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

National Party
Richard Harman: National’s review is political dynamite (paywalled)
Claire Trevett (Herald): National Party’s review a double-edged sword (paywalled)
Herald: Editorial: What the National Party review needs to see (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): National Party Election Autopsy so bad, it has had to be censored
Jason Walls (Herald): National’s review report is a ‘challenging and difficult read’ – leader Judith Collins

Parliament
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Parliamentary Service boss will not settle with man who sued Trevor Mallard over rape claim, police involved
Amelia Wade (Herald): Parliamentary Service boss refuses to settle employment dispute with man Speaker Mallard accused of rape
RNZ: Parliamentary Service boss intends to fight employment case
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Parliamentary Service will examine whether MPs should have disclosed Labour electorate deal
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Parliament’s Speaker takes Covid rules into own hands
1News: ‘Surrounded by empty curry containers’ – Robertson pokes fun at Bishop in Parliament, with humorous results

Royals
Lewis Holden (Spinoff): NZ doesn’t need the royals – Harry and Meghan’s interview only confirmed it
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): A Crown that tolerates racism and cruelty cannot be New Zealand’s head of state
Lorna Thornber (Stuff): Why Harry and Meghan should reconsider a move to New Zealand
Juliet Speedy (Newshub): New Zealand’s Commonwealth status in spotlight following Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s interview
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Judith Collins expresses sympathy for Queen Elizabeth after tell-all interview

Covid: Vaccine
Thomas Manch (Stuff): No official Covid-19 vaccination target and plenty of uncertainty before herd immunity is reached
Thomas Lumley (Spinoff): How many people need to be vaccinated before NZ can get back to normal?
RNZ: Covid-19: Push for all adults in South Auckland to get vaccine first
Brook Sabin (Stuff): Why Kiwis could hold the most powerful vaccine passport in the world
Bruce Kohn (Herald): Vaccine deployment a challenge to supply chain (paywalled)
Amber Allott (Stuff): Doctors and health boards in the dark about fast-tracked vaccine roll-out
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Government releases Covid-19 vaccine delivery schedule: elderly and people with pre-existing conditions to be prioritised
Spinoff: When, how and where do you get your Covid-19 vaccine? NZ roll-out details announced
Amelia Wade (Herald): Two million Kiwis to be vaccinated in four months – rollout plan unveiled
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Chris Hipkins reveals when each New Zealander will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine
Hannah Martin and Troels Sommerville (Stuff): South Aucklanders prioritised in vaccine roll-out ‘step in right direction’
Elle Hunt (The Guardian): New Zealand Covid vaccine rollout: hard-hit south Auckland to be prioritised
Stuff: Editorial – On our vaccine roll-out, the reassurance is in the detail
Eric Crampton: Vaccination priorities
Business Desk: Wake Up Call: Roll out roll out, all eyes on vaccination plan (paywalled)
Jason Walls (Herald): ‘I didn’t make any promises:’ Health boss Ashley Bloomfield on lobbying from cricket bosses
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Government to create ‘national significance’ vaccine category, but no promises given to Blackcaps
RNZ: Countdown keen to see vaccine priority for supermarket workers

Covid: Trans-Tasman travel bubble
Jason Walls (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern faces trans-Tasman bubble pressure from Collins and Scott Morrison
Zane Small (Newshub): Judith Collins wants trans-Tasman bubble now but Jacinda Ardern remains cautious
1News: ‘If the Aussies can do it, surely we can do it better’ — Judith Collins calls for reciprocal travel bubble
Herald: Judith Collins calls on Government to open travel bubble with Australia
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Scott Morrison: If New Zealand doesn’t want Aussie tourists spending money in Queenstown, that’s on them
Dan Lake (Newshub): Australian Prime Minister says lack of trans-Tasman travel bubble is NZ’s fault and NZ’s loss
RNZ: Australian PM Scott Morrison urges two-way trans-Tasman travel bubble
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): ‘Looking down a pretty dark hole’: Queenstown businesses hanging on for bubble

Covid: General
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Kids pulling hair out, scared of going back to school as lockdown anxiety rises
Jason Walls (Herald): The Government considered but turned down a US-style stimulus cheque to Kiwis
Abbey Wakefield (1News): ‘Jacinda, I’m here’ – David Seymour announces raft of recommendations for Government’s Covid-19 response
Jason Walls (Herald): The Act Party calls on Govt to create business travel bubbles with Covid-free countries
Chris Keall (Herald): Facebook NZ starts to dish out $400k in Covid grants – but not everyone happy (paywalled)
Mike Hosking (Herald): NZ being left behind in race to move on from Covid (paywalled)
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): Check-in mandates and compatible codes: How New Zealand’s Covid-19 contact tracing
RNZ: Business failures may rise as pandemic hits financially vulnerable firms
Mike Hosking: Our tourism sector deserves help

Covid: MIQ
Danica MacLean and Simon Collins (Herald): One third pay MIQ bills, $20 million still unpaid (paywalled)
Kristin Hall (1News): ‘It’s badly run’ – Returnee details frustration of marathon wait to secure voucher for MIQ facility

Health
Malcolm Mulholland (Stuff): Pharmac saving money at the expense of Kiwis’ health
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Mental health system ‘going down wrong path’
Cate Broughton (Stuff): GPs head to crisis talks with Minister of Health as staff shortage worsens
Steve Forbes (Herald): Counties Manukau DHB underfunded by $500m over 21 years, MP says
RNZ: National Party wants greater access to medicinal cannabis
Cate Broughton (Stuff): CDHB to vote on pro-fluoridation stance despite having no power to implement it
Newstalk ZB: Campaign calls for more support for new mothers
Katie Harris (Herald): Wellington sexual assault victim told wait for ACC therapy could ‘near nine months’

