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
Royal Commission into terrorist attack: Commentary and analysis
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Lots of apologies for March 15 terror attack, but no-one to blame
Audrey Young (Herald): Christchurch mosque shootings: Royal Commission avoids simple answers about mass surveillance (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): The political complexities of the Royal Commission response
Richard Harman: The confusion of the state; what went wrong with our security and intelligence agencies
Alexander Gillespie (The Conversation): The Christchurch commission’s call to improve social cohesion is its hardest — and most important
Herald: Editorial: We let New Zealand down – never again
Aliya Danzeisen (Newsroom): Orwell is alive and well in NZ
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Lack of clear national security leadership revealed by March 15 inquiry report
Tayyaba Khan (Stuff): Royal commission inquiry into March 15 terror attacks ‘just part of the story’, the actual work starts now
Anjum Rahman (Spinoff): With this report on the Christchurch terror attacks, is NZ now ready to face its demons?
Anjum Rahman (Stuff): Diverse leadership needed after mosque terror attacks
Amber Allott and Charlie Gates (Stuff): New Zealand must continue ‘fight against prejudice’ after March 15 terror attack
Royal Commission on terrorist attack: Changes planned by Government
Amelia Wade (Herald): Christchurch mosque attacks: What changes the Government will make after Royal Commission report
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Jacinda Ardern promises to close ‘gaps in hate speech legislation’
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Government will create new anti-terror agency and beef up hate speech laws after Christchurch inquiry
No Right Turn: Against a new counterterrorism agency
Katie Kenny (Stuff): Government to take hate speech laws to the public after March 15 inquiry
1News: Judith Collins warns Govt to be ‘really careful’ about creating new hate speech laws
Zane Small (Newshub): Justice Minister Kris Faafoi to crackdown on ‘hate-motivated activity’ in wake of Christchurch terror attack
Teuila Fuatai (Herald): Gaping holes in hate crime data collection (paywalled)
Ben Strang (RNZ): No legislative changes planned for hate crime in New Zealand
David Farrar: The Christchurch terrorist attack royal commission report
Mike Yardley (Newstalk ZB): Terror attack report shouldn’t sacrifice our free speech
Newstalk ZB: Little: Hate crime laws to change after Royal Commission report
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Wait – what? Why are gender hate speech laws part of a response to terrorism?
Anna Whyte (TVNZ): Christchurch terrorist attack: Anti-terrorism and hate speech laws to be strengthened, PM, police and SIS apologise
Paul McBeth (BusinessDesk): New national security and intelligence agency on cards (paywalled)
Amelia Wade (Herald): Mosque shootings inquiry: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wants consensus on response but Opposition parties signal challenges
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern to speak to YouTube, as report singles it out as source of ‘inspiration’ for terrorist
Royal Commission into terrorist attack: Responses
Māori TV: Muslim advocate says his community ignored and racism persists
Anna Leask (Herald): Christchurch mosque shootings: Victims at ‘heart’ of Royal Commission into mosque attacks respond
Amber Allott (Stuff): Royal commission findings confirm anti-Muslim bias by intelligence services, mosque leaders say
Herald: Christchurch mosque shootings: Imam Gamal Fouda’s speech after Royal Commission’s inquiry into the mosque attacks
Eleisha Foon (RNZ): Christchurch terror attack report: ‘We should have been safe here’ – mosque leaders
Stuff: Justice has not been served by royal commission report on March 15 terror attack, Islamic Women’s Council says
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Christchurch mosque attacks: ACT, National, Greens respond to agency ‘failings’ following Royal Commission inquiry
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): ACT MP and gun lobbyist Nicole McKee uses maiden speech to slam gun laws hours after release of terror attack findings
Royal Commission into terrorist attack: Report
David Williams (Newsroom): 10 key answers about the Christchurch attack
Kurt Bayer (NZ Herald): Christchurch mosque shootings: Royal Commission report aims to avoid future terror attacks
Martin van Beynen and Sam Sherwood (Stuff): New Zealand ‘ideal’ for mosque shooter to plan his terrorist attack, royal commission finds
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Christchurch mosque shootings: Royal Commission report revealed
