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
Election
Simon Wilson (Herald): Election diary: Stimulus or austerity? (paywalled)
Tim Watkin (RNZ): This election is brought to you by the letter C
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Political Roundup – Where is the contest of ideas in the election campaign?
Brent Edwards (NBR): Covid-19 policy debate will dominate election campaign (paywalled)
Cathy Odgers: Hooton Should Be Benched For The Rest Of The Campaign
Bob Jones: The coming election
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Patrick O’Sullivan (Herald): Local Focus: Tukituki’s biggest issue according to the candidates is health, employment and being like Tuscany
Patrick O’Sullivan (Herald): Local Focus: Wairarapa candidates address credibility
Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): Political hopeful seeks ‘nice lady’ … and parliamentary seat
Government
Henry Cooke (Stuff): What the Goverment got done, and what it didn’t
No Right Turn: Assessing Labour’s term
Amelia Wade (Herald): Winston Peters praises PM Jacinda Ardern, criticises ‘woke movement’
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Winston Peters gushes over Jacinda Ardern, blasts polls, ‘coward’ NZ media in UK interview
Newstalk ZB: James Shaw: Government would be more coherent with two party coalition
1News: Transparency concerns around Provincial Growth Fund ‘kind of justified’, Paula Bennett says
National Party
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Unemployment figures another disaster for Judith Collins and National (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Legal threats over Nats’ Auckland Central fight
Brent Edwards (NBR): Judith Collins will challenge Prime Minister on her record (paywalled)
Matthew Littlewood (Timaru Herald): National Party candidate for Rangitata will be revealed soon
Euthanasia referendum
RNZ: End of Life Choice Act: Who is eligible, who makes the decisions?
Melissa James (Stuff): Euthanasia referendum: An oncologist’s perspective
Amanda Landers (Newsroom): Autonomy, coronavirus and the right to die
Cannabis referendum
Nina Hindmarsh (Stuff): Cannabis referendum: how NZ’s ex-illicit growers are poised to transform the proposed legal market
Katie Harris (Herald): ‘Cannabis saved my son’s life’: TV presenter and influencer on why she’s voting yes
SFO investigations – National Party, NZ First
Sam Hurley and Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): SFO seeks High Court injunction against Jami-Lee Ross over inadvertent sensitive document ‘leak’
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Serious Fraud Office accidentally leaked document to Jami-Lee Ross
RNZ: High Court blocks Jami-Lee Ross from publishing sensitive documents
BusinessDesk: SFO keeps Jami-Lee Ross leak under wraps
Richard Harman (Politik): Serious Fraud Office investigation hangs over NZ First election campaign
NZ’s covid response
Carmen Parahi (Stuff): Leaked Covid-19 report warns border, isolation and quarantine staff carry the highest risk of causing an outbreak
Steven Walton Laura Wiltshire and Danielle Clent (Stuff): How prepared are Kiwis for more community transmission?
