Today’s content
STUART NASH, OIA, LOBBYING
Tracy Watkins (Stuff): Stuart Nash scandal puts OIA and lobbyist laws in the spotlight
1News: Q+A: Nash saga erodes public’s trust in Govt – academic
David Fisher (Herald): Nash, National and the way politicians play games with the OIA (paywalled)
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Cock up over conspiracy? There is a more obvious explanation to the Stuart Nash scandal
Claire Trevett (Herald): PM Chris Hipkins has his worst week so far – how much has Nash affair hurt him? (paywalled)
Tim Watkin (Pundit): The Faulty Logic Of Stuart Nash & The Ombudsman’s Opportunity
Luke Malpass (Stuff): The Stuart Nash saga and Labour’s fight for political oxygen
Janet Wilson (Stuff): Questions about judgment swirl at worst time for Hipkins, Labour
Thomas Cranmer: Hipkins Struggles to Contain Official Information Act Scandal
No Right Turn: Investigating the culture of secrecy
Adam Pearse (Herald): Ombudsman reopens investigation into Stuart Nash’s OIA response, including redacted email
Newshub: Chief Ombudsman reopens investigation into former minister Stuart Nash’s refusal to release email
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Hipkins agrees to independent inquiry
Rebecca Stevenson (Interest): Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ email claims over Nash’s cabinet leak ‘doesn’t have any credibility’: TOP leader
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Stuart Nash donor Troy Bowker breaks his silence
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Prime Minister Chris Hipkins may announce minor Cabinet reshuffle as early as Monday after Stuart Nash axing
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says staffers made ‘mistake’ in handling of Stuart Nash email, had no ‘ill-intent’
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Chris Hipkins says it was ‘a cock up’, not ‘a conspiracy’, to overlook Stuart Nash donor emails
Herald: On the Tiles: Will the Stuart Nash drama resonate with voters?
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Timeline: The events that cost Stuart Nash his career, and how they unfolded
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Michael Wood fires back at National’s accusations on handling of Stuart Nash email
GOVT, PARLIAMENT, WEEK IN POLITICS
Peter Dunne: Prime Minister now faces an almighty challenge in trying to recapture control of the political agenda he and his government were enjoying barely a week ago
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Stuart Nash and Marama Davidson a headache for Chris Hipkins (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (Stuff): The week ahead in parliament: Jacinda Ardern to say goodbye, while questions around Nash won’t go away
Herald Editorial: Political landscape strewn with debacle (paywalled)
Simon Shepherd: Newshub Nation: Political panel discusses Nash, the economy, and cyclone-recovery
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Week in Politics: For Labour’s sake, Nash must go
Brent Edwards (NBR): Stuart Nash, white cis men, bus drivers, Jacinda Ardern
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Beehive Diaries: Parties, parties, parties (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Roy Morgan Poll – Hung Parliament – Māori Party are Kingmakers!
Grant Duncan: Māori voters
Wena Harawira (Whakaata Māori): More new and younger voters on Māori roll – Taonui
1News: Q+A: National’s election chair pins poor poll results on cyclone, new PM
Mike Williams (Hawke’s Bay Today): Election looks set to be closely fought contest
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Week of House firsts for southern MPs (paywalled)
RNZ: Little boxes: MPs and their offices
Gray Gibson (Newshub): Newshub Nation Backstory: Māori-Pasifika Green MP Teanau Tuiono
Jonah Franke-Bowell (Stuff): Georgie Dansey selected as Labour candidate for Hamilton East
JACINDA ARDERN
Kevin Norquay (Stuff): How will history recall Jacinda Ardern as PM?
Audrey Young (Herald): Remarkable or shambolic? Four PMs give their verdicts on Jacinda Ardern’s legacy (paywalled)
Mike Munro (Herald): For Jacinda Ardern, what a wild ride it’s been (paywalled)
MARAMA DAVIDSON
Steven Cowan: The disastrous politics of Marama Davidson
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The political danger of the Green Party war on white cis males
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The war on white cis males begins and it is publicly funded!
