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 by Dr Bryce Edwards.
Water
Charlie Mitchell (Stuff): The tab for decades of water mismanagement is falling due
Marnie Prickett (Stuff): Watch as critics fight to dilute freshwater policy
No Right Turn: Cleaning up the water
Gerard Hutching (Stuff): Stronger water policy will not be downfall of farming
Leigh-Marama McLachlan (RNZ): Māori leaders call for water rights resolution after government’s freshwater plan
Rachael Kelly and Gerard Hutching (Stuff): 2050 deadline to improve freshwater in New Zealand
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Government straddles middle ground on freshwater policy
Anna Whyte (1News): Throwing farmers ‘under the tractor’ or long overdue? Mixed response to Goverment’s water plan
Richard Harman (Politik): New water standards could put some farmers out of business
Jono Edwards (ODT): Water rules welcomed by some
Jono Edwards (ODT): Water plan ‘not war on farmers’: PM
Boris Jancic (Herald): Thrown under the tractor: Farmers protest sweeping Government water clean-up plan
RNZ: Government’s plan to clean up freshwater would ‘end pastoral farming’ in parts of the country – Federated Farmers
Paul Gorman and Collette Devlin (Stuff): Farming may ‘never be the same again’ after planned water clean-up
Eric Crampton (Stuff): Strict new water targets could push farmers out of business
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Who needs the Greens when Labour hates farmers this much?
Anna Whyte (1News): Plan to clean up New Zealand’s lakes and rivers ‘within a generation’ announced by Government
Zane Small (Newshub): Fertiliser cuts, irrigation limits and discharge watching part of Government’s freshwater plan
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Government to get tough on farming and councils by regulating for water
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Environment Minister David Parker promises to clean up New Zealand’s summer swimming spots
RNZ: Government reveals plan to clean up rivers, lakes and wetlands
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): You want to intensify farming? Prove you won’t pollute more
Mare Haimona-Riki (Māori TV): Action Plan for Healthy Waterways Announced
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): ‘Under serious threat’: New Zealand vows to clean up its polluted waterways
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Cheat sheet: Blueprint to rescue NZ waterways revealed
Devon Bolger (Star News): New tests show nitrate levels still rising in water
KiwiBuild, housing
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: Labour’s KiwiBuild reset disaster (paywalled)
Geoff Simmons (Interest): KiwiBuild reset shows Labour have completed their transition into National Lite
Greg Ninness (Interest): Tinkering and fairy dust in the Government’s KiwiBuild changes
1News: Jessica Mutch McKay analysis: KiwiBuild was the answer, but now it’s had the ambition knocked out
Herald Editorial: KiwiBuild reset is a missed opportunity
ODT Editorial: KiwiBuild: tinkering not transforming
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): New KiwiBuild Minister Megan Wood showing signs of common sense
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Henry Cooke (Stuff): Phil Twyford made failed bid for $450m fund to build rentals and shared equity programme
Clare Trevett (Herald): KiwiBuild ‘father’ Phil Twyford was pilloried for it – but deserves some credit (paywalled)
Zane Small (Newshub): The multimillion-dollar cost of tweaking KiwiBuild
Zane Small (Newshub): ‘We are not going to stop our ambition’: Jacinda Ardern still confident in KiwiBuild
Jono Edwards and Mark Price (ODT): Govt details lessons learnt from Kiwibuild
Jono Edwards (ODT): PM acknowledges Wanaka Kiwibuilds were a mistake
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Megan Woods explains the ‘quantum shift’ in KiwiBuild
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): How are your chances of getting a 95 per cent loan?
