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.
National’s law and order proposals
Richard Harman (Politik): Simon: That’s not what English, Joyce and even Collins said.
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Experts: National’s law and order proposals sound good but have no substance
RNZ Checkpoint: National will ‘send much stronger signals’ to judges on sentences – Mitchell
Yvette McCullough (RNZ): National’s proposed ‘Strike Force Raptor’ unit likened to 18th century ideas
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Strike Force Raptor unit won’t stop organised crime
1News: National’s former courts minister defies party’s tough-on-crime rhetoric – ‘It hasn’t worked’
Derek Cheng (Herald): Populism alive and well in National’s law and order proposals (paywalled)
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Simon Bridges takes ‘tough on crime’ to a new level
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): National’s gang plan is welcome, but will it work?
Zane Small (Newshub): Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis blasts National’s proposed law and order policy
Anna Whyte (1News): National and Labour trade barbs over Opposition’s gang crackdown proposals
Newstalk ZB: Māori Council: Tighten borders if you want to stop gangs
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Gang member says National’s law and order plan will ‘contribute to bigger numbers’
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John Weekes (Stuff): No body, no parole: National Party demands murderers reveal where bodies are buried
Collette Devlin (Stuff): National Party’s war on gangs could ban patches, create ‘Strike Force Raptor’ police
Anna Whyte (1News): National proposes banning gang patches in public, new police unit to ‘harass gangs’
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): National Party wants elite police force to target gangs
Derek Cheng (Herald): National’s law and order plan: Tough on gangs, murderers and the worst youth offenders
Zane Small (Newshub): National ponders ‘Strike Force Raptor’ police unit to ‘harass gangs’ in policy proposal
Simon Bridges (Spinoff): A response to my old mate, Chester Borrows, on crime and justice
Prisoner voting, justice
Auckland University: Should prisoners be allowed to vote? Interview with Edward Willis
1News: Government backs decision to end prisoner voting ban despite backlash from National
Liam Hehir (Pundit): Prisoner Voting Ban: Not Required; Not Not Required
Brittany Deguara (Stuff): Fake victims and new laws: Victims’ sexual history plays a big role in defence
NZ First, political finance
David Cormack (Herald): There is no corruption in New Zealand (paywalled)
David Slack (RNZ): NZ First and its inscrutable leader Winston Peters
Alex Braae (Spinoff): Glossary: How to get your head around the NZ First donations controversy
Local government
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Council agency review: Councillor warns politicians could be found at fault
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Review of Auckland’s council-controlled organisations gets the go-ahead
RNZ: Phil Goff wants Auckland port to move, calls for more evidence
Damian George (Stuff): Wellington mayor Andy Foster signals Sir Peter Jackson movie museum back on the agenda
Harry Lock (RNZ): Wellington Mayor Andy Foster outlines three year vision for capital
Dominic Harris (Press): Christchurch council withholds details of CEO’s $30,000 relocation spend
Joanne Carroll (Stuff): Minister won’t intervene in ‘dysfunctional’ West Coast council
Luisa Girao (ODT): Deputy asks for review of consents process
Logan Savory (Southland Times): Invercargill City councillors call for review on consent processes
Chloe Ranford (RNZ): New Zealand councils to crack down on plastic water cooler cups
Transport
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): Palmerston North poised as centre of rail and road link
Mare Haimona-Riki (Māori TV):$40 million to Palmerston North Freight Hub
Gavin Evans (BusinessDesk): KiwiRail unveils future road-rail hub concept in Manawatu (paywalled)
Mark Revington (NBR): Southerners mull rail vs truck freight costs (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (1News): Cars that don’t get unsafe airbags repaired or replaced will fail WOF tests, Government says
Katie Todd (RNZ): Cars with defective airbag parts to be denied WoFs
1News: Over 1000 bus trips to be cancelled during day of Auckland strikes
Health
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Government: 12,000 more people to be trained in mental health, addiction issues
RNZ: Thousands more people to get mental health training
Jo Moir (RNZ): Hepatitis Foundation’s excessive spending ‘unacceptable’ – Minister
