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
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Meeting the overwhelming quantum of need – A modest proposal for ending New Zealand’s housing crisis
Richard Harman: “This crisis is too big; we cannot wait any longer”
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): Nine tweets Jacinda Ardern probably regrets, even just a little bit
Zane Small (Newshub): Green MP Julie Anne Genter questions Jacinda Ardern ruling out capital gains tax while she’s Prime Minister
Brian Fallow (Herald): Government could help the kids – and hit the landlords (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Jacinda & Labour supporting property speculators: Welcome to NeoKindness
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): ‘Proper’ for govt to instruct RBNZ on house price inflation: Grimes (paywalled)
Gareth Kiernan (BusinessDesk): Remember the reasons for RBNZ independence
Maria Slade (NBR): First home buyers defy predictions (paywalled)
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Napier flood: Cabins considered for affected residents as rental market dries up

Labour Government
Dylan Asafo (Newsroom): The cruel violence of ‘kindness’ and ‘unity’
Herald: Jacinda Ardern honoured with Gleitsman International Activist Award
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern wins $210k Harvard University Award
RNZ: Jacinda Ardern gets Gleitsman International Activist Award
TVNZ: Jacinda Ardern wins Harvard leadership award for handling of Covid-19, Christchurch terrorist attack
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern receives prestigious Harvard University ‘activist award’ previously given to Nelson Mandala, Malala Yousafzai

Environment
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): NZ First axed cheap bus fares last term, now Greens want Labour to pick up policy
Lawrence Gullery (Stuff): Greens steering towards new car ban
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): James Shaw is trolling us with his car ban plan
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Cheaper bus fares would have overwhelmed Wellington bus network – regional council
Katy Jones (Stuff): New flood modelling raises property price and insurance concerns
David Farrar: Radio NZ wrong on sea level rise
Jamie Morton (Herald): Will climate change mean more earthquakes and eruptions?

Education
Caley Callahan (Newshub): Principal concerned run-down schools ‘not prioritised’ in new education funding
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Big rebuild programme for substandard schools ‘shows students they are valued’
Derek Cheng (Herald): $164m plan for new classrooms to accommodate bulging school rolls
Piers Fuller (Stuff): Hipkins announces $164m investment in schools nationwide
RNZ: Govt to spend $164m on new and upgraded classrooms
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Ministry of Education releases guidance on school lockdowns and emergencies

Election and Parliament
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Smooth sailing or a winding road for electoral reform?
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): Why we might need our own 25th amendment
TVNZ: Winston Peters makes first public appearance since his party’s loss on election night
Alex Braae (Spinoff): Coup Conservatives? Leader ousted to make way for ‘outspoken’ Elliot Ikilei
TVNZ: Leighton Baker steps down as New Conservative leader
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): What do Trump’s fraud claims have to do with the New Zealand election?
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Māori Party-sought recount sees fewer votes for co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer

NZ First Foundation trial
Anneke Smith (RNZ): NZ First Foundation defendant seeks further suppression
Sam Hurley (Herald): NZ First Foundation case: Blogger Cameron Slater lends his support to accused’s suppression bid
Catrin Owen (Stuff): NZ First Foundation case: Accused’s lawyer says there’ll be a ‘trial by media’ if named
Reweti Kohere (NBR): NZ First Foundation defendant doubles down on name suppression (paywalled)

Covid
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Is the Government ready for vaccine misinformation?
RNZ: ‘Clever new approach’ heightens interest in Covid-19 vaccines – professor
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Coronavirus: Securing COVID-19 vaccines ‘bit like being in the stock market’ – Dr Ashley Bloomfield
Vaimoana Tapaleao (Herald): Covid 19 coronavirus: At least 90 per cent of Aucklanders complying with mandatory mask rule
RNZ: Staffer who worked in managed isolation facility not returning to Parliament this week

