NZ Politics Daily: 6 August 2021

Conversion therapy
Bridie Witton (Stuff): ‘Shame’: Conversion Therapy bill passes first reading but is opposed by National Party
Bridie Witton (Stuff): ‘Deeply disappointed’: Young Nats call for National Party to support conversion therapy bill 
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Young Nats clash with Simon Bridges again, this time over conversion therapy
Michael Neilson (Herald): Parliament backs bill to ban ‘monstrous’ conversion therapy
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Young Nats break with party over conversion therapy vote
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Conversion therapy ban legislation passes first reading at Parliament
Zane Small (Newshub): Tense scenes in Parliament as National stands alone opposing conversion therapy ban law
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): Conversion therapy ban passes first hurdle in divided parliament
No Right Turn: On the wrong side of history, like always
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Young Nats want to lock people up for 5 years for Gay conversion – great, can they tell us how many will be prosecuted?

Budget documents
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Government lifts lid on Budget 2021, with ministers advised to double benefit increases and cut health promises
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Treasury wanted Labour to break all health election promises bar one
Michael Neilson (Herald): Budget 2021: Benefit boost of $50 would have doubled children out of poverty, Government opted for $20
Sarah Robson (RNZ): $50/week boost in benefits was rejected for Budget
Zane Small (Newshub): Treasury warns benefit boost won’t make a difference for two-fifths of poverty-stricken children
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Budget: Jacinda Ardern probed idea of larger $50 benefit boost to potentially lift twice as many children out of poverty

Billionaire Larry Page granted entry to NZ
Stuff Editorial: The lives of the rich and secretive 
George Block (Stuff): Larry Page: Billionaire’s entourage requested MIQ hotel upgrade
Herald: Google billionaire’s staff requested an MIQ hotel upgrade for boss Larry Page
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Google co-founder Larry Page has New Zealand residency
George Block (Stuff): Google billionaire Larry Page is an NZ resident, Government confirms
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Air Ambulance flew Google co-founder Larry Page, sick child to New Zealand for treatment – Andrew Little
RNZ: Google billionaire met requirements to enter NZ – Immigration
Eva Corlett (Guardian): Google co-founder Larry Page granted entry to New Zealand despite border closure, report says
Chris Keall (Herald): Will tax-minimising Google get a new appreciation for NZ after founder’s mercy visit?(paywalled)
1 News: Google co-founder spent time in NZ due to sick child

Covid-19
Peter Dunne: The monolithic MIQ System is rapidly becoming a huge millstone around the government’s neck
1 News: Immigration Minister denies residency queue is ‘shambles’
Ben Strang (RNZ): Hopes for a less strict MIQ system as vaccine rolls out across NZ
Wilson Longhurst (1 News): QR code scanning slumps to lowest levels since Delta scare
Scott Yeoman (Stuff): Workers sent home – then given all clear – at Port of Tauranga after apparent Covid-19 scare
RNZ: One-on-one the way to break port worker vaccine fears – Union
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): What’s behind NZ’s slow vaccine rollout?
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Wellington health officials say vaccination schedule on track
Andy Fyers (BusinessDesk): Vaccine tracker: how NZ’s rollout is progressing (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Use of Covid app ‘not where it needs to be’ but Hipkins rules out Covidcards 
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): Family desperate to bring 92-year-old dad home to be ‘loved for last time on this planet’
Dan Satherley and Perry Wilton (Newshub): Travel bubble with Australia unlikely to reopen until ‘much later’ this year, if not next year – experts
Grant Bradley (Herald): Travel refunds: Agents pile on pressure to expand Government scheme(paywalled)
1 News: Number of marriages in NZ fall sharply amid pandemic
Laura Hooper (Stuff): Covid-19 spending causing container congestion for Southland exporters
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): Travel corridor for Pacific workers to free up 300 MIQ spots per month
Herald: Canadian frigate first foreign naval vessel to visit NZ since start of Covid pandemic
Helen Harvey (Stuff): Human error blamed for Taranaki general practice patients receiving Covid-19 announcement email
Ben McKay (Spinoff): Pictures of politicians getting their Covid vaccinations – reviewed

National
Henry Cooke (Stuff): National Party president could lose job as ‘frustrated’ members head to conference
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Judith Collins promises change at National conference (paywalled)
Matthew Hooton (Herald): For Judith Collins, biggest danger is success (paywalled)
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): ACT can drag National back to viability
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Pressure at the top – National’s annual conference
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Demand, but no debate, at National AGM
Brent Edwards (NBR): How does National win back supporters who deserted it? (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): National need to act more like a government
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): National Party Board candidates

Parliament, Māori roll, voting age
Te Aorewa Rolleston (RNZ): Call to change how Māori can be enrolled to vote
Rukuwai Tipene-Allen (Māori TV): Māori electoral roll rules are racist – Rawiri Waititi
Waatea News: Maori Party wants continual Maori option
Emma Hatton (RNZ): Voting age discrimination case is heard in Court of Appeal
Stuff: ‘Make it 16′ campaign follows the path of votes for women
Phil Smith (RNZ): The unmysterious case of the vanishing leaders
Phil Smith (RNZ): Parliament’s week: Some business, some personal
Phil Smith (RNZ): And on the third day: the pre-life of a law

