Political Roundup: 26 January 2023

Items of interest and importance today

RĀTANA, CO-GOVERNANCE, THREE WATERS
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): After Ratana
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Could Three Waters be on the chopping block? Here’s what Prime Minister Chris Hipkins could do
Ted Greensmith-West (Stuff): Co-governance is less controversial than Christopher Luxon makes out
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): Luxon’s done Rātana. Is Rātana done with him?
Brent Edwards (NBR): The polarising debate on co-governance (paywalled)
RNZ: Māori seats don’t ‘make a lot of sense’ – Christopher Luxon
Will Trafford (Whakaata Māori): Māori seats ‘don’t make a lot of sense’ – Luxon
Oscar Jackson (Today FM): The co-governance debate that left us more confused… with Chris Finlayson & David Seymour
Alistair Boyce (The Platform): Lets Just Call It Like It Is
Merepeka Raukawa-Tait (Herald): Which politicians impressed at Rātana (paywalled)

HIPKINS SWORN IN AS PM, PARLIAMENT
Anna Whyte (Stuff): Chris Hipkins as PM could sway 12% of voters, new poll suggests
Tim Watkin (Pundit): Introducing Chippy, The New Bloke
Steven Cowan: A working class hero is something to be
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): What we learnt on key issues from Chris Hipkins’ first show as prime minister
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Chris Hipkins holds first Cabinet meeting, but has nothing tangible to offer public on first day as Prime Minister
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): A policy checklist for the new PM
William Hewett (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern’s resignation gives Labour better chance at 2023 election – Patrick Gower
Roy Morgan: New Zealand: Labour support at only 27.5% in December 2022
Herald Editorial: Parties jostle for middle ground (paywalled)
Rachel Smalley (Today FM): National has options … For Labour, it’s Hipkins. That’s it.
Lloyd Burr (Today FM): Get it right, and Hipkins will be on a roll
Anna Whyte (Stuff): Chris Hipkins formally sworn in as new prime minister
RNZ: Watch: Chris Hipkins holds first post-Cabinet media briefing as PM
RNZ: Chris Hipkins sworn in as prime minister
1News: Chris Hipkins becomes New Zealand’s 41st Prime Minister
Caitlin Rawling (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern’s text message to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins moments before he was sworn in
David Farrar: Our longest serving PMs
Herald: ‘Little princess’: Labour MP Tamati Coffey welcomes newborn daughter, born five weeks early

HIPKINS’ COST OF LIVING FOCUS
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Businesses and unions begin ‘tug of war’ over Hipkins’ agenda
Krystal Gibbens and Lauren Crimp (RNZ): Small businesses offer Chris Hipkins advice: ‘Take some of the pain off’
RNZ: ‘There to ask questions’ – Hipkins to sit down with business leaders
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Prime Minister Chris Hipkins defends cost-of-living record, promises more action
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Prime Minister Chris Hipkins promises cost-of-living pressures are the ‘number one’ priority
Michael Neilson (Herald): Chris Hipkins becomes Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern farewelled as economy, cost of living front and centre
Tess McClure (Guardian): Chris Hipkins says cost of living is ‘absolute priority’ as he becomes New Zealand prime minister
Brent Edwards (NBR): New PM’s commitment to make the economy No 1 priority (paywalled)
1News: Cost of living, inflation ‘front of mind’ for Govt – Sepuloni

