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
Community transmission
Ben Thomas (Spinoff): What the Covid resurgence means for the election campaign
Luke Malpass (Stuff): In this new lockdown, Labour competence will be key
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): NZ’s bubble bursts as Covid returns
Jason Walls (Herald): ‘Extremely disappointed’: National Party leader Judith Collins blasts Govt; says it let Covid-19 back into NZ
Richard Harman (Politik): Covid’s back and causes campaign chaos. But who knew what — and when?
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Judith Collins says it will be ‘very difficult’ to vote next month; speaking to Ardern, Electoral Commission about possible delay
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Political parties suspend campaigns after new COVID-19 outbreak
1News: Judith Collins says move to Level 3 ‘the right thing to do’, but impacts could be ‘devastating’
1News: Election campaigning put on hold as NZ returns to Covid-19 restrictions
RNZ: Election campaigning suspended due to new Covid-19 alert
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Derek Cheng (Herald): Chains of transmission may already be circulating across Auckland: Virus expert
Science Media Centre: New COVID-19 cases in NZ community – Expert Reaction
Stuff: Aucklanders should be wearing masks, experts say
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Experts’ warning of ‘almost certainly other cases’ after Auckland community transmission
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Why it’s so important to go hard and go early
Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris (Spinoff): Don’t panic. We can do this. Together
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Advice on dealing with anxiety, fear after Auckland community transmission
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RNZ: Live: Work underway on making masks mandatory in Akl – Hipkins
RNZ: New cases push New Zealand into resurgence plan
Henry Cooke (Stuff): What happens on Wednesday after four cases of community transmission
Katarina Williams (Stuff): Shrill of emergency mobile phone alert system not heard by all
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Mt Albert Primary School student linked to COVID-19 community transmission cases
Danielle Clent (Stuff): Auckland’s Mt Albert Primary linked to confirmed Covid-19 cases
1News: Auckland family who tested positive to Covid-19 have connections across city
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Everything we know about the Auckland cases of community transmission
Luke Kirkness (Herald): Catastrophic’: Call for calm as Auckland plunged back into lockdown
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Herald: Customers flood Auckland supermarkets as lockdown looms
Herald: Auckland supermarkets overrun despite pleas against panic-buying
Herald: Countdown supermarkets pleads for people to ‘shop normally’
RNZ: Covid-19 panic buying: PM calls for calm as hundreds queue outside supermarkets
Jackson Thomas (Stuff): Supermarket chaos as Aucklanders ignore PM’s advice ahead of level 3
Catherine Harris and Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Online supermarket shopping struggles with demand
Rachel Sadler and Lydia Lewis (Newshub): Late-night panic buying: Kiwis flock to supermarkets after COVID-19 restrictions announced
1News: Panicked shoppers crowd Auckland supermarkets after new Covid-19 cases announced
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Jackson Thomas (Stuff): Pop-up testing stations in west and south Auckland
RNZ: Covid-19 testing centres boosted after community transmission revealed in Auckland
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Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Move to level 3 will ‘send chills down the back of businesses’
Herald: ‘Tell us the plan’, says Auckland Chamber of Commerce head Michael Barnett
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Herald: Auckland heads back into level 3 lockdown at midday – what you need to know
Kim Moodie (Herald): What can I do at levels 2 and 3? Here’s what it means for you
Herald: Auckland schools advised to close immediately
Stuff: Auckland schools to close as city goes back to alert level 3
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): Coronavirus three-day lockdown: what it means for Auckland and the rest of NZ
Katarina Williams (Stuff): What do the alert levels mean?
