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

National Party
Jo Moir (RNZ): Judith Collins set to announce National Party shadow cabinet
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Does National’s new deputy Shane Reti have his eyes on the bigger prize?
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Dr Shane Reti’s promotion to deputy good first move from National
Claire Trevett (Herald): Is Dr Shane Reti’s bedside manner what National needs? (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Reti’s rise continues as Collins demands discipline
Zane Small (Newshub): National’s new deputy Shane Reti praises Judith Collins as ‘dream leader’, describes himself as ‘engine’ behind her
Jason Walls (Herald): National’s caucus elects Shane Reti as its deputy leader, Judith Collins stays on as leader
Thomas Manch and Henry Cooke (Stuff): Shane Reti elected unopposed as new deputy leader of the National Party
Zane Small (Newshub): Judith Collins reconfirmed as National leader, Shane Reti selected as deputy after caucus vote
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Shane Reti elected as National’s new deputy leader
1News: Shane Reti National’s new deputy leader after Gerry Brownlee steps down
Richard Harman: Goodfellow: Will he stay or will he go?
Kerre McIvor (Newstalk ZB): What can National do next?
Ross Meurant (Daily Blog): National’s problem? Fish rots from the head

Poverty, welfare and government finances
Bernard Hickey (Stuff): Government should use printed money to increase benefits, which will be spent in the economy
Janet McAllister (Spinoff): Ardern tells us to be patient on benefit levels. But we’ve been patient long enough
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern blasted as ‘disconnected’, ‘reeking of privilege’ by Auckland anti-poverty group
No Right Turn: Labour’s “kindness” extends only to the rich
Steven Cowan: This Christmas, Jacinda Ardern will be playing scrooge
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Government can’t fall into benefit rabbit hole
Tim Hazledine (BusinessDesk): Rethinking the Welfare State

Economy and work
Maria Slade (NBR): GST take shows firms didn’t need wage subsidy (paywalled)
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): GST figures show spending up in first half of 2020
Priscilla Dickinson (Newshub): Government books ‘stronger than expected’ due to tax take – report
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Reserve Bank may need to pivot, but Wednesday may be too soon
John Anthony (Stuff): Air New Zealand ‘tone-deaf’ in issuing performance bonuses to executives, union says
NZ Herald: Etū slams Air New Zealand’s millions in share options for executives
Calida Stuart-Menteath (NBR): Union angry Air NZ CEO got $2m of share options (paywalled)
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): ‘Frustration and desperation’ as harvest workers struggle to enter NZ
Nicola Shepheard (NBR): How much fruit will be left to rot on the tree? (paywalled)
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): Save our fries: frozen chips from EU threaten to wedge New Zealand farmers
Terry Baucher (Interest): What’s going on with IRD’s business transformation?
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Government’s new top tax rate change: High earners warned over tax avoidance (paywalled)
Oliver Hartwich: In search of Kiwi excellence (paywalled)

Covid
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): What Pfizer vaccine results mean for NZ
Derek Cheng (Herald): Who will be first in line for the Pfizer vaccine? (paywalled)
Stuff: Editorial – Vaccine trials: now we’re getting somewhere
Siouxsie Wiles (Spinoff): Vaccine news great, but here’s the catch

Housing
Eric Crampton (Newsroom): Housing’s haves and have-nots threaten social stability
RNZ: ‘It was never meant to be cheap’ – Councillor defends Wellington apartments
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Reserve Bank’s new lending scheme should perhaps exclude property investors – economist
1News: What a million-dollar property looks like around the country
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Auckland CBD rents fall as Covid-19 freezes tourist, student market

America’s Cup funding
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): America’s Cup funding: Team New Zealand says MBIE wanted Grant Dalton sacked
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): America’s Cup funding: Team New Zealand issues ‘public condemnation’ of ministry, as part of document release
RNZ: America’s Cup: Taxpayer money the topic of talks between SFO and senior official
Todd Niall (Stuff): America’s Cup: Team New Zealand criticises MBIE’s handling of whistleblower allegations
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Were whistleblowers trying to ‘steal’ the America’s Cup event? (paywalled)
Todd Niall (Stuff): America’s Cup row: Minister will leave officials to sort rift with Team NZ

Election and Parliament
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Māori Party leaders write to PM seeking deal with Govt
No Right Turn: ACT is right: We should keep the one seat rule
Derek Cheng and Chris Knox (Herald): Interactive: Referendum results by electorate (paywalled)
Richard Prebble (Herald): When two nations go postal at once (paywalled)
Max Rashbrooke (Prospect magazine UK): Jacinda Ardern: the God of small steps

Information and media
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): Three Stuff journalists, three years of knockbacks. Then the Herald asked. The anatomy of an OIA fail
Nicholas Agar (Newsroom): Don’t dismiss conspiracies with an eye-roll
NZ Herald: NZME lifts earnings guidance, refunds staff, updates dividend plan

Local government
Florence Dean (Spinoff): Why Nanaia Mahuta is right to repeal racist Māori wards legislation
Tina Law (Stuff): Allegations of ‘Trump-style’ politics in coup to oust community board chairwoman
Felix Desmarais (Stuff): Next steps for Rotorua’s sex work bylaw, and half a million more proposed for Whakarewarewa forest redevelopment
Christchurch Star: What’s the right game plan for the Christchurch City Council over the next decade?
Grant Miller (ODT): Council’s debt ceiling soars

Wellington’s Shelly Bay decision
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington City Council to vote on Shelly Bay land deal
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Jackson and Walsh warn councillors heading to D-day Shelly Bay vote
Georgina Campbell (Herald): A Capital Letter: Shelly Bay is the anchor around Wellington iwi’s neck (paywalled)

Environment and transport
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): To save lives and the climate, let’s get out of our cars
Holly Walker (Spinoff): Driving less saves lives, but low-traffic areas aren’t on NZ’s road safety agenda
Gary Taylor & Olivia Grainger (Herald): High expectations for environmental reform (paywalled)
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Waikato council’s climate roadmap makes it over the line
Trisia Farrelly, Hannah Blumhardt and Takunda Y Chitaka (The Conversation): How life-cycle assessments can be (mis)used to justify more single-use plastic packaging

Other
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Should the Government hand over health funding to officials?
Simon Collins and Kirsty Wynn (Herald): How university medical schools decide Māori, Pacific student admissions (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): No hiding from Biden: US-China relations under the new president
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): National pollster goes viral over ‘dream’ US cabinet featuring Republicans
David Fisher (Herald): Kim Dotcom in line for new taxpayer payout after court rules mistakes made over 52 Privacy Act requests
Rob Stock (Stuff): Kim Dotcom may get compensation from taxpayer for breaches of his privacy rights
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Auckland gallery under fire for displaying Nazi symbols alongside Māori flags
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Group calls out art exhibition of neo-Nazi flags, white nationalism symbols
Jane Dalton (Independent UK): New Zealand rodeo: Animals ‘throttled, given electric shocks, punched and slammed to ground in violent scenes’
Simon Ewing-Jarvie: The Long handshake: Additional briefing to the incoming Minister of Defence Hon Penni Henare
Mary-Jo Tohill (ODT): Former MP back to the grass roots
Crystal Wu (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern’s Instagram post goes viral after she’s sent potato in mail
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Spitting Image: Jacinda Ardern puppet sings about euthanising elderly to Mary Poppins tune in comedy sketch