Daily News Roundup – 12 March 2021

Policing and crime
Robin Martin (RNZ): Facial recognition used on photos of unidentified suspects only – Coster
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Police drones, body cameras likely to be scrutinised by new independent panel
Jane Clifton (Herald): What about a long-term Level 4 for gang members? (paywalled)
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Police dodged questions about facial recognition technology use
RNZ: Independent panel to advise police on use of emerging technology
RNZ: Maori Party calls for Royal Commission into police photographs
Catherine Groenestein (Stuff): M?ori-led approach to dealing with crime and preventing reoffending, Te Pae Oranga, launched in Taranaki

Media; Jacinda Ardern pulling out of Mike Hosking Show
RNZ: The Detail: Talking to the Prime Minister
Chris Trotter: Getting out of Mike Hosking’s kitchen
Brent Edwards (NBR): Prime Minister’s media management under question (paywalled)
Damien Venuto (Herald): Jacinda Ardern thinks she doesn’t need Mike Hosking. She might be wrong (paywalled)

Ashley Bloomfield lobbying
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Dr Ashley Bloomfield apologises for accepting cricket match tickets, after being lobbied
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield backtracks, admits VIP experience with Blackcaps wasn’t in ‘private’ capacity
Herald: Ashley Bloomfield says he should have turned down cricket tickets
TVNZ: ‘I was incorrect’ — Ashley Bloomfield admits he was wrong to accept invitation to NZ cricket match
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern doesn’t believe Dr Ashley Bloomfield had ‘ill intent’ when he attended complimentary Blackcaps matc

Covid: Vaccine
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Professor says Government’s vaccine rollout plan is ‘fundamentally good’ but has gaps that could cause outbreak
RNZ: Push for all adults in South Auckland to get vaccine first
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Maori must decide for themselves on Covid-19 vaccine – Waititi
Waatea News: Shot in the arm for Maori vaccine effort
TVNZ: Defence Force could be involved in nationwide Covid-19 vaccine roll-out — Peeni Henare
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): We need far more clarity on the vaccine rollout

Covid: General
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Mandatory Covid-19 app scanning put on back burner
Katie Harris (Herald): Passengers flew on Air NZ plane that wasn’t deep cleaned after MIQ drop off
Amelia Wade (Herald): We shouldn’t have been commenting on individual cases’: Boss of Covid-19 Facebook page admits mistake over KFC worker post
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Auckland waits on PM Jacinda Ardern’s alert level call
Herald: NZ-made breath test may pick up virus ‘within minutes’
Robyn Walker (Stuff): A guide to your Covid-19 entitlements
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Auckland business leader Michael Barnett wants Government to listen closely to smaller businesses about improving COVID-19 support schemes
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Scott Morrison suggests Jacinda Ardern doesn’t want Australian tourists to spend-up in Queenstown
Thomas Bywater (Herald): Australia to subsidise 800,000 flights, could NZ get ticket to recovery?

Housing
Zane Small (Newshub): Megan Woods tells National’s Nicola Willis to ‘get off her ivory tower’ in spat over $11,000 cost of housing promo videos
Miriam Bell (Stuff): National median house price soars to record high – REINZ
Anne Gibson (Herald): REINZ figures: House prices reach new highs as market hits busiest period in 14 years
Greg Ninness (Interest): Auckland’s median house price up $100,000 in February – REINZ
RNZ: House prices hit new highs with busiest February market in 14 years
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Rising house price expectations at record levels as buyer confidence plunges
Business Desk: House prices jumped 21.5% in 12 months to February (paywalled)
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Rapid property price boom across New Zealand, nine out of 10 regions see spike in sales, volume – REINZ data
Ashley Church (OneRoof): Why I think the Reserve Bank is going to make things worse for first home buyers
Jenny Ruth (Business Desk): NZ’s housing crisis worsens; govt options limited
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Rising house price expectations at record levels as buyer confidence plunges
Caroline Butterworth (Herald): Project Auckland: Housing solutions for Aucklanders (paywalled)

Local government
Damian George (Stuff): Wellington City Council agrees in principle to establish Maori ward
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington City Council agrees in principle to establish Maori ward
Imogen Wells (1 News): ‘It’s quite frightening’ — Wellingtonians feeling unsafe as crime rate increases in CBD
Matt Slaughter (ODT): City councillor’s proposal to cut number of representatives slammed
David Farrar: Join the Tauranga Ratepayers’ Alliance
Gavin Ogden (Herlad): Local Focus: Meet the commissioners – Stephen Selwood ‘Tauranga has suffered’
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Project Auckland: Be bold. Invest in Auckland’s future (paywalled)
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland Transport slows down spending on the city’s footpaths (paywalled)

Terrorism and Christchurch
Jane Patterson (RNZ): National MP Simon Bridges on anti-terror laws: ‘Chickens coming home to roost’
Newstalk ZB: National wants law change for terror suspects landing in NZ
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Government announces diversity in public sector initiative in response to Christchurch attack report
Amber Allott Mariné Lourens (Stuff): New support for Muslim community ahead of second anniversary of March 15 terror attack

Health
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Relief for some of New Zealand’s sickest people as medicinal cannabis patients granted another six months access
Andrew Bevin (NBR): Medical cannabis deadline pushed back to prevent price gouging (paywalled)
Henry Armstrong (Breaking Views): Racism in the New Zealand Health System
Rob O’Neill (NBR): ACC goes digital, with one claim accepted in just seven seconds (paywalled)

Foreign affairs and trade
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Australia could learn a lot from New Zealand’s foreign policy, international relations expert says

Climate change, environment and conservation
Bernard Hickey: Free buses and a just transition vs political reality
Eloise Gibson (Stuff): ACC, other big Crown agencies instructed to come clean on climate risk to bottom line
Karen McWilliams and John Cuthbertson (Stuff): Parker’s two hats a boost for the environment
Richard Harman: How to save the high country (paywalled)
Jo Hendy (Business Desk): Economically sound, socially acceptable – the climate transition challenge (paywalled)

Economy
Brian Fallow (Herald): Jobs bouncing back from Covid? Not so fast (paywalled)
Matthew Hooton (Herald): How New Zealand tourism can reinvent itself (paywalled)
Donal Curtin: What’s next?

Primary industries
Georgia-May Gilbertson (Stuff): Prime Minister talks farming, fruit-picking and possible wedding among the vines in Hawke’s Bay
Iain Hyndman (Whanganui Chronicle): Whanganui Federated Farmers seek clarity on fresh water regulations

Other
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Political Roundup – National’s blame game, secrecy and dysfunction
Stuff Editorial: Review release shows National has not learned lessons of the past
Peter Dunne: The appointment of the next Governor-General
Graham Adams (Democracy Project): Don’t mention the Musket Wars!
Michael Neilson (Herald): Young mother alleges abuse in Oranga Tamariki-associated parenting programme: ‘This place is supposed to be a safe place’ (paywalled)
ODT: Editorial – Retirement village review timely
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Otago Polytechnic advertises ‘dubious’ residency pathway to migrants
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Electricity Authority’s ‘UTS’ fix won’t restore confidence, Electric Kiwi warns
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Bill to ban protest and harassment outside abortion clinics has passed first reading
Bernard Hickey: What’s news to me this morning
Marc Wilson (Listener): Secrets and lies: Why we have more in common with conspiracy theorists than we think (paywalled)
Te Rina Triponel (Herald): The Haka Party incident: Confronting a racist piece of New Zealand’s past