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
Damien Grant (Stuff): Who’s to blame for housing unaffordability?
Bernard Hickey (Stuff): Should Reserve Bank overheat economy to blast free of low interest rate trap?
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): You can’t lose with property mate
Zane Small (Newshub): Housing Minister Megan Woods fires up when quizzed on lack of property shortage figures
Gill South (Stuff): Single buyers get it rough when it comes to the housing market
Don Brash: Housing still the mammoth in the room
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): The trauma and privilege of buying property (paywalled)
Janine Starks (Stuff): Investor ban would cool our boiling-over housing market
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): RBNZ: LVRs could lower bank lending to property investors by as much as 40%
Stuff: Cost pressures in busy construction industry start to ramp up
Jane Matthews (Stuff): Buying a $400k New Plymouth KiwiBuild house a ‘no brainer’, first-home buyer says
Josephine Franks (Stuff): State house theatre secures MSD funding, green light from Kāinga Ora
Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): Rental law change ‘casualties’: evicted tenants fear homelessness
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Renters suffer from anxiety, sickness from unjust evictions – study
Blair Jackson and Evan Harding (Stuff): Struggling Southland pensioners living in ‘draughty dog boxes’
Covid: General
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): National wants MIQ out of Auckland CBD, calls for purpose-built facility
1News: National proposes building of purpose-built quarantine facility on Auckland’s outskirts
Josh Van Veen (Democracy Project: The Queen’s Gambit
Jamie Morton (Herald): Kiwis back tough measures – but complacency a risk
Audrey Young (Herald): The beginning of the end for Fortress New Zealand (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan: (Stuff): ‘No justification’ for keeping Auckland in level 2, as Cabinet meets to review Covid settings
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Covid-19: ‘No reason’ Auckland shouldn’t move to alert level 1 on Monday
Herald: Editorial: Why the answer to border breaches could be building back better (paywalled)
Jamie Morton (Herald): Why is Auckland not seeing a major outbreak? (paywalled)
Damien Venuto (Herald): Wage shame: Why MIQ cleaners have ‘fallen through the cracks’
Emma Russell (Herald): MIQ staffers speak of human cost of working on the frontline
Caryn Wilkinson (Stuff): The workers stuck in the cycle of perpetual managed isolation
Luke Kirkness (Herald): Government to hire security teams for MIQ directly (paywalled)
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Short lockdown but is enough being done at the border?
Liam Dann (Herald): Riding Dr Ashley Bloomfield’s Covid roller coaster (paywalled)
John Anthony (Stuff): Trans-Tasman bubble ‘increasingly unlikely’ before mass Covid inoculations, aviation analysts say
Liz Gordon (Daily Blog): Some are not in the team
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): Kiwis should expect to pay more for Pacific travel when borders reopen – experts
Covid: Vaccine
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Exclusive poll: One in four New Zealanders would refuse Covid vaccine. Can they be persuaded?
George Block (Stuff): Ministry assures doctors last year’s flu shot debacle won’t happen with coronavirus vax
Simon Louisson (Stuff): Labour’s vaccine persuasion policy is inadequate
Emma Russell (Herald): Covid 19 coronavirus vaccine: All you need to know
Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris (Spinoff): The Covid vaccine is a delicious great big slice of cheese
Virginia Fallon (Stuff): New Zealand’s Covid battle: The year that was, and the year ahead
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Simon Bridges ‘pulling pants down’ as soon as he’s eligible for Covid-19 vaccine
RNZ: Covid-19 vaccines: Pacific leaders hold fono on raising awareness
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Māori health workers must be trained to give Covid-19 vaccine – providers
The Guardian: New Zealand begins Covid vaccine rollout, starting with border workers
1News: NZ immunisation director assures border workers, public about safety of Covid-19 vaccine
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Vaccines could be given at stadiums, schools, workplaces, pharmacies and GP clinics, Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins says
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Managed isolation workers hoping Pfizer vaccine ends virus and stigma too
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): As the vaccine roll-out begins, NZ enters ‘new phase’ of managing virus
National
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Is Chris Luxon the new John Key, or the new Todd Muller?
