Daily News Roundup – 17 March 2021

Housing
Keith Lynch (Stuff): What happened after Jacinda Ardern said house prices can’t keep skyrocketing
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Housing crisis: Greens push to end equity-only mortgage deposits in bid to lower prices
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Megan Woods reminds foreign investors their money is still welcome in parts of housing market
Richard Prebble (Herald): How to fix the housing crisis (paywalled)
Brooke van Velden (Herald): Families can’t live in warm intentions from Jacinda Ardern’s government (paywalled)
Tony Alexander (One Roof): 12 reasons why housing market fixes could make things worse
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Housing crisis: Economist says curbs on interest-only lending for investors could be partial solution to rocketing house prices
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Housing crisis: Record profits reaped by property owners and investors revealed
Ashley Church (OneRoof): Are Kiwi house prices really in danger of crashing?
David Hargreaves (Interest): Kiwibank economists see 25% house price inflation
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Nearly 99 per cent of Kiwi house sellers score big gains
John McDermott (NBR): Should central banks take account of house prices? (paywalled)

Government and Parliament
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): Official Information Act review deferred because of justice ministry policy work overload
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Jacinda Ardern needs to convert spin into action (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): National wants to bring Bill of Rights debate to Parliament
Katie Harris (Herald): Luxon, Collins and Bishop: National reacts to 1News/Colmar Brunton poll

Foreign affairs: Australia
Andrea Vance (Stuff): New Zealand refused to call out Australia at UN over deportees
Teuila Fuatai: (Herald): NZ needs to step up fight against Australia’s 501 deportations (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor, Mitch McCann and Perry Wilton (Newshub): Nanaia Mahuta alerted to Australia’s deportation of 15yo, Golriz Ghahraman says issue should be taken to United Nations
Jason Walls (Herald): Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta learned of 15-year old who was deported ‘some weeks ago’
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Australia a ‘rogue nation’ NZ needs to call out at the UN after 15-year-old deported, say Greens
Herald: Editorial: No justification for Australia’s appalling 501 deportations (paywalled)
RNZ: Australia’s deportation of 15-year-old boy heartbreaking – Green MP
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Judith Collins says NZ-Aus relationship at its lowest ebb in a generation, slams Peter Dutton for calling Kiwis ‘trash’ in same week March 15
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Judith Collins wants ‘verbal shots’ between Australia, New Zealand to end amid concerns about relationship

Foreign affairs: China
Stuff Editorial: NZ must stand up for human rights in China
Louisa Cleave and Paula Penfold (Stuff): ‘Extremely sensitive’: Another NZ government-backed business linked to blacklisted Chinese company
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says Beijing has ‘undermined’ Hong Kong’s autonomy
Zane Small (Newshub): Deputy PM Grant Robertson seeks ‘more information’ on possible Government link to Uighur atrocities
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Grant Robertson wants answers over possible Government links to human rights abuses in China

Foreign affairs: UK
Thomas Manch (Stuff): United Kingdom’s initial market access offer falls short of New Zealand’s free trade expectations
Luke Malpass and Thomas Manch (Stuff): British high commissioner wants to put the New Zealand’s ‘great abandonment’ story to rest
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): New Zealand won’t become a republic until it grapples with the monarchy’s celebrity

Covid
Tom Hunt (Stuff): More than 11,000 foreigners granted New Zealand entry as Kiwis struggle to secure MIQ spots
Richard Harman: Trans-Tasman travel bubble still on (paywalled)
Claire Trevett (Herald): Government points finger back at Australia over transtasman travel bubble hold-ups
TVNZ: Australians pose ‘incredibly low’ Covid-19 risk to NZ, but two-way bubble could create new problem — Michael Baker
Luke Malpass and Henry Cooke (Stuff): Hipkins says New Zealand may soon open border to Australians
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Australia backed out of trans-Tasman bubble plans in February – NZ government
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): National calls for trans-Tasman travel to open immediately
Claire Trevett (Herald): National leader Judith Collins ramps up transtasman bubble call, says PM will have ‘the death of Queenstown’ on her hands
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): Quarantine-free travel for expats returning from Australia ‘should start tomorrow’, trans-Tasman bubble should follow
Cecile Meier (Stuff): Anti-lockdown group of academics criticised for promoting conspiracy theorists
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): The world is moving on, and we’re at risk of being left behind
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Most deprived the most mobile during Covid-19 lockdown, and the most at risk
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Rule for MIQ guests to stay in their room post day-12 test scrapped
Stuart Smith; Arena Williams (Stuff): We are being let down by the slow and tardy vaccination roll-out

