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
Covid-19
Liam Dann (Herald): The worst thing about the Covid-era in NZ (paywalled)
Gordon Campbell: On Labour’s cave-in to the business lobbies
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Covid success weighs on Ardern’s shoulders
Michael Baker, Amanda Kvalsvig and Nick Wilson (Guardian): Sticking to a Covid elimination strategy keeps New Zealand’s options open
Michael Morrah (Newshub): ‘Covid-19 could be here for 5 to 10 years’: Sir Brian Roche says NZ needs may need long-term coronavirus response unit
RNZ: Covid-19 advisor for the government recommends stand-alone agency, again
1 News: Open borders critical so NZ doesn’t become ‘North Korea of South Pacific’
Claire Trevett (Herald): Reopening NZ is not only about vaccinations. Has the Government dragged the chain in doing its bit? (paywalled)
Leah Grout, Jennifer Summers, Amanda Kvalsvig, Michael Baker, Nick Wilson (Public Health Expert): Five lessons for Aotearoa NZ from the current COVID-19 outbreak in New South Wales
Richard Harman (Politik): The intensive care bed shortage and why that limits our Covid options (paywalled)
Michael Neilson (Herald): The four steps for re-opening ‘Fortress New Zealand’ explained
Lorna Thornber (Stuff): What to expect from the three new ‘pathways’ into New Zealand
Isra’a Emhail (RNZ): Covid-19 QR scanning at ‘abysmal’ level as experts back mandating use of tracer app
1 News: Government urged to focus more on youth in Covid plan
Lawrence Gullery (Stuff): Council asked to stop ‘aiding and abetting’ Covid-19 misinformation meet
Andrea Fox (Herald): MoH cites cargo delay pressures ahead of Tauranga port infected ship review (paywalled)
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): The Govt’s border ‘plan’ was totally underwhelming
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Sir John Key’s demand for reopening date ‘unrealistic’ – former Air NZ boss Rob Fyfe
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Business expert backs ankle bracelets for self-isolation trial
Gina Hill (Stuff): The team of five million could do with some help
Covid-19 – Vaccination rollout
1 News: Why the Government is not setting Covid vaccine targets
1 News: Oz-based NZ epidemiologist gives vaccine target for Kiwis
1 News: Govt defends equity of Covid-19 vaccine rollout
Ananish Chaudhuri (Herald): Time to remove vaccination obstacles (paywalled)
Craig Harrison (Herald): Richard Prebble misses the mark (paywalled)
Scott Yeoman (Stuff): ‘We really should be on top of this’: No-one is monitoring vaccination rates at specific ports in New Zealand
Maia Hart (Stuff): Ninety-nine per cent of port workers in Marlborough vaccinated
RNZ: Higher vaccination rates may reduce need for hard lockdowns, Covid-19 modeller says
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Winston Peters slams Government over ‘inexcusably slow’ vaccine rollout
Michael Neilson (Herald): National calls on Government to order Pfizer booster shots
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Vaccine roll-out ‘unlikely’ to stop entirely in event of lockdown
Stuff Editorial: When do we vaccinate the kids?
