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

Housing
Zane Small (Newshub): How it happened: The story behind Labour and National’s political truce on housing
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Political consensus on NZ’s deep-rooted housing problems
Claire Trevett (Herald): What was behind Labour-National united housing stand against Nimbys? (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Labour and National’s plan to increase housing density by cutting regulation and sticking it to NIMBYs
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): David Seymour not keen on housing bill, promises he is still a libertarian
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Significant proportion of Kiwis’ income going towards housing costs, affecting wellbeing – report
John Minto (Daily Blog): Labour and National announce Kiwibuild Version 2
Richard Harman (Politik): Farewell to the “Quarter Acre, Pavlova Paradise”
1 News: Govt’s rare bipartisan housing effort a ‘moot point’ – expert
RNZ: Medium density housing law proposal greeted with tentative support
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Housing density plan: Mayors caught off guard by announcement
Stuff Editorial: Housing density gets more intensity
Tina Law Liz McDonald and Steven Walton (Stuff): Garden City at risk? Christchurch reacts to new housing density rules
Grant Miller (ODT): High density streamlined
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Wellington Mayor Andy Foster ‘blindsided’ by Labour and National’s housing intensification plan
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland housing: Government density plan ‘won’t make a dent’ in shortfall of homes
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Labour and National’s latest housing fix will only make a small dent in the number of new houses, says Auckland councillor
RNZ: More than just RMA issues holding back building, Auckland councillor says
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Govt rule change could be a turning point for housing market
Eva Corlett (Guardian): Sweeping housing legislation could reshape New Zealand cities for decades to come
Joel MacManus (Stuff): New rules could mean thousands of new homes in Wellington
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Labour, National announce sweeping housing density law, three-storey homes without consent
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Labour and National join forces for housing crisis fix, ending decades of standoff
Justin Latif (Local Democracy Reporting): Rare show of cross-party unity paves way for housing density breakthrough
RNZ: Housing density to increase across New Zealand under rare bipartisan solution
Anna Whyte (1 News): Labour, National work together to cut house building red tape
Zane Small (Newshub): Labour and National unite to help solve housing crisis by forcing councils to build up
Brent Edwards (NBR): Political housing detente could see extra 100,000 built (paywalled)
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): 100,000 more houses: parties band together to cut red tape (paywalled)
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Labour and National agree to change RMA to allow three storey intensification without consent (paywalled)
Carmen Hall (Herald): NZ Super Fund and Classic Group to deliver thousands of new homes through $300m partnership (paywalled)
Zoe Hunter (Herald): OneRoof – Mount Maunganui property values climb $1238 a day, $452k a year (paywalled)
Tony Alexander (OneRoof): Reserve Bank’s huge mistake means borrowers have just days to act on rates

Govt Covid strategy, expert warnings
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Government leaning towards no specific Māori vaccination target under new COVID-19 alert level system
Herald: Government can’t afford to rule out level 4 return – modeller Shaun Hendy
Zoe Holland (Herald): Professor Nick Wilson not surprised with rise in daily case numbers
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Daily case numbers on ‘upwards trajectory’, could peak ‘significantly higher’ than 200 a day – Chris Hipkins
George Heagney (Stuff): Expert urges higher immunisation: ‘Living alongside Covid a myth’ 
Derek Cheng (Herald): Virus ‘the new normal’ – expert hits out at Govt’s approach
1 News: Hipkins: Tuesday’s 94 Covid cases ‘sobering’ but could have been worse
Teuila Fuatai (Herald): Why we need to embrace the Covid middle ground (paywalled)
RNZ: Checkpoint: ‘Covid-19 is on the doorstep’ – Henare’s stark warning to Māori
Anna Whyte (1 News): Māori vaccine rollout saw ‘lack of strong leadership’ by some DHBs – Henare
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Time for Cabinet to wake up on Māori vaccination
Craig Ashworth (Local Democracy Reporting): Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says Government should ‘get out of the way’ and let Māori fix vaccination gap
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer (Herald): Māori crucially missing out with Government’s centralised response (paywalled)
RNZ: Home isolation progressed without Māori or Pacific clinical leadership consulation – Pasifika GP network chair
Tess McClure (Guardian): New Zealand Covid cases rise to new record as young people bear brunt of infections
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Australia-based Kiwi epidemiologist Tony Blakely adamant COVID vaccination targets will see Auckland out of lockdown by Christmas
Kerre McIvor (Newstalk ZB): The Government plumbed new lows in yesterday’s conference
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): Yesterday’s press conference was disingenuous and plain cruel
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): The drip feeding of the Covid plan is a disgrace
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): The wheels have started to come off for the Government
Siobhan Downes (Stuff): What you need to know before making your Christmas plans
Stuff: Level 3 likely over by Christmas, Jacinda Ardern says, but should Aucklanders plan to travel?
RNZ: Covid-19 wrap: Daily cases reach record high, Waiheke Island records first case

