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 testing, quarantine facilities, alternative plans from NZ First, National, ACT
Thomas Manch (Stuff): The Covid-19 border testing saga that’s going septic amid ministers’ muddled accounts
Karl du Fresne: Incompetence is one thing, misinformation another
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Government was advised testing all border staff wasn’t viable when Health Minister was promising it
Heather du Plessis Allan (Newstalk ZB): The Govt needs to accept blame for testing failures
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Hotel case another sign of bureaucratic incompetence
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Concerns remain at New Zealand’s border despite Government’s sweeping new changes
1News: Air Commodore Webb confirms just 40% of Covid-19 facility staff were tested prior to new outbreak
Thomas Coughlan and Carmen Parahi (Stuff): Heather Simpson to spearhead border response, some Māori health leaders ‘gutted’
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Testing would not have stopped Rydges Hotel worker from contracting COVID-19 – Megan Woods
1News: Security association head says they’ve become ‘scapegoat’ to MIQ issues as Govt announces NZDF personnel boost
John Anthony (Stuff): Ditching private security at managed isolation will cost 300 to 600 jobs, association says
1News: Ardern hits back after Collins criticises new appointments to bolster border testing as ‘another working group’
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern hits back at Opposition over criticism of COVID-19 testing strategy
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Labour’s Andrew Little accuses National Party of ‘destructive’ politics over Auckland COVID-19 cluster
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern gives timeline of COVID-19 testing policy amid accusations of ‘systemic failure’
Amelia Wade (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern warns against expecting border perfection as troops rolled in
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Former Helen Clark adviser to head up new group to oversee Covid testing
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): New Zealand sends 500 military staff to bolster quarantine facilities
RNZ: Managed isolation and quarantine facilities to get boost in defence force support
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Additional NZDF personnel to be deployed to managed isolation facilities, maritime border
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Ashley Bloomfield must front Parliament on border issues, National urges
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Judith Collins says Jacinda Ardern didn’t learn lessons of first Covid-19 lockdown
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Systemic failure to blame for Auckland COVID-19 outbreak – Judith Collins
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Megan Woods questions credibility of Kiwi who says groups mingled in managed isolation
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Union leader wants source of Rydges hotel case found pronto
Zane Small (Newshub): Health Minister Chris Hipkins on the ‘frustration’ of figuring out latest COVID-19 outbreak
Jared Savage (Herald): Auckland man charged with burglary after laptop stolen from managed isolation facility at Crowne Plaza hotel in Auckland (paywalled)
RNZ: ‘We’ve certainly got capacity’: Megan Woods on space for positive cases at Covid-19 quarantine facility
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Time to look at our quarantine hotel contingency plan
—————
Jason Walls (Herald): NZ First leader Winston Peters calls for new Border Protection Force after frontline testing blunders
Thomas Manch (Stuff): NZ First wants a new border protection force after Covid-19 testing saga
RNZ: New Zealand First calls for border protection force, quarantine to be managed by NZDF
1News: NZ First proposes moving quarantine to military facilities, creating new Border Protection Force
Zane Small (Newshub): New Zealand First wants quarantine shifted to military facilities, long-term alternative to lockdowns
1News: NZ First denies lacking swaying power in Cabinet after apparent delays in increased NZDF deployment
—————
Derek Cheng (Herald): National’s border plan – Covid card for travellers, high-risk staff
RNZ: National Party to unveil plan to bolster Covid-19 border security
—————
Andrea Vance and Luke Malpass (Stuff): Tick. Tick podcast: ACT’s David Seymour proposes a specialised epidemic control centre
Coronavirus impact on election
Ben Thomas (Spinoff): National needs to keep pounding the accountability drum on Covid response
Claire Trevett (Herald): Will Covid 19 lockdown II let National and NZ First back in the game? (paywalled)
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Can National’s election campaign centre on eroding trust in Labour without harming the Covid-19 public health response?
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The Juggler: National’s Future Has A Name – Dr Shane Reti
NZ’s coronavirus response
RNZ: Government urged to launch inquiry into its pandemic response
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Is elimination still the best strategy?
James Baker (Stuff): Regional lockdowns a roll of the dice say health experts
Daniel Dunkley (Stuff): Is it time we just gave up?
Kate MacNamara (Herald): Is NZ’s elimination strategy worth the cost? (paywalled)
Rebecca Stevenson (BusinessDesk): We must test for covid before travel (paywalled)
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): How New Zealand’s ‘big surge’ compares to the US
Stuff Editorial: The surge shows you can’t keep politics out of Covid-19
James Griffiths (CNN): Trump’s comment on NZ outbreak highlights disparity in Covid responses
Auckland Level 3, checkpoints, fears for Northland, Bay of Plenty
Richard Harman (Politik): A day of salutary lessons
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern rules out move to COVID-19 alert level 4, says edge of Auckland cluster is in sight
RNZ: Health Minister Chris Hipkins rules out Auckland moving to alert level 4
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): One week on, how are we doing?
