NZ Politics Daily: 2 August 2021
Commerce Commission Supermarket Report
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Labour’s $22 billion supermarket problem — and opportunity
Bernard Hickey (Spinoff): The supermarket duopoly is a disaster for consumers. But don’t bet on a break-up
Max Rashbrooke (Stuff): Supermarket prices: Politicians have dropped the ball
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Supermarkets face real threat of a break-up if they back regulator into a corner
Liam Dann (Herald): How the hell did we allow a supermarket duopoly? (paywalled)
Ernie Newman (Herald): Supermarkets – the Telecom parallel (paywalled)
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): The Commerce Commission heaps pressure on Government to deliver supermarket changes (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Small muesli maker blows whistle on big supermarkets
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Supermarket duopoly slammed as regulator waves the biggest of sticks
RNZ: Strong regulation needed to counter supermarket price gouging – marketing expert
RNZ: Commerce Commission reveals major retailers earning ‘persistently high profits’
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Pulling out all the stops to get a new supermarket player into the market
Heather du Plessis-Allan (NewstalkZB): We pay too much for groceries
Kerre McIvor (Herald):The supermarkets should take ComCom report seriously (paywalled)
1 News: ‘Affordable’ prices not passed to supermarket shoppers – supplier
NZ Herald: Public opposition to supermarket prices following report findings
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Supermarket boss: ‘So this is CEO asked to stop’
Anna Whyte (1 News): Supermarket industry ‘not working well’ for consumers
Herald Editorial: Smashing the supermarket duopoly is a safe bet for Labour (paywalled)
Stuff Editorial: Time to rein in supermarket chains
Stuff Editorial: An end to pain at the check-out?
ODT Editorial: Supermarket changes unknown
Cameron Bagrie (BusinessDesk): Supermarkets are sitting ducks for pro-competition regulation(paywalled)
Eric Crampton (BusinessDesk): Why it’s hard to open a supermarket in NZ
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Why we urgently need a State owned supermarket
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The Sin Of Cheapness
RNZ: Clark on supermarket report: ‘I think we all want a better deal’
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): If Kiwis pay too much at the supermarket, what’s the price of cheese overseas?
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): NZ supermarket giants warned: Change your ways or face break-up
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Government responds to damning supermarket report on high costs
Hamish Rutherford and Chris Keall (Herald): Supermarket report is the sector’s ‘Telecom moment’, grocery lobby says
Kate MacNamara (Herald): The problem of supermarkets’ power and Government’s attitude to competition (paywalled)
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Nothing will change from the supermarket inquiry
1News: Govt could intervene to break up ‘supermarket regime’ – NZ Food and Grocery Council
RNZ: Fruit growers want ‘more transparency’ on costs from supermarkets
Dita De Boni (NBR): Minister doesn’t rule out govt-owned KiwiMarket to bring prices down (paywalled)
Daniel Riordan (NBR): Mixed reaction to ComCom’s supermarket review (paywalled)
Aaron Leaman and Sharnae Hope (Stuff): ‘I’m grateful for Homebrand’ – shoppers give their two cents on supermarket duopoly
Opinion polls, government, political parties
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Newshub-Reid Research Poll: ACT soars to 11.1 pct, Labour plummets to 43 pct and National still not cracking 30s
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): ACT’s David Seymour overtakes National’s Judith Collins as preferred Prime Minister in Newshub-Reid Research Poll
Perry Wilton and Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Newshub-Reid Research Poll: ACT leader David Seymour is proving himself – political commentator
Henry Cooke (Stuff): New poll: ACT big winner as Labour support slips, David Seymour ahead of Judith Collins
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Newshub-Reid Research Poll: Left crash – Right Rise!
