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

Housing
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern won’t stage Reserve Bank intervention as Government loses grip on house prices
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): One-in-four property speculators dodging housing tax
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Government under pressure across political spectrum over inflated house prices
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Reserve Bank finds itself at the centre of a political fight it never wanted to have
RNZ: Wealth tax predicted as anger over inequality ‘reaches boiling point’
Teuila Fuatai (Herald): First-class housing problems at the dinner table (paywalled)
Richard Prebble (Herald): House prices only going up while credit tap’s running (paywalled)
Jason Walls (Herald): PM Jacinda Ardern hints at lifeline for first-home buyers getting into recession-proof market
No Right Turn: Even the banks can see which way the wind is blowing
No Right Turn: This is not a solution
Anna Whyte (1News): Calls mounting for Government to do more to rein in soaring house prices
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): Interest rates throw petrol onto housing inferno (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Housing: Trade Me data shows average Auckland price has passed $1 million, increases in every region
Rupert Gough (One Roof): Will the return of the LVRs stop house prices from rising?
Zane Small (Newshub): National’s call to ask Reserve Bank ‘hard questions’ on rising house prices concerns Jacinda Ardern
Justin Latif (Spinoff): The struggle for South Auckland renters to keep a roof over their heads
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Monetary policy gets more political
David Hargreaves (Interest): The return of the LVRs
Susan Strongman and Murphy (RNZ): Why 1 in 5 transgender people experience homelessness

Environment
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Our nuclear-free moment could be just months away
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): Time to consider petrol and diesel car import ban, says Climate Change Minister
Eloise Gibson (Stuff): Flying to LA might cost more — so be it, says climate chief
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): Gold star for you: New Zealand council puts stickers on bins of best recyclers
Matt Burgess (Herald): Why the Decarbonising Fund will have no impact on NZ’s emissions (paywalled)
Shane Ellison (Herald): Transport is ‘low-hanging fruit’ for tackling climate change (paywalled)
Tamati Tiananga (Māori TV): Ngārewa-Packer says Crown must ban seabed mining
Mike Watson (Stuff): Existing gas pipeline infrastructure could be key to future hydrogen refuelling stations

Covid
John Anthony (Stuff): Covid-19 vaccines won’t signal an end to border restrictions, experts warn
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Government won’t confirm negotiations for Moderna coronavirus vaccine
Stuff: What the latest vaccine developments mean for NZ
1News: Legal expert comfortable with sweeping powers used by Government to make mask wearing mandatory
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Covid-19: Chris Hipkins says Taiwan ‘is not itself authoritarian’ after making claim about mask use
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Chris Hipkins’ Taiwan comments the politics of ignorance
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): A lot of questions remain about mandatory masks on transport
Ian Powell: Nursing union right to encourage nurses not to work in unsafe New Zealand quarantine facilities

Supermarkets
Debrin Foxcroft (Stuff): Countdown commits to 20% Māori and Pasifika senior managers by 2025
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): Price check: Government investigates high food prices at supermarkets
Stuff: Editorial – Good idea, but consumers’ welcome will be tentative
RNZ: Suppliers fear bullying from some supermarkets, Food and Grocery Council CEO says
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Supermarket study: Jacinda Ardern promises to act on whatever Commerce Commission finds in probe

Election and Parliament
Julia Hollingsworth, Krystina Shveda, Natalie Leung, Denis Bouquet and Henrik Pettersson (CNN): New Zealand has just elected one of the most diverse parliaments in the world. Here’s how it stacks up
AAP: ‘Sick to my guts’ – Māori Party MP blasts Parliamentary oath of allegiance to Queen
Joel Maxwell (Newshub): Labour’s largest ever Māori caucus elects new chairs Willow-Jean Prime and Rino Tirikatene
RNZ: Rino Tirikatene, Willow-Jean Prime elected as Labour Māori Caucus co-chairs
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Good to see the Greens have less power
Warrick Cliene (NBR): Three wishes for our new progressive government (paywalled)
Christchurch Star: New Ilam MP Sarah Pallett on beating cancer and her road to the Beehive
NZ Herald: Todd Muller opens up about his mental health

