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
Border
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Senior quarantine whistleblower says staff were refused regular testing programme despite pleas
Derek Cheng (Herald): Horrible sense of déjà vu over Government border blunders (paywalled)
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): As officials hunt for the source of Auckland’s COVID-19 cluster, there’s also a search for political accountability
Richard Harman (Politik): A war of ambiguous words
Stuff Editorial: When dissonance is a deadly serious failing
Phil Pennington (RNZ): WorkSafe steps in to ensure safety of isolation facility staff
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): The border and the sniff test
Chris Trotter (Interest): The two-thirds/one-third election
Thomas Manch and Luke Malpass (Stuff): Government feeling the heat over Covid-19 border testing
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Government feels the heat over border testing
Eric Crampton (Newsroom): Of O-Rings and quarantines
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Kristin Hall (1News): ‘Blanket set of rules for everyone coming into NZ’ – Epidemiologist joins call for quarantine change
Charlotte Cook (RNZ): Govt urged to do serology tests on border and isolation workers
Vita Molyeux (Newshub): Genomic testing the key to determining source of Auckland COVID-19 outbreak, says expert
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): The day NZ’s second outbreak became a whole lot more complicated
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): What does hotel worker case mean for outbreak?
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Amelia Wade (Herald): Winston Peters claims mystery Rydges case is a ‘second border breach’ as 97 per cent of MIQ workers tested
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Winston Peters says heads should roll over staff Covid-19 testing failures
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Judith Collins claims quarantine workers wanted Covid-19 tests but couldn’t get them
Zane Small (Newshub): Judith Collins claims quarantine staff were refused tests, challenges Jacinda Ardern to release communications
1News: Judith Collins unloads on Covid-19 border testing, calling it an ‘absolute failure’
1News: Jacinda Ardern admits border testing coverage ‘not what we had expected’
RNZ: PM Jacinda Ardern on border testing: ‘It was what we had instructed’
Newstalk ZB: PM points finger at health officials in border debacle
1News: Expectations of a ‘hermetically sealed border’ to keep Covid-19 out are not fair – Ardern
Newshub: Covid-19 border tests ‘did not meet expectations’ – Jacinda Ardern
Newstalk ZB: Chris Hipkins: Temperature checks ‘the regular test’ for workers
George Block and Brad Flahive (Stuff): Security guard leaks list of Auckland isolation guests via Snapchat
Anna Whyte (1News): Security guard posted details of managed isolation returnees in social media privacy breach
RNZ: Checkpoint: Megan Woods discusses isolation facility privacy breach
NZ’s coronavirus response
Rod Jackson (Herald): Learning to live with Covid 19 coronavirus is not a viable option
Dita De Boni (NBR): Knowing us, knowing them: NZ v Sweden Covid strategies (paywalled)
RNZ: ‘We can eliminate this disease again’ – Otago University epidemiologist
Charlie Mitchell and Michael Daly (Stuff): While Covid-19 takes lives around the world, New Zealand’s response has led to fewer deaths from all causes
Ben Strang (RNZ): Epidemiologists call for new pandemic plan
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Should Level 1 be stricter?
Michael Daly (Stuff): How genome testing is helping identify Covid-19 clusters
1News: Expert explains genomic sequencing and how it helps NZ link Covid-19 cases
RNZ: Checkpoint: Mandatory Covid-19 testing of all ports staff reined in to only ‘high risk’ contacts
Lucy Warhurst and Lana Andelane (Newshub): Govt relaxes order for Ports of Auckland, Port of Tauranga workers to get tested, narrows criteria
Katie Todd (RNZ): Deadline for businesses to display Covid Tracer QR code
Josephine Franks (Stuff): ‘Privileged perspective’ to think everyone can get Covid Tracer app
Amelia Wade (Herald): PM Jacinda Ardern says Donald Trump’s claim NZ is experiencing a surge is ‘patently wrong’
1News: Jacinda Ardern says Trump ‘patently wrong’ to compare NZ and US Covid-19 outbreaks
Anna Whyte (1News): James Shaw ‘looking forward to seeing the back’ of Trump after his Covid comparison
Herald: Donald Trump on New Zealand’s new outbreak
Steve Braunias (Guardian): Thank you, Donald Trump – in New Zealand we are grateful for any kind of attention
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): Dr Ashley Bloomfield dons mask and takes part in WHO social media challenge
Parliament
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Tempers flare in distracted, distanced, unexpected Parliament
Jason Walls (Herald): Collins squares up against Ardern as the pair go back to sparring in the House
