Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. You can sign up to NZ Politics Daily as well as New Zealand Political Roundup columns for free here.

Today’s content

Govt Covid strategy, expert warnings
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Government rules don’t require negative test result to cross borders
Tess McClure (Guardian): New Zealand government’s pivot from Covid elimination ‘surprised’ top health experts
Matthew Hooton (Patreon): Labour chose Baby Boomers over Māori (paywalled)
Dan Satherley and Caitlin Ellis (Newshub): Delta’s R number close to seeing COVID outbreak ‘spiralling out of control’ – expert
Herald: Pandemic modeller warns NZ could hit ‘160 cases a day’ in coming weeks
Rawiri Taonui (Waatea News): Up to 1,500 Delta cases for Māori by November
Ian Powell (Second Opinion): Delta response “gutted” by Government backdown
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Ardern’s Covid messaging back on track
Duncan Greive (Spinoff): Some big, clear calls are urgently needed on the path out of elimination
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Dawn Chorus: The PM’s frustrating quest for optionality (paywalled)
RNZ: New Zealand able to surge Covid-19 ICU capacity by risking planned care – Health Minister
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Rising infectious cases in the community ‘a sign outbreak is worsening’
RNZ: Ashley Bloomfield on Northland travellers, mandatory vaccines and the Covid-19 strategy
Roger Partridge  (Herald): An end to New Zealand exceptionalism (paywalled)
Marie McEntee (Newsroom): Time for the control freaks to move aside
Herald: Could you do a better job as PM? Game gives Kiwis chance to lead Covid-19 response
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Politicians’ cold turkeys are coming to roost

Auckland, Auckland border
Justin Latif (Local Democracy Reporting): 1000 Covid cases a week in South Auckland if borders open – DHB
Tom McRae (Newshub): Expert warns Auckland cases could reach 160 a day if current trend continues
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Dr Ashley Bloomfield not ruling out restrictions easing in Auckland despite high case numbers
Zane Small (Newshub): Judith Collins wants advice on Auckland alert level drop released as Jacinda Ardern foreshadows ‘doubling in cases’
Greg Presland (The Standard): David Seymour is all class
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): When can Auckland schools finally reopen?
Ella Stewart (RNZ): Parents weigh health, education aspects to schools’ prolonged closure

Vaccine certificate, mandatory vaccination, incentives
Matheson Russell (The Conversation): Vaccine mandate a big stick for govt to wield
Gordon Campbell: On Covid mandates, and the Covid pill
Riley Kennedy (ODT): Legal opinion: employers can require shot
Rachel Moore (Stuff): Vaccine mandate ‘had to be done’ say Waikato health care workers 
Craig Cooper (Hawke’s Bay Today/Herald): Labour lights ‘no jab, no job’ fire and walks away (paywalled)
Dan Satherley and Caitlin Ellis (Newshub): Union warns anti-vax teachers they shouldn’t expect to keep their jobs if they’re not willing to keep students safe
Lawrence Gullery (Stuff): Principals forecast teacher resignations ahead of vaccination deadline
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): How far do the vaccine mandates for education workers go?
Josephine Franks (Stuff): ‘Teachers quit’ after Covid-19 vaccine mandate as sector mulls options for unjabbed staff
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Education sector scrambling for certainty over number of teachers vaccine mandate could drive out
Cate Broughton (Stuff): School board chairman resigns abruptly after Covid vaccine made mandatory for teachers
Chloe Blommerde (Stuff): Fears childcare centre could close as five oppose jab mandate
Herald Editorial: Schools and parents get certainty over vaccinations (paywalled)
1 News: Bloomfield: Mandatory Covid jabs for some ‘extraordinary’
Sahiban Hyde (Hawkes Bay Today/Herald): ‘Careful and considerate approach’ needed as vaccine job losses loom among teachers (paywalled)
Evan Harding (Stuff): Principal: Respect teachers with genuine reasons for not wanting Covid-19 vaccine
Jane Nixon (1 News): Vaccine u-turn to allow border workers’ non-Pfizer jab recognised
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Visitors to Auckland Zoo, museums and libraries may need to be fully vaccinated
Herald: KFC giving away free food to those who get vaccinated
Vita Molyneux (Herald): Wellington hospitality operator will offer 900 staff across 35 venues cash incentives to get vaccinated
Herald: Vodafone NZ offers all staff $100 and asks them to ‘pay it forward’ to local small businesses