Jo Moir (RNZ): Hepatitis Foundation had ‘excessive’ spending, mismanagement – unpublished report
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): MP alleges decision to downgrade maternity centre was ‘predetermined’
Katarina Williams (Stuff): Maternity Diaries: DHB boss assures Hutt Hospital midwives she’s ‘listening’
Lucy Drake (Whanganui Chronicle): National Bowel Screening Programme proving successful in Whanganui
Stephanie Ockhuysen (Taranaki Daily News): New South Taranaki healthcare plan revealed as health chief thanks residents for holding them to account
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Elected board poised to take DHB reins
Jane Nixon (1News): Auckland cancer sufferer selling sunflower plants to raise money to pay for Keytruda medication
Danielle Clent (Stuff): HIV positive sperm bank launches in New Zealand in a world first
Emma Russell (Herald: World-first HIV positive sperm bank launches in New Zealand
Samantha Gee (Stuff): Doctor’s plea for Nelson Hospital to end coal use for its energy, heating needs
1News: Hawke’s Bay seasonal worker diagnosed with measles after arrival from Tonga
Samoa measles epidemic
Liu Chen (RNZ): Samoa measles epidemic: Call for donations to help aid workers
1News: Six more children die amid Samoa measles crisis, bringing death toll to 32
RNZ: Samoa measles death toll rises to 32
Newshub: Samoa measles emergency: People travelling to island nation urged to keep track of vaccinations
Environment and conservation
RNZ: Resource Management Act changes a breakthrough – farmers, environmental groups
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): A long road to protecting biodiversity
Joanne Carroll (Stuff): Government’s plan to earmark areas of natural significance labelled ‘theft by the Crown’ by farmer
Mahina Hurkmans (Māori TV): Nanaia Mahuta and Eugenie Sage announce new toolkit
Jono Edwards (ODT): ORC to consider water processes overhaul
1News: Tramper charged over using Auckland track closed to prevent spread of kauri dieback
Jordan Bond (RNZ): Crackdown on repeat offenders who ignore Waitākere Ranges closures
RNZ: Waitākere ranges kauri dieback: repeat bushwalker to be prosecuted
Sae Strang (Newshub): Council prosecutes ‘entitled’ Waitākere Ranges bushwalker
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): First hiker charged in New Zealand with entering quarantined kauri forest
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Questions raised over Westport rat 1080 results
Toby Morris (Spinoff): The Side Eye: The Trap Life
Katie Todd (RNZ): National promises to back Waitaha hydro-power scheme if elected
Lois Williams (RNZ): Stockton Plateau rehab: Hydro scheme consent extension sought
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Lawyers band together to dispel climate change scepticism
Georgia May Gilbertson (Dominion Post): Mātauranga Māori could help with climate issues action seminar told
Primary and extractive industries
Jamie Mackay (Herald): Is the Winter Grazing Taskforce report too tough on farmers? (paywalled)
RNZ: Farmers keen, but need time to change winter grazing practices
Keith Woodford (Interest): The Government is losing the forestry debate in rural New Zealand and needs to front up on the land change implications of zero carbon and emissions trading
RNZ: Local iwi wary of Hicks Bay log barge proposal
Samesh Mohanlall (Timaru Herald): Police arrest 16 people over occupation of offshore supply vessel in Timaru
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Police remove remaining Greenpeace protesters from oil ship
1News: Police in process of removing more protestors occupying oil and gas exploration ship in Timaru
1News: Animal rights group behind supermarket protests aims to eliminate slaughterhouses in NZ by 2025
Anna Campbell (ODT): Plenty promulgating prejudiced assumptions about farmers
Housing
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Timeline slips on $1.5 billion Porirua development, but new homes emerge
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): New $1.5 billion project, same old problems as slippage starts on housing plan
Jonathan Mitchell (RNZ): Mouldy home victims get new lease on life
Greg Ninness (Interest): Rising house prices wiping out the benefits of lower interest rates for first home buyer
Education
Amy Williams (RNZ): Schools, vaping industry want govt regulations as ‘students addicted’
Simon Collins (Herald): At least a third of kids are vaping – principals
Newshub:‘Impossible’ NCEA algebra exam stumps students
Donna-Lee Biddle (Stuff): South Auckland’s Kia Aroha College forks out $80,000 to feed students
Carmen Hall (Herald): Student loan pain: IRD owed over half a billion dollars in Tauranga (paywalled)
Employment
