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

Labour-Greens talks, Labour govt 
Henry Cooke (Stuff): There is no evidence National voters backed Labour to keep the Greens out
Audrey Young (Herald): Labour holds all the cards as Ardern’s talks with Greens get underway
RNZ: Greens better off independent – Former Green MP Catherine Delahunty
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Greens would be wise to steer clear of Labour
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Greens brush off revelation Labour won’t be forming a coalition with them
Anna Whyte (1News): ‘Krispies on the table’ – Green Party co-leader describes ‘fruitful’ discussion with Labour
Jason Walls (Herald):  Greens reveal ‘constructive’ and ‘fruitful’ talks with Jacinda Ardern’s Labour
Herald: Labour kicks off Government forming talks with the Greens in Jacinda Ardern’s Beehive office
Stuff: Will they, won’t they? Greens insist ‘negotiations’ still on with Labour
RNZ: Green Party: ‘Fruitful discussions … further discussions to have’
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Labour, Greens give no details from talks on govt formation (paywalled)
Greg Presland (The Standard): Will Labour go it alone?
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Labour have the numbers, so why would they bring in the Greens?
—————
RNZ: Calls for Labour to fast-track child poverty mandate
Catherine Harris (Stuff): Survey: Wealth tax would make one in five business people consider migrating
Simon Louisson (Standard): Will consensus building paralyse Ardern?
Zane Small (Newshub): Phil Twyford on how Labour can progress Auckland light rail without New Zealand First

National
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Political Roundup – National’s catastrophic collapse and fraught rebuild
Stuff Editorial: A defeated National plays the blame game 
Claire Trevett (Herald): Can National Party leader Judith Collins put to bed witchhunts and ‘what ifs’? (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): What does it take to bring National back from the dead
Robert MacCulloch (NBR): Where National went wrong: An economist’s perspective (paywalled)
Dita De Boni (NBR): National’s election redux: less praying, more planning (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff): ‘We’re not stupid’: Judith Collins was bracing for loss on election night
RNZ: Winning election a ‘big ask’ – National leader Judith Collins
1News: Judith Collins says she’s ‘not blaming anybody’ for National’s election defeat, including herself
Herald: National campaign reviewer to leaking MPs – ‘pipe down’
Ethan Griffiths (Whanganui Chronicle): Former Whanganui MP Chester Borrows reacts to National’s disastrous loss (paywalled)
1News: National’s Alfred Ngaro leads dawn prayer at Parliament on his last day

ACT
Gordon Campbell: On National being shafted by its own creation
Zane Small (Newshub): David Seymour on how ACT differs from National and why Greens should ‘resist being hugged to death by Labour’
Henry Cooke (Stuff): ACT MP caught with notes on hand as David Seymour shows off his new team
Newstalk ZB: Act MP explains why he got deported from Fiji in 2017
Herald: Basketball: Act leader David Seymour among celebrities to play in New Zealand Breakers’ charity game

NZ First
Newstalk ZB: Winston Peters speaks to Newstalk ZB for first time since election
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Former NZ First MPs Tracey Martin and Jenny Marcroft reflect on lack of women in caucus, where campaign went wrong
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): W R Peters loans $60k to NZ First

Māori Party, Māori MPs
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Kelvin Davis, the battle of Waiariki and unfinished business: Labour can’t rely on Māori support
1News: Māori Party’s Rawiri Waititi promises ‘disruptions’ to the ‘system’

