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

US election and NZ
Newshub: US Election: What a Donald Trump victory would mean for Jacinda Ardern
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Whoever wins in the US, we might all lose
Audrey Young (Herald): Time for Jacinda Ardern to take charge of the US relationship (paywalled)
Jason Walls (Herald): US Ambassador says decision won’t change relation between the countries
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): ‘Democracy is vibrant’: Election night with Trump’s man in Wellington
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Donald Trump picked up momentum – but still a nail-biter (paywalled)
Zane Small (Newshub): From ‘great mates’ to trading COVID-19 barbs: How the Donald Trump-Jacinda Ardern relationship unfolded
1News: Regardless of outcome, US presidential election will impact NZ – here’s how
Liam Dann (Herald): Markets point to Donald Trump win – and heavy political reality for NZ leadership (paywalled)

New Government
Claire Trevett (Herald): The licence of Jacinda Ardern’s cast-iron grip on power (paywalled)
RNZ: Top-ranking Pacific MP to continue welfare reforms, jobs recovery in NZ amid pandemic
Susan St John (Newsroom): The bureaucratic blocks to welfare reform
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Govt ‘cowardice’ in stalled criminal justice reforms
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): The most powerful Maori Caucus in NZ history
Mike Hosking (Herald): Two weeks in and new Government is missing in action (paywalled)

Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta
Carrie Stoddart-Smith (RNZ): Nanaia Mahuta’s appointment returns legacy of tīpuna to foreign policy
RNZ: Who is Nanaia Mahuta?
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Criticism directed at Nanaia is meaningless -Jacinda is really the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Belinda Feek (RNZ): Author Olivia Pierson’s offensive comments about Nanaia Mahuta’s moko kauae: The backlash
Dita De Boni (NBR): Mahuta a departure from all previous foreign ministers (paywalled)
Zane Small (Newshub): Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta accepts moko kauae ‘will be something of a curiosity’ as author Olivia Pierson faces backlash for labelling it ‘uncivilised’
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): NZ website withdraws author’s works after she criticises Māori foreign minister
John Minto (Stuff): We need new directions in foreign affairs and defence after NZ First indifference

Housing
Bernard Hickey (Stuff): Bank boss doesn’t like housing boom, so why not do something about it?
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Judith Collins flirts with ACT’s Reserve Bank house price policy
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): ‘Gripped by FOMO’: Frustration continues for buyers as property market stays strong
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Economists divided over when home lending restrictions will come back (paywalled)
Anne Gibson (Herald): Auckland house prices break $1m barrier: new Barfoot & Thompson data out
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): Auckland cuts housing shortage estimate by a quarter (paywalled)
Skara Bohny (Stuff): Nelson’s council-owned community housing bought by Kāinga Ora
Stuff: RNZ host tears into Property Investors’ Federation over ‘ridiculous’ comments on first home buyers
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Insurance Council issues stark warning over Wellington’s spatial plan
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington spatial plan called a ‘childish wish for housing’
Eric Crampton: Renting sucks

Economy and work
Bernard Hickey (Stuff): Fulton Hogan subsidy highlights how Covid-19 response making rich richer
NBR: Fulton Hogan pays big dividend after tapping wage subsidy (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): New tax rate would hand top 3% nearly 25% of income tax bill
Richard Harman: The debate we didn’t have
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Record jump in jobless rate to 5.3%, but NZ set to avoid unemployment disaster
Michael Andrew (Spinoff): New Zealand’s unemployment rate rises to 5.3%
Liz Kendall (Stuff): Almost three-quarters of lost jobs are women’s, here’s why
RNZ: Unemployment rises to 5.3% in the September quarter
Zane Small (Newshub): ACT warns unemployment ‘will only get worse’ as 37,000 job losses prompts benefit boost plea
Herald: How NZ compares to US, Aus and China in unemployment figures
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Inflation effect adding to post-Covid inequalities, Stats NZ data suggests
Peter Griffin (BusinessDesk): David Clark, tech minister: trying to be positive (paywalled)

Covid
Nick Wilson and Michael Baker (The Conversation): New Zealand needs a ‘traffic light’ system to stop COVID-19 creeping in at the border
1News: Judith Collins joins calls for formal review into Government’s handling of Covid-19 crisis
Karl du Fresne: A striking change of editorial tone
1News: New Zealand Nurses Organisation calls for ‘urgent review’ after two nurses test positive for Covid-19
Tim Cronshaw (Herald): Nurses call for urgent review into Covid hotels

Dotcom Extradition ruling
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Supreme court rules Kim Dotcom can be extradited – subject to a judicial review
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Kim Dotcom ruled eligible for extradition on 12 of 13 charges, but thrown a lifeline
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Kim Dotcom can be extradited, Supreme Court rules. But wait, there’s more …
Sam Hurley (Herald): Kim Dotcom’s US extradition case stalls, Supreme Court calls for further arguments over copyright allegations
RNZ: Kim Dotcom MegaUpload case: Court ruling paves way for extradition, but subject to judicial review
David Fisher (Herald): What today’s Kim Dotcom extradition judgment means (paywalled)

Parliament and elections
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): National Party reshuffle coming next week, as Collins says Shane Reti is safe – but no one else
Liam Ratana (RE:): Meet your new Māori MPs
Parmjeet Parmar (Herald): Why National thought it could win the 2020 election (paywalled)

Local government
Brad Flahive (Stuff): Super City splitters: The groups that wanted to break away from Auckland Council
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Young Wellingtonians plea to councillors: don’t sell Shelly Bay
Marcus Anselm (RNZ): Digital divide in Wairarapa’s local democracy
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Helen Clark red cards Eden Park’s ‘PR spin’

Health
Ian Powell: New political health team has potential
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Mental health waiting lists grow in wake of pandemic
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Māori infant vaccinations drop 5% from April to June – Ministry of Health

Environment
Steve Urlich (Stuff): Government ignores own state of the environment report
Lisa Tumahai (Spinoff): Enough is enough: Why Ngāi Tahu is suing the Crown over its waterways
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Ngāi Tahu takes the government to court over water: ‘Now is the time to act’

Transport
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Light Rail: New Minister committed but neutral on type of system
Nikki Preston (Herald): $5bn rail tunnel seen as solution for North Shore traffic woes

Other
Al Williams (Stuff): Protesters picket in Timaru as livestock carrier arrives
1News: Protests greet arrival of one of world’s largest cattle ships in Timaru
Mark Quinlivan and Matt Burrows (Newshub): ‘Completely inappropriate’: Stats NZ under fire for ‘oranges’ Facebook post
John Braddock (World socialist website): New Zealand to legalise euthanasia following referendum
David Williams (Newsroom): A Crown bent out of shape by abuse