Items of interest and importance today
PUBLIC SERVICE NEUTRALITY AND CONSULTANT CRACKDOWNS
Duncan Greive (Spinoff): This public service neutrality scandal is (weirdly) New Zealand at its most beautiful
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Cheat sheet: Why public servants have been warned about their political comments
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): The public sector problems behind talk of ‘consultant crackdown’
Brent Edwards (NBR): Unfair to blame Big Four for Govt consultant spend, Seymour says (paywalled)
Josie Pagani (Stuff): Rob Campbell, the ‘circular bureaucracy’ and cultural conformity
Dita De Boni (NBR): Opining in public: check yourself before you wreck yourself (paywalled)
Jaydene Buckley (Stuff): Why Ruth Dyson and all other leaders should be reading their codes of conduct
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Those who broke public service neutrality rules are fools – but what did we expect?
CURIA POLL
Taxpayers’ Union: Curia Poll: March 2023
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Labour takes the lead in new poll – but Greens hover above threshold
RNZ: Labour rises in new Curia poll, Greens dangerously close to threshold
Stuff: Labour and National neck-and-neck, with just one seat in it, in latest poll
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Chris Hipkins helps Labour take the lead in Taxpayer Union political poll for the first time in 12 months
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Why the 5.7% Greens are in trouble
PARLIAMENT
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Polls all point in the wrong direction for National (paywalled)
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): The week that National seized back the initiative
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): National is starting to give voters something to think about
Audrey Young (Herald): Election 2023: Inside the Labour battle over Jacinda Ardern’s Mt Albert seat (paywalled)
Liam Hehir (The Blue Review): Chris Hipkins versus Michael Wood | Liam Hehir
Brent Edwards (NBR): Political neutrality, the consultants’ gravy train, resilience
Felix Desmarais (1News): For whom do the bells toll? Not the MPs – not today anyway
HEALTH
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Government forks out $514k on overseas health recruitment campaign – only to interview just 3 candidates
Isaac Davison (Herald): Health reforms: Problems get worse as $11b shake-up yet to help struggling sector
Russell Palmer and Ruth Hill (RNZ): Corrected emergency department data to be published tomorrow – Minister Verrall
RNZ: Te Whatu Ora pulls inaccurate emergency department data
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Te Whatu Ora reviewing all health data after ED mistake
RNZ: Te Whatu Ora admits figures used by Health Minister are ‘not accurate’
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Health officials decided a Covid-19 antiviral should no longer be used. Why didn’t prescribers know?
Kate Green (RNZ): Verrall promises extra funding if community nursing pay disparity found
RNZ: School Covid protections ‘unacceptable’, science-led, whānau-centred response needed – researchers
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Māori with cancer experience racism, ‘confusing’ information
Pokere Paewai (RNZ): Whānau speak of barriers to prevention and treatment of cancer in new report
Grant King (Herald): Positive solutions to NZ’s elective healthcare burden (paywalled)
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Te Whatu Ora edits Facebook post thanking men for International Women’s Day
Kristie Boland (Stuff): Second Christchurch student hospitalised with meningococcal disease
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Meningococcal disease: What is it, who gets it and what does it do?
Stephen Forbes (Local Democracy Reporting): NZ could be at start of whooping cough outbreak, public health expert warns
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Two ‘tragic’ whooping cough deaths lead to fears of community spread
Natalie Akoorie (Herald): ACC ordered to reassess hernia claim it denied without examining patient
Kristie Boland (Stuff): More than 36,000 vaccines potentially compromised after refrigeration botch-up
FORESTRY SLASH
Adam Pearse (Herald): Slash: Forestry Minister Stuart Nash stands by decision to keep Hawke’s Bay out of land-use inquiry (paywalled)
Alexa Cook (Newshub): Pressure mounts for Government inquiry into forestry slash in Hawke’s Bay now Tairāwhiti’s is underway
CLIMATE CHANGE, EXTREME WEATHER, CIVIL DEFENCE
Graham Adams (Common Room): How Cyclone Gabrielle mugged the Greens and Labour
Brent Edwards (NBR): Climate change waits for no-one: Rod Carr (paywalled)
Sharon Brettkelly (RNZ): The Detail: After the storms, what is the future of insurance?
Shanti Mathias and Lucy McLean (Spinoff): Good climate policy is good mental health policy too
Nadine Anne Hura (Spinoff): On the ground in Whangārei: ‘It doesn’t matter about tribal boundaries. It’s all about the aroha and manaaki’
Barry Soutar (NBR): In the aftermath of an emergency (paywalled)
RNZ: Fatal Muriwai slip: Inquiry into firefighters’ death during Cyclone Gabrielle launched
TRANSPORT
Dan Hutchinson (Herald): Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says giving up on some Coromandel roads might be the best solution
David Wiliams (Newsroom): Shock at High Court’s transport emissions ruling
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Transport Minister Michael Wood hits out at National’s Simeon Brown amid transport priorities questions
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Dire Strait: What’s gone wrong with our ferries? (paywalled)
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Who pays the most for petrol?