Richard Harman: A bluer shade of green
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of The Seymour Gang (paywalled)
Karyn Henger (Herald): National leader Judith Collins opens up about why she had to change: ‘People aren’t born resilient’ (paywalled)
Labour
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Labour’s first 100 days in Parliament – Winners & Losers
Daphna Whitmore (Redline): Labour will cater to the woke not the broke
Steven Cowan: Labour: Enforcing the status quo, and we’re the losers
Alex Birchall: What the Left can learn from Jacinda Ardern about the power of the collective idea
Parliament and government
Claire Trevett (Herald): A win for satire, Speaker schooled on eggplants, is a Covid baby boom on the horizon? (paywalled)
Stuff: Points of Order: Berocca, BAs, and the Beehive
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): National’s Anna Lorck ‘Berocca’ ad returns after parliamentary ruling
Jason Walls (Herald): National’s Chris Bishop comes out on top in video stoush with Speaker Trevor Mallard
Zane Small (Newshub): National’s video poking fun at Labour MP Anna Lorck can be re-published but with tweaks
Jane Patterson (RNZ): National Party ad featuring Labour MP ‘clearly satirical’, committee rules
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Healthy debate proof parties can work together
Media
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The Strange (and sad) demise of Radio New Zealand
Rebecca Barry-Hill (Herald): TVNZ’s A Current Affair host Susie Nordqvist: ‘The health scare that changed my life’
Cathy Odgers: Grant Robertson attempts to gaslight Peter Williams
Peter Williams (BFD): Peter Williams Hits a Nerve with Grant Robertson over ‘Great Reset’
Jane Bowron (Stuff): The newsreader redundancy that wasn’t
Facebook
David Farrier: Why Facebook decided to kill the news
Hal Crawford (Spinoff): Facebook is running an uncontrolled news experiment on a whole country. Let’s hope it doesn’t work out
Herald: Former New Zealand Facebook boss slams move to block Australian news
Dita De Boni (NBR): We’ll have better conversations than Aussie with Google/Facebook: Faafoi (paywalled)
Jack Tame (Newstalk ZB): I’m backing Aussie’s fight with Facebook
Local government
Jack Vowles (Newsroom): Local government’s Māori representation gap
Alexa Cook (Newshub): Study finds one in six Kiwis exposed to high levels of nitrates in tap water, links to bowel cancer
Rebecca Matthews (Newsroom): The madness at Wellington’s library
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Wellington city councillors ask Auditor-General to investigate irregularities in central library privatisation stoush
Eric Crampton (Stuff): Time to stop councils’ ability to stand in the way of growth
Janine Rankin (Stuff): Palmerston North’s new councillor the first former refugee to be elected
RNZ: Panel to consult with Invercargill ratepayers about best representation at council
Damian George (Stuff): Andy Foster ‘destroying’ council’s credibility by pulling funding for park upgrade, says Chinese Garden Society
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Why Wellington’s Green Deputy Mayor voted against tripling cycleway budget
Steven Walton (Stuff): Experts say elevated lead levels in Otago residents may not be just due to water
Jennifer Eder (Stuff): Water reforms and record capital works behind proposed rates rise for Marlborough
Sarah Free (Stuff): Cycling budget has to give in challenging times
Herald: Name calling and swear words: Details of Waikato Regional Council conduct complaint revealed
Auckland Council (Stuff): What does the future of Auckland’s city centre look like?
Economy and work
Amelia Wade (Herald): Matariki holiday could cost up to $448m as minister rules out subbing out another day off
Anan Zaki (RNZ): NZ could follow UK’s Uber ruling – employment expert
David Hargreaves (Interest): The RBNZ will ‘do’ nothing – but what they say will be vital next week
Steven Joyce (Herald): Covid stimulus party risks waking inflationary bear (paywalled)
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Is Covid’s economic carnage still to come?
Nadia Trent (Stuff): How the port blockage threatens our global trade network
RNZ: Queenstown business no longer viable without international tourists
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Tourism industry warned it needs to hang on for one more year
Stuff: Cost pressures in busy construction industry start to ramp up
Diana Clement (Interest): How to fix the retirement village industry
Terry Baucher (Interest): The Week in Tax
Brent Edward (NBR): Todd Muller sceptical about UK rhetoric on free trade (paywalled)
Rebecca Stevenson and Pattrick Smellie (Business Desk): Where to now for Air New Zealand? (paywalled)
Stephen Franks: Continuous disclosure folly
Inequality and poverty
Harry Lock (RNZ): Survey finds 69% want income support for those in need increased
Ziena Jalil (Stuff): Covid pandemic has highlighted how discrimination and poverty persist in NZ
Waatea News: Covid crisis heightens inequality in Aotearoa
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Is funding tampons more important than feeding our kids?
Migration and immigrants
Steve Kilgallon and Lucy Xia (Stuff): ‘It’s all fake’: Chinese migrant builders sold a dream, left exploited and hungry
Ankur Sabharwal (Stuff): What future for permanent migration to New Zealand?
