NZ Politics Daily: 21 April 2021

Ihumātao unlawful government spend
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Auditor-General rules the $29.9m the Government used to buy Ihumātao was unlawfully spent
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Housing Minister Megan Woods promises to ‘tidy up’ unlawful purchase of Ihumātao
1News: Unlawful Ihumātao payment another ‘messy chapter’ in the saga, 1News political reporter says
Anna Whyte (1News): Ihumātao $29.9m payment ‘unlawful’ after officials miss key steps in approval process – Auditor General
RNZ: Ihumātao land deal ‘unlawful’ until validated by Parliament – Auditor-General
Michael Neilson (Herald): Government’s Ihumātao land purchase ‘unlawful’ – Auditor-General
David Farrar: Oops we broke the law again

Health 
Jason Walls (Herald): Government to unveil significant ‘once-in-a-generation’ health sector shake-up
Bridie Witton and Thomas Manch (Stuff): Government to announce shape of NZ’s reformed health system, possible powers for new Māori Health Authority
Richard Prebble (Herald): Andrew Little’s health reforms will achieve little (paywalled)
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Ban on DHB members making political comment may prevent criticism of health reforms
No Right Turn: An inappropriate gag
Art Nahill (Herald): Curing our overcrowded emergency wards (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Andrew Little is completely wrong on decriminalising drugs
Alice Angeloni (RNZ): Dental care for East Coast teenagers after principal fights tooth and nail for 20 years
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): ‘Clear’ inequity for Māori in health care – report

NZ-China relations: Mahuta Speech
Stuff: Editorial – A welcome shift in talk of China
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern says New Zealand’s new stance on Five Eyes isn’t a backdown to China
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern reaffirms commitment to Five Eyes after UK media claims it’s ‘become four’
RNZ: New Zealand ‘concerned’ about China asserting itself in the region, foreign minister says
Newstalk ZB: Foreign Affairs Minister addresses her comments on Five Eyes and China
Newstalk ZB: Foreign Minister urges NZ exporters to become less reliant on China

Economy, immigration and work
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Grant Robertson’s billion-dollar window of opportunity
ODT: Editorial – The story of subsidies
Ben Kelleher (Stuff): Here’s how the pandemic improved NZers’ financial fortunes
Meriana Johnsen (Stuff): Call for more Māori, Pasifika businesses to be awarded government contracts
Aimee Shaw (Herald): Kiwi workers upbeat about their jobs and industry – survey (paywalled)
Helen Roberts and Dennis Wesselbaum (Stuff): Minimum wage increase: bone or bane?
Jamie Gray (Herald): A small lift in March quarter CPI expected, but pressure builds (paywalled)

Covid: Vaccinations programme and border
Derek Cheng (Herald): Flying blind? We don’t really know how many border workers are missing tests(paywalled)
Tess McClure and Paul Karp (The Guardian): New Zealand airport worker tests positive to Covid on second day of travel bubble
Herald: New case at Auckland Airport – vital questions
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): The race to vaccinate New Zealand in 36 weeks
Roger Partridge (Herald): Testing and vaccination bungles fail cautionary principle (paywalled)
John Anthony (Stuff): Customs and Immigration NZ officers can process red and green zone passengers on same day

National Party
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Political Roundup – National has bigger problems than its leadership
Liam Hehir (The Guardian): National MPs should stop their intrigues – changing the leadership won’t help right now
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): National Party will meet in June for special conference on constitutional changes

Housing crisis
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Building a case for ‘build-to-rent’ developments
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Emergency housing: Woman beaten unconscious, children being ‘put at risk’
RNZ: House prices continuing to soar – new QV Quarterly Index

Climate change
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Helen Clark warns New Zealand will look ‘as silly as we do now’ if climate change ‘political football’ continues
Chlöe Swarbrick (Herald): Youth protest is politics in its purest form
Steven Cowan: James Shaw: The corporate-friendly climate change minister we don’t need
Jim Salinger (Herald): Climate change, overfishing, a mammoth threat (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): When will we accept the climate crisis is out of control?
Ralph Chapman (Newsroom): EVs – not as bad but still not good
Stuff: Biden’s climate summit is Govt’s chance to unveil tougher emissions-reduction pledge

Transport
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Public will pay and pay for delayed Transmission Gully
RNZ: National defends Transmission Gully after serious planning flaws found
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington’s Transmission Gully review shows there’s no value in trying to cut corners (paywalled)
Justin Latif (Spinoff): Mind the gap: How Auckland Transport plans to tackle its diversity problem

Winston Peters MSD privacy court case
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Winston Peters’ privacy breach case no longer targets former National MPs
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Peters legal fight against tigers and Russian dolls
Melissa Nightingale (Herald): Winston Peters in court to appeal superannuation privacy breach decision

Mental health crisis
Lois Williams (RNZ): West Coast DHB defends child mental health service
RNZ: Mental health campaigner Jane Stevens ‘hopeful’ after meeting with minister Andrew Little
Cherie Sivignon (Stuff): Mental health service Nikau House not recognisable, says client

Parliament
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Labour ends attempt to repeal ‘dead rat’ Waka Jumping law
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Covid-19 officials dodge Speaker’s bullet

Media
Gavin Ellis: Mosque killer dilemma: To name or not
RNZ: NZME found to have breached stock exchange rules relating to Stuff bid

Other
Nicky Hager (RNZ): Long-term NZSIS officer runs Thompson and Clark surveillance operations
Nicky Hager (RNZ): ‘We had vehicles outside the house’: Exclusive Brethren used Thompson and Clark to spy on ex-members
Oliver Hartwich (Newsroom): A Marxist critique of the lifestyle left
Donna Chisholm (Listener/Herald): NZ’s potentially catastrophic near-miss from outer space: ‘We’re not learning’ (paywalled)
Michael Daly (Stuff): Leading scientists call for public report of risks facing NZ
Andrea Vance (Stuff): More than 300 Kiwis deported from Australia while borders closed
Matthew Tso (Stuff): Report warned of toxic mould problems at Hutt High three years before classrooms were closed
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Countering dominant narratives of NZ’s far right
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The intellectual bankruptcy of the NZ left’s hate speech legislation