RNZ: Checkpoint: Covid updates prudent, not a campaign strategy – Health Minister
Charlotte Graham-McLay (Guardian): ‘A matter of when not if’: New Zealand begins battle against ‘Covid fatigue’
Alan Kenyon (1News): Hipkins tells Brownlee to swap ‘tinfoil hat for a face mask’ after National hints at Covid-19 conspiracy
1News: Government tells all New Zealanders have a face mask handy – What you need to know
Zane Small (Newshub): Kiwis urged to have supply of masks in case New Zealand goes back to alert level 2
RNZ: No new cases today as Bloomfield urges households to get face masks
Ben Leahy (Herald): Kiwis urged to buy supply of face masks
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Jonathan Mitchell (RNZ): Government rejects the idea of privately-run managed isolation facilities
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Government hiring for two-year positions in managed isolation and quarantine team
Amy Williams (RNZ): Business leaders push for privately-run managed isolation
Newstalk ZB: Travellers would not escape quarantine under National, Judith Collins says
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Michael Daly (Stuff): Why contact tracing matters in fight to keep Covid-9 at bay
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Hundreds of people in Rotorua will test ‘CovidCard’ bluetooth device
1News: Govt to trial new tech in Rotorua to ‘help make contact tracing faster and more effective’
Zane Small (Newshub): Government selects Rotorua for ‘CovidCard’ contact tracing technology trial
1News: CovidCard to be trialled in Rotorua
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Government to test run CovidCard
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Govt to trial CovidCard ‘dumb’ technology for covid tracing (paywalled)
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Dr Bloomfield’s two-minute guide to the NZ COVID Tracer app
RNZ: Antarctica New Zealand’s efforts to prevent Covid-19 from reaching the southern continent
1News: Antarctic researchers, staffers granted border closure exemption to isolate in Christchurch
Border restrictions, travel bubble
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Simon Bridges claims Government will announce Cook Island travel bubble on Monday
Newstalk ZB: Judith Collins: “Culture of fear” the reason Kiwis want border closed
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Border poll shows we’re becoming a nation of cowards
Employment
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Labour looks set to announce sick leave extension as poll shows strong support among Kiwis
Rob Stock (Stuff): Do New Zealand workers need an national income insurance scheme?
Unemployment stats
Brad Olsen (Guardian): New Zealand’s 4% unemployment rate masks a deeper Covid hit to the labour market
1News: Finance Minister warns of worsening unemployment situation in NZ this year amid pandemic
Newshub: Grant Robertson defends reliability of ‘unbelievable’ unemployment statistics
RNZ: Women more vulnerable to job losses, commissioner says
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): PM ‘disingenuous’ over manipulated unemployment figures
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Unemployment number simply not real
Parliament, valedictories
Jane Clifton (BusinessDesk): When Your Old Boss Hangs Around (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff): The last day of the coalition: Parliament wraps up with brutal jokes and moments of gratitude
Alan Kenyon and Anna Whyte (1News): Pixie dust and eyebrow jabs mark last speeches in Parliament before election
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): School’s out, but electoral homework lies ahead
Zane Small (Newshub): Judith Collins rips into Labour’s team; Jacinda Ardern pays tribute to NZ First, Greens as Parliament wraps up
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): The eyebrow raisers of the final parliamentary debate of this term of government
Herald: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Judith Collins have the last say before Parliament rises
Zane Small (Newshub): Jian Yang hits out at ‘conspiracy stories’, speculation about loyalty to New Zealand in final speech as National MP
Housing
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff):Landlord’s paradise: Even after the law changes, NZ still sucks for renters
Stuff Editorial: Reforms strengthen renters’ rights
Dan Satherley and Lydia Lewis (Newshub): Landlords will put up rent with or without law changes – Renters United
Yvette McCullough (RNZ): Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill: How it will affect tenants and landlords
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): Tenancy law could turn good neighbourhoods into slums: landlords
Andrew Bevin (NBR: Tenancy Act amendment has landlord groups fuming (paywalled)
Mandy Te (Stuff): Public feedback sought after Wellington’s plans to house 74,000 more people revealed
Economy, monetary policy, tax, welfare
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): National’s $80 billion debt hole?