Hate speech
Graham Adams (Democracy Project): The thorny hate-speech debate sorts sheep from goats
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Political Roundup – Progressive opposition will help kill off hate speech proposals
Stu Crosson (ODT): ‘Hate speech’: who decides who needs protecting?
Ling Yee Wong (Spinoff): What New Zealand can learn from hate speech laws in England
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Muslim group slams ministry over lack of time given for hate speech feedback

Labour market, industrial relations, migrant workers
Bernard Hickey (Spinoff): The team of five million rhetoric rings hollow for those locked in visa limbo
Liam Dann (Herald): Extend visas for trapped immigrant workers – NZIER Economist (paywalled)
Jean Bell (RNZ): Labour market predicted to be strong as immigration slows – recruiter
Qiuyi Tan (Herald): Deportations lowest in years as Covid crisis deepens (paywalled)
Kate Green (Stuff): Wellington’s low unemployment rate means hard times for businesses needing staff
RNZ: Labour shortage causes apple grower profits to go rotten
Rob Stock (Stuff): NZ Super reforms for migrants take a step closer to becoming law
Hawkes Bay Today: RSE workers on life in a Hawke’s Bay winter and the ‘forgotten’ talent they’ve found(paywalled)

Business, economy
RNZ: Interest rate rises – Reserve Bank has time, ‘shouldn’t go too early’ – economist
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Dawn Chorus: Group-thinking our way to premature rate hikes
Michael Reddell: Should have done better
Rahul Bhattarai (Herald): New Zealand company liquidations spike again as firms default on their debt – Centrix
Shannon Johnstone (Herald): Air NZ backs Hawke’s Bay with 17,000 extra seats as domestic visitor spending soars (paywalled)
Dan Brunskill (BusinessDesk): FMA wants to prevent ‘Robinhood style’ trading (paywalled)
RNZ: FMA cautions against risky investments as online trading grows
Brian Fallow (Herald): Wartime economy is no time for interest rate rises (paywalled)

Health
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Newshub-Reid Research Poll shows Government not doing enough to address mental health crisis
Ethan Griffiths (Herald): Report details excessive seclusion, overdoses at Whanganui’s Te Awhina mental health facility
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Two Whanganui mental health units receive vastly different inspection results despite operating on same hospital grounds
Jimmy Ellingham (Stuff): High rate of secluding patients at mental health unit a concern
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Report says SDHB operates in a permanent ‘crisis mode’
Samantha Gee (RNZ): Dunedin ED staff fear patients could die due to wait times
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Failed cancer victim dies
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Proposed law change to administer unfunded drugs in public system pulled from ballot
Russell Palmer (RNZ): DHB reform consultation with people who are disabled will continue – govt
Audrey Young (Herald): Mother’s transition from retirement village to aged care under spotlight(paywalled)
Robin Martin (RNZ): Remembering 100 years of free dental care for NZ children
Pauline Norris (ODT): Putting a price on a smile

Housing
Imogen Wells (1 News): Opinion: Spiralling rents make prospect of finding new place to live terrifying
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): NZ ranked as 13th-most expensive country to rent a three-bedroom house – UK study
Zane Small (Newshub): Government could pocket $800 million from landlords by ending property investor ‘tax loophole’
RNZ: Green MP Chloe Swarbrick on housing: Much more intervention needed
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Almost half of houses have doubled in value since their owners bought them
Zane Small (Newshub): National’s Nicola Willis, Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick continue push for house price briefing after Reserve Bank’s ‘admission of forecast failure’
Benedict Collins (1 News): Govt urged to deliver on health promise as they celebrate building milestone
Michael Neilson (Herald): Government Govt hails 8000 extra places in public housing programme as demand continues to boom
RNZ: Government marks adding 8000 additional public housing places
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Subsidy for troubled Wellington council social housing would cost $100m over four years
Alison Smith (Herald): Bach owners denied use of own property under tenancy law (paywalled)
Lawrence Gullery (Stuff): Environment Court appeal sinks plan for 30-home cohousing project
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Government project targets ‘ghost houses’ to encourage owners to fill empty homes
Paul McBeth (BusinessDesk): Leaky home owners left high and dry (paywalled)
Marta Steeman (Stuff): Record submissions for Building Code consultation over higher insulation rules for new homes 
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Government denies it is considering limiting timber exports due to shortage
Susan Edmund (Stuff): Use property investor tax to help low-income earners: Tax expert

Marsden Point
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Banned firefighting foam used at Marsden Point for training
Madison Reidy (Newshub): Closing Marsden Point oil refinery would dramatically reduce fuel supply, could cause immediate price rise – experts
Denise Piper (Stuff): Northland holds breath ahead of vote on turning Marsden Point into fuel import terminal
Imran Ali (Northern Advocate): Northland awaits Refining NZ shareholders’ vote on future of refinery(paywalled)
RNZ: The Detail: The plans to close NZ’s only oil refinery, Marsden Pt