Stuff: The Covid-19 alert level system
RNZ: New Zealand moves up alert levels: What you need to know
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): What New Zealand’s COVID-19 alert level changes mean for you
1News: Auckland returns to Covid-19 Alert Level 3 lockdown – what you need to know
Anna Whyte (1News): What all of NZ outside Auckland should expect as Covid-19 Alert Level 2 begins again
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): How to lock down Auckland
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Herald: Expat Kiwis react to New Zealand’s partial lockdown as virus returns
Charlotte Graham-McLay (Guardian): New Zealand records first new local Covid-19 cases in 102 days
Herald: World media reacts to NZ’s new local cases
Coronavirus – prior to community transmission announcement
Science Media Centre: Where politicians stand on Covid-19 management
1News: Health system would ‘absolutely not’ be capable of rolling out Covid-19 vaccine, says NZMA
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Concerns NZ Defence Force Covid-19 cluster did not self-isolate
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern responds to Judith Collins’ accusation of ‘mixed messaging’ on COVID-19
1News: Judith Collins says she ‘always’ carries a face mask to ‘be prepared’ for Covid-19
Herald: Dr Ashley Bloomfield doesn’t flinch during his first test
1News: Watch: Dr Ashley Bloomfield takes his first ever Covid-19 swab test at testing station
Matt Burrows (Newshub): DHB apologises after police called to resolve Auckland COVID-19 testing centre dispute
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Newshub: Christchurch retirement village care unit in lockdown after ‘several’ residents display respiratory illness symptoms
Sam Sherwood and Jake Kenny (Press): Christchurch retirement village in lockdown after several residents display ‘flu-like’ symptoms
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1News: New Zealand praised as a Covid-19 ‘global exemplar’ by WHO Director-General
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Avatar worker avoids deportation despite Covid-breach warnings
RNZ: Federated Farmers wants agricultural workers allowed into the country
1News: Government now charging for managed isolation for some Kiwis returning home
RNZ: Kiwis overseas unhappy about ‘unfair’ managed isolation charges
Jamie Tahana (RNZ): The frustrating pace of a Cooks travel bubble
1News: ‘There is no income’ – concerns grow over Cook Islands travel bubble delay
National Party
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The “Childish Brutality” Of The National Party
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): National Party to address Roger Bridge allegations ‘soon’
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Judith Collins reprimands senior National Party board member who used ‘Merv’ alias to undermine Auckland Central candidate
Anan Zaki (RNZ): Judith Collins on Roger Bridge allegations: ‘It’s not something I approve of’
Newstalk ZB: National Party figure accused of using ZB talkback to derail candidate’s campaign
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Judith Collins needs to sort out National’s nonsense
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Nick Truebridge (RNZ): Woodhouse’s isolation homeless mystery man claim debunked
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Fact or fiction: Is National planning $80 billion worth of spending cuts? (paywalled)
AAP: Judith Collins tells Aussie media NZ Government is ‘useless’, has achieved ‘almost nothing’
National’s law and order, conservation policies
Jason Walls (Herald): National leader Judith Collins continues her party’s policy blitz on the campaign trail (paywalled)
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): National forced to rush out law and order policy after accidentally sending it to Labour’s campaign chair
Amelia Wade (Herald): Strike Force Raptor 2: The return of National’s elite gang unit
Henry Cooke (Stuff): National promises tougher stance on gangs, youth offenders
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): National would set up police unit to disrupt gangs
Anna Whyte (1News): Law and order: National pledges to ban gang patches in public, new powers to detain young offenders
Zane Small (Newshub): National still keen on police ‘gang unit’, wants to relocate ex-prisoners to have fresh start
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Mike Mather (Stuff): New national parks for Coromandel and Catlins under a National government – Collins
Herald: National promises two more National Parks, great walks and to be predator-free by 2050
1News: National plans on creating two new national parks and Great Walks
RNZ: National Party conservation policy pledges predator-free 2050 funding
Labour
Tim Watkin (Stuff): Ardern’s Conservatism Could Be The Very Thing That Keeps Her Flying High
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern says Labour will turn Whanganui red
Derek Cheng (Herald): Covid 19, 5G and abortion: The Jacinda Ardern show hits Whanganui
Election
David Cohen (RNZ): Can TV debates really affect New Zealand voters?
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): ACT’s proposal to lower benefits ‘out of touch with reality’, says Auckland Action Against Poverty
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): Winston Peters challenges racing to get moving
Zane Small (Newshub): Winston Peters tells Paula Bennett ‘miss you already’ in light-hearted talk about election, COVID-19
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Do people vote on policy?
Electorate contests
Simon Wilson (Herald): Election diary: National’s brave faces for Auckland Central (paywalled)
1News: Meet the three women vying to represent Auckland Central after Nikki Kaye’s departure
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Which of Auckland’s marginal seats could change hands?
Deena Coster (Taranaki Daily News): Te Tai Hauāuru hopeful quietly confident in a race to watch
Gavin Ogden (Herald): Local Focus: Waiariki candidates’ biggest election issue is Covid 19 recovery
Matthew Dalla (Manawatū Standard): Rangitīkei candidates more focused on airing party rhetoric than digging into electorate concerns
Patrick O’Sullivan (Herald): Local Focus: Who is Katie Nimon, National candidate for Napier?
Patrick O’Sullivan (Herald): Local Focus: Who is Judy Kendall, Act candidate for Napier?
Patrick O’Sullivan (Herald): Local Focus: Who is Stuart Nash, Labour candidate for Napier?
Patrick O’Sullivan (Herald): Local Focus: Who is James Crow, Green candidate for Napier?
Cannabis referendum
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Cannabis referendum: What happened in other places that legalised it?