National Party Covid-19 strategy
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): National says it would end lockdown by December 1, boost ICU capacity
1 News: National sets vaccine target to end Covid lockdowns
Bridie Witton (Stuff): National blasts Government for withholding lockdown vaccination target before announcement, won’t say its own target
Derek Cheng (Herald): National leader Judith Collins demands Govt release vax targets now, then refuses to release her own until tomorrow
RNZ: Jacinda Ardern ‘treated New Zealanders like children’ – Judith Collins

Vaccine passports, mandatory vaccination
Andrew Mayfield (RNZ): Vaccine passports: Government must focus on ‘equity, privacy and security’
John Lewis (ODT): Vax cert caution urged
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Govt consulting hospitality industry on introducing vaccine passports ahead of Friday COVID-19 plan announcement – Jacinda Ardern
Ben Strang (Stuff): Ministry of Health hasn’t sought legal advice on introduction of vaccine certificates
Emily Brookes (Stuff): Everybody’s talking about… vaccination certificates
Laura Hooper (Stuff): Government considering different settings for unvaccinated in new framework
Susan Hornsby-Geluk (Stuff): When it’s not OK to ask employees about their Covid-19 vaccination status
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Giles Dexter (Newshub): Union representing St John implores Government to clarify ‘high-risk health worker’ as COVID vaccine mandate order yet to be released
Katy Jones (Stuff): Schools await guidance on vaccine mandate
Dubby Henry (Herald): Vaccine mandate – quarter of early childcare workers surveyed say they’re ‘very likely’ to leave
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Government extends vaccine mandate to all prison staff
Herald: Corrections National Commissioner welcomes staff vaccine mandate
1 News: All prison staff must get Covid vaccines by December
Nadine Porter (Stuff): Doctor who ran mask campaign quits after refusing mandated vaccine
John Anthony (Stuff): Sanford makes Covid-19 vaccination compulsory for fishing crews
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Spark tells staff they may need Covid jab as MediaWorks joins early movers

Vaccine rollout
Morgan Godfery (Guardian): In Kawerau one thing impedes the effort to vaccinate Māori: New Zealand’s history
Eric Crampton (Offsetting Behaviour): Held to ransom by the unvaccinated
RNZ: Auckland Mayor Phil Goff on vaccination target: ‘We can’t wait for the last reluctant person’
NIta Blake-Persen (RNZ): Whangārei doctor warns of low-vaccine risk as hospitals face surge
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Whānau Ora says 90 per cent of Māori would be vaccinated if Government had used its plan
Maxine Jacobs (Stuff): Vaccination campaign targeting young Māori ready to roll but promised funds yet to arrive
Rukuwai Tipene-Allen (Māori TV): PM defensive over Māori vaccination resourcing
1 News: Māori Party ‘appalled’ Tairāwhiti residents had to fundraise to access Covid jabs
Jody O’Callaghan (Stuff): Covid-19 vaccines at schools: An imposition or making the most of a ‘captive audience’
Anna Whyte (1 News): Third vaccine dose for immunocompromised Kiwis recommended
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Third dose of Covid-19 vaccine recommended for immunocompromised people
Jane Nixon (1 News): Govt poised to make changes as vaccinated workers stood down for not having Pfizer
Katie Bradford (1 News): Construction worker urges Kiwis to get vaccinated after hospital battle with Covid
Tony Wall (Stuff): ‘Tell the mayor to get vaccinated’: Sandra Goudie won’t take the Pfizer vaccine, and won’t say why
Justin Latif (Local Democracy Reporting): Meet the city councillor using KFC and comedy to get Auckland vaccinated

