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
National Party revealed as source of Covid-19 privacy leak
Audrey Young (Herald): National’s failures on patient leak from top to bottom (paywalled)
Luke Malpass (Stuff): National leader Todd Muller found wanting in first real test of moral leadership
Jo Moir (RNZ): How the Hamish Walker Covid-19 patient detail leak played out
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Muller says he’s lost confidence in Walker, found out National MP was involved in leak on Monday
RNZ: Todd Muller on Hamish Walker – ‘There needs to be consequences‘
Amelia Wade (Herald): ‘Hugely disappointed’ – Muller wants leaking MP out of National
1News: Todd Muller says he doesn’t want MP Hamish Walker to run again after Covid-19 patient details leak
Collette Devlin (Stuff): National leader Todd Muller wants party board to axe Hamish Walker as Clutha-Southland MP
Richard Harman (Politik): Muller faces his first big test
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): National MP under pressure to resign after ‘dirty politics’ disclosures
1News: Covid-19 privacy leak admission ‘hugely damaging’ for National party, says 1 NEWS political reporter
Ben Thomas (Spinoff): Boag and Walker have admitted a terrible privacy breach. And it won’t end there
Laura Walters (Newsroom): The curse of Clutha-Southland or dirty politics?
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Walker’s future in doubt
Stuff Editorial: The last thing Todd Muller needed
David Farrar: Staggeringly bad judgment
David Farrar: Covid-19 leak inquiry
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1News: National MP’s leak of Covid-19 patients’ details has ‘a ring of dirty politics to it’ – Health Minister
Thomas Manch (Stuff): National MP Hamish Walker and former party president Michelle Boag unlikely to face criminal charges, privacy lawyer say
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Chris Hipkins says COVID-19 patient data leak has ‘ring of dirty politics’
RNZ: Privacy breach disappointing and has ‘ring of dirty politics’ – Hipkins
Jason Walls (Herald): Hamish Walker outed himself as a leaker of Covid-19 patient information – but who is he?
Amelia Wade (Herald): National MP Hamish Walker, ex president Michelle Boag leaked patients’ details
Henry Cooke and Thomas Manch (Stuff): National MP Hamish Walker admits passing on leaked Covid-19 patient info from former party president Michelle Boag
Zane Small and Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Former National Party president Michelle Boag admits passing COVID-19 patient details to MP Hamish Walker
1News: National MP and ex-National president admit leaking Covid-19 patient details
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Walker apology after revealing Covid patients’ details
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): National MP Hamish Walker admits leaking details of active patients to media
RNZ: National MP Hamish Walker admits leaking Covid-19 patient details
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): National MP & former National Party president admit to involvement in leak of Covid-19 patients’ details
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): New Zealand politician admits leaking Covid-19 private details to media
Election
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): Winston Peters takes exception to UK media report by issuing an angry diatribe – against The Spinoff
1News: Winston Peters denies NZ First has hired UK political operatives as he decries ‘clickbait journos’
Zane Small (Newshub): Winston Peters denies New Zealand First hired pro-Brexit campaigners Arron Banks and Andy Wigmore
Christopher Hope (Telegraph): What Arron Banks and ‘the Bad Boys of Brexit’ did next: joining up for election fight in New Zealand (paywalled)
Jason Walls (Herald): Winston Peters hires political operatives, dubbed the bad boys of Brexit, to help run NZ First campaign
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): Brexit campaigners pledge to bring ‘mischief, mayhem and guerrilla warfare’ to NZ election
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Can Brexit Dirty Politics win NZ First 13%? Really?