Logan Church (Herald): Christchurch mosque attacks: Muslim leaders – government agencies failed to protect them
Phil Taylor (Guardian): Christchurch shooting: security agencies were focused on Islamist terror, inquiry finds
David Williams (Newsroom): How a terrorist is radicalised
Mariné Lourens (Stuff): Despite signs, Christchurch terrorist could only have been stopped ‘by chance’: inquiry
Sam Sherwood (Stuff): How the Christchurch terrorist spent his final months before the March 15 attack
RNZ: Christchurch terrorist originally planned attack for August – report
Patrick Gower (Newshub): Christchurch terror attack gunman donated to far-right YouTuber Stefan Molyneux
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Christchurch mosque attacks: Addressing ‘lax’ gun laws could’ve prevented shootings – Royal Commission
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Christchurch mosque attack: The gunman’s movements before March 15
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): ‘We must recognise an Australian terrorist committed these atrocities – radicalised on our soil’
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): NZSIS boss Rebecca Kitteridge insists Muslims not spied on, Royal Commission report suggests otherwise
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Christchurch mosque attack: What the Royal Commission of Inquiry heard from affected whānau
Royal Commission into terrorist attack: Official apologies
Jacinda Ardern (Spinoff): ‘On behalf of the government, I apologise’: Jacinda Ardern on Royal Commission report into terror attacks
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): Ardern apologises as Royal Commission on March 15 attacks calls for spy agency overhaul
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern apologises for ‘failings’ leading up to Christchurch attack, promises beefed up counter-terrorism
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Mosque terror attacks report: Prime Minister, police, security agencies apologise
Thomas Manch and Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Police apologise for inadequately scrutinising March 15 terrorist when granting gun licence
Jason Walls (Herald): Jacinda Ardern calls for cross-party support on Royal Commission’s recommendations
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Ardern apologises, promises change after Chch terror report
NewstalkZB: Police accept findings criticising how Christchurch gunman obtained firearms license
RNZ: Terror attacks report: ‘We have to do better’ – Andrew Little
Housing
Eva Corlett (RNZ): Homeownership rates lowest in 70 years – report
Anna Whyte (1News): New Zealand’s home ownership rate plunges to lowest level in 70 years
John Anthony (Stuff): 28,000 New Zealand homes always damp and mouldy: Housing report
Vita Molyneux and Rachel Sadler (Newshub): New Zealand homes cold, mouldy, poor housing worsening mental health issues – report
Mandy Te (Stuff): Wellington rent prices rise faster than wages, second highest number of ‘always damp’ homes — report
Brent Melville (Business Desk): Damp and cold houses still prevalent (paywalled)
John Braddock (WSWS): New Zealand housing crisis worsens under Labour
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Greens call for urgent action on house prices, but Jacinda Ardern wants small increases to continue
Andy Fyers (Business Desk): Home ownership at 70-year low (paywalled)
Priscilla Dickinson (Newshub): ‘First home buyers are tired’: Report shows interest in open homes and auctions drops
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): House prices could fall 1-2 per cent on return of lending restrictions
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Reserve Bank forecasts ‘1% to 2%’ drop in house prices from LVRs
Thomas Airey (Herald): Hawke’s Bay’s housing crisis: Would you rent a sleepout with no running water for $200 a week? (paywalled)
Stephen Forbes (Stuff): Minister claims increased public expectations driving housing waiting list surge
Terry Baucher (Spinoff): There is already a tax that targets people seeking capital gain on land. Why not apply it?
RNZ: Reserve Bank confirms LVRs on way back
Jenny Ruth (BusinessDesk): Are LVRs working or do property buyers just want a holiday? (paywalled)
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Govt holds back housing underwrite offer as credit crunch fears dissipate
John McDermott (NBR): Economic booms, busts stem from housing prices (paywalled)
Damian George (Stuff): City councillor accuses council of shirking housing safety improvement obligations
Daria Kuprienko (One Roof): The zoning regulations that killed the tiny house village dream
Parliament, Government, and election
Morgan Godfery (Metro Mag): Is Labour hostage to its centrist base?
