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

Opinion polls, government, political parties
Claire Trevett (Herald): Poll should be death knell for Judith Collins but a Covid hangover is hitting for PM Jacinda Ardern (paywalled)
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Newshub-Reid Research Poll: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern not bothered by result as Labour plummets to 43 percent
Zane Small (Newshub): Newshub-Reid Research Poll: Judith Collins concedes ‘National needs ACT’ to win back power in 2023
1News: Ardern blames pandemic for Labour’s poll plunge
Gordon Campbell: On populism’s changing of the guard
Jessica Mutch MacKay (1 News): Opinion: Govt battling with immigration, MIQ and vaccine rollout
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Why Simon Bridges might be a credible leader for National now
Newstalk ZB: ACT Leader: Change of government in two years very possible
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): TV3 Poll – Winners & Losers
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): I have never seen a less aspirational government
Ethan Griffiths (Herald): Adrian Rurawhe supports changes to allow Māori voters to switch electoral rolls
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Party fundraisers no place to play charades (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Should political party donations be capped for people and corporations? (paywalled)

Covid-19
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): Three big questions as Ardern prepares to unfurl the road map to a post-Covid NZ
Peter Gluckman (Newsroom): Covid-19’s ticking clock
David Schnauer (Herald):  Has the NZ economy really done well since Covid? (paywalled)
RNZ: Border plans set to be revealed next week
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Newshub-Reid Research Poll shows Kiwis want more border exemptions as Government looks to loosen restrictions
Tess McClure (Guardian): Bots and scalpers: desperate Kiwis try everything to get into Fortress New Zealand
RNZ: Terminally-ill man seeking life-extending care overseas in MIQ limbo
Kate Newton and Keith Lynch (Stuff): The vaccine roll-out explained in 5 graphs
Mike Houlaan (ODT): Hospital stretched to its limit
RNZ: Concern mass vaccination event a no-go for vulnerable people
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Attention now on second dose mass vaccine event after 15,800 jabs given
Waatea News: Mass vax event failed to resonate for Maori
Herald Editorial: Vaccine rollout could still prove a political booster (paywalled)
Vera Alves (Herald): Wellington sets up Autism-specific vaccination clinic
Libby Wilson (Stuff):  Prime minister and walk-ins among 12,000 vaccinated at Waikato’s biggest centre

Labour market, industrial relations
Henry Cooke, Torika Tokalau and Jonathan Guildford (Stuff): Travel corridor to open with Tonga, Samoa and Vanuatu – allowing seasonal workers to skip MIQ
Michael Neilson (Herald): Seasonal workers from Sāmoa, Tonga, Vanuatu allowed into NZ from September
Anna Whyte (1 News): Quarantine-free travel for Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu RSE workers
Liu Chen (RNZ): Growers hope for a ‘few thousand’ seasonal workers under new RSE measures
Zane Small and James Fyfe (Newshub): Government to allow one-way quarantine-free travel for seasonal workers from Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu
Jared Morgan (ODT): Pacific workers welcomed back
Robin Martin (RNZ): Plea for set quota of MIQ rooms for oil rig workers
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Phil Goff warns worker-shortage risks infrastructure projects (paywalled)
Oliver Hartwich:(Stuff): Apologise, then make it right: Grant New Zealand’s migrants residency
Brett O’Riley (Stuff):Immigration issues widen the skills chasm
Michael Neilson (Herald): PM Jacinda Ardern says decisions coming on stalled residency applications
Steve Kilgallon (Stuff): Investigation as migrants complain about treatment by wealthy temple
David Hargreaves (Interest): Unemployment will shrink – and wages will grow
Ian Powell: Health Minister behaves badly towards nurses
RNZ: Nurses to strike again on 19 August
Jonathan Guildford and Bridie Witton (Stuff): New Zealand Nurses Organisation issues strike notice as safety negotiations break down 
Gianina Schwanecke and Shannon Johnstone (Hawkes Bay Today): Now hiring: Hawke’s Bay apple giant T&G creates 150 new permanent roles (paywalled)
Hawkes Bay Today: Our ‘ageism’ shame: Hastings man with folder of qualifications can’t find work (paywalled)