Local government
Chloe Ranford (Local Democracy Reporting): Council’s broadband licence cancelled after sub-leasing out airwaves
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Fight over speakers barred from Auckland Council venue heads to Supreme Court
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): Hamilton politicans shy away from mandatory Māori street names
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Christchurch stadium row: Decision to reduce capacity to be revisited at council meeting next week
Tina Law (Stuff): New vote on stadium size will ‘be the end of the matter’, Christchurch mayor says
Bea Gooding (Star News): Christchurch stadium row linked to likely mayoral bid, former mayor Garry Moore says
RNZ: Christchurch stadium decision to be reconsidered in light of new details
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Waikato councillor ignores dressing down to chase boss’s seat
Felix Desmarais (Local Democracy Reporting): Reynold Macpherson’s urgent items under fire: Some councillors ’embarrassing themselves’
Justin Latif  (Local Democracy Reporting): Taking back the streets: Meet the South Aucklanders standing up to violence in their communities
Richard Davison (ODT): Feeling of being ‘kicked in guts’ by doubling of rates
Chloe Ranford (Local Democracy Reporting): Freedom or folly? Camping rules under the gun

Transport
Georgina Campbell (Herald): ‘We can’t grind our city to a halt’: Businesses form coalition over Wellington transport plan
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): I’m swinging behind the Wellington businesses
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Advocates ask Wellington council for free public transport free for community service cardholders and students
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Transport minister to weigh up Harbour Bridge options (paywalled)

Environment, climate change, conservation
Jason Walls (Herald): Clean car discount: Government ignored Treasury warnings about EV feebate scheme, ute tax
Tess McClure (Guardian): Emissions from cows on New Zealand dairy farms reach record levels
Nadine Porter (Stuff): Pay farmers $12 billion to stop dairying, ecologist urges
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): Feebate pushing up ute sales, as well as EVs
Logan Savory (Stuff): Invercargill powered for expected electric vehicle growth
Jamie Morton (Herald): Outgoing boss of Crown-owned company optimistic NZ can be predator free
Tesh Randall (Stuff): Is plant-based food the way of the future?

Police
RNZ: General arming of police not the answer, say Ardern, Minister Williams, Commissioner Coster
Newstalk ZB: Police Association: Police don’t feel safe without firearms
Ben Strang (RNZ): Support among police for carrying arms at highest level in decade, survey shows
Vita Molyneux and Perry Wilton (Newshub): Auckland Councillor rethinks position on arming police after spate of gun crime
John Weekes (Herald): Police won’t say if discredited ‘formal warning’ data will be erased from national intel system

Primary industries
Susan Murray (RNZ): Intensive winter grazing improves but not all councils have data on its use
Guy Trafford (Interest): Updating and balancing the story is important, warts and all
Laura Smith (ODT): Claim misinformation factor in farmers’ bad mental health

International relations
Geoffrey Miller (Democracy Project): NZ’s Olympic-sized relationship with Japan may be about to change
Johnny Blades (RNZ): Fiji democracy in tatters as crisis deepens – where is NZ and the region

Media
Rosemary McLeod (Stuff): Bullying boys’ clubs like MediaWorks were how all newsrooms used to be
Damien Venuto: (Herald): The section in the MediaWorks report that will make executives squirm(paywalled)
David Farrier (Webworm): Hillsong & Mediaworks have their reckoning
Vera Alves (Herald): MediaWorks report: The damning stat that cannot be overlooked (paywalled)
Bryan Gould: The Herald’s bias

Other
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Warrantless search powers in new counter-terror law pose ‘grave risks’ to public, privacy commissioner says 
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Predators pretending to be children online to get prison sentence under new Labour bill 
Derek Cheng (Herald): ‘Unheard and unseen’: The calls for more rights for victims and what’s being done(paywalled)
Herald Editorial: Justice for all requires commitment to change (paywalled)
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Previous National Government gave $30,000 to Mongrel Mob member Harry Tam’s Hard 2 Reach
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): New meth programmes help addicts connect with their whenua
Derek Cheng (Herald):  ‘Intervention required’: Treasury slams commission of inquiry into abuse costs blow-out
Karl du Fresne: A referendum? You mean, like, allowing people to have their say? We can’t have that
Charlie Gates and Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): $35m of public money for Auckland studio a ‘kick in the teeth’ for South Island
Chris Marshall (Stuff): Striking a cultural balance in geothermal exploitation
Stuff: Whānau customary marine title claim refused, but given chance to reduce its scope 
Richard Harman (Politik): A matter of taste
ODT Editorial: Hopes for hydrogen and Southland
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): Teens looking in the cracked mirror of social media
Kaysha Brownlie (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern opens New Zealand’s first socially sustainable hotel in Christchurch
James Nokise (Stuff): A primal response caught up in the idea of hate
Malia Pole’o (Herald):  Where are our Pasifika teachers to lift up our learners?
Dita De Boni (NBR): Minister doesn’t rule out govt-owned KiwiMarket to bring prices down
Te Aorewa Rolleston (RNZ): MPs join in farewelling Tauranga Moana leader Kihi Ngātai