Jane Patterson (RNZ): MPs return to Parliament as National looks to challenge Covid-19 response
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern calls for politics to be taken ‘out of the COVID-19 response’ in clash with Judith Collins
Election. NZ Herald-Kantar poll
Claire Trevett (Herald): Poll – NZ First, Greens or Labour alone? Who voters want Labour to go with if it wins election (paywalled)
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Political Roundup – Jacinda Ardern’s successful and clever election date shift
Newstalk ZB: Winston Peters denies threatening Prime Minister to move election date
Harry Locke (RNZ): What parliamentary hopefuls make of their now-extended election campaigns
1News: Tips for aspiring MPs campaigning, without the handshakes and baby kissing
Gina Dao-McLay (Spinoff): It shouldn’t take a pandemic to give young people like me the chance to vote
Charlotte Jones (RNZ): Smaller East Coast parties struggling to campaign under Covid-19
Rahul Bhattarai (Stuff): Kaikōura candidates welcome more time, bemoan unfair ‘air time’
1News: National MP’s election billboards ‘getting a bit of a hiding’ by vandals
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): We shouldn’t be taking sides’: Political candidate repairs rival’s defaced billboard
Brent Edwards (NBR): TOP claims to be better for business than Greens (paywalled)
Alex Braae (Spinoff): A revelation in Marton: The Spinoff meets New Zealand’s newest Christian party
Gavin Ogden (Herald): Local Focus: Who is Erika Harvey, NZ First candidate for Tauranga?
Gavin Ogden (Herald): Local Focus: Who is Cameron Luxton, Act candidate for Tauranga?
Gavin Ogden (Herald): Local Focus: Who is Jan Tinetti, Labour candidate for Tauranga?
Gavin Ogden (Herald): Local Focus: Who is Simon Bridges, National candidate for Tauranga?
Patrick O’Sullivan (Herald): Local Focus: Who is Meka Whaitiri, Labour candidate for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti?
Patrick O’Sullivan (Herald): Local Focus: Who is Heather Te Au-Skipworth, Māori Party candidate for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti?
Patrick O’Sullivan (Herald): Local Focus: Who is Elizabeth Kerekere, Green candidate for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti?
Youth Wings: The Young Labour leader keeping it real, and realistic
National Party
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): National’s Gerry Brownlee apologises for conspiratorial tone – but then doubles down
Anna Whyte (1News): Gerry Brownlee says comment to supporters won’t whip up distrust of media
Māori TV: Gerry Brownlee under fire for email undermining media
Amelia Wade (Herald): National’s Gerry Brownlee: ‘I totally reject any idea that I’m a conspiracy theorist’
1News: Collins says Brownlee’s inference Govt holding back Covid-19 information was ‘a bit of a surprise’
Conspiracy theories, false rumours
David Farrier and Dylan Reeve: Webworm talks to the man who started the COVID-19 outbreak rumour in New Zealand
RNZ: The Detail: Rumour, regret, and damage that can’t be undone
Katie Kenny (Stuff): Those who shared Covid-19 rumour could be liable to the Harmful Digital Communications Act, Netsafe says
Duncan Greive (Spinoff): Why dangerous rumours are big business for social media platforms
Crystal Wu (Newshub): Ministry of Health hits out at ‘totally false’ health rumour about face masks
Border exemptions, travel
Katarina Williams (Stuff): Just 21 essential health workers granted entry into NZ during first months of border shutdown
Rebecca Stevenson (BusinessDesk): Designer and ‘shapers’ for US billionaire’s golf course allowed in
Amy Williams (RNZ): The Kiwis who have been on tropical holidays since the Covid-19 lockdown
Education
Gordon Campbell: On the sorry plight of the international education sector
Simon Collins (Herald): Australia lets in foreign students but NZ still waits
Henry Cooke (Stuff): National goes cold on international student policy
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Newstalk ZB: Virus expert against students going back to school
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Students back at school in level 3 is a health risk, principals say
RNZ: Auckland principal: Students at school in level 3 puts communities at risk
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Covid-19 and the great ventilation debate
Simon Collins (Herald): School students to get 8100 more computers
Simon Collins (Herald): Educational TV starts again but 70,000 students still without computers as online learning starts again (paywalled)
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Jody O’Callaghan (Stuff): Māori high school students unfairly streamed in low-ability classes, report finds
RNZ: Whakatane school misses out on free lunch scheme
Auckland lockdown
Via Molyneux (Newshub): Auckland could come out of lockdown before 26 August, says Jacinda Ardern
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): Aucklanders have behaved unforgivably in latest lockdown
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Small businesses across Auckland breaching Covid-19 rules
