NZ Politics Daily: 25 August 2023

ELECTION
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The Election Labour Has To Lose
Metiria Turei (ODT): Elections show political rhetoric at its best, awful worst
Seni Iasona (Newsroom): Political commentator says public will 'turn away in disgust' if divisive tension continues to rise
Josie Pagani (Post): How to break political polarisation in New Zealand (paywalled)
Plain Sight: Is a shouting match the best we can do?
Jack Tame (1News): ACT's poor candidate vetting was uncharacteristically sloppy
Amy Ridout (Stuff): 'If Nelson Mandela was alive today, he would be campaigning for ACT', leader says
Richard Harman (Politik): Judith Collins – diplomat (paywalled)
Audrey Young (Herald): Meet Penny Simmonds, National’s Invercargill MP tipped for Cabinet (paywalled)
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Making up our climate response as we go
Hanna McCallum (Post): Election Watch: The omission of minority groups in policy announcements (paywalled)
Tim Watkin (RNZ): Caucus: Don't stop believing: ACT hits fawke in the road as Labour falls & National stalls
Brent Edwards (NBR): Election bids, party troubles, Todd Muller’s valedictory
Danyl McLauchlan (Listener): What you need to know in politics: National pledges diversity; Labour takes dramatic fall (paywalled)
Newsroom: Raw Politics: Labour’s underdog needs some bite
Daily Blog: 7pm-8.30pm Tuesday live-streamed and simulcast Freeview 200 – Taxpayers’ Union Ilam Election debate hosted by The Working Group

TAX
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Thatcher, Richardson... Willis? On tax cuts, women know best (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Labour and National find each other’s weak spots: Zombie tax policies
David Chaplin (BusinessDesk): Red tape and blue-tack: glue period looms for IRD as National, Labour stick on election promises (paywalled)

TIM VAN DE MOLEN
Jenna Lynch: Analysis: Christopher Luxon has a major hypocrisy problem for failing to sack Tim van de Molen for contempt of Parliament
Bridie Witton and Glenn McConnell (Stuff): 'It is serious': National's Waikato MP Tim van de Molen found to have threatened Labour MP
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Tim van de Molen: Christopher Luxon says contempt of Parliament doesn't meet sacking threshold
RNZ: National MP Tim van de Molen stood down from all portfolios
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): National MP Tim van de Molen should be censured for 'threatening' another MP, committee finds
1News: National MP stripped of portfolios over 'threatening' behaviour

PUBLIC SERVICE
Robert McCulloch: The Ministry of Social Development's Managers Take a Leaf from George Orwell's "Ministry of Truth"
Nikitin Sallee (BusinessDesk): 'Own it, fix it, learn from it' (paywalled)
Max Harris (Post): Cuts to public service will just shunt costs elsewhere (paywalled)

PARLIAMENT, VALEDICTORIES
Brent Edwards (NBR): National says rushing legislation the act of a ‘dying government’ (paywalled)
Michael Neilson (Herald): Green MPs Jan Logie, Eugenie Sage and Labour’s Poto Williams give valedictory speeches
George Heagney (Manawatū Standard): Never deny a problem and never go swimming in a public place - veteran politician bows out
AP (Guardian): New Zealand should consider joining Australia, MP urges in valedictory speech
Dominic O'Sullivan (The Conversation): A retiring NZ MP has suggested joining Australia – we should at least think about it (before saying no)

ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Consumer NZ says being unable to save is now the reality for many New Zealanders
Herald Editorial: The medicine is working but it’s a bitter pill to swallow for some (paywalled)
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): Reserve Bank vigilant as NZ dollar dips to nine-month low (paywalled)
Mana Wikaire-Lewis (Whakaata Māori): Power unaffordability for whānau ‘unacceptable’ - Energy Hardship Panel
RNZ: Primary sector slowing, 'Truckometer' data shows

EMPLOYMENT, BUSINESS
Judy McGregor (Herald): Age care workers are trapped in poverty for their service (paywalled)
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Pay gap policy excludes marginalised women, advocates say
Janika ter Ellen (Newshub): Revealed: Cut supermarkets make on products has more than doubled since 90s, suppliers claim
Guy Trafford (Interest): Unhappy farmers, unhappy consumers, and fingers pointed at supermarkets world-wide
Ben Tomsett (ODT): Toxic industrial waste found at another site in Southland
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): The things we're complaining about the most to the Commerce Commission
Sam Stubbs (Post): What politicians should really do with KiwiSaver (paywalled)
Ged Cann (Post): Insolvencies jump by a third in second quarter of the year - BWA (paywalled)
Nicholas Pointon (NBR): Increasing construction firm failures far from peak (paywalled)
Andrea Bevin (Newsroom): Ruapehu administrators deny iwi relations blame

MEDIA
Shayne Currie (Herald): Media Insider: TVNZ to ‘strengthen transparency’ over Breakfast content; AI and the fake Simon Dallow video; media firms take aim at content regulation (paywalled)
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): MediaRoom: Low-tide financially for TV companies
Hamish McNicol and Calida Stuart-Menteath (NBR): NBR turns 53: a Q&A with our owners (paywalled)

