Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.

Today’s content

1News – Colmar Brunton Poll
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): National’s purpose renewed as NZ First struggles
Jason Walls (Herald): National’s poll bump – It’s too early for leader Todd Muller to break out the bubbly (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Todd Muller staunches the bleeding, but Jacinda Ardern remains well ahead
Selwyn Manning (Evening Report): Election Campaign Looms: Is It Time For Labour To Abandon NZF?
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1News: National jumps in support with new leader, Labour still able to govern alone – 1 NEWS Colmar Brunton Poll
Benedict Collins (1News): NZ First sees disastrous poll result, Greens scrape above threshold
RNZ: National rebounds in new poll, but still well behind Labour
Newshub: Political poll: National Party sees gain in new ratings
Derek Cheng (Herald): Political poll: Jacinda Ardern’s Labour down 9%, Todd Muller’s National up 9%
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): National makes enormous recovery in new poll
AAP: Jacinda Ardern loses ground to National party but remains on track to win New Zealand election

David Clark, Ashley Bloomfield
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Sack Him, Jacinda. Sack Him Now!
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): David Clark’s job is on the line, should he fall on his sword?
Audrey Young (Herald): Health Minister David Clark revives Ashley Bloomfield-mania (paywalled)
Charlotte Graham-Mclay (Guardian):‘Like kicking a puppy’: outcry as New Zealand minister picks on health chief in Covid-19 blame game
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): Andrew Dickens: David Clark has zero support and should be sacked
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Health Minister David Clark’s behaviour ‘shameful’, Jacinda Ardern needs to act – commentators
RNZ: Ashley Bloomfield, David Clark continue to back each other
Stuff: Dr Ashley Bloomfield refuses to get dragged into political finger-pointing
1News: Dr Bloomfield says he still has ‘very good’ relationship with Health Minister despite being blamed for border bungles
Herald: Bloomfield says he has good relationship with Clark
Jason Walls (Herald): Health Minister David Clark stands by his comments, criticising Health boss Ashley Bloomfield
Zane Small (Newshub): Health Minister David Clark not apologising after backlash over treatment of Ashley Bloomfield
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern insists Health Minister David Clark and Ashley Bloomfield are ‘absolutely fine’
Jason Walls (Herald): David Clark’s treatment of Ashley Bloomfield is a ‘disgrace’, says National leader Todd Muller
Jamie Ensor (Newshu): Health Minister David Clark ‘definition of non-essential worker’, ‘humiliated’ Ashley Bloomfield – Todd Muller
Anna Whyte (1News): Todd Muller labels Health Minister ‘a non-essential worker’ after he ‘humiliated’ Ashley Bloomfield
Herald;: Blooms for Bloomfield: Kiwis on Twitter raise money to buy flowers for Dr Ashley Bloomfield

Government handling of coronavirus
Liam Hehir (Newsroom): ‘Calmness’ does not fix a cock-up
Verity Johnson (Stuff): I’ve had a falling out with Jacinda
Rod Jackson (Herald): Bungled Covid-19 isolation is the best news since NZ came out of lockdown (paywalled)
Gary Payinda (Herald): Get used to this because we’re in for the long haul (paywalled)
Kristin Hall (1News): Questions about transfer protocol raised as three new Covid-19 cases shifted from Auckland
Geoffrey Miller (Democracy Project): Covid-19 border problems show why new national security agency needed, former minister says
Jamie Morton (Herald): Changing travel trends mean more NZ cases
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Up to 12 cases of COVID-19 expected each week at border
Herald: Seven of NZ’s 12 coronavirus cases arrived on repatriation flights
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): 695 returning travellers who left managed isolation yet to undergo COVID-19 tests
Alan Kenyon (1NEws): ‘Spray and walk away’ – Peters references old advert when asking for evidence of homeless man sneaking into quarantine
Siouxsie Wiles (Spinoff): Why I’m confident there is no community transmission in NZ
1News: ‘No evidence’ of Covid-19 community transmission in NZ, but it’s always a risk – Siouxsie Wiles
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Rotorua Mayor confident despite confirmed Covid-19 case
Stuff: Two Hamilton hotels to take in returning Kiwis
John Anthony (Stuff): Air transport group calls for end to quarantine measures
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Significant weakness in contact tracing system ‘fixed’, but experts remain concerned
Brook Sabin (Stuff): Make quarantined travellers pay: It’s unfair to expect taxpayers to pick up the tab