Amelia Wade (Herald): Visitor visas extended for two months as Government warns ‘you are guests’ and further extensions can’t be guaranteed
Australia-NZ dispute over terrorist suspect in Turkey
Peter Dunne: Australia and NZ play politics over alleged terrorist
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Standing up to Australia – what’s Jacinda Ardern’s game here? (paywalled)
Jonathan Guildford (Stuff): Law expert praises New Zealand Government’s handling of woman set to be deported from Turkey
RNZ: Alleged ‘Kiwi’ Isis terrorist: Suhayra Aden set to be deported from Turkey
The BFD: Diplomatic relations is Ardern’s weak point
Education
Katy Jones (Stuff): Smaller classes, more teacher aides, says outgoing special needs teacher
Steve Stannard (Stuff): Students’ declining ability in maths and science a concern
Jo Bowler (Herald): Why we need to bring back night classes (paywalled)
Khylee Quince (Stuff): Maths is everywhere – so we need better ways of learning and teaching it
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): Rising tides put up to 94 schools at risk of flooding and closures
Ben Leahy (Herald): University apologises to its vice-chancellor after buying $5m mansion for her to live in
Simon Collins (Herald): Children barred from school bus by 117-year-old law
Treaty and race relations
Carmen Parahi (Stuff): New Zealand on a revolutionary pathway, between Māori and the Crown
Dale Husband (E-Tangata): Ngarimu Blair: For Ngāti Whātua, a new fight
Joanna Kidman (E-Tangata): ‘I follow the trail of blood’
Catherine Delahunty (E-Tangata): Tripping over Te Tiriti
Fiona Connor (Newshub): ‘Traumatising’: Auckland woman assaulted, harassed over race says abuse of Asians is ‘moral pandemic’
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Kaumātua, last man standing in Nelson Supreme Court case, says ‘just give us back our land’
Martyn Bradbury (The Daily Blog): Can’t Get You Out Of My Head – why a post-Covid Pakeha-Māori Nationalist Revolution in NZ is a solution
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): Pakeha children will be better cared for under Maori structures
Christchurch earthquake anniversary
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Quake anniversary: Why is Christchurch still broken? (paywalled)
Tom Hawker (1News): Ten years on from the CTV collapse – ‘I still find it hard to comprehend’
Susan Wardell (The Spinoff): Christchurch remembers: The politics of memory, on the anniversary of tragedy
Lianne Dalziel (Stuff): The earthquake evokes memories we will never forget
Elle Hunt (The Guardian): Healing the heart of the city: the battle to restore Christchurch’s cathedral
Climate change
Stuff: Editorial – We need a solution to tourism’s pressures
Katy Jones (Stuff): Climate action plan launched by citizen-led group
Herald: Report paints Queenstown tourism as ‘ogre’ says Mayor Jim Boult
Stephen Knight-Lenihan (Newsroom): Ecological decline can no longer prop our economy’
Health
RNZ: DHBs and hospitals at staffing, funding tipping point – union
Jessica McAllen (Stuff): Ministry of Health accused of ‘gagging’ Mental Health Foundation
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Liquor companies flout own codes on targeting children and sexualised ads
Law and order
Siobhan Wilson (1News): Tackling ‘an epidemic of sexual violence’ the aim of a proposed new law
Waatea News: Elite lawyers challenged on access to justice
1News: ‘Just take the guns off the gangs’ – politicians press for stronger police response to gun violence
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Revealed: The number of New Zealanders in court for cannabis-related crimes in 2020
Air NZ work for the Saudi military
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Saudi deals’ shifting sands could let Air New Zealand off hook (paywalled)
Amal Samaha (Spinoff): We’re already forgetting about the Air New Zealand-Saudi Arabia scandal
Alexander Gillespie (The Conversation): The crisis in Yemen demands an independent review of NZ’s military links with Saudi Arabia
Billy Te Kahika quits politics
RNZ: Billy Te Kahika quits politics, shuts down New Zealand Public Party
Herald: Freedom Party leader Billy Te Kahika says he is quitting politics
NZ troops to leave Afghanistan by May
Wayne Mapp (Stuff): Two decades in Afghanistan: Was it worth it?
Waatea News: Post-Afghan future for Defence Pacific for Greens
Other
Paul Spoonley (Spinoff): A baby implosion? The implications of our very low fertility rate
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): TV review: Q&A – Jan Logie’s demand to make men guilty should terrify Labour
Ben Fahy (Spinoff): When brands take a stand
Cameron Slater (BFD): When virtue signalling goes wrong
Sam Brooks (Spinoff): Two years after the breakup, what does Pride in Auckland look like?
Rob Stock (Stuff): Pensioner loses $70,000 from NZ Super payments as overseas deduction policy once again raised in Parliament
Georgina Blackmore (Redline): Please don’t sign this petition
Bruce Quirey (ODT): Questions on NZ’s energy after drilling plans dropped