1News: Pasifika community leaders battle perceived stigma and shame of Covid-19
Collin Tukuitonga (Newsroom): Outbreak brings Covid reality to Pacific communities
Leni Ma’ia’i (Guardian): Devastating impact’: south Auckland’s Pasifika bear brunt of new Covid-19 outbreak
—————
Denise Piper (Stuff): Aucklanders swamp health services in small Northland town
Denise Piper (Stuff): Iwi-led checkpoints return to Northland amid fear of virus spread
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Te Whānau-ā-Apanui closes borders to non-essential travellers
Herald: Big increase in vehicles turned around at police checkpoints
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Nearly 5000 cars turned around at Auckland police checkpoints
RNZ: Waiting times down at Covid-19 Auckland checkpoints, police say
RNZ: Doubt over North-South exemptions reinforced
Lockdown legality
Andrew Geddis (Spinoff): Unlawful, but necessary and reasonable: making sense of the High Court ruling on the lockdown
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Government gets lucky as court finds a ‘pretty legal’ lockdown was imposed
Barry Soper (Herald): Hard to justify unlawful lockdown
David Farrar: Govt broke the law
Melissa Nightingale (Herald): Lockdown unlawful for first nine days, High Court finds, but says action was justified
Kate Nicol-Williams (1News): Early stages of Covid-19 Level 4 lockdown ruled unlawful by High Court
Jonathan Mitchell (RNZ): High Court rules some of Covid-19 level 4 lockdown was unlawful
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): First nine days of alert level 4 were unlawful, court finds
Contact tracing, testing, PPE, aged care
Jo Mckenzie-Mclean (Stuff): Frontline health works treated like ‘cannon fodder’, GP says
Robin Martin (RNZ): Confusion reigns over Covid-19 restrictions for aged care facilities
Newstalk ZB: Chief Ombudsman raises concerns over use of PPE in aged care homes
—————
Molly Houseman (ODT): Digital contact tracing not as good as manual – Otago study
Jamie Morton (Herald): Why authorities shouldn’t over-rely on tracing apps
Imogen Wells (1News): We can’t rely on Covid-19 tracer app – researcher warns
Rosie Gordon (Newshub): Worries not everyone is using COVID Tracer app
Kelly and Anna Pendergrast (Spinoff): ‘Download the app, then use it’ leaves too many of us out of contact tracing efforts
Molly Houseman (ODT): Firms urged to make tracing accessible
Sophie Cornish (Stuff): Covid-19 guest registers: How many people are seeing my information?
—————
Jamie Morton (Herald): Why aren’t we testing close contacts twice?
Rawiri Taonui (Newsroom): Māori and Pasifika pay price for low testing
Tom O’Connell (Nelson Mail): Port Nelson employees join national Covid testing push
Air New Zealand
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): Covid-19 testing, isolation needs urgent attention – Air NZ staff
Kristin Hall (1News): Air NZ investigating allegations of lockdown breach by flight attendant
RNZ: Air New Zealand outlines its Covid-19 measures to Minister Chris Hipkins
1News: Air New Zealand ‘strongly encouraging’ but not enforcing testing of staff in Auckland
Dan Lake (Newshub): Air New Zealand insists ‘strict protocols’ being taken to protect staff and passengers from Covid-19
John Anthony (Stuff): Air New Zealand safety measures have kept airline Covid-19 free since April, CEO says
Grant Bradley (Herald): Air New Zealand puts in place own safety measures
1News: Health Minister meets with Air NZ, says he’s not ‘100% convinced’ with air crew protocols
Grant Bradley (Herald): Why airlines are on the offensive (paywalled)
Covid-19 international response, vaccine
Herald: Female-led countries had half as many deaths as those with male leaders, analysis finds
1News: Women-led countries faring better in Covid-19 pandemic, study finds
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): Female world leaders best at handling Covid-19 response, study finds
Jamie Morton (Herald): How far away is a vaccine for NZ? (paywalled)
1News: Mandatory Covid-19 vaccine: NZ and Australia’s different approaches
Martin Farrer (Guardian): Global report: Australian PM backtracks on plan to make coronavirus vaccine mandatory
Election, cannabis referendum
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Māori voters call for Electoral Commission to get it right this election
Māori TV: Massey lecturer wants Māori roll specialists at voting booths (video)
Māori TV: Shane Jones on the election postponement (video)
Sam Sherwood (Stuff): Poster of Jacinda Ardern with Adolf Hitler at Christchurch store causes outrage
Stuff Editorial: On deface of it, vandalised billboards are yesterday’s memes
Stuart Smith and Priyanca Radhakrishnan (Stuff): In the midst of pandemic and economic crisis voting is more important than ever
Youth Wings: The Young Greens holding space at the table
Georgie Ormond (Herald): Local Focus: Who is Alan Clay, Green candidate for Whanganui?
Georgie Ormond (Herald): Local Focus: Who is Steph Lewis, Labour candidate for Whanganui?
Georgie Ormond (Herald): Local Focus: Who is Harete Hipango, National candidate for Whanganui?
