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

New Labour Government
Thomas Manch (Stuff): A Cabinet to fill: Who will take the top jobs in the new Labour Government?
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Jacinda Ardern’s line on the Greens – and the Cabinet Minister she must remove (paywalled)
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): The campaign promises Labour didn’t talk about
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Climate change will shape Jacinda Ardern’s legacy
Māori TV: Māori-Labour caucus will get top cabinet jobs – political analyst
Jonathan Mitchell (RNZ): Uncertainty around billions in Defence Force spending
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): Ihumātao occupiers wait patiently for government intervention following election
The Standard: Could the real Labour Party please stand up
John Braddock and Tom Peters (World socialist website): Wealthy areas switched support to Labour Party in New Zealand election

Greens and coalition negotiations
Simon Wilson (Herald): What Labour and the Greens should have been talking about all week (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Crunch time as referendum results come in and Labour concludes talks with the Greens
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Labour-Green government talks will conclude on Friday, but result will not be known until Sunday
Jason Walls (Herald): The Green Party sets deadline for any decision on its inclusion in new Government
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Greens to decide on govt participation on Sunday (paywalled)
Neil Miller (Magic talk): Green MPs will be kicked out of government by Green Party members
RNZ: Green Party continues talks with Labour Party on possible deal

Referendum results
Derek Cheng (Herald): Euthanasia and cannabis referendum results at 2pm: Is Kiwi social fabric about to shift?
Derek Cheng (Herald): Cannabis law reform explainer: Preliminary results are out tomorrow – what happens next? (paywalled)
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Majority of Kiwis voted ‘yes’ in euthanasia referendum- new poll
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Yes or no? What happens after results of the cannabis referendum come out
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): What sway might special votes have on the cannabis and euthanasia referendums?
Hannah Martin (Stuff): How will the End of Life Choice Act work if it passes?
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Has the End of Life Choice Act passed? We may know today

National Party
Richard Harman: Friendly fire; three views of the National Party
Steve Braunias (Herald): Secret diary special edition – inside Judith Collins’ MP meetings (paywalled)
Newstalk ZB: National MPs bidding for party positions in Parliament
Julie Iles (NBR): Brownlee’s deputy leadership said to be on shaky ground (paywalled)

Housing
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Public housing waitlist cracks 20,000 with over 2000 new households in a single month
Phil Taylor (Guardian): New Zealand house prices soar despite Covid recession, worsening affordability crisis
No Right Turn: We need more state houses
Brad Olsen (Infometrics): Too many houses are mouldy, damp, and cold
Brian Fallow (Herald): Is Adrian Orr about to pull the LVR trigger? (paywalled)
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): NZ’s financial stability under threat as lending skyrockets – economist
Cameron Bagrie (BusinessDesk): The Reserve Bank should do less (paywalled)
Tina Morrison (Stuff): ANZ heads for a record mortgage lending month, driven by first-home buyers
Greg Ninness (Interest): Housing affordability improves considerably for first home buyers in Auckland, not so much for those in the rest of NZ
David Hargreaves (Interest): First home buyers feeling the heat?
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Inflation-targeting architect urges RBNZ: ‘Just don’t do any further harm’

Health
Ian Powell (Democracy Project): The Dialectics of incrementalism and transformation
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Cataracts so bad driving isn’t possible – but public system says ‘No’
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Canterbury health board members challenged to take tikanga and Treaty seriously
Malcolm Mulholland (Herald): Pharmac needs a short, sharp dose of reality (paywalled)
Todd Krieble (BusinessDesk): The outlook for health reforms (paywalled)

Human Rights Commission and the Act Party
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): ‘Abolish Human Rights Commission’: ACT leader says it could be replaced with local MP or court instead
Amelia Wade (Herald): Act’s David Seymour calling for ‘hard-left’ Human Rights Commission to be abolished
Zane Small (Newshub): Greens fear ACT ‘has moved to the extreme right’ over call to abolish ‘hard-left’ Human Rights Commission
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Oh now the Greens fear ACT ‘has moved to the extreme right’? Really? So why did you give him the ammunition you clowns?

International relations
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): The foreign policy challenges for Ardern’s second term
Laura Walters (Newsroom): MPs call for sanctuary for young Hongkongers
RNZ: Labour and National MPs urge Jacinda Ardern to adopt Hong Kong lifeboat scheme

Covid
Stuff: Editorial – Covid-19: New Zealand’s health response is not ‘fascist’
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Covid-19: A ‘bubble’ of two billion people?
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): We need to examine our Covid response
Verity Johnson (Stuff): Coronavirus: This is the year we can finally get over our FOMO
Zane Small and Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Greens co-leader James Shaw criticises Fox News over COVID-19 ‘quarantine camp’ speculation
Zane Small (Newshub): Coronavirus: ‘Selfish’, ‘terrifying’ or ‘successful’? How New Zealand’s COVID-19 response has fascinated the globe
Curwen Ares Rolinson (Daily Blog): Why Fox News and right wing brits are scrambling to declare New Zealand a fascist failure on Covid-19

NZ First Foundation 
Sam Hurley (Herald): NZ First Foundation case: Second defendant pleads not guilty, maintains name suppression
Anneke Smith (RNZ): New Zealand First Foundation case: Pair deny charges, elect trial by jury
Edward Gay (Stuff): Second NZ First Foundation accused pleads not guilty
Reweti Kohere (NBR) Second NZ First Foundation defendant pleads not guilty (paywalled)

Parliament
Peter Dunne: Where have the liberals gone?
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): The steep and narrow path to Parliament
No Right Turn: A contempt of Parliament?

Local government
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Iwi and property owners to meet over Kāpiti Airport future
Logan Savory (Stuff): Councillors to be briefed on independent evaluation review for DIA

Oranga Tamariki
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Oranga Tamariki forced to pick up pieces of failed state policy, Waitangi Tribunal told
Kereama Wright (Māori TV): Māori authority for tamariki Māori and whānau – Annette Sykes

Other
RNZ: The long overdue changing face of zoos
Áine Kelly-Costello (RNZ): Voting accessibility 2020: A mixed report card
Jonathan Cotton (Spinoff): Debt to the future: The cost of recovery
Newstalk ZB: ‘Person who hates boomers the most’: Swarbrick to feature on Aussie reality show
Matthew McAuley (Spinoff): Prioritising Māori perspectives could make Aotearoa thrive
Tobey Keddy: Māori In Prison: Where’s The Transformational Change?
Peter Griffin (BusinessDesk): Expect no favours at the OECD from ‘local boy’ Chris Liddell (paywalled)
1News: Matakana Island whenua returned to hapū after almost 100 years of Crown ownership
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): Covid-19 teacher return no silver bullet for overstretched sector, says union
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): Annah Stretton criticised for ‘racist’ poster
Portia Mao (Asia Media Centre): What does the Chinese immigrant identity look like in New Zealand?