Political Roundup: 30 November 2022

Items of interest and importance today

THREE WATERS
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Three Waters anti-privatisation blunder adds to storm of controversy
Jo Moir (Newsroom): The chaos behind the Greens’ controversial Three Waters amendment
Emile Donovan (RNZ): The problem with entrenching party policy
Thomas Cranmer: Mahuta ditches ‘no surprises’ policy
Anne Salmond (Newsroom): Fresh water is beyond ‘entrenchment’
Thomas Manch (Stuff): National unwilling to budge on ‘entrenchment’ of public water assets
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Cheat sheet: Are the Three Waters reforms a done deal?
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Three Waters: Christopher Luxon accuses Labour of trying to ‘scare the public’ by discussing privatisation
RNZ: Hurunui seeks Three Waters funding while staying opposed to reforms
Stephen Minto (Daily Blog): I am proud of Labour’s initiative on 3 waters and Co-Goverance
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Proposal to break central-local deadlock on Three Waters and climate

PARLIAMENT
Richard Prebble (Herald): The next 12 months could be dangerous (paywalled)
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): National leader Christopher Luxon ‘very comfortable’ with $45,000 taxpayer top-up from renting office back to Parliament
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): How much Christopher Luxon’s charging taxpayers to lease his own office from himself – and how it compares to market rent
No Right Turn: We need greater transparency on party funding
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): ‘Not achieved’: Civil society grades Hipkins on open government work
Andrew Macfarlane (1News): National hoping to cash in on overseas votes
AAP: Ardern confirms no wedding or Australian holiday this summer
Leeann Watson (Herald): Why are our politicians obsessed with tinkering?

HAMILTON WEST BY-ELECTION
RNZ: Hamilton West by-election: Crime and cost of living top of mind for voters
Jonah Franke-Bowell (Stuff): Crime, co-governance and coalitions on table at spirited Hamilton West debate
Jonah Franke-Bowell (Stuff): Close to 700 by-election votes cast already in Hamilton West

CRIME, POLICE
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Why Labour’s fog cannon subsidies are an implicit admission of failure – for now at least
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Government response to retail crime is soft
RNZ: Funding to deal with crime ‘not enough’, Indian community leaders say
Aimee Shaw (Stuff): Dairies say Govt’s new fog cannon scheme has come too late
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk): The PM’s post-Cab chat yesterday was stomach churning
1News: Friend of slain dairy worker laments stolen ‘bright future’
Mana Wikaire-Lewis (Whakaata Māori): Government ‘part of the problem’ for crime rise – Goldsmith
1News: Police to ramp up presence in areas worst-hit by retail crime
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk): Does the police reviewing their pursuit policy count as change?
James Halpin (Stuff): Police U-turn on fleeing cars, but no date for new spikes after officer run over
William Hewett (Newshub): Commissioner Andrew Coster reveals police to change fleeing driver policy
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): Crime statistics are only part of the story
ODT: Editorial – Be kind — no excuses

ECONOMY, BUSINESS, EMPLOYMENT
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Reserve Bank not keen to make banks help cover cost of money printing (paywalled)
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Sharesies study reveals signs of Kiwis starting to feel economic pinch (paywalled)
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Big banks ramp up dividends after Reserve Bank restrictions lifted
Christoph Schumacher (NBR): Making sense of the OCR (paywalled)
Michael Reddell: Not that way
Stuff readers: We asked how the OCR hikes will affect you
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Karen Silk on what RBNZ Monetary Policy Committee members will be watching over summer
Brent Edwards (NBR): NZIER forecasts a lower interest rate track (paywalled)
David Burton (Stuff): Yes, big business can do more to support parents in the workforce
BusinessDesk: New Commerce Commission chair announced

HOUSING 
Shamubeel Eaqub (Interest): Pulling many levers: Banking, borrowing & building need to change to make housing in NZ affordable
RNZ: 22 percent drop in house prices will be a ‘relief’ for people, ANZ economist says
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): ANZ: House prices will drop 32% in real terms from their peak
Greg Ninness (Interest): ANZ’s economists revise their expectations of house prices falls to 22%
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Think mortgage rates are high now? Economist Tony Alexander warns of 9.5% peak (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): ANZ lifts home loan, savings and term deposit interest rates
RNZ: ANZ lifts home loan rates with floating mortgage rate to go to 7.99 percent
1News: NZ’s biggest bank hikes mortgage rates after latest OCR rise
David Chaston (Interest): The next round of floating mortgage rate increases start, taking rates close to 8% for the first time since 2008
Felix Desmarais (Local Democracy Reporting): Why Rotorua’s mayor and deputy skipped public housing meeting
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): ‘Just clear out’, Kāinga Ora leader told at Rotorua community meeting

