Items of interest and importance today
PARLIAMENT
Morgan Godfery (Guardian): The dark side haunting New Zealand’s politics in 2022 must not hijack the next election
Brent Edwards (NBR): Political debate could get more extreme in election year (paywalled)
Ben Thomas (Stuff): Stock up on electoral hope, because the fear is coming in 2023
Gordon Campbell: On Becoming A Nation Of Political Paranoids
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): The 2022 Golden Jandals for conspicuous contributions to NZ politics
Herald: On the Tiles: Political winners and losers from 2022
1News: It’s an inequality crisis, not a cost of living one – Green Party
Anna Whyte (Stuff): End of year interviews: The Green Party on pulling Three Waters support and the highs and lows of 2022
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Luxon’s success with ‘deadly serious’ plan to diversify
1News: Luxon’s proudest 2022 achievement: National’s now ‘a team’
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): National Party to hold special meeting after wave of regional resignations
Tatiana Gibbs (Stuff): Green MP Eugenie Sage to step down at next election
Newshub: Hamilton West by-election: Official results show how much National beat Labour by, number of disallowed votes
David Farrar: Final by-election results
Tess McClure (Guardian): Jacinda Ardern learned she was in new Meghan and Harry series the day of trailer release
Jamie Ensor and Kethaki Masilamani (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern only found out she’d feature in Prince Harry, Meghan Markle show same day trailer dropped
1News: Ardern had ‘no communication’ with Harry and Meghan over doco
Stuff: Jacinda Ardern learned she was in Live to Lead the day Harry and Meghan documentary trailer dropped
Pete Burdon: Nicola Willis is my Media Communicator of the Year
Eva Davies (Manawatū Standard): Steph Lewis named as Labour candidate for Whanganui electorate in 2023 general election
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Yikun Zhang associate loses Justice of Peace role
ENVIRONMENT
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): Agri emissions: What farmers won and lost in the Government’s plan
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): James Shaw defends ‘lowest price possible’ farming emissions prices, says it’s political reality
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Emissions pricing proposal splits farming industry opinion
Adam Pearse (Herald): Govt promises ‘lowest possible’ farming emissions levy price in latest plan
Jamie Ensor and Simon Shepherd (Newshub): Government makes changes to proposed agriculture emissions pricing scheme to ‘build greater levels of buy-in’
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Government makes changes to farm-level emissions pricing plan
Adam Pearse (Herald): National aiming for but can’t commit to 2025 farm emission levy deadline
Craig Ashworth (Local Democracy Reporting): Toxic well underlines windmill plan fears in Taranaki
Joanne Naish (Stuff): Litter plagues one of New Zealand’s remotest coastlines
Pokere Paewawi (RNZ): Bay of Plenty iwi puts in place climate change strategy for Maketū
David Hill (Local Democracy Reporting): Kaikōura recreational pāua fishing delayed until April
ECONOMY
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): 70k people will lose their job to fight inflation – one economist thinks there’s another way
John Gascoigne (Herald): How New Zealand can gain rich-nation status (paywalled)
RNZ: ANZ-Roy Morgan confidence survey shows sharp skid in sentiment
Aimee Shaw (Stuff): What cost-of-living crunch? Shoppers flock to malls for ‘last hurrah’
BUSINESS, EMPLOYMENT
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): 4% of wage subsidy repaid: Ministry warns more court action likely
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Govt scrutiny of $9m loan to struggling publicly-owned laundry company
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Which airlines haven’t returned to NZ, and how can we lure them back here?
Seni Iasona (Newshub): Gloriavale drops legal counsel for ‘prolonged’ Employment Court case as costs bite
Virginia Fallon (Stuff): Petulant Fire and Emergency NZ is desperately clinging to power
COVID-19
Newshub: Jacinda Ardern claims COVID-19 Christmas comment has been ‘misinterpreted’, clarifies at press conference
Adam Pearse (Herald): PM Jacinda Ardern clarifies Christmas Covid comments as cases increase
RNZ: Covid-19: Jacinda Ardern defends settings amid wave of reported cases
JUSTICE
Craig Kapitan (Herald): Justice Minister Kiri Allan, PM Jacinda Ardern respond to court decision forcing rethink of 501s
Erin Gourley (Stuff): Crown urgently appeals against 501 deportee human rights case
Amy Williams (RNZ): Crown to appeal 501 rights decision that may ‘open floodgates for others’
HOUSING
Robin Martin (RNZ): Unruly neighbours move after ‘nightmarish’ year, Kāinga Ora admits mistakes
Bruce Morris (Newsroom): Kāinga Ora’s radical Auckland density wishlist
Megan Wilson (Bay of Plenty Times): Tauranga rental price and struggle forces mother to move daughter to new school
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Steven Walton (Stuff): Council’s refusal to release voting record on CEO pay rise branded ‘inherently undemocratic’
Erin Gourley (Stuff): Hutt City Council fourth in Wellington region to endorse Make It 16’s call for lower voting age
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): Palmerston North seeks consent for NZ’s best wastewater treatment
RNZ: Councillors divided over $40 per hour travel time allowance
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): The Kaipara Council Prayer: Western Secularism vs Indigenous Mana
Brendon McMahon (Local Democracy Reporting): Māori sites of significance maps to be fixed after errors found
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): Palmerston North resumes face-to-face international connections
THREE WATERS
1News: Ardern: Three Waters, media merger ‘difficult’ but necessary
Arena Williams and Stuart Smith (Stuff): The worst part of the three waters debacle was the attempt to entrench the legislation
Susan Sandys (Star News): Chlorine could stay in Selwyn drinking water for 18 months
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Daniel Smith (Stuff): Chinese-made cameras ‘pose potential security risk to New Zealand’
Anna Fifield (Stuff): 50 years of NZ-China relations: Consistency and courtesy have served us well, ‘old China hand’ says
Ford Hart (Stuff): Ambiguity and 50 years of NZ-China relations
Mike Smith (Standard): Celebrating 50th Anniversary of PRC recognition
Stuff: Fiji’s ruling party refuses to concede election, says Nanaia Mahuta ‘jumped the gun’
Dita De Boni (NBR): Aussies show us up in the Pacific (paywalled)
HEALTH
Maddy Lloyd (1News): Major cuts to new Dunedin Hospital design as budget blows out
RNZ: Cabinet signs off on more beds for new Dunedin Hospital inpatients building than planned
Sapeer Mayron (Stuff): Govt health arm fights advertising watchdog over pulled ‘middle finger’ campaign which cost taxpayers $1m
Katie Townshend (Stuff): Using manaakitanga to help improve cervical screening in Te Tauihu
TRANSPORT
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Congestion charging possible under proposed new NZ-wide transport ticketing system
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Group raising $800k to maintain KiwiRail line for historic train
Caroline Williams (Stuff): Auckland’s top public transport user took 3400 trips this year – and didn’t pay a cent
Federico Magrin (Stuff): Behavioural and infrastructural changes needed to reduce road toll, says victim’s brother
OTHER
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Natural and Built Environment replaces the Resource Management Act: What you need to know
Te Kuru o te Marama Dewes (Spinoff): An momentous year for te reo Māori
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Could Wellington City Mission beat Eminem? It’s possible
Tom Hunt (Stuff): One person buys 8400 tickets for Wellington fundraiser nobody can attend
