NZ Politics Daily - 6 December 2017
6 December 2017
Today's content
Below are the links to the items online. The full text of these items are contained in the PDF file (click to download).
Education
Adele Redmond and Jo Moir (Stuff): International report shows children's literacy suffered under National Standards
Simon Collins (Herald): Kiwi kids' reading levels slide to record low
Adele Redmond (Stuff): NZQA to discuss math exam that left students in tears after teachers' open letter
John Gerritsen (RNZ): School leavers back fee-free tertiary policy
Simon Collins (Herald): About 80,000 expected to get fees-free study in 2018
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Govt reveals who will benefit from new 'fees-free’ policy
Shane Cowlishaw (Newsroom): No age limit on first-year-free policy
Max Towle (Wireless): Free fees for first-time students, but who exactly is eligible?
Laura Walters and Jo Moir (Stuff): Government confirms details of its flagship education policy, and 80,000 will benefit in 2018
Anna Bracewell-Worrall and Lloyd Burr (Newshub): People on work visas entitled to fees-free apprenticeships and industry training
Florence Kerr (Stuff): Education minister asks for briefing on Wintec
Florence Kerr (Stuff): Wintec spent over $4 million in financial settlements with staff
Health
Dominion Post Editorial: Chai Chuah had no choice but to resign
Stacey Kirk (Stuff): 'It was Chai Chuah's choice': Director-General of Health not pushed, minister says
Eileen Goodwin (ODT): South Islanders, nurses missing from Clark's health advisory group
Herald: National leader Bill English: 'unreasonable expectations' await next health boss
Natalie Akoorie (Herald): Nigel Murray got green light for high salary
Emma Hatton (RNZ): Acupuncturists reject study on misleading claims
Jessica Long (Stuff): Health of deaf Kiwis hindered by lack of interpreters, study finds
Employment and work for the dole
Gordon Campbell (Werewolf): On saying ‘work for the dole,’ nicely
Chris Bramwell (RNZ): PM rejects claim of 'divisive issue' over jobs scheme
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Australia's work for the dole scheme's 2 percent success rate
Government
Herald Editorial: Public's right to know is core tenet
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Calls to combat foreign political influence
Newshub: PM Jacinda Ardern expects to meet Ombudsman over document
Economy
Richard Harman (Politik): An end to inflation?
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): RBNZ considers tweaking monetary policy as low inflation persists
Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): Crown accounts in deficit, but debt tracking below expectations
Peter Lyons (Herald): The cult of growth and manic materialism
Environment
Ged Cann (Stuff): Kiwis want a ban on the bag, and legislation is looking increasingly likely
No Right Turn: Stopping the beast
Jessie Chiang (RNZ): Kauri dieback: Council could hold second vote
Helen King (Stuff): Auckland Council votes against full closure of Wāitakere Ranges
RNZ: Kauri dieback: council votes against Waitakere closure
Herald: Auckland Council backs kauri dieback exclusion zone in Waitakere Ranges
Simon Wilson (Spinoff): The battle to save the Waitakere Kauri
Robin Martin (RNZ): Anti-1080 letter claims sika release
Herald: Department of Conservation calls in police over anti-1080 group's threats
Emma Jolliff (Newshub): 1080 protesters threaten to 'bring down' DoC helicopters
PM’s Al Gore interview
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Climate change
Claire Trevett (Herald): New Zealand ready to stand up on climate change Jacinda Ardern says
Isobel Ewing (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern: Climate change goes beyond politics
Claire Trevett (Herald): Al Gore to Jacinda Ardern: 'Everybody in the world is pulling for you.'
Laura Walters (Stuff): Al Gore lauds Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on climate change action
Chris Bramwell (RNZ): Gore to PM: 'You're a breath of fresh air'
1News: Watch: 'I don't want to gush here' – Al Gore can't stop heaping praise on Jacinda Ardern during climate change interview
1News: Watch: 'I got to know the culture' – Al Gore tells Jacinda Ardern how he served alongside Maori during Vietnam War
Housing
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): National spent $50m putting homeless in hotels
1News: Housing Minister labels previous government's emergency housing policy a 'ticking time bomb'
RNZ: Twyford slams National's emergency housing blowout
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Auckland Council may get more powers to force people to sell their houses
Newshub: Landlords to score tenants with rating system
Australia
Katarina Williams (Stuff): Only those with genuine NZ links should be deported from Australia, PM says
Herald: PM Jacinda Ardern: Australia deportees must have roots in New Zealand
Herald: PM Jacinda Ardern denies Labour is a soft touch for people smugglers
RNZ: 'Kwaussie' named Australia's 2017 word of the year
China
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Winston Peters says western world is too hard on China over freedom issues
Audrey Young (Herald): Remember Janis Joplin before judging China too harshly says Winston Peters
Newshub: 'In some ways the Chinese have a lot to teach us' - Winston Peters
Talisa Kupenga (Māori TV): Māori business interest at NZ-China mayoral talks
Justice
RNZ: Prison violence 'unacceptable in a civilised country'
Kirsty Johnston (Herald): Violence at New Zealand prisons highlighted in Ombudsman's latest torture reports
Oliver Lewis and Sam Sherwood (Stuff): Ombudsman report lays out 'unacceptable' conditions at Christchurch Men's Prison
Jonathan Underhill (Herald): Prison company locks up $8.2m annual profit
Media
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Why media diversity matters
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Peters vs the media
John Drinnan (ZagZigger): Minister And RNZ News Boss Breakfast At The Astoria
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): The growing threat to free speech
RNZ: 'The conversation still goes on'
Ian Grant (Dominion Post): Cartoonists living dangerously as insecure regimes equate satire with sedition
Primary industries
Jonathan Underhill (Herald): Farmer confidence drops 41 per cent
RNZ: Farming confidence plummets – survey
Brad Markham (Stuff): It's time to protect our supply of horticultural produce
Transport
Laura Walters and Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): Minister joins AA call for petrol price cut
Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): AA calls for petrol price cut, claims margins are well above average
Tess Nichol (Herald: AA calls on fuel companies to cut petrol prices - saying Govt needs to step in if they won't
Gender
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Policy aims to propel more women lawyers to top roles
Emile Donovan (RNZ): Lawyers set 'achievable' gender balance target
Heta Gardiner (Māori TV): More women managers, more money – report
Chloe Winter and Laura Walters (Stuff): More women in top jobs would give an $881 million boost to NZ: report
Salvation Army report
Kate Pereyra-Garcia (RNZ): Smaller communities feel 'forgotten' – report
Newshub: Low-income communities 'forgotten' – study
Newshub: We need good parents, not more benefits - Duncan Garner
Other
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Volunteer push likely after Civil Defence review
Laura Walters (Stuff): Pike River Recovery Agency allows for maximum accountability – Labour
Mike Hosking (Herald): Is the Commerce Commission out of touch?
Hamish Fletcher (Herald): Retirees rely on state pension as savings run out
Herald: America's Cup: Team NZ accused of 'corporate blackmail' by former director
Tom Pullar Strecker (Stuff): Government may protect workers who dob in bad behaviour to the media
No Right Turn: Time to strengthen whistleblower protections
Shannon Haunui-Thompson (RNZ): Iwi to take Crown to Supreme Court
Zac Fleming (RNZ): Where refugees go when they arrive in New Zealand
Stephen Day (Spinoff): Does the Property (Relationships) Act work for modern families?
Geoff Vause (Marlborough Express): Building owners confused by quake risk process
Jo Moir (Stuff): British High Commissioner Jonathan Sinclair off to work for Boris Johnson
Joanna Norris (Press): Government support essential to complete Christchurch's rebuild at pace