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

Government management of outbreak, expert advice
Max Rashbrooke (Guardian): Why we’re happy hobbits in Jacinda’s ‘mysterious socialist hermit kingdom’
Steve Braunias (Herald): In level 4 Covid lockdown again, New Zealand clings to luck (paywalled)
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Why elimination will have to end before most voters want it to
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Judith Collins won’t say how many COVID-19 deaths would be ‘acceptable’ number to live with
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Ashley Bloomfield defends NZ’s elimination strategy, responds to Kiwis saying COVID-19 is ‘just like the flu’
Zane Small (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern pushes back on ‘continuous lockdowns’ query during Facebook Live
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Exclusive poll: Seven out of 10 back NZ sticking with elimination strategy
Stuff: Australian PM slams NZ’s approach, hits back at state opposition to Covid-normal
Claire Trevett (Herald): The goal of stamping out Delta relies on information we aren’t getting (paywalled)
Richard Prebble (Herald): A better way to beat the virus (paywalled)
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Deputy PM Grant Robertson hits back after Australian PM Scott Morrison criticises NZ’s COVID-19 elimination strategy
Derek Cheng (Herald): NZ can’t do that’ – Australian PM Scott Morrison likens elimination to living in cave
Daily Telegraph UK editorial: Leaders still committed to Zero Covid are embracing a dangerous paranoia
Tara Ward (Spinoff): The 1pm Daily Update is back, and the IMDB reviews are in
ODT Editorial: The comfort of the Covid conference
Annemarie Jutel (Newsroom): The patriotic power of words like ‘team’
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): This lockdown is far from over
—————
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): How to tell if lockdown’s not working
RNZ: Australian states provide scenarios for NZ’s Covid-19 fate – modeller
1 News: Expert says fast tracking South Island down alert levels ‘too risky’
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Those reopening plans look a lot further away now
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): Coromandel may have skated by on luck
Susan Botting (Local Democracy Reporting): Don’t put Northland into level 3 due to close contacts in the region – Kaipara Mayor Jason Smith
Hone Harawira (Daily Blog): Northland in real danger from Delta
Aroha Mane (Māori TV): Northland iwi issue a traffic alert on the water
RNZ: Covid-19 lockdown day 7: How it unfolded

Parliament suspended
Andrew Geddis (Pundit): Covid, Politics, Parliament And Accountability
Newstalk ZB: Barrister: Parliament suspension ‘not the end of the world’
Stuff Editorial: Robust scrutiny by epidemic response committee needed
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Impossible to respect Jacinda Ardern’s decision to refuse epidemic response select committee
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Why was Jacinda Ardern able to suspend Parliament sitting and what happens next?

Vaccine rollout
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Analysis: Sluggish vaccine rollout deserves an explanation
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Mandatory vaccination considered for health workers treating Covid-19 patients (paywalled)
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Covid-19 vaccine mistake in Auckland sparks investigation
Teuila Fuatai (Herald): Lack of targeted vaccination leaves Maori and Pasifika in harm’s way (paywalled)
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Some GP clinics waiting a month for permission to start vaccinating
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): New Zealand needs high uptake of vaccine to mitigate cases, hospitalisations, deaths once borders reopen – study
Claire Breen (The Conversation): What rights do NZ children and their parents have when giving consent to be vaccinated?
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Judith Collins sets vaccine rollout target for reopening, Ardern says ‘ambition is far beyond’ what other countries have achieved
Ryan Bridge (Newshub): Ardern reckons everyone will have a chance for a vaccine by Christmas, that’s plenty of room for Delta to strike again
RNZ: Inequity embedded in vaccine rollout – National Māori Pandemic Group
Christine Rovoi (RNZ): Community leaders say govt’s vaccine rollout plan is not working for Pasifika
Susan Botting (Local Democracy Reporting): Northland Māori Covid-19 vaccination rates four times lower
Chris Hyde (Herald): To my old friend, the new anti-vaxxer (paywalled)
—————
Maxine Jacobs (Stuff): Drive-through vaccinates hundreds of Māori, Pasifika and essential workers 
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): The small health service that opened one of NZ’s biggest Covid vaccine centres
1 News: Thousands jabbed in Dunedin drive-thru campaign led by iwi
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): Māori-led vaccination clinic administers 1200 doses in three days
Robin Martin (RNZ): 100-year-old proud to be among those vaccinated at Mōkau
RNZ: Surge in Covid-19 vaccinations in East Coast since lockdown
RNZ: Vaccination centres move to bigger venues to improve availability
Maia Hart (Stuff): One and not done: 60 per cent of Marlborough’s eligible population jabbed
Maia Hart (Stuff): How many ‘essential’ wine workers vaccinated anyone’s guess
Richard Davison (ODT): ‘A very good turnout’ includes former anti-vaxxers
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Vaccination centre needed for students, OUSA says
Guy Williams (ODT): ‘Nothing to it’: ease of jab setup praised
Mare Haimona-Riki (Māori TV): Huge increase in Māori and Pasifika vaccinations at Manurewa marae