JACINDA ARDERN STEPS DOWN AS PM
Peter Dunne: Key and Ardern broke the mould
Herald Editorial: Jacinda Ardern inspired us in unprecedented times (paywalled)
Herald: Inside the abuse aimed at Jacinda Ardern – where it’s coming from, what it says and the harm it does (paywalled)
Ian Powell: Sociopaths, psychopaths, the far-right and Jacinda Ardern
RNZ: Jacinda Ardern exits Parliament as Prime Minister for final time
1News: Jacinda Ardern receives guard of honour as she leaves Parliament
Tess McClure (Guardian): Selfies, sendoffs and star power as Jacinda Ardern has her last day in the sun
Charlotte Graham-McLay (Guardian): ‘Her tears were real’: survivors of Christchurch attack weigh up Jacinda Ardern’s legacy
Nick Kelly: Jacinda Adern – How will her five years in power be remembered?
Amberleigh Jack (Stuff): ‘First bloke out’: Clarke Gayford ‘so incredibly proud’ of ‘Neve’s Mum’
Emily Brookes and Amberleigh Jack (Stuff): All the best moments from our ‘first bloke’, Clarke Gayford
Herald: Clarke Gayford’s touching tribute to Jacinda Ardern as he exits role as ‘First Bloke of NZ’

ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING
Robert MacCulloch (Herald): Same old economic plot delivers the same outcome (paywalled)
Robert MacCulloch: NZ’s New Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, rebrands the Labour Party, as the party of the economy
Rob Stock (Stuff): Mood of the Workforce: ‘People are hurting’ with only one in four workers’ incomes keeping pace with inflation
Liam Dann (Herald): Inflation data offers little for new PM to cheer about (paywalled)
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Case builds for smaller interest rate hikes (paywalled)
Gyles Beckford (RNZ): Annual inflation rate holds at 7.2% percent as consumer prices rise
David Hargreaves (Interest): Interest rates could be getting close to peaks after inflation undershoots expectations
David Hargreaves (Interest): Inflation rate stays at 7.2%, undershooting Reserve Bank forecasts
Riley Kennedy (BusinessDesk): Economists: inflation peaking, slow down in OCR hikes expected (paywalled)
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Too early to declare victory in fight against inflation – investment analyst
Esther Taunton (Stuff): The ‘I’ word: What is inflation anyway?
1News: Christopher Luxon lays out National’s plan to fight inflation
David Hargreaves (Interest): We are unlikely to be able to draw breath until the October election is over. Expect drama.
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Budgeting service calls for more focus on ‘working families’ as Chris Hipkins takes charge
Finn Blackwell (RNZ): Papakura locals on rising costs: ‘There’s not as much money left over’
Mohammad Alafeshat (RNZ): At the checkout: Countdown expects price of seasonal produce to drop
Reweti Kohere (Spinoff): Can the rising tide of a ‘taniwha’ economy lift the boats of all Māori?
Matthew Birchall (Herald): The Seduction of Grandeur (paywalled)

HOUSING
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Comfort for Labour? Mortgage pain bad, but not as bad as you think (paywalled)
Ben Leahy (Herald): Mortgage pain: Nelson family consider selling after $2500 monthly interest rate rise ‘brings tears to my eyes’
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Here’s where rents increased most last year
Leanne Warr (Herald): ‘Absolutely outrageous’: McAnulty slams proposed rent increases
Rachel Moore (Stuff): New hotels, fewer emergency housing motels ahead for Hamilton
Kerre Woodham (Newstalk ZB): Children should not be in emergency motels

BUSINESS, EMPLOYMENT
Jem Traylen (BusinessDesk): Tax cuts a low priority for Auckland business leaders (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Commerce Commission ‘misguided’ over supermarket competition problem
David Hargreaves (Interest): Reserve Bank is going to be stashing more foreign cash
RNZ: Reserve Bank planning to boost foreign cash, but amount unknown
Martin Van Beynen (Stuff): Owner of early childcare company Porse fakes BNZ email to justify late wages
Nona Pelletier (RNZ): Cybersecurity threats increasing and evolving at rapid pace – legal expert
Brianna MciLraith (Stuff): Pretty privilege: How beauty standards affect women in the workplace
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Is your new colleague getting paid more than you? Here’s what you can do