Auckland, Waikato, Northland
Lucy Xia (Stuff): Northland iwi checkpoints moving further south as Auckland cases surge
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Auckland should keep regional boundary ‘as long as possible’ to protect country
Sam Olley (RNZ): Ngāti Whātua defends border after Harawira criticism
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Principals, teachers and students await decision on Auckland schools
Tim Watkin (Pundit): The Picnic Period: A Sign Of Our Covid Times
Charlotte Muru-Lanning (Spinoff): I’m an Aucklander, I hate lockdown, and I want Auckland to go back to level four
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): In Auckland, the rule of law has given way to the rule of Wellington bureaucrats
Lana Andelane (Newshub): McDonald’s Queen St branch encouraged staff not to call in sick days before Auckland entered lockdown

Cases, demographics
Stuff: Bulk of new community cases aged 39 or under
Vandhna Bhan (1 News): Covid case ‘frustrated’ at lack of support, unsure when she’ll be taken to MIQ
Hannah Martin (Stuff): 94 new cases in Delta community outbreak, largest daily case total
1 News: Officials concerned at ‘high positivity rate’ of Covid cases on North Shore – Ardern
Scott Yeoman (Stuff): Seven new community cases of Covid-19 in Waikato – the highest daily total in the past week
RNZ: Checkpoint: Waiheke Covid case travelled from Auckland after getting test
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Positive case on Waiheke Island a close contact of existing case
Emma Russell (Herald): Positive Waiheke Island case travelled by ferry, isolating at their home
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): 94 more cases

Auckland party, anti-lockdown protest, alert level compliance, rules
Herald: Brian Tamaki avoids breach of bail charge for now
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Brian Tamaki claims to have escaped charges after second protest, police say investigation ongoing
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Winston Peters apologises to Harry Tam over Northland allegation
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Winston Peters apologises for alleging Harry Tam link with Northland Covid-19 case
Anna Whyte (1 News): Winston Peters apologises to Mongrel Mob’s Harry Tam after border breach allegation
Thomas Day (1 News): Witnesses to North Shore house party fear it will become spreader event
Herald Editorial: Partygoers sought attention – that’s what they got (paywalled)
Elizabeth Binning (Herald): Landlord yet to decide what will happen to tenants of North Shore party house
Madeleine Chapman (Spinoff): The North Shore lockdown party, reviewed by someone who didn’t attend

NZ border, MIQ, immigration
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Immigration lawyer calls for Covid-19 vaccination to be a condition of visas
RNZ: College of Midwives joins call for pregnant women to be allocated MIQ spots
Ian Taylor (Herald):  On how to end the MIQ lottery for most returning Kiwis (paywalled)

Testing
RNZ: The Detail: The lowdown on rapid antigen tests
Anne Wyllie (Spinoff): The golden drool: What makes saliva testing special in the fight against Covid-19

Environment, climate change, conservation
Andrea Vance (Stuff): This Is How It Ends: Endangered young Antipodean albatross killed by foreign fishing vessel
Andrea Vance (Stuff): This Is How It Ends: ’39 wing beats from extinction’ 
Andrea Vance (Stuff): This Is How It Ends: Extinct within our lifetime, so why is it so hard to save some species?
James Renwick (Herald): Open letter to New Zealanders – We all need to act now on climate change
Zane Small (Newshub): Climate Change Minister James Shaw defends COP26 Glasgow trip
Nathan Cooper (The Conversation): How the new human right to a healthy environment could accelerate New Zealand’s action on climate change
Tess McClure (Guardian): Environmentalists argue Peter Thiel’s luxury NZ lodge will ‘destroy’ lake landscape
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Revealed: Where you won’t be able to build in Wellington due to flood risk
Kate Green (Stuff): Flood protection ramps up with sea-level rise of 1.35m predicted in next 100 years

Personal finance, financial hardship
Janet McAllister (CPAG): The Government’s response to lockdown hardship has piecemeal and inadequate compared to 2020. Why?
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Digital divide, food costs hit hard for some families after long lockdown
RNZ: KiwiSaver withdrawals on the rise as lockdowns cause financial hardship

