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

Vaccine mandate
Derek Cheng (Herald): Why Jacinda Ardern has done a u-turn and wants two classes of Kiwis (paywalled)
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Jacinda Ardern changes tack towards compulsory vaccination (paywalled)
John Minto (Daily Blog): This is wrong
ODT Editorial: Time for some deep breaths
Tim Black (Spiked-Online): Saint Jacinda’s halo has slipped
Jody O’Callaghan (Stuff): Human Rights Commission reviewing implications of Covid-19 traffic light system, vaccination certificates 
Henry Burrell (BusinessDesk): Five things we need to know about vaccine certificates (paywalled)
Anuja Nadkarni (Newsroom): Vaccine mandate terminations raise potential worker’s rights issues
Bridie Witton and Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Sweeping vaccine mandate to cover 40 per cent of workforce
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): MIQ, schools, and vax mandates on list of sweeping Covid reforms
Amelia Wade (Newshub): 40 pct of New Zealand’s workforce faces mandatory vaccination as Government announces sweeping changes
Jordan Bond (RNZ): Business owners welcome workplace vaccination mandates
Esther Taunton and Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Vaccine mandate for hospitality and ‘close contact’ workers welcomed
Andrea Fox (Herald): Govt business vaccine mandate gets thumbs-up from Auckland Inc
Riley Kennedy (ODT): Businesses back new mandate: more workers must get vaccinated
Amber Allott and Jake Kenny (Stuff): Government’s vaccine mandate no surprise for business owners
Rahul Bhattarai (Herald): Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Businesses welcome vaccine certificates for retail and hospitality
1 News: Financial support won’t be affected by vaccination status – Ardern
1 News: Govt in talks about mandating Covid-19 jabs for more workers
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Government to extend vaccine mandates to businesses requiring vaccine certification
Anna Whyte (1 News): Workers must be vaccinated in businesses that will require vaccine certificates to enter
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): No jab, no job – Govt extends vaccine mandate to around 40% of the workforce
1 News and RNZ: Michael Baker calls for ban on unvaccinated domestic flyers
Thomas Bywater (Herald): Kiwi adventure tour operator’s vaccine mandate for domestic bookings
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Richard Harman (Politik): National’s nod to the anti-vaxers (paywalled)
Matthew Hooton (Patreon): Simon Bridges owes everything to Todd Muller (paywalled)
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Collins denounces ‘two-class system’, but won’t rule out vaccine certificates
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Judith Collins says she is against Government creating ‘two-class system’ but still supports vaccine certificates
Zane Small (Newshub): National’s Judith Collins wants COVID-19 vaccine certificates ditched after 90 pct target is reached

Delta outbreak, Govt management
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Auckland hospitals may start discharging COVID-positive patients as system reaches ‘tipping point’
RNZ: Nine to Noon: Sir David Skegg on traffic light system and reopening NZ
1 News: Level 3 ‘not enough’ to contain Delta, says Siouxsie Wiles
Lana Andelane and Caitlin Ellis (Newshub): Case numbers will continue ‘going up’ as outbreak enters ‘growth phase’, R-value indicates infections will double every 10-12 days – expert
Dion O’Neale, Emily Harvey, James Gilmour, Steven Turnbull (The Conversation): New Zealanders are super-connected. When restrictions lift in Auckland, it won’t take much to amplify Delta’s spread
Steven Cowan (Against the Current): The Labour government is leaving the most vulnerable exposed to the Delta virus
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Traffic light system has New Zealand going nowhere
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Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Time to devolve some power from the 1pm pulpit
Roger Partridge (Herald):  Is the Govt’s plan a road map or an impenetrable maze? (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: Opening up to a post-Covid life (paywalled)
Zane Small (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addresses video of her ‘bumping’ sign language interpreter that’s gone global
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RNZ: Covid-19 today: New vaccine mandate, students return and worries of spread
Farah Hancock (RNZ): Covid-19 data visualisations: NZ in numbers