TRANSPORT
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Cabinet approves new roads despite climate harm
Sinead Gill (Press): TOP will bring back The Southerner passenger train if elected (paywalled)
Krystal Gibbens (RNZ): Waka Kotahi assesses putting up speed limits on expressways north of Wellington
Grant Miller (ODT): Raft of speed reductions proposed for city
RNZ: Auckland's City Rail Link review finds lack of skilled workers for large-scale infrastructure projects
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): City Rail Link: lessons for light rail (paywalled)
RNZ: Bus driver pay legislation passes under urgency
Tara Ward (Spinoff): New Zealand’s most shocking road safety ads
Siobhan Downes (Stuff): 'Not going back to 2019 levels': Air NZ boss warns cheap flights era is over
1News: Air NZ boss says fares won't return to pre-pandemic levels
David Hargreaves (Interest): Air New Zealand's billion-dollar profit turnaround
Grant Bradley (Herald): What’s driving Air New Zealand’s massive profit and can the good times keep rolling? (paywalled)
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Air NZ preps for more capital returns (paywalled)
Tina Morrison (Post): Air New Zealand returns to profit after Covid, 'coy' on outlook (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): Brooklyn cycleway gets tick for permanence (paywalled)
EJ Barrett (Spinoff): I use a wheelchair and I want more bike lanes

HEALTH
Gordon Campbel: On pharmaceutical access, and FIFA women’s football economics
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Pharmac switches to cheaper breast cancer drug, but says no to extra treatments
Public Health Communications Centre: New proposals to limit youth vaping from Labour: Do they go far enough?
RNZ: Sale and Supply of Alcohol Amendment Bill passes third reading
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Warning of more defections as practice nurses, midwives accept pay deal
RNZ: Police inspector drove group over Auckland border for tangi breaching Covid-19 order - IPCA

MIGRANT WORKERS, IMMIGRATION
Sharon Brettkelly (The Detail): Migrant worker advocates alarmed by increasing calls for help
Blessen Tom (RNZ): 'I don't have a right to dream' - Teen overstayer faces a life of uncertainty

FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Phil Pennington (RNZ): New Zealand embassy in Moscow not evacuated during June's Wagner rebellion
Lydia Lewis (RNZ): 'This is a big step': Japan releases nuclear wastewater into Pacific
1News: Fukushima begins release of radioactive water into the sea
Kelvin Anthony (RNZ): Beijing, Canberra commit to stronger ties with Melanesia

TRADE
Thomas Manch (Post): Volume or value? New Zealand's trade strategy at a turning point (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Post): Protectionist India a 'country on the move' (paywalled)

JUSTICE, CORRECTIONS, CRIME
Jessica Swan (1News): Prisoners still being put in prolonged solitary confinement
Newshub: Prison numbers will balloon if ACT elected at cost of $1 billion, David Seymour says
Adam Burns (RNZ): Mama Hooch sexual assaults: Survivors praised for courage in speaking up
Newshub: Police Minister Ginny Andersen says Rotorua bus stop attack on teenager 'completely unacceptable'
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Consent law reform report ‘beacon of hope’ for survivors, advocate says
Stuff: Judges consider listening to a trial recording to assess 'the vibe'

CLIMATE CHANGE, EXTREME WEATHER
Eric Frykberg (Interest): Government passes a law removing any obligation to promote the mining industry as it focuses on reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050
Finn Blackwell (RNZ): Flood, cyclone recovery work: Auckland Council backs $2b funding deal with govt
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): Storm-battered home-owners: ‘Our paradise has become a hell’

LOCAL GOVERNMENT, THREE WATERS, CO-GOVERNANCE
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): One small council exempted from Three Waters reforms: ‘We are unique’
Graham Adams (The Common Room): Hipkins’ insists there’s ‘nothing to fear’ in co-governance
Erin Gourley (Post): Councillors embarrassed, irritated by delay in living wage (paywalled)
Herald: Auckland Mayor heads to India to meet business leaders

HOUSING
Erin Gourley (Post): Central Wellington flats leased by Kāinga Ora sat empty for months (paywalled)
Jenny Ruth: RBNZ is still capable of producing worthwhile research
Kristie Boland (Press): Kāinga Ora refuses alternative accommodation for disabled man during housing repairs (paywalled)
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): Government pulls a u-turn on controversial housing directive
David Chaston (Interest): Westpac the next to raise rates
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Westpac increases home loan rates

EDUCATION
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): National announces about-face on tertiary fees scheme
Iris Hehir and Hugh Askerud (Spinoff): Is Castle Street dead?
Ryan Anderson (Stuff): Education Minister commits to renewing free lunch scheme as 100 million meals served
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Increase in new migrant students puts strain on English language teaching resources
Arena Williams and Stuart Smith (Stuff): Schools don’t need Christopher Luxon’s permission to ban phones
Gianina Schwanecke and Conor Knell (Post): School pulls out of sex-ed candidates meeting (paywalled)

BANKS
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Reserve Bank’s money printing boosts Kiwibank’s profits (paywalled)
RNZ: Kiwibank posts record profit on back of interest rate rises, increased lending
Jonathan Mitchell (NBR): Kiwibank’s year of two halves (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): Kiwibank posts 34% increase in profit (paywalled)
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Deposit insurance expert suggests $100k cap will need to be increased over time to maintain inflation-adjusted value

OTHER
Anneke Smith (RNZ): National Party vows to scrap contracts with gangs for community support
Tim Brown (RNZ): Lachlan Jones case: Police admit mistakes made in investigation, review ordered
Bonnie Sumner and Melanie Reid (Newsroom): Police announce review into handling of Gore toddler case
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Oranga Tamariki investigating footage of boy's alleged assault in group home
RNZ: Two Māori Language Commission board appointments announced
Andre Chumko (Stuff): Bill introducing artist royalty scheme will become law