Political Roundup: 5 January 2023
Items of interest and importance today
HEALTH, COVID
Gianina Schwanecke (Stuff): Government proposes new measures to cut 'too high' youth vaping rates
Kate Nicol-Williams (1News): Government planning youth vaping crackdown
Stuff: Southern mayors seek urgent meeting with Health Minister Andrew Little
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Wellington Hospital plans 12-bed rooftop ward amid pipe fixes
Stuff: Minister: No plans to Covid test Chinese arrivals due to 'minimal public health risk'
RNZ: New Zealand will not impose entry restrictions on travellers from China
Alexa Cook (1News): New Zealand experts worried as evasive COVID-19 'super variant' makes waves in US
Laura James (1News): Governments urged to increase access to braille
Martin Thrupp (Stuff): Escaping the city? Think carefully about access to hospital treatment
PARLIAMENT
Ben Thomas (Stuff): In 2023, Kiwis are sceptical of being offered something for nothing
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Summer off politics: Elizabeth Kerekere plans to get back to her artist roots
ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Richer or poorer? How the last year has affected Kiwi families
Rob Stock (Stuff): Six money lessons from 2022, and six we need for 2023
Herald Editorial: Unease at what China’s Covid wave means for global economy (paywalled)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Too big to fail – calls for Govt to guarantee Three Waters debts (paywalled)
Nicholas Boyack (Stuff): Mothballed community projects symbols of broken council funding model
Erin Johnson (Stuff): Documents reveal how Auckland Transport reacted to taking an 'enthusiastic kicking' in the election campaign
Nicholas Boyack (Stuff): The city with no recycling and no cycle lanes
Jonathan Killick (Stuff): Aucklanders rally against 'selfish' bid by rich listers to add helicopter flights
Stephen Ward (Stuff): Stand by for a busy and tumultuous 2023, Hamilton
Alisha Evans (Local Democracy Reporting): Bay of Plenty Regional Council posts $10m deficit
Michael Fallow (Stuff): Southland District Council to review consents regime
HOUSING
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Here's how long we can expect house prices to keep falling
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Winton's $4b Sunfield development: Why efforts to remove red tape are proving so difficult
Michael Daly (Stuff): $350m housing plan for former Wellington Prison site
Daniel Smith (Stuff): Generate KiwiSaver, Community Finance invest $14m to build social housing in Christchurch
EDUCATION
Rob Stock (Stuff): Uni students face $10,000 'shortfall' in living costs
Katy Jones (Stuff): Transgender students should automatically get into nearest co-ed school, MP says
MEDIA
Daniel Dunkely (BusinessDesk): Media outlook 2023: Brace for a bleak year ahead (paywalled)
Daniel Dunkely (BusinessDesk): What happens to the news when the tap's turned off? (paywalled)
ENVIRONMENT
Niva Chittock (RNZ): Water quality making Canterbury beaches not suitable for swimming
RNZ: Third cruise ship in three weeks fails NZ's biofouling standards
Niva Chittock (RNZ): Cleaning ships: What's involved in meeting New Zealand's strict biofoul thresholds
Niva Chittock (RNZ): Algae-ridden cruise ship asked to leave New Zealand waters
ROAD TOLL
ODT Editorial: The road to a zero toll is no hero yet
RNZ: Provisional holiday road toll of 21 deaths 'an absolute tragic period'
1News: 'Completely unacceptable' holiday road toll ends with 21 deaths
Caitlan Johnston (Herald): New Zealand roads claim highest number of deaths during a Christmas-New Year break in four years
OTHER
Alex Penk (Stuff): To understand hate speech, we have to understand free speech
Sasha Borissenko: (Herald) The legal winners and losers of 2022 (paywalled)
Max Rashbrooke (Stuff): A brief history of the many times I changed my mind
Emma Hatton (Newsroom): Plan to eliminate family and sexual violence passes one-year milestone
Soumya Bhamidipati (RNZ): Questions raised over sale of Aotearoa artefacts at Sotheby's auction
Christine Rovoi (Stuff): NZ, Australia keep watch on Iran warships in the Pacific
Virginia Fallon (Stuff): Why an American billionaire should be New Zealander of the Year
Anna Leask (Herald): Thieves, fraudsters, violence, killers, sex offenders: New Zealand’s miscreant cops outed in new police figures
Daniel Smith (Stuff): EQC urges homeowners to protect properties after spike in damage claims
RNZ: Government to discuss establishment of book commission
Nicky Hager (Stuff): 'Lots of information isn't secret, it's just hard to find': Nicky Hager on the investigative techniques of one of NZ's most famous whistleblowers
Tara Shaskey (Open Justice Reporting): Czech drug smuggler and former kickboxing champ Karel Sroubek loses deportation battle