Donna-Lee Biddle (Stuff): Auckland at Covid-19 alert level 3, in pictures
Aged care
RNZ: Checkpoint: Dementia facility tried to stop Ombudsman inspection
Jenny Ruth (BusinessDesk): Health officials bar Summerset from testing staff, residents
Health
Ian Powell (Second Opinion): Funding health systems after natural disasters
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Thousands of primary health care workers to strike over pay parity
1New: Health workers testing for Covid-19 threatening to walk off job over pay, conditions
Herald: Major nationwide nurses’ strike set for next month
Rosie Gordon (Newshub): Health expert calls for alcohol sale crackdown after study shows large liquor spending increases
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Finance politicians Grant Robertson, Paul Goldsmith to face off in game of Monopoly
Abbey Wakefield (1News): Steak with Dr Ashley Bloomfield? Charity auctions lunch date with Director-General
Local government
Todd Niall (Stuff): $775k Auckland Council agency salaries must be cut – but it’s not the CEOs’ fault
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland water crisis: Raveen Jaduram’s resignation as Watercare ceo sparks blame game over water crisis (paywalled)
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): Auckland’s big ratepayer-owned Co’s need reining in (paywalled)
Dileepa Fonseka (Newsroom): Auckland should borrow first
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Auckland’s colonial-era statues could be removed after vandalism, protests
Matthew Mckew (ODT): Queenstown mayor slams proposed power price hikes
Waikato Times: Council’s plea to ratepayers: Pay by direct debit
Economy, business, govt support
Liam Dann (Herald): Economy Hub: Why new taxes may be unavoidable (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): New normal still a nightmare for bars and restaurants
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Cost of wage subsidy has Grant Robertson searching for ‘sustainable’ support measures (paywalled)
Newstalk ZB: Finance Minister on extending the wage subsidy scheme
Liam Dann (Herald): Economy faces deeper cut but 2021 outlook brighter – Fitch report (paywalled)
Guy Williams (ODT): Asia-Pacific tourism hope, economist says
Murat Ungor (Newsroom): A new era of economic uncertainty
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Auckland has sneezed – are the regions about to catch an economic cold?
John McDermott (NBR): Our economic performance, as ranked by NCEA (paywalled)
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Hamish Rutherford (Herald): ‘In lockstep’: economists say borrowing rates could plunge in line with negative OCR (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): ‘Into the twilight zone we go’: Biggest bank predicts negative interest rates
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Economists at ANZ and ASB now see the Reserve Bank taking the Official Cash Rate negative next year
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): Spectre of negative rates takes shine off kiwi dollar
Housing
Rob Stock (Stuff): ‘Staggering’ number of households behind on their mortgages
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Pain in the pocket: The cost of deferring your mortgage for a year (paywalled)
Earthquake prone structures Wellington
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Documents show ministry blunders on Wellington’s Carillon tower
Mandy Te (Stuff): Politicians vying for Wellington Central support review of earthquake-prone building legislation
Call for Paraparaumu airport land to be returned to Māori
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): Kāpiti Mayor calls for Paraparaumu airport to be returned to tangata whenua
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Kāpiti airport land should be returned to its rightful owners – hapū
Primary industries
Catherine Harris (Stuff): Zespri mulls best way to combat counterfeit kiwifruit in China
Andrea Fox (Herald): Zespri worried about extent of illegal NZ gold fruit growing in China
Other
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Lost, declined, and missing: Thousands miss out on iwi voting rights
No Right Turn: OIA charging: Who charges for OIA requests in 2020?
David Williams (Newsroom): Plea to fix DOC concessions system
Anna Leask (Herald): Christchurch mosque attacks: More details released about gunman’s sentencing
Aimee Shaw (Herald): The real winners of lockdown as retail sales shift online under level 3 (paywalled)
RNZ: ‘Significant review’ of sports funding model needed, CEO says
ODT Editorial: Learning to fly
Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): No change to allocation of $311 million tourism fund
Herald: Revealed: The new Auckland – the startling numbers behind future faces (paywalled)
Ryan Jennings: Interview: A Kiwi Original – Pattrick Smellie | BusinessDesk
RNZ: Cook Islands extends border closure for inbound travel
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Silent memorial as Vietnam Veterans’ Day observed without crowds