Housing
Tim Brown (RNZ): Solution to housing rights crisis should mirror massive post-war effort – economist
Michelle Cooke (RNZ): Data reveals hundreds living in transitional housing for months on end
Adam Hollingworth (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern dodges questions on whether housing crisis is a human rights crisis
Stuff Editorial: Putting our house to rights on the right to housing
1 News: PM defends Govt’s record after housing crisis inquiry launched
Tess McClure (Guardian): New Zealand commission launches inquiry into ‘massive human rights failure’ on housing
Newstalk ZB: Community Housing Aotearoa: Inquiry is for clarifying right to a decent home
Steven Cowan (Against the Current): Marama Davidson: Loyal to Labour while the housing crisis deepens
No Right Turn: The government is breaching the right to housing
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern not convinced by ‘ghost home’ concerns despite data showing 40,000 vacant in Auckland
Moana Ellis (Herald):Te Puni Kōkiri fielding four or five housing inquiries a day
Doug Laing (Herald): Napier’s biggest Kainga Ora development in years approved (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Housing crisis: Wellington misses first deadline of Government effort to increase housing density
Georgina Campbell (Herald): New building consents in Wellington lag behind Auckland, Canterbury (paywalled)
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): Housing affordability an ongoing challenge for Hamilton, Waipā and Waikato districts
Belinda Feek (Herald): Auckland house prices: Two-bedroom Point Chevalier home sells for double its CV
Paul Mitchell (Stuff): A year too long to wait for new family violence tenancy protections, says advocate

Dawn Raids apology
Richard Harman (Politik): Ardern’s surprising caution over overstayer amnesty (paywalled)
Michael Field (Evening Report): On saying sorry – who next? The Banabans?
Barry Soper (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s policeman father carried out Dawn Raids as junior officer
Apulu Reece Autagavaia (Spinoff): Dawn raids ceremony explained: Why Jacinda Ardern sat under a woven mat
AAP (Guardian): Jacinda Ardern apologises for New Zealand ‘dawn raids’ on Pasifika people in 1970s
Vicki Anderson (Stuff): Government’s apology for dawn raids ‘just the beginning’, Pasifika youth say
Nick James (Herald): Impact of the Dawn Raids in the Wellington Region in wake of Government apology
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): The power of sorry
Michael Bassett: Rewriting History: Apologies for the Dawn Raids

Winston Peters’ superannuation privacy leak
RNZ: Winston Peters’ superannuation privacy leak appeal dismissed
Zane Small (Newshub): Winston Peters ordered to pay costs after attempt to overturn failed superannuation leak privacy court case
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Former deputy prime minister Winston Peters loses court battle over superannuation privacy breach 
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Appeal court throws out Peters’ last claims over leak

Health and disability
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Dunedin Hospital ward understaffed by 20pc for two years, review finds
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Independent review says SDHB needs to be more accountable
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Woman with terminal cancer waited 30 hours for hospital bed in Wellington, doctor claims
Susan Murray (RNZ): Plea for more government funds to push health careers to rural teenagers
Stuff: Surgeries delayed, long waits in emergency department as patient spike puts pressure on Christchurch Hospital
1 News: Long wait times at Christchurch Hospital amid patient surge, staff illness
Alexa Cook (Newshub): More people reliant on morphine as waitlists for joint replacement surgeries grow
Scott Yeoman (Stuff): Waikato DHB ends contract with independent complaints service after three decades
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Chairman pushing area for fluoride policy
Rachel Sadler and Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Mike King claims police officers offered ‘no training’ for mental health callouts
Louise Ternouth (RNZ): Disabled people in relationships paying for the price of love
Derek Cheng (Herald): Will the Govt step up? How drug-checking could help thousands of medicinal cannabis patients (paywalled)

