Republished with Permission

Author: Bryce Edwards

Dear Subscribers

Thank you to the 600+ subscribers who have given feedback on the future of the Substack email newsletters. The survey closes tonight, and so you can still have input by clicking on this link and answering a few questions anonymously. In addition, if you have any other feedback, you can you just message me directly by replying to this email.

Kind regards

Dr Bryce Edwards, Political Analyst in Residence, Democracy Project, Victoria University of Wellington

FAST-TRACK
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Auditor-General to inquire into possible conflicts of interest by ministers over fast-track projects
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Inquiry launched into how conflicts of interest dealt with during fast-track approval project decision-making
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Parliament's watchdog will examine how conflicts of interest were managed in the Fast-track Approvals Bill
Thomas Manch (Post): Auditor-General to investigate Cabinet ministers' conflicts with fast-track projects (paywalled)
Debbie Jamieson (Press): Gibbston residents prepare to fight 900-lot fast track plan (paywalled)
Bryan Bruce: Conflict of Interest (paywalled)

MENTAL HEALTH
Madeleine Chapman (Spinoff): The King and his god complex
Rose Crossin, Jude Ball and Joe Boden (Public Health Communication Centre Aotearoa): Alcohol and suicide: The facts
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): The Mike King backlash has quickly turned political. Will it change anything?
Mike King (Herald): Why fundraising for Gumboot Friday is more vital than ever
Stuff: Mike King's comments on alcohol use strongly rebuked
Stuff: Mike King stands by statement that ‘alcohol is a solution’
1News: Labour wants Gumboot Friday funds paused after Mike King comments
Raphael Franks (Herald): Labour Party calls for coalition Government to pull funding for Mike King’s Gumboot Friday after alcohol claims
RNZ: Labour wants Gumboot Friday funding paused following Mike King's alcohol comments
Raphael Franks (Herald): Mental health campaigner Mike King defends claims ‘alcohol is the solution’ for those struggling
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): Mike King was right. But he was wrong too
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): The Mike King debate has turned political
Ryan Bridge (Newstalk ZB): Is the Mike King situation really a big deal?
Mountain Tui: Gumboot Friday's Founder Says Drugs and Alcohol Is A "Solution"
Giles Newton-Howes and Paul Skirrow (Newsroom): What happens when police wind down their mental health callouts?
Monique Steele (RNZ): 'Invisible' rural communities need more targeted mental health support, advocates say

DUNEDIN HOSPITAL CUTS
RNZ: Health NZ refuses to release information that would shed light on escalating Dunedin Hospital costs
Tim Scott (ODT): 'You better': Luxon promises to build 'kick-arse' hospital
ODT: 'Cowardly': Luxon sidesteps protest by using back entrance
Star News: PM avoids protesters by using back entrance
Andrew Ashton (Crux): PM Luxon hides from public and press on Dunedin visit
RNZ: 'Careless, heartless, ruthless' - Actor Sam Neill voices anger over Dunedin Hospital cuts
Katie Oliver (Herald): Actor Sam Neill slams Government over proposed Dunedin Hospital cuts
Ruby Shaw (ODT): Couple taking message to Parliament

HEALTH
Adam Pearse (Herald): Casey Costello says Health Ministry ‘dropped the ball’ over staffer conflict
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Political Roundup: Ministry of Health’s conflict of interest error helps Casey Costello
Lee Scanlon (Westport News): Health NZ finally informs widow of Westport worker
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Health ministry employs no one for Long Covid
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Our Covid review will mirror Australia's
Cindy Towns, Angela Ballantyne and Matthew Kelly (The Conversation): Not the time to share: NZ needs to rethink multi-bed hospital rooms
Chelsea Daniels (Herald): Front Page: New Zealand’s hunt for overseas doctors amps up today
John Weekes (Herald): ACC privacy breach: Aircraft accident survivor was sent another client’s confidential details (paywalled)
Stephen Forbes (NZ Doctor): Kiwis increasingly concerned about healthcare, survey shows (paywalled)

