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

Waitangi
Richard Harman: Waitangi; challenging sovereignty
1News: Ardern denies switching to ‘foundational change’ was because ‘transformational’ was too hard
Jo Moir (Newsroom): National’s tikanga win for women at Waitangi
Claire Trevett (Herald): It takes a lot to keep Judith Collins quiet – but Waitangi tried (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Political platitudes give way to change at Waitangi: Women will speak on the mahau
Michael Neilson (Herald): Waitangi: Ngāti Hine leader Waihoroi Shortland calls on Ngāpuhi to step up
1News: Judith Collins says not being allowed to speak at Parliamentary pōwhiri in Waitangi was sexist
Māori TV: Shane Reti issues a wero to Ngāpuhi
Zane Small (Newshub): MPs welcomed to Waitangi with plea to fix Māori woes, not ‘sit down once a year and go back to Wellington’
Claire Trevett (Herald): Waitangi week: Jacinda Ardern hints at wedding news ‘soon’ as she and Collins welcome possible backdown on women speaking at marae
Claire Trevett (Newstalk ZB): Ardern denies empty promises to Māori – and hints at wedding news ‘soon’
1News: ‘This is Aotearoa, there will always be clouds’ – PM defends her Government’s record for Māori
Michael Neilson (Herald): Waitangi: Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy speaks on NZ history, Te Tiriti and the constitution
Zane Small (Newshub): Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy praised for ‘personifying nationhood’ during ‘stirring’ pōwhiri at Waitangi
RNZ: Waitangi 2021: Jacinda Ardern speaks at Te Whare Rūnanga
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): The unfortunate accident with the pohutukawa tree
Claire Trevett (Herald): PM’s Waitangi promise to Māori, Collins assured of speaking slot next year
Cathy Odgers: National need to decide who they are
Jamie Morton (Herald): Divisive or unifying? What Kiwis think of Waitangi Day (paywalled)

Climate change
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Climate plan more radical than 1984 (paywalled)
Brian Fallow (Herald): Pragmatic path to cutting carbon (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Climate action: Iwi farm, fish and forestry investments vulnerable
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Climate Commission’s recommendations is just another report
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Ratcheting up our international climate ambition
Marta Steeman (Stuff): Climate change report: Gasfitters fear for their businesses while consumers rethink installations
Waatea News: Maori key to climate action
Peter Griffin (BusinessDesk): NZ needs its own Project Warp Speed on climate change (paywalled)

Foreign policy, China and international relations
Morgan Godfery (The Guardian): Nanaia Mahuta, New Zealand’s Māori foreign minister, is the perfect diplomat
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Nanaia Mahuta lays out vision for NZ foreign policy: China for trade, US for defence, and Pacific at the centre
RNZ: Minister of Foreign Affairs vows to bring indigenous issues to forefront
Jason Walls (Herald): US President Biden name-check in major speech by Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta
The Standard: Reasons to abandon NZ’s Five-Eyed Folly

Covid: Vaccine
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): Where is Pharmac when we need it most?
1News: Kiwis won’t get to choose which Covid-19 vaccine they get, says Chris Hipkins
1News: New Zealand wasn’t slow in ordering Covid-19 vaccines, says Pfizer boss
RNZ: New Zealand preparing in case of early Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine delivery
RNZ: AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccine: Covax forecasts doses for New Zealand
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Vaccine could be targeted at young to avoid ineffectiveness in over 65s
RNZ: NZ offers assurance to Pacific on vaccines
Newstalk ZB: Ministry of Health urged to be transparent with Covid vaccine rollout
Emily Writes (Spinoff): Ten common misconceptions about the Covid-19 vaccine, debunked
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Can your boss call the shots on Covid-19 vaccination?

Covid: General
Sharon Brettkelly (Stuff): Covid advisor Rodney Jones on the outlook of NZ and the need for an ‘MIQ reset’
1News: Experts weigh in on Air NZ-funded research into modelling relaxed Covid-19 border rules
Jason Walls (Herald): The new Auckland Covid-19 case poses ‘very low’ public health risk – Chris Hipkins
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): ‘Hard and early’ lockdown was the right economic strategy: Economist
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Covid-19: NZ aiming for herd immunity ‘later in the year’, Dr Ashley Bloomfield says
Rachel Sadler (1News): Coronavirus: Why it took several tests for New Zealand’s latest case to return positive result
Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris (Spinoff): Covid-19 transmission 101

Māori wards in local government
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Disproving the big lie
Florence Dean and Andrew Geddis (Spinoff): The truth about Māori wards
Chris Trotter: Safeguarding Maori wards: A significant treaty victory
John Tamihere (Daily Blog): Stopping racist petitions against Māori wards a step towards fixing colonisation
Tumamao Harawira (Māori TV): Auckland super city to establish Māori ward?
Chloe Ranford (Stuff): Nixed Māori ward back on the table in Marlborough

