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.
NZ First donations scandal
Matt Shand (Stuff): A wine box, a deep throat and a dumpster – the trail that led to the NZ First donations scandal
John Armstrong (1News): Opinion: Ardern’s making a royal hash of distancing herself from Peters and NZ First drama
Audrey Young (Herald): Winston Peters has been relatively constrained – so far (paywalled)
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Why NZ First is letting down its supporters
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Full transparency crucial on party donations (paywalled)
Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: NZ First scandal raises integrity issues for the Government (paywalled)
Andrew Geddis (The Conversation): NZ deputy PM under fire, but maintains no laws broken in party donations scandal
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Labour should protect Ardern’s brand (paywalled)
Duncan Garner (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern faces litmus test over Winston Peters
Jason Walls (Herald): NZ First refuses to answer questions over the upcoming Electoral Commission meeting
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Winston Peters’ ‘fake news’ attack video: a close analysis
Derek Cheng (Herald): NZF donations: Winston Peters unleashes on ‘fake news’
Ann Whyte (1News): Beset by multiple NZ First controversies, Deputy PM Winston Peters threatens to ‘sort out media’
Zane Small (Newshub): Winston Peters echoes Donald Trump blasting ‘fake news’ in social media video
Dan Satherley (Newshub): NZ First donation scandal: Judith Collins says ‘the truth will come out’
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Simon Bridges rejects state funding of political parties
Prisoner voting ban, corrections, justice
Andrew Geddis (Spinoff): The reversal of the prisoner voting ban is a big, brave move, and especially sweet for two men
Chester Borrows (Spinoff): Tough on crime’ rhetoric is cheap, easy and terrifyingly effective
Liz Gordon (Daily Blog): Votes for all
Maiki Sherman (1News): Opinion: Prison voting reform reversing ‘stuffy old law’
David Farrar: Government wants prisoners voting for 2020
Maiki Sherman (1News): Exclusive: Government to restore prisoner voting rights in time for 2020 Election
RNZ: Justice Minister announces prisoners serving less than three years in jail will have voting rights restored
Aroha Mane (Māori TV): Prisoners to get back right to vote
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Prisoners to have voting rights restored before 2020 election
Isaac Davison (Herald): Prisoners serving sentences of less than three years to vote at 2020 election
Harrison Christian (Stuff): Prisoner voting rights to be restored ahead of 2020 election
Dan Satherley (Newshub): National takes hard line on prisoner voting, at odds with courts, Waitangi Tribunal
Sae Strang (Newshub): Parliament ‘entitled’ to strip prisoners’ right to vote, regardless of Bill of Rights – Simon Bridges
RNZ: Simon Bridges vows to rescind voting rights for prisoners
Collette Devlin (Stuff): National Party wants to make working in prisons compulsory
Sam Farrell (Newshub): Department of Corrections to call inmates ‘men in our care’ not ‘prisoners’
Newshub: National says Corrections’ new words a joke
Lisa Marriott (Stuff): Why courts should take poverty into account in sentencing decisions
Rob Kidd (ODT): Sex attacker sent victim letters from prison
Derek Cheng (Herald): National: Crime victims should be automatically told of offender’s release (paywalled)
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Independent review into ‘dysfunctional’ management at Spring Hill prison finds lack of cohesion and transparency
1News: Convicted sex offender Peter Ellis’ fight for appeal continues beyond the grave
Grace Millane trial
Lisette Reymer (Newshub): Andrew Little calls out Google for latest suppression breaches
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Warning after New Zealanders breach murderer’s name suppression
RNZ: Call to name man convicted of killing Grace Millane
Sae Strang (Newshub): Reporting of intimate details inappropriate – law expert
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): Did law need to make Grace Millane’s private life so painfully public?