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Newshub/Reid Research poll July 2021
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Support for Labour takes a hit, popularity for ACT growing in new poll
Anneke Smith (RNZ): ACT hopes growing popularity will lead to ‘a change in direction’
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Latest Roy Morgan Poll – Right up, Left down & how gender defines 2023 election strategy
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Roy Morgan poll July 2021
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Chris Trotter (Interest): Neither passionless, nor zombies
Richard Harman (Politik): The Government’s new agenda
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Week in Politics: Return of Suhayra Aden stirs up debate
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Southern say: Crunch time nears in battle of the Jameses
Dan Satherley (Newshub Nation): Green co-leader Marama Davidson says party leadership should reflect ‘Te Tiriti representation’
Vita Molyneux (Newshub):Chlöe Swarbrick says she will never become Prime Minister, would rather ‘fight’ in Greens
Bruce Cotterill (Herald): Getting National back on the winning track (paywalled)
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Muller takes more time away
David Fisher (Herald): National’s new tough on crime campaign uses bad data, cherry-picked stats and attacks a justice scheme Judith Collins helped set up (paywalled)
Moana Ellis (Herald): Māori Party: Remove barriers to Māori voting
Steven Cowan (Against the Current): Matthew McCarten: The Liberal Left has Abandoned Working Class Politics
Dawn Raids apology
Stuff Editorial: Apology must not prove a false dawn
Keith Lynch (Stuff): The dawn raids explained: What drove the Government to target Pasifika people
Melanie Earley and Torika Tokalau (Stuff): Recap: Jacinda Ardern gives ‘unreserved apology’ for racially targeted Dawn Raids
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Dawn Raids: ‘This incredible moment’
Justin Latif (Spinoff): ‘We accept your apology. However …’ Pacific leaders look to ‘new dawn’
Mariner Fagaiava-Muller (RNZ): One-on-one with Aupito William Sio before Dawn Raids Apology
Uma Ahmed (Stuff): An email sent from Invercargill leads to the national Dawn Raids apology
Te Rina Triponel (Herald): Dawn Raids: ‘All is forgiven’ – Sāmoan woman shares emotional experience
1News: Ardern offers ‘unreserved’ apology for dawn raids on Govt’s behalf
1News: Full broadcast: Govt’s formal apology to Pacific community for dawn raids
Newshub: Jacinda Ardern’s full Dawn Raids apology speech
RNZ: Ardern gives formal apology on behalf of government for Dawn Raids
RNZ: Photo Essay: Dawn Raids apology at Auckland Town Hall
Housing
Daniel Smith (Stuff): Housing a human rights calamity, commissioner says
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Human Rights Commission to launch national inquiry into housing crisis
RNZ: Human Rights Commission launches national inquiry into housing crisis
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Is there really a housing supply shortage?
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Housing affordability could take decades to improve – ANZ
Miriam Bell (Stuff): ‘Perfect storm’ means rental affordability declining nationwide
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Time to ‘rethink and reset’ the land tax regime – tax expert
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Record home consents highlight how housing is changing
Brent Edwards (NBR): Should you blame boomers for the housing market boom? (paywalled)
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): The numbers that show how exposed NZ is to property and interest rate hikes
Susan St John (Interest): Housing is Labour’s Achilles heel
Dan Satherley (Newshub Nation): Marama Davidson, responsible for solving homelessness, ‘not satisfied’ with progress to date
Denise Piper (Stuff): ‘About time’: Whangārei supports Kāinga Ora high-rise apartments
Daniel Smith (Stuff): Houses for sale hit 14-year low, asking prices surge
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): ‘I feel terrified’: 18-year-old’s emotional plea for Govt to step up for homeless rangatahi
Dan Satherley (Newshub): ‘I got educated, I got out’: How a woman who grew up ‘hotel-hopping’ is housing a new generation of homeless
RNZ: Available housing stock lowest in 14 years
Steven Walton (Stuff): Greater Christchurch needs 77,000 new homes in the next 30 years, analysis says
Skara Bohny (Stuff): 864-dwelling housing shortfall forecast for Nelson
RNZ: Rents rise 4.8% in a year, affordability declines in six regions – study
Conan Young (RNZ): Rising rents drive surge in hidden homelessness in Ōtautahi
Cira Olivier (Herald): Rent crisis: People stuck in motels as investors sell out of fear and the rental pool shrinks (paywalled)
Ben Leahy (Herald): ‘Ghost houses’ increasing – why are 40,000 homes lying vacant in Auckland?(paywalled)
Nicola Willis (Magic Talk): Labour is fudging its state housing numbers
Greg Ninness (Interest): First home buyers accounting for a whopping 41% of housing sales each month, new interest.co.nz First Home Buyer Report shows
One Roof: NZ house prices hit record highs, but market is slowing, OneRoof-Valocity figures show
Catherine Smith (One Roof): Where rents have jumped the most in Auckland
Craig Searle (Stuff): Are houses still bolting out the gate or are we looking at the market all wrong?
