Today’s content

CLIMATE CHANGE, NZ STEEL DEAL
Simon Wilson (Herald): Christopher Luxon gets it right and terribly wrong on NZ Steel deal (paywalled)
Duncan Greive (Spinoff): Why did we give $140m to a shady Australian corporate? Because we had no choice
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): The NZ Steel carbon deal: shape of things to come (paywalled)
Gordon Campbell: On the NZ Steel deal
No Right Turn: Climate Change: The uncertainty problem
Tom Pulllar-Strecker (Stuff): The real deal on NZ Steel: Climate change win or corporate welfare?
1News: Govt’s NZ Steel climate deal isn’t ‘corporate welfare’ – Swarbrick
Luke Malpass (The Post): Climate subsidy for group that made $2.85b profit in 2022 (paywalled)
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): I want to like the NZ Steel deal – but I can’t
Kerre Woodham (Newstalk ZB): Is the Government’s decarbonisation program a good deal?
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Labour & Green Steel Deal highlight what State can do to seriously reduce emissions
RNZ: NZ Steel wouldn’t have taken emissions-reducing step without govt funding – NZ Steel boss
Tess McClure (Guardian): New Zealand announces its biggest emissions reduction project in history
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): ‘Bullshit ambush’: Gas levy urgently passed on Budget night
Ian Llewellyn and Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Officials look at a carbon dividend, but the cash is getting squeezed (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The climate protest group that canceled itself for being racist is now begging white people to help them

FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Geoffrey Miller (Democracy Project): How successful was Chris Hipkins’ trip to Papua New Guinea?
RNZ: Prime Minister Chris Hipkins to take up offer to visit India and talk free trade
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Hipkins: US-PNG security deal isn’t ‘militarisation’ of Pacific
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Prime Minister Chris Hipkins calls United States-Papua New Guinea security deal ‘different’ to China’s pact with Solomon Islands
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): New Zealand’s nuclear-free stance brought up with United States, Papua New Guinea as duo signs new security pact
AP: US, Papua New Guinea sign security pact as China influence grows
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Prime Minister Chris Hipkins attracts huge crowds in Papua New Guinea, meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
Richard Harman (Politik): Yoga diplomacy (paywalled)
1News: Hipkins concludes ‘productive’ talks in Papua New Guinea
Christine Rovoi (Stuff): PNG summit: Security beefed up as NZ says no to Pacific militarisation
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): Chris Hipkins speed dates political leaders during Biden-less PNG visit
Aaron Ryan (Whakaata Māori): Prime Minister gets warm Pacific welcome in PNG

BUDGET, ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Inflation eats gains from Labour’s Working for Families package, pushing families out of support (paywalled)
Newstalk ZB: Economics professor: Working For Families abatement thresholds have fallen behind, should increase
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): New tax law, IRD rules, mean more research on rich, wealthy New Zealanders (paywalled)
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Economist Cameron Bagrie believes most New Zealanders would welcome tax hikes if ‘we’re getting results’
Hamish McNicol and Calida Stuart-Menteath (NBR): This is a major tax change (paywalled)
Vernon Small (Stuff): The mother of all budget blow-outs? Not really
Brian Easton (Pundit): Crises!
Cameron Bagrie (BusinessDesk): Spin and spend – a verdict on the 2023 budget (paywalled)
Oliver Hartwich (NZ Initiative): The “Yeah, right” Budget
Rob Campbell (Newsroom): Government plus business equals disaster
Eric Crampton (The Post): Government can’t have it both ways when it comes to tobacco (paywalled)
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): Luxon dropped the ball on the Budget
Mike Hosking (Newstalk): The Budget showed the bigger picture is a disaster
Herald Editorial: Is easy dose it with free prescriptions the best medicine? (paywalled)
David Hargreaves (Interest): The Reserve Bank is almost being ‘out-hawked’ by economists as they bid up the odds of higher interest rates ahead of this week’s latest OCR decision
David Hargreaves (Interest): The OCR peak – are we there yet? Well, yes…and no…
David Hargreaves (Interest): Households expect inflation to be 7.4% in a year – higher than now
Susan Edmunds (Post): Robertson: Government spending won’t be OCR deciding factor (paywalled)
Andrew Patterson (Newsroom): Reserve Bank faces new inflation headwinds as immigration surges
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): RBNZ could hike 50 basis points and signal more to come (paywalled)
John Gascoigne (Herald): How New Zealand fell to become one of the worst economies in the developed world (paywalled)
The Standard: How come government doesn’t improve our economy?
Dita De Boni (NBR): Fair Pay Agreements: productivity boon or bust? (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): What the hell’s going on with migrant workers?
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Cost of living: New Zealand food banks seeing wider variety of people who can’t make ends meet
RNZ: More applying for KiwiSaver funds under cost of living stress
RNZ: Almost 90 percent of Kiwis shop mindfully as result of cost-of-living and climate crises
Finn Blackwell (RNZ): Northland foodbank forced to scale back services due to high demand
RNZ: Job ads stable ‘and reasonably strong’ – Seek

