Today’s content

POLITICAL DEBATE, FREE SPEECH, CULTURE WARS
Chris Trotter (Interest): Debating debating
Laura Frykberg (1News): Can we still debate? Disagreement in the digital age
1News: Q+A: NZ should further loosen speech laws – civil liberties expert
James Nokise (Stuff): Arming up for the Culture Wars
Mike Munro (Herald): Politicians wade into the culture wars (paywalled)
Shaneel Lal (Herald): An open letter to the Immigration Minister
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Ummmmmm – Can Shaneel Lal really lecture David Seymour on free speech? Like, really?

ELECTION, PARLIAMENT
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Political poll: Labour and National in dead heat in Talbot-Mills poll
Andy Fyers (BusinessDesk): Election 2023: A Labour or National-led government? (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Tax question remains unanswered, as Budget month draws closer(paywalled)
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Christopher Luxon calls New Zealand crime ‘utterly unacceptable’ as he doubles down on boot camp policy
Rebecca Wright (Newshub): Political commentator says Christopher Luxon comes across as ‘decent bloke’ but struggling to be a politician
Zane Small (Newshub): Paula Bennett defends Christopher Luxon amid criticism of National leader ‘struggling’ as politician
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern keeps Harry and Meghan messages secret – for now
Joseph Los’e (Herald): Poorest party in Parliament pays to create content to boost Government’s Māori electoral campaign
Vernon Small (Stuff): Strange decisions made in cabinet reshuffle
Shane Te Pou (Herald): Marama Davidson and other Māori leaders rise above the backlash (paywalled)
Peter Wilson (RNZ): The Week in Politics: Plenty of criticism over major announcements
Herald: Beehive Diaries: Chippy forgets his lines (paywalled)
Phil Smith (RNZ): The House: Behind the scenes of Cabinet
Victor Billot (Newsroom): An Ode for .. Elizabeth ‘crybaby’ Kerekere
Newshub Nation Backstory: National MP Andrew Bayly recounts childhood as an identical twin
Newshub: National MP Tim van de Molen posts emotional tribute after younger sister dies in quad bike accident

ELECTION CANDIDATES
Andrea Vance (Stuff): How an offensive joke reveals a problem with how National chooses its MPs
Greg Presland (The Standard): National’s problem with its candidates
Tom Hunt, Gianina Schwanecke and Justin Wong (Dominion Post): Three-horse race for Wellington Central seat heats up
Gianina Schwanecke (Stuff): National Party announces Wellington Central candidate
Adam Pearse (Herald): Lawyer working in Abu Dhabi chosen as National candidate for Wellington Central
Jo Moir (Newsroom): National finalises candidate selections, including two Māori seats
Adam Pearse (Herald): Embattled National MP Barbara Kuriger facing challenge in safe blue seat
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson steps back from electorate race, running list only
RNZ: Greens co-leader Marama Davidson pulls out of electorate race
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Veteran NZ First MP Shane Jones running in Northland
David Farrar: A four way race for Northland?
Ella Somers (BusinessDesk): Shane Jones wants to be king of the north (paywalled)

WATER REFORM
Janet Wilson (Stuff): Never mind the name, we’ll all pay for water changes
Liam Hehir (Blue Review): A 3 Waters test for publicly funded media
Eric Crampton (Stuff): There’s a better way to reset the Three Waters reforms
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Three Waters rebrand: Bitterness remains despite refresh
Herald: The Front Page: Will the Affordable Water Reform rebranding change voters’ minds about Three Waters?
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of a Three Waters policy adviser (paywalled)
1New: Q+A: Three Waters reset: McAnulty explains why co-governance stays
Jenna Lynch and Gray Gibson: Newshub Nation extended interview: Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Kieran McAnulty defends not ditching Three Waters earlier, says ‘that’d be dumping our duty’
Adam Pearse (Herald): Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty’s comments on democracy concern Opposition amid water reform debates
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): PM Chris Hipkins says ‘co-governance’ isn’t a part of Three Waters. Is he right?
Katie Doyle and Glenn McConnell (Stuff): ‘Misinformed’ debate is holding up important water reform, iwi leaders say
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): ‘A price worth paying’: Counting the cost of wider local voice
Herald Editorial: Rest easy, Three Waters (paywalled)
Adam Burns (RNZ): Three Waters: Canterbury councils confident of support for legal challenge
RNZ: Three Waters revamp: Labour and National continue to debate the numbers

ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING
Liam Dann (Herald): When will the post-Covid party stop? (paywalled)
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): NZ’s trade deficit forecast to be the worst among advanced economies (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Market anxiously awaits fresh inflation figures
David Hargreaves (Interest): Seven’s not heaven: Our enduring inflation woes
Brian Easton (Pundit): Making The New Zealand Economy More Resilient To Shocks
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Could, or should, the RBNZ cut the interest rate it pays on banks’ settlement cash accounts in order to reduce the Government’s interest bill?
Virginia Fallon and Dylan Jones (Stuff): Politicians reveal their supermarket habits ahead of ‘cost of living’ election
1News: Supermarket supply costs 10.3% higher than one year ago