Conversion therapy
Alexa Cook (Newshub): Expert concerned Government’s planned gay conversion therapy law could criminalise parents
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Conversion therapy ban: Advocates fear prosecution threshold in law banning conversion practices is ‘unattainable’
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Conversion therapy legislation to cover religious groups
Michael Neilson (Herald): Conversion therapy ban: ‘Particularly intense’ debate expected with families, religious groups able to be criminalised – officials (paywalled)
Thomas Manch, Danielle Clent and Bernadette Basagre (Stuff): Man exposed to conversion therapy excited the practice will be criminalised for children and teens
RNZ: Conversion therapy ‘widely discredited by science’ – Faafoi
Tess McClure (Guardian): ‘No place in modern New Zealand’: government signals conversion practices ban
Michael Neilson (Herald): Gay conversion therapy to become criminal offence, Justice Minister Kris Faafoi announces
Inequality
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): The Government can’t ignore inequality bubbling away, with the poor to pay the price for making the wealthy wealthier
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Political Roundup – How the Government has fuelled rampant increases in wealth
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Political Roundup – Labour’s sacrificing of the poor
Daniel Dunkley (BusinessDesk): Buy up – how New Zealand’s rich are spending their money
Health
David William (Newsroom): ‘Tricky’ council masks nitrate effect, Mike Joy says
Collin Tukuitonga (Newsroom): Health: Land of the long, white inequity
Irra Lee (1 News): Dentists concerned about oral health of young Pasifika
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Family says choice is life in Australia or death waiting for Pharmac
Matt Nippert (Herald): Pharmac: Is our medicines agency still fit for purpose? (paywalled)
Matthew Hooton: Disquiet about the Ministry of Health – why it’s reaching ‘fever-pitch’ (paywalled)
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Exclusive: 30,000 overdue for hospital treatment; Covid-19 recovery work off-track in some services (paywalled)
Dan Satherley (Newshub): National calls for bringing back health targets to fix ‘jellyfish’ health system
Bridie Witton (Stuff): The cancer lottery: Too many DHBs taking too long to treat urgent cases
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Government’s bowel cancer programme the ‘budget version’ says Bowel Cancer New Zealand
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Much advice in harsh report on SDHB accepted
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Patient safety at risk
Hanna McCallum (Stuff): Gender-affirming surgery not a ‘nice to have’ but ‘absolutely essential’
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Mike King swipes back at Ashley Bloomfield after he says Gumboot Friday can’t be an exception to Ministry of Health rules
Leigh-Marama McLachlan (Herald): Support for mental health crises not good enough (paywalled)
Newshub: The Rock’s Bryce Casey pleads with Jacinda Ardern for more mental health funding
Emma Sherie (Spinoff): A patient’s story: inside a mental health ward
Covid-19
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Some of New Zealand’s most exclusive employers claimed Covid-19 wage subsidy
Perry Wilton and James Fyfe (Newshub): Transfer of Fiji COVID-19 case to NZ ‘a risk we didn’t need to take’ – expert
Barry Soper (Herald): The bumbling episode of health ministry and patient from Fiji
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Covid-19: How would Aotearoa cope with a Delta outbreak?
Tracy Watkins (Stuff): We didn’t see Covid coming; are we any better prepared for Delta?
Jane Clifton (Herald): Frustration builds over NZ’s risk-averse Covid response (paywalled)
Brian Fallow (Herald): Wild swings in the year of Covid (paywalled)
Siouxsie Wiles (Stuff): Covid-19 infection causes worrying brain changes
Liu Chen (RNZ): Mass vaccination event hailed as ‘huge success’ by organisers
Mike Hosking (Herald): Government owes us an apology for the vaccine mess (paywalled)
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Labour MP Greg O’Connor hails ‘pretty exciting’ COVID-19 vaccination pace as National’s David Bennett blasts Govt for ‘never being able to deliver’
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Covid-19 Coronavirus: Ministry of Health places urgent order for 3 million syringes, but insists it has enough
Michelle Cooke (RNZ): Ministry has no clue on where 42 percent who left Covid-19 motels went
Claire Trevett (Herald): A lot is at stake in Government’s ‘Olympics of Covid-19 Vaccinations’ but a medal could be tricky (paywalled)
Stuff: Dr Ayesha Verrall in the deep-end as the Govt rescues the Bledisloe Cup from a problem it created
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): ‘No escape from NZ’ says reservation system expert
Tava Olsen (Spinoff): The MIQ booking system is unfair and inefficient. There are ways to fix it
Sam Olley (RNZ): Free-for-all MIQ booking process is ‘madness’ – NZ couple
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): ‘No COVID excuse’ for skilled migrants to be living in uncertainty – National MP Erica Stanford
Pilita Clark (Herald): Covid 19 coronavirus: The rush to forget Covid needs to slow down (paywalled)
Herald: Covid-19 coronavirus: Govt looking at notifying people before MIQ spaces are released
Mātauranga Māori science curriculum debate
Stephen May (Newsroom): Dismissing mātauranga Māori: Racism and arrogance in academia
Chris Trotter: Should We Trust The Science – Or Ourselves?
