Daily News Roundup – 30 April 2020

Winston Peters is back, Ministry of Health proposed complete border shutdown
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Winston Peters back on his podium with Covid-19 border closure bombshell
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Peters takes on officialdom
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Winston Peters comes back with a splash
Richard Harman (Politik): Reminding us that NZ First has a mind of its own
Zane Small (Newshub): Dr Ashley Bloomfield justifies Ministry of Health’s proposal to block returning Kiwis
Jason Walls (Herald): Foreign Minister Winston Peters reveals border shutdown rejected
Collette Devlin (Stuff): Winston Peters says Health Ministry wanted to close borders to Kiwis
RNZ: Cabinet rejected full border lockdown as ‘inconceivable’ – Peters
1News: Winston Peters reveals Government mulled complete border shutdown as Covid-19 crisis began
Zane Small (Newshub): Ministry of Health recommended closing border to returning Kiwis – Winston Peters

Parliament
Bryce Edwards (Guardian): Move over culture wars, New Zealand’s post-virus election will be about economics
Claire Trevett (Herald): Jacinda Ardern and Simon Bridges need more than a slogan and ideology in times ahead (paywalled)
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Government officials blocked from using popular Houseparty video chat
Zane Small (Newshub): National MP squabbles with Speaker over COVID-19 social distancing rules in Parliament
Jason Walls (Herald): Former National MP Jami-Lee Ross is forming his own political party – Advance New Zealand

Government, public service pay cuts
Newstalk ZB: David Seymour: Government is lying about bill to cut MPs pay
Collette Devlin (Stuff): State Services Commissioner urges Crown entities and commissioners to slash pay

Public health response
Audrey Young (Herald): NZ ill-prepared, caught with ‘pants down’, says Professor Des Gorman; Jacinda Ardern rejects criticism
Derek Cheng (Herald): Top academic says NZ wasn’t ready for Covid-19 and was caught ‘with our pants down’
Zane Small (Newshub): Medical Professor urges health system reform in scathing review of COVID-19 response
1News: Not closing borders early ‘squandered our major advantage’ – expert
Glen Scanlon (RNZ): A question about false negatives
Max Towle (RNZ): ‘New Zealand’s response has been one of the strongest’ – WHO
Jamie Ensor and Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Auckland lecturer claims COVID-19 too political and his ‘Plan B’ academic group is being ignored
Nicholas Holm (RNZ): Beyond health and wealth: Lockdown lament for social and cultural life

Level 3 and beyond
Rebekah White (National Geographic): How will this end?

Businesses breaking level 3 rules
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Businesses breaking level 3 rules: ‘Who you gonna call?
Herald: Densely-packed queues at takeaway outlets spark fears of disease outbreaks
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Crowded takeaways could lead to more Covid-19 clusters, expert warns
Herald: Wendy’s CEO slams big players for not following the rules
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): More than 700 complaints made about business practices in level 3
1News: Over 700 complaints around businesses flouting lockdown rules after takeaways return
Danielle Clent (Stuff): McDonald’s says delivery drivers failed to maintain social distancing
Danielle Clent (Stuff): Burger joint failed to meet social distancing obligations, PM says
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ‘concerned’ at overcrowding outside Auckland BurgerFuel

Unemployment
Cat MacLennan (RNZ): Post Covid-19 job guarantee scheme a bold solution
Kirsty Johnston and Chris Knox (Herald): Analysis – who are New Zealand’s new jobless? Right now it’s impossible to tell
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Benefit numbers exceed GFC – and worse to come
Priscilla Dickinson (Newshub): Unemployment higher than during GFC and rising – economist
Aimee Shaw (Herald): Up to 160 staff at Farmers, Whitcoulls, Pascoes face chop (paywalled)

Economy
Newstalk ZB: Winston Peters: NZ economy can’t go back to the way it was
Newstalk ZB: Winston Peters: NZ needs to rebuild economy without globalisation
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Winston Peters wants New Zealand to start manufacturing domestically
Stuff Editorial: Can we remake New Zealand manufacturing after coronavirus?
James Perry (Maori TV): Could the economic recovery cause another Maori migration?
Dita De Boni (NBR): Idea to make NZ a billionaire’s paradise a non-starter (paywalled)