Matthew Littlewood (Timaru Herald): First Rangitata meet the candidates event draws small crowd
Newstalk ZB: Helen Clark on why she wants cannabis legalised
Greens
Michael Neilson (Herald): Toxic politics: Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick and the ‘inhuman’ nature of Parliament
Amelia Wade (Herald): Greens promise to double sick leave from 5 to 10 days and ‘explore’ rebate scheme for employers
Hamish Walker
Jason Walls (Herald): ‘I got bad advice’ – disgraced soon-to-be former National Party MP Hamish Walker breaks silence
Philip Chandler (Mountain Scene, Newstalk ZB): Walker says he will be leaving politics ‘a much stronger person’
Economic hardship, business
Matthew Theunissen (RNZ): Thousands of Aucklanders turning to food banks
Liam Dann (Herald): Which regions fared worst? Infometrics forecasts the damage
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Otago hardest hit by lockdown
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Lockdown 2.0 having heavier impact on businesses, researchers say
Matthew Theunissen (RNZ): Auckland lockdown affecting businesses throughout NZ
Jordan Bond (RNZ): Auckland under alert level 3: Council predicts 250 jobs lost per day
John Bishop (Stuff): We Boomers are grateful, Grant – too bad if others have to foot the bill
Education
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Classroom ability ‘streaming’ racist, new research claims
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Streaming Māori students into low-expectation classes limits future pathways – report
—————
1News: Children’s Commissioner says too many Kiwi kids leaving school to help whānau face Covid-19 financial burdens
Emily Van Velthooven (1News): Senior high school students set to return to class under Level 3
Simon Collins (Herlad): ‘Anxiety is higher this time’ as kids stay away from school and childcare
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): New Zealand ‘risks being left behind’ if international students can’t return
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): Students join staff kicking back against Victoria University’s restructure plan
Migrant exploitation
Steve Kilgallon (Stuff): Vicious cycle: Why are some Indian migrants so badly exploited in NZ?
Liu Chen (RNZ): Construction workers take boss to ERA over unpaid wages
Local government
Stephen Forbes (Stuff): Questions raised over Panuku’s future funding amid uncertainty in property market
Don McKinnon (Herald): Merging CCOs will be good for Auckland (paywalled)
Taranaki Whānui voting, Shelly Bay
Tom Hunt (Stuff): A year of waiting to vote for the lucky ones in Taranaki Whānui
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Thousands of iwi members had no say on sale of land at Shelly Bay, report finds
Justice
Veronica Schmidt (RNZ): I was filmed in a Kmart changing cubicle
Indira Stewart (RNZ): First Up: Calls for stalking law as lockdown raises concerns for victims: “We have no protection.”
Primary industries
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Fed Farmers boss calls on farmers to boycott freshwater plan rules
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): Regional Council chairman outraged by committee decision on outdoor burning in Hawke’s Bay
Fire and Emergency NZ
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Firefighters’ union in Employment Court over key jobs in restructure
Sophie Cornish (Stuff): Professional firefighters battle in court against Fire and Emergency NZ restructure
Meridian spill
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): NZ Steel says alleged market manipulation by Meridian cost it almost $1m
Gavin Evans (BusinessDesk): Regulator wrong on December hydro spill impacts – Meridian (paywalled)
Health
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Decision day for Canterbury health board cost cuts amid ‘leadership crisis’
Ian Powell (Second Opinion): Catalyst for the Canterbury District Health Leadership Meltdown
ODT Editorial: Changes in mental health urgent
Christchurch mosque shootings
Alexander Gillespie (The Conversation): Jailing the Christchurch terrorist will cost New Zealand millions. A prisoner swap with Australia would solve more than one problem
Mosque shooter sentencing: Authorities not saying if gunman’s family will attend
Other
Luke Kirkness (Herald): Fake news and misinformation: Kiwis class info they disagree with as fake news
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Global facial recognition company working closely with NZ govt
Todd Niall (Stuff): Private sale of fireworks won’t be banned after proposal rejected by MPs
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Finance Minister assures delayed loan scheme for quake prone apartments just months away
Dileepa Fonseka (Newsroom): Reviewing a ‘stuck’ Wellington
Priscilla Dickson (Newshub): Can employers make staff get tested for COVID-19?
Jono Galuszka (Stuff): Ōhakea water scheme to avoid PFAS contamination should be ready by Christmas 2021
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Pricey face masks spark 240 complaints to Government watch dog
RNZ: More than 8900 critical buildings in tsunami evacuation zones – report
Michael Daly (Stuff): More than 430,000 Kiwis live in tsunami evacuation zones
Bronson Perich (Māori TV): Keep dole for over-25s and raise school leaving age – Māori analyst
Juliet Moses (Spinoff): Why is New Zealand intent on honouring the legacy of an unrepentant Nazi?
Lana Andelane (Newshub): New Zealander of the Year: Ashley Bloomfield, Jacinda Ardern, Patrick Gower and Mittens in the running