RNZ: More government contractors could get employee rights
1News: Tougher employment laws to protect contractors like Uber drivers being considered by Government
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Auckland pharmacies fined for underpaying staff
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Productivity Commission says embrace job insecurity, but make sure you get your parachute ready
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Redundancy insurance a cost few will ever actually need
SkyCity fire
John Weekes (Stuff): SkyCity Convention Centre fire: Ash and residue reached Auckland courthouse cells
RNZ: SkyCity Convention Centre fire: insurers to cover costs
Defence
Thomas Manch (Stuff): US signs off $2 billion sale of five Hercules airplanes to New Zealand
Point of Order: US approves sale of Hercules for RNZAF
Point of Order: Australians hope NZ will buy Hunter class frigates but size and price will come into Defence considerations
1News: NZ Defence Force earns Rainbow Tick for LGBT+ inclusion
RNZ: Defence Force announces Rainbow Tick for inclusiveness
Police
George Block (Stuff): Police call centre: Veteran former detective attacks new system
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Police guns, parts stolen or go missing
Christchurch terrorist attack donations
1News: Christchurch terrorist attack donations go to education, supporting families
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): How the money donated to the Christchurch terror attack victims will be spent
RNZ: Distribution of millions to Christchurch mosque shooting victims outlined
Westpac
Dita De Boni (NBR): Westpac NZ pours a moat between itself and Oz parent (paywalled)
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Westpac Group CEO quits as Westpac NZ distances itself from parent’s AML woes
Jamie Gray (Herald): Standard & Poor’s: Westpac scandal will weigh on Aussie banking sector earnings (paywalled)
RNZ: Westpac Australia sacks chief executive over laundering scandal
Foreign affairs and trade
RNZ: Expansion of Cooks Islands’ Auckland consulate planned
Simon Draper (Noted): Hong Kong: Why New Zealand should care
Racist abuse of Jofra Archer
Scott Yeoman (Herald): Race Relations Commissioner praises Jofra Archer for calling out racism (paywalled)
Stuff: Race Relations Commissioner calls for collective response after ‘dangerous’ Jofra Archer incident
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): ‘Utterly disgusting’: New Zealand denounces racist abuse of Jofra Archer
RNZ: NZ Cricket apologises to Archer
Hamish Bidwell (RNZ): A good Test spoiled
Other
Leigh-Marama McLachlan (RNZ): Crown admits it will miss Treaty settlements 2020 deadline
Charlotte Graham-McLay (New York Times): New Zealand Is Tackling Hot-Button Liberal Issues in One Swoop
John McMenamin (Whanganui Chronicle): Euthanasia debate: Why most doctors are opposed to end of life choice (paywalled)
Liam Hehir (Spinoff): The very young Nat: Does the 17-year-old stand a chance in Palmerston North?
Gordon Campbell: On China’s bad week, and Labour’s tribalism
Bay of Plenty Times: Tauranga list MP diagnosed with breast cancer
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Waitangi Tribunal Oranga Tamariki inquiry: calls to examine police, DHBs
RNZ: The Detail: Erebus and the aftermath – the fallout continues
Linda Clark (Newsroom): If it looks or sounds like Trump: Press delete
James Fyfe and Lucy Walker (Newshub): NZ’s shame: The regions where family violence is highest
Daisy Richards (The Conversation): Grace Millane’s trial exposes a dark trend in media coverage of violence against women
Donna Chisholm (North & South): How our future is threatened by our ingenuity
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Google, George Orwell, and me
Taroi Black (Māori TV): Cultural theft of Māori art is alive and well
RNZ: NZ firefighters in Queensland: ‘Full grins on their faces’
Herald Editorial: New Zealand’s debt bomb still ticking (paywalled)
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Why are we messing with democracy?
Megan Woods (Stuff): ‘There’s a bright future for Taranaki’s economy’
Ele Ludemann: If they are us we should all be NZers
Point of Order: Stats NZ says race is a biological indicator – but we can choose our ethnicity
Daniel Dunkley (Stuff): $2m club: Do we have to keep up with international chief executive pay rates?
RNZ: Tuia 250: Cook’s Endeavour replica leaves Marlborough
Ian Smith (Stuff): The bay where Māori and Pākehā cultural traditions overlapped
Stuff: Stephen Colbert’s engagement gift for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Clarke Gayford
1News: Clarke Gayford reveals cheeky engagement gift from Stephen Colbert following comedian’s ode to NZ