Business, wage subsidy
Kate Macnamara (Stuff):It’s not just the curve that Govt has crushed
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Government dismisses calls to help pay business rents
Liz McDonald (Stuff): Call for more help for cash poor small businesses
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): National calls for ‘direct support’ for small firms
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): Both sides of Parliament need to find answers for small businesses
Andy Hamilton (Stuff): Big businesses must do their part to help small businesses survive Covid-19
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): Z Energy considers wage subsidy
Kirk Hope(Stuff): Wage subsidy criticism of big employers is misguided

Inequality, welfare
Zac Fleming (Newshub): Charities run off their feet, delivering more food in a day than they usually would in a week
Matthew Mckew (ODT): More than 10K requests for support from Queenstown-Lakes District Council
D’Angelo Martin (M?ori TV): South Auckland M?ori wardens ramp up assistance

David Clark
Tova O’Brien and James Fyfe (Newshub): Prime Minister told David Clark’s house move took place prior to lockdown
Jason Walls (Herald): National leader Simon Bridges calls for Health Minister’s resignation after ‘third strike’
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Sacking David Clark should be considered an ‘essential service’
1News: Health Minister David Clark defends move as opposition leader hits out

Schools
RNZ: Schools, ECEs reopen with fewer children than expected
1News: Small crowds for early childcare centres reopening under Level 3
Joel Maxwell (Dominion Post): Porirua college has physical roll of one, with two teachers, as level drops
James Fyfe (Newshub): Education Minister Chris Hipkins adamant schools safe despite criticism
RNZ: Kohanga reo student packs have fewer resources, parents say
1News: Thousands of students head back to school under strict new Level 3 rules
Stuff: Back to school: Thousands of students head back to class
Tom McRae (Newshub): Over 10,000 laptops ordered by Ministry of Education still delayed
Bronson Perich, Tapatahi (M?ori TV): Education report shows whanau became closer locked-down

Universities
Joel MacManus and Laura Wiltshire (Dominion Post): Pay cuts being considered for Victoria University staff
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Victoria University delays charging students for unoccupied rooms
Andre Chumko (Stuff): Company prevented university from topping up cleaners’ wages
Tina Law and Lee Kenny (Stuff): Lincoln Uni asks staff to take pay cut due to ‘declining student numbers’
ODT: Hall rebate not enough — OUSA
1News: Universities across New Zealand face collective half billion dollar loss

Covid-19
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Healthcare workers make up 1 in 10 of New Zealand’s Covid-19 cases
Rawiri Taonui (Waatea): COVID Update 29 April 2020 | Progress or Pitfalls? Data, Testing and PPE

Health system
ODT Editorial: Health’s shape must be considered, now
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Apology for man turned away from Hutt Hospital during asthma attack
Anna Whyte (1News): GPs suffering low morale and feeling abandoned during Covid-19 crisis, MPs told
RNZ: Epidemic Response Committee hears from medical experts: ‘GPs are feeling almost abandoned’
RNZ: Canterbury DHB to allow visitors under alert level 3
RNZ: Sisters denied request to visit dying mother
Madison Reidy (Newshub): Mental health workers warn of dire consequences of COVID-19 lockdown

Nurses Union
Grant Brookes: Where to now for nurses?
Andrea Chumko (Stuff): Three more resignations at New Zealand Nurses Organisation

Environment, conservation, animal exploitation
Andrea Vance (Stuff): ‘Overexploitation of nature’ spreads diseases like Covid-19
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): Climate change: lakes and rivers will become drier, increasingly infectious and toxic
Lois Williams: West Coast council reverses wetlands decision

Quarantine
Donna-Lee Biddle (Stuff): 24-hour walk ban for Kiwis isolating in hotels during alert level 3
Kendall Hutt (Stuff): New case in Auckland quarantine centre proves system is working – PM
James Fyfe (Newshub): Quarantined travellers in Auckland hotel complain of poor food, rude staff

Foreign affairs
Matt Burrows (Newshub): China promises not to punish New Zealand for joining Australia’s inquiry into COVID-19 origins – Winston Peters
RNZ: Foreign Minister Winston Peters on NZ’s foreign policy response to Covid-19

