Dear Subscribers
I’m currently making some changes to the Substack platform that I use to send out my research and information about New Zealand politics.
I originally used this Substack platform as part of the Democracy Project, which I set up at Victoria University of Wellington in 2020. The name of the Substack was changed this year to assist with a different venture, but I am now reverting the name back to the Democracy Project.
All my research, advocacy and communications about New Zealand politics continues with the Democracy Project. As always, the Democracy Project is 100% reliant on the funds from subscribers, so if you want to support this work, please do take out a paid subscription.
I will come back to you with further information about the plans I have for the Democracy Project, especially for election year.
As always, I enjoy receiving feedback – even the negative! Just hit reply. I read all messages, and try to respond, though I don’t always manage.
Kind regards
Bryce
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UBER, EMPLOYMENT, WORKPLACE SAFETY
Henry Cooke (Post): Government not about to end the millennial lifestyle subsidy (paywalled)
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Government will only go so far in helping Uber, as drivers chase it for compensation following Supreme Court ruling (paywalled)
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): The Supreme Court ruled that Uber drivers are employees. This driver is hopeful things will get better
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): What will the Uber decision mean for drivers’ tax bills?
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Courier drivers could be next after Uber employment ruling (paywalled)
Felix Walton (RNZ): Uber drivers’ Supreme Court decision could collapse gig economy, business groups say
Chelsea Daniels (Herald): Front Page: Pike River legacy: Report shows little progress on workplace deaths
RNZ: 15 years on, Pike River families still pushing for criminal charges
RNZ: Calls for corporate manslaughter law 15 years after Pike River tragedy
Herald Editorial: New Zealand’s workplace health and safety record is a nightmare (paywalled)
Susan Hornsby-Geluk (Post): Protected conversations, but only for some (paywalled)
PARLIAMENT, GOVERNMENT
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Bishop’s bridge and the brazen return of pork-barrel politics
Ellen O’Dwyer (RNZ): PM backs minister’s ‘pragmatic’ call to spend Kāinga Ora money on local bridge
Bob Edlin: How to bridge a funding gap – Chris Bishop whoops about pragmatism as he diverts stormwater funding
Ryan Bridge (Newstalk ZB): Chris Bishop has done a Tory Whanau
Andrea Vance (Post): Greg O’Connor polls strongly as he fights for political survival (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Newly independent MPs, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Tākuta Ferris, correct votes to support David Seymour’s medicines bill
Ryan Bridge (Newstalk ZB): National’s strategy is looking riskier by the day
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Can the Opportunity Party succeed?
Ryan Ward: Greens’ major focus is economic issues, not identity politics
Karanama Ruru (Stuff): Power outage hits Parliament right before question time
Anna Whyte (Post): Who’s coming, who’s going: Public servant revolving door keeps spinning (paywalled)
Rob Campbell (Newsroom): The self-fulfilling idea that the public sector cannot innovate
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): The big impact of NZ Customs’ super-discreet boss (paywalled)
CAPITAL GAINS TAX, ASSET SALES
RNZ: 30 with Guyon Espiner: Economist Gary Stevenson on why New Zealand should tax the rich
Lloyd Burr (Stuff): Bright-line test vs Labour’s capital gains tax: Are we just arguing over names?
RNZ: Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins on capital gains tax
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Capital Gains Tax wouldn’t have raised much in recent years - Cotality
Terry Baucher (Interest): Te wiki o te tāke: The capital gains tax special edition
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Could Govt seek financial jackpot with Lotto privatisation?
HOUSING, BUILDING SAFETY, PROPERTY
Julia Gabel (Herald): Labour criticises Tama Potaka as new data shows a majority of emergency housing applications in urban Auckland are being declined (paywalled)
Kristin Hall (Spinoff): Back to the streets: Rotorua’s enduring homelessness crisis
Derek Cheng (Herald): ‘Move-on’ orders for homeless come as public disorder hits 10-year low (paywalled)
Nikki Preston (One Roof): ‘Knock-out deal’: Kāinga Ora to take $2m hit on scrapped housing site
Sam Smith (Stuff): Kāinga Ora set to make $2m loss on sale of empty Auckland section
Jacqui Loates-Haver (Stuff): Beyond the backlash: the case for denser, more connected Auckland housing
David Seymour (Post): Undoing the damage done by earthquake strengthening law (paywalled)
Liz McDonald (Press): Christchurch’s property titans: Inside the $50m-plus portfolios (paywalled)
Deborah Morris (Post): Investors gaining on first home buyers’ share of the property market (paywalled)
Anne Gibson (Herald): Retirement village group lodges complaint over Metlifecare cashback deal (paywalled)
FAST-TRACK, MINING
Daniela Maoate-Cox (RNZ): How a ‘loophole’ resulted in 11-day submission period on fast-track amendments law
Lloyd Burr (Stuff): Willis blasts Greens’ mining intervention as ‘doolally, economic vandalism’
Phil Murray (ODT): Enduring qualities of Central Otago threatened by proposed mine
Will Harvey (Press): Fossil site Foulden Maar in Otago gives up ancient sponges (paywalled)
