family First
Jody O’Callaghan (Stuff): Concerns raised about Royal Commission inquiry into Christchurch terror attack
Steve Maharey (Pundit): New Times arising: The Giddens Project blogs II
David Fisher (Herald): No parole for gunman who targeted Matt Blomfield as police prepare for legal findings after fresh investigation
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): The ‘massive issue with very lazy KiwiSaver managers’ (paywalled)
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Ex-gang member allowed to keep replica AR-15 despite housemate losing his gun and licence
Greg Bruce (Herald): Stacey Morrison on the importance of being (and speaking) Māori (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Cannabis campaigner Dakta Green opens cannabis club in Wellington, claiming 700 members
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Wellington landlord loses tribunal case alleging tenant was operating a brothel
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Residents furious pets owned by victims of domestic violence to be housed in Auckland suburb
Te Kuru o te Marama Dewes (Māori TV): Overseas ‘haka’ businesses remove footage
Chris Morris (ODT): Wrecking balls to start work soon on ‘The Bureau’
Cate Broughton (Stuff): False go ahead for Ramadan finish after draft letter leaked on social media