HOUSING
Michael Neilson (Herald): Cost of living: Number of households spending over two years in emergency housing doubles in past year
Erin Gourley (Dominion Post): Wellington council staff go against councillors’ vote on character housing
Maia Hart (Local Democracy Reporting): ‘Brutal’ and ‘unattractive’ duplex gets green light amid housing shortage
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Landlord interest payments jump up by thousands due to new tax rules
Shayne Currie (Herald): Media Insider: Winton Land CEO Chris Meehan on PM Chris Hipkins and why he’s launched his red-tape ad campaign (paywalled)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Nicholas Boyack (Stuff): Group linked to Hutt City councillor investigated over election returns
Tom Hunt (Dominion Post): ‘I want it in writing’: Wellington mayor ups the ante for more Govt cash
1News: Q+A: Exclusive Wayne Brown interview: Flood response, budget cuts, rates
Gordon Campbell: On Auckland’s ghastly mayor, and the water reforms
RNZ: Mediawatch: A rainy day for the mayor’s media freeze out
Rachel Moore (Stuff): Three-year delay in publicising secret council workshops ‘totally inappropriate’
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Ben Bell opens up about ‘turbulent’ time as Gore mayor

TRANSPORT
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland light rail: Taxpayers forking out $1.2 million a week
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Review into lessons we can learn from City Rail Link project (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Guardian): Is driving on the left stopping New Zealand reaching its climate goals?
Tom Kitchin (NRZ): The Detail: Cycleways and their image problem

JUSTICE, CORRECTIONS
Sam Sherwood (Herald): Frontline police told to ‘consider necessity’ of bail arrests as NZ’s largest prison nears capacity
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): ACT Party hits out at email urging police to ‘consider necessity of arrests’ due to prison capacity issues
Lisa Marriot (The Conversation): We need consistency in how we treat financial crimes. Sentencing guidelines are a good place to start
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Police Minister Ginny Andersen makes expectations clear after Hong Kong police visit NZ, speak with Kiwi cops about ‘combatting riots’
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): What’s behind the growing court delays? (paywalled)
Emma Hatton (Newsroom): Figures reveal prisoners’ huge mental health need

ENVIRONMENT
Jessica Roden (1News): Forty-five per cent of NZ’s lakes in ‘poor’ or worse health – study
RNZ: Half of country’s lakes in poor health – Study
Rod Oram (Newsroom): NZ’s ocean strategies all at sea
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Climate Change Commission’s ETS advice could increase households’ costs by between $85 and $877 in 2026
Guy Trafford (Interest): Thirty years of not much
Juliette Sivertsen (Stuff): DOC to increase hut fees, some double in price

INFRASTRUCTURE, EXTREME WEATHER
Phil Pennington (RNZ): ‘High’ risk of Gisborne pipe failure found before cyclone – Report
Alexa Cook (Newshub): Apple grower faces over $200k in tornado damage after insurance company won’t pay out

HEALTH
Keiller MacDuff (Stuff): Government backs off on budget cuts to new Dunedin Hospital
RNZ: Concerns remain despite new funding for Dunedin Hospital
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Government reverses $10 million in hospital cuts
ODT Hospital battle not over, mayor says (paywalled)
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Health will suffer with increasingly severe storms – experts
Krystal Gibbens (RNZ): Teaching hospitals need to do more to educate about consent – study
Andrew Bevin (Newsroom): Patients bear brunt of budding cannabis industry struggle

COVID
RNZ: ‘It’s the first distinct rise’ – Fourth wave of Covid-19 is here, says epidemiologist Michael Baker
David Seymour (Stuff): Covid isolation rules reflect bad decisions based on bad advice
Thomas Cranmer: Court of Appeal to hear appeals on vaccine mandates in New Zealand this week

MEDIA
Shane Currie (Herald): Media Insider: Today FM closure gets uglier – top lawyer called in; The Platform’s rich-list owner Wayne Wright Jr; Voyager Media Awards finalists; Stuff’s Post plan (paywalled)
Karl du Fresne: Stuff’s slow-motion suicide continues
RNZ: Dominion Post newspaper to change name
Caitlin Cherry (Dominion Post): A letter from the Wellington editor about our paper’s new name
David Farrar: Media describes Maori Party President as a political commentator
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): How to actually counter misinformation and disinformation in the NZ Media Landscape
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): For the first time in 20 years, Ingrid Hipkiss is the ‘new girl’

FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Barbara Dreaver (1News): Concern from Pacific leaders over nuclear submarine agreement
Nicholas Khoo (Newsroom): Aukus engagement has more benefits than risks
RNZ: First mission to the Pacific since Covid-19 to be led by Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Kiwi police work with Hong Kong force accused of brutality
Alfian Kartono and Niniek Karmini (Stuff): Failed rescue mission for NZ pilot Phillip Mark Mehrtens in West Papua kills at least six Indonesian troops

EDUCATION
Damien Grant (Stuff): Our schools are broken, and National’s tinkering won’t fix a thing
Katy Jones (Stuff): Schools up to $100k short for ‘the basics’ warn situation will get worse
Anna Whyte (Stuff): Smaller class sizes for years 4-8 to be announced

PRIMARY INDUSTRIES
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): ‘No Farmers, no bread and butter’: Groundswell NZ launches new campaign
Wanglin Ma, Alan Renwick and Kathryn Blackman Bicknell (The Conversation): Why using more fertiliser and feed does not necessarily raise dairy farm profits but increases climate harm

EMPLOYMENT, BUSINESS
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): MPs brush off petition calling for electricity industry reforms
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Strippers return to Parliament in protest for work rights
Alison Mau (Stuff): The hurdles on pay transparency are falling – so what are we waiting for?
RNZ: Manufacturing sector slips back into contraction

OTHER
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Charities sitting on millions more in cash than a year ago
Stuff: Untold stories of Māori who faced widespread dispossession and loss
Sam Brooks (Spinoff): The marriage equality bill, 10 years on