Mātauranga Māori science curriculum debate
Graham Adams: Attacks on Professors miss target
Rachel Sadler and Mihingarangi Forbes (The Hui): Auckland University professor stands by letter dismissing mātauranga Māori as science
Kyle Gibson: (Stuff): Science can’t be Pākehā or Māori, it’s just science 

Local government
Todd Niall (Stuff): For sale: 320 Auckland Council workers’ jobs … but why?
Steven Walton (Stuff): ‘Political football’: Mayor chides councillors as Chch stadium debate kicks off
Devon Bolger (Herald): Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel standing by reduced seating decision for multi-use arena
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Phil Goff writes to Government, urging fixes after Kiwirail delays and safety incident
Sam Hurley (Herald): Auckland businessman and mayoral candidate Leo Molloy seeks to overturn conviction for Jesse Kempson suppression breach
Damian George (Stuff): One option for getting Wellington moving: A ‘long tunnel’ between Kilbirnie and The Terrace

Environment and conservation
Bruce Munro (ODT): Choking off the funding
Amber Allott (Stuff): Bottom trawling damage revealed: 128 new species end up as by-catch
Harry Lock (RNZ): Kāpiti Coast residents fear repercussions of ramped up snapper fishing

Climate Change
RNZ: Forest & Bird takes Southland council to court over Nightcaps coal mine exploration
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Climate change: Business needs to get ahead of the game
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): Air NZ wanted Climate Commission to go faster, dairy and meat groups said slow down
Alastair Thompson (Herald): Sustainable Business: A watery wake-up call — climate change is here (paywalled)
Adam Burns (RNZ): National MP Stuart Smith faces climate-change deniers’ wrath in Ashburton
Guy Trafford (Interest): How New Zealand carbon pricing system works

Media
Gavin Ellis: RNZ thrown by horns of dilemma
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): RNZ challenges media ban in police shooting of Shargin Stephens
Hal Crawford (Spinoff): How much would you pay to read this?
Kristin Hall (1 News): Mediaworks delay release of ‘toxic culture’ review
Katie Harris (Herald): MediaWorks investigation: Staff meeting on outcome of Maria Dew inquiry delayed

Tourism
Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): More pain predicted as Queenstown’s tourism industry eyes change in direction
ODT Editorial: Challenges for Milford Sound

Other
Simon Wilson (Herald): Failed by Labour, National and the public sector mandarins (paywalled)
RNZ: Live cattle export ships continue to depart since ban announced
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Commission calls out Pak’nSave’s six-month ‘specials’
RNZ: Police pay $2.4m for guns handed over in latest buyback
Anuja Nadkarni (Newsroom): Faafoi reviews rights of youth stuck in residency visa queue
Brent Edwards (NBR): Documents detail govt’s $50m screen industry underwrite (paywalled)
Martin Fisher (Herald): The Conversation: Has the High Court shown the way for successful Māori claims to marine title?
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Police IT disaster recovery a ‘very high risk area’, audit reveals
Nite Blake-Persen (RNZ): Huge Far North water verdict looms as avocados boom
RNZ: The Detail: Why the government’s muscling in on the water business
Corazon Miller (1News): Bail support programme helping rehabilitate criminals expands NZ-wide
1 News: New Govt body formed ahead of euthanasia legalisation
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Assisted dying services to be ‘limited’ when legalised, legal action expected
Liam Rātana (Spinoff): The Mana Wāhine inquiry isn’t over yet
Heather Du Plessis-Allan (NewstalkZB): New Zealand or Aotearoa? National MP on why we should have a referendum to decide
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Dear Wokies, it’s over- the Edgeler has spoken! No hate speech purge for you!
Elliot Weir (Critic): How an Otago Study Is Enabling Transphobia in Media and Sports
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Does Chorus really face a ‘regulatory mugging’?