Items of interest and importance today
NZ FIRST CONFERENCE
Jessica Mutch McKay (1News): Never write off Winston Peters
Adam Pearse (Herald): How NZ First’s new guard evolved amid political oblivion(paywalled)
Adam Pearse (Herald): Can NZ First work with Labour and who will be on Winston’s team?
RNZ: Winston Peters puts Labour in the firing line at New Zealand First annual conference
Luke Malpass (Stuff): The Labour methane tax that could open the door again for Winston Peters and NZ First
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Winston Peters will refuse to form Government with Labour unless push for equal Māori leadership dropped
RNZ: PM Jacinda Ardern responds to Winston Peters’ attacks on Labour government
Thomas Manch (Stuff): NZ First kicks-off 2023 election bid with scathing attack of Labour’s ‘hallucinogenic objectives’
Newshub: Winston Peters lashes out at Labour as ‘one of worst’ Govts, predicts snap election in charged NZ First conference speech
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk): We aren’t naïve enough to vote for Winston again – are we?
Kelvin McDonald (Māori TV): Winston Peters attacks Labour government and policies based ‘purely on race’
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Winston Peters condemns Labour’s ‘malignant tinkering’
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Winston Peters determined to stir up race debate as election campaign kicks off in Christchurch
Thomas Manch (Stuff): NZ First sets the stage for a promised return to Parliament, once again
Adam Pearse (Herald): NZ First’s Winston Peters decries ‘seeds of apartheid’ in leader’s address
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The NZ First redneck jamboree: Winners, losers & predictions
Adam Pearse (Herald): NZ First conference: NZ First ethos set as Winston Peters’ grand plan awaits
Thomas Manch (Stuff): ‘They can’t match us’: Shane Jones attacks ACT after David Seymour unearths ‘conflict of interest’ allegation
Kelvin McDonald (Māori TV): NZ First members vote to repeal Treaty references in legislation, reject ‘racist co-governance’
Herald: ‘They thought we were over’: Winston Peters announces NZ First’s comeback
Zarina Hewlett (Today FM): Does New Zealand need a return of Winston Peters?
Thomas Manch (Stuff): NZ First sets the stage for a promised return to Parliament, once again
SHAKESPEARE DE-FUNDING
Chris Trotter (Interest): Cancelling Shakespeare
Lincoln Tan (Herald): ‘Complete knobs’: Creative NZ’s Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival funding cut slammed again
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Cut to Shakespeare funding not ‘indicative of a culture war in New Zealand’, says Jacinda Ardern
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): PM Jacinda Ardern says she disagrees with decision to pull funding for school Shakespeare competition
Eva Corlett (Guardian): New Zealand pulls funding for school Shakespeare festival, citing ‘canon of imperialism’
Terry Sheat (Newsroom): Creative NZ slammed, again
Stuff: Editorial Cancelling Shakespeare: Must we have FBoy Island but not The Tempest?
Herald: Top Auckland Uni English Professor slams move to defund Shakespeare festival
Abbey Wakefield (1News): Creative NZ accused of ‘cancelling’ Shakespeare in funding cut
Virginia Fallon (Stuff): To be or not to be, that is the question: New Zealand cancels Shakespeare
Jayden Holmes (Today FM): William Shakespeare: To cancel or not to cancel? Sheilah Winn funding cut
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Surprise, surprise – Stuff supports woke cancelling of Shakespeare
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The NZ Woke have just canceled Shakespeare for crimes of imperialism! This is cultural vandalism!
Dougal McNeill: Cancel the Green World
LOBBYING AND INTEGRITY
Emile Donovan (RNZ): Demystifying the world of political lobbying
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Ex-media minister’s hasty move to lobbying
Hamish McNicol and Calida Stuart-Menteath (NBR): What is the point of the Serious Fraud Office? (paywalled)
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Auditor-General asked to investigate over donation to Shane Jones’ election campaign
Adam Pearse (Herald): NZ First conference: Shane Jones rejects bias after donation precedes $9m PGF funding announcement
GOVERNMENT AND PARLIAMENT
Rachel Smalley (Today FM): It’s not about if Jacinda Ardern will stand down, it’s about when
Rachel Smalley (NBR): Ardern’s star has fallen (paywalled)
John MacDonald (Herald): Government needs to sort out its priorities
Steve Maharey (Stuff): The 2023 general election will be about who can fix things
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Te Pāti Māori underwhelmed by prospect of government
Henry Cooke (Spinoff): Three lessons for New Zealand politicians from the UK’s Trusstastrophe
Sam Olley (RNZ): Provincial Growth Fund: More than 140 projects awarded funding have had to pull out
Molly Swift (Newshub): Soft republicanism or constitution overhaul?: What could happen to New Zealand if we became a republic
Claire Trevett (Herald): The photo op PM Jacinda Ardern refused to do, Seymour and Peters compete for crowds (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Stuff): Here are the economic policies National says it will cull
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Labour’s mining stance bittersweet for the Greens, but a taste of victory for Te Pāti Māori
Michael Bassett: Jacinda: Full stream into the electoral hurricane
1News: Starting at the bottom: Elected TOP candidate wins party milestone
RNZ: National and ACT Party could form government – Taxpayers’ Union Curia poll
Thomas Going (Stuff): Queer politics in New Zealand can’t afford to be partisan
Muriel Newman (NZCPR): Message to the PM
Phil Smith (RNZ): Adrian Rurawhe: The accidental Speaker
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, AND ELECTIONS
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Just 15% of Auckland voted for new mayor. How do we resuscitate local democracy?