Housing
Anna Whyte (TVNZ): Govt spent $11,000 on videos to promote scheme that housed 12 families
Tony Alexander (OneRoof): Six signs the housing market ‘frenzy’ has passed its peak
David Hargreaves (Interest): ‘The house price momentum is finally peaking’
Tony Wall (Stuff): Rotorua has become a ‘dumping ground’ for the country’s homeless, some locals claim
Virginia Fallon (Stuff): Confessions of a middle-aged runaway in a housing crisis
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Non-binary renter has to ‘straightwash’ themself to appeal to landlords
Stuff: More state houses for Hamilton but Kāinga Ora promises different tack
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Bill to reform apartment living legislation passes first reading in Parliament

Local government
Tina Law (Stuff): Christchurch councillor wants to cut elected officials at ‘bloated’ authority
Fleur Fitzsimons (Kiwiblog): On WCC
Grace Prior (Wairarapa Times-Age): Climate change: Local council unsatisfied with government action
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Southland district ratepayers face 10.15 per cent increase
Dan Lake (Newshub): Poll: 83 percent of locals want Government to step in and save Kāpiti Airport
Cecilia Robinson (Herald): Enough talk. It’s time to move the Auckland port (paywalled)
Gavin Ogden (Herald): Local Focus: Meet the commissioners – Shadrach Rolleston seeks to address lack of investment
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): Auckland accommodation levy will scuttle us, hoteliers say (paywalled)

Dunedin City Council water poisoning
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Long-term exposure to lead for Otago communities ‘seems unlikely’
John McKenzie (1News): Otago residents’ blood test results show no significant levels of lead exposure following water scare
RNZ: Lead in East Otago water supply unlikely to mean long-term health effects – medical expert

Oranga Tamariki, child welfare
RNZ: Oranga Tamariki directed to change its ways – Minister Kelvin Davis
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Child uplifts ‘shone spotlight’ on Oranga Tamariki
Whatitiri Te Wake (Māori TV): Proposed bill will destroy youth justice system – Childrens Commissioner

Police
Audrey Young (Herald): Police Commissioner Andrew Coster asks for clarity over intelligence gathering
Sam Sherwood (Stuff): Internal blunder and division among police top brass behind failure to announce scrapping of cannabis operation
Andrew Coster (Herald): Police Commissioner Andrew Coster on criticism and intelligence-gathering (paywalled)
Lane Nichols (Herald): Racial stereotyping by police ‘systemic, institutionalised’: Race Relations Commissioner (paywalled)
Waatea News: Children’s Commissioner queries police data sweep

Economy
RNZ: Are interest rates on the turn?
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Bill English worries central banks are over-doing it
John Braddock (World socialist website): New Zealand Reserve Bank reports $69 billion of assets in Māori economy
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Reserve Bank versus the markets: what a defeat could look like
Daniel Dunkley (Stuff): Why loan rates aren’t going lower
Sharon Brettkelly (Newsroom): A saw milling industry in danger

Media
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Midweek Mediawatch – PM drops Mike Hosking
Elle Hunt (Guardian): ‘New era’: New Zealand media watchdog to disregard complaints about use of te reo Māori
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Use of te reo Māori on radio, TV ‘shouldn’t be threatening’
Bob Jones: The Pack-hunting political media

Primary and extractive industries
Kari Schmidt, Danielle Duffield and Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere (Spinoff): NZ’s failing animal welfare system is letting responsible farmers down
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): ‘End of an era’: New Zealand Oil & Gas drops last oil permit in what was meant to be a ‘new North Sea’ (paywalled)
Mike Watson (Stuff): Oil exploration company’s decision to hand in permit an “end of an era”
Catherine Groenestein (Stuff): Te Paati Māori bill seeks to ban seabed mining
No Right Turn: The necessary ban
Sean Hogan (1News): ‘Tragedy unfolding’ as labour shortage leaves Hawke’s Bay apples rotting on trees

Climate change
Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): We need to make driving in Auckland even worse
Christina Hanna, Bruce Glavovic and Iain White (The Conversation): When climate change and other emergencies threaten where we live, how will we manage our retreat?
RNZ: Extreme weather events predicted for Otago in long term – climate change report

Education
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Universities seek more government funding as domestic enrolments rise
John Gerritsen (RNZ): University postgraduate students warn tutoring, casual roles being cut
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Three universities’ domestic enrolment outstrips foreign student loss
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): Large-scale compulsory redundancies unlikely, Victoria University has announced

Other
David Fisher (Herald): Three strikes – blogger Cameron Slater at wrong end of another defamation ruling
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Jacinda Ardern’s chance to revitalise Apec (paywalled)
1News: ‘Taking the trash out’ — Planeload of Australian deportees sent to New Zealand
Christian Fuller (Herald): Uber buses? Hawke’s Bay Regional Council to contemplate ‘on demand’ bus service (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Insulation industry calls for extension to subsidy scheme
RNZ: Tiwai Point: Govt sticking to ‘bottom line’ of proper remediation – Energy Minister Megan Woods
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Christchurch mosque threats: How did NZ spies and police miss ‘car bombs’ talk? (paywalled)
Rayner Thwaites (The Conversation): Suhayra Aden became New Zealand’s problem because of a dubious Australian law that has since been repealed
RNZ: Cultural reports help in rehabilitation – law lecturer
Zane Small (Newshub): Grant Robertson in row with National MP Andrew Bayly after shovel-ready project scheme ‘fails to launch’
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Auckland’s first Holocaust memorial edges closer to reality
Greg Ninness (Interest): Number of people in NZ on work or student visas declining by more than 5000 a month