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
Police
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Why I don’t believe Andrew Coster when he says he wants an unarmed police service
Jordan Bond (RNZ): The Detail: Why Armed Response Teams struck the wrong note in NZ
Newstalk ZB: Defence expert: New Zealand should avoid militarising police
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): People Against Prisons Aotearoa calls for ‘bloodstained’ police to be defunded following Armed Response Teams trial
Julia Amua Whaipooti (Guardian): Minneapolis has vowed to defund its police. New Zealand needs to have that conversation
RNZ: Armed Response Teams: Lack of consultation ‘just not on’
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Lack of consultation meant positives of armed response teams got lost – Police Association President Chris Cahill
Bronson Perich (Māori TV): Commissioner admits public should have been consulted on armed police teams
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Lack of consultation meant positives of armed response teams got lost – Police Association President Chris Cahill
Jordan Bond (RNZ): Māori account for more than half of arrests by Armed Response Teams in trial
No Right Turn: Armed Response Teams were racist
1News: Police armed response teams could return after current commissioner’s tenure ends, justice advocate fears
Stephen Wright (Wall Street Journal): New Zealand Scraps Plans for SWAT-Like Police Units (paywalled)
Katie Doyle (RNZ): Police investigate 100 instances of excessive force on youth
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Police won’t say if frontline officers would use sponge bullets
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Sponge bullets suggested by police commissioner ‘incredibly dangerous’ – lobby group
No Right Turn: Our tone-deaf police
Tara Shaskey (Stuff): Wallace family continue their fight for Steven’s justice in court next month
Health
Phil Pennington (RNZ): New stocktake reveals the hospital facilities in worst condition
Newstalk ZB: Hospital stocktake reveals grim picture of country’s facilities
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Dire state of New Zealand hospitals ‘no surprise’ – doctors’ union
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Wellington Hospital has the worst electrical infrastructure in the country – report
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Wakari Hospital mental health unit one of 4 rated ‘very poor’
Joanne Carrolll (Stuff): Litany of flaws found in Christchurch hospital buildings
Helen Harvey (Stuff): Taranaki Base Hospital gets graded poor for some buildings, but a major redevelopment is planned
Sue Dudman (Whanganui Chronicle): Whanganui District Health Board’s assets assessed in national stocktake report (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Patients in the dark after landmark hospital review neglects latest earthquake advice
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Documents reveal breaches, frustration amidst deadly Rosewood rest home cluster
Stuff Editorial: The looming overhaul of our health system includes everyone
Stephen Forbes (RNZ): Counties Manukau DHB battles surgery backlog
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Andrew MacFarlane (1News): Jobs will be lost as St John Ambulance looks to slash $30m due to Covid-19, CEO says in memo
Herald: St John facing staff cuts, aims to save $30 million
Stuff: Jobs to go as St John Ambulance feels effect of Covid-19
Election, referenda
Claire Trevett (Herald): 100 Days to the election: What are National and Labour planning for the Covid-19 campaign? (paywalled)
1News: New Zealand planning for the most challenging and expensive election ever in September
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Government has just one more Cabinet meeting before pre-election wind-down
Newstalk ZB: ‘Unite for Recovery’ campaign accused of being a political broadcast
Yvette McCullough (RNZ): Referenda campaigners say Covid-19 disrupted plans
Newstalk ZB: NZ Drug Foundation defends pro-cannabis advertising
Darryl Baser (ODT): Environmental activist hopes to turn Dunedin Green
National Party
Craig McCullough (RNZ): National backtracks on ‘Strike Force Raptor’ police unit plans
Brent Edwards (NBR): Todd Muller’s 72-hour honeymoon (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Todd Muller will need to call Winston Peters (paywalled)
Richard Prebble (NBR): Parliament now has four Labour-like parties
1News: National vows ‘transformational plan’ for restarting economy after Covid-19 crisis
Claire Trevett (Herald): Todd Muller’s new chief spin-doctor revealed: broadcasting veteran and media trainer Janet Wilson
NZ’s handling of coronavirus
Josie Pagani (Herald): Covid 19 exposed how readily we sacrifice democracy (paywalled)
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Legal groups joins judicial review into police’s lockdown powers
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Alert level 2 police powers to enforce restrictions used only once – Commissioner
Bronson Perich (Māori TV): Police would only enter marae without warrant on request – Commissioner
Herald: Police figures suggest Kiwis too eager to dob each other in during lockdown
Jim Rose (Herald): Covid 19 coronavirus research explosion shows how unprepared we were (paywalled)