RETIREMENT
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Christopher Luxon stands by policy of increasing superannuation age despite report saying it will disadvantage Māori, Pasifika
Bernard Hickey: Another looming housing crisis
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Christopher Luxon suggests disability payments for labourers if superannuation age goes up
Will Trafford (Whakaata Māori): Warnings superannuation hike will disproportionately affect Māori

HEALTH
Murray Jones (BusinessDesk): Compass: how a global catering giant gobbles up hospital contracts
Cécile Meier (BusinessDesk): Better food and no profit margins – how a health board saved millions on food
Stephen Forbes (Local Democracy Reporting): Te Whatu Ora chair describes workplace pressures on staff after visit to Middlemore ED
Emma Bernard (Whanganui Chronicle): “Overwhelmingly disappointed”: Government funding for frontline community health workers leaves out GP staff (paywalled)
1News: 20,000 frontline health workers to get pay parity – Little
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): GPs worry urgent care patients avoiding busy emergency departments
Brigitte Morten (NBR): Government failing to solve mental health (paywalled)
RNZ: Covid-19: New Zealand sees spike in cases with 6000 reported today

MEDIA
Phil Pennington (RNZ): RNZ-TVNZ public media merger: Private contractors paid $6000 per week on average
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Bridges brushes off questions about job leading board of new public broadcaster
Daniel Dunkley (BusinessDesk): Meta retreats from news: what it means for NZ (paywalled)
RNZ: Independent review finds systemic racism at InternetNZ following Māori threat video
Samson Samasoni (Spinoff): Can the TVNZ-RNZ merger meet the diverse needs of Pacific audiences?
Duncan Greive (Spinoff): 10 key takeaways from an astounding new survey of Gen Z New Zealanders
Daniel Dunkley (BusinessDesk): Radio NZ: online audience falling amid ‘news fatigue’(paywalled)

ENVIRONMENT
Tina Law (Stuff): ECan’s interpretation of water bottling decision labelled ‘bureaucratic idiocy’
Todd Niall (Stuff): Climate change: Funding an early hurdle for Auckland’s emissions plan
Pat Baskett (Newsroom): Why climate mitigation equals defeat
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Carbon capture: Firm wants to remove millions of tonnes of CO2 from the air in New Zealand

FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE
Will Trafford (Whakaata Māori): U.S. court bans popular kaimoana exports
Clive Elliot (Herald): Lessons for NZ in Finland’s success (paywalled)
Glenn McConnel (Stuff): Finland’s ‘party prime minister’ Sanna Marin arrives in Auckland to meet Jacinda Ardern
Herald Editorial: What New Zealand can learn from the war in Ukraine (paywalled)
Tom Peters: New Zealand government reaffirms support for US-NATO war against Russia
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Digital services push for NZ-China trade as Covid effects continue

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): ‘Back to basics’ Gore mayor’s proposed governance structure could cost nearly $300k more
Ryan Boswell (1News): Christchurch mayor says he didn’t break election rules giving out RATs
RNZ: Complaint about Christchuch mayor Phil Mauger’s election campaigning passed on to police
James Perry (Whakaata Māori): Puutikitiki St officially unveiled as Hamilton rids itself of part of its dark history
1News: New te reo Māori names for Hamilton street and park

EDUCATION
Gianina Schwanecke (Stuff): Primary school principals reject Government offer, as secondary teachers begin voting
James Perry (Whakaata Māori): Ngāti Toa moves closer to educational goals for rangatahi

RMA
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): ACT’s ‘truly local democracy’ will see neighbours vote on property developments
RNZ: ACT Party sets out RMA alternative and transport policies

OTHER
Jem Traylen (BusinessDesk): Still a lot being swept under the carpet: public sector survey
RNZ: Te Urewera hut found burnt after court injunction against removal
Alisha Evans (Local Democracy Reporting): ‘Nationally significant’ land wars institute one step closer
Jon Alexander (Stuff): A people-powered future: how New Zealand could lead the world
Waatea News: Hate speech law too narrow says Kerekere
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington’s new motorways are cursed (paywalled)
Jayden Holmes (Today FM): Greyhound industry facing ‘last chance’ before potential shutdown