Paula Bennett (Herald): Marama Davidson should apologise to white cis men and those who are offended on their behalf (paywalled)
ECONOMY, BUSINESS, EMPLOYMENT, COST OF LIVING
Matt Nippert (Herald): Taxman starts clawing back Covid millions (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Stuff): Recession warning: ‘Banks will find it increasingly difficult to be lenient’
Liam Dann (Herald): Economic pain about to get real as job losses mount (paywalled)
Brian Easton (Pundit): Why Are We Making So Little Progress Towards Reducing Child Poverty?
Rob Stock (Stuff): Living wage rises by 9.9% to $26 as cost of living crisis bites
Rachel Maher (Herald): Living wage set to increase in September to $26 as Kiwis feel inflation pinch
Damien Venuto (Herald): All the cash boosts Kiwis will get from 1 April – The Front Page
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): National, ACT want support for ‘ordinary taxpayer’ as Government hikes minimum wage, benefits, Superannuation
RNZ: Holidays Act overhaul delayed again
RNZ: Hospital staff to receive long-awaited unpaid backpay
Simon Shepherd and Gray Gibson (Newshub): Jo Cribb from Mind The Gap NZ urges Chris Hipkins’ Government to introduce pay transparency
1News: New Zealand strippers allege exploitation and wage theft
Simon Shepherd and Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Superannuation age: Debate flares over future of pension, call for it to be raised to 70, not given to rich
William Hewett (Newshub): Cost of living: Economist Brad Olsen says NZ’s superannuation age needs to be urgently reviewed
Michael Daly (Stuff): How much better or worse than the NZ version is the pension system the French are fighting to keep
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Here’s what the Reserve Bank doesn’t want you to know about its OCR decision this week
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): Reserve Bank will hike to 5%, highest in 14 years (paywalled)
Dan Brunskill (Interest): The Reserve Bank of NZ will likely lift the Official Cash Rate 25 basis points on Wednesday and give little else away
Warren Couillault (BusinessDesk): Reserve Bank ‘jawboning’ must continue (paywalled)
Jonathan Mitchell (NBR): Disaster economics: How NZ responds to shocks (paywalled)
IMMIGRATION, MIGRANT WORKERS
Steve Kilgallon (Stuff): Auckland farm’s ‘human trafficking’: $7 an hour, and a house ‘unfit for a dog’
Richard Harman (Politik): Immigration doesn’t check (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (Stuff): Government aims for better transparency in NZ’s immigration decisions
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TRADE, ASYLUM SEEKERS
1News: Q+A: Fears NZ will follow world on asylum seeker policy
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Defence Minister: ‘Independence is not isolationism’
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Closer ties for New Zealand with NATO ‘a logical fit’
Anna Whyte (Stuff): Nanaia Mahuta to attend Nato meeting of foreign ministers
Herald: Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta to attend Nato meeting ahead of potential Russian counteroffensive in Ukraine
1News: Nanaia Mahuta to attend NATO meeting in Brussels this week
Marco de Jong & Arama Rata (E-Tangata): Resist AUKUS — Protect Hawaiki
Steven Ratuva (E-Tangata): Protecting our Pacific mana
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Government sanctions Russian children’s commissioner over relocation of Ukrainian children
RNZ: Government announces new sanctions against Russia, Belarus
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): A little confidence-booster in nervous times (paywalled)
Tim Groser (BusinessDesk): UK joining CPTPP gives us a giant insurance policy (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Stuff): United Kingdom to join trans-Pacific free trade agreement
RNZ: Britain to join CPTPP Pacific trade pact this year
Simon Bridges (NBR): Passage to India? (paywalled)
EDUCATION
Peter O’Connor (Newsroom): The last thing schools need is National’s dull, narrow curriculum
David Cooke (Herald): National’s education policy shows politicians learn at different speeds (paywalled)