Zane Small (Newshub): ‘Bunch of baboons’: Māori Council boss Matthew Tukaki fires up at MPs over iwi checkpoints
Nik Dirga (RNZ): Stark contrast between NZ’s success and bitter divisions in US
Stuff: Worldwide interest in Dr Ashley Bloomfield masterclass
Natalia Sutherland (1News): Kiwis infected with Covid-19 still battling debilitating symptoms, despite being cleared of virus
Rosalie Willis (Kāpiti News): Kaumātua Don Te Maipi has written spine-tingling waiata for PM
Herald: Watch: Parody video of Jacinda Ardern Covid-free dance goes viral
Border exemptions, restrictions, quarantine
Joel Maxwell and Tom Hunt (Stuff): Transmission Gully engineer denied entry, film industry relative allowed in
Tom Hunt (Stuff): How a single Avatar worker breached New Zealand’s bubble
John Weekes (Stuff): ‘Heartbreaking’: Father blocked from seeing newborn baby due to coronavirus border rules
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Pacific Island business leaders accuse Government of restricting New Zealanders’ holiday travel rights
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Singapore Airlines crew ‘kept like prisoners’ during NZ layover
Contracts awarded to overseas firms
Cat MacLennan (Democracy Project): “You make us sound stupid”
Heather du Plessis Allan (Newstalk ZB): KiwiRail drama shows buy local isn’t always black and white
RNZ: ‘It’s not cost, it’s capability’ – KiwiRail on overseas contracts
Paul Goldsmith’s “stick to your knitting” commments
Gordon Campbell: On why women with opinions can be SO annoying
Newstalk ZB: ‘I’m pretty hard to offend’: PM addresses ‘stick to your knitting’ comment
RNZ: ‘Context matters’ – Nikki Kaye defends Goldsmith’s knitting comment
Economy trade
RNZ: ‘He had no doubt we were pretty cheesed off’ – David Parker on EU deal
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Treasury accounts show Covid-19 pushed up debt by $19 billion in two months
Herald Editorial: Market dislocation and inequality give Governments ammo for higher taxes (paywalled)
Jamie Gray (Herald): Bouncing back from Covid-19? What the financial markets are telling us (paywalled)
Redundancies
Dita De Boni (NBR): Lemon socialism and sticking the boot into unions: The Warehouse story (paywalled)
Jonathan Baker (The Conversation): By sacking staff and closing stores, big businesses like The Warehouse could hurt their own long-term interests
Herald: Interactive: The companies where 14,000 NZ jobs have been lost
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Daily news of redundancies ‘disheartening’, says EEO commissioner
Jacob McSweeny (ODT): Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner calls for more respect
Wage subsidy
Tony Wall (Stuff): Kiwifruit industry gets millions in welfare as it celebrates biggest harvest
Katie Kenny (Stuff): The vague and confusing reasons we’ll never know exactly where the wage subsidy is going
Lee Suckling (Herald): The wage subsidy has changed how I think about welfare (paywalled)
Business
Luke Kirkness and Kim Moodie (Herald): Businesses struggling in Auckland CBD, as customers stay away despite end of lockdown
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): New Zealand finance company will abandon office space in CBDs due to Covid-19
RNZ: AMP to quit Auckland and Wellington offices
Emma Hatton (RNZ): Companies seek help for post-redundancy data breaches
Five Eyes spy network
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Taking Back Our Eyes
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Five Eyes spy-alliance countries to ‘co-ordinate’ Covid-19 economic response
NZ’s controversial statues, names
Michael Neilson (Herald): New Zealand’s controversial statues and the calls to bring them down
Newshub: The Project: Debate over pulling down controversial historical statues in New Zealand
1News: Māori Party wants inquiry into colonial monuments, statues and names
Steven Walton (Stuff): Ideas flood in for name change to ‘notorious’ Bully Hayes restaurant
Contact tracing
Robin Kerr: New Zealand’s made it to zero Covid cases, but our contact tracing apps had little to do with it
Robin Kerr: Next gen Covid apps could be used to spy on us if we don’t get privacy controls right
Jim Tucker (Taranaki Daily News): Covid-19 and its threat to personal privacy
1News: Government’s Covid-19 tracing app to alert people potentially exposed to virus
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Govt able to notify those exposed to Covid-19 through app
Education
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Most institutes in new national polytechnic expect multi-million deficits
Grant Miller (ODT): Millions in losses until 2022 revival, uni says
1News: Students at AUT to get $113 rent rebate for accommodation not occupied due to Covid-19 lockdown
Alison Mau (Stuff): AUT launches independent review into sexual harassment policies
1News: Scrapping Teaching Council fees not the answer, teacher petitioning against fee increase says
Newstalk ZB: Ministry of Education takes responsibility for modem mistakes
Edward O’Driscoll (Newshub): Principals describe Government’s $87m IT equipment scheme as waste of money
Herald: Mike Hosking slams Ministry of Education for ‘wastage’ as his child makes free modem shortlist
Emma Perry (ODT): Pupils recovering funds after missing out on trips
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Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern praises ‘engaged students’ amid complaints of schools removing Black Lives Matter posters
