The winners, losers and winds of change

Plenty of local government election analysis this morning as the victors get ready to make good on their promises while calls for an inquiry to improve voter turnout mount

Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Monday, October 10, by Anna Rawhiti-Connell. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.

In today’s edition: patient data loaded to dark web; more immigration exemptions; the significance of Saturday at Eden Park; but first, a round up of local government election analysis

Some of the new mayors elected across the country (Images: supplied, RNZ)

Races still tight at top of the north and bottom of the south

By now I imagine you’ll know who your mayor and councillors are based on the progressive results released on Saturday. Plenty of coverage and results on The Spinoff to scroll if you need to catch up. It’s not a done deal until the special votes are counted and the final declarations are made. It’s still on a knife’s edge at the top and bottom of the country. Special votes have put Moko Tepania ahead of Ann Court in the Far North. It’s very tight in Gore where they could have a new, 23-year-old mayor, making Gore home to the youngest mayor in New Zealand.

Winds of change

In a good summary of the shift seen across the country, Stuff’s Kevin Norquay perhaps drew inspiration from German rock band Scorpions, writing “Spring winds of change blowing through local government elections”. Hayden Donnell makes his assessment of the winners and losers from the elections, concluding that he is the biggest loser of all as he contemplates “three more years of screaming into the void of local politics, hoping it screams back.” David Farrar described the results, which saw many left wing candidates dip out, as the “slaughter of the lambs”. 

Voters want delivery 

In Auckland, new mayor Wayne Brown will be getting set to make the 14 minute walk to work, where he’ll be meeting the CEO of Auckland Council and taking a look at the books. He took a helicopter ride yesterday to “survey the realm”. Auckland Transport chair Adrienne Young-Cooper stepped down yesterday after Brown called for the entire board to resign. The rest of the board says they will stay on. For now. Politik’s Richard Harman writes that the result in Auckland will worry the government. Harman puts Brown’s win down to “rigorous polling” which found that voters were “angry and fed up with big visions and ideology and just wanted the Auckland Council to focus on the basics”. Harman thinks that could have implications for the government’s reform agenda.

Goff’s big idea for “fixing” local government 

Voter turnout estimates across the country are sitting at around 36%. There have been plenty of calls for inquiries and reviews into the local government electoral system on top of the normal review process and upcoming local government reform. Later this morning on The Spinoff, Toby Manhire will look at what changes could be made to improve the situation. I recommend listening to the latest episode of Gone by Lunchtime. Feeling a bit liberated as he wraps up a 40-year career in politics, outgoing Auckland mayor Phil Goff talks to Manhire about his career and shares his thoughts on local government. His ideas for making it more relevant to people are far bigger than the necessary but incremental changes likely to be proposed in any review. In short, it’s devolution baby. Finally, full credit to The Spinoff’s local government elections team who have, by my bleary-eyed count this morning, filed over 60 stories on election races, candidates and issues from across the country over the last two months. More than enough for mallowpuff.

How sustainability in product and packaging is driving sales

Sustainable packaging has become an increasingly vital part of doing business in today’s world. In order for New Zealand businesses to compete in the global market, there’s a need to not only create sustainable products, but to wrap them sustainably too. So how can sustainable packaging change business outlooks, and is there more to the recycled cardboard and compostable parcels than meets the eye? Read more on The Spinoff here.

Sensitive patient files and high-level data posted to dark web

Last week, Pinnacle Midlands Health was investigating a major cyberattack in which hackers potentially accessed the patient data of up to 450,000 people across the North Island. This morning, the Herald’s Chris Keall and Rachel Maher are reporting that sensitive patient files and high-level data stolen in the attack have been posted to the dark web by a ransomware group with Russian links. Cybersecurity expert Alastair Millar said it was possible the hackers could be seeking a large financial sum or to sell the data on the dark web, as was done in a hack on Waikato District Health Board last year.

More immigration exemptions 

In April, the government announced that the new accredited employer work visa scheme would require employers to pay a medium wage of $27.76 per hour to potential staff if they wanted them to qualify for a working visa. In May the government made an exemption for tourism and hospitality workers with a threshold of $25 per hour put in place until April 2023. Yesterday, immigration minister Michael Wood announced that the wage threshold will be extended for another year. In-demand chefs that lack formal qualifications are now also eligible for the government's immigration "green list". It will be good news for hospo businesses in the Bay of Plenty where 86% of restaurants need staff (paywalled).

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Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz.

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Right now on The Spinoff:

Don Rowe reports on the staggering increase in the number of vape shops nationwide; Isaac Ross writes a letter to his mother, Christine, a pioneering Black Fern; Mary Mosteller writes about growing up in Alabama, coming out, and moving to Aotearoa; and Sam Brooks argues that TV, movies and games should be longer, actually.

The significance of Saturday at Eden Park 

Madeleine Chapman writes astutely and with heart about what the opening day of the Rugby World Cup meant, both for her personally and for women’s sport. LockerRoom’s Suzanne McFadden assesses the opening day and the Black Ferns’ performance against the Wallaroos. I’ve also been enjoying Alice Soper’s coverage on Instagram where she’s fronting it all with a hairbrush microphone.

“Nice girls don’t carry knives”

Julia Gillard’s misogyny speech took place ten years ago yesterday. The Guardian’s Australian political editor, Katharine Murphy recalls live-blogging it for the Melbourne Age. Grant provides an honest reflection on writing the first draft of history and why she thinks journalists missed the cultural power of the contribution at the time, “or rather looked through it”.