Anna Connell (RNZ): It’s time to redraw the boundaries on court cases that define women
Samantha Keene (Guardian): Women’s sexual histories have no place in a murder trial, as Grace Millane case shows
Kirsty Johnston (Herald): We can’t win: What the Grace Millane trial says about women and sex (paywalled)
Sophie Beaumont (Newsroom): Why victims’ sexual history is irrelevant
Edward O’Driscoll (Newshub): White Ribbon calls for changes to justice system
Stuff/YouGov poll
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Poll leaves Jacinda Ardern with option to govern with Greens or NZ First
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Labour ahead while National dips below 40 in new Stuff poll
Labour Party
Morgan Godfery (Spinoff): Only one parliamentary party lacks a Māori leader. Here’s how they fix it
Tina Law (Press): Labour selects Tracey McLellan as 2020 Port Hills candidate
National Party
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Jami-Lee Ross claims National MPs face ‘repercussions’ if they miss fundraising targets
Cherie Sivignon (Nelson Mail): Nick Smith confirmed as National candidate for Nelson in 2020 election
Paul Mitchell (Stuff): National Party selects 17-year-old William Wood as Palmerston North candidate for 2020 election
David Farrar: 17 year old wins four way selection
Derek Cheng (Herald): 17-year-old to stand for National in Palmerston North
RNZ: National Party picks 17-year-old to stand in Palmerston North
John-Michael Swannix (Newshub): Backstory: Nicola Willis (video)
Parliament, week in politics
Peter Wilson (RNZ):Week in Politics: NZ First’s ‘slush fund’ dominates the week
1News: Inside Parliament: NZ First’s donation déjà vu, growing export demand for bottled water and Ihumātao (video)
Tom O’Connor (Stuff): Throwing democracy to the people
Ports of Auckland move
Simon Wilson (Herald): Revealed: John Key and Helen Clark join forces to shift the port (paywalled)
Jo Moir (RNZ): Auckland port move: Helen Clark and John Key back Northport initiative
Dan Satherley and Grace Cocker (Newshub): John Key, Helen Clark throw support behind moving Auckland’s port north
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Port move: CEO decries ‘made up facts’ by pro-move group
Tony Gibson (Herald): Ports of Auckland CEO: Wayne Brown’s report a ‘jumble of made-up facts’ (paywalled)
Local government
1News: Lack of Māori being voted onto local body councils called out as racism
Susan Botting (RNZ): Northland Regional Council increases Māori input
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Phil Goff’s review of council-controlled organisations costing up $800,000
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Council agency review: $800k and done by July
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Councillor pay: Salaries to rise again
RNZ: Auckland Council communications staff numbers decline
Gary Farrow (Waikato Times): Deputy mayor of Waipā will earn $10k less than her male predecessor
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): Palmerston North voters are getting the hang of STV
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Email leak: Wellington city councillor Simon Woolf and CE Kevin Lavery clash again
Cherie Sivignon (Nelson Mail): Permanent chlorination may be in the pipeline for Tasman District water supplies
Dominic Harris (Stuff): Secrets and lies: Will the public ever know what Christchurch City Council was hiding?
Barry Clarke (Star News): Opinion: Council’s secret service brigade
Logan Savory (Southland Times): Lawyer pushes to ‘put Invercargill City Council on notice’
Foreign affairs and trade
Claire Trevett (Herald): Foreign Minister Winston Peters explains tweets by NZ First leader. Sort of (paywalled)
Claire Trevett (Herald): Winston Peters calls out some G20 countries on trade, climate change
Claire Trevett (Herald): Optimism US trade talks on the horizon, says Winston Peters (paywalled)
Claire Trevett (Herald): Japanese company develops environment-friendly edible plates and coffee cups
Education
Steve Elers (Stuff): Medical school rort is fraud and students misusing taxpayer money should be reported to the police
Emma Espiner (Newsroom): Entitled little pricks
ODT: University culture woes
Jessica Long (Stuff): Victoria University of Wellington green goals could pick academics’ pockets
Jo McKenzie-McLean (Stuff): Government to keep close watch over Lincoln University’s $80m handout
1News: New Zealand’s only vet tech degree cancelled due to lack of funding
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Bronwyn Wood and Kate Thornton (Newsroom): Has Tomorrow’s Schools review gone far enough?
Alex Braae (Spinoff): National MP alleges ‘state sponsored brainwashing’ over NCEA question
RNZ: Student rubbishes claim NCEA text ‘brainwashing’ students
Scott Palmer (Newshub): NZQA accused of ‘brainwashing’ over ‘anti-farmer’ question in English exam
Dan Satherley and Delphine Herbert (Newshub): National calls for political ‘balance’ in school exam questions
Simon Collins (Herald): NCEA maths exam mistake: National Party calls for independent review
Simon Collins (Herald): NCEA maths paper shocks even ‘excellence’ students, baffles teachers
Dubby Henry (Herald): NCEA maths exam fury: Can you answer the questions that baffled students, teachers?
