Political Roundup: 1 November 2022
Items of interest and importance today
PARLIAMENT, PARTIES, ELECTIONS
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): National defends selling dinner with Christopher Luxon for $1500 (paywalled)
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): I warned you that Winston is back and I was right
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Horizon Poll: Winners, Losers & Predictions
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Raf Manji on Top 3.0, the balance of power, and ruling out a role in government
Herald: PM responds to rumours of her quitting before election; issue with window seal caused Hercules to get stuck in Antarctica
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern responds to quitting, moving to New Plymouth rumours
Rachel Smalley (Today FM): Mahuta upstaged the Prime Minister yesterday
Kelvin McDonald (Te Ao – Māori News): Ngarewa-Packer TikTok claims ACT is ‘anti-Māori baiting anō’
Katie Doyle (Stuff): Fund launched to help disabled New Zealanders campaign for Parliament
Jonah Franke-Bowell (Stuff): ‘Underdog’ National Party unveils diverse candidate shortlist for Hamilton West by-election
Adam Pearse (Herald): Hamilton West byelection: Former mayor Andrew King out of National’s candidate race
RNZ: National releases its shortlist for Hamilton West by-election
THREE WATERS
Richard Harman: The Mayors and the three waters money trail
Graham Adams: A taniwha rears its head in the Three Waters debate
Todd Niall (Stuff): Government ‘open to change’ as coalition of mayors pushes new vision for water reforms
RNZ: Two mayors seek support for alternate three waters plan
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): Triple-header: Three mayors versus Three Waters
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland mayor sprang Three Waters alternative on council with 8 minutes’ notice
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland and Christchurch mayors put forward alternative plan for Three Waters
Rachael Comer (Timaru Herald): South Canterbury mayors support consensus plan for Three Waters
Brent Edwards (NBR): Lukewarm response from Government to new Three Waters proposal (paywalled)
Leanne Warr (Hawkes Bay Today): Future of freshwater management under review(paywalled)
ECONOMY, BUSINESS, EMPLOYMENT
RNZ: Windfall tax needed to rein in excess profits of major corporates – Greens
Nona Pelletier (RNZ): Windfall tax could turn investors off, business figures say
No Right Turn: Time for a windfall tax
Steven Cowan: We deserve a lot better than what we’re being delivered
Cameron Smith (Herald): ‘No silver bullet in sight’: Kiwis borrowing more as inflation bites, mortgage lending continues to fall (paywalled)
RNZ: Personal loans rise as household budgets hit, mortgage lending falls
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Individuals’ tax bill up 55% in five years
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): PM Jacinda Ardern defends NZ after recruiter claims cost of living, crime, visa delays putting off international job seekers
Rob Stock (Stuff): The Reserve Bank gets banks to run stress-test scenarios as part of its mandate to ensure the stability of the country’s financial system.
Jonathan Mitchell (NBR): Banks pass stagflation sniff test (paywalled)
Jenny Ruth (BusinessDesk): Reserve Bank stress test shows more bank capital is unnecessary (paywalled)
David Chaston (Interest): ANZ moves to staunch its term deposit reputation damage
Michael Reddell: Profits
Louise Ternouth (RNZ): Many workers with disabilities still paid $5 an hour on average
Daniel Smith (Stuff): Earthquake Commission to pay out 600 employees owed holiday pay
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Inland Revenue deletes Halloween-themed Tweet after it backfires
Gianina Schwanecke (Stuff): Wellington hospitality giant rolls out living wage to all employees
Leeann Watson (Herald): Are Fair Pay Agreements fair?
FREE SPEECH, HATE SPEECH
Jonathan Ayling (Stuff): Christopher Luxon needs to say where he stands on hate speech laws
Anna Whyte (Stuff): Ardern looks for broad support on hate speech law
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Kiri Allan’s hate speech laws will be the political kiss of death to Labour
Damien Venuto (Herald): The Front Page: Elon Musk vs Kiri Allan – The debate about where to draw free speech line
Stuff: Gay hate speech case in court as review of law announced
EXTREMISM, NATIONAL SECURITY
Katie Green (RNZ): What are New Zealanders most concerned about?
Oscar Jackson (Today FM): Government censorship ‘completely inappropriate’ in face of mis/disinformation
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): A ‘smorgasbord’ of extremism that’s caused the SIS to pivot its counterterrorism focus
Adam Pearse (Herald): Disasters, hackers and disinformation: Experts forecast risks to national security
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Disinformation has security agencies ‘worried’ as it fuels divisions
Rachel Moore (Waikato Times): Cyber minister needed as attacks ramp up, says security expert
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Jacinda Ardern confirms Government can respond more freely to Iran, after wealthy influencers freed
Jacinda Ardern: Iran is holding back all women’s progress
Jenna Lynch and Rachel Sadler (Newshub): New Zealand suspending human rights dialogue with Iran as anti-regime protests intensify
RNZ: NZ suspends bilateral Human Rights Dialogue with Iran, PM to announce response to violence
Bridie Witton (Stuff): PM ‘fiercely defends’ Iran stance while Kiwis detained, human rights dialogue now suspended
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): PM Jacinda Ardern signs international letter calling for Iran to be removed from UN women’s rights body
1News: Mahuta targets Russian defence, security sectors in new sanctions
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Simon Wilson (Herald): The wind and the rain of Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown(paywalled)
Dave Armstrong (Stuff): Searching for solutions to low voter turnout at local elections
Luisa Girao (ODT): Mana whenua council role to be reduced
John MacDonald (Herald): Opinion: Lower the voting age? Yes!