Vaccine rollout
John Tamihere (Stuff): Vaccine rollout delivers first-class treatment for mainstream, second-class treatment for Māori
Jamie Tahana (RNZ): Refusal to give Māori vaccination details Treaty breach, High Court told
Stuff: Ministry’s ‘wait and see’ view of Māori vaccination, court told
Brent Edwards (NBR): Shane Jones fears Māori will be blamed (paywalled)
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Ngarewa-Packer: “I’m not about to allow anyone to die”
Eric Crampton (Offsetting Behaviour): Vax for kids
Jin Russell (Spinoff): Our children cannot be vaccinated for Covid-19. Here’s how we can best protect them
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): Waikato mayors pan DHB vaccination plans
Melanie Earley (Stuff): All but one Auckland councillor says they’re fully vaccinated
Luisa Girao (ODT): Marcus Lush urges council action on vaccinations
Jordan Green and Jess Berentson Shaw (RNZ): Supporting Māori-led Covid-19 vaccination conversations
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Labour Day New Zealand’s lowest day for vaccinations in months
Bill Ralston (Listener/Herald): Vaccinations get harder as we encounter the stubborn (paywalled)
Grant Miller (ODT): DHB member voiced ‘grave concerns’ about jab mandate
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1 News: Auckland’s vaccination sprint: 11,000 people to achieve 90% first dose

Anti-vaxxers
Lana Andelane (Newshub): ‘Hīkoi of Truth’ march from Rotorua to Waitangi condemned by iwi, Dame Naida Glavish, Hone Harawira for ‘unhelpful’ timing, anti-vaccination stance
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): ‘Go home and behave’: National leader Judith Collins unleashes on anti-lockdown hīkoi
Peter de Graaf (Northern Advocate): Border-breaching hīkoi ‘a scam’ – Harawira
Luke Kirkness (Herald): Police block protesters as hīkoi arrives at Auckland border
1 News: Police ready to halt overnight cross-border hīkoi
Sharnae Hope (Stuff): No-Pfizer mayor stands alone against councillors’ pro-jab move
Ben Leahy (Herald): Former TV host Liz Gunn explains comments she made about Jacinda Ardern
Steve Braunias (Herald):  Loyal to Dave Dobbyn after anti-vaccine Twitter witch hunt (paywalled)
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Should we retire the term ‘anti-vaxxer’?

MIQ, NZ border
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Why the Government should ditch MIQ for fully vaccinated in Auckland
RNZ: PM denies aligning MIQ changes with rumoured EU trip
Anneke Smith (RNZ): MIQ shake-up offers hope for stranded expats
Russell Palmer (RNZ): More MIQ capacity for travellers and community cases ‘within weeks’ – Hipkins
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Chris Hipkins says shorter MIQ stays could be in place within weeks
Duncan Garner (NBR): Time to shut up the MIQ shop (paywalled)
Amber Allott (Stuff): ‘He deserves better’: Woman denied MIQ exemption to visit dying dad
Jane Nixon (1 News): Kiwi ICU doctor in MIQ twice denied exemption to visit dying grandfather
RNZ: Checkpoint: Grounded Kiwis pitches self isolation system for returnees
Lane Nichols (Herald): Richlister Murray Bolton goes to court over legality of MIQ system
Robin Martin (RNZ): Kiwi sailors stuck overseas find way to enter New Zealand bypassing MIQ
Jane Phare (Herald): Kiwi diplomat pleads for MIQ space to attend world democracy forum (paywalled)
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Family waiting since July to repatriate father’s body to Niue

Auckland, Northland, Waikato, South Island
Claire Trevett (Herald):  The Prime Minister’s Auckland no-show. Why Ardern should go to Auckland, and why she has not. (paywalled)
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Ardern rejects need to visit Auckland: ‘I have a duty to run the country’
Barry Soper (Herald): Trevor Mallard to blame for PM avoiding Auckland
Ethan Griffiths (Herald): Whanganui DHB hired chilled shipping containers to store bodies (paywalled)
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Auckland’s level 3 steps stay until traffic lights come in
Jason Walls (Newstalk ZB): It’s high time for answers on the pair who plunged Northland into lockdown
Denise Piper (Stuff): Northland leaders worry Auckland’s border could keep the region an island indefinitely
RNZ: Iwi call for alert level 3 in Te Tai Tokerau
Nikki Preston (Herald): ‘Underbelly of Te Awamutu’ blamed for being stuck in ‘level 3 hell’ – local councillor
Chloe Blommerde (Stuff): Level 2 still possible for Waikato before 90 per cent vaccination, leaders say
Emma Hatton (RNZ): Waikato clinics see rise in vaccine bookings as cases surge