David Farrar: Winston’s foreign helpers
Michael Daly (Stuff): Weston Frizzell’s ‘Aroha’ posters ruled to be adverts for Labour Party
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Election 2020: Electoral Commission finds Jacinda Ardern ‘Aroha’ posters are political ads, not art
Emily van Velthooven (1News): Posters of Jacinda Ardern created by artists ruled a party advertisement
Luke Appleby (1News): How much for that doggy? Electoral Commission reveals the price of Pup and their 2020 brand makeover
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Muller picks win in new Taieri seat
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Muller mum on toilet seat photo
Jo Waitoa (Spinoff): Voting isn’t everything: On Māori politics and the meaning of participation
Steven Cowan: Cancelling Kurt Taogaga
Nathan Morton (Herald): Local Focus: Waiariki electorate explained
Cannabis referendum
Derek Cheng (Herald): Legal cannabis has potential to reduce harm, but many unknowns: PM’s chief science adviser
Derek Cheng (Herald): Reducing harm, ‘systemic racism’ and overseas comparisons: The experts on legalising cannabis
1News: ‘A level look at all the evidence’ – Government launches cannabis info website to help voters
RNZ: Legalising cannabis may reduce ‘biased enforcement’ of Māori – chief science advisor
Russell Brown: The cannabis referendum: the evidence
Justice and corrections
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Reports find public support for police and victims but not other areas of criminal justice system
Derek Cheng (Herald): Systemic bias? Justice system report shows very different views from minority groups
Jonathan Mitchell (RNZ): Māori, Pacific and Chinese NZers less comfortable with criminal justice system – survey
1News: Non-white Kiwis continue to have trust issues with courts and corrections – report
Matt Burrows (Newsroom): Dramatic report shows the major changes New Zealanders want made to our criminal justice system
Laura Walters (Newsroom): New Zealand backs justice system transformation
RNZ: Phillip John Smith takes Corrections to court over visitation
Stuff: Convicted killer Phillip Smith wants visits from his family while in prison
Official Information Act
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): Government to rewrite Official Information Act
No Right Turn: Rewriting the OIA
Chris Hipkins, testing
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Chris Hipkins stamps his newfound authority on health
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Hipkins starts to make his mark
Derek Cheng (Herald): New Health Minister Chris Hipkins sweeps in to clear up the mess (paywalled)
RNZ: Covid-19 testing rates drop: ‘People can fall into a bit of complacency’
Katarina Williams (Stuff): New health minister condemns lack of Covid-19 testing
1News: NZ needs to be doing more Covid-19 testing, Health Minister says
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Testing rate ‘isn’t meeting the Government’s expectations’ – Chris Hipkins
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): What we know about Covid-19 transmission, testing, vaccines six months on
Amelia Wade (Herald): When did you last use the contact tracing app? Usage falls off a cliff as experts warn the system isn’t working
Call for border re-opening
Gordon Campbell: On why we shouldn’t be pushed into re-opening our borders
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Call for quick New Zealand border opening “irresponsible”, says THL chairman
Border quarantine facilities
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): A look at NZ’s Covid-19 quarantine facilities, their space and next steps
Newstalk ZB: Air NZ boss suggests passenger number restrictions won’t be for long
RNZ: Checkpoint: Air NZ won’t rule out extending three-week booking freeze
Newstalk ZB: Air NZ boss says blocking bookings ‘exactly the right thing to do’
Dan Lake (Newshub): New Zealand Government not ruling out using cruise ships to quarantine arriving passengers
Zane Small (Newshub): Air New Zealand’s three-week ticket freeze: Megan Woods insists ‘space isn’t going to run out’ in quarantine facilities
Zane Small (Newshub): Air New Zealand ticket freeze: Jacinda Ardern hopes to avoid ‘arbitrary’ flight capacity caps adopted in New South Wales
Bernard Hickey (Newsroom): ‘Sorry, but New Zealand is all full up’
John Anthony and Melanie Earley (Stuff): Air NZ, Singapore Airlines restrict passenger numbers to NZ as more Kiwis fly home to escape Covid
RNZ: Air NZ putting a temporary hold on new international bookings to NZ
1News: Seats on Air NZ flights coming into NZ to be ‘managed’ to ease pressure on quarantine facilities
AAP: New Zealand rations places for citizens returning home during Covid-19
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): Stranded Kiwis to face up to three-week wait to get home
1News: Todd Muller slams Government’s ‘failing border management’ as numbers of returning Kiwis is capped
1News: Isolation hotel turnover remains NZ’s greatest Covid-19 vulnerability, expert warns
Mike Houlahan, Grant Miller and Guy Williams (ODT): Dunedin named as first choice for managed isolation facilities in South
Tess Brunton (RNZ): DHB urges government to avoid Queenstown for isolation due to healthcare
Jackson Thomas (Stuff): What’s on the menu in NZ’s isolation hotels?