Nick Truebridge (RNZ): Marist College students unite over school’s Black Lives Matter response
RNZ: Student says Marist College teachers are racist towards her peers
Anan Zaki (RNZ): Third school’s students complain over Black Lives Matter poster removal
Electricity
1News: Consumer NZ shares advice on how to save up to $500 a year on your power bill
Gavin Evans (BusinessDesk): Transmission pricing – pain now or more pain later (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Some consumers will pay more with new way to carve up Transpower’s $1b bill
RNZ: Power price shuffle means fairer prices, lower emissions – Electricity Authority
1News: New electricity pricing plan to divide bills up more evenly across the country
Gavin Evans (BusinessDesk): Tiwai Point smelter closure not a risk to transmission pricing benefit
Defence
Alex Braae (Spinoff): For and against: The government’s $1.5 billion military aircraft buy-up
Rachel Thomas (RNZ): Rimpac war games exercise: New Zealand government urged to withdraw
Emalani Case (Spinoff): Dear New Zealand, please don’t bring your war games to my Hawaiian home
RNZ: Pretend protesters to be used at naval training exercise
1News: Public warned to expect ‘uncommon sights’ as military helicopters fire flares in training exercise
Tourism
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Department of Conservation refusing to cut tourism operator fees
Amelia Wade (Herald): Whale Watch Kaikōura to get $1.5m bailout to stay afloat without tourists
RNZ: Whale Watch Kaikōura to get up to $1.5 million
Air NZ
1News: Jacinda Ardern says any law change over Air NZ refund policy wouldn’t be retrospective
Jonathan Hill (BusinessDesk): The Air NZ refund saga – who benefits and who should own our airline? (paywalled)
1News: Air NZ called out by John Campbell for ‘BS’ reasons for not refunding passengers on cancelled flights
Transport
Charlotte Cook (RNZ): Temporary cycle lanes in Wellington come to an end with alert level 1
1News: Women in NZ create less polluting emissions during travel than men, study finds
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Kiwi women generate less greenhouse gas emissions than men due to transport choices, study finds
Laura James (1News): Passenger numbers on trains and buses still down in wake of Covid-19 lockdown
Primary industries
1News: Massive kiwifruit crop this year spurs record revenue, despite Covid-19 worker shortage
Tracy Neal (RNZ): South Island winter tomato growers hit by carbon charges
David Williams (Newsroom): Complaint alleges deputy chair broke water rules
Housing
Christian Fuller (Hawkes Bay Today): ‘Swept under a giant carpet’: Napier mother nears two-years in hotel (paywalled)
Melissa Nightingale (Herald): Porirua social housing provider criticised for mould, rotting floors
Local government
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Call for councils to stop charging rates on all Māori land
Aaron van Delden (RNZ): Protesters cheer as Gisborne council backtracks on Endeavour models, non-consultation
Christina Persico (Taranaki Daily News): Māori ward consultation recommended at committee meeting
Desley Simpson (Stuff): Auckland emergency budget: Need to strike balance on job cuts and workers’ pay
Molly Houseman (ODT): ORC consultant spending criticised
Tina Law (Press): New rule could stop new central Christchurch apartments being used for Airbnb
Environment
Jamie Morton (Herald): Kiwi households now emit nearly as much as factories – Stats NZ
Southland Times Editorial: Can we stop the fir flying?
Media
Karl du Fresne (Dominion Post): It’s been a long road since I was a rebel without a clue
Stuff: Job losses expected at Ashburton Guardian newspaper
Grant Miller (ODT): ‘Sunday’ complaint not upheld
Other
Dileepa Fonseka (Newsroom): A PPP grave paved with money pits
Brent Edwards (NBR): Calls to delay fair conduct legislation for financial institutions (paywalled)
Lois Williams (RNZ): West Coast lockdown hotline: food shortages most common concern
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Heritage laws need to account for Māori views on wāhi tapu – academic
Tracy Neal (RNZ): Wakatū exploring Tasman reserve land in search of lost Nelson Tenths
Jason Walls (Herald): Pike River: Andrew Little says it is ‘just impractical’ to expect all bodies to be recovered
Amelia Wade (Herald): Which MP really dropped the f-bomb in a Zoom meeting? Judge for yourself
Anna Bracewell-Worrall and Zane Small (Newshub): Zoom slip-up: National MP Judith Collins’ failure to mute appears to capture expletive over Armed Response Teams
Chris Keall (Herald): Google books NZ more revenue locally – but there are still many missing millions (paywalled)
RNZ: Air New Zealand to resume flights to Japan in late June
Stuff: George FM invites Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern back to DJ
Audrey Malone and Paul Hobbs (1News): American survivors of White Island eruption to seek damages from cruise line and tour operators
Michael Neilson (Herald): Ōwairaka/Mt Albert tree war heads to High Court as Auckland citizens take on Tūpuna Maunga Authority
1News: Overseas investor fined $554,000 after buying waterfront property without approval
1News: TJ Perenara speaks up against racism in NZ – ‘I firmly stand with Black Lives Matter’
Ian Hyslop (Newsroom): Powerful wāhine voice in child protection review
