Political Roundup: 19 December 2022

NOTE TO SUBSCRIBERS:
 
We want to keep the Political Roundup service going during election year, and so we need to keep fundraising. If you value the service, want to support it, and can afford to do so, please consider donating via Victoria University of Wellington’s fundraising page for the Democracy Project: https://bit.ly/VUWDemocracyProject
 

Items of interest and importance today

PARLIAMENT
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Will Christopher Luxon write the final act of Winston Peters’ career?
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): MP’s emails show pattern of personal attacks on ministry
Guardian: New Zealand set to cancel Jacinda Ardern’s Waitangi Day BBQ amid security concerns
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Labour may be too late to win back voters it has alienated (paywalled)
Michael Fletcher (Spinoff): Why income insurance should be the first thing taken off 
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Inflation pushes up the cost of Government, putting pressure on Grant Robertson (paywalled)
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Jacinda Ardern giving Labour prickly pare for Xmas (paywalled)
Ben McKay (The Age): How New Zealand fell out of love with Jacinda Ardern’s government
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern end-of-year interview: Why the PM won't be reading this summer
Janet Wilson (Stuff): Labour must prioritise people doing it tough over pet projects
Graham Adams (The Platform): Report into Mahuta family contracts leaves questions unanswered
RNZ: Dozens of groups urge govt to pick up pace on co-governance
RNZ: National, ACT, Greens and Te Pāti Māori on the year ahead
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Why National are performing so poorly against a self mutilating Labour and why capacity is the real issue for 2023
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Week in Politics: Prickly end to year in Parliament
Ella Morgan (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern and David Seymour's 'arrogant prick' charity auction reaches $60,000
Tess McClure (Guardian): Jacinda Ardern auctions off ‘arrogant prick’ comment to raise money for prostate cancer charity
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): From prick to arshole – why Jacinda’s attack on David Seymour was so wrong
Steve Braunias (Herald): The Secret Diary of ... Xmas Songs (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Paul Eagle: The man, the enigma, the Rongotai MP?
David Farrar: The battle for Wellington

2022 IN REVIEW, THE YEAR AHEAD
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The Infamous TDB Political Awards 2022
Stuff: The biggest U-turns, dramas and Stuff's Politician of the Year for 2022
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Mishaps of 2022 swinging the pendulum of general elections
Claire Trevett (Herald): The Politician of the Year for 2022 (paywalled)
Johnny Blades (RNZ): A year of disruption: Parliament's 2022 in review
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Beehive Diaries: Drum roll please - our political awards (paywalled)
Mike Munro (Herald): And the Politician of the Year award goes to... (paywalled)
Newshub: Election 2023: National 'exactly where we want to be' ahead of next year, senior MP Erica Stanford says
Victor Billlot (Newsroom): An Ode to .. 2022
Luke Malpass (Stuff): 'Tis the season of speculation - what to watch for in 2023
Andrew Kirton (Herald): Nine things to look out for in the next political year (paywalled)

ECONOMY
Liam Dann (Herald): Recession, change of Government, grim tidings for New Year (paywalled)
Cameron Bagire (BusinessDesk): It's the recession that isn't a recession (paywalled)
Brianna MciLraith (Stuff): Wages 'doubled' but still struggling: Solo mum feeling the sting of inflation - and she's not alone
RNZ: Consumers warned of 'potential debt traps' in buy now pay later offers - CAANZ
RNZ: Job ads fall 8% but demand for labour remains high - Seek
Aimee Shaw (stuff): Small business sales sink to lowest level since September 2021
Avina Vidyadharan (Stuff): 'People don't really care about recession,' says retailer as Christmas spend ramps up

MIGRANT WORKERS, EMPLOYMENT, BUSINESS
Peter Wilson and Julie Fry (Stuff): Righting the power imbalance at the heart of the RSE scheme
Herald: Calls for ‘complete overhaul’ of RSE scheme but business group hits back at criticism
Steve Kilgallon (Stuff): 'Modern-day slavery' liquor boss gets record $1.55m in fines for migrant worker exploitation
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Govt confident its equity finance scheme for SMEs will get off the ground (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): New pricing rules could help put squeeze on supermarkets' excess profits
Ryan Anderson (Stuff): Firefighters accept pay rise up to 24% after Government steps
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Firefighters accept pay offer
1News: Firefighters accept agreement, closing 18-month FENZ dispute
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Trucker claims ‘horrific’ hours
Alanah Eriksen (Herald): Alanah Eriksen: Why are women punished for taking a holiday after having a baby? (paywalled)
Tracy Decena (Stuff): Why won't Kiwi fashion brands protect overseas garment-makers from poverty?

