Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.  Click here to subscribe to Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup and New Zealand Politics Daily.

Today’s content

Housing
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Political Roundup – Housing announcement a blow for those at the bottom
Hayden Donnell (RNZ) Investor-economist alliance dominates media’s housing response
Jack Tame (Newstalk ZB): Housing changes are a gamble
Greg Jericho (The Guardian): New Zealand’s housing market is even worse than Australia. But at least their government is taking action
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Week in Politics: Property speculators under the hammer as new ‘political calculus’ emerges
David Hargreaves (Interest): It’s now ‘watch this space’ for the housing market
John Roughan (Herald): Three cheers for the Government’s changes to the property market (paywalled)
Gordon Campbell: On Labour’s less than radical housing package
1News: If we’re not building houses we’re ‘buggered,’ says economist
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Investor tax rule changes: Government ‘will take action’ if rents spike, Grant Robertson says
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Councils ‘need help, funds’ for urban development reforms
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Housing crisis: Govt won’t set target for ‘affordable’ housing
Kate Green and Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): ‘Not a priority’: Renters feel overlooked after Government’s housing announcement
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Housing tax changes – what happened when the UK tried the same thing, and how we’re doing it differently
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Government’s shift on tax resurrects doubts it has battled to shake off (paywalled) (
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Housing package: this term’s oil and gas ban? (paywalled)
Damien Grant (Stuff): Housing rule changes hit retirement plans to help middle-class moaners
Simon Wilson (Herald): Five big ideas: How to build our way out of the housing crisis (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Four reasons to feel sorry for property investors
Madison Reidy (Newshub): Government’s new housing rules seemingly spook some investors out of housing market
Liam Dann (Herald): The great New Zealand house-price delusion (paywalled)
Christine Rose (Daily Blog): Is that it?
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of the Prime Minister’s Office (paywalled)
Matt Heath (Herald): New Zealand, we need to talk about our real estate obsession (paywalled)
Terry Baucher (Interest): The Week in Tax: Unintended consequences
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Investor demand for new builds rises following Govt’s targeted housing plan – property expert
Grant Robertson (Stuff): We have made some hard choices to help deal with the housing crisis
Brooke van Velden (Stuff): Government’s noble promises going by the wayside
Tracy Watkins (Stuff): Property investors aren’t doing themselves any favours
Greg Ninness (Interest): Mixed use residential/commercial development owners must wait & see if new rules apply to them
Tim Hunter (NBR): A housing policy on the hoof (paywalled)
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Spooked investors, developers hitting pause on housing projects over Government changes
Siobhan Wilson (1News): Finance Minister ‘can’t predict’ effect Government’s housing package will have on rents
Ben Leahy (Herald): Investors stay away from South Auckland open homes after Govt housing shake-up
Scott Palmer (Newshub): ACT, Judith Collins on attack after Grant Robertson’s latest rent comments
Brent Edwards (NBR): Fact or Fiction: Housing, the bubble and Christopher Luxon (paywalled)
Liam Dann and Anne Gibson (Herald): How far do prices need to fall to make housing affordable? (paywalled)
Tom O’Connor (Stuff): It’s long past time to hose down the housing market fire
Hannah Kronast and Crystal Wu (Newshub): Rental advocates “horrified” at landlord threatening to kick renters out on coldest day of the year
Newstalk ZB: Green MP responds after Business NZ says housing package has other sectors worried
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): Did Labour just create a back-door capital gains tax? The experts weigh in
RNZ: Buyers and vendors unfazed by new housing rules, says real estate agency
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Housing crisis: Rent hike caps not on the agenda, but Government isn’t ruling them out
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Labour MP David Parker brushes off landlords’ threats to hike rents
Miriam Bell (Stuff): First Home Loan scheme changes: What can you get for the new price caps?
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Investor’s sleepless nights over prospect of ‘super negative’ cash flow
Anne Gibson (Herald): $500m-$1b more tax: How much new rental property rules could bring in
Eva Corlett (RNZ): Ending homelessness ‘still a significant priority’ but need for shelter ‘isn’t diminishing’
Katie Bradford (1News): Supercharged housing market sees boom in real estate salespeople
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): Carter Holt stops supply to ITM, Bunnings and Mitre10
1News: Concern grows over impact of timber shortage on New Zealand’s house building industry
John Anthony (Stuff): Carter Holt Harvey supply shakeup could change the future of housing in New Zealand, federation says