Inflation
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Inflation not embedded. Yet (paywalled)
Madison Reidy (Newshub): New Zealanders’ wages failing to keep up with rate of inflation
David Hargreaves (Interest): Our inflation battle just got very complicated
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Inflation shock: Rising prices likely to stay for a while – economist
Michael Reddell (Croaking Cassandra): Inflation and monetary policy
RNZ: ANZ economists revise forecasts, expect Reserve Bank to raise official cash rate rapidly over next year
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Inflation shock may hit mortgage holders hard and soon

Economy, business, Wage subsidy
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Consumer NZ and food suppliers urge MPs to back supermarket reforms
RNZ: Some companies post positive trading updates despite Covid-19 lockdowns
Herald: Auckland tourism employers ‘worried senseless’ (paywalled)
NBR: Fletcher chair seeks ‘rational, risk-based approach’ on Covid (paywalled)
RNZ: Ethical fashion report puts five NZ brands in top 20
Karen Coltman (Stuff): ‘Great resignation’ coming to NZ: More people ponder quitting their job
Anan Zaki (RNZ): Commerce Commission looks into Harvey Norman and LG Electronics
RNZ: Small business owners bogged down by admin, survery finds
Hanna McCallum and Amber Allott (Stuff): Cantabrians encouraged to ‘make the most’ of Cup and Show week, just not in person
Jennifer Eder (Stuff): Moteliers no longer ‘loath’ to take ‘lifeline’ guests on emergency housing grants
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): ‘People are at their breaking point’, says Govt-funded service (paywalled)

Employment, workplace safety
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Firefighters say they were exposed to asbestos in Ponsonby and Onehunga incidents
Tina Morrison (Stuff): Silver Fern Farms lifts minimum pay to attract and retain staff
RNZ: Defence Force goes back to court over death of SAS soldier
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Company and director fined $155,000 after parts of worker’s fingers amputated following metal press injury
RNZ: The Detail: Minding the Gap on equal pay
Linda Clark (Newsroom): What will it take to close the pay gap?
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): DHB nurses gain big wage boost but others miss out
Anuja Nadkarni (Newsroom): Why lockdown will accelerate NZ’s ‘big quit’

Education
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Prinicpals considering options as exam fears loom for students
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Schools losing students during lockdown, expect some won’t return this year

Health system
RNZ: Delay calculating Māori health services compensation risks compounding prejudices – Waitangi Tribunal
Justin Latif (Local Democracy Reporting): Anti-alcohol campaigners call for end to Auckland bottle stores’ ugly signs
Te Aorewa Rolleston (RNZ): Smear Your Mea campaigners disappointed by health ministry’s proposal for new programme
Rukuwai Tipene-Allen (Māori TV): Study predicts spike in Māori dementia

Media
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): MediaWorks to bring news reporting back in-house
Anan Zaki (RNZ): Newshub proposes to make radio reporter roles redundant
National Geographic: Calling All Aspiring Magazine Journalists in Aotearoa

Local government, Three Waters
Tim Newman (Stuff): Councillors opt for two wards plus Māori ward for Nelson
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Wellington councillor says staff were ‘undemocratic’ for checking on potential library conflict
Devon Bolger (Herald): Wizard of New Zealand to continue duties without pay after contract cancelled
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington’s Freyberg Pool potentially earthquake-prone
No Right Turn: The Entrust election
Matthew Ronsenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Unconsented sign reported to council must come down, but mayor might step in
Felix Desmarais (Local Democracy Reporting): Rotorua tops the list for most noise complaints about single premise

Foreign affairs and trade
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Afghanistan evacuation: From ‘not feasible’ to underway within days
Herald: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to open APEC CEO Summit
Sally Murphy (RNZ): Changes to dairy product names likely needed for EU trade deal – minister

Other
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): How is Labour doing four years in?
Andre Chumko (Stuff): Aotearoa’s rainbow communities to be formally quantified
Katie Harris (Herald): New Zealand’s 2023 census first to collect gender and sexual identity data
Rob Stock (Stuff): NZ Super Fund ends campaign to reform Facebook, Alphabet and Twitter in the wake of the Christchurch terror attack
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Years more supply chain pain for construction
Herald: PM defends staffer’s role in wedding plans, says they worked hard to follow the rules
RNZ: Erebus memorial site preparation begins
1 News: New Governor General Dame Cindy Kiro meets the Queen