Housing
Katie Bradford (1News): Data proves lack of supply is driving New Zealand’s housing crisis
Anne Gibson (Herald): New house consents rise fast: Stats NZ data out for December quarter
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Record building consents reaching levels that could surpass their 1970s heyday
Anne Gibson (Herald): Tenants on blacklists written by landlords, managers: ‘Can post anything they like’
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Tenant ‘blacklists’ another reason to regulate property management: REINZ
Newstalk ZB: Property Managers Institute labels controversial blacklist site a ‘disgrace’
Anne Gibson (Herald): What landlords say about bad tenant blacklist after complaints to Privacy Commissioner
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): We’re building enough houses – Westpac (paywalled)

Local government
Todd Niall (Stuff): Climate change: Lobby group threatens legal moves to make Auckland Council act
RNZ: Wellington water woes: ‘We’re dealing with some very old pipes’
Eva Corlett (RNZ): Wellington water woes becoming daily disasters, council under pressure
Tina Law (Stuff): Christchurch City Council-controlled companies yet to fully implement living wage
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): Time for Hamilton to put aside cultural fears, embrace partnership
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington City Council agrees to underwrite World of Wearable Arts
Damian George (Stuff): Council underwrite secures World of WearableArt for Wellington for next five years, amid Covid-19 uncertainty
Waatea News: Tauranga clean-out chance for change

Economy and work
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Unemployment data could push Reserve Bank ‘back to square one’
Herald: Editorial – We should celebrate economic success, but not for long (paywalled)
RNZ: Business confidence rises with hopes for ‘stronger activity’
Damian George (Stuff): Wellington unemployment rates to remain below national average for several years, according to report
Michael Reddell: Reforming the Reserve Bank, continued
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): We’re letting laziness take over
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Good economic news is masking a mountain of debt

New Zealand history and the school curriculum
Stuff: Editorial – Three big themes in a new view of history
Herald: Teacher’s suggestion for Treaty of Waitangi lesson sparks online debate
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Teaching some NZ history is better than none at all
Michael Basset: Labour’s history curriculum

Matariki date announced
Elle Hunt (The Guardian): New Zealand creates public holiday to celebrate Māori new year
Te Rina Triponel (Herald): Matariki Advisory chair ‘excited’ to welcome new public holiday
Claire Trevett (Herald): PM Jacinda Ardern announces first Matariki public holiday for 2022
Joel Maxwell and Brittney Deguara (Stuff): Aotearoa’s first Matariki public holiday to fall on June 24, 2022 – get ready to wrap up work on a Thursday
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): Changeable Matariki public holiday ‘fantastic’, a ‘great step’ forward

Education
1News: ‘One-size-fits-all’ teaching approach doesn’t always work for poor performing NZ students – Ministry of Education
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): New Zealand failing to identify high-achieving science students at school, research finds
Alison Mau (Stuff): Bullying at AUT rife, processes to resolve sexual harassment inadequate, review finds
Simon Collins (Herald): Bullying and ‘culture of not resolving issues’ found at AUT University

Other
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The Woke Supremacy
Ed Hitchcock (Democracy Project): A simple way to solve the problem of the MMP threshold
Michael Daly (Stuff): New Zealand remains world’s fourth best democracy, according to The Economist Democracy Index 2020, in the year of Covid-19 lockdowns
Keith Lynch (Stuff): John Banks and racist callers: Is talkback radio getting worse?
Audrey Young (Herald): Government planning new fund for community journalism
Karl du Fresne: Thrashing a lame dog
Robert MacCulloch (NBR): Jacindanomics does not exist (paywalled)
Clint Smith (Spinoff): It’s time for Labour to damn the debt and build a legacy
Aaron Dahmen (Newstalk ZB): Revealed: $175k spike in taxpayer cash going towards Police informants
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Government funds Tiwai Point study after being ‘left blind’ on its condition (paywalled)
Kate MacNamara (Herald): New Zealand’s medicinal cannabis supply in jeopardy (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Gareth Hughes to write a book about Green Party stalwart Jeanette Fitzsimons
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Rainbow Pride Auckland Parade returns to Ponsonby for second year running
Georgia-May Gilbertson (Stuff): Ngāti Kahungunu joins Ngāi Tahu in court action seeking rangatiratanga over freshwater
Te Ringahuia Hata (Waatea News): Attacks on mana wahine bad for health
Stuff: Man who sued Mallard for defamation felt like a leper, lawyer says
Lucy Warhurst (Newshub): South Auckland dentist offering treatment at fraction of regular price