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

Covid: Vaccine
RNZ: Covid-19: 51% of New Zealanders willing to take vaccine – survey
The Hui: New poll shows 23 percent of Māori unlikely to get coronavirus jab
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): One in five New Zealanders ‘unlikely’ to get Covid-19 vaccine, survey finds
Zane Small (Newshub): Greens say lack of full COVID-19 vaccine rollout plan is ‘unacceptable’
Liu Chen (RNZ): NZC lobbied Ashley Bloomfield for player vaccinations during Black Caps match
Jason Walls (Herald): Top ministers coy on sports stars getting preferential vaccine treatment
TVNZ: NZ Cricket lobbied Bloomfield at T20 for Black Caps to be made Covid vaccine priority
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Dr Ashley Bloomfield treated to VIP cricket experience with Blackcaps, fast-tracked COVID-19 vaccines discussed
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Sports players and business travellers deserve vaccine priority
Thomas Manch (Stuff): ‘Certain inevitability’ that visitors to New Zealand will require proof of vaccine, Covid-19 Chris Hipkins says
RNZ: PM Jacinda Ardern says Pfizer deal simplifies way to mass vaccination, could open border
Henry Cooke (Stuff): National says border with Australia should be opened now
Jamie Morton (Herald): Why there’s no ‘magic number’ for herd immunity (paywalled)
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): What it means for NZ to be all-in on Pfizer vaccine
Julia Gabel (Herald): Large-scale vaccination clinic opens in South Auckland
RNZ: Nurses strikes during vaccine rollout possible – union

Covid: Govt response, comms
Richard Harman: Sorting out the Government’s Covid response
Audrey Young (Herald): Why this is a review worth celebrating (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Government establishes independent advisory group after criticism of February Covid-19 cluster response
Jason Walls (Herald): Sir Brian Roche, Rob Fyfe among team brought in to oversee review of NZ’s pandemic response
RNZ: Independent group set up to advise govt on response to pandemic
Guardian: New Zealand orders review into handling of Covid to ‘sharpen’ response
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Government reviewer: ‘Mixed-messages’ amid Papatoetoe Covid-19 cluster response confused the public
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): A year since first Covid-19 case and Government admits comms plan for Māori still in development
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern rubbishes Unite against COVID-19 Facebook post that contradicted her
Cecile Meier (Stuff): MIQ fee hike last straw for couple separated for a year by Covid-19 border closures
Nadine Porter (Stuff): ‘Nasty’ racist abuse directed at MIQ healthcare workers
Simon Collins (Herald): Huge leap in mothers in distress and financial hardship in Auckland’s lockdown
Newstalk ZB: Deputy PM defends Auckland lockdown: ‘We can’t rewrite history’
Stuart Smith; Arena Williams (Stuff): Every day the people of South Auckland shield our country from Covid – they deserve our support and understanding

Police
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Police using app to photograph innocent youth: ‘It’s so wrong’
RNZ: Police deny racial profiling after accounts of youths being stopped and photographed
Newstalk ZB: Police respond to accusations of racism over tactical use of pain on Māori
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): For the love of God – it’s not the racial profiling that is the bloody problem!!!!
Rosie Gordon (Newshub): Police accused of racism over use of tactical pain against Māori offenders
Mark Hanna (The Spinoff): The brutal truth about police dogs

National Party
Ben Thomas (The Spinoff): Is a war on wokesters and cancel culture a smart strategy for the National Party?
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): National Party promises to implement recommendations of secretive election review
RNZ: National Party discusses post-election review of crushing defeat
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): National creates two versions of election review, one with ‘gory details taken out’
1News: National’s election review will find party ran ‘ugly, arrogant’ campaign, says Willie Jackson

Working For Families
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Working For Families review: ACT keen for scheme to be scrapped, while Greens push for expansion
Zane Small (Newshub): Government’s multibillion-dollar Working for Families package set for ‘upcoming review’
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Working for Families needs major changes, experts say

Cannabis
1News: More Kiwis voted for cannabis legalisation than for National, MP Chlöe Swarbrick says in renewed push for reform
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern ‘shares the view of many’ that possessing cannabis should not be a crime
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern’s refusal to take sides ‘may have been a decisive factor’ in cannabis referendum – experts
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Labour would let MPs vote freely on cannabis decriminalisation, opening up narrow path for possible law change
Martyn Bradbury  (Daily Blog): Did Labour screw over the stoners as badly as they screwed over the renters & beneficiaries?
Russell Brown: Cannabis: Who owns Say Nope to Dope anyway?

