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

Public sector pay freeze
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Political Roundup: The Public sector worker backlash against Labour
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Why Jacinda Ardern needs to make a John Key-style u-turn on pay sector freeze
Alexia Russell (RNZ): Pay freezing out your traditional voter base
Liam Dann (Herald): Muldoon or Richardson? Robertson cops it from all sides (paywalled)
Claire Trevett (Herald): Labour in trouble with public sector pay ‘freeze’ (paywalled)
Branko Marcetic (Democracy Project): Labour’s public sector pay freeze isn’t just a betrayal of frontline workers – it’s a rejection of mainstream economic thinking
Herald: Ardern says public sector pay freeze excludes the ‘too many low-paid’ workers in NZ
Ian Powell: Pay freezes, health systems and medical specialists
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Police Minister Poto Williams says three-year pay freeze for cops won’t hurt recruitment
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Why is a Labour government encouraging its employees to become contractors?
Jessica Mutch McKay (1News): Ardern penny pinching on nurses and police pay makes no sense
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Pay freeze hits public servants but not contractors
RNZ: Government’s wage freeze and fair pay policy under fire
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Pay freezes and fair pay agreements: the unions get their biggest win in decades
Jason Walls (Herald): Union bosses to Government: We won’t take public pay freeze ‘lying down’
No Right Turn: Incoherent
Cory Anderson (International socialists): Make the pay freeze a dead letter
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Public servants ‘blindsided’ by hearing about pay freeze in the media first
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Universal unionism vs 100k gold plated public servants – a masterclass in Machiavellian theory
Brent Edwards (NBR): Fact or Fiction: unseemly scrap, public service pay restraint, KiwiRail largesse (paywalled)
David Fisher (Herald): Minister whacks ACC over decision to pay executives bonuses amidst Covid-19 austerity moves (paywalled)

Fair pay agreements
Matt McCarten (E-Tagata): Fair pay agreements — a victory for all workers
Zane Small (Newshub): Labour accused of being ‘stuck in 1970s’ as Business NZ calls for Fair Pay Agreements to be terminated
Jason Walls (Herald): Unions vs businesses: Fair pay agreement news staunchly divides factions
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): The government’s fair pay agreements plan is a big deal
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Government announces ‘Fair Pay Agreements’ plan in radical overhaul of New Zealand employment laws
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Fair Pay Agreements ‘unnecessary’, hospitality business owner says
Zane Small (Newshub): Labour forges ahead with Fair Pay Agreements: 10 pct workforce support can spark negotiations
RNZ: Fair Pay Agreements will ensure working Kiwis get a fair go – Michael Wood
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Pay freeze and fair pay agreements; this week was more about unions than workers (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Is this government listening to itself?
Brent Edwards (NBR): Treasury reservations about fair pay agreements dismissed by government (paywalled)

He Puapua document and Māori self-determination
Stuff: Editorial – Let sunlight in to the race debate
Caitlin Ellis (Newshub): Judith Collins calls for ‘national conversation’ from Jacinda Ardern after controversial He Puapua report
Jason Walls (Herald): National and Act raise questions after leak of documents parties say recommend a major DoC shake-up
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): He Puapua report bogged down in ‘swamp of politics’
Emily Beausoleil (Newsroom): Between two Treaties
Richard Harman: Collins prepares to ride Pakeha backlash (paywalled)
Winston McCarthy (E-Tagata): Ōrewa’s ugly echoes
Siobhan Wilson (1News): National’s opposition to policies promoting Māori equity unlikely to gain them much traction — commentator

China and New Zealand
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): New Zealand-China relationship: Aotearoa’s balancing act of trade and human rights
Elizabeth Beattie (Reuters): New Zealand ‘shadow boxes’ over Xinjiang amid pressure to speak up
Guled Mire (The Guardian): Where is New Zealand’s ‘values-based’ foreign policy when it comes to the Uyghurs?
Jane Clifton (Listener/Herald): NZ asserts its right to treat trade and security separately (paywalled)
Caitlin Ellis (Newshub): China currently ‘very happy’ with New Zealand – international law expert
Dan Satherley (Newshub): MPs fine with upsetting China, our biggest trading partner, by criticising ‘severe human rights abuses’ against Uighurs
Colin Peacock (RNZ): China’s PR intensifies as media focus falls on Uyghurs
Geoffrey…
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Week in Politics: Don’t interfere, China tells New Zealand
Siobhan Wilson (1News): NZ should separate foreign affairs from trade when dealing with China, Asia analyst says

Parliament’s Speaker Trevor Mallard
Damien Grant (Stuff): Trevor Mallard’s blunders have cost him the mana required of the Speaker
Alison Mau (Stuff): Fireworks in the House will not fix Parliament’s dirty issue
Martin Van Beynen (Stuff): Trial by media — the defendant, Trevor Mallard
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of Trevor Mallard (paywalled)
Victor Billot (Newsroom): An ode for Trevor Mallard
Waatea News: Mallard squawk a test for parliamentary privilege

Housing crisis
Chlöe Swarbrick (The Guardian): Everyone deserves a decent, secure life. It’s time New Zealand talked about rent controls
Mandy Te (Stuff): ‘It might wear off but I’m happy’: The woman who sleeps in a Wellington bus shelter
Miriam Bell (Stuff): ‘Five to seven years’ to fix housing supply problem
Mikaela Wilkes (Stuff): Explainer: What are rent controls, and would they actually make things better for renters?
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): End emergency housing next year, National challenges Labour
Ethan Griffiths (Herald): How much is spent on emergency housing in Whanganui (paywalled)
Miriam Bell (Stuff): From Te Awamutu to Timaru, here’s where Aotearoa’s ‘affordable’ homes are hiding
Michael Reddell: Banks, housing lending, and fixing housing
Carmen Hall (Herald): Rental crisis: Would you pay $30,000 upfront to get a rental? Tenants’ desperate measures (paywalled)
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Rotorua moteliers fear penalties for refusing unwanted emergency housing guests
Steven Walton (Stuff): ‘It’s quite harsh out here’: Data reveals clusters of social housing in Christchurch
RNZ: House prices increased 21% in the last year, despite action to slow growth