Register of Pecuniary and Other Specified Interests
RNZ: Elton John, U2 tickets among gifts given to PM
Jason Walls (Herald): Jacinda Ardern’s perks: Concert tickets from U2’s Bono, Time magazine subscription
Zane Small and Rachel Sadler (Newshub): From U2 tickets to cigars from Cuba: The weird and wonderful gifts given to MPs
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): Concerts, sports games, cigars and a painting: Here’s what our MPs were gifted
Jason Walls (Herald): Money from mysterious NZ First Foundation used to fund a NZ First MP’s UK travel junket
RNZ: NZ First Foundation funded MP’s trip to Europe

Provincial Growth Fund
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): $48 million being pumped into regional economy through Provincial Growth Fund
Herald: Farming irrigation main beneficiary of $50m in PGF loans

Care of our elderly
Charles Waldegrave (Stuff): Elderly need balance between protection and isolation
Anna Blackwell (Stuff): Aged-care sector doing its utmost to protect the vulnerable
1News: ACC, TVNZ partner to launch show aimed at keeping elderly Kiwis active

Housing
Mandy Te (Stuff): Tenants going without food to pay rent during lockdown
Skara Bohny (Stuff): Chance for ‘meaningful change’ for the homeless
Liam Dann (Herald): More than 100,000 Kiwis taking mortgage relief (paywalled)
Andrea Fox (Herald):  Sir John Key’s property market predictions (paywalled)

Checkpoints
Leigh-Marama McLachlan (RNZ): South Taranaki checkpoint discovers many flouting level 3 rules
Karl du Fresne (Stuff): Iwi checkpoints might be polite, but that doesn’t make them legal
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Police step in after community roadblocks unlawfully close off access to Northland beaches
1News: ‘My two-year-old son was confused’ – Auckland couple turned away from beach by iwi

Media
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Great taste of Threedom

Transport, freight
RNZ: Checkpoint: Air NZ crews hoping to halt redundancies until alert level 2
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Air traffic boss says two years at least for partial Covid-19 domestic flight recovery
Brook Sabin (Stuff): When can we travel internationally again?
Stuff: Coronavirus NZ podcast: Grounded – Will we ever fly again?
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Future hazy for Dunedin airport
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Cook Strait ferry operator StraitNZ consults staff as freight volumes drop 50%

Cycling
RNZ: Cycling popularity changes gear during lockdown and supporters look to capitalise
Joel MacManus (Dominion Post): Bike lanes should be a priority for stimulus investment, Wellington cyclists say

Kiwisaver
1News: Recently redundant Northlander fights to use KiwiSaver to pay off mortgage
Michael Littlewood (Stuff): KiwiSaver hardship rules must be changed
Rob Stock (Stuff): Government must let unemployed use KiwiSaver to clear debt, Picton man says

Local government
Grant Miller (ODT): Most local govt staff have work
Lois Williams: Kaikoura must make cuts before considering rate hike – councillor
Stuff: West Coast Regional Council scraps rates rise, votes to borrow instead
Charlotte Jones: Kawerau to spend nearly $1m on drinking water, flood protection

Justice, corrections
Stuff: Deportees are sitting in prison cells after police cancel escort duties
Stuff: From ‘Oh dear, this is hopeless’ to OK

Other
Chris Keall (Herald): What’s wrong with Australia’s tracing app – and an NZ firm’s alternative (paywalled)
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Questions over Ruby Princess health declarations in NZ
Andy Fyers and Felippe Rodrigues (Stuff): How movement changed across New Zealand during Covid-19 lockdown
Kristin Hall (1News): Concern for vulnerable children after dramatic drop in reports to Oranga Tamariki
Catherine Harris (Stuff): Infrastructure and home building sectors vye for ”shovel ready” cash
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Cruise ships set sail, leave debt behind
RNZ: Cook Islands relaxes Covid-19 restrictions
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Surge in demand for budgeting advice during Covid-19 outbreak
Jacob McSweeny (ODT): Reduced income means budgeting
RNZ: NZ had $672m trade surplus in March
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Fiordland tourism operators frustrated with national park rules
Christine Rose (Newshub): It’s time to end duck shooting for good
Laura Smith (ODT): Legislator surged to act to get ouvea premix out of old mill