COVID-19
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Covid vaccination campaign head resigned after allegations of conflicts of interest
Kirsty Wynn (Herald): Epidemiologist Michael Baker sounds Covid-19 warning ahead of Christmas shopping rush
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Covid-19: Cases climbing as health system heads for a Christmas crunch
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Accused MIQ ‘queue jumpers’ prosecuted – but vindicated in court
Stuff: Ministers approve Pfizer's Covid vaccine for high-risk children under five
Caroline Williams (Stuff): Billy Te Kahika, Vinny Eastwood guilty of organising protest during Covid lockdown
Sophie Harris (Stuff): Covid-19: Pharmacist to face disciplinary charges over anti-vax videos
Mike Williams (Hawke's Bay Today): Anti-vaxxer movement was the big loser in by-election (paywalled)

HEALTH
Ian Powell: So much stuffed up by so few: reflecting on 2022
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): From fringe to life member: The social worker who could be called Doctor
Kristie Boland (Stuff): Young Māori not getting help for mental health until it is too late, study finds
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Stroke patients failed by 'postcode lottery rehabilitation'
Kristie Boland (Stuff): Charity Hospital opens major new extension due to growing number of under-50s with bowel cancer
Katie Townshend (Stuff): How long will you wait if you head to hospital in the top of the south?
Denise Piper (Stuff): Northland town with no dentist likely to be forced to add fluoride to water
Olivia Shivas (Stuff): Review of adult decision-making capacity law is 'long overdue'
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): MP calls for Lumsden Maternity Centre to be reopened for post-natal care
Raphael Franks (Herald): Mongrel Mob ‘take over’ Christchurch Hospital ICU, visiting mother claims

HOUSING
Rayssa Almeida (RNZ): Kāinga Ora's social housing development on hold after neighbourhood backlash
Kelly Makiha (Bay of Plenty Times): Contracted emergency housing motels decision: What Rotorua locals think
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Why the septic wound of the Rotorua emergency housing sums up NZ so perfectly
Miriam Bell (Stuff): By the numbers: Here’s where the housing market is at year's end
Alisha Evans (Local Democracy Reporting): Tauranga hapū’s dreams dashed by council decision to sell farm on open market
RNZ: Kāinga Ora rejects claims of anti-competitive behaviour over Papakura residential projects

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Susan Botting (Local Democracy Reporting): Petition seeks mandatory karakia for councils with Māori wards or constituencies
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): How to win friends and influence people, Kaipara-style: Mayor sets cracking unpopularity pace
Andrea Fox (Herald): Auckland port future: Top firms say efficiency, not politics and posturing, must be priority (paywalled)
Sinead Gill (Stuff): Christchurch mayor entered election with war chest of donations
Tina Law (Press): Failed Christchurch City Council candidates spend big on campaigns
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): Biggest election spender says investment paid dividends
Stefan Speller (Manawatū Standard): Does liking a post make you more likely to post a vote?
Felix Desmarais (Local Democracy Reporting): Rotorua councillor Trevor Maxwell butts heads with mayor Tania Tapsell over appointments - and Christmas dinner
Logan Savory (Stuff): Audit NZ calls for review into Invercargill City Council audit report process

THREE WATERS
Nicholas Boyack (Stuff): Wellington's water problems have been decades in the making
Alisha Evans (Bay of Plenty Times): Western Bay of Plenty Council joins other councils seeking solution to Three Waters

ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Cabinet overrides Shaw and Commission on carbon price
Eloise Gibson (Stuff): Government baulks at raising carbon price as cost of living bites
Rod Oram (Newsroom): The risks for the future are overwhelmingly environmental
Steven Cowan: Seeing red over climate change
Craig Ashworth (Local Democracy Reporting): Taranaki kaimoana ban given legal teeth