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Ben Strang (RNZ): Auckland mayor Wayne Brown grants two interviews, of 108 media requests
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Rates and mates – bailing out our cash-strapped capital
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Budget blowout for Eastbourne coastal path: Ratepayer bill triples
Steven Walton (Press): Ratepayer-owned Citycare no longer paying dividend after $71m acquisition
Steven Walton (Press): Ratepayer-owned economic agency attracts $123 million of investment to Christchurch
Emily Ireland (Local Democracy Reporting): Audit delays leave mayor ‘unimpressed’
Alisha Evans (Local Democracy Reporting): Decade-long fight for a safer road in Te Puke
RNZ: Rotorua accessibility advocate fights for footpath to new subdivision
Rates and mates – bailing out our cash-strapped capital

EDUCATION
Rob Stock (Stuff): Back-to-school costs, and the school where there are none
Michael Fallow (Stuff): National wants tertiary funding better synced to economic imperatives
RNZ: New independent Māori education entity needed – report
RNZ: Dwindling population on campus led to Vic Books’ demise
Lauren Crimp (RNZ): Universities ready for AI tool ChatGPT, academic integrity expert says
Alwyn Poole (Kiwiblog): What hasn’t been announced – Term 3 2022 School Attendance … let alone Term 4

HEALTH
Cécile Meier (BusinessDesk): Little accuses GPs of making inaccurate claims on funding
Hannah Bodger-Kearns (Whakaata Māori): Tamariki Māori suffering most from health inequities
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): Father worried new Palmerston North Hospital mental health ward not set to open until 2025
Rodney Hide: My Single Issue this Election
RNZ: Wastewater results consistent with low case numbers, expert says
Niva Chittock (RNZ): Christchurch Hospital staff parking: Ministry explores other options but no timeframe on overdue extension
Libby Kirkby-McLeod (RNZ): Ibuprofen supply issues caused by sharp increase in demand – Pharmac

PRIMARY INDUSTRIES
Hannah Bodger-Kearns (Whakaata Māori): Tairāwhiti land use review supported after devastating storm
Andrea Fox (Herald): Foresters call for independent inquiry into general ‘mass failures’ in East Coast storms (paywalled)

ENVIRONMENT
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Energy minister Woods told Rio Tinto its behaviour at aluminium smelter was ‘not good for New Zealand or Southland’
Tom Powell (Stuff): High noon in Aotearoa

TITEWHAI HARAWIRA
Joseph Los’e , RNZ and Peter de Graaf (Northern Advocate): ‘She didn’t bow to anyone’: Ngāpuhi matriarch Titewhai Harawira dies aged 90
Ripu Bhatia, Christine Rovoi, Maxine Jacobs and Katie Doyle (Stuff): ‘She was a fighter’: Māori leaders react to death of Titewhai Harawira
David Farrar: RIP Titewhai Harawira

UKRAINE
Stuff: Family of slain Kiwi aid worker in Ukraine ‘very proud’ of what he did
Nathan Morton and Kurt Bayer (Herald): War in Ukraine: ‘His death shall not be in vain’; Devastated parents address son’s death in war-zone
RNZ: Missing New Zealand aid worker Andrew Bagshaw’s body found in Ukraine, parents say
William Hewett (Newshub): Body of missing Kiwi Andrew Bagshaw found in eastern Ukraine

OTHER
Kate Newton (Stuff): The Whole Truth: Has the proportion of public servants grown?
Robin Martin (RNZ): Pākaraka signs marking Whanganui village destroyed hours after being installed
1News: Wai 262 prepares to bring awareness to Treaty claim
Herald: Prominent political party figure charged with historic abuse of teen boy in 1990s, granted bail
RNZ: Rātana movement says new leadership likely to be in place this year
Erin Gourley (Stuff): Historic buildings and wharves in Shelly Bay to be bowled due to major safety risk
Morgan Godfery (Stuff): Royal psychodrama means only one thing for NZ – a republic
Raphael Franks (Herald): TVNZ Breakfast hosts shooting Trump doll sparks outrage, network apologises