Michael Johnston (Newsroom): Ideology trumps evidence at the Ministry of Education
Amy Wiggins (Herald): Education Minister Jan Tinetti considering transition period for new NCEA literacy and numeracy tests (paywalled)
John Gerritsen (RNZ): ‘Kids were disillusioned’ – Pacific teachers worried about new NCEA test rates
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Low staff morale and hundreds of job losses but Te Pūkenga boss adamant polytech merger was the right move
RNZ: Union furious as hundreds of mainly managerial jobs set to be axed at Te Pūkenga
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Enrolments fall at all five North Island universities, record numbers at Canterbury
Titus Lambert-Lane (ODT): Move from European languages to te reo Māori
THREE WATERS
Kate MacNamara (Herald): Thirsty Work: Three Waters consultant and contractor spend gushes past $50 million (paywalled)
John Roughan (Herald): Decision on Three Waters needed to prevent regret in October (paywalled)
Yashas Srinivasa (Timaru Herald): Three Waters could cause ‘massive operational issues’ by draining staff from councils
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Gordon’s Campbell: On Auckland’s dysfunctional mayor, and air travel chaos
Anne Gibson (Herald): Auckland Council $295m budget hole: Five-building cost-cutting retreat underway (paywalled)
Anne Gibson (Herald): Vast Auckland change: 307ha land rezoning application from Super Fund, Māori
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Councillors vote to lower helicopter noise limits on Hauraki Gulf islands
Erin Johnson (Stuff): Councillor tells ‘Champagne hamper’ folk to catch bus to heliport
Michael Fallow (Southland Times): Invercargill council seeks public view on voting systems
Michael Fallow (Southland Times): Net-zero carbon emissions can be done, says Invercargill deputy mayor
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Gore mayor Ben Bell walked out of meeting addressing issues between him and council chief executive
RNZ: Gore District Council conflict: Local Government NZ aware of issues
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): ‘Traumatic time’: Gore’s councillors discussed ‘vote of no confidence’ in Ben Bell
David Williams (Newsroom): Underpaid council staff leave in droves
Keiler MacDuff (Stuff): Bid to make Environment Canterbury meetings more open closed to the public
HEALTH
William Hewett (Newshub): National MP Erica Stanford says axing of Te Whatu Ora staff shows Govt is out of touch and ‘distracted’
Stephen Forbes (Local Democracy Reporting): National calls for Te Whatu Ora to release nationwide staff survey results
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Do what I do: Double jabs for PM and health minister as winter looms
RNZ: Prime Minister gets flu and Covid vaccinations at community event
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Family doctors fear losing staff as GP nurses not included in pay parity package
Wena Harawira (Whakaata Māori): No pay rise for nurses in primary care and Māori health providers
RNZ: Nearly two thirds of GPs plan to retire in next 10 years
Sarah Rhodes (Newsroom): Beyond the Soapbox: Time for Govt to put up money on Long Covid
Olivia Shivas (Stuff): Disabled man stuck in hospital for 3 months with nowhere to go
Waimanea Nuri (Whakaata Māori): ‘My heart is excited’: Te Teko war veterans to receive health care from Te Puna Ora o Mataatua
MEDIA
Kelly Dennett (Stuff): As Today FM implodes, why can’t New Zealand get the news right?
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Today FM turned off – and erased
RNZ: Powerful rival Newstalk ZB and fixed listener habits led to Today FM’s failure – editor
1News: Today FM a victim of short-term corporate strategy – expert
Hayden Donnell (RNZ): Today FM goes up in flames after on-air explosion
Duncan Garner (Stuff): Dead man talking: Duncan Garner opens up
Rachel Smalley (NBR): Here Today, gone tomorrow
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Tova and Today the canaries in the economic mine
Raphael Franks (Herald): Today FM closure: No redundancy pay for several contracted radio stars
James Halpin (Stuff): Who is on the MediaWorks board that axed Today FM?