Economy and work
Bruce Munro (ODT): An enduring imbalance
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Is it time to we all worked a four-day week?
Tina Morrison (Stuff): Accounting professor calls on Hallenstein Glasson to revisit its wage subsidy decision
Lynley Jenness (Stuff): Why NZ should introduce an optional retirement age of 60 years
Dennis Wesselbaum (Herald): Can we be happier with less? (paywalled)
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): $50 million Māori trades and training fund produces four jobs so far, since June
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): How do we look past supposed cold hard facts, face up to reality of Māori unemployment?
Peter Enderwick (The Conversation): New Zealand businesses must adapt to a fragmented post-Covid global economy
Kate MacNamara (Herald): Reduced foreign labour in New Zealand’s fields a failed experiment (paywalled)
RNZ: Businesses reduced by more than 1000 since lockdown – Stats NZ
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Lack of change by many small businesses after Covid called ‘deeply troubling’

National and Christopher Luxon
Stuff: Editorial – Putting some faith in politics
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Why Christopher Luxon may try National leadership tilt this term (paywalled)
Victor Billot (Newsroom): An ode for .. Christopher Luxon
The Civilian: Christopher Luxon standing patiently outside Judith Collins’ office, tells her ‘let me know when you’re done’

Parliament and Government
Cathy Odgers: If Jacinda Ardern was in charge of a Suez Canal crisis
Audrey Young (Herald): Why National chose to target Trevor Mallard instead of housing (paywalled)
Claire Trevett (Herald): Beehive Diaries: Why Sir John Key bid big for Grant Robertson, Christopher Luxon’s maiden promos (paywalled)
Newstalk ZB: Barry Soper criticises Jacinda Ardern for protecting Trevor Mallard
Daniela Maoate-Cox (RNZ): MPs keep it local in special debate

Health
Francesca Rudkin (Newshub): Government needs to listen to health experts as ED crisis worsens
Cecile Meier (Stuff): Christchurch Hospital facing ‘tough’ winter as more patients than beds forecast
Ian Powell: Health Minister Little gives thoughtful keynote speech…but!
David Farrar: Remember Labour abolished the health targets

Covid
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Covid 19: A year on from lockdown, it’s time to don the personal armour
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Clarke’s clothes and sausage rolls: Jacinda Ardern’s lockdown and the plan to open New Zealand up
Yvette McCullough (RNZ): Covid-19: New Zealand needs vaccine target, National says
Lucy Warhurst (Newshub): Coronavirus: New Zealand could be model for world if trans-Tasman travel bubble opens – Michael Baker
RNZ: National wants answers after error in vaccination booking system exposes hundreds of patient details
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): By the numbers: A look at the $3.7m in overdue fees for managed isolation and quarantine

International relations; National security
RNZ: SIS’s more open approach makes risk appraisal easier – professor
RNZ: Foreign spy working in New Zealand says Security Intelligence Agency
Lois Griffiths (Daily Blog): Who to believe?
Anne-Marie Brady (Interest): Transparency and NZ national security
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): From ‘taking out the trash’ to ‘abdicating responsibilities’: Does Australia care about its relationship with NZ?

Racism
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Clamour to cancel TVNZ’s top popular cop show
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Asian Kiwis warn rising racism could turn to violence
Kerre McIvor (Herald): Everyday racism is alive in New Zealand (paywalled)

Law, justice and policing
David Farrar: Serious Assaults have doubled since 2017
Ben Strang (RNZ): Some frontline police refusing high-risk callouts prompts more training
Jenine Colmore-Williams (Stuff): New Zealand an ‘easy target’ for money launderers
LawFuel: The 2021 Twitter power list – New Zealand law’s Top 20 Twitter List

Environment and climate change
Richard Harman: Climate change proposals getting chilly reception (paywalled)
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): Where is our next Fox River dump disaster?
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): NZ to exceed climate aid pledge by $200m
Tina Morrison (Stuff): Big businesses under growing pressure to cut their environmental impact

Local Government
Felix Desmarais (RNZ): The ‘black hole’ of transparency: Secret council workshops under the microscope
Damian George (Stuff): Greater Wellington Regional Council undertaxes and overpays staff for nine years

Media
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Even more public money for journalism?
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Covid reporting has improved perceptions of the media, survey suggests

Other
Andrea Vance (Stuff): The social welfare net is threadbare – can Grant Robertson mend it?
Emile Donovan (RNZ): The think tanks that help shape public policy
Herald: Editorial: It’s important to fight for a New Zealand where people get a fair go (paywalled)
Andrew Geddis (Spinoff): Donald Trump isn’t a good enough reason for NZ not to become a republic
Maiki Sherman (1News): Rebuild of Oranga Tamariki underway following years of turmoil
Adam Hollingworth (Newshub): Controversy brewing over transgender children’s access to puberty blockers
Aaron Leaman and Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Waikato’s $98m rail punt – will it get people out of cars?
Herald: School renames mufti day ‘be yourself day’ after students worry it’s culturally insensitive
Lana Hart (Stuff): Maxims of women’s movement now echo is schools and workplaces