1News: Ardern picks up sweet treat made popular by Kiwi who blogged about quarantine gratitude
Christchurch mosque shootings, later mosque threat
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Islamic Women’s Council claims police failed to take March 15, 2019 threat seriously
RNZ: Islamic Women’s Council: ‘The government had failed the Muslim community’
1News: Islamic Women’s Council says police failed to take March 15 threat against Hamilton mosque from person in Christchurch ‘seriously’
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Renewed call for Key to apologise over ‘jihadi brides’ claim
Jody O’Callaghan (Stuff): Calls for reparation for mosque shooting victims due to systemic ‘failures’
Josie Adams (Spinoff): ‘Everything was in place to ignore us’: Officials ‘uninterested’ in Muslim community’s pre-March 15 warnings
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Sam Sherwood (Stuff): White nationalist group member pleads guilty to failing to assist with search warrant
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Christchurch mosque threat: Action Zealandia member Sam Brittenden refused to hand over phone code
Joy Reid (1News): Far right teen pleads guilty, fined for failing to assist police investigating Christchurch mosque threat
Housing
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): National Party admits it sold too many state houses
John Minto (Daily Blog): Megan Woods should take a leaf out of Nicola Willis’ book
Newstalk ZB: Waitlist for public housing at crisis point
RNZ: Returning New Zealanders may hold key to house prices – QV
Greg Ninness (Interest): Property values have flattened out but it’s too early to say if they are at the edge of a cliff or will start to rise again, Quotable Value says
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Property prices: Lockdown sees growth rate decline in 13 New Zealand cities
Environment
Rachel Thomas (RNZ): Critic says govt’s freshwater package doesn’t address the problem – pollution
Michael Neilson (Herald): Climate change: New Zealand seafood sector set for major disruptions – report
Conan Young (RNZ): Climate change effects on NZ fishers ‘dire’ under 4% warming – report
Whanganui Chronicle: Rangitīkei District Council fined over waterway pollution
RNZ: Funding provided to fix hazardous landfill
Sean Hogan (1News): ‘Heartbreaking’ – Heavy rain causes sealed Te Araroa tip to start leaking into the sea
RNZ: Awatere River strewn with rubbish after flooding into old landfill
Richard Davison (ODT): Petition seeks to ban vehicles on key Catlins beaches
Relocating the Ports of Auckland
RNZ: Labour and NZ First at loggerheads over Auckland port move
1News: Shane Jones says Manukau Harbour is ‘worst harbour in NZ’ to be chosen as country’s next super port
Wilhelmina Shrimpton (Newshub):Why the Government’s $1.8 million report into Auckland port move has been labelled a waste of money
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Govt has wasted $2 million on another port report
Denise Piper (Stuff): Report backing new Auckland port over Northport ‘a disgrace’, Northlanders say
Belinda Feek and Michael Neilson (Herald): Auckland ports report: ‘Give the $2m back’ expert says after Manukau harbour preferred over Northland
Thomas Coughlan and Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Port should move to Manukau report says, but Government defers decision
Jo Moir (RNZ): Manukau Harbour preferred location for port – new report
1News: Decision on whether to move Auckland’s port won’t be made before election
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Ports of Auckland relocation a problem for the next govt; New study suggests a move to Manukau
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): Govt sidesteps decision on Ports of Auckland relocation (paywalled)
Primary industries
John Anthony (Stuff): Prime minister Jacinda Ardern reveals 10-year plan to boost primary sector by $44b
Maja Burry (RNZ): Government plan aims to boost primary sector export earnings by $44bn
Jamie Gray (Herald): Jacinda Ardern looks to the primary sector to help fill the void left by Covid-19 (paywalled)
Herald: Jacinda Ardern outlines plan to lift NZ primary export earnings
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): Ardern rolls out $44b primary sector export plan (paywalled)
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Old foes united over farmer’s ‘shocking’ sentence
America’s Cup, sport
Todd Niall (Stuff): America’s Cup allegations: A second ‘whistleblower’ in Team New Zealand?