NELSON TENTHS RULING, TREATY
Samantha Gee (RNZ): Nelson hapū celebrating after major court victory
Tim Brown (RNZ): Nelson Tenths case: Iwi entitled to thousands of hectares of land and millions in compensation
Catherine Hubbard (Stuff): Nelson Tenths decision finds compensation due
Kelvin McDonald (Te Ao Māori News): Nelson Tenths: Customary landowners win Aotearoa’s longest land case
Isaac Gunson (Te Ao Māori News): Nelson Tenths: The 180-year history of Aotearoa’s longest case
Mike McRoberts (NBR): Nelson Tenths descendents awarded a significant sum of money (paywalled)
—————
Jamie Ensor & Julia Gabel (Herald): Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris says ‘f***ing racist’ during select committee
Julia Gabel (Herald): Foreshore and seabed: Lawyer says future Government will have to apologise for proposed amendments
Carwyn Jones (Spinoff): Treaty principles are clear. Why are politicians creating uncertainty?

GOVERNMENT, WEEK IN POLITICS
Fox Meyer (Newsroom):No list of businesses to back Willis’ work-from-home stance
Richard Prebble (Herald): Will the Government’s Social Investment Fund work? (paywalled)
Don Brash: How are they going?
Anna Whyte (Post): Nicola Willis sets expectation for public service sexual harassment complaints (paywalled)
Arena Williams, Stuart Smith (Stuff): Working hard should be rewarded, not mocked by a National cabinet minister
Newsroom: Raw Politics: America’s final election?
Spinoff: Gone By Lunchtime: The case for not caring about the US election

TRANSPORT
Tom Hunt (Post): Finance Minister silent on ferry replacement as calls mount for plan A (paywalled)
Lauren Crimp (RNZ): Full report on Aratere grounding not expected until 2026
RNZ: Aratere grounding began with a 36-second autopilot mistake
Jaime Lyth (Herald): Aratere ferry live updates: Interim report released after Interislander ferry ran aground near Picton
1News: Aratere report reveals what happened on bridge before grounding
Stuff:
Interim report into Aratere grounding reveals crew tried to regain control of vessel
Tom Hunt (Post): Aratere crew ‘unaware’ of override as ferry headed towards grounding (paywalled)
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): NZTA board discusses Wellington mega-tunnel at critical meeting (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Minister sympathetic to call for airfare inquiry but ‘reticent’ to do it (paywalled)
Grant Bradley (Herald): ‘Virtual monopoly’ - Consumer NZ calls for government probe into Air NZ prices
RNZ: Higher traffic fines still stuck in the slow lane
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): Karori loves its 30kph main road
Herald: Auckland Transport to fix potholes within 24 hours - Mayor calls on public to help
Roeland van den Bergh (Post): Truckers wonder if funding for new roads is sustainable (paywalled)
Phoebe Utteridge (Stuff): Local outrage over ‘nonsensical’ cycleway closure in Christchurch
Tina Law and Sinead Gill (Press): Cyclists forced to use ‘more dangerous’ crossing if cycleway closed (paywalled)
Emily Ireland (Local Democracy Reporting): Road funding reshuffle forced on Masterton
Herald:
KiwiRail unveils new state-of-the-art, low emission trains
Sinead Gill (Press/Post): Hi-tech locomotive signals major boost to freight network

FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Trump win would require NZ to double defence spending (paywalled)
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): Prepare for the worst if Trump wins
Herald Editorial: Brace yourself for US Presidential election madness (paywalled)
Adam Pearse (Herald): Wellington Police charge partner of Australian diplomat with assault after ‘altercation’
Stuff: Police charge partner of Australian diplomat with assault after Wellington altercation
Katie Ham and Thomas Manch (Post): Assault charge laid after Aussie diplomat’s partner has immunity waived (paywalled)
ODT Editorial: Chogm’s limited impact (paywalled)
Herald: Labour’s Ginny Andersen admits she ‘wasn’t thinking’ when sharing ‘kingussy’ social media image