Nile Bijoux (Stuff): Fuel-hungry hybrids: MIA responds to Consumer NZ
BANKS
Herald Editorial: Market study needed to resolve questions over banking profits (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Banking investigation incoming, but don’t get your hopes up
LAW SOCIETY
Jeremy Wilkinson (Open Justice Journalism): ‘Lawyers looking after lawyers’: Panel says strip Law Society of powers to discipline
Hamish McNicol (NBR): Law Society review strongly recommends new independent regulator (paywalled)
RNZ: Expert legal panel calls for complaints process overhaul
CRIME
Adam Pearse (Herald): PM Chris Hipkins and National’s Mark Mitchell disagree on Hipkins’ ram raid record – who’s got the numbers right? (paywalled)
Damien Venuto (Herald): The Front Page: Road rage, random stabbings, ram-raids – Why does NZ feel so unsafe at the moment?
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Chinese Embassy blasts accusation NZ analyst reported to China
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Chinese Embassy calls allegations against NZ Government staffer ‘ill-founded’, ‘smear’
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Government staffer denies passing sensitive information to Chinese Government, calls treatment ‘racist’
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): ‘We are living in a more threatening world’ – top diplomat’s warning to MPs
Anna Whyte (Stuff): Big boost for OEs in UK with visa scheme changes set to benefit young Kiwis
EDUCATION
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Take five: Why teachers are striking and what it means for parents and students
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Up to 50,000 teachers and principals to strike next week
Raphael Franks (Herald): Secondary and primary school teachers to strike next Thursday across New Zealand
RNZ: Primary school teachers to go on strike after rejecting second pay offer
Virginia Oakly (Stuff): Why don’t we have a world-class ECE system to match the prices we already pay?
Luka Forman (RNZ): Gaps in exam assistance, despite more students using it
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Todd Niall (Stuff): Leaked email reveals new cuts at Auckland Council – travel, entertainment and consultants axed
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Three Waters: Watercare is held back by Auckland Council borrowing limits
Alisha Evans (Local Democracy Reporting): Tauranga City Council say its ‘disappointed’ by local government review
Michael Fallow (Stuff0: Nobby Clark rebuffs calls to resign or apologise for explicitly citing offensive words
Raphael Franks (Herald): Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark says ‘n-word’ again, rationalises earlier use
Diane McCarthy (Local Democracy Reporting): More transparency in council meetings the aim for Ōpōtiki
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Councillor walks out during karakia: ‘No-one was listening anyway’
ODT: Councillor walks out over karakia (paywalled)
HOUSING
Bridie Witton (Stuff): National unveils build-to-rent policy it says will help solve housing crisis
Anne Gibson (Herald): Rental properties: National unveils plan to fix housing include build-to-rent push, says ‘mum and dad’ landlords not the enemy (paywalled)
David Hargreaves (Interest): The mortgage market – from mayhem to moribund
Greg Ninness (Interest): The decline in property values is gathering pace according to the latest QV figures
Kristina Orr (Newsroom): Flatpack homes: a sustainable future for emergency housing
PRIMARY INDUSTRIES
Tracy Neal (RNZ): Environment Court allows fishing industry to keep sensitive Marlborough data out of public arena
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): The Detail: Cyclone Gabrielle’s impact on New Zealand’s ‘fruit bowl’
ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING
Rebeca Howard & Andy Fyers (BusinessDesk): Reserve Bank’s Orr won’t be happy with this data (paywalled)
Arena Williams and Stuart Smith (Stuff): This country is being crushed by high inflation, cost of living and interest rates
Puawai Hudson (Whakaata Māori): More Taranaki Māori are expected to become homeowners thanks to a new programme
IMMIGRATION, MIGRANT WORKERS
Iain MacLeod (BusinessDesk): Michael Wood’s work visa communication clear as mud (paywalled)
RNZ: ‘I’ve got the boats, not the people’ – Fullers boss calls for easing immigration rules for crew
BUSINESS, EMPLOYMENT
Phil Pennington (RNZ): WorkSafe boss ‘deeply concerned’ some company directors don’t understand their job
Emily Ireland (Local Democracy Reporting): Masterton building probe triggers national study
Seni Iasona and Tia McDougall (Newshub): Green MP Jan Logie calls for ‘intervention’ on adult entertainment industry as sex workers speak at Parliament about abuse of power from bosses
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Forbes study ranks Auckland among the best cities in the world for work-life balance
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Forbes study ranks Auckland among the best cities in the world for work-life balance
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Xero plans to cut up to 800 jobs
ENVIRONMENT
Anna Whyte (Stuff): Concern more New Zealanders exposed to high levels of air pollution
David Hill (Local Democracy Reporting): Spraying aids with weed control, return of birds, ECan says
MEDIA
Steven Cowan: Woke media v non-woke media. But is either of these progressive?
Keith Lynch (Stuff): NZ Media Council finds a Stuff article did not achieve fairness
OTHER
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Artificial intelligence: World at ‘tipping point’, says Sir Peter Gluckman
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Will AI steal our jobs, or just rob us of our self-esteem at work?
Mana Wikaire-Lewis (Whakaata Māori): Latest family violence report proffers mātauranga Māori as solution
Herald: Histories of Hate: New book reflects on the radical right, Christchurch mosque attacks
Terry Bellamak (Stuff): The law has changed, so why are there no abortion clinic Safe Areas in NZ?
Leighton Keith (Open Justice Journalism): Mayor puts rural New Zealand on notice: You could be stripped of access to justice without warning