James Halpin (Stuff): MediaWorks backtracks after broadcasting wrong information on Today FM closure
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Stuff): Gone by lunchtime: The story of the last 24 hours at Today FM
Katie Harris (Herald): RNZ presenter Māni Dunlop tells listeners ‘when you don’t get the top job, it’s time to go elsewhere’
POSIE PARKER RALLY, FREE SPEECH
Damien Grant (Stuff): We’re having a free speech moment. It isn’t going well
RNZ: Mediawatch: Media mismatch on an ‘out-of-control mob’
Ian Powell: Class, transphobia and ‘street democracy’
Thomas Cranmer: Violent Suppression of Free Speech: Kellie-Jay Keen’s Assault by Transgender Activists in New Zealand Sparks Global Outrage
ENERGY
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Lake Onslow estimated to cost between $8b and $28b, depending what’s included
Jill Herron (Newsroom): Lake Onslow battery losing its charge
Anna Whyte (Stuff): National promises to ‘turbocharge’ renewable energy development
RNZ: Luxon takes aim at red tape in ambitious plan to boost renewable energy production
EXTREME WEATHER
Tom Dillane (Herald): Inside Waka Kotahi the night of Auckland’s floods: Damage control, urgent requests from Govt ministers (paywalled)
Todd Niall (Stuff): Review of Auckland Council’s flood response is a month late, and still no sign
RNZ: Government cyclone business recovery fund over-subscribed as some concerned they’ll miss out
Jemima Huston (RNZ): Concerns about companies looking to buy up cyclone-damaged homes
CLIMATE CHANGE
Herald Editorial: Sign of the times underscores climate’s importance in election (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Treasury warns of skyrocketing bills if carbon price used to cut emissions
Guy Trafford (Interest): If democracy doesn’t deliver, maybe the common law will
Greg Hurrell (BusinessDesk): NZ glaciers melting away: ‘You’d be shocked’ (paywalled)
Shane Te Pou (Herald): We need climate change-aware policies from all political parties (paywalled)
SLASH INQUIRY, PRIMARY INDUSTRIES
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Member of group advising Government on improving health of Hauraki Gulf resigns after criticism, ideas shut down
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): MPI are nothing more than gimps for fishing industry interests and this political cowardice is rife throughout Government agencies!
Gary Hamilton-Irvine (Herald): Calls intensify for slash inquiry to include all of Hawke’s Bay after sacking and resignation (paywalled)
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Logging trucks using closed bypass road – Tokomaru Bay local
Sally Round (RNZ): Golden Bay farmer opposes virtual fencing
TREATY OF WAITANGI
Alistair Reese (E-Tangata): Restoring the mana of the Treaty
Robin Martin (RNZ): ‘No more Egmont’ – Taranaki Maunga officially welcomed at treaty settlement
Craig Ashworth (Local Democracy Reporting): Crown agrees to give up Taranaki Maunga, admitting failure and harm
HOUSING
1News: Q+A: National ‘open to’ changes to housing intensification accord – Bishop
Ashleigh McCaull (RNZ): ‘Get out of the way’ and let Māori help whānau – Housing advocate
TRANSPORT
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): The two big risks of Auckland’s new harbour crossing (paywalled)
Eric Crampton: Everyone is stupid except me: Auckland harbour crossing edition
RNZ: New Auckland harbour crossing: Tunnel and tolls would support economic productivity – National Road Carriers Association
Farah Hancock (RNZ): The ‘crisis’ of our urban bus networks: Hundreds of services cancelled every day
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland bus drivers eke out further pay rise, but not quite $30 an hour
POLICE
Jarrod Gilbert (Herald): Mums, meth and mahi – a new focus for policing (paywalled)
Giles Dexter (RNZ): New Police Minister Ginny Andersen in opposition’s sights
OTHER
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Government has been secretly building a $300m data centre at an Auckland air force base
Roger Partridge (Stuff): Three strikes against David Parker’s RMA reforms
RNZ: Whakaari eruption: WorkSafe to cover NEMA’s $40,000 court action charge
Kelvin McDonald (Whakaata Māori): Vatican’s rejection of ‘racist’ doctrine justifying colonisation ‘not enough’ – advocate
Ethan Griffiths (Open Justice Reporting): Colin Craig’s latest defamation claim fails, court rules he sexually harassed press secretary