RNZ: Māori and Pacific health groups worried by low vaccination rates
Waatea News: Race-based vaccine claims out of order
Taroi Black (Māori TV): Health experts prioritise vaccines for rangatahi Māori
Cushla Norman (1 News): Covid-19 vaccination drive set up for people with autism
RNZ: NZ-first vaccine filling machine nears completion, could boost vaccine supply
Jenny Nicholls (Stuff): We’ll all probably get Covid-19 eventually – but after two jabs, I’m not going to die of it
Covid-19 – MIQ, immigration
Felix Desmarais (RNZ): MBIE confirms more MIQ in works
Kim Moodie (RNZ): Expats ‘dismayed’ by lack of action on MIQ availability
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern says she has family stuck overseas who can’t get MIQ spot, but ‘the system is there for a reason’
Edward O’Driscoll (Newshub): 11yo cancer patient who flew to US for treatment refused emergency MIQ spot to return to New Zealand
Chris Keall (Herald): Couple say MIQ vouchers wrongly cancelled in crackdown – but MBIE is ghosting them (paywalled)
Michael Burgess (Herald): Rugby league: New Zealand Warriors set to be stranded in Australia due to MIQ struggles (paywalled)
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): NZ’s net migration gain dwindles to just 4700 a year as Covid-19 keeps gate shut
Dan Satherley (Newshub): National says Immigration capable of processing applications faster, says they’re on a ‘deliberate go-slow’
Greg Ninness (Interest): The number of New Zealand citizens returning home from overseas is starting to taper off
Blair Jackson (Stuff): Some migrants driving illegally in Southland, rural education agency says
Anuja Nadkarni (Newsroom): DHB worker locked out of the country
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): 8000km from the daughter he’s never met
Georgia-May Gilbertson (Stuff): Not Kiwi enough: The iron wall that is New Zealand’s immigration system
Federico Magrin (Newsroom): In NZ, integration still a mirage
Herald: Australian student’s death: Closure of border could cause issue for grieving family
Lawrence Gullery (Stuff): Family of Australian pedestrian killed on Waikato road unable to enter NZ
Housing
MIchael Hall (RNZ): Can Labour tackle the housing crisis like its lauded party predecessors? What you need to know
RNZ: New Zealand — the land of plenty (of housing issues)
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Dawn chorus: House price inflation 30.6%
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Housing affordability: Who actually wins from the housing crisis?
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Economic development not just about food festivals, it is about housing too
RNZ: Housing market forecast to peak, with fall in prices predicted
Riley Kennedy (ODT): Home ownership a fading dream in Dunedin
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Homebuyers being pressured to purchase without building reports, institute says
Catherine Harris (Stuff): Housing costs driving teachers, aged care nurses away from cities that need them
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Median house price up $166,000 in 12 months
Miriam Bell (Stuff):First home buyers could need up to $90,000 more if RB tightens lending rules
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Kāinga Ora hiring spree – 1000 extra staff sees Government housing agency nearly double
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Rise in million-dollar mortgages prompts debt warning (paywalled)
Jenny Ruth (BusinessDesk): Housing market solution: just build houses (paywalled)
Bronwen Beechey (Fightback): Through the maze – accessing social housing in Aotearoa New Zealand
RNZ: Core Logic construction cost index records largest ever increase
Catherine Harris (Stuff): Rapidly rising construction costs add more fuel to the inflation fire
Anna Gibson (Herald): Auckland apartment building hits record levels: city size of Queenstown rising in our midst (paywalled)
Andrea Fox (Herald): Waikato mayor fears big delays to Sleepyhead Estate proposal from ‘nitpicking’ opponents (paywalled)
Lucy Craymer (Stuff): ‘This is really affecting builders and builders’ lives’: Wood shortage causing headaches
Lucy Craymer (Stuff): Millions of cubic metres of logs leave our shores every year – all while we remain desperately short of timber
Hemi Toia (Stuff): Housing project a design for the future, not the past
Luke Kirkeby (Stuff): ‘Zombie towns’ get new lease of life as ‘hostile’ cities force residents out
Afghanistan
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Afghan journalist who worked on Government’s Operation Burnham inquiry asks New Zealand for help
Newstalk ZB: Security expert: Doubts New Zealand troops will be sent to Afghanistan
Ryan Bridge (Newshub): If we can repatriate woman with links to ISIS surely we can help Afghans who helped our troops
1 News: Ardern says up to 47 Kiwis in Afghanistan, as MFAT works to get people out