Local government
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Māori wards change was fast-tracked against official advice
Karl du Fresne: Maori wards: what councillors who vote ‘no’ can expect
Georgina Campbell (Herald): What’s there to hide? Call to lift the lid on investigation into Wellington’s mayor
Jimmy Ellingham (Stuff): Education and publicity could be key to reversing abysmal voter turnout
Cherie Sivignon (Stuff): ‘Faith wanes’ in council management of Waimea dam project
Stephen Forbes (Stuff): Auckland congestion charge could hit poor hardest, councillors warn

Economy, Budget, and work
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Budget 2021: Finance Minister Grant Robertson to reveal how tight money will be
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Budget 2021: Grant Robertson to reveal if there’s any extra money in the budget
Rod Oram (Newsroom): Ending decades of stagnant orthodoxy
Simon Gray (Herald): Financing New Zealand’s infrastructure and improved social outcomes (paywalled)
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Political pundit slams Provincial Growth Fund as ‘a disaster’, ‘giant slush fund’ after marae upgrade announcement falls short on delivering jobs
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Covid reveals too many empty chairs (paywalled)
Lucy Xia (Stuff): Eight illegal workers detained, two deported after raids on Government-run sites in Auckland
Simon Draper (Stuff): New Zealand Inc needs its workers to be multi-lingual

Health
Mike King (Herald): Ministry needs to sort out crisis in mental health services
Peter Davis (Stuff): Health system overhaul ‘won’t make a difference in Auckland’
Peter Davis (Herald): Māori leadership needed on health equity for all (paywalled)
Bridie Witton (RNZ): Corridor nursing reaches ‘crisis point’ in the emergency department
Steve Stannard (Stuff): Health reforms should empower the people and focus on prevention
Jason Walls (Herald): Budget 2021: Government commits $53 million to help fight cervical cancer
Kate Green (Stuff): Cervical cancer self-test to be available from 2023, should reduce health inequality for wāhine Māori
Newstalk ZB: High burnout levels in medical and dental professions, leads to errors
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Sir Mason Durie the first Māori Health Authority appointment
Florence Kerr (Stuff): Ngāruawāhia locals want the kind of healthcare first envisioned by Princess Te Puea Hērangi 100 years ago
Neil Warrington (Herald): Why nurses are bewildered by the DHB pay offer (paywalled)
Meriana  Johnsen (RNZ): Iwi leaders tire of political bickering over Māori Health Authority
RNZ: Youth mental health funding boost not enough, but a start – advocates
Jonny Wilkinson (Herald): Let’s ‘Be Kind’ – and that includes you, Pharmac
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Government to build new ‘opt-out’ breast cancer screening system to reach missing 271,000 people

Parliament and political parties
Rachel Peters (Newsroom): Labour should go bold, and go hard
Bill Ralston (Listener/Herald): National Party fracturing along religious lines (paywalled)
Phil Smith (RNZ): Public help makes good bills great law
Stuff: Points of Order: A single moment of moral clarity during a truly tawdry week at Parliament
David Fisher (Herald): NZ First candidate faces indecent assault charges after school sports trip (paywalled)

Christchurch Call 
Derek Cheng (Herald): Will the US joining the Christchurch Call give it any teeth? (paywalled)
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): PM Jacinda Ardern: United States an ‘important partner’ as it joins the Christchurch Call taking on terrorists and violent extremists
Anna Leask (Herald): New Zealand, France to co-chair Christchurch Call leaders’ summit
RNZ: Ardern and Macron to co-chair Christchurch Call leaders’ summit

Covid and border
Katie Todd (RNZ): MIQ staff often feel unable to report breaches, union says
Herald: Editorial: Still waiting – vaccine rollout suffers from a lack of urgency (paywalled)
Jamie Morton (Herald): Covid-19 coronavirus: Many port workers missing out on vaccine, union boss says

Other
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Oranga Tamariki strip searches to be ‘phased out’ – Minister for Children Kelvin Davis
1News: Taxpayers shell out more than $12,000 to transport dead turtle, give it a funeral
1News: Returning endangered turtle’s body to Canterbury hapū right thing to do — DOC, Te Papa
Justin Latif (1News): Are free school lunches hitting the spot for South Auckland kids?
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Animal activists continue bid to speed up end of live animal exports
Te Aorewa Rolleston (RNZ): Half of Māori women experience sexual or physical violence – study
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Power woes: ‘We need a solution or we are going to wreck our economy’
Mike O’Donnell (Stuff): NZ’s ‘trusted’ reputation is one of our greatest assets
James Goodhue (Stuff): For regions to survive, they must avoid the temptation of urban sprawl
Brian Easton: Why are we moving to Auckland?
Daniel Laufer (Stuff): When PR firms become the news, it’s a different kind of crisis
Lana Hart (Stuff): We’re growing up as a nation
Laura Twyman (1News): NZ’s vaccination helpline labelled ‘dysfunctional’, ‘a shambles’ by adviser taking the calls
RNZ: Principal suspects teachers’ health issues linked to toxic mould
1News: Less than 15 per cent of schools using Government-funded programme on sexual education
Dubby Henry (Herald): Waikato University professor apologises after using n-word in