Contact tracing, locations of interest, testing
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Govt urged to ban police from using contact tracing data
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Who counts as a close contact? New definition sees 10 times more than previous outbreaks
Sophie Trigger (Herald):  Mandatory recordkeeping poses questions of public trust, digital divide
Rachel Moore (Stuff): Small business owners navigate mandatory signing in
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Wanted – 600 new contact tracers as locations of interest exceed 400
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Recruitment drive for hundreds of Healthline callers
—————
David Williams (Newsroom): A week of Covid tests in charts
Zane Small (Newshub): ACT leader David Seymour shocked at only half of COVID-19 case contacts returning tests
Ben Leahy (Herald): Some Aucklanders facing delays in Covid test results
Mina Kerr-Lazenby (Stuff): Close contact told to drive from South Auckland to Hamilton for test
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Grant Robertson slams Aucklanders driving outside of the city for testing to avoid queues
Grant Miller (ODT): Testing, tracing ramp up
Michael Neilson (Herald): Cases tipped to surge as more test results land
—————
Harkanwal Singh (Spinoff): All the locations of interest on an interactive NZ map, sorted by exposure time and date of listing
Stuff: Heat map shows spread of close contacts isolating across New Zealand

MIQ, border, immigration
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Government has 11,000 rooms in managed isolation yet to be released
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): MIQ bookings frustration made worse by government tweet
Rebecca Moore (1 News): MBIE apologises over ‘insensitive’ tweet about MIQ booking pause
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): MBIE apologises for ‘disgraceful’ tweet about managed isolation room release pause
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Mystery Crowne Plaza passersby identified by Ministry of Health after delay
Herald: Crowne Plaza now empty, next guests arrive in two weeks
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Crowne Plaza atrium barrier extended, sealed as leak inquiry continues
Herewini Waikato (Māori TV): Ask another town to set up a new MIQ, not Rotorua – Merepeka Ruakawa-Tait
Andrew Marshall (ODT): Cancelled flights proving ‘taxing’

Case demographics
1 News: Pasifika leader: Health Ministry highlighting ethnicity in Covid cluster ‘unnecessary’
RNZ: Most Covid-19 community cases younger than 30, Pasifika
Justin Latif (Local Democracy Reporting): ‘God bless them’: Church at centre of latest outbreak brushes off racist abuse
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Pacific people being targeted by racism amid latest outbreak – Ministry of Health
Herald: Health ministry says racist remarks thrown at Pacific community
Whatitiri Te Wake (Māori TV): ‘Ugly, racist messages directed at South Auckland Covid hotspot a ‘double standard’
Justin Latif (Local Democracy Reporting): Church at centre of outbreak brushes off racist abuse
Vaimoana Tapaleao (Herald): Samoan church cluster has 58 cases, largest source of current outbreak
RNZ: Pacific health advocate says self-isolating for church close contacts difficult
Bridie Witton and Luke Malpass (Stuff): South Auckland bears brunt of fast-spreading Delta outbreak

Health
RNZ: Nurses living with close contacts asked to turn up for work: union
John Weekes (Herald): Covid 19 coronavirus: Middlemore ED staffer tests positive
Emma Russell (Herald): Those hospitalised 50 per cent more likely to get blood clots during surgery
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Some cancer treatments deferred, Wellington health bosses confirm
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Lockdown leads to further surgery deferrals for SDHB
Alice Angeloni (Local Democracy Reporting): DHBs fly stranded health workers out of Queenstown

Lockdown compliance, enforcement
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Patients, doctors and scientists all agree COVID-19 disinformation is deadly
Newstalk ZB: Epidemiologist: 5% decrease in lockdown compliance enough to spread Delta
George Block (Stuff): Labour again caught delivering party advertising during lockdown
David Fisher (Herald): ‘Horrifying’ pamphlets from anti-vaxxers stuffed in letterboxes during lockdown (paywalled)
Zoe Holland (Herald): Auckland Mayor Phil Goff ‘disappointed’ in rule breakers
Herald: Restriction breaches nationwide continue to grow
Nadine Porter (Stuff): Man wrestled to ground and charged after ‘refusing to wear mask’
Sophie Cornish (Stuff): Wellington police take action over 57 lockdown breaches including one drink-driver four times over limit
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Dunedin police round-up: ‘Martial artist’ warned over Covid-19 lockdown breach
Lucy Xia and George Block (Stuff): No masks, no helmets – large group on dirt bikes rides through south Auckland 
Craig Kapitan (Herald): Man charged with violating lockdown
Herald Editorial: The best and worst of these Covid 19 coronavirus times (paywalled)
Nicholas Boyack (Stuff): Frontline heroes: Policing in lockdown ‘is about keeping everyone safe’ 
Chris Marriner (Herald): Hamilton man stops man fleeing police, video goes viral