Local government
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): It’s time we merge our local councils
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Why Wellington can’t die in a ditch over water meters
Damian George (Stuff): National list MP Nicola Willis says she doesn’t feel safe walking through central Wellington
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington regional council chairman Daran Ponter withdraws from chief executive bid
Te Aorewa Rolleston (RNZ): Hastings, Wellington councils committed to consulting iwi over Three Waters Reform
Mike Mather (Stuff): Councillors could get $6K allowance for childcare – but no such luck for staff
Chloe Blommerde and Sharnae Hope (Stuff): Rate increase for some, rate freeze for others – Waikato councils roll out proposed rate rises for next year
Tim Newman (Stuff): Council debt set to more than double over next 10 years to help smooth rates rises

Media
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Google News Showcase set to launch in NZ, providing new funding for media
Jason Walls (Herald): Google prepares to pay New Zealand media for content on new news service
Malcolm Evans (Daily Blog): The Mock Court of Public Opinion
John Hartevelt (Stuff): Stuff wins funding to counter Covid-19 vaccine misinformation

Ihumatao
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Treasury warned Government against the way it did Ihumatao deal
Jo Moir (Newsroom): New challenges to resolving Ihumatao land future
Zane Small (Newshub): Government accused of trying to ‘hide’ Treaty of Waitangi implications of Ihumatao deal
RNZ: National probes Ihumatao land purchase by government: ‘Troubling precedent’

Climate change and environment
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): The secretive auction designed to cut our climate pollution
Matt Burgess (Herald): Emissions offsets can protect our heritage better than the Climate Commission (paywalled)
Matthew McKinnon (Listener): A ‘make-or-break year’ for a planet on red alert (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Coal import spike shows oil-gas ban was a ‘whoops’ from Government
Matt Burgess (Herald): Emissions offsets can protect our heritage better than the Climate Commission (paywalled)
Susan Krumdieck (The Conversation): Why New Zealand should invest in smart rail before green hydrogen to decarbonise transport
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland transport plan shows climate change dial is still set on ‘talk’ not ‘do’
Jenny Ruth (Business Desk): EV subsidy would tax the poor to give to the rich (paywalled)

Police
TVNZ: Police force stats are ‘shocking’ when broken down by race, but nuances need to be studied, top cop says
RNZ: Police launch investigation into ‘unconscious bias’ against Maori
Stuff: Sir Kim Workman called in to look at police racial bias
The Hui staff and Lana Andelane (Newshub): Police Commissioner Andrew Coster rejects accusations he made comparison between terrorism and Maori youth
Brent Melville (Business Desk): Police sitting on empty properties worth millions (paywalled)

Inequality, poverty
Janet McAllister (CPAG): What the annual child poverty stats tell us

Christchurch mosque attacks
Jody O’Callaghan (Stuff): Payouts to Christchurch terror attack victims about ‘justice, not charity’

Education
Phil Pennington School’s (RNZ): 13ha farm transfer: ‘We were never actually informed’ – former principal
RNZ: AUT comms school denies sidelining Pacific Media Centre

Primary industries
Hugo Cameron (RNZ): Organic food reforms: MPI seeks feedback on enforcable rules
Jacqueline Rowarth (Herald): The problem with cheap tomatoes

Animal welfare
Anneka Carlson (Stuff): Why live exports need to be banned
Lynn Charlton (Herald): Rodeo injuries are a snapshot of a sport out of time (paywalled)

Other
Benedict Collins (TVNZ): Air NZ not in breach of export rules after helping Saudi Navy
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Auckland Action Against Poverty slams ‘cruel’ decision to deport family who wrongly claimed food vouchers during lockdown
Marta Steeman (Stuff): Retirement village residents and owners square off over who gets the capital gains
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Reform of ‘broken’ system needed after New Zealand gambling spend hits record high – problem gambling expert
Debrin Foxcroft (Stuff): Workers are increasingly blurring the lines between home and work since lockdown
Peter Cullen (Stuff): Does the law do enough to protect women and minorities?
Liam Dann (Herald): Economy Hub: Businesses failure a necessary part of ‘creative destruction’ (paywalled)
Chris Keall (Herald): Cyber-attacks: Five ways NZ is asleep at the wheel (paywalled)
Zoe Madden-Smith (Re News): We can’t forget New Zealand still discriminates against rainbow communities
Piers Fuller (Stuff): Post Covid-19 lockdown, thousands of people flock to join the construction industry
Tracey Roxburgh (ODT): Ardern will ‘end up with the death of Queenstown on her’