Infrastructure report
Stuart McKinnon (Herald): Decisions we make today will deliver prosperity for future generations
Hamish Glenn (Herald): Planning needs an overhaul
Tim McCready (Herald): Bridging the troubled water gap
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Grant Robertson’s excitement on the Infrastructure portfolio (paywalled)
Tim McCready (Herald): Michael Wood says we need to get transport infrastructure moving (paywalled)
David Parker (Herald): On the ways to accelerate infrastructure projects and job creation (paywalled)
Ross Copland (Herald) NZ Infrastructure Commission Boss on the new normal (paywalled)

International relations and trade
Murat Ungor (Newsroom): Now’s not the time for protectionism
Jane Kelsey (Daily Blog): RCEP – A Wake Up Call To Rethink The Failed Hyperglobalisation Model
Bryan Bruce (Daily Blog): RCEP and its fallout
Amelia Wade (Herald): MFAT says still no evidence New Zealand meat is the source of Covid-19 in Chinese cool stores (paywalled)
Gordon Campbell: On Chris Liddell, the RCEP, and reviving our trade with Iran under Biden

Economy and work
Henry Cooke (Stuff): ‘Why have we been forgotten?’: Jacinda Ardern asked to move faster on pay equity for Pasifika
Amelia Wade (Herald): ‘Why have we been forgotten?’: Prime Minister urged to take action on gender pay gap for Māori and Pasifika women
John Anthony and Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Sky City boss’s resignation ‘could be utu’ for job losses, union says
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): New report finds massive Māori business under-count (paywalled)
Aimee Shaw (Herald): Revealed: SMEs hit the hardest by Covid-19 pandemic (paywalled)

Tourism
RNZ: Government looks to minimise costs of tourism to New Zealanders
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Covid-19 forecast to leave $13 billion hole in tourism spending
Newstalk ZB: Tourism Minister’s blunt message to tourism sector: target rich tourists

Local government
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Rates increase of 23 per cent forecast for Wellington City
Kiri Gillespie (Herald): Tauranga City Council told to prevent ‘train wreck’
Matt Shand (Stuff): Review team recommends Crown Manager be appointed for Tauranga City Council
Newstalk ZB: Damning report exposes troublesome culture at Tauranga City Council
Alice Angeloni (RNZ): Tairāwhiti Museum refuses to exhibit Endeavour model
Kerry Wood (Stuff): Mr Downs, Mr Thomson and the second Mt Victoria tunnel

Other
Susan St John (Spinoff): Bridging the poverty gap: Why all poor kids need Working For Families support
Derek Cheng (Herald): Drug laws, mixed messages and failed expectations, and tens of thousands in legal limbo (paywalled)
Troels Sommerville (Stuff): 19 more refugees on their way to NZ after virus halted quota programme
Melissa Nightingale (Herald): Colin Craig goes to Court of Appeal over Rachel MacGregor defamation ruling
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Te Pae Oranga should have te ao Māori approach, put tangata whenua first, advocates say
Scott Palmer and Zane Small (Newshub): Judith Collins accuses Government of ‘playing politics’ over Trump assistant Chris Liddell’s OECD nomination
Whatitiri Te Wake (Māori TV): Politicians farewell Rudy Taylor
Anton Trixl (NBR): Get it right, and Auckland Light Rail could be revolutionary (paywalled)
Nicola Shepheard (NBR): The Great NZ Reset (paywalled)
Stephen Forbes (Stuff): Pharmac and Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa locked in stand-off over drug funding decision
Leonie Hayden (Spinoff): Nuku 100: The ambitious project by wāhine, for wāhine
David Chaston (Interest): A stable median age might be a good thing
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): NZME strategy – good in parts, says Jarden (paywalled)
Simon Collins (Herald) Schools push for pilot scheme for international students (paywalled)
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): Dr Siouxsie Wiles supreme winner at Stuff-Westpac 2020 Women of Influence Awards
RNZ: Police Association pushes for firearms register to be put in place
Cas Carter (Stuff): Journalists should tell the news, not be it