1News: Govt announces $80 million investment into sport recovery ‘at all levels’ in NZ
Wage subsidy, employment breaches
1News: ‘It’s awesome’ – Shipping company boss hands back Government’s Covid-19 wage subsidy
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Wage subsidy scheme ending will make or break many small businesses – economist
Jacob McSweeny (ODT): More redundancies expected when wage subsidy ends
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Wage subsidy loss ‘major blow’ to Auckland, business leader calls for extension
John Anthony (Stuff): Aviation catering company Gate Gourmet used lockdown to try dodge minimum wage hike
RNZ: Hospice ordered to pay redundant workers outstanding wages
Economy, business
Newshub: New Zealand economy ‘not out of the woods yet’ – economist Brad Olsen
David Hargreaves (Interest): NZIER says 28% of businesses plan to cut staff in the next quarter
RNZ: Gloom in construction sector as business confidence slide
BusinessDesk: NZ firms expect weak activity, more job cuts
Debrin Foxcroft (Stuff): Noel Leeming under investigation for selling stock it didn’t have
Debrin Foxcroft (Stuff): Empty shelves as retailers struggle to get the stock
Damian George (Stuff): Wellington business owners worried Golden Mile plans will be ‘disastrous’ for retailers
Immigration
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Government extends migrant work visas for six months but cuts timeframe for new essential skills visas
Jason Walls (Herald): Government gives migrant visa holders six-month extension, benefiting 16,500 workers
RNZ: Government extends temporary work visas by six months
1News: Relief for migrant workers in NZ as Government extends temporary visas
David Hargreaves (Interest): Govt makes changes to help temporary migrants
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk):Govt grants 6-month reprieve to work visa holders
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Greg Ninness (Interest): Since March the number of people leaving this country has exceeded those arriving by a substantial margin
Local government
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland Council’s budget hole blows out to $750 million
RNZ: Auckland rates rise options more popular than freeze – council survey
Grant Miller (ODT): Noone probable successor if Hobbs goes
SkyCity
Damien Venuto (Herald): SkyCity warned by Department of Internal Affairs for online gambling advert (paywalled)
RNZ: SkyCity warned about online casino breaching Gambling Act
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): SkyCity warned by Internal Affairs for promoting Malta casino
Health
Ian Powell: Beware Babylon tale
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Widow calls for improved cancer service
Education
Simon Collins (Herald): ‘Ethnic prejudice’ alleged in smacking complaint against Korean daycare teacher
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Why NZ Students should fight for Universal Union Membership
Methamphetamine
Patrick Gower (Newshub): We must not give up fighting meth
RNZ: The Detail: Re-thinking society’s attitude towards methamphetamine
Media, Facebook
Jehan Casinader (BusinessDesk): Will businesses keep boycotting Facebook? (paywalled)
Newstalk Zb: Facebook boycott movement reaches New Zealand
Sam Hurley (Herald): NZME v Nine judgment over potential sale of Stuff to remain redacted for 6 months, High Court rules
Victoria Young (BusinessDesk): Judge keeps Stuff info secret – and her reasons why
Transport
Lorna Thornber (Stuff): ‘Holding our money hostage’: Air New Zealand customer denied refund on $12k worth of flights calls for law change
1News: Hastings mayor calls for NZTA to step up and fix State Highway 5 as fatal crashes climb
RNZ: Hastings Mayor says not enough done to fix risks on State Highway 5
Other
ODT Editorial: Snapshot shows WorkSafe’s shortcomings
Freeman Apou (Stuff):‘Doing well for a Māori’: My experience of racism in New Zealand
Susan Hornsby-Geluk (Stuff): New privacy laws must cope with rapid technological change
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Politicians should put scientists in their place
Ian Hyslop (Newsroom): When you’re in a hole, stop digging
Julia de Bres (Manawatū Standard): Gender-diverse language something to celebrate
Jean Bell (RNZ): Watercare restrictions push water blasting businesses to the brink
RNZ: First Up: AT threatens to rip up planted berm which stops flooding