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Upper Hutt mayor grants special talking permission after alleged public racism spat
Taupo & Turangi Herald: Final vote down but not dismal
HOUSING
Rayssa Almeida (RNZ): Emergency housing in Rotorua has ‘created a monster’, motel owner says
Kelly Makiha (Rotorua Daily Post): Rotorua contracted emergency housing motel owner unaware homeless were living at her property, resource consent hearing told
Greg Hurrell (BusinessDesk): Kāinga Ora’s deficit more than doubles (paywalled)
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Biggest rent increases in Auckland’s more affordable suburbs
Carmen Hall (Herald): Employers looking to buy rentals in Tauranga to attract staff as housing crisis threatens local economy (paywalled)
Duncan Garner (NBR): Suburban disorder: Can’t beat ’em, join ’em? (paywalled)
Muriwai Hei (Te Ao – Māori News): Te Tairāwhiti housing strategy helping whānau buy their own homes
Will Trafford (Te Ao – Māori News): Gov’t, Iwi partnership to build 200+ houses in Northland
ALCOHOL
Emily Worman and Grant Hewison (Spinoff): The alcohol licensing system has failed communities for years. It has to change
Stephen Forbes (Local Democracy Reporting): Anti-alcohol harm campaigners welcome government’s liquor sales reform plan
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The State’s Jackboot should always be on the throat of the booze barons!
James Halpin (Stuff): PM Jacinda Ardern expects further liquor law changes to be ‘heavily contested’
RNZ: Alcohol law reform plans signalled by government
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Bar owner says alcohol law reform will force small businesses to close
HEALTH
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Cuts to Dunedin Hospital project pose ‘reputational, operational and clinical risk’
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Health NZ decided against relocating nurses to aid under-pressure hospitals
1News: ‘Immediate changes’ needed to NZ’s Green List – health recruiter
JUSTICE, CORRECTIONS
Akula Sharma (Herald): Justice Minister doubles down on name suppression laws for famous people
Gavin Ellis: A shiver down the spines of the rich and famous
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Kiri Allan’s woke interpretation of suppression law could weaponise legal process
Will Trafford (Te Ao – Māori News): Corrections in ‘crisis’, human rights advocates say
Snita Ahir-Knight (Newsroom): Why 10-year-olds shouldn’t be criminals
Tara Ward (Spinoff): TVNZ’s new documentary wants to challenge our idea of what a criminal looks like
TRANSPORT
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Transport Minister denies promise to meet Restore Passenger Rail protesters
Vita Molyneux (Stuff): Wellington traffic protests: Transport Minister Michael Wood may meet with rail supporters – if they stop blocking highways
Greg Hurrell (BusinessDesk): Road freight will be king as transport decarbonises(paywalled)
Sharon Brettkelly (RNZ): Public transport’s $1.3 billion ticketing facelift
RNZ: Air NZ bringing in more planes to try bring prices down
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): Remember when domestic flights were $29?
Raphael Franks (Herald): Nearly 1000 Auckland bus services suspended – Auckland Transport decision labeled ‘cynical’
CALLAGHAN INNOVATION, INDIGO, MANAAKI CONTROVERSY
Duncan Greive (Spinoff): Deep inside the explosive We Are Indigo saga
Maria Slade (NBR): MBIE, NZTE made aware of findings against small business adviser
Daniel Smith (Stuff): Accusations fly as Callaghan Innovation and small business platform Manaaki face off
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Callaghan Innovation director resigns as Manaaki row escalates
ENERGY
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Memo to the energy minister from ex-Genesis CEO(paywalled)
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): High electricity prices rule out export hydrogen plant(paywalled)
The Facts: Coal imports rapidly overtake coal exports
ENVIRONMENT
Jamie Mackay (Herald): Up a creek without a paddle (paywalled)
Ian Mason (The Conversation): From farming to fermentation: how New Zealand could ‘brew up’ new foods to reduce agricultural emissions
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): Land-use change in mid-Canterbury may accelerate in early 2040s (paywalled)
Stefan Dimitrof (Te Ao – Māori News): Government backs moratorium on deep sea mining
OTHER
Brent Edwards (NBR): The Auditor-General’s challenge to get audits done on time(paywalled)
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Auditor general worries about the future of audits(paywalled)
Laura Smith (Bay of Plenty Times): Government extends MSD’s support to include non-beneficiaries
Craig Ashworth (RNZ): Ngāti Maru apology highlights ongoing devastation of land theft
Mana Wikaire-Lewis (Te Ao – Māori News): Ngāti Maru come together as one to witness Crown apology
Stuff Editorial: Te Pūkenga – the gift that keeps on taking
Jem Traylen (BusinessDesk): Government wants to attract more international TV series to New Zealand shores (paywalled)
Soumya Bhamidipati (RNZ): Police refuse to confirm investigation progress following quashing of Alan Hall conviction