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): ‘Modern Monetary Theory’ not in Robertson’s sights
Craig Eliffe (Herald): NZ faces big tax questions but is targeting the wealthy the answer? (paywalled)
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Another wage subsidy extension perhaps not a bad idea despite huge cost – expert
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Sir John Key says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern disinterested in post-COVID-19 economy\
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Now this is how you ‘have a conversation
Education
Dan Satherley and Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Auckland University students warned they could be targeted by ‘Chinese government agents’ over coursework
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): ‘I thought we were more progressive’: The gender barriers in NZ’s education sector
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Private tertiary education providers demand more funding, warn of further job cuts
University of Auckland: ‘Digital divide’ lays education inequality bare
Steven Walton (Stuff): Student ‘over the moon’ after learning $8000 cancelled trip will likely be refunded
Health
Oliver Lewis (Press): Ignored once, Christchurch Hospital leaders again take their concerns to the prime minister
RNZ: Dentists sink their teeth into advocacy for oral healthcare funding
RNZ: Aged care nurses present petition asking for more funding
RNZ: Māori doctors join calls for self-swab cervical cancer tests
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Funding for self-screening cervical cancer test delayed again
Stephen Forbes (RNZ): Middlemore Hospital’s $67.5m mental health unit nears completion
RNZ: Southland Charity Hospital’s new partnership allows in-person donations
Local government
RNZ: Hamilton City Council to use new voting system
ODT Editorial: Again, two horses in voting race
Alice Webb-Liddall (Spinoff): Finally, a council has transferred responsibilities to iwi for the first time under the RMA
Adam Hollingworth (Newshub): Problem gambling: Wellington City Council votes to adopt ‘sinking lid’ policy for pokie venues
Tina Law (Press): A return to Christchurch’s airwaves will not affect council role, James Daniels says
Lois Williams (RNZ): Security cameras mooted for Reefton
Child welfare
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): More routine than exceptions: Ombudsman rules on Oranga Tamariki baby uplift
Anna Whyte (1News): Uplift investigation highly critical of ‘inaction and lack of capacity’ of Oranga Tamariki
Michael Neilson (Herald): Chief Ombudsman report finds newborn baby uplifts ‘more by routine than exception’
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Oranga Tamariki baby removal the ‘default position’ – Chief
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): An orchestrated litany of uplifts
Environment
Jono Galuszka (Manawatū Standard): Te Arawhiti sounds warning over Lake Horowhenua water quality exemption
Adam Currie (Stuff): Let’s hold an election debate solely on climate change
Harry Lock (RNZ): Wellington needs to ‘work together’ to help slash carbon emissions by 2030, councillor says
D’Angelo Martin (Māori TV): Take your landfill elsewhere! Huntly community reject new dump site
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Huntly ‘no dumping ground’, protesters say
Chloe Ranford (RNZ): Marlborough beach vehicle ban hinges on numbers
Primary industries
Debra Ashton (Stuff): Farmers can’t avoid a fake meat future
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Bostock Brothers show true cost of raising chickens ethically
RNZ: More farmers to be covered by regional drought relief fund
Pike River
Holly Carran (Newshub): Pike River Mine explosion survivor Russell Smith gets first close up look at the loader which saved his life
1New: ‘This is now very real’ – Pike River Mine families welcome retrieval of 20-tonne loader
Port Hills fires
Michael Hayward (Press): Family drove through flames to flee Port Hills fires, court hears
Katie Todd (RNZ): ‘The trauma was quite acute’: In court, residents recall early moments of 2017 Port Hills fire
Other
David Hargreaves (Interest): We need a Government that values statistics
Geoffrey Miller (Democracy Project): Questioning of Behrouz Boochani decision by “pro-refugee” Judith Collins disappoints campaigner
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Genesis boss adds to Meridian’s woes voicing ‘disappointment’ over hydro spills
Rosemary McLeod (Stuff): Covid’s just the icing on a very dismal cake for young people
RNZ: NZTA gets $1bn from recovery fund to keep large projects afloat
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Government repeals National-era law stopping family caregivers of the disabled from taking court action
Justin Latif (Spinoff): Abortion became legal in March – but it still divides Labour in South Auckland
Imogen Wells (1News): Firefighters Union boss struggling to sleep after claims of sexual misconduct from group of volunteer firefighters
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Chinese fishing flotilla in Galapagos accused of pretending to be in New Zealand
1News: Foreign Minister Winston Peters announces $500,000 in aid after Beirut blast
RNZ: The Opportunities Party hopes to tap into water bottling concerns
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Privacy breaches at Immigration NZ: ‘We open up our whole lives to them’
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Ngāpuhi hapū to get funding for Treaty of Waitangi claims settlement
Bronson Perich (Māori TV): $4.3m allocated for whānau debt-relief agencies
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): What needs to happen for Matariki to become an official public holiday?