POLICE
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): Former Deputy Police Commissioner Tania Kura visited Jevon McSkimming after charges laid
Amanda Gillies (RNZ): The Detail: Police face a deepening crisis of trust
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Police Commissioner Richard Chambers apologises to staff affected by Jevon McSkimming emails protocol (paywalled)
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): ‘Minor infractions’: Police Minister showers police commissioner Richard Chambers with praise following swim during tsunami advisory
CRIME, JUSTICE, CORRECTIONS
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Luxon calls growing prisoner numbers ‘a good thing’ as police target slips
Derek Cheng (Herald): Serious youth crime is dropping nationwide, but is up 56% in one district, and rising in three regions (paywalled)
Phoebe Utteridge (Stuff): ‘It’s an embarrassment’: He worked high up in corporate Australia but can’t get a job in New Zealand
Paula Penfold (Stuff): No checks, no referees: How a man who embellished his CV became a Visiting Justice
RNZ: Fraud Awareness Week: Govt creates new scam protections
Juha Saarinen (Interest): Government announces anti-scam measures aimed at stemming losses
Rob Stock (Post): Government to introduce ‘safe harbour’ law for scam takedowns (paywalled)
Chelsea Daniels (Herald): Front Page: Scam losses hit $3b as report warns Kiwis face rising online fraud
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Scammers using ‘extremely sophisticated methods’, one retiree lost $250,000
HEALTH, FAMILY CARERS
Giles Dexter (RNZ): 200kg of signatures: Huge petition to fix ‘broken’ health system presented to Parliament
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Is this the longest petition ever?
Harriet Laughton (Post): Health hīkoi breaks longest petition records
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Funding for family carers: ‘I’m not going to live forever’
Harriet Wild (Spinoff): Weaving through a week of unemployment and mental health in the news
Fiona Ellis (Waikato Times): Waikato Hospital: Full-time study for part-time work (paywalled)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WATER
Julie Jacobson (Post): Wellington council swearing-in costs in food and ferns, but hold that bevvy (paywalled)
Nick James (RNZ): Taumata Arowai intervention over Kaeo water supply was ‘about time’
Peter de Graaf (RNZ): Taumata Arowai takes control of Kāeo water supply after 10-year boil-water notice
RNZ: Otago Regional Council investigates Wanaka wastewater treatment plant failures
Matthew Martin (Waikato Times/Post): Devil in detail for karakia walkout (paywalled)
Press: Christchurch sports centre Parakiore opening date ‘just around the corner’ - mayor (paywalled)
Grant Miller (ODT): Unenforceable parks paid for: DCC
CLIMATE CHANGE, ENVIRONMENT, CONSERVATION
Kate Newton (RNZ): New Zealand slumps again in climate-change league table
Kate Newton (RNZ): New Zealand awarded dubious ‘Fossil of the Day’ at COP30 climate talks
Simon Wilson (Herald): Climate Derangement and the COP cop out (paywalled)
RNZ: ‘We all have to do our bit’: Jacinda Ardern urges collective climate action
Farah Hancock (RNZ): Christopher Luxon said feral cats would be added as a target in Predator Free 2050 - but it hasn’t happened
TRANSPORT
Michael Daly (Stuff): Hipkins keen on new $3.8b tunnel plans for Wellington, like the Government, but what about you?
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): The new Wellington traffic plan is a monster
Marc Daadler (Newsroom): Govt moves urgently to make it cheaper to import dirty cars
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): Is the EV bubble about to burst?
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Labour MP Ingrid Leary deletes post complaining Government didn’t invite her to event, despite invite from organiser
RNZ: Slip-prone West Coast highway might be moved inland
INFRASTRUCTURE
Thomas Manch (Post): Funded projects in national infrastructure pipeline jumps by $16b (paywalled)
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): Infrastructure pipeline swells to $275b but certainty stops at the next election, Eaqub says (paywalled)
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Government exploring monitoring of undersea cables as ships spotted ‘hovering’
Andrew Bevin (Newsroom): Elon’s Starlink applies to tap Chorus network
Elizabeth McCusker (ODT): Cracking the jewel in the crown
ENERGY
Kirsty Johnston (RNZ): The fuel of ‘last resort’: How imported gas became New Zealand’s first choice
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Watchdog believes some lines companies overcharging for new connections (paywalled)
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Electricity Authority flags cost-shifting in lines companies’ connection charges (paywalled)
Adam Coxhead (Herald): How New Zealand businesses can cut energy costs and boost resilience
EDUCATION
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Sending teens to polytech for the day a central part of government’s secondary school overhaul
Claire Amos (Aotearoa Educators Collective): System Reform Bill: When Reform Isn’t Really Reform
Jude MacArthur (Newsroom): Education’s Stanford experiment not for everyone
Charlotte Muru-Lanning (Spinoff): A crash course in the many changes shaking up education in Aotearoa
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Parents to no longer have a say on what’s taught in sex ed
Nicholas Jones (Stuff): ‘Time to rebuild’: Wesley College trust board dissolved amidst ongoing safety concerns
CARTOONS