NZ Politics Daily: 29 April 2021

Health reforms: Māori Health Authority
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Collins ignores facts for political point-scoring
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): National leader Judith Collins’ ‘segregation’ remark earns her Māori Party rebuke
RNZ: Collins says her party won’t stand for ‘racist separatism’ New Zealand
Michael Neilson (Herald): Judith Collins calls Māori Health Authority ‘segregation’ from last century
Zane Small (Newshub): National leader Judith Collins likens Māori Health Authority to ‘segregation’ of last century
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Judith Collins’ Māori Health Authority comments ‘hypocritical’ say some Māori health leaders
Stuart Smith; Arena Williams (Stuff): Where Māori patients trust their health providers, better health outcomes follow

National Party: Review and leadership
Ben Thomas (Stuff): The clearest signal yet that Collins feels under leadership pressure
Richard Harman: Echoes of Brash and Orewa (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Judith’s dog whistle becomes canine trumpet – why segregation race baiting won’t save National
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Judith Collins says National ‘don’t believe in quotas’ as party considers measures to increase diversity
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): National proposes fixed rules for its future leadership bids
Newstalk ZB: National to leave decision on review recommendations up to members
1News: Collins says National’s election review contains ‘nothing secret’, after internal party email sent to media
Herald: National needs better Māori representation and leadership processes, report says
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Judith Collins says it’s ‘absolutely crucial’ National doesn’t introduce quotas, place ethnicity over merit

National Party: Donations
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Electoral Commission gives National warning over late donation declaration from real estate mogul, but will not bring in police
Jason Walls (Herald): Electoral Commission cautions the National Party over tardy donation disclosure
RNZ: National Party warned for failing to declare donation on time
1News: National given warning over failure to declare $35,000 donation within timeframe

Māori Party referred to the Serious Fraud Office
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Police refer Māori Party to Serious Fraud Office over $328,000 in undeclared donations
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Police refer Māori Party to Serious Fraud Office over donations
No Right Turn: White privilege in action

Housing crisis
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Housing costs may have undercut parental leave increase – report
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Cost paid to emergency housing motels by govt for damage unknown
Sharon Brettkelly (RNZ): What can be done to curb rising building costs?
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Supply shortages should stop house price falls, Corelogic says
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Government buys hundreds of houses in direct competition with first-home buyers
Anna Leask (Herald): ‘I told you someone would get killed’ – Christchurch man angry after complaints about social housing problems ‘fell on deaf ears’ (paywalled)
RNZ: Housing market expected to cool as national median price hits $805k
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Will housing sink the government?
Spinoff: The state housing system is failing its tenants – just as it failed my family
Newstalk ZB: Govt urged to fix emergency housing crisis after criticism from Minister Davidson
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Property report reinforces how hot the market has been this year

Government and Parliament
Audrey Young (Herald): Rating Jacinda Ardern’s second-term Cabinet after six months (paywalled)
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Winston’s Comeback: A Strategy
Claire Trevett (Herald): Ayesha Verrall, Cabinet’s ‘grumpy doctor lady’ on her first six months (paywalled)

Media, communications and information
Jessica Mutch McKay (1News): ‘Here’s to another 150’ – Jessica Mutch McKay on the Parliamentary Press Gallery anniversary
Tim Murphy and Mark Jennings (Newsroom): In Media, We Don’t Trust
Chris Keall (Herald): Top-tier departures as Sky TV slims its executive team (paywalled)
Mathew Marques, James (Jim) McLennan, John Kerr, Mathew Ling, Matt Williams (The Conversation):Was Phar Lap killed by gangsters? New research shows which conspiracies people believe in and why
No Right Turn: How bad are the police at the OIA?
Piers Fuller (Stuff): Harry Potter quiz cancelled at festival delving into cancel culture
David Bromell (VUW): Counter-speech and civility as everyone’s responsibility
David Bromell (VUW): Striking a fair balance when regulating harmful communication

Local government
Damian George (Stuff): Iwi to have voting rights on Wellington council committees, with mayor’s support
Rosie Gordon (Newhub): Wellington City Council votes to include Mana Whenua in almost all meetings
Chris Marshall (Stuff): Taupō confirms Maori wards for next two local elections
Jane Matthews (Stuff): Stratford District Council called out for lagging behind in establishing Māori ward
Waatea News: Local government reform big chance for Maori voice
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Environment Southland proposes one-off 20 per cent rates hike
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Wellington safety a matter of ‘urgency’ after students present survey findings to council
Calida Stuart-Menteath (NBR): Wellington isn’t dying, insists new Commerce Chamber chief (paywalled)

NZ-China-Australia international relations
Peter Dunne: The Government is right to push back against the Five Eyes
Terence O’Brien (Stuff): How NZ can wield its soft power in dealings with China
William Stoltz (Sydney Morning Herald): Five Eyes split demands Australia reset with New Zealand
Lucy Cramer (Stuff): Five Eyes: What is it? And how has the intelligence group expanded into more of a diplomatic mission?
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Nanaia Mahuta asks for advice about ‘processes, considerations’ of determining genocide, Labour to consider ACT’s proposed China motion next week
No Right Turn: Will Labour condemn genocide in Xinjiang?
Muriel Newman (NZCPR) Threatening Our Future
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): NZ’s electric buses prompt forced Uyghur labour concerns

Economy and work
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Political pressure rising on a political Reserve Bank (paywalled)
Bernard Hickey: RIP RBNZ independence
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Modern slavery: Kiwis spend $34 a week on goods linked to child and forced labour
Grant Bayldon (Spinoff): The scourge of modern slavery – and New Zealand’s yawning inaction

Covid: Vaccinations programme and border
Zane Small (Newshub): Associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall defends NZ’s fall from #1, asks for patience over COVID-19 vaccine rollout
Adam Pearse (Herald): Survey: ‘Significant gaps’ in NZ’s emergency departments’ Covid-19 preparedness
Steven Cowan: Jacinda Ardern won’t support a people’s vaccine
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Northland DHB misses Covid-19 vaccination target by nearly 4000 doses

Transport
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Government may axe promised roads, as costs mount in $12b infrastructure package
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Wellington transport plans gridlocked as infrastructure package goes over budget
Ranjana Gupta (Herald): Mitigating Auckland’s traffic woes through tax (paywalled)

Health reforms
Tim Dower (Newstalk ZB): Is it time to make GP’s free?
Carly Gooch (Stuff): Health board chair acknowledges health shake up an unsettling time for staff
Lucy Warhurst (Newshub): Government announces two big hospital funding projects worth $150 million

Other
Tess McClure (The Guardian): Who guards the guards? Experts call for oversight of New Zealand’s terror laws
David Hall (The Conversation): Without the right financial strategies, NZ’s climate change efforts will remain unfinished business
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Council taking more rigorous approach with teachers failing te reo requirement
Jason Walls (Herald): The Government will roll out changes to make birth-certificate sex changes easier
Zachary Meskell (The Big Q): Is New Zealand really the least corrupt country in the world?
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Police praised intelligence system after mosque attacks, despite shortcomings
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Unlawful Ihumātao deal stunk from the start