Community testing
Amy Williams (RNZ): GP questions new criteria for Covid test – ‘abundance of caution needed’
Alistair Lynn (Newshub): An end to the queues? COVID-19 testing criteria tightening up, Ministry of Health announces
Amelia Wade (Herald): Will I get a test? Maybe not as Health Ministry updates criteria

Government
Brent Edwards (NBR): Using political capital not as easy as it looks (paywalled)
Duncan Garner (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern’s big promises have failed spectacularly
1News: Paula Bennett accuses Labour of cowering to ‘unpredictable’ Winston Peters – ‘Greens deserve better’‘

Prisoner voting bill 
Andrew Geddis (Pundit): Some Half-Hearted Victory Song
Graeme Edgeler: Parliamentary bungling? But by whom?
Derek Cheng (Herald): Who is to blame? Prisoner voting bill ‘shambles’ creates unworkable law
Cass Marrett and Liam van Eeden: What you need to know about giving prisoners back the vote

Auckland water shortage
Edward O’Driscoll (Newshub): Auckland water crisis: Mayor Phil Goff would take more water from Waikato River despite iwi opposition
Jason Walls (Herald): Minister Shane Jones calls out those holding drought-stricken Auckland ‘to ransom’ over water
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland drought: Terse exchange between Mayor and Watercare
Jean Bell (RNZ): Council asks why Watercare wasn’t better prepared
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland drought: Water restrictions likely until mid 2021

Toni Waho has died
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Te reo Māori champion Toni Waho dies: ‘His reo will carry on’
Stuff: Te reo Māori champion Toni Waho dies after being swept down river
Māori TV: Cathy Dewes remembers dear friend Toni Waho

Local government
Simon Wilson (Herald): Who will save Queen St? (paywalled)
Logan Savory (Southland Times): Southland councils sort through recycling mess
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Wellington City Council drops more than $1 million to help community recover from COVID-19
Aaron van Delden (RNZ): Covid-19 Tairawhiti response: 2250 food relief packages, cost $1m
Lois Williams (RNZ): West Coast Iwi leader calls for consistent rules on freedom camping
Felix Desmarais (RNZ): ‘Totally inappropriate’ – Rotorua councillor comes under fire during debate
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Octagon trial not popular
Tim Newman (Stuff): Obituary: Kerry Marshall – mayor of Richmond, Tasman, and Nelson

Māui dolphins
Zane Small (Newshub): Are Māui dolphins real? Green MP tries to convince Shane Jones with info booklet as new protections announced
Conan Young (RNZ): Increased dolphin protection plan ‘a bitter pill to swallow’, fisher says

Education
John Gerritsen (RNZ): ‘Kicked, hit, slapped and bitten’ – One in four primary school teachers feel unsafe in class – survey
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Teacher training enrolments stall amid ongoing shortages
Hannah Kronast and Demelza Leslie (Newshub): Students to earn NCEA credits through money education
Simon Collins (Herald): Is education worth it? Higher minimum wage cuts the value of further study
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Ire over lack of Māori academics in Māori research projects
Giselle Byrnes (Spinoff): Why universities can be just as good (and cost just as much) online

Statues, place names, product names
Leonie Hayden (Spinoff): Hamilton or Kirikiriroa? New poll on backing for a city name change
RNZ: Hamilton mayor suffers from abuse after Captain Hamilton statue removal
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): In celebration of the ‘Eskimo’ exit from NZ grocery shelves
Imogen Wells (1News): ‘This is about being relevant and listening to society’ – Kiwi confectionery to be renamed over diversity concerns

Transport
Matt Lowrie (Spinoff): Derailed: How Auckland’s light rail network went off the tracks
The Standard: The light rail delay is good
Anne Gibson (Herald): ‘We could build light rail for under $1b’ – tram specialist still hopeful (paywalled)
Georgina Campbell (Herald): What’s worse? Wellington’s trains or its buses? (paywalled)
Isabella Durant and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Anti-scooter group threatens to go to United Nations to keep them off footpaths
John Anthony (Stuff): New Zealand domestic air travel rebound predicted but international a different story
John Anthony (Stuff): Qantas to axe 6000 staff as massive downsizing operation begins
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Julie Anne Genter’s zero road toll plan another non-delivery fiasco

