Daily News Roundup – 20 April 2021

NZ-China relations: Mahuta Speech
Alexander Gillespie (The Conversation): Without evidence of real progress, NZ’s foreign policy towards China looks increasingly empty
Luke Malpass and Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): The taniwha and the dragon: Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta talks China in major speech
Audrey Young (Herald): Nanaia Mahuta likens NZ-China relations to taniwha and dragon
Richard Harman: Mahuta redefines New Zealand’s foreign policy (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (1News): Nanaia Mahuta looking to diversify NZ’s trade away from reliance on China
RNZ: Minister calls to expand NZ international trade arrangements
Zane Small (Newshub): Nanaia Mahuta likens New Zealand-China relationship to ‘dragon and taniwha’, who ‘cannot and will not’ always agree
Australian Associated Press: New Zealand ‘uncomfortable’ with expanding Five Eyes’ remit, says foreign minister
Zane Small (Newshub): NZ ‘uncomfortable’ with expanding remit of the Five Eyes – Nanaia Mahuta
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Foreign Minister’s speech suggests a move away from China
Cathy Odgers: Nanaia’s birds nest word soup

Speech regulation
Chris Trotter (Interest): On whether the Government’s proposed ‘cure for hate speech is worse than the complaint
Siobhan Wilson (1News): David Seymour: Harsher penalties for hate speech than for assaulting women, children
Zane Small (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ‘disheartened’ by ACT’s anti-hate speech law campaign

Economy, immigration and work
Tina Morrison (Stuff): Here’s how NZ could be better off without working harder
RNZ: New Zealand firms’ productivity lower than comparable economies – report
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Some NZ immigration policies world-leading, but could still be better: NZIER
Liam Dann (Herald): Time to review migration policy – Productivity Commission (paywalled)
Kate MacNamara (Herald): Productivity Commission: Big increases to temporary migration, little tracking of effects (paywalled)
Ankur Sabharwal (Stuff): An immigration scam encouraged by the New Zealand government
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Inflation data unlikely to settle argument over how much to worry
Chris Keall (Herald): Rocketwerkz boss Dean Hall’s fury at Economic Development Minister Stuart Nash’s Amazon deal (paywalled)
Alyssa Ray (Stuff): You won’t believe the amount Amazon’s willing to spend on new Lord of the Rings series

Migrant separations
RNZ: Kris Faafoi announces new border exceptions for relatives of some migrant workers
Zane Small (Stuff): Family reunification border exemptions: How hundreds of healthcare workers can reunite
Jason Walls (Herald): Hundreds of families will be reunited as border exemptions widened

Covid: Vaccinations programme and border
Sharon Brettkelly (RNZ): The road bumps in our vaccination rollout
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Why should Maori trust the Covid-19 vaccine?
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern ‘tossing up further precautions’ for travellers from India when travel ban lifts
Adam Pearse (Herald): Millennium and Grand Mercure MIQ shutdown during investigation
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): Ministry of Health must shoulder the blame for Covid failures
Herald: Editorial: Some Kiwis are ready to board but not everyone is on board with the bubble (paywalled)

Transport
Todd Niall (Stuff): What’s the point of buses if no-one uses them?
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Review finds Transmission Gully doomed from the start, with unrealistic expectations of cost
Dan Bidois (Stuff): Transport spending is crucial, but we must make sure we pick the right projects

Housing crisis
Jade Kake (Stuff): What role should local councils play in responding to the housing crisis?
Jane Patterson (RNZ): ‘Alcoholics, drug deals, gang affiliations, domestic violence’ – Emergency housing labelled as dangerous
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Covid-19 created ‘rare opportunity’ to tackle housing market
David Hargreaves (Interest): The Covid opportunity – a balanced housing market ‘now within reach’
John Berry (Stuff): Residential property: A ponzi scheme or an investment bubble?

Health and Mental health crisis
Cate Broughton (Stuff): New code of conduct gags DHB members ahead of health system shake-up
Derek Cheng (Herald): Young Labour to Labour – decriminalise all drug use
Jamie Morton (Herald): ‘Decade of elimination’: $5m project’s big goal for NZ health
Herald: Report: Maori youth more likely to die than non-Maori following major trauma

Wellington local Government
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington City Council shake-up revealed following review
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington City Council shake-up a ‘missed opportunity’ (paywalled)
Harry Lock (RNZ): Wellington Mayor proposes council restructure following Winder review
Mark Amery (Stuff): Restructure of Wellington cultural institutions absolutely positively provincial

Parliament
Isobel Ewing (Crux/Stuff): ‘Not having food’: Southland MP Joseph Mooney on childhood hardship and tragedy
Jason Walls (Herald): What’s the rush? Comparing National and Labour Government’s use of urgency (paywalled)

Other
Sarah Robson (RNZ): $25 benefit increase ‘too little to make a substantive difference’
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Distressing death warning for ‘unregulated’ euthanasia drugs
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): ’75pc risk’ of big quake on Alpine Fault by 2068: What would it cost?
Dave Armstrong (Stuff): School streaming: A fast track to nowhere
Stuff: Editorial – Mrs P shouldn’t be made a victim again
Daniel Dunkley (BusinessDesk): The Spinoff: From dark days to Daylight (paywalled)
Guy Trafford (Interest): Blind to realities