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Latest Woke Purge: Let’s not burn the heretic scientists
Mina Kerr-Lazenby (Stuff): University of Auckland professor relinquishes role after claiming mātauranga Māori is ‘not science’
Bruce Logan (Herald): University of Auckland and cancel culture (paywalled)
Ben Leahy (Herald): Auckland University professor resigns from acting dean role over letter claiming Māori knowledge isn’t science
Amy Wiggins (Herald): Experts Shaun Hendy and Siouxsie Wiles among those rejecting claim Māori knowledge isn’t science as ‘scientific racism’
Māni Dunlop (RNZ): Mātauranga Māori in science: ‘It sparks more interest in learning’
Newstalk ZB: Paul Goldsmith: Mātauranga Māori shouldn’t be taught at the expense of science
Māni Dunlop (RNZ): University academics’ claim mātauranga Māori ‘not science’ sparks controversy
Education
Jamie Tahana and John Gerritsen (RNZ): Education system grapples with te reo Māori, tikanga and systemic racism
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Māori teachers optimistic about scale of change
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Ministers warned students are ‘falling through the cracks’
Lee Kenny (Stuff): School Report: Decade of data reveals persistent gaps in NCEA achievement
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Stuff ignores the educational elephant in the room
Amelia Wade (Newshub): National MP Paul Goldsmith fears ‘truancy crisis’ as almost a third of kids aren’t turning up to school
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Ministry not tracking key earthquake strengthening goal for schools
Damien Grant (Stuff): Our education system is in decline, but nobody wants to fix it
Helen Harvey (Stuff): Psychology students want student loans cap lifted
Labour market, industrial relations
1 News: NZ labour market the worst since 1970s – economist
Jem Traylen (BusinessDesk): Is the labour market tight or what? (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): A smarter, more productive post-Covid economy – what the Government needs to address now (paywalled)
TVNZ: Q+A: Nurses already reasonably well-paid, Q+A panellist argues
1 News: Little criticises nurses’ decision to reject latest pay offer
RNZ: Health Minister Andrew Little responds after nurses reject pay offer
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Nurses want ‘concrete progress’ on safe staffing – union
Georgia-May Gilbertson (Stuff):‘I can’t continue without family around’ migrant says after strict immigration laws keep them from entering New Zealand
Daniel Smith (Stuff): Restaurant owner ordered to pay $125,000, after minimum wage violations and worker exploitation
RNZ: Business leaders excited by number of expats planning to return home
Liam Dann (Herald): 6000 workers needed – Survey reveals severity of Auckland labour shortages(paywalled)
Sally Murphy (RNZ): Dairy farmers apply for 54 overseas workers in border exception scheme
Kate MacNamara (Herald): The ballooning public sector wage bill risks Government debt targets, officials warn (paywalled)
RNZ: Four-day working week plan picking up steam
Liam Dann (Herald): New unemployment data may seal next interest rate move
Carmen Hall (Herald): Dairy labour shortage: ‘I’m doing 16 hours a day minimum’ (paywalled)
Hate speech laws
Graeme Edgeler (Legal Beagle): The New New Prohibition
Graham Adams (Democracy Project): Parliament is in recess but Kris Faafoi is too busy to discuss proposals for hate-speech laws
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Kris Faafoi has gone into hiding over Hate Speech law & would Debbie Ngarewa-Packer get prosecuted?
Gavin Ellis: Submission on proposals against incitement of hatred and discrimination in Aotearoa New Zealand
Rio Tinto and Tiwai Point
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Dawn chorus: Rio Tinto profits as NZ’s poor shiver
No Right Turn: End the Tiwai scam
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Tiwai smelter power could be diverted to hydrogen by 2023
Abuse in Care Royal Commission
RNZ: Royal Commission says artificial intelligence won’t be used on abuse testimony
Andrew McRae (RNZ): ‘More support needed’, victim tells Royal Commission into abuse
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Abuse in care costs: Govt considered asking churches for money
Local government
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): ‘We are extremely wasteful’: Is it time to dump the dumps?