Housing
Benedict Collins (1News): Housing Minister Megan Woods under fire for failing to answer questions on time
RNZ: Emergency housing: $1m-a-day spend a ‘disgrace’ – National
RNZ: Skyrocketing provincial rental housing, demand outstrips
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Poverty, poor housing contributes to increase in rheumatic fever in Wellington
Waatea News: Rating reform could unlock Maori housing potential
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Property investors need to prepare for inevitable interest rates hike – economist
Catherine Masters (OneRoof): Has Trump’s exit dented NZ’s housing market?
Simon Collins (Herald): Property boom propels real estate agents into NZ’s top-10 jobs list
Rob Stock (Stuff): KiwiSaver money being used to develop affordable housing
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Section fees hike concerns
Diana Clement (Interest): Residential tenancy law: fishhooks in the new regime

Local government
Logan Savory (Stuff): Invercargill City Council to decide on Māori Ward in May
Lawrence Gullery (Stuff): Rural mayors fear water reforms will prompt merger of smaller councils
Andy Campbell (Stuff): Council wants to ditch ‘sinking lid’ on pokies in favour of ‘controlled increase’
Kiri Gillespie (Herald): Controversial councillor Andrew Hollis eyes Western Bay seat in byelection (paywalled)
Kiri Gillespie (Herald): Commissioner on Tauranga’s crisis point – ‘It’s worse than I thought’ (paywalled)
Kiri Gillespie (Herald): Tauranga commissioner Anne Tolley warns businesses: Time to pay fair share of rates (paywalled)
1News: Christchurch councillors propose free bus rides for two years in bid to raise patronage
Gavin Ogden (Herald): Local Focus: Meet the commissioners – Bill Wasley’s ‘commitment to implementation’
Christopher Luxon (Herald): The failures that have hurt Auckland – and how we can make it a better city

PM pulls out of regular Mike Hosking interviews
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Political Roundup – Jacinda Ardern’s unsurprising search for favourable media
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Ardern can’t stand up to scrutiny
Bryan Gould: Jacinda’s decision
Kate Hawkesby (Herald): Meghan Markle and Jacinda Ardern have something in common… both trying to control the narrative
Herald: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern rejects she’s picking favourable media after cancelling slot with Mike Hosking

Media
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Speaking te reo Māori on-air not a breach of broadcasting standards, BSA says
Leonie Hayden (Spinoff): Keep your complaints about te reo Māori to yourself, BSA rules
Te Rina Triponei (Herald): Viewers unhappy with use of te reo Māori in television, BSA declines complaints
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Broadcasting Standards Authority ‘draws a line’ under te reo complaints
Miriam Burrell (Herald): Man who made death threat against broadcaster Mike Hosking discharged without conviction
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Man who threatened to kill broadcaster Mike Hosking discharged without conviction

Parliament
Alan Kenyon (1News): Watch: Bridges booted from the House after getting involved in spat between Speaker and Seymour
Claire Trevett (Herald): Speaker kicks out Simon Bridges and Nick Smith as Auckland MPs are pariahs for the day (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Simon Bridges, Nick Smith booted from House during chaotic sitting, spat between Trevor Mallard and David Seymour