1News: ‘I did say this would happen, I told you so’ – Judith Collins tells John Campbell over KiwiBuild fail
1News: ‘Let’s put politics aside’ – Judith Collins extends olive branch to Government to help fix housing crisis
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Labour burn KiwiBuild to save the village, except there’s no village – but they do find what passes as their limp mojo
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Jonathan Mitchell (RNZ): Wellington renters told situation likely to get worse
Local government
John Tamihere (Herald): What I’m really trying to do (paywalled)
RNZ: Auckland mayoral candidates speak to LGBTQI+ forum
Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): Race briefing: The fierce pit fight for control of Hamilton City Council
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): EMA-hosted debate draws out differences between Hamilton’s mayoral hopefuls
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Council looks at banning gang patches from cemeteries after huge tangi that saw headstones damaged
Stuff: Palmerston North city mayoral candidates to lay out their leadership credentials
Georgie Ormond (Herald): Local Focus: ‘Awkward bugger’ with a Yorkshire accent standing for democracy in Palmerston North
Alex Braae (Spinoff): Wellington councillor launches climate denial attack on colleagues
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Mayoral candidates debate how long Wellington can wait before getting moving
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Wellington City Council CEO Kevin Lavery calls it quits after six years on the job
Matthew Tso (Stuff): Lower Hutt Mayor’s offending election signs still standing
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Next Christchurch council may extend living wage to contracted workers
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Christchurch mayor calls for fellow contender to explain rates freeze proposal
Nicholas Pointon (RNZ): Christchurch mayoral hopefuls face off in debate
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Dunedin mayoral hopefuls plead their case to Scarfies
Chris Morris (ODT):Young voters ‘don’t know enough’: Vandervis
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Councillor apologises over comments made at Scarfie mayoral forum
Evan Harding (Southland Times): Southland’s old pale males feel the pinch
Luisa Girao (ODT): Invercargill Mayoral hopefuls have their say on the big issues
Free speech
Nick Truebridge (Stuff): Phil Goff’s ‘Twitter fingers’ itched over call to cancel Canadian right-wing speakers’ event
Karl du Fresne: Activism disguised as journalism
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): RNZ embarrass themselves over free speech debate
Raybon Kan (Stuff): Don’t help white supremacists by fighting their legal battles
Measles
Lucy Warhurst (Newshub): Measles outbreak: NZ hospitalisation rates three times higher than the US
Karen Brown (RNZ): Unsuspecting measles patients raising risks and doctors’ workload – GP
1News: New Zealand measles cases top 1000 mark as push to get vaccinations continues
Herald: NZ measles outbreak: US State Department, Centre for Disease Control share travel warning to US citizens
Lana Andelane (Newshub): US Embassy warns American citizens of New Zealand’s measles outbreak
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Measles outbreak: What to do if you’re not sure you’re immune
Kyle MacDonald (Herald): Measles anti-vaxxers – and the rest (paywalled)
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): US warns its citizens of New Zealand measles threat
Dubby Henry (Herald): GP says no charge for babies under 12 months to get measles vaccine in Auckland
Oliver Lewis (Stuff): Measles ‘only a plane ride away’ from surfacing again in Canterbury
Fergus Aitcheson (Stuff): Measles outbreak: Spread of disease could be catastrophic for Pacific Islands
Ben Uffindell (The Civilian): Ardern attempts to vaccinate Clarke Gayford live on television to prove that it’s safe
Health
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): Drug companies will declare payments to docs from 2020
David Menkes (Newsroom): Conflicts of interest a threat to health
Nicholas Jones (Herald): ‘We don’t have enough’ – hospital begs for help as it turns away patients (paywalled)
Louis Day (Star News): Long wait for gynaecological surgeries
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Support for uni’s role in recruiting neurosurgeons
Evan Harding (Southland Times): Schools push to help Southland’s anxious kids
Geoff Simmons (Dailiy Blog): Cancer Obsession is More Middle-Class Welfare
1News: Hastings man paralysed after medical misadventure makes dying appeal for proper compensation from ACC
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): More Māori midwives needed to handle rising demand
Economy
Sam Stubbs (Stuff): Government debt is low and borrowing is cheap; time to think very big
Brian Fallow (Herald): Reserve Bank running low on rate-cut ammo