Vaccine rollout, anti-vaxxers
Anna Whyte (1 News): Almost 80% of Delta outbreak cases not vaccinated
Alice Wilkins (Newshub): East Coast iwi fully vaccinates more than 80 pct of locals after taking control of rollout
Matai O’Connor (RNZ): Māori-led vaccination drive reaches 80 percent of Te Whānau ā Apanui’s population
Jody O’Callaghan (Stuff): Health leader says anti-vax church leaders harming Māori
1 News: Is your region at the top or bottom of the Covid-19 vaccination ladder?
Nadine Porter (Stuff): Rural vaccinations falling behind urban counterparts, research reveals
Sam Olley (RNZ): Patient advocate wants anti-vax DHB psychiatrist dismissed
Jody O’Callaghan (Stuff): Health leader says anti-vax church leaders harming Māori
John Lewis (ODT): Inoculation rate lagging in rural areas
Sebastien Desclee (Herald): We need to start planning beyond the narrow 90% vaccination target (paywalled)
Maxine Jacobs (Stuff): Māori advisers one click away for whānau with Covid-19 vaccination questions
Adam Jacobson (Stuff): More than 1700 nurses sign open letter urging people to get vaccinated
Jonathan Guildford (Stuff): Rubella’s ‘luckiest survivor’ a passionate advocate for Covid vaccinations
Deena Coster (Stuff): Impact of NZ’s Covid-19 crisis hits close to home for New Plymouth mayor
Paul Mitchell (Stuff): Call for Tararua volunteers to man phones in push to lift lagging vaccination rates

Super Saturday Vaxathon: 16 October
RNZ: Plans unveiled for ‘Super Saturday’ televised event to boost vaccination numbers
Newstalk ZB: Patrick Gower: Vaxathon will be a magical moment in New Zealand history
Alex Casey and Tara Ward (Spinoff): The Spinoff’s guide to the perfect Vaxathon live television event
1 News: Auckland’s free public transport for vaccinations made easier
Michael Neilson (Herald): John Key ‘delighted’ Government adopting telethon idea for Super Saturday to boost vaccinations

Northland, Waikato, South Island border
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): Fears of Delta spread in Northland after second woman positive
Karina Cooper (Northern Advocate): Northlanders could wait weeks to see alleged border breachers charged
1 News: Second woman tests positive for Covid-19 after travelling to Northland
Bernadette Basagre (Stuff): Woman who travelled to Northland with a case tests positive for virus
Denise Piper (Stuff): Second Northland case cooperating, testing still urged
Northern Advocate: Couple incredulous they haven’t been contacted over Northland case
Herald: Northland tyre company says it was visited by positive Auckland truck driver
Hannah Kronast and Perry Wilton (Newshub): Whangārei residents ‘relieved’ second traveller to Northland found by police, urge her to cooperate
Imran Ali (Herald): Auckland woman hid in car boot and travelled to Northland
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Another woman illegally crossed Auckland’s northern boundary, police say
Pat O’Dea (Daily Blog): Why is Northland not at Alert Level 4?
Laura Hooper (Stuff): Calls for South Island border increase but Southlanders unsure of success

Health
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Intensive care unit beds number 34 for a population of more than 700,000
Bridie Witton and Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Frontline hospital workers warn patients will die without boosted staff levels
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Check which ACC staff have accessed your file, abuse survivors urged
Dougal Sutherland (Newsroom): Coping with ambiguity now Covid’s here to stay
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Student midwives are already looking at quitting, saying they should be paid for placements
Elle Sun-Min Park (Stuff): The lethal, unconscious biases in our health system
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Southland Hospital specialist granted emergency MIQ spot after being stuck in United States caring for dying father

Covid-19 data visualisations
RNZ: Covid-19 data visualisations: NZ in numbers
Harkanwal Singh (Spinoff): The Spinoff Covid tracker: 21 live graphs that tell the story of delta in Aotearoa