PRIMARY INDUSTRIES
Gerhard Uys (Stuff): Tesco's warning to New Zealand farmers
Sally Rae (ODT): Grassroots farmers put views to PM
Moana Ellis (Local Democray Reporting): Māori agribusiness sets target to cut emissions by 10 percent
Sally Rae (ODT): ‘Hint of some common sense’ pleasing
Catherine Hubbard (Stuff): Meat the Need rural telethon raises 1.2 million meals
RNZ: Telethon raises enough to buy more than a million feeds

FOREIGN AFFAIRS
George Block (Herald): Exclusive: Kiwi Air Force missions repeatedly intercepted by foreign military jets
Sam Sachdeva and Emanuel Stoakes (Newsroom): Chinese ‘police centre’ in NZ tied to businessman
Anna Fifield (Stuff): NZ-China relations: From 'dazzling' ping pong to $38 billion a year
Christine Rovoi (Stuff): NZ and Pacific urged to 'step up' against Japan's nuclear plan
Nicholas Khoo (Newsroom): A dismal year for autocrats raises questions for NZ

EDUCATION
Philip Matthews (Stuff): Fact or fantasy? The battle over the Polynesian Antarctica discovery
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): University of Auckland to apply mātauranga Māori to services and projects
Jerry Coyne: New Zealand starting a curriculum that gives indigenous knowledge equal weight to the “traditional world view” in all subjects
Ashleigh McCaull (RNZ): Rates of Māori stood down from school twice that of Pākeha students
Gabrielle McCulloch (Stuff): School boards: The all-powerful people in control of our children's education
Gabrielle McCulloch (Stuff): Two thirds of pre-school teachers not 'paid fairly', despite $266m Govt investment
Matt Nippert (Herald): Toitū te Waiora CEO Donovan Clarke used work credit card for lobster, booze (paywalled)

CRIME
Eruera Tarena (Stuff): A Māori teen with a pop gun meets the politics of fear
Jody O'Callaghan (Stuff): Ramraid 'politics of fear could have killed my son', kura dad says
Troels Sommerville (Stuff): 'Take that, Luxon': Samoan comic artist working for Disney from his south Auckland garage
Mohammad Alafeshat (RNZ): Chinese community members march against rising crime
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea): Let’s do something meaningful to prevent youth crime
Shaneel Lal (Herald): Boot camps vs financial help - Luxon is on the wrong track (paywalled)
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): Youth crime - are we reaping what we sow?

MEDIA
Peter Davis (Newsroom): Merged TVNZ/RNZ a marriage made in heaven, not hell
Karl du Fresne: The striking thing about the Dom Post's new editor
Hayden Donnell (RNZ): Turning a more sceptical eye on the tech titans

IMMIGRATION
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Leaked document shows Immigration New Zealand reassessing visitors' risk factors after visa backlog
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Health professionals say residency fee prohibitive: 'It's all really expensive'

OTHER
James Halpin (Stuff): Taxpayers foot bill for new body cameras in Serco-run prison after recording faults
Lauren Crimp (RNZ): NZ falls short on building big ticket items like motorways, report finds
Michelle Duff (Stuff): The number of kids being taken from their parents has plummeted. History tells us the pendulum could swing back
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): The Ghost of Information Past and a chance of redemption (paywalled)
André Chumko (Stuff): New Zealand's museums and galleries are worth $5.6 billion: report
1News: Families of 24 Māori Battalion soldiers receive WWII medals in Upper Hutt
Emma Clark-Dow (Stuff): Waka Kotahi's 'Walk it Wheel it' programme labelled 'cynical' by cycling activists
Virginia Fallon (Stuff): 'We're part of history, you can't erase us': Mongrel Mob fight ban on gang insignia at cemetery
Herald: Te Whatu Ora hacked files: Court issues order to stop ‘unknown’ people viewing data
Lois Williams (Newsroom): All we want for Christmas is our fossil
Adam Dudding and Eugene Bingham (Stuff): Secret agents, midnight battles and robots: Inside Wikipedia's great macron war