Political Roundup: 15 February 2023

Items of interest and importance today

CYCLONE GABRIELLE. JANUARY FLOODS
Claire Trevett (Herald): The challenge ahead for PM Chris Hipkins’ handling of Cyclone Gabrielle (paywalled)
Peter Dunne: It’s Back to the Covid19 Playbook
Tova O’Brien (Today FM): Déjà vu as Labour dominates National during a crisis
Richard Harman (Politik): Gabrielle’s politics (paywalled)
Tess McClure (Guardian): New Zealand minister decries climate crisis ‘lost decades’ in wake of Cyclone Gabrielle
Tess McClure (Guardian): Cyclone Gabrielle devastates New Zealand’s North Island as minister says ‘this is climate change’
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Will this be the climate crisis event that finally spurs action?
Anna Whyte (Stuff): Cyclone Gabrielle devastation potentially moves the dial on climate change action
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Cyclone Gabrielle: James Shaw and Todd Muller revive climate change partnership to discuss NZ’s $50b flooding problem (paywalled)
RNZ: National backs state of emergency, repeats offer to take bipartisan stance on climate adaptation
William Hewett (Newshub): National Party leader Christopher Luxon calls for investment in infrastructure, climate adaptation
Steven Cowan: Dont expect our politicians to take climate change seriously
Steve Braunias (Herald): The good, the bad and the ugly of cyclone (paywalled)
Gordon Campbell: On why we’re facing fewer, more intense, cyclones in future
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): A major society-wide effort is needed to improve New Zealand’s climate resilience
Paul Gorman (Listener/Herald): Disaster blueprint: The NZ city that can help us prepare for future crises (paywalled)
Kris Faafoi (Stuff): What can Kiwis and politicians take from mother nature’s fury?
RNZ: Cyclone Gabrielle: What the national state of emergency means
RNZ: Cyclone Gabrielle: Severity of damage ‘not been seen in a generation’ – PM Chris Hipkins
RNZ: Cyclone Gabrielle: Prime Minster Chris Hipkins says ‘a lot of families displaced’ after wild weather hit
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Cyclone Gabrielle: The Beehive bunker working 24/7 to keep people safe
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Thomas Manch (Stuff): Politicians squabble over cancelling Parliament due to Cyclone Gabrielle
Russell Palmer (RNZ): ACT criticises cyclone response, Parliament hiatus
Felix Desmarais (1News): Parliament suspended over Cyclone Gabrielle, only Act objects
RNZ: Parliament’s timetable upended by Cyclone Gabrielle as MPs focus on grass-roots assistance
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Chris Hyde (Hawke’s Bay Today): Hawke’s Bay’s day of horror – we thought we were grazing a bullet, until it spun around a corner
Damien Venuto (Herald): The Front Page: 72 hours of windy hell – how Cyclone Gabrielle shook the North Island
Herald Editorial: Cyclone Gabrielle editorial: A national state of urgency (paywalled)
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Brent Edwards (NBR): Easier lending rules for homeowners hit by bad weather criticised (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Stuff): Emergency move to relax lending laws for flood, cyclone victims
Tamara Poi-Ngawhika (BsuinessDesk): PM asks employers to ‘be responsible’
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Retreating home and business owners need publicly-funded compo
Rob Stock (Stuff): Insurers State, AMI and NZI have now logged 21,000 claims from January flooding
RNZ: More than 20,000 insurance claims made – more expected

PARLIAMENT
Luke Oldfield (Stuff): The place of populism in politics, and how it may shape this year’s election
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Minor parties: Will they have a major impact?
Richard Prebble (Herald): There is a policy vacuum in Labour’s plan (paywalled)
Debasis Bandyopadhyay (Newsroom): The dangerous false narrative that misogyny led to Ardern’s resignation
Lydia Lewis (RNZ): Dad proud, relieved at Jacinda Ardern’s decision to relinquish PM role
Tina Nixon (The Platform): Is Labour going to call a Snappy

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland mayor Wayne Brown warns council’s $295m budget hole worsened by flood
Brigitte Morten (NBR): The social licence to govern (paywalled)
Tim Hunter (NBR): Timing of airport share sale key for savings, Council hears (paywalled)
RNZ: Sir Tim Shadbolt’s legal stoush with Invercargill City Council settled

COST OF LIVING, SALVATION ARMY’S STATE OF THE NATION REPORT
Brent Edward (NBR): The Salvation Army’s grim scorecard for 2022 (paywalled)
Megan Wilson (Bay of Plenty Times): Bay of Plenty has highest rate nationally of young adults unemployed, not in education
Dana Wensley and Elaine Rush (Herald): Child poverty needs attention right now (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): The rate of food price rises has dropped – a glimmer of calm in the inflation storm? (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Food prices appeared to be stabilising ahead of Cyclone Gabrielle
Felix Desmarais (1News): Cost of fruit and vegetables up 16% in a year
David Hargreaves (Interest): Food price increases still astronomically high – but showing some signs of moderating
Liam Dann (Herald): Cheese, chips and chooks: Soaring grocery bill drives 10 per cent annual food price increase
RNZ: Food prices continue record rise

HOUSING
Miriam Bell (Stuff): House prices nationwide down 16.2% from market peak
Greg Ninness (Interest): Average house prices falling $10k a month, QV says market yet to hit bottom
Greg Ninness (Interest): Housing market outlook grim as sales slump to a record low and the number of homes for sale surges
RNZ: Property values keep falling, and faster than before
Anne Gibson (Herald): Volume, price housing drops as mortgages refix at scorching high new rates (paywalled)
Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): Queenstown and Wānaka housing crisis fuelled by quarter of homes being unoccupied
Malcolm McCracken: Defining urban intensification in Aotearoa

FORESTRY SLASH
Sally Murphy (RNZ): Tolaga Bay farmer seething as forestry slash causes floodwaters to swamp house, land again
Shanti Mathias (Spinoff): What is slash and why is it so dangerous in bad weather?

HEALTH
Ian Powell (BusinessDesk): The sacking of Andrew Little could save the health system
Nadine Roberts (Stuff): Almost a quarter of young Kiwis struggling with mental health – report
Jessica Roden (1News): Hospitals hit 100% occupancy more than 600 times last year
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): What Hospital capacity issues really says about NZ – it’s time the Left argued for Universals not pronouns

EXTREMISM; HATE SPEECH
Chris Wilson (The Conversation): Fear and loathing in New Zealand: an overdue examination of our ‘underworld of extremists’ is valuable but flawed
Philip Matthews (Stuff): Conspiracies and the climate of fear: Researcher Byron C Clark on the alt-right
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Why dumping religious hate speech is actually a victory for NZ Democracy

FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Andrew Little briefed on spy balloons – no advice on whether any flew over NZ
Nadine Roberts (Stuff): Separatists release first images of Kiwi pilot held hostage in Indonesia
Niniek Karmini (AP): Watch: West Papua rebels release video of captured Kiwi pilot Phillip Mehrtens
RNZ: Rebel group in Papua says kidnapped NZ pilot safe

OTHER
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Our embarrassing Interislander ferries are now frightening (paywalled)
David Hargreaves (Interest): Fall in inflation expectations may push RBNZ toward smaller OCR hike
RNZ: No significant shift to support or implement whānau-centred services in public sector – Auditor-General
André Chumko (Stuff): Creative New Zealand closes arts grants round in record 24-hour period
Eda Tang (Stuff): Poll tax apology delivered in language of those impacted, 21 years after first apology
Gareth Shute (Spinoff): Review: When Bob Came is an absorbing look at Marley’s influence in Aotearoa