Alert level compliance, rules
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Brian Tamaki says he will ‘picnic with family’ at same location, day as second anti-lockdown protest
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Brian Tamaki pleads not guilty to breaching COVID rules in first court appearance
Herald: Destiny pastor Brian Tamaki defiant ahead of court appearance
Jordyn Rudd (1 News): Brian Tamaki pleads not guilty over anti-lockdown protest
Jean Bell (RNZ): Destiny Church’s Brian Tamaki pleads not guilty over anti-lockdown protest
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Police arrest two people, impound four cars following large Porirua tangi
1 News: Two arrested, vehicles seized after large Porirua tangi
Herald: Multiple cars impounded and arrests made following Porirua tangi
Courtney White (ODT): Man tests negative after Northand to Otago trip
Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): Public tip-off identified man who flew from Whangārei to Queenstown without exemption
RNZ: Man breached lockdown travelling from Whangārei to Queenstown via Wellington
Courtney White (ODT): Police inquiring into man’s travel from Whangarei
Guy Williams (ODT): Queenstown developer denies lockdown breach
Brooke van Velden (Herald): Actual therapy or retail therapy?
Damien Venuto (Herald): Retirement boss calls on Govt to allow aged care residents to see families (paywalled)
Herald: Christmas in the Park cancelled in Auckland, proceeding in Christchurch
James Halpin (Stuff): Boutique festival The Longline Classic cancelled due to restrictions

Disability and Covid
1 News: Woman suffering chronic illness forced to choose between treatment or vaccine
Holly Henry (Newshub): Disability community outraged after autistic man denied entry to store for not wearing mask despite exemption

Testing, contact tracing
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Leaked study shows Ministry of Health struggling with saliva testing as it seeks legal power to take over Covid-19 testing
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Health ministry keeps covid test advisers secret (paywalled)
Eric Crampton (Offsetting Behaviour): Further, on taking tests
Herald: Government’s ‘blunt legislative instrument’ over Covid testing wrong, says think tank
Jacob Johnson (1 News): Tap-and-go trial for Covid Tracer app

Border, MIQ, immigration
Katie Todd (RNZ): MIQ hotels record 117 boundary breaches or attempts in 10 months
Mrid Narayan (Stuff): MIQ system is unfair and unkind to Kiwis stuck overseas
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Virtual lobby: broke Kiwi on expired Thai visa, ‘on a lifeboat, waving my hands’
Katie Todd (RNZ): Women face giving birth without their partners present due to MIQ bottleneck
Ellie Jay (RNZ): Father of prem baby applies for emergency MiQ
RNZ: Air Tahiti Nui offers one-off passenger flight out of Auckland

Government books
Zane Small (Newshub): Government books: Tax intake billions more than in 2020, cost of MIQ and vaccines revealed
Luke Malpass and Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Government accounts show the sunlight before the Delta storm
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Surplus inches closer as Government books billions of dollars on rising property values
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): The biggest winner of the booming housing market has been the Government (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (1 News): Govt’s books in better shape than forecast before Delta
RNZ: Govt books: 2020 / 2021 financial statements show deficit of $4.6 billion
RNZ: Govt books: Small Auckland businesses not so optimistic

Business, economy, wage subsidy
Liam Dann (Herald): New data suggests post-lockdown rebound weaker than last year (paywalled)
Karen Coltman (Stuff): Auckland’s job market in Covid slump but rest of country lifts
Andrew Bayly (Herald): Business promised a roadmap but given a maze (paywalled)
Daniel Smith (Stuff): Air NZ receives additional $170 million in subsidies as Government continue to support cargo flights
Anuja Nadkarni (Newsroom): Covid-19 infected workers could sue bosses over poor health and safety
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Amazon and Film Commission planning Lord of the Rings release until days before pin pulled on NZ production (paywalled)
RNZ: The Detail: The older entrepreneur – making life better
Emma Houpt (Herald): Bay of Plenty job listings up 43%: Tauranga businesses battle to attract – and keep – top workers (paywalled)

Welfare, inequality
Sarah Robson (RNZ): 8500 more beneficiaries since start of Delta outbreak, figures show
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Child Poverty Action Group calls for more financial support to help struggling families during ongoing COVID restrictions