Election, parliament
Wayne Hope (Daily Blog): Election aftermath: an ideological analysis
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Labour’s final online ad push: $24 a minute
Katie Kenny (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern dominated election conversations on Twitter
Peter Griffin (BusinessDesk): Jacinda played a serious social media game (paywalled)
Newstalk ZB: Shane Reti concedes he may lose electorate seat
Southland Times Editorial: Special delivery: what will those extra votes change for Invercargill?
Newstalk ZB: NZ Election 2020 quiz: Test your knowledge about the preliminary results
Caroline Fleming and Samantha Olley (Rotorua Daily Post): Complaint about Hannah Tamaki, Vision NZ signs on election day
Serena Solomon (Stuff): The politics of getting dressed
—————
Steven Cowan: Centrist Central
Sandeep Singh (RNZ): Election of first Kiwi-Indian electorate MP marks a milestone
Jason Walls (Herald): New Zealand’s rainbow Parliament still has ‘a long way’ to go in terms of full representation
1News: The new faces of New Zealand’s 53rd Parliament
—————
Chris Fowlie (Daily Blog): Yes or No, the roadmap for cannabis reform

Coronavirus
Katarina Williams (Stuff): Public health experts call for inquiry into New Zealand’s coronavirus response
Katarina Williams (Stuff): What NZ can learn from Taiwan about pandemic preparedness
1News: As Covid-19 causes mortality rates to spike around the globe, NZ sees dramatic drop in deaths
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Managed isolation nurses ‘frustrated and angry’ at ’20-hour’ working days, staff shortages
Michael Daly (Stuff): The ‘pretty strict’ rules for arriving ships and their crews
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Thousands of managed isolation vacancies every week since July
No Right Turn: Managing to the target
Eugene Bingham and Adam Dudding (Stuff): Tick. Tick podcast: Leading scientist hopeful NZ won’t suffer a summer lockdown
Newshub: UK doctor praises NZ’s COVID-19 approach, says it’s too late for them
Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris (Spinoff): Covid-19 and the Swiss cheese system
—————
RNZ: Checkpoint: MIQ operations boss Darryn Webb details Sudima situation
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): New Zealand has 25 new coronavirus cases in one day for the first time since April, but it’s different this time
Crystal Wu (Newshub): Expert weighs in on if Kiwis should be worried about new community cases
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Pre-departure tests not yet required because ‘system is working’ in New Zealand – Dr Ashley Bloomfield
RNZ: Russian fishing crew not feeling too unwell – Sealord boss
1News: New Zealand sees biggest daily spike in Covid-19 cases in over six months
1News: Two of today’s 25 Covid-19 cases are community transmission from port worker
Kim Moodie (Herald): Auckland bar patrons told to get tested after confirmed case
Stuff: Covid-19: Auckland pub patrons ‘close contacts’ of new coronavirus case

Housing
Isaac Davison (Herald): Charge for emergency housing is ‘taking money from the poor’, charity says
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Govt seeks to buy up motels for Christmas
Andrew MacFarlane (1News): Renters urged to think twice before uploading ID after new privacy blunder
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Housing boom: Highly leveraged investors borrow up large (paywalled)
Alex Hockley (Dominion Post): Progress and the past: Getting the spatial plan right the first time
Blair Jackson (Southland Times): Southland District councillors call for action on future of community housing
Esther Taunto (Stuff): Backlash over landlord’s Choice Tenant training programme

Health
Simon Connell (Pundit): Now’s The Time – Expand ACC
Newstalk ZB: Auckland University professor calls for health system overhaul
Carmen Parahi (Stuff): Avoiding the jab: Scaremongering, conspiracists affecting rates of immunisation in Tairāwhiti
Karoline Tuckey (RNZ): Clinicians warn of suffering from gaps in pain services

Education
John Gerritsen RNZ): More enrolment zones touted as way to tackle ‘white flight’ from low-decile schools
ODT Editorial: Principals’ representation scrutinised
Liu Chen (RNZ): Universities unsure how many international students will take up offer to come to NZ

Local government
Chris Marshall (Waikato Times): WRC marks transfer of water monitoring to Tūwharetoa
Lois Williams (RNZ): West Coast council and iwi sign historic pact for resource management
RNZ: Auckland Council continues to cut staff to save costs
Susan Botting (Stuff): Northland Regional Council votes for Māori constituencies: Councillor resigns, walks out
Marcus Anselm (RNZ): Wāhine grab chance to have voice at the council table
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Wellington City Council considering renting graves as plots run out
1News: Wellington’s proposed grave rental programme brings questions and controversy
Logan Savory (Southland Times): New Invercargill deputy mayor Nobby Clark starts ‘unique’ job