Hayden Donnell (RNZ): The media and low local election turnout
John Roughan (Herald): Right-leaning winners in local elections a warning for Labour Government (paywalled)
Stephen Judd (Spinoff): Online voting isn’t the cure for low turnout
Brenda Harwood (ODT): Caution urged over electoral review
Sinead Gill (Stuff): Who is Dunedin’s new mayor Jules Radich, the man with a plan?
Otago Daily Times: Michael Laws squeaks back in: ‘I have been taught a lesson’
Erin Gourley (Stuff): It’s official: final results for Wellington’s local elections
RNZ: Grey District councillor wins after name pulled from basket
Carly Gooch (Stuff): Deadlock sees name pulled from a basket for Grey district council ward
Kelvin McDonald (Māori TV): Moko Tepania makes history as first Māori mayor of Far North
Richard Swainson (Stuff): ‘Backsides’ voted but fireworks are likely with one Hamilton councillor
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): On local govt’s death glide of nihilism, Roxette and wine cooler horror
Donna Miles (Stuff): Ascribing another’s beliefs to ‘ideology’ ignores that most of us follow one
Virginia Fallon (Stuff): ‘It’s not mine any more’: Wellington’s outgoing mayor Andy Foster looks back
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy reporting): Former pig mask-wearing cop makes Gisborne council, breaches campaign rules
Frank Newman (NZCPR): The biggest winners from Election 2022
Peter de Graaf (Herald): ‘A mayor for all’: Moko Tepania makes history in Far North(paywalled)
AUCKLAND CITY COUNCIL
Claire Trevett (Herald): Are Labour’s big reforms cooked? Wayne Brown victory puts pothole in Labour’s reform road (paywalled)
Stuff: Auckland mayor Wayne Brown hires former NZ First MP
https://www.stuff.co.nz/
Matthew Hooton (Patreon): Detour through Mayor’s Office (paywalled)
Damien Grant (Stuff): Wayne Brown’s promised clean-out is overdue
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of Wayne Brown (paywalled)
Herald: Editorial: Wayne Brown works on his maverick credentials in week one(paywalled)
RNZ: Eke Panuku’s middle managers earn an average of $143,000 a year
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Council election: Final results confirm tiny rise in votes over 2019
Nick Truebridge (Newshub): Auckland councillors weigh in on new mayor Wayne Brown amid questions over work hours
THREE WATERS
Thomas Cranmer: Three Waters and the Debt that will tear us apart
Nona Pelletier (RNZ): Three Waters policy: Standard & Poors biding its time over adjusting credit ratings
ODT: MPs slam Three Waters reform
BARBARA KURIGER SCANDAL
David Fisher (Herald): How a National MP went to war for her son – and how it cost her her job (paywalled)
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Whistleblower alerted National to Barbara Kuriger matter two weeks ago, raised concern about MP’s actions towards ministry
Bridie Witton (Stuff): National MP Barbara Kuriger drops agriculture portfolios over ‘blurred line’ in family dispute
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Luxon: Barbara Kuriger’s position was ‘untenable’
Herald: National MP Barbara Kuriger quits portfolio amid dispute with government department
RNZ: National MP Barbara Kuriger resigns from portfolios over ‘significant conflict of interest’
Jamie Ensor (Newsroom): National MP Barbara Kuriger resigns from roles after what Christopher Luxon calls ‘serious lapse of judgement’
1News: National MP in MPI dispute resigns portfolios over ‘conflict of interest’
No Right Turn: A failure of management
Greg Presland (The Standard): What conflict of interest
DEFENCE AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Government fix-it man Sir Brian Roche to lead defence policy review panel
Michael Neilson (Herald): Defence Minister Peeni Henare announces review expert panel as ‘strategic competition’ between China, US in Pacific heats up
1News: Military members aren’t paid enough, Defence Minister says
Kelvin McDonald (Māori TV): Henare to talk defence with Australia’s Deputy PM
Anna Rawhiti-Connell (Spinoff): Defence force underpaid as major review panel announced
Erin Gourley (Stuff): NZ Defence Force seeing worst attrition rate in history
RNZ: Rocket Lab could be used to make war from space – Green Party
Jayden Holmes (Today FM): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern could be ‘using her voice and clout’ to say more to Iran
Nicholas Khoo (NBR): NZ must formulate response to US National Security Strategy(paywalled)
Chris Trotter: Jacinda’s hijab
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Sir John Key dollops praise on China in Chinese state media
CHILD POVERTY
Seni Iasona (Newshub): Cost of living: KidsCan survey paints ‘grim’ picture of kids going to school ‘hungry, cold and miserable’
Lauren Crimp (RNZ): Rising food costs push people into homelessness – Salvation Army
Isaac Davison (Herald): ‘The worst we have ever seen it’: KidsCan’s support for hungry children grows as food prices hit 13-year high
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The AM Show – Why the Prime Minister is wrong on child poverty
ECONOMY
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Finance Minister in Washington DC says everybody’s bracing for a tough 2023 (paywalled)
David Hargreaves (Interest): The inflation fire may be losing intensity – but can we put it out?