Cases, demographics
1 News: Average age for Covid-19 hospitalisations drops to 38 in last fortnight
Scott Palmer (Newshub): Average age of hospitalisations in NZ plummeting
Māori TV: 500 new Māori Covid cases projected this week – Dr Rawiri Taonui
1 News: Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei encourages testing after infected visitor to home
Matai O’Connor (RNZ): Ōrākei kaumātua on alert after postive case visits whānau
RNZ: South Island works to stop spread after Blenheim Covid case

Education
RNZ: Grant Robertson says government ‘confident’ with partial return to school in alert level 3
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Auckland primary principals relieved to remain shut
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Concerns vaccination rates among students, staff not high enough to warrant schools reopening
Dubby Henry (Herald): Teacher testing delays keep Hamilton’s Hillcrest High School closed
1 News: Teachers on ‘spectrum of anxiety’ about return to school in Auckland
Katie Todd (RNZ): Excitement and nerves for students returning to school
Marika Khabazi and Louise Ternouth (RNZ): Some Auckland senior students return, while younger years wait for news
Helen Harvey (Stuff): Educational psychologists want better pay, improved conditions, increased workforce
Wyatt Ryder (ODT): Uniform policy shift gives pupils more choice

Rules, compliance
1 News: Over a dozen infringement notices issued to North Shore partygoers
Maia Hart (Stuff): Sex workers accused of lockdown breach get pro bono offer, court hears
Lucy Xia (Stuff): Aunt of 8-year-old boy who died of cancer makes desperate plea for funeral exemption

Immigration
RNZ: Afghan woman waiting for refugee visa not in priority group – Immigration Minister
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Afghan woman waiting for refugee visa told Immigration not processing offshore applications
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Doctor excluded from one-off residence visa says govt change ‘makes no sense’

Parliament, Parties, MMP
Richard Prebble (Herald):  Political parties don’t last forever – can Simon Bridges save National? (paywalled)
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): A challenge for readers
RNZ: The Detail: Today’s politicians – the slings, the arrows, the death threats

Environment, climate change, conservation
David Williams (Newsroom): ‘World-leading’ Covid response exposes climate failure
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): World, NZ not doing enough to limit global warming to ‘safe’ levels
George Driver (Spinoff): The no-bullshit guide to NZ’s emissions record as James Shaw heads to Glasgow
Jamie Morton (Herald): NZ is being transformed, but have we noticed? (paywalled)
Simon Wilson (Herald): Climate change conference 2021: Glasgow Diary – October 27 (paywalled)
No Right Turn: Climate Change: Make the dairy industry pay their way
RNZ: Reserve Bank outlines climate risk strategy
Tess McClure (Guardian): Bat ‘winning by quite a lot’ in New Zealand’s Bird of the Year contest

Local government, Three Waters
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Three waters reforms, complex, with conflicting incentives – advice (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): All or nothing: Govt to brook no exceptions to Three Waters reforms
Jordan Williams (Taxpayers’ Union): It’s no wonder local councils are rebelling against LGNZ
Evan Harding (Stuff): Invercargill councillors vote to pay mana whenua representatives $34,000
Felix Desmarais (Local Democracy reporting): ‘Amateurish’ council communications on public safety issues blasted
Grant Miller (ODT): DCC desire to run buses roadblocked
RNZ: Estimated 3000 buildings need checking as identifying earthquake-prone buildings in Dunedin begins
Adam Blackwell (Stuff): Legal action launched against Horowhenua council over subdivision
1 News: Wellington Paranormal officer joins search for bucket missing from iconic sculpture

Health
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): ACC staff posted clients’ details to Snapchat group
Kim Moodie (RNZ): Govt mental wellbeing plan will have little effect unless developed further – experts
Natalie Akoorie (Stuff): Waikato DHB failed OIA requirements over cyber security breach – Ombudsman
Chris Keall (Herald): NZ firm snubbed by Waikato DHB is celebrated in US for foiling ransomware attackers (paywalled)
Emma Russell (Herald): Fighting for patients killed after failed healthcare – law change proposed
Jane Matthews (Stuff): Taranaki in-home carers feeling stuck as concerns ‘swept under the carpet’