Travel bubbles
AAP: South Australia’s premier implores Jacinda Ardern to implement two-way travel bubble
Ross Stitt (Newsroom): Aussies stand by to fly on over
Cook Islands News: New Covid-19 case pushes travel bubble talks back to square one

Migrant labour
Jared Morgan and Jacob McSweeny (ODT): Workforce exceptions questioned
Daniel Dunkley (Stuff): Fruit-picking jobs going begging: Who is really to blame?

Employment
Jason Ennor (Herald): New employment policies – what to expect and what it will mean
Brent Edwards (NBR): Get ready employers – Labour plans more employment law changes (paywalled)

Business, layoffs
Matthew Goodson (NBR): A tale of two elections (paywalled)
Warrick Cleine (NBR): Three wishes for our new progressive government (paywalled)
RNZ: Flight Centre cuts another 160 staff, to close 23 more stores
1News: Flight Centre cuts 160 more jobs, closes 23 more stores – ‘We are gutted’
1News: Wilson Parking to give up car parks after Commerce Commission investigation into price hikes
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Wilson Parking to sell three of its Wellington car parks after allegations of anti-competitive behaviour
RNZ: Wilson Parking agrees sell building leases, pay costs after investigation
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Tourism bounce-back suffers from lack of experienced workers
Julie Iles (NBR): Business leaders recommend government climate actions (paywalled)
Herald: Eric Watson fights to stay out of UK prison for contempt, while partner enjoys Ibiza lifestyle

Environment
Dominic Harris (Stuff): Anti-water bottling lobby group takes fight against ECan and Cloud Ocean to Court of Appeal
Eloise Gibson (Stuff): Too tropical — Why it won’t take much to make Pacific Islands uncomfortably hot
Farah Hancock (Newsroom): Wildlife rules for private land queried by owners and businesses

Corrections
Mitch McCann (Newshub): Corrections grappling with dramatic rise of ‘punches’, ‘weaponised’ assaults in prisons
RNZ: Union wants prisoners held accountable for attacks following incident

Oranga Tamariki
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Kaupapa Māori not valued at Oranga Tamariki, social workers say
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Oranga Tamariki should invest in ‘cultural sovereignty’ – kaumātua

Retirement
RNZ: Retirement Commission clarifying what superannuation is for
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Pre-retirees will be hardest hit by Covid financial fallout, Retirement Commissioner warns (paywalled)

New Zealand-North Korea friendship group police raid
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Kiwi man raided by police over North Korean PPE donation says it was ‘like a sick joke’
RNZ: New Zealand North Korea Friendship Society raided over donations

Damien Grant case
John Anthony (Stuff): ‘People have got to have a second chance’, judge says in the case of liquidator Damien Grant
Herald: Damien Grant fights for insolvency career in court after license rejected over criminal history
Victoria Young (BusinessDesk): The Damien Grant case: lawyers vs liquidators in character test (paywalled)

Other
Sam Stubbs (Stuff): Think mortgages rates are cheap? Think again
Aimee Shaw (Herald): Increasing cost of living, drop in income: Kiwis’ top concerns (paywalled)
Andrew McRae (RNZ): Ministry apologises again to survivor over abuse endured in state care
David Farrar: Is there racial bias with Police charging decisions?
Dita De Boni (NBR): Questioning capitalism never more apt than now, says Kiwi director
Emily McPherson (Nine News): New Zealanders left unemployed by pandemic in Australia call for more support as JobSeeker payments run out
Chris Keall (Herald): US, EU, Australia pile into Google – NZ pulls its punches (paywalled)
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): Much lauded restart of Napier-Wairoa railway line only ran for a week
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Sean Plunket says he’ll join Duncan Garner going vegan if Donald Trump wins US election