Lockdown inequality
Melanie Carroll  (Stuff): Level 4 lockdown could be worse than first, says Child Poverty Action
Maia Hart (Stuff): Māori support agency ‘inundated’ with demand for kai
Jamie Tahana (RNZ): Manurewa Marae sees huge demand for tests, vaccines, and food parcels
Amy Ridout (Stuff): A week into level 4, a dozen people are still on the street in Nelson
Sam Olley (RNZ): New isolation rules cutting off food support for families
Denise Piper (Stuff): Lockdowns have similar stress as rocket-attacks, says ex-Afghanistan businessman
Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): Is an emergency-housing blacklist hindering efforts to house homeless people over lockdown?

Employment
Anuja Nadkarni (Newsroom): Workers’ rights in spotlight as lockdown extends
Susan Hornsby-Geluk (Stuff): Should employees who can’t work from home be paid during lockdown?
RNZ: Covid-19 lockdown putting huge pressure on supermarket workers – union
Charlotte Muru-Lanning (Spinoff): Explained: hospitality and retail workers’ rights during level four
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Worker concern over Navy ship lockdown maintenance
Marta Steeman (Stuff): Two big retirement villages boost staff wages during lockdown

Wage subsidy, business
Richard Harman (Politik): Has Robertson got enough money to pay for Covid?
RNZ: Grant Robertson: ‘A strong public health response is still the best economic response’
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Robertson defends Covid fund spending at finance select committee
Zane Small (Newshub): Finance Minister Grant Robertson probed on how much money is left in COVID-19 coffer
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): More than $480m paid out in wage subsidy: Grant Robertson
Derek Cheng (Herald): Finance Minister Grant Robertson fronts on economic hit of Delta
John Anthony (Stuff): Government opens Covid-19 resurgence support to help businesses cover costs
Caley Callahan (Newshub): 26,000 resurgence support payment applications made in one day
Paul McBeth (BusinessDesk): Just one corporate seeks wage subsidy so far (paywalled)
Rebecca Stevenson (BusinessDesk): A guide to all the support on offer at level 4
Riley Kennedy (ODT): ‘Vital’ payment welcomed by Southern employers
RNZ: Businesses rue narrow criteria for opening in lockdown
RNZ: South Island businesses want clarity over lockdown duration
Carolyne Meng-Yee (Herald): Headquarters Bar: Boss, Leo Molloy will only serve customers with vaccination passport
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Butchers losing sleep, claims supply is being prioritised for supermarkets
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Countdown extends delivery subscriptions as shoppers struggle to book slots
John Anthony (Stuff): Alcohol spending jumped nearly 500 per cent on eve of alert level 4, supermarkets do roaring trade
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Shoppers continue to report food shortages amid supply chain disruption
Sarah Trotman (Stuff): Lockdowns take emotional toll on small-business owners

Education
Dubby Henry (Herald): NCEA changes could be made ‘if necessary’
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Plea for teachers to be able to visit disabled children at level 4
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Principals raise concerns as students go into remote learning without devices
Josephine Franks (Stuff): South Auckland principal says this lockdown is the worst one yet
Daisy Hudson (ODT): University apologises for distressing email
Adam Jacobson (Stuff): Students’ association demands halls of residence rent pause

Cook Islands
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Cook Islands vaccinates 96 per cent of eligible adults
RNZ: Cook Islands achieves over 90 percent vaccination coverage
RNZ: Cook Islands ramps up Covid testing

Energy 
Anan Zaki (RNZ): Meridian Energy accused of making billions in extra profit
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Amid calls for electricity market reform, industry group says Meridian is generating ‘super profits’ (paywalled)
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Meridian’s $3.5 billion ‘super profits’ (paywalled)
Chris Marshal (Stuff): Lockdown unlikely to impact on North Island water storage levels
Nikki Mandow (Newsroom): Keeping the lights on: Huntly switches to lockdown power plan