Mark Fowler (Herald): Why are politicians so averse to investing for the future? (paywalled)
Climate change, environment
Gerald Piddock (Stuff): Climate change bill committee roadshow comes to Hamilton
Alex Dyer (Stuff): Climate change: New Zealand needs to change its unhealthy dependency on cars
Che Baker (Southland Times): Invercargill City Council fined for discharging raw sewage into Waihopai River
1News: Court order Invercargill City Council to pay $30k fine over five-day sewage spill
Peter de Graaf (Northern Advocate): Northland campaigner wins first round against controversial spray
Pike River
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Items found around Pike River Mine destroyed by police revealed
Joanne Carroll (Stuff): Police say Pike River evidence destroyed in 2015 held ‘no value’, but families want answers
Transport
Simon Wilson (Herald): Auckland Transport’s bold plan for road safety: but what about cyclists? (paywalled)
RNZ: Taxi camera concerns has NZTA scrambling to avoid embarrassment
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Call for compulsory seatbelts on buses following Rotorua crash
Luke Kirkness (Herald): Most dangerous vehicles: New Zealand’s worst offenders revealed
RNZ: Air NZ considering Whenuapai flights, Minister says idea ‘half-baked’
Katie Fitzgerald and Miriam Harris (Newshub): Whenuapai residents blast Air New Zealand’s suggestion for second airport
1News: Air NZ considering use of second Auckland airport due to city’s ‘sub-optimal’ traffic
Education
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Ministry of Education paid half-a-million dollars to principal struck off for sleeping naked with student
Boris Jancic (Herald): Principal struck off for sleeping naked with student got $500,000 from Ministry
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Dunedin school found to have used study centre funds on overseas trip
Katy Jones (Stuff): Classroom shake-up sees students with same teacher for two years
Drug law reform
Benedikt Fischer (Newsroom): Won’t somebody think of the children?
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): Don’t let drug reform fall down another policy hole
Media
Herald: Media Council upholds complaint on report of university sex assault survey
Herald: Media Council partly upholds complaint about court sentencing report
RNZ: Media Council ruling: Photograph should not have been published
Peter Ellis appeal
Press Editorial: Peter Ellis’ appeal must still be heard
David Loughrey (ODT): Ellis researchers say appeal case should continue
Poverty, inequality
Meghan Lawrence (Herald): ‘The cupboards are bare’: Auckland City Mission struggling to keep up with food demands
Katie Fitzgerald (Newshub):Auckland City Mission’s Christmas stocks depleted after huge rise in demand
Rebekah Graham (Spinoff): Why hungry kids make for hungry parents
Firearms
Jeremy Wilkinson (RNZ): AR-15 rifle parts used in Christchurch mosque attacks ruled illegal by police
Dan Satherley and Hayley Jacobsen (Newshub): Gun owners unhappy more weapons are being banned
Maniaiti / Benneydale
1News: Small North Island town to get new identity, incorporating original Māori name
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Benneydale to have dual English and Māori name
Mitchell Alexander and Dan Satherley (Newshub): King country town Benneydale gets new name – Maniaiti/Benneydale
Other
Peter Dunne: Time will tell the wisdom of National’s eschewing of consensus on issues that cut across traditional political boundaries
RNZ: The Detail: Getting rich from lending to the poor
1News: Brazil expats demanding NZ end diplomatic relations with Bolsonaro administration as Amazon fires continue
Morgan Godfery: At last: the Crown issues a formal response to Wai 262
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Imagine the uproar if any other Political Party self censored the way the Greens just did
Derek Cheng (Herald): Twitter boss Jack Dorsey to meet Jacinda Ardern in flying visit to Wellington (paywalled)
Tom Dillane (Herald): ‘Rather be lost than found’: Homeless camping in the Domain
Anan Zaki (RNZ): New Zealand’s racism far more casual than elsewhere, says academic
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): NZ landing station an ‘obvious choice’ for Chile-to-China internet cable
Jarrod Gilbert (Herald): South Auckland shootings are a problem for all of us
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): New Zealand Rugby challenges sponsors to respect ‘Ka Mate’ haka
Brent Melville (ODT): Nash covers many bases in city address
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Iwi leader honoured with ONZM for services to Māori
Taroi Black (Māori TV): Māori exporters could benefit as UK exit EU
Liz McDonald (Stuff): New sporting move aims to bring back the fun, and help codes out too
Chloe Ranford (Stuff): Look who’s talking: Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui
Skara Bohny (Nelson Mail): New Santa Parade organisers announced
Denise Piper (Stuff): Northland prisoners find sewing inspiring, despite initially considering it ‘women’s work’