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Annual inflation set to fall from its 7.3% peak
Hillmarè Schulze (NBR): Are we using the right power tools to tackle inflation?(paywalled)
HOUSING
Eric Crampton (Stuff): A confusion of National Policy Statements
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Call for Govt to do more to support build-to-rent development
Miriam Bell (Stuff): What help is available to first-home buyers?
Richard Walker (Stuff): Housing for the people: meet the developers leading the charge
Maria Slade (NBR): Housing projects face winter of discontent (paywalled)
Jono Galuszka (Stuff): Kāinga Ora paying $33.7m for 50 Palmerston North homes to tackle waitlist pressure
COVID
David Farrar (Patreon): Exclusive poll results on Covid-19 Royal Commission(paywalled)
Jamie Morton (Herald): Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: Another wave risks hundreds more deaths this year – Michael Baker
Jamie Morton (Herald): Covid-19: Five questions about NZ’s third Omicron wave
Mike Hosking (Newstalk): The cost of our Covid response is only going to grow
CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT
Jamie Morton (Herald): 20 years after Corngate – are we ready for genetic modification?(paywalled)
Herald: Science Digest: Is it time New Zealand re-examined its relationship with genetic modification?
Janet Wilson (Stuff): Agricultural emissions proposal piles pressure on Government to deliver
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Reckless climate tax will wreck industry (paywalled)
Steven Joyce (Herald): Government on agricultural emissions – Can’t see the food for the trees (paywalled)
Andrew Kirton (Herald): Political courage is needed to deal with climate change(paywalled)
Paula Bennett (Herald): Government’s agricultural emissions tax will up dairy, meat prices(paywalled)
Andrea Fox (Herald): Why farmers are upset about an emissions pricing plan the Beehive claims they largely ordered (paywalled)
David Williams (Newsroom): A year on, what has ECan done about the Rakaia?
1News: Leading climate policy expert calls for NZ to rethink agriculture
Rod Oram (Newsroom): We’re light years from the change we need
Sonya Holm (Stuff): From Parliament to food rescue: When red and blue make green
MEDIA
Suranjana Tewari (BBC): Kamahl Santamaria: Al Jazeera staff allege harassment and bullying went unchecked
Chris Trotter (BFD): The ‘Fire and Fury’ test
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Government expects to spend $6m on contractors working for public media mega-merger
Molly Swift (Newshub): Tracey Martin defends no cost-benefit analysis for TVNZ/RNZ merger
Mike O’Donnell (Stuff): Fboy Island isn’t the answer for TVNZ/RNZ merger
IMMIGRATION
Akula Sharma (Herald): Immigration NZ apologises for offending Sikh community
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Immigration Minister Michael Wood denies ‘sitting on our hands’ ahead of visa restart
Iain MacLeod (NBR): To immigration infinity and beyond (paywalled)
Iain MacLeod (NBR): Skilled migrant changes deceptively uncertain (paywalled)
Bernard Hickey: How many people do we want living in Aotearoa by 2100? (paywalled)
JUSTICE
Marine Lourens (Stuff): ‘Profoundly unethical’: Duty lawyers paid an extra $120 if clients plead guilty at first court appearance
Martin Van Beynen (Stuff): Peter Ellis case forced court to confront how tikanga converges with common law
Melanie Reid, Bonnie Sumner, and Paul Enticott (Newsroom): The Peter Ellis case: Hysteria, and an arrest
Krystal Gibbens (Stuff): New Zealand’s ‘brutal’ family court system has to change – campaign
Tom Pearce (Stuff): We deserve better than empty ‘tough on crime’ rhetoric
David Farrar: How can Parliament reign in the Judiciary?
Hamish McNicol (NBR): Law Society elects new president following ‘difficult time’(paywalled)
DRUG REFORM
Sarah Helm (Spinoff): Why Aotearoa should decriminalise cannabis and overturn convictions
Jarrod Gilbert (Herald): The way NZ handles cannabis makes us look like dopes(paywalled)
Family First: Why we shouldn’t be pardoning or decriminalising cannabis use in NZ
