Items of interest and importance today
COVID AND MIQ
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Chris Hipkins can’t say if his office knew MIQ memo from Ministry of Health was being withheld
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Government was advised in November 2021 there was no longer ‘any’ justification for MIQ
Michael Daly (Stuff): No ‘great conspiracy’ to keep memo on MIQ wind down secret, Hipkins says
Herald: Acting PM Grant Robertson stands by decision to delay MIQ shutdown
Katie Todd (RNZ): MIQ not justified beyond November, health officials told govt last year
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Revelations MIQ could have been scrapped in November brings back tough memories for pregnant Kiwi journalist Charlotte Bellis
Katie Todd (RNZ): MIQ hotels sit empty, workers depart, as system winds down
Tessa Guest (RNZ): Delay in ditching MIQ system ‘incredibly frustrating’, returnees say
Peter Davis (Stuff): Should encouraging “good” behaviour become the new normal?
Laura Walters (Stuff): Kiwis suffering health issues after Covid-19 vaccination want to be heard, but it’s complicated
Matthew Hooton (Patreon): Living with Covid (paywalled)
PM’S FOREIGN TRIP
Geoffrey Miller (Democracy Project): Jacinda Ardern’s trip to Japan and Singapore about more than just trade
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Why Jacinda Ardern is loving her escape to Asia
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Ardern’s rocky road to reconnecting with the world
Herald: Editorial: What Jacinda Ardern hopes to gain in Singapore and Japan (paywalled)
Derek Cheng (Herald): Jacinda Ardern’s awkward start to her ‘bang for buck’ agenda in Singapore (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Singaporean, NZ leaders talk down probability of US joining trans-Pacific trade pact
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern announces expansion of working holiday scheme with Singapore
Daniel Smith (Stuff): Business leaders in PM’s delegation ‘the people to reconnect NZ to the world’
RNZ: PM Jacinda Ardern in Singapore: ‘We’re like-minded on many issues’
1News: Singapore welcomes Ardern, top-level talks continue
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Three people test positive on PM Jacinda Ardern’s trip to Singapore, Japan
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Dendrobium Jacinda Ardern: Singapore names pink orchid after Prime Minister to mark first visit since COVID-19 pandemic
HEALTH
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Private hospital with charitable status received $3.5m in Covid-19 wage subsidies
Ian Powell: Bye-bye subsidiarity; hello democratic deficit
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): National wants Auditor-General to look at mental health spending
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Nurses consider going to ERA over ‘broken promise’ in pay equity deal
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Nurses to consider legal action in historic pay equity settlement stalemate
INFLATION
Peter Dunne: It’s Pass the parcel time on inflation
Duncan Garner (NBR): The mother of all winters of discontent (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Grant Robertson shoots back at Adrian Orr inflation comments, saying they weren’t intended for Government (paywalled)
RNZ: ‘We have to be careful with our spending’: Robertson says govt to set new fiscal rules
Liam Dann (Herald): Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr defends inflation response(paywalled)
Bernard Hickey: Is Grant not being enough of a mate to Adrian? (paywalled)
Richard Harman: Orr needs mates (paywalled)
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk): Now is not the time for a government to be adding money to an economy
EMPLOYMENT, INFRASTRUCTURE AND ECONOMY
Rebecca Macfie (Newsroom): Officials, unions and employers urge changes to who is a ‘contractor’
Rachel Smalley (Today FM): Four-day work week a no-brainer?
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Key to infrastructure delivery is for politicians to agree on what we need
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Government adds three more projects to RMA fast-track
Simon Chapple (Newsroom): Why KiwiSaver is better than a social insurance scheme
Brooke van Velden (Herald): Easter trading rules a mess – let businesses set their own hours
Grant Brookes (Daily Blog): NZNO Constitutional Review – Speak up now for rules to empower union members
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Confusion as employers may be saddled with public holiday cost for those on ACC
Arena Williams and Stuart Smith (Stuff): People deserve confidence Superannuation will always be there when they need it
MIGRATION
Rachel Smalley (Today FM): New Zealand needs boots on the ground, We need a labour force
Greg Ninness (Interest): Huge surge in the number of work and residence visas approved in March
1News Brain drain: Kiwis heading overseas as living costs rise
Will Mace (NBR): Brain drain, yet again? (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Life slowly returning to ‘new normal’ (paywalled)
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Asylum seekers treated differently to refugees, in limbo without support – report
PARTNERSHIP POLITICS (CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM, CO-GOVERNANCE, THREE WATERS; MĀORI WARDS)
David Farrar: My submission on the Rotorua District Council (Representation Arrangements) Bill
Zane Small (Newshub): Māori broadcaster Moana Maniapoto accuses Christopher Luxon of ‘misinformation’ in co-governance debate
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Moana vs Luxon – why the social investment model is a neoliberal welfare experiment
Richard Harman: Backtrack on Maori veto (paywalled)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Susan Freeman-Greene (Stuff): For the sake of democracy, we must keep councillors safe from abuse
Todd Niall (Stuff): Council rates rises in the region of 5% could be Auckland’s new normal
Adam Jacobson (Stuff): Auckland mayor considering asking ports to pay rent to ‘secure a better return’
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Mahanga Bay occupation: Wellington City Council and police demolish temporary structures
Matthew Tso (Stuff): Structures at Mahanga Bay occupation pulled down by officials
MEDIA
Karl du Fresne: Journalists then and now
Gavin Ellis: Show us the full horror of war in Ukraine
Jonathan Ayling (The Platform): NZME AGM a prime example of why trust in media is falling
HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT
Michael Daly (Stuff): Couple finds it’s cheaper to live in Barcelona than take on a ‘huge debt’ to buy a house in NZ
Amy Williams (RNZ): Higher density development on cards for 5000 character homes in Auckland
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Huge apartment law shake-up close to passing with unanimous support of Parliament (paywalled)
James Shaw (Spinoff): The case for rent controls
PARLIAMENT AND GOVERNMENT
Steven Cowan: When the magic is gone
Lloyd Burr (Today FM): Political Breakdown: Why do we need an ‘Acting PM’ when we have an actual PM?
Tumamao Harawira (Māori TV): Dirty online politics towards PM unfair
Hazel Osborne (Herald): Make it 16 take bid for lowering voting age to Supreme Court
POLICE AND LAW AND ORDER
Farah Hancock (RNZ): The streets have eyes
Emile Donovan (RNZ): How will the three strikes law be judged?
Gillian Bonnett (RNZ): Law change to allow deportation of potential terrorists, refugees on the cards
ORANGA TAMARIKI
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Mark Solomon replaces Matthew Tukaki as head of Oranga Tamariki Advisory Board
Melanie Reid (Newsroom): Breaking Bad Practice
RNZ: Oranga Tamariki campaign raises questions on ‘process of engagement’
UKRAINE AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Government announces new Russia sanctions targeted at financial institutions
RNZ: NZ targets Russian banks in latest sanctions over Ukraine war
Tim Hurdle (Stuff): What happens in Australia will have a direct impact on our own future