Derek Cheng (Herald): A National-Act Govt may not legalise cannabis following a ‘yes’ vote
RNZ: National caucus to vote against cannabis at referendum – Judith Collins
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Judith Collins tries to smoke out Jacinda Ardern on how she’ll vote
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern rejects challenge from Judith Collins to reveal recreational cannabis stance
Derek Cheng (Herald): Jacinda Ardern refuses to say how she will vote in cannabis referendum
Anna Whyte (1News):Jacinda Ardern keeps recreational cannabis vote to herself despite Judith Collins’ challenge
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Andrew Little reveals his experience with marijuana
Euthanasia referendum
Serah Allison (International Socialists): VUW Panel on End of Life Choice Act
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Kiwi scientist Sean Davison struck off over role in assisted deaths in South Africa
Education
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): Digital divide: Thousands of students now able to access internet from home
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Education agents back NZ as safe destination, but opportunity for students may be short-lived
ODT Editorial: Focus needed on tertiary losses
Simon Collins (Herald): Public v private: The old boy/girl connection – and why faith matters (paywalled)
Simon Collins (Herald): Pacific language teachers appeal to Jacinda Ardern after funding cut
Environment and conservation
Gavin Evans (BusinessDesk): Aggressive decarbonisation needed now – Greens (paywalled)
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): ‘People have lived there 30 years’ — Breaking bad news about rising tides
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Councils struggle to get traction on climate change
Rachel Thomas (RNZ): Estuary management tangled in red tape – Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment report
Mark Price (ODT): Govt set to announce purchase of an Omarama farm
Maia Hart (Stuff): MPI could start ‘conversation’ on east coast pāua ban soon
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui and Māni Dunlop, (RNZ): Raukūmara Forest to be restored with $34m fund after years of iwi lobbying
Tom Irvine (Stuff): Restoring the Aotearoa of yesterday for tomorrow
Health and disability
1News: In wake of 1 NEWS investigation, Ministry of Health admits flu vaccine stocks were low
Catherine Hutton (RNZ): Family fights chaotic system in caring for disabled foster child
Carla na Nagara (Spinoff): Should we be talking about suicide?
Housing
David Hargreaves (Interest): The new tenancy rules are here – for better or worse
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Renters United launches campaign demanding politicians stop rent prices increasing
Mandy Te (Stuff): New Zealand does not know how to build at an affordable price, property expert says
Local government
RNZ: Ports of Auckland gets green light to deepen shipping channel despite controversy
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): Ports of Auckland gets sign-off for deeper shipping lane (paywalled)
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland Council slimming down its business units – Ateed and Regional Facilities to merge
Nicole Bremner (1News): Review calls for better communication between Auckland Council and its five business entities
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Council CCO Review: Rating the council agencies
Mike Watson (Taranaki Daily News): Maori representation on regional council delayed until iwi fully consulted
Sam Bennett (Taranaki Daily News): Let’s be on the right side of history when it comes to Māori Wards
Chloe Ranford (Stuff): Marlborough to get $6m to sign up to govt’s ‘three waters’ reform
Luisa Girao (ODT): Conduct complaint developments behind closed doors
Matthew Mckew (ODT): Complaint not public, yet
ODT: Minimal risk from substance in Sawyers Bay: DCC
Primary industries
1News: Nicotine-based pesticides under review in NZ linked to bird population decline in US
James Fyfe (Newshub): Boxer Gold potato herbicide approved by EPA for use in New Zealand
Maja Burry (RNZ): Tractor training academy aims to fill Covid-19 labour shortages
Esther Taunton (Stuff): High $20/hour’ jobs available, but where are the workers?
Economy, employment, business
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff):Unemployment figures a welcome reprieve, but economy not out of the woods yet
Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): Queenstown tourism company collects $10.7m from govt, slashes permanent jobs
RNZ: New service to help jobseekers opens
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): NZIER report says increasing benefits would boost the economy
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): Fletcher Building expects $196m net loss because of Covid-19
1News: Fletcher Building to post $196 million loss due to Covid-19 impacts
RNZ: Truckometer shows increased transport movements in July
Gambling
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Kiwis blow almost $1b on the pokies per year – but where could that money be going?
1News: Retail sector missing out on hundreds of millions of dollars to problematic gambling, report finds
Newstalk ZB: Pokie gambling costing economy $400 million a year – report
Stuff Editorial: An advance in the case against pokie machines
Pike River
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Recovery workers removed from mine after discovery of ‘unusual’ substance
RNZ: Pike River mission on hold after discovery of carcinogenic residue
Herald: Underground workers pulled from Pike River Mine after carcinogens found
Statues, place names
Mike Mather (Stuff): Captain Hamilton statue’s fate not known until March at earliest
Nikki Preston (Herald):Future of controversial Captain Hamilton statue delayed until next year
Newstalk ZB: Does Picton need a new name?
Other
Sam Hurley (Herald): What a High Court judge ordered Jami-Lee Ross to do with SFO documents ‘leak’ (paywalled)
Bruce Munro (ODT): Tarras International Airport – genius or madness?
Martin van Beynen (Stuff): Is China using NZ technology to modernise its military for inevitable war?
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Could government prudence weaken the RBNZ’s firepower?
Kate MacNamara: (Herald): What $640m buys in the Reserve Bank’s whopping new 5-year budget (paywalled)
1News: Jim Bolger on Winston Peters’ re-election chances and National’s leaders
Peter Cullen (Stuff): Workplace romances are common, so why did one cost Iain Lees-Galloway his job?
The Standard: Should the government replace sex data with gender (identity) data?
Ben Strang (RNZ): Reporting of potential terrorist financing more than doubles in NZ
Paula Penfold and Louisa Cleave (Stuff): Fraudster Joanne Harrison tells Far North District Council: ‘I was framed’
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Juan Carlos, exiled former King of Spain, not in New Zealand despite speculation – Immigration NZ