Economy, business, Wage subsidy
David Williams (Newsroom): Review raises doubts over wage subsidy checks
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): E tū and First Union repay $1.6m wage subsidies, Unite says it can’t
Emma Vitz (Spinoff): Which jobs have the highest risk factors for Covid transmission?
Charlotte Muru-Lanning (Spinoff): Could government-funded vouchers help ease the hospitality industry’s woes?
Ernie Newman (Herald): Supermarket duopoly-breaking goes up a notch (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Supermarkets agree to submit to supplier code but defend home brands 
Chris Keall (Herald): Investor Simon Moutter’s message to the Govt as Designer Wardrobe closes stores (paywalled)

Employment
Bruce Munro (ODT): Fair’s fair
Daniel Smith (Stuff): Employers dodge $500 million bullet as Court of Appeal rules bonuses not to be included in holiday pay
RNZ: Businesses relieved as Court of Appeal overturns ruling on short-term incentive payments
Michael Andrew (BusinessDesk): How can employers close the ethnic pay gap? (paywalled)
Daniel King, Brent Burmester & Christina Stringer (Herald): Social practice audits will not prevent worker exploitation (paywalled

Housing
Liz McDonald (Stuff): Heated housing market may contribute to development incentive scheme being scrapped
Bernard Orsman (Herald): National and Labour’s radical new housing policy will create resentment in communities warns Act leader David Seymour
Georgina Campbell (Herald): A Capital Letter: Sorry councils, the time for consultation is over- we need more houses (paywalled)
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): Why anti-NIMBY move could see more ‘sausage flats’ (paywalled)

Trade
Jane Kelsey (The Conversation): Old wine in new bottles – why the NZ-UK free trade agreement fails to confront the challenges of a post-COVID world
Tim Groser (BusinessDesk): UK trade deal reverses an ugly history (paywalled)
Moana Ellis (RNZ): Iwi leaders to drive World Expo’s first ever Festival of Indigenous and Tribal Ideas

Foreign affairs
Stuff: Helen Clark takes aim at Aukus, urges rich nations to act over ‘disgraceful’ vaccine inequity
AP: Turkey lifts threat to expel Western ambassadors, including NZ’s
Anthony Galloway (Stuff): New Zealand could join Aukus security pact to boost cyber technologies

Primary industries
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Groundswell’s Mother Of All Protests will go ahead despite Covid-19 restrictions
Tina Morrison and Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Fonterra dairy farmers on track for record milk price; with $13b economic boost
RNZ: Fonterra farmers to get one of biggest milk price payouts yet
Nona Pelletier (RNZ): Log exports to peak before dropping more than a third within decade – Forsyth Barr
Riley Kennedy (ODT): Export log shortage expected

Child welfare, Oranga Tamariki
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Te Oranga to stay open after investigation into whistleblower video – no evidence tamariki unsafe
Rukuwai Tipene-Allen (Māori TV): Oranga Tamariki backpedals on closure of Christchurch youth home
Melanie Reid and Bonnie Sumner (Newsroom): Reprieve for OT centre where abuse occurred

Other
Aaron Smale (Guardian): ‘They created monsters’: How New Zealand’s brutal welfare system produced criminals
Chlöe Swarbrick (Herald):  NZ paying Covid price for structurally unfair political system
Daniel Dunkley (BusinessDesk): Sean Plunket on The Platform: ‘I’m not building a Fox News’ (paywalled)
Meng Foon (Stuff):  Why we need affirmative action for minority groups
Michelle Duff (Stuff): Firefighters want answers on ‘botched’ sexual misconduct investigation
Māori TV: Activists to occupy Te Papa; demand Te Tiriti replacement
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): The case against Facebook
RNZ: Labour weekend road toll equal worst in a decade
Aroha Mane (Māori TV): Tauranga Moana mourn the loss of community leaders
Jo Lines-MacKenzie (Stuff): Cost of Waikeria Prison riot revealed to be in the millions, says MP
Claire Breen and Katrina Roen (The Conversation): Intersex children routinely undergoing unnecessary surgery – that needs to change
Te Aorewa Rolleston (RNZ): Wellington iwi trust criticised for slow progress on member registrations