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): New TVNZ Poll: Labour 53% National 25% – Winners & Losers
Jason Walls (Herald): Judith Collins promises National will be less combative during this term of Parliament
1News: MP Ricardo Menéndez March makes powerful maiden speech in Parliament — ‘The rules weren’t made for us
Anna Whyte (1News): ‘Colonial noose’ — Māori Party’s Rawiri Waititi takes stand against Parliament tie rules
RNZ: Green MP Teanau Tuiono weaves whakapapa through maiden speech
Jono Galuszka (Stuff): Teanau Tuiono happy to be ‘two peas in a cultural pod’ in Parliament
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): New Banks Peninsula MP Tracey McLellan pays tribute to Ruth Dyson in maiden speech
Point Of Order: An apology from the Crown but not from the Maori Party (although its founder once apologised for talking of a Holocaust)
Trevor Mallard’s rape accusations
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Trevor Mallard’s rape accusations could have been his undoing
Zane Small (Newshub): Francis Review: Speaker Trevor Mallard apologises for implying ‘rape’ in Parliament sexual assault allegations
Herald: Trevor Mallard apologises for accusing Parliamentary staffer of rape
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Speaker apologises to man following ‘rape’ comments
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Trevor Mallard went woke, will we go broke?
Covid
Claire Breen (The Conversation): 30% of New Zealanders are ‘vaccine sceptics’, so trust is key to COVID-19 vaccine roll-out
Roger Partridge (Herald): Time for a transtasman bubble (paywalled)
Stuff: Pakistan cricket squad given approval to exit managed isolation, one player left behind
Nona Pelletier (RNZ): NZ and Australian airports unlikely to recover until late 2021 – S&P Global Ratings
Whakaari/White Island disaster prosecutions
Jason Walls (Herald): National leader Judith Collins calls for royal commission into the Whakaari/White Island eruption
Jason Walls (Herald): PM won’t rule out royal commission into White Island eruption
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Whakaari / White Island eruption impact ‘massive financially, emotionally’ – Ngāti Awa
Economy, inequality, and work
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern fends off attacks on poverty as protestors march on Parliament demanding ‘immediate’ action
Newstalk ZB: Household incomes still suffering the financial effects of Covid-19
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Government pours cold water on Super Fund’s pipes proposal
Qiuyi Tan (Herald): NZ great for women in business. And Maori women?
Maja Burry (RNZ): Farmer confidence improves as demand increases
Spinoff: An open letter to Jacinda Ardern from a desperate small business owner
Climate change
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Judge to Coromandel: Think again on climate change
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Overseas doubts grow about NZ’s climate commitment
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Climate change: How New Zealand’s efforts stack up against the world
Michal Kurtyka (Herald): Poland appreciates NZ’s climate emergency response (paywalled)
Health
James Baker (Stuff): South Auckland Hospital aims to create the first national private-public partnership, but health experts sceptical
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Concerns raised for medical staff under ‘extreme pressure’
Herald: Tobacco only small percentage of convenience store sales finds new study
Herald: No drug-testing service on offer at Rhythm & Alps
Other
Danyl Mclauchlan (Spinoff): Farewell to Astoria, caffeinated Shangri-la of Wellington’s political establishment
Michael Daly (Stuff): Roughly one-in-four chance New Zealand population could be declining in 2050s, Stats NZ says
Stephen Jack (Herald): Can the public sector become a transformational leader? (paywalled)
No Right Turn: A moral void II
Stuff: South Korean diplomat accused of indecent assault will not be extradited – police
RNZ: Police won’t seek extradition of South Korean diplomat facing assault charges
RNZ: Dominion Post editor on racist letter: ‘We want to be held accountable
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): Ministry moves to prevent choking in early childhood centres
Te Aorewa Rolleston (RNZ): Te reo Māori programme hopes to teach 10,000 educators in 2021
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Celebrated author Behrouz Boochani named one of two writers in residence at University of Canterbury
Peter Biggs (Stuff): Let’s find a better way to fund a resilient arts and culture sector
RNZ: Carterton residents pay highest rates in country, Central Otago lowest