RNZ: Students faced mistake in NCEA Level 2 maths exam
Welfare
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Carmel Sepuloni defends not boosting benefits
Sahiban Hyde (Herald): Emergency housing: MSD steps in after motel bans children from playground, pool (paywalled)
Finn Hogan (Newshub): The Pitch: Louise Upston on National’s plan for welfare
Dan Satherley and Delphine Herbert (Newshub): Work and Income urged to stop cutting benefits when people find partners
Carmen Hall (Herald): Rotorua becoming a ‘slum’ as motels overrun with beneficiaries, leader claims (paywalled)
Media
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Should the Government save New Zealand media?
Nik Dirga (Stuff): New Zealand’s media landscape: ‘The future isn’t advertising’
Guy Williams (Stuff): Why the outlook for New Zealand’s media is bleak
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Do cunning and clever ads cut through?
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Travel bucks the trend bringing big bucks for print media
Shilo Kino (Spinoff): A day in the life of a Māori journalist
RNZ: The Detail: Shooting the messenger – when journalists raise drugs in sport
Immigration
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): New Zealand govt ignored UN recommendations to increase African refugees
Amelia Wade (Herald): NZeTA tourist visa ripoff: Immigration NZ and Google take action against dodgy websites
Behrouz Boochani
Philip Matthews (Stuff): National portrait: Behrouz Boochani, writer and refugee
Philip Matthews (Stuff): ‘You reacted with kindness’: Behrouz Boochani reflects on terror attack aftermath
Provincial Growth Fund
Perry Wilton and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Stewart Island wind turbines to cut diesel use
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Provincial Growth Fund bankrolls two wind turbines for Stewart Island
Cannabis
Sophie Trigger (Stuff): ‘We don’t know what we don’t know’ on medicinal cannabis
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Treaty gives Māori the right to profit off cannabis – Willie Jackson
Zane Small (Newshub): Medical cannabis expert’s message to ‘sceptical’ politicians: ‘We owe it to people suffering’
Health
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Jenny-May Clarkson’s heartbreak over brother’s bowel cancer death: ‘It has a ripple effect’ (paywalled)
Eleisha Foon (RNZ): Report critical over lack of action on dire state of public hospitals
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Rising cost of failure to digitise healthcare system
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Māori graduates ‘the future of nursing’
Brian Pointon (Herald): A hundred years of children’s health camps (paywalled)
Melissa Davey (Guardian): Australian and New Zealand teenagers among most inactive in the world
Mariné Lourens (Stuff): Nine out of 10 Kiwi teens are not active enough, study reveals
Jamie Morton (Herald): The Big Read: Three crucial questions facing young Kiwis (paywalled)
Lucy Warhurst (Newshub): Research shows not enough New Zealanders understand dementia
Phil Taylor (Herald): We are a nation of comfort eaters, big food survey reveals (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: When it comes to fast food, we know what love is (paywalled)
Pacific measles outbreak
RNZ: NZ fundraiser for Samoa measles victims
RNZ: Samoa measles death toll hits 20; eleven children critical
RNZ: Alternative therapists push ‘healing water’ amid measles crisis in Samoa
RNZ: Samoa measles: Unvaccinated pregnant women told to stop work
RNZ: Fiji measles cases rises to 10
RNZ: Measles: Warning over Fiji’s limited vaccine supply
Ōwairaka Mt Albert trees
Mihingarangi Forbes (The Hui): Meet the activists trying to stop native trees being planted on Mt Albert
The Hui: Should exotic trees be felled to make way for natives?