25 years since NZ’s first MMP election, Electoral law review
Henry Cooke (Stuff): How politicians let voters destroy their way of life in three short years
Spinoff: As MMP turns 25, here are the ads with the original orange guy: Wal from Footrot Flats
Richard Prebble (Herald): Why a four-year parliamentary term would be a bad move (paywalled)
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): An electoral review

Justice
Farah Hancock (RNZ): Legal aid system ‘broken and may collapse’ – Chief Justice
Steve Braunias (Herald):  Cabals, Satanic symbols and the awful, enduring case of Peter Ellis (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Why Oranga Tamariki must destroy Family Court Judge Peter Callinicos
Sam Sherwood and Sophie Cornish (Stuff): Less than a quarter of fleeing drivers pursued this year after policy change

Euthanasia
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Assisted dying: Doctors to be paid $1087 to perform procedure, starting next month
RNZ: Experts appointed to monitor assisted dying
Esther Ashby-Coventry (Stuff): South Canterbury health and rest home providers plan for implementation of End of Life Act

Water reforms, Local government
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Mahuta rules out nationwide NZTA-style funding for 3 Waters upgrades
Steven Walton (Stuff): Christchurch City Council steps towards leaving Local Government New Zealand
Steven Walton (Stuff): City council staffer given $140,000 severance payment
Adam Burns (Local Democracy Reporting): ‘Cultural competency gaps’: Minister responds to councillor’s iwi co-governance concerns
Craig Ashworth (Local Democracy Reporting): Two Māori wards confirmed and named for South Taranaki
Logan Savory (Stuff): Sir Tim Shadbolt conference snub ‘fails to respect democracy’
Luisa Girao (ODT): Meeting votes for status quo
Grant Miller (ODT): Councillors not convinced by arguments to change representation
Hamish MacLean (ODT): New ORC policy on concerns

Housing
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Government making ‘serious bank’ out of housing market – economist
RNZ: NZ’s major cities moderately vulnerable to property downturn – study
Tony Alexander (OneRoof): FOMO factor hits 79% in Auckland
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): Auckland, Queenstown housing ‘most vulnerable’ (paywalled)
Ben Leahy (Herald): CoreLogic analysis: Auckland the big city most vulnerable to a fall in house prices
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Here are the regions most at risk of a housing downturn 
Chloe Blommerde (Stuff): ‘I’d be happy to live in the van forever’: 21-year-old priced out of Waikato market uses house deposit to travel New Zealand
Anne Gibson (Herald): Timing of $300m Bayswater project notification raises ire during alert level 3 (paywalled)

Environment, climate change, conservation
Pat Baskett (Newsroom): Climate change’s biggest myth
Bronson Eruera Perich (Te Karere): Plans to expand Tirohia landfill dumped by councils
Chloe Ranford (Stuff): Inter-island ferries ‘most likely’ cause of harmful gas emissions, new study finds

Education
Stuff Editorial: Schools still left with so many questions
John McDermott (NBR): Human capital: The effect of education on the economy (paywalled)
Wyatt Ryder (ODT): Appeal for discussion on school building

Transport
Grady Connell (Newshub): KiwiRail buys 57 new mainline locomotives for South Island
John Lewis (ODT): Petrol prices worsen financial struggles
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Airport no longer the jewel in Wellington transport plan’s crown (paywalled)

Other
Jo Moir (Newsroom): MPs living in Level 3 keep distance from Parliament
George Heagney (Stuff): ‘Only fragments’ of land remain in Māori hands today
André Chumko (Stuff): Slow progress on media accessibility legislation in Aotearoa
Alexander Gillespie (The Conversation): Taiwan is becoming a flashpoint for China and the West – how does New Zealand respond?
No Right Turn: The Data and Statistics Bill and the OIA
RNZ: Transpower apologises over August blackouts
George Driver (Spinoff): Why the new global tax rate is a big deal – and what it means for tech giants in NZ
Joe Bennett (Stuff): Hope and journalism 
Peter Hamilton (Herald): Welcome to the Republic of New Zealand (paywalled)
Maja Burry (RNZ): Efforts ramp up to attract workers to vineyards