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): NZ Government to meet, discuss response to ‘gravely concerning’ Afghanistan crisis
Thomas Manch (Stuff): ‘No easy task’: Government faces major hurdles to save Afghans hired by Defence Force from Taliban’s advance
Thomas Manch (Stuff): ‘If I be caught, I would be over’: Defence Force affiliated Afghanistan national pleads for NZ Government evacuation in face of Taliban
Herald Editorial: US learns familiar history lessons in Afghanistan (paywalled)
Tom McRae (Newshub): Afghans who helped New Zealand troops have desperate immigration plea for Government as Taliban advance
Zane Small (Newshub): New Zealand considers giving ‘pathway’ to some Afghans fleeing Taliban amid resurgence
RNZ: Foreign Affairs considers how to help NZers in Afghanistan as cities fall to Taliban
Liz Gordon (Daily Blog): Afghanistan – Twenty years on
Lord of the Rings
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Our lack of action on Covid to blame for LOTR snub (paywalled)
Jack Tame (Newstalk ZB): Tax subsidies don’t buy loyalty
Darren Bevan (Stuff): Amazon Studios’ LOTR relocation is not the first time studio moved NZ production offshore
Luke Malpass, Thomas Manch, Esther Taunton and Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Government left in the dark as Amazon readies to abandons New Zealand
Thomas Manch, Emily Brookes and Glenn McConnell (Stuff): MIQ requirements may have been factor in Amazon moving Lord of the Rings production to UK, crew member says
Thomas Bywater (Herald): Lord of the Rings is leaving New Zealand, the tourists won’t
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Travel may be an issue for Lord of the Rings as actors stayed in NZ over pandemic
Thomas Manch, Emily Brookes and Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Economic Development Minister Stuart Nash ‘gutted’ to hear Lord of the Rings production moving to UK
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Loss of Lord of the Rings a blow for screen industry headed into ‘MIQ-induced coma’
RNZ: Government pulls support for Lord of the Rings TV series
Zane Small (Newshub): Lord of the Rings TV show: Economic Development Minister Stuart Nash under fire for not securing second season pledge from Amazon
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Tourism unsure of impact of losing second Amazon Lord of the Rings TV series
Zane Small (Newshub): ‘Disappointment’ as Amazon shifts second season of Lord of the Rings production to UK
Julie Iles (NBR): Amazon Studio’s decides not to film LOTR season 2 in NZ (paywalled)
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Chlöe Swarbrick slams ‘devastating’ Amazon decision to move Lord of the Rings production to UK
RNZ: Lord of the Rings shift to UK could see skilled workers leave NZ
Guy Williams (ODT): ‘LOTR’ loss will not affect studio plan
Health and disability
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Pharmac invites entire staff to top secret drug ranking meetings
Ian Powell (BusinessDesk): Why it’s risky to get rid of DHBs (paywalled)
David Williams (Newsroom): Exit payments made to Canterbury DHB execs
Carly Gooch (Stuff): Nationwide GP shortage a ‘workforce’ and ‘workload’ issue
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Bloomfield seeing SDHB cancer reports
RNZ: Tamariki Māori more likely to die of unintentional injury – study
Jordan Bond (RNZ): SUDI deaths up 30% despite govt programme to reduce fatalities
Cate Broughton (Stuff): A ‘perfect storm’ of long-held grievances and Covid-19 sparks health strikes
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Wellington ED ‘would struggle to cope’ in the event of a Delta outbreak, nurse says
RNZ: Medical specialists want DHB staffing woes addressed
Rachel Moore (Stuff): MidCentral nurses and midwives to strike again for better pay and working conditions
Katarina Williams (Stuff): Wellington region’s first primary birthing centre may close due to lack of funding
Tom Hunt (Stuff):One midwife for a time during code red staffing crisis at Hutt Hospital
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Government’s top mental health boss leaves job after 10 months
Mike Houahan (ODT): Determination for change in mental health sector
Fiona Connor (Newshub): Gossip, ridicule and a lack of urgency: Why the mum of self-harming 16yo says New Zealand’s mental health system failed her
Kristin Hall (1 News): Clients at mercy of critical psychologist shortage
John Lewis (ODT): First steps in removing landmark silos
Rebecca Moore (1 News): NZ ‘not even close’ to being accessible enough for disabled
Environment, climate change, conservation
Steven Cowan (Against the current): The climate change denialism of James Shaw
Dan Satherley (Newshub): NZ urged to tax meat and dairy to save the climate
Rod Oram (Newsroom): We can’t afford NOT to do net zero
Philip McKibbin (Guardian): By setting a positive example New Zealand can contribute to the climate struggle
Alison Mau (Stuff): Addressing existential dread: How do we deal with the latest climate news?