Chris Tobin (Stuff): Three Waters reform pushed ‘at alarming rate’, Timaru District mayor says
RNZ: Former Conservation Board chairman returns to role
Chris Marshall (Stuff):Taupō Mayor wants throttle back on Three Waters proposals, and a referendum
Marcus Anselm (RNZ): MDC chief handed special projects brief
Matthew Ronsenberg (RNZ): Pipe dream: Council criticised over water system wasting ‘millions’
Marcus Anselm (RNZ): Mayor, protesters at loggerheads after walkout sparked by rates increase
Lois Williams (RNZ): West Coast Regional CEO Vin Smith resigns – ‘no wrongdoing’
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Too soon for water referendum: DIA
Primary industries
Rod Oram (Newsroom): NZ’s blindspot on dairy emissions
Farah Hancock (RNZ): What dairy farming is doing to NZ’s water
Peter Davis (Stuff): How NZ might achieve net gains for fishing and farming
Climate Change
Peter Olorenshaw (Stuff): Our love of big SUVs comes at other costs
Michael Cullen (Herald): Slogans won’t dig us out of the mire (paywalled)
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Michael Cullen advises Labour to ditch Auckland light rail for electric buses(paywalled)
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): We have the tools to cut methane, experts told Climate Commission
Mike Watson (Stuff): Climate Change Commission chair makes lifestyle changes to reach zero carbon
Jacqueline Rowarth (Stuff): New Zealand agriculture is showing the way
Jordan Bond (RNZ): New Zealand likely to have ‘record high imports’ of coal in 2021 – officials
RNZ: The Detail: Why New Zealand is importing coal by the shipload
Justice, corrections
Cat MacLennan (Stuff): NZ indefinitely locks up people who will never be charged with any offence. That’s abhorrent
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): An ode to New Zealand prisons’ Slushiegate (paywalled)
RNZ: Some new prison cells ready for inmates, Corrections says
Springbok Tour – 40 years on
Richard Swainson (Stuff): Moral imperatives – actions speak louder than words
Karl du Fresne: Anti-tour protesters pushed their luck that night in Molesworth St
Alastair Duncan (ODT): Protesting for justice in a far-off land
Michael Laws (ODT): Took leadership of pro-Springbok tour group SCRUM
Dan Taipua (Spinoff): The incredible legacy of Merata Mita’s Patu!
Jimmy Ellingham (Stuff): Legacy of 1981 Springbok tour still felt today
Other
John Minto (RNZ): Opinion: Boycott Israel, the apartheid state under new management
Mike Smith (The Standard): Are we really ready to escalate to war with China over Taiwan?
Lana Hart (Stuff): Jihadi wife throws spotlight on NZ refugee response
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer (Herald): Indigenous rights – Demand for debate should address racism, white privilege
Craig Ashworth (RNZ): Nerves on edge for seabed mining decision
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Racial quota for govt tenders now
Philip Matthews (Stuff): Historian’s fancy, or widely used name? The battle over Aotearoa
Robert Patman (Stuff): NZ still has important role in the global challenge of violent extremism
John Keir (Herald): Enemy of the State: The Ahmed Zaoui File – Episode 1, The Fugitive
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Afghans who worked with NZ fear deadly reprisals as Taliban closes in
Robert Reid (Spinoff: The day I began my journey from Young Nat to committed socialist
1 News: Few businesses paying to use iwi-owned Lake Taupō
Stuff Editorial: We do know how lucky we are in NZ
Janet Wilson (Stuff): We Boomers have adopted a pretty hypocritical stance on cannabis
Jane Phare (Herald): Trust busting: Is it the beginning of the end for hiding relationship property?(paywalled)
Nikki Macdonald and Denise Piper (Stuff): No end in sight for ballooning coroners’ waits
Matthew Littlewood (Stuff): High country lakes and rivers reports paint ‘grim picture’
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Would an interest rate hike ignore employment mandate? (paywalled)
Loam Dann (Herald): Inflation is coming – Should we be worried? Kiwi experts weigh in (paywalled)
Herald: New Zealand named best country to survive a global collapse
Damien Carrington (Guardian): New Zealand rated best place to survive global societal collapse
John Anthony (Stuff): Battle of the convention centres: Three new venues worth $1.4b provide ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’
Bill Ralston (Herald): Mob’s meth rehab programme a case of mutual backscratching (paywalled)
Daniel Dunkley (BusinessDesk): Pou Tiaki editor Carmen Parahi: connecting the media with Aotearoa(paywalled)
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of the Olympics (paywalled)
Joel Maxwell (Stuff):Transmission Gully: The end of the road’s not in sight just yet