ELECTION, PARLIAMENT
Verity Johnson (Stuff): Why doesn’t Luxon harness Auckland rage?
Duncan Garner (NBR): Popularity pips policy when it comes to deciding preferred PM (paywalled)
No Right Turn: Labour chickens out on the voting age again
David Farrar: Who gets in on the Green Party List
Paul McBeth (BusinessDesk): On the Money: tight budgets, outrageous lobbies, MPs trading and more (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Why any new Labour led Government must use 100 day window to out manoeuvre the self serving Public Service
Maioha Panapa (Whakaata Māori): Father and daughter weigh options to represent Te Pāti Māori in Hauraki-Waikato

LOAFERS LODGE FIRE TRAGEDY
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Fire Service advised council to reject Loafers Lodge consent in 2007 documents show
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Street identity ‘Mike the Juggler’ among Loafers Lodge fire victims
Soumya Bhamidipati (RNZ): Loafers Lodge fire survivors still waiting for bond refunds
Dave Armstrong (Post): The misunderstood suburb that is Newtown (paywalled)
Tess McClure and Charlotte Graham-McLay (Guardian): ‘It can be quite Dickensian’: life in New Zealand’s boarding houses

HOUSING
Tom Taylor (RNZ): Long-term tenancies or home-ownership – what are New Zealand’s aspirations?
Philippa Howden-Chapman (Public Health Communications Centre): Budget 2023 goes a long way to improving housing and wellbeing
Tumamao Harawira (Whakaata Māori): Report into Māori homelessness doesn’t go far enough
Kate Green (RNZ): Māori-led housing effort bringing peace of mind to Tai Rāwhiti
Greg Ninness (Interest): About 13,000 recent home buyers could now be facing negative equity
Rob Stock (Post): House price falls will be ‘orderly’, but more households will fail to repay their mortgages, analysts say (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Stuff): Spiralling mortgage rates see Westpac’s earnings from interest up $1.2 billion

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Piers Fuller (Post): Public Service Watch: Wairarapa’s woeful wastewater (paywalled)
RNZ: New signs for Heretaunga/Hastings use both Māori and English
Niva Chittock (RNZ): Christchurch councillor wants Local Government Minister to help reverse water chlorination
Cira Olivier (Herald): Memorial Park drowning: Tauranga City Council rejected fountain safety improvements more than 20 years ago
Maia Hart (Local Democracy Reporting): Dad’s drowning fears in flash subdivision as ‘swimming pool’ ponds left unfenced
Erin Gourley (Post): Matariki time to look to stars, not artificial fireworks – expert (paywalled)
Erin Gourley (Stuff): No fireworks for ‘reflective time’ of Matariki in Wellington
Vita Molyneux and Nick James (Herald): No fireworks for Wellington Matariki celebrations – but plenty more to enjoy