Catherine Groenestein (Stuff): Petition against $280m SH3 Mt Messenger bypass presented to Minister
Belinda feek (Herald): ‘Lake Wakatipu is turning neon green’, tourists shock at liquid pouring into tourist spot
ODT Editorial: Overseer oversight found wanting
ODT Editorial: A load of old rubbish
1 News: Whitebait season kicks off with new rules clamping down
Energy
Newshub: Hawke’s Bay facing power cuts a week after electricity debacle
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Blackouts created by perfect storm of corporate greed and political inertia
John Roughan (Herald): Power cut showed our priorities when it comes to climate change (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Power cut blame: Transpower to be scrutinised first, ‘then wider issues’
RNZ: Electricity Authority to investigate blackouts
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Transpower’s catastrophic calculations may have caused black outs (paywalled)
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Why did the lights go out? (paywalled)
Janet Wilson (Stuff): Blackout debacle generates plenty of wind but little useful energy
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Pressure on Govt to offer incentives to produce biofuel from local forestry waste
Parliament
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Labour’s proven political winner: PM Jacinda Ardern again takes centre stage
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Political Roundup – Are the Greens just “Labour’s little helper?”
Claire Trevett (Herald): Beehive Diaries: What’s driving Simon Bridges’ makeover and long hair? (paywalled)
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Week in Politics: Fortune favours the Opposition
Mike Houlahan (ODT): The win for Mataura is a win for everyone
Phil Smith (RNZ): Births, deaths, and genders: a quiet bill goes loud
MIke Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Mark the Week: No targets, no goals, no urgency
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of that Winston Churchill painting (paywalled)
Northern Advocate: Whangārei political candidate charged with election breaches
Simon Bridges’ book, National Party
Damien Grant (Stuff): Bridges wrote the book he wanted to write – just don’t expect too many bombshells
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Simon Bridges: “This isn’t the book you write if you want to be leader.”
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Simon Bridges: an introvert with a thick accent in an extrovert’s world
Greg Bruce (Herald): Simon Bridges on his new book – and the dig that left him in tears (paywalled)
Will Trafford (Māori TV):“Too Māori to be Pākeha, too Pākeha to be Māori” – Bridges
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Simon Bridges reveals moment he cried over dig about his accent
Finlay Macdonald (Newsroom): The never-ending Tory: Finlay Macdonald on Simon Bridges
Kirsty Johnston and Michelle Duff (Stuff): ‘They knew exactly what they were doing’: National Party accused of feeding racism
Dan Satherley (Newshub): ‘If other people want to worry about those issues, that’s up to them’ – National MP Erica Stanford not into debate over paintings, Aotearoa
Monique Poirier (Kiwiblog): How to be a successful opposition leader and party
Polly Gillespie (Stuff): How the National Party could learn from John Key
Greg Presland (The Standard): The latest battle in the culture wars
Victor Billot (Newsroom): An ode for .. Simeon Brown
International relations
Louisa Cleave Paula Penfold (Stuff): Six months on from investigation into Kiwi links to Chinese human rights abuses, we have more questions than ever
RNZ: NZ reiterates support for Samoa’s Fiame, as Tuilaepa grumbles
RNZ: 10,000 pairs of shoes for children in the Pacific
RNZ: Pacific Island Revolution series starts an actual revolution
RNZ: Samoa welcomes five temporary judges from NZ
Rachel Taulelei (Herald): Getting the Apec region the right way up (paywalled)
Water reforms
RNZ: Govt three waters: Far North District Council opts out
Chris Barclay (Star News): Water reforms amount to theft – Garry Moore
Jamie Tahana (RNZ): Iwi fear proposed water reforms could undermine Treaty settlements
Sheryl Mai (Northern Advocate): Whangārei says no to Three Waters Reform ‘change of choice’
Local government