Economy and work
Matthew Hooton (Herald): David Parker, Minister for Shaking Things Up (paywalled)
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Wellington’s way back: How can the capital recover from the Covid-19 economy?
Todd Niall (Stuff): Covid-19: Auckland prepares case for economic boost for south and west
RNZ: Covid leave scheme: $129m paid out to support employees’ pay
Brent Edwards (NBR): How to address NZ’s multi-billion-dollar infrastructure deficit? (paywalled)

Tourism
Anthony Gardiner (Guardian): Are backpackers really less valuable to New Zealand than those with more money?
Simon Wilson (Herald): The bumptious Tourism Minister and his van ban (paywalled)
Lorna Thornber (Stuff): Five problems with the plan to ban tourists from hiring vans without toilets
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): Stuart Nash has opened a can of worms with his ‘wealthy tourists’ comments

Supermarkets
Eric Frykberg (RNZ): Supermarket inquiry might see rise in cost of fruit and vegetables, Horticulture NZ warns
Taroi Black (Māori TV): Consumer NZ tells Countdown to be more ambitious for Māori leadership
Newstalk ZB: Judith Collins: ‘Countdown employing people based on race a dangerous strategy’
Newstalk ZB: Lawyer says Countdown’s diversity hiring pledge could be unlawful

International relations and trade
Guy Trafford (Interest): Trade or principles?
Brent Edwards (NBR): Government still faces scepticism about trade agreements (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Stuff): New Zealand joins Five Eyes allies in condemning China for ‘concerted campaign to silence all critical voices’ in Hong Kong
Newstalk ZB: Five Eyes countries, including New Zealand, condemn China’s actions in Hong Kong
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Kiwi-Ethiopians call on NZ Government to help resolve civil war

Local government
Andy Asquith, Andrew Cardow, and Karen Webster (Democracy Project): What ever happened to local government?
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Plea from councils: ‘There was a time when debt was a dirty word’
Logan Savory (Stuff): DIA says review of Invercargill City Council problems ‘comprehensive’
Tina Law (Stuff): Labour-aligned politicians backtrack on plans to oust community board chairwoman
Kereama Wright (Māori TV): Hawke’s Bay Regional Council will ask ratepayers to vote on Maori wards in 2022
Susan Botting (Herald): Anti-Māori wards campaign gathering support in Northland
Susan Botting (RNZ): Petitions launched to scupper Northland councils’ Māori wards
Matt Nippert (Herald): Auckland Council backs away from hedge-trimming
Chris Lynch (Newstalk ZB): Christchurch residents asked to save water, while billions of litres lost to leaky pipes

Health
Ian Powell: Trans-Tasman specialist salary gap threat
Stuff: Dunedin Hospital rebuild ‘top priority’ for Government, new health minister says
Herald: Concept designs of new Dunedin Hospital revealed

Pike River
Anna Whyte (TVNZ): ‘NZ stands with you,’ Jacinda Ardern tells families of Pike River victims, 10 years on from disaster
Joanne Naish (Stuff): Pain, anger and togetherness for Pike River families at West Coast memorial
TVNZ: ‘It still isn’t right’ – Pike River families still raw 10 years on from deadly mine disaster
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Pike River a decade on: Families remain hopeful people will be held to account for the tragedy

Other
Ling Yee Wong (The Big Q): Is this the paradox of access to civil justice? Too many lawyers, but too few in civil courts?
No Right Turn: Obvious questions for the NZDF
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Stuff Circuit wins at TV Awards for investigations into fraud, extremism and NZDF’s dark legacy in Afghanistan
Herald: Editorial: Why Team NZ and Goverment must answer America’s Cup questions (paywalled)
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Oranga Tamariki report looms from children’s commissioner over Māori baby uplifts
Joseph Nunwee (Spinoff): Mystic paranoia: How conspiracy theories infiltrated the NZ new age community
Zoë George (Stuff): Step closer to gender equality in toilets as Government invests $2m in cricket facilities upgrades
Karl du Fresne: In New Zealand today ….
Emily Brookes (Stuff): Retailers are trying to ditch Pete Evans, but he is still easy to find around NZ
Catherine Robertson (Spinoff): A brazen case of bookstore censorship