Tiwai Point, environment, energy
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Toxic waste from Tiwai Point smelter: Government halted talks over lack of plan
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Government suspends talks with Rio Tinto over Tiwai Point clean (paywalled)
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Chlöe Swarbrick (Herald): What Pākehā get wrong about sustainability (paywalled)
Bernard Hickey: Why our ute culture will eat our climate strategy for breakfast
Bernadette Basagre and Danielle Clent (Stuff): Auckland tree protest: People ‘dragged out’ by police, eight arrested
Chloe Ranford (Stuff): ‘Eye-watering’ costs or ‘peanuts’: Depends what side of the freshwater fence you’re on
Paul Panckhurst (The Big Q): How can a Matauranga Māori lens help keep our rivers healthy?
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Pumped hydro to take a year longer
Basil Sharp (Herald): Beyond shovels and cones – solving congestion and air pollution (paywalled)

Employment
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Figures show more people getting off unemployment benefit
Teuila Fuatai (Herald): Are flexible work conditions Covid’s silver lining? (paywalled)
Susan Hornsby-Geluk (Stuff): ‘No work, no pay’ clauses are nothing new in employment contracts
Gianina Schwanecke (Herald): Livestock trucks turned away from Hawke’s Bay meatworks amid ‘unprecedented’ worker shortage (paywalled)

Economy and business
Marta Steeman (Stuff): ‘Unprecedented’ interest in buying rest homes says leading broker
Jamie Gray (Herald): Rising tension: Bond yields puts market at odds with RBNZ (paywalled)
Pattrick Smellie (Business Desk): Tax changes put vendor in ‘box seat’ for business sales: CAANZ (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): National interest test on foreign investment doesn’t reflect risk, select committee says (paywalled)
Rebecca Howard (Business Desk): ANZ business confidence survey points to rising inflationary pressure (paywalled)
BusinessDesk: New Zealand’s major telcos agree to more transparent consumer communication

Tourism, hospitality
Elle Hunt (Guardian): Charge more for flights to deter tourists and help the planet, says Air New Zealand adviser
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Kiwis more satisfied with domestic tourism following COVID-19 lockdowns – report
Joel MacManus (Stuff): ‘It’s untenable’: Hospitality NZ warns more closures soon to come

Education
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): Controversial Victoria University sign given the go-ahead, despite backlash
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Victoria University gets resource consent for sign featuring ‘Wellington

Health
Jordan Bond (RNZ): Unexpected infant deaths on the rise, minstry to review $5m programme
Emma Russell (Herald): Maternal suicide: Attack on Government for ‘shaming’ maternal practices

Other
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Business as usual at the Reserve Bank, despite housing change
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Turkish source says NZ likely to accept Kiwi woman accused of being an Isis terrorist
Newshub: Defence lawyer Marie Dyhrberg, victims’ advocate Ruth Money debate Sexual Violence Bill
Steven Cowan: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has no comment to make…
Barrie Saunders: Democracy or Partnership – what do we want?
TVNZ: Ardern joins Kamala Harris, virtually, at EU Parliament to mark International Women’s Day
Herald: ‘We are all in this together’: Jacinda Ardern and US Vice President Kamala Harris address European Parliament
Waatea News: PM challenged in Erebus monument
Herald: Christchurch mosque shootings: Bookings needed for second anniversary national service
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Māori Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer unsurprised at Royal racism allegations
Sam Hurley (Herald): Prominent businessman’s trial: Political figure aware of alleged attempt to pay-off indecent assault complainant (paywalled)
Katie Harris (Herald): Wellington sex assaults increase by nearly 50 per cent over five years
Amelia Wade (Herald): ‘Revenge porn’ law change to criminalise posting intimate recordings without consent backed by all parties
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): ‘National Sunday Law’ books dropped in New Zealand letterboxes ‘a waste of trees and resources’ – anti-junk mail group
Dr Liz Gordon (Daily Blog): 6 Angry Women Review
Newstalk ZB: Thousands of Hamilton residents to take part in test census
Martyn Bradbury  (Daily Blog): With all due respect to Minister Little – really?
Sam Hurley (Herald): Prominent businessman’s trial: Political figure aware of alleged attempt to pay-off indecent assault complainant (paywalled)