Tracy Hicks (Stuff): Non-negotiables for massive local gov’t services change
Claire Trevett (Herald): Former Labour leader David Shearer approached about tilt at Auckland Mayoralty (paywalled)
Stuff Editorial: Time for action on Invercargill’s malfunctioning mayoralty
Evan Harding (Stuff): Councils need more powers to deal with elected members who are failing – LGNZ president
RNZ: Christchurch mayor nervous about how to pay for bigger stadium
David Williams (Newsroom): The danger of stadium costs, a Dunedin study
Felix Desmarais (Local Democracy Reporting): Rotorua could become destination for ‘climate refugees’
Lawrence Gullery (Stuff): John Bryce was a ‘fundamentally awful person’ but Kiwis name streets after him
Rachel Moore (Stuff): Horowhenua council proposes to merge wards, lessen number of councillors
Cushla Norman (1 News): Wellington Town Hall quake strengthening costs could rise
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Crunch time coming for Shelly Bay occupiers
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): Westport floods triggers emergency management rethink
Joanne Naish (Stuff): After the worst floods in decades Westport residents mull over options for new defences
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): Reefton’s new toilets plan causes a stink
Auckland
Zane Small (Newshub): Auckland Central MP Chlöe Swarbrick hopes to tighten liquor laws amid spike in serious assaults
Elizabeth Binning (Herald): Crime in the City: Is it time to close our bars at 2am? Calls for licensing overhaul
John Weekes (Herald): Crime in the City: Our long, violent hangover in search of a cure (paywalled)
Kerre McIvor (Herald): Central Auckland’s now a zombie apocalypse after dark (paywalled)
Tom Dillane (Herald): Crime in the City: Auckland’s businesses implore Govt to act (paywalled)
Miriam Burrell (Herald): Crime in the city: Victim of random, violent attack in Auckland’s CBD on year-long road to recovery
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Dominion Rd businesses opt for trackless trams over disruptive light rail for Auckland (paywalled)
Jane Phare (Herald): Fixing the ferries: Why there is light on Auckland harbour’s horizon (paywalled)
Labour market, industrial relations, migrant workers
Chris Hall (Guardian): Work-life balance: has New Zealand missed a Covid pandemic reform opportunity?
1 News: Former Ports of Auckland boss charged over worker’s death
RNZ: Auckland Ports ex-head charged over employee’s death
Karen Coltman (Stuff): How the skills shortage is putting job seekers in the driving seat
RNZ: Growing the workforce – Vegetable producer offers bonus for turning up to work
RNZ: Labour shortages cast shadow over booming manufacturing figures
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Staff shortage forces Auckland Korean restaurant to stop dine-in service
John Anthony (Stuff): Workplace relations business Employsure found underpaying staff holiday wages
Education and training
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Lack of foreign students in schools creates inequities – Govt
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Auckland University launches review into the safety of its staff
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Poor attendance and low NCEA results, but parents are lining up to get children into alternative school
Media
Kristin Hall (1 News): ‘Right move’ for MediaWorks chair to resign, says ex-MediaWorks executive
RNZ: MediaWorks chairman steps down after scathing review
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Jack Matthews resigns as MediaWorks chairman with immediate effect, a week after damning report
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Mediawatch: RNZ challenged on turning stolen data into news
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Mediawatch: The double standard in the bike bridge backlash
Patrick Crewdson (Stuff): The Backstory: The terrible name Stuff narrowly avoided, and how it reveals our strengths
Conversion therapy
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): How Parents will be prosecuted by new Gay Conversion law – a response to Marja Lubeck
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Ryan Bridge calls Simon Bridges an ‘old dinosaur’ over National’s conversion therapy vote
No Right Turn: Submit!