TRADE
Geoffrey Miller (Democracy Project): NZ’s breakthrough free trade deal with the Gulf
Jo Moir (RNZ): Gulf nations trade deal struck after almost two decades
Claire Trevett (Herald): New trade agreement between New Zealand and Middle East Gulf Co-operation Council countries signed after 18 years of talks and delays
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): After 18 years, NZ seals trade agreement with Gulf Co-operation Council countries (paywalled)
Richard Harman (Politik): NZ trade deal an international breakthrough (paywalled)
Luke Malpass (Post): NZ mints new trade deal with Gulf states

HOUSING
1News: Armed police train at stalled state housing development in Auckland
Cécile Meier (BusinessDesk): Kāinga Ora's spend on prefabs quadruples but industry fears direction change (paywalled)
Kelly Makiha (Herald): Kāinga Ora Rotorua homes: $3m spent already on 64 homes that may not be built (paywalled)
David Hargreaves (Interest): House prices still 'around the top' of the Reserve Bank's estimated sustainable level
Anan Zaki (RNZ): Reserve Bank: Less risk of another house price boom
Liam Dann (Herald): Boom and bust: How the Kiwi housing market compares with the world (paywalled)
Tony Alexander (Herald): Why NZ is likely to see fewer affordable homes in the future
Te Aniwaniwa Paterson (Te Ao Māori News): New Māori data release enables iwi to address housing needs
Kate Nicol-Williams (1News): 'Our Whare Our Fale' housing project brings island living to Porirua
RNZ: Housing initiative launched for Pasifika families in Porirua
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): House insurance costs twice as much in Wellington as in Auckland, data shows
Greg Ninness (Interest): First home buyers of 10 years ago are now sitting pretty
Miriam Bell (Post): Up, down, or sideways: what’s going on with rents (paywalled)
Greg Ninness (Interest): Median dwelling values dropped another 0.5% in October
Brianna McIlraith (Stuff): Property values drop for the eighth month in a row
RNZ: Home values fall again, but pace of decline slowing
1News: Property values continue to fall, rate of decline slows - CoreLogic
David Hargreaves (Interest): Housing mortgage pile grows by biggest amount since early 2022

EDUCATION, SCHOOL LUNCHES
Cécile Meier (BusinessDesk): New details emerge about school lunch suppliers’ performance woes (paywalled)
RNZ: Up to 2000 people could lose jobs over school lunch changes
Julie Jacobson (Post): Number of illiterate uni students ‘at crisis level’ (paywalled)
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Government announces $2.5m boost to help teens pass new NCEA tests
RNZ: Education minister Erica Stanford seeks advice on under-fire Te Kura
Nikki Macdonald (SST): Funding shortfall closes unit keeping high risk state care kids in school (paywalled)
Pokere Paewai (RNZ): Kura Kaupapa wins at literacy awards in Washington DC

BUSINESS, EMPLOYMENT, WORK PLACE SAFETY
Dita De Boni (Post): Squeeze on budgets will take supermarket margins from extremely high to merely high (paywalled)
John Anthony (BusinessDesk): Major NZ firms urge Government to improve workplace safety (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Growing consensus among unions and employers on workplace safety (paywalled)
Louise Deacon, Bevan Catley and David Tappin (The Conversation): Where’s the harm in that? How we think about workplace hazards hampers the application of health and safety law
Charlotte Mulder (RNZ): Children key to changing farm safety attitudes
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Company liquidations hit highest monthly level in a decade, Centrix says
Brianna McIlraith (Stuff): Company liquidations hit 10 year high
Rob Stock (Post): Company liquidations up 25% year-on-year to 10-year high, Centrix data shows (paywalled)
Brent Melville (NBR): Liquidations shoot through the roof, construction failures up 25% (paywalled)
Ella Somers (Interest): ANZ says ‘steady falls’ in interest rates are helping business optimism
RNZ: Business confidence at fresh 10-year high
RNZ: New Zealand workers stressed out by cost of living, heavy workloads, survey finds