Kit Howden (Herald): Change of focus needed in the parks of Auckland (paywalled)
RNZ: Hui to be held before removal of trees in Mt Albert
Environment
Angela Cuming (Guardian): Why New Zealand’s west coast is pushing back against Ardern climate laws
David Williams (Newsroom): Cattle prod: Decision delay needles knight
Samesh Mohanlall (Timaru Herald): Protesters refuse to leave offshore supply vessel in Timaru
1News: Protestors continue demonstration against Austrian ship in Timaru Harbour
Kaysha Brownlie (Newshub): 30 protesters join Greenpeace campaign in Timaru to stop New Zealand oil exploration
RNZ: Environmental protesters storm oil ship in Timaru
Felix Desmarais (Stuff): Miramar likely to become first predator-free urban area in the world by New Year
Primary industries
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Shane Jones wants a ‘blue highway’ and Special Economic Zone at Hicks Bay
RNZ: Japanese forestry firm fined after waste washed into Tolaga Bay
Rob Stock (Stuff): Fonterra waste audit reveals dairy packaging is recycling problem
Mark Price (ODT): Honey surplus points to problems
Public sector
Damian George (Stuff): Fifteen of New Zealand’s 32 public service departments sign up to flexible work scheme
Julie Iles (NBR): Inequality expert weighs in on public sector bosses’ big pay packets (paywalled)
Economy
Priscilla Dickinson (Newshub): OECD growth forecasts show NZ is in good shape – report
Liam Dann (Herald): ASB: Slowdown not over yet, Government needs to do more
Tuia 250, early Pākehā settlement
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Te Ātiawa welcome Tuia 250 to the South
Tracy Neal (RNZ): Cook’s Endeavour, Tahitian explorer welcomed at Ship Cove
1News: Captain Cook’s rich history with the tiny bay of Meretoto, in Queen Charlotte Sounds
Ian Smith (ODT): Signs of the Pakeha
Ian Smith (E-Tangata): Not one iota of evidence
Housing
Jimmy Ellingham (Manawatū Standard): Government proposals to give more rights to renters long overdue
Anne Gibson (Herald): Landlords v tenants: How legislative change could affect 1.5m lives and $171b sector (paywalled)
Stephen Colbert
1News: Stephen Colbert’s series could bring more tourists to NZ shores, experts say
Herald Editorial: Jacinda Ardern and Stephen Colbert’s special relationship (paywalled)
RNZ: Stephen Colbert tackles Kiwi sporting culture
Stuff: Stephen Colbert’s week-long showcase of New Zealand comes to an end
Herald: NZ’s Colbert publicity coup comes to an end after week-long run on The Late Show
Royal tour
Emily O’Connell (Newshub): Royal tour: Prince Charles addresses mosque attack victims in Christchurch
Eleisha Foon (RNZ): Prince Charles praises students’ efforts after Christchurch mosque shootings
Emily Brookes (Stuff): PM: ‘No current plan’ to review Prince Andrew’s NZ Army role
AP: Watch: Prince Charles ignores question about shamed brother Andrew in Christchurch
RNZ: Prince Charles says state of global environment at a tipping point
Erebus
Cherie Howie (Herald): Faces of Erebus: Families tell the stories of the 257 victims (paywalled)
Herald: Erebus Flight 901: Litany of Lies. Episode 7: “Whiteout – that’s what killed them”
1News: Memorial service marks 40 years since NZ’s worst aviation disaster
Press Editorial: Locals shouldn’t block the Erebus memorial
Ultra-fast Broadband
RNZ: Ultra-fast broadband now reaches a million households
Stuff: First phase of government’s Ultra-Fast Broadband Scheme complete
Mongrel Mob
Doug Laing (Hawkes Bay Today): The hardest job in PR? Hawke’s Bay woman’s role in making the Mob look good
Florence Kerr (Stuff): Waikato Mongrel Mob’s gangster bark refined for public consumption
Other
Thomas Manch (Stuff): More than 50,000 working households live in poverty, new report reveals
Pete George: Distribution of 2017 Maori Party votes by district
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): Tread carefully if tax is back on the agenda
Kelly Dennett (Stuff): Police use National Intelligence Application to call domestic violence complainant a liar
Liam Dann (Herald): Busting New Zealand’s ageing population myth (paywalled)
Eric Crampton (Stuff): Why gender diversity in the boardroom won’t always please investors
John Gascoigne (Herald): How compulsory superannuation keeps retirees poor (paywalled)
Paula Penfold and Eugene Bingham (Stuff): The doctor helping victims of war get back on their feet
David Slack (Stuff): Where a culture can take you
Phil Quin (Stuff): My life in politics has been a long march away from certainty
RNZ: Abuse survivor wants culture change in church, not resignations
Sae Strang (Newshub): Selfless kebab shop owner told to stop feeding the homeless
David Farrar: Sexual Orientation Demographics 2018
John Lewis (ODT): Queen Victoria statue vandalised in Treaty protest
Kate MacNamara (Stuff): Big rule changes for banks expected on December 5
Taroi Black (Māori TV): “Hidden agendas that create racist policies” – Youth advocate
Rob Stock (Stuff): Class action by owners of buildings clad in ‘combustible’ panels being lined up
Madison Reidy (RNZ): Call to join class action against fire-risk cladding makers
John Roughan (Herald): Too much infrastructure can be as crippling as too little (paywalled)
Samantha Olley (Rotorua Daily Post): Rotorua Māori Wardens Community Trust share why they do the job (paywalled)
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Pride to return to Ponsonby as a walking parade in 2020
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Ohinewai dreams ahead: The Sleepyhead plan that will change a Waikato town
Jonathan Young (Stuff): Taranaki 2050 Roadmap may have a few bumps in the road ahead
Herald: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on having her wisdom teeth taken out