Health
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Bayer to pay up to US$10.9 billion to settle Roundup case
Ian Powell: Simpson report fails the foreplay test
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Government’s response to inquiry into mental health, addiction showing promising signs of progress – new report
1News: Progress report on Government’s work in mental health shows money alone won’t transform the sector
Kaitlin Ruddock (1News): Nelson community protests DHB’s plans to disestablish mental health facility
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): St John paramedics gutted as promised pay boost cancelled
Lana Andelane and Lydia Lewis (Newshub): St John to cut up to 100 jobs in bid to recover $30m loss due to COVID-19

Unemployment, migrant workers
Georgia-May Gilbertson (Stuff): Thousands of seasonal workers stranded in NZ as work runs out
Tim Brown (RNZ): Number of beneficiaries almost doubles in Otago
Tracy Neal (RNZ): Covid-19 impact hitting under-30s the hardest at top of South Island

Economy, trade
1News: Kiwi businesses should prepare for long period of ‘very tight border control’, says expert
Liam Dann (Herald): IMF forecast worsens for global economic recovery
Julie Iles (NBR): Still no end in sight on EU free-trade deal (pawalled)

Primary industries
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Cows in mud: Photos reignite winter cropping debate
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): Western Saharan phosphate ‘critical’ to covid recovery – Ravensdown (paywalled)

Peter Ellis case
Martin van Beynen (Stuff): Tikanga requires a resolution to Peter Ellis case: lawyer
Melissa Nightingale and Georgina Campbell (Herald): Supreme Court to consider whether mana important in Peter Ellis case
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Supreme Court hears why appeal of deceased sex offender Peter Ellis should go ahead

Justice, corrections
RNZ: The Detail: Our prison remand crisis
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Rimutaka Prison: Inmates still can’t hug family and children in ‘mind-boggling’ rule
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Controversial Law Society president during Russell McVeagh scandal now a judge
Anna Leask (Herald): Top secret: No conviction for porn ‘obsessed’ govt manager who planted spy camera in gym (paywalled)
Michael Neilson (Herald): Grace Millane: Leo Molloy pleads guilty to breaching name suppression and naming murderer
Sam Hurley (Herald): Former Breakers player Glen Rice Jr left for Texas despite facing assault charge

Labour camp
Sam Hurley (Herald): Labour Party summer camp case: ‘Political football’ arrives at Court of Appeal as young man seeks secrecy
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Name suppression argued in Young Labour camp case
Edward Gay (Stuff): Young Labour camp assault: Man continues fight to keep name secret

Media
Damien Venuto (Herald): NZME-Stuff rivalry set to heat up in post-Covid market (paywalled)
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Would-be Stuff investors lining up, says CEO Sinead Boucher
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): From police beat to Stuff owner: meet Sinead Boucher, New Zealand’s newest media mogul
Lane Nicholas (Herald): Paedophile worked on kids’ TV show What Now: Jason Gunn’s Whitebait Media apologises for vetting ‘failure’
Eleisha Foon (RNZ): NZ On Air ‘deeply disturbed’ after convicted paedophile worked on children’s show What Now
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): NZ On Air shocked to learn convicted paedophile hired as cameraman for kids TV show What Now

Other
Chris Knox and Luke Kirkness (Herald): Children, indigenous people, and disabled people most likely to have human rights violated
Kate Nicol-Williams (1News): Govt’s First Home grant not enough for most first home buyers, figures show
Jo Moir (RNZ): Shane Jones wants fast-track version of Resource Management Act to stay
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Newly discovered weakness another blow for the National War Memorial
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Wellington apartment owners struggle with earthquake costs
Newshub: NZ among world’s highest user of volunteer firefighters
RNZ: Hawke’s Bay water rules watered down despite disagreement
David Hargreaves (Interest): RBNZ still leaving plenty of room for negatives
RNZ: Hawke’s Bay hostel project and manufacturer secure nearly $8m from PGF
Mellissa Chan-Green (Newshub): 118yo mystery uncovered: Underwater cameras find remains of Chinese gold miners
Jane Phare (Herald): Hustling for business: Can Queenstown survive Covid without foreign tourists? (paywalled)
Melanie Reid and Bonnie Sumner (Newsroom): ‘Get your handbag … it’s not going to be pleasant’
Jamie Ensor and Lydia Lewis (Newshub): Kiwis’ drinking culture criticised as Auckland police ramp up presence in city due to disorder
1News: Engineering firm’s tongue-in-cheek ‘structural integrity’ report into Jacinda Ardern’s piano cake fail