Afghanistan
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Afghan allies fear they’re no longer a priority in New Zealand evacuations 
Karen Rutherford (Newshub): Interpreter who worked with NZ Defence Force says siblings left behind to die at hands of Taliban
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Former NZ prime ministers, Sir John Key and Helen Clark on Taliban takeover (paywalled)
Ellen O’Dwyer and Piers Fuller (Stuff): Afghan Kiwi pleads for evacuation help as brothers face Taliban threats
Lara Andelane (Newshub): Afghanistan: Interpreter who assisted NZDF says group were promised seats on evacuation flight that arrived on Monday
Amy Williams (RNZ): Afghani man relieved family evacuated from Kabul but others still waiting
RNZ: RNZAF evacuates New Zealanders and Australians from Afghanistan
1 News: Defence Force release images of Afghanistan evacuation
Tess McClure (Guardian): ‘Time matters’: the NZ families desperate to save loved ones trapped in Afghanistan
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): NZ has an obligation to rebuild Afghanistan and take thousands of refugees

Local government
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Survey reveals Wellington residents are more unhappy with city council than ever before
Damian George (Stuff): Public confidence in Wellington City Council’s decision-making plunges by almost half
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Four councillors object to Let’s Get Wellington Moving plan for city streets
Luisa Girao (ODT): Unveiling of report stymied
Logan Savory (Stuff): Sir Tim Shadbolt’s email concerns sparks $10k independant council review
Luisa Girao (ODT): Electronic policies review assent
Luisa Girao (ODT): Sir Tim email saga: Council to review electronic policies
RNZ: Invercargill mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt alone in opposing independent review into email access
Jono Galuszka (Stuff): Two Māori wards suggested by Horizons Regional Council for 2022 election
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): Resource Management Act replacement ‘erodes democracy’, regional council says
Liz Wylie (Herald): Whanganui District Council chief executive Kym Fell resigns
Justin Latif (RNZ): Goff grills Watercare for straight answers over its climate change preparedness
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Lockdown wipes funding for transport projects across Auckland (paywalled)
RNZ: Ōpihi appeal heads to High Court
Chris Tobin (Stuff): Timaru District Council says staff turnover below national rate
Molly Houseman (ODT): Fate of flat $2 bus fare to be decided
Liz McDonald (Stuff): Construction halt at Te Pae convention centre just weeks before opening day
Molly Houseman and Andrew Marshall (ODT): Councils adapting to working from home
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): New Plymouth council apologises to iwi after starting construction on car park without consulting
Mike Watson (Stuff): Final decision closer for Māori representation on Taranaki Regional Council
Jono Galuszka (Stuff):Two Māori wards suggested by Horizons Regional Council for 2022 election
Tim Newman (Stuff): Thirty-year vision for Nelson city centre set for public feedback
Charlie Gates (Stuff): ‘People’s steeple’ plan rejected for Christ Church cathedral restoration

Environment, climate change, conservation
Rob Stock (Stuff): KiwiSaver funds dump $331 million of fossil fuel investments
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): RMA replacement law ‘erodes democracy’

Housing
Michael Reddell (Croaking Cassandra): Rising house prices do not make New Zealanders better off
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Record 99 pct of New Zealand properties sold for profit last quarter – CoreLogic
Tony Alexander (One Roof): Why this lockdown is different for the housing market
Cherie Sivignon (Stuff): Housing development tipped for ‘eyesore’ Motueka site

Immigration
Janet Wilson (The Listener): Lost labour: The inequities in NZ’s immigration policy (paywalled)
Jem Traylen (BusinessDesk): How I became an overstayer (paywalled)

Other
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Veterans’ Affairs under culture review over ‘toxic’ bullying allegations, resignations
Bryan Gould: Missing in action
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Is Jacinda Ardern the Messiah?
Sela Jane Hopgood (RNZ): New study aimed at getting the best start for Pasifika children
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Nation of debt: Consumer debt on the decline but is it hidden elsewhere? (paywalled)
Wayne Brown (Herald):  Power, port, vaccine rollout. Why are all these stuff-ups happening? (paywalled)
Patricia A. O’Brien (The Conversation): ANZUS at 70: Together for decades, US, Australia, New Zealand now face different challenges from China
Abbas Nazari (Guardian): ‘Who is New Zealand?’: the moment Tampa refugees were told some had a new home
RNZ: Buller gets $8m recovery funds after severe flooding
Georgia-May Gilbertson (Stuff): Tributes flow after Hawke’s Bay kaumātua Des Ratima dies
Sahiban Hyde (Hawkes Bay Today): Hawke’s Bay kaumātua Des Ratima, ‘staunch advocate’ for the underdog, dies aged 69
Waatea: Poroporoaki: Des Ratima, ONZM
RNZ: The Detail: Let’s have the ‘All Whites’ debate