POLICE, GANGS, LAW AND ORDER
RNZ: Communities most at risk see police as threat, report finds
Karanama Ruru (Stuff): Police praised for engaging in research on law enforcement in marginalised communities
Joseph Los’e (Herald): Gang Crackdown: Māori leaders push back on police tactics, rhetoric over Mongrel Mob raids
Isaac Gunson (Te Ao Māori News): Ōpōtiki raids: Te Whakatōhea deny being consulted, Police say they were ‘supportive’
No Right Turn: A collapse in police legitimacy
Sam Sherwood (Stuff): International bikie gang members expected to fly in for national Mongols event
Ryan Bridge (Newstalk ZB): The stories about violence in New Zealand are infuriating

ENVIRONMENT, CONSERVATION
Cate Macinnis-Ng and Pauline Herbst (Newsroom): Govt sidesteps world talks to save species
Michael Morrah (Herald): New Zealand trawler catches coral, triggering fishing suspension in Lord Howe Rise
Eric Frykberg (Interest): Should New Zealand use overseas help to meet its climate change commitments?
Caleb Fotheringham (RNZ): ‘Move beyond the politics’: Experts respond to Apia Commonwealth Ocean Declaration

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Jessica Hopkins and Libby Kirkby-McLeod (RNZ): Auckland Council split over Western Springs speedway decision
Bernard Orsman (Herald): ‘Not fair’: Former speedway operator Bill Buckley ‘really p***ed off’ at motorsport’s exit from Western Springs
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Mayor at odds with council over Bluff wastewater changes
Maia Hart (Local Democracy Reporting): MP Jamie Arbuckle on his ‘darkest day’ and ‘doing the right thing’
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): LGNZ advisor says council cannot exclude Birchfield
Reynold Macpherson (Herald): Opinion: Why Rotorua district does not have 50-50 co-governance
Ben Tomsett (Herald): Liquor licensing stoush: Southland trust leaders accuse Act MP Simon Court of undermining local democracy
Chris Lynch: Christchurch City Council reports $49 million surplus
Natalie Akoorie (RNZ): Hamilton councillor still hasn't apologised for expletive-laden rant

GAMBLING
Guyon Espiner (Listener): Rising Lotto sales, a rebooted TAB and offshore gambling sites spell trouble (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): SkyCity: Another year, another apology (paywalled)
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): SkyCity merger with Aussie gambling giants not a 'focus', but not being ruled out either (paywalled)

ENERGY
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Government to overhaul ‘neglected’ standards for rooftop solar and EV chargers (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Only ‘minor work’ needed to import LNG, says Port of Taranaki boss (paywalled)

OTHER
Cameron Smith (Herald): More than 450,000 Kiwis behind on debt repayments, as festive spending season looms
Dan Hutchinson (Herald): Budget advisers outline main causes of poverty
Metiria Stanton Turei (ODT): Hui sparks hope that the Maori poverty trap is avoidable (paywalled)
Keiller MacDuff (RNZ): New Zealand's first purpose-built Youth Hub opens in Christchurch
Kerre Woodham (Newstalk ZB): When did parents stop wanting more for their kids?
Jonathan Mitchell (NBR): Housing trumps agri lending: Why the bank inquiry is off course (paywalled)
Jenny Ruth: Treasury seems to favour a Kiwibank float (paywalled)
John Weekes (Herald): Corruption charges, millions in kickbacks: Former IT contractor pleads guilty days before trial due to start
1News: IT contractor pleads guilty to receiving $4.1m in kickbacks
RNZ: IT contractor pleads guilty to taking $4.1 million in kickbacks
Libby Kirkby-McLeod (RNZ): NIWA turning to AI to forecast flooding faster
Katie Harris (Herald): Media Insider: Kim Hill’s new gig, Stuff exec jumps ship, NZ media bosses on US paper’s endorsement palaver, NZME parenting podcast ends (paywalled)
RNZ: It’s personal with ANIKA MOA: Jennifer Ward-Lealand on the terror and joy of championing te reo Māori
Thomas Newman (Law News): Why lawyers should reject moves to lift jury trial threshold

Cartoons

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