COVID
Jane Nixon (1News): ‘Currently between jobs’ – Ardern speaks at WHO’s 76th Assembly
Herald: Jacinda Ardern reflects on Covid 19 at World Health Organisation assembly
RNZ: Covid-19 case numbers: 14,657 new cases, 43 further deaths
RNZ: Immunisation experts concerned at low uptake of Omicron booster
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Reported Covid-19 cases in school kids more than doubled since term 2 started

HEALTH
RNZ: Asthma Foundation calls for NZ to follow Australia in banning disposable vapes
Anna Whyte (Stuff): National’s Christopher Luxon open to looking at banning disposable vapes
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): Preparing for the winter illness wave
RNZ: Te Whatu Ora takes court action against nurses striking
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Lab tests group backtracks on plans to slash jobs in Nelson-Marlborough
Michael Cugley (Whakaata Māori): Christchurch safe haven for rangatahi has begun construction

EDUCATION
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Teachers strike actions suspended after talks with minister
Frances Chin (Stuff): Union pauses potential strike in light of Education Minister negotiations
Finlay Dunseath (Stuff): Teachers’ unions pause strike action after meeting with Government
Gabrielle McCulloch (Stuff): Teacher strikes: Everything you need to know about the ongoing pay talks

TRANSPORT
Ben Strang (RNZ): Transport Minister Michael Wood: ‘Real possiblity’ some roads will be abandoned
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland’s City Rail Link won’t open until 2026 at the earliest
Isaac Davison (Herald): Auckland Harbour Bridge wind closures: Waka Kotahi causing ‘mayhem’, local board member George Wood says
Katie Ham (Stuff): Bus bosses hail ‘return to full timetables’ with 559 new drivers on board
Joel Maxwell (Post): Happy travels: Rednecks in for surprise when they spot new traffic signs (paywalled)
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Bilingual traffic signs in te reo Māori edge closer to reality
RNZ: Tarras airport plan: Proposed runway site to be revealed soon

CRIME, CORRECTIONS
Debra Wilson (The Conversation): It’s time to fix NZ’s Sentencing Act, which lets too many young sex offenders avoid jail
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Do you feel safe in this country right now?
Robin Martin (RNZ): New Plymouth dairy owner feared death as armed teens ransacked his store
Emmaline Pickering-Martin (RNZ): Opinion: ‘Positive reintegration is key to preventing reoffending’ – so give people a chance

PRIMARY INDUSTRIES
Andrea Vance (The Post): Landmark legal challenge to mega-irrigation scheme in Canterbury (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Trademarks commissioner rejects Govt-backed bid to own ‘mānuka honey’
Sally Murphy (RNZ): New Zealand mānuka honey producers lose trademark bid
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Battle for NZ to have trademark rights for mānuka honey unsuccessful
Tess McClure (Guardian): New Zealand loses fight with Australia over mānuka honey trademark
Monique Steele (RNZ): Ratio of sheep to people drops below five to one for first time in 170 years
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Ratio of sheep to people falls below 5:1 for first time since 1850s
RNZ: Drop in number of seabirds captured in deepwater fishery, according to industry group

MEDIA
Gavin Ellis: News deserts and how New Zealand can avoid them
Herald: Māori in the media given putea to build more capacity across the media landscape

WHANAU ORA
Katie Doyle (Stuff): Whānau Ora launches new campaign ‘Our Future is Māori’
Tamara Poi-Ngawhika (BusinessDesk): More investment needed in Whānau Ora

OTHER
Jacob Johnson (1News): Aucklanders trying to sell flood-damaged homes could see big losses
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Hit hard by Covid-19, tourism brick-and-mortar icon i-SITEs still have a place, industry says
Paul Buchanan: The dirty power of culture wars
Craig Ashworth (Local Democracy Reporting): Hapū and Greenpeace take windmills to appeal court
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Problem Gambling Foundation says UK report heightens its concerns over TAB deal