Business
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Grant Robertson’s hand on Air NZ cash call raises questions about what investors are being asked to invest in (paywalled)
RNZ: Air New Zealand defers capital raising plans
Herald: Finance Minister Grant Robertson tells Air New Zealand to push back capital raise
Lana Hart (Stuff): Time to tackle the grocery duopoly
Matt Heath (Herald): Calling all Kiwis: Let’s take back the power (paywalled)
Damien Grant (Stuff): Commerce Commission’s supermarket report reveals lack of competition is ‘trivial’
Rob Stock (Stuff): Dark arts of supermarket ‘loyalty’ schemes laid bare
Rob Stock (Stuff): Struggling Auckland barber was left paying for CRL workers’ tea facilities
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Upping exports to South Korea to could reduce our reliance on the Chinese market
Catherine Harris (Stuff): Here’s what board directors are being paid
Jessica Roden (1 News): South Island exporters struggling as container ships skip Nelson port
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Agri-tourism thrives as virtual farm tours go global and New Zealanders take to the hills for rural breaks
Economy
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Series of 25 basis-point OCR hikes Reserve Bank’s surest path back to normality
Liam Dann (Herald): OCR preview: Will RBNZ go big, play safe or chart middle path? (paywalled)
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): What are the chances of ‘action man’ Orr raising rates by 50 points?
Troy Bowker race comments
Katrina Bennett (Herald): Labour Minister distances himself from under-fire donor Troy Bowker
No Right Turn: Stuart Nash: Funded by racism
Herald Editorial: Troy Bowker called an air-strike on his own position (paywalled)
Herald: Hurricanes director Troy Bowker to exit franchise after firestorm over race comments
Kevin Norquay (Stuff): Unrepentant Troy Bowker to quit Hurricanes shareholding after racial controversy
Child welfare
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Oranga Tamariki wants girl removed from couple after three years because it says her cultural needs are unmet
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Woke dogma as social policy in Oranga Tamariki at its most disgusting!
Katie Doyle (RNZ): Oranga Tamariki facility: Report detailed use of restraints at residence months before closure
Ruby Heyward (ODT): Giving children a place of safety
Primary industries
Uma Ahmed (Stuff): Groundswell NZ yet to hear from Jacinda Ardern
Keith Woodford (Interest): Given current carbon prices, the march of the pine trees across the landscape has only just begun. The implications are massive
Zoe Hunter (Stuff): Bay of Plenty could become ‘powerhouse’ for NZ aquaculture
RNZ: Seaweed sector ‘constrained by regulation and supply’
Springbok Tour, protest
John Minto (Guardian): Rugby, racism and the battle for the soul of Aotearoa New Zealand
Steven Walton (Stuff): 1981 Springbok tour: Protesters recall violent ‘battlefields’ and vicious punches
Mandy Hager: Fabulous launch, darlings! ‘Protest: Shaping Aotearoa’
Hana Pera Aoake & Morgan Godfery (Spinoff): On photographer John Miller and an activist’s lens
Other
Brian Easton (Pundit): The Executive Is Not Just Politicians; The Bureaucracy Counts
Dylan Asafo (E-Tangata): Empty gestures
Bruce Munro (ODT): An unwelcome history
Meng Foon (Stuff): We must speak out against racism
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Aotearoa referendum debate fuels racist abuse
Sam Hurley and Jared Savage (Herald): Why Isis supporter who allegedly planned ‘lone wolf’ attack in Auckland could not be charged as a terrorist (paywalled)
Alexander Gillespie (The Conversation): After the last ‘summer of terrible drugs’ it’s time to make NZ’s temporary drug checking law permanent
Charlotte Cook (RNZ): Prison officers worry about asbestos exposure during Waikeria Prison riot
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Police Ten 7 producers promised police the show wasn’t racist, but concerns remain
Denise Piper (Stuff): Government must prioritise grieving families’ long wait for coronial inquests — National
Hawkes Bay Today: Mongrel Mob-led drug rehab programme reaches halfway: ‘They are really genuine’ (paywalled)
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): Criminal Bar Association conference and the ‘elephant in the room’ (paywalled)
Daniel Smith (Stuff): Peter Thiel mansion sale stopped by American millionaire
Karl du Fresne: Diversity training isn’t much help when you’re staring down the barrel of an AK47
Anne Else (Newsroom): Make sure new law doesn’t make surrogates ‘useful wombs’
Jacob Johnson (1 News): NZ on track for record year of motorcycle deaths
Mark Solomon: (E-Tangata): On leadership and life
