Alert level decision, expert advice Anneka Smith (RNZ): Lockdown extension likely for entire country, experts say Luke Malpass (Stuff): Why it’s very hard to see a way out of level 4 Matthew Hooton (Herald): NZ health system can’t look past lockdown (paywalled) Henry Cooke (Stuff): Alert level decision day for Delta outbreak, experts say extension likely Mike Houlahan (ODT): Indications suggest …
Lockdown Thomas Coughlan (Herald): It’s no longer clear Jacinda Ardern’s strategy is the right one (paywalled) Kate MacNamara (Herald): Government’s Covid spin spend masks a failure to deliver (paywalled) Keith Lynch (Stuff): How viable is New Zealand’s coronavirus elimination plan in the time of Delta? Audrey Young (Herald): Lessons for Judith Collins and Jacinda Ardern in handling a crisis (paywalled) Ben Thomas …
Covid-19 – NZ enters Level 4 lockdown Tim Watkin (Pundit): The Lucky Lockdown? Is This The Kick Up The Bum NZ Needs? Luke Malpass (Stuff): Best case scenario: This level 4 lockdown looks like an overreaction Andrew MacFarlane (1 News): Opinion: NZ’s best shot is a tough Covid lockdown Jo Moir (Newsroom): Cabinet not beating around the bush with …
Afghanistan Henry Cooke (Stuff): ‘All up in smoke’: New Zealand’s 20 years and 10 lives lost in Afghanistan David Fisher (Herald): After 20 years at war, this is what NZ got out of going to war in Afghanistan(paywalled) Liam Hehir (Blue Review) The disaster in Afghanistan Gordon Campbell: On the fall of Kabul Dave Armstrong (Stuff): Helping those …
Covid-19 Liam Dann (Herald): The worst thing about the Covid-era in NZ (paywalled) Gordon Campbell: On Labour’s cave-in to the business lobbies Jo Moir (Newsroom): Covid success weighs on Ardern’s shoulders Michael Baker, Amanda Kvalsvig and Nick Wilson (Guardian): Sticking to a Covid elimination strategy keeps New Zealand’s options open Michael Morrah (Newshub): ‘Covid-19 could be here for 5 to 10 …
By joining the Government, the Greens promised to give Labour the spine it needed to act decisively on housing, inequality, climate change and other pressing issues. This hasn’t happened. In fact, rather than being the progressive backbone of the current government, some allege the Greens are helping to “greenwash” Jacinda Ardern’s administration. This issue was …
Covid-19 – Government announcement on border management Claire Trevett (Herald): PM Jacinda Ardern’s Covid-19 plan a tough love message to vaccine holdouts – the clock is ticking (paywalled) Matthew Hooton (Herald): Jacinda Ardern shows courage in Covid fight, but will she hold her nerve?(paywalled) Derek Cheng (Herald): The political hot potato Jacinda Ardern refused to touch – and may …
The Prime Minister’s protective cloak of stardust is slipping from her party’s shoulders, Graham Adams argues, just when it will be sorely needed to sell the contentious health reforms. During 2017’s election campaign, Prime Minister, Bill English, predicted the “stardust” that surrounded the newly minted leader of the Labour Party would “settle”. He couldn’t have …
Energy Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Take back your power! What a real Labour-Green Government might do to combat climate change Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Dawn Chorus: ‘The market has failed’ Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Ministers were warned about power outages (paywalled) No Right Turn: Market failure Clint Smith (Spinoff): Hey Clint! Is it time for our electricity regulators to revisit NZ Power? …
This week’s hard-hitting report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was a reminder of the influential and inspirational role the United Nations can play. The UN’s Secretary General, António Guterres, called the new assessment – which predicts average global temperatures will be 1.5 degrees warmer by 2040 than they were in the pre-industrial …
Energy Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Power cuts: what went wrong and is it over? Audrey Young (Herald): Close to Jacinda Ardern’s worst day this term (paywalled) Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Genesis Energy’s decisions deserve scrutiny, but power problems far from a surprise (paywalled) Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Down in the weeds of the electricity system(paywalled) Bryan Leyland (Herald): Power outages: The perfect storm that broke …
Today’s New Zealand Herald cartoon shows a titanic-style National Party sinking beneath the waters while the captain orders “Full steam ahead!”. Cartoonist Daron Parton nicely sums up the general media perception about the state of the party after its annual conference at the weekend. While the party leadership are keen to convince the public they …
Environment, climate change, conservation Jamie Morton (Herald): Major climate change report’s stark outlook: Window to prevent worst impacts closing fast Marc Daalder (Newsroom): ‘Human civilisation has never existed in a climate this hot’ Eloise Gibson and Olivia Wannan (Stuff): Planetary healthcheck delivers ‘unprecedented’, ‘terrifying’ picture Science Media Centre: IPCC: Recent changes in Earth’s climate “unprecedented” – Expert Reaction Veronika …
National Party Jane Patterson (RNZ): National Party’s annual conference: Something old, something blue – but little new Liam Hehir (Guardian): Resolutions but no revolution as National ends its annual conference as divided as ever Thomas Coughlan (Herald): National promises unity, but finds it has delivery problems (paywalled) Toby Manhire (Spinoff): In her conference speech, the National leader shifted from demanding …
Running alongside Judith Collins’ “Demand the Debate” campaign in public is something of a “Demand Reform” mood within her party. There will be heightened demands for change to be made to the top of the party this weekend, when National branch delegates convene for their Annual General Meeting. The conference looks likely to be a …
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 …
As the Tokyo Olympics come to an end, Geoffrey Miller analyses the state of New Zealand’s wider relationship with Japan – and says that a very successful partnership may be about to become a lot more complicated. As New Zealand’s very successful Olympic campaign in Tokyo draws to a close, it’s easy to be …
When significant voices on the political left start speaking out against Labour’s proposed hate speech laws it’s a sign that they’re in big trouble. With criticisms now coming from across the political spectrum, it’s much more likely that the Government will ditch the botched speech regulation reforms. The latest leftwing activist to speak out against …
Former Labour MP Sue Moroney discovers the perils of offering simple solutions to a complex problem. Graham Adams argues that common sense isn’t enough to decide when speech becomes a crime scene. The hate-speech debate is quickly becoming an arena where reputations go to die. Kris Faafoi, the Minister of Justice, learned that dismal …
Parliament, political parties Michael Neilson (Herald): Government communications spending increases 50 per cent in four years(paywalled) Jo Moir (Newsroom): What’s eating Kris Faafoi? Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Mystery delay to National Party donations trial Ben Thomas (Stuff): Collins lurches off-road in search for culture wars vote 1 News: Labour’s ‘massive’ drop in poll a ‘wake up call’ for Govt – Collins …
Housing Bernard Hickey: Here’s all the levers the Govt is not pulling to fix our housing catastrophe Chloe Swarbrick (Herald): UN-enshrined human right to housing eclipsed by investor greed Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): ‘Way too many hoops’: First Home Grant payouts fall short Toby Morris (Spinoff): The Side Eye’s Two New Zealands: Locked out Claire Breen (Herald): Housing as a human …