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
Environment, climate change, conservation
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Climate change target nowhere near as ambitious as it sounds
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): New Paris target might actually reduce emissions, a bit
Richard Harman (Politik): Shaw to buy his way out of the climate crisis (paywalled)
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Dawn Chorus: The performance art of climate change announcements (paywalled)
Henry Cooke and Mandy Te (Stuff): New Zealand increases climate pledge, aims to cut emissions by 50 per cent by 2030
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Climate change conference: Emissions to be cut by 50 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030
1 News: Ardern, Shaw pledge further cut to greenhouse emissions
Guardian: New Zealand pledges to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030
Steven Cowan (Against the Current): Climate Change: Creative accountancy from Jacinda Ardern and James Shaw
Matthew Hooton |(Patreon): Ardern’s incompetent and ineffectual climate virtue signalling
Rod Oram (Newsroom): COP26 opens with prayer and hope
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): COP26: The main issues and what role New Zealand plays
Nathan Cooper (The Conversation): COP26: time for New Zealand to show regional leadership on climate change
Bronwyn Hayward (Stuff): Looking ahead to Glasgow, let’s not curb our enthusiasm
Gwynne Dyer (Stuff): Looking for the pain threshold: Why COP26 won’t deliver
Bruce Munro (ODT): Last best chance
Herald editorial: Agent James Shaw on a mission at Glasgow COP 26 (paywalled)
Grace Savage (Herald): Thousands of reasons for climate action urgency on our doorstep (paywalled)
Rod Carr (Stuff): Whatever comes from COP26, the time for waiting to save Earth has passed
Steven Cowan (Against the Current): COP26: Ecosocialism not extinction
George Laking (Spinoff): Be braver about climate change, New Zealand
Belyndar Maonia Rikimani (RNZ): COP26: Pacific calling for more ambitious climate action
Rod Oram (Newsroom): What about nature and biodiversity?
Simon Wilson (Herald): Glasgow Diary – November 1 (paywalled)
Simon Wilson (Herald): Glasgow Diary – October 30 (paywalled)
John Roughan (Herald): On climate change: Covid numbers are up but so is the temperature (paywalled)
Eva Corlett (Guardian): Rebuild or relocate? Climate crisis leaves New Zealand coastal communities facing tough choice
Tess McClure (Guardian): Forced retreat: one New Zealand town’s fate highlights coming fight over climate adaptation
Jack Santa Barbara (Newsroom): Renewables a placebo for climate change
Eric Crampton (Stuff): Want to cut carbon emissions? Simple. Make it pay off for investors
Jamie Tahana (RNZ): Bay of Plenty iwi champion indigenous perspective on climate change
RNZ: Electricity sector has reached peak coal use, Genesis shareholders told
Geoff Hunt (Herald): No silver bullet for aviation’s emissions problem (paywalled)
Jamie Morton (Herald): Warming water: Is another intense marine heatwave coming?
Andrea Vance (Stuff): This Is How It Ends: The long fight of the river people
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Farmer protest group keen to meet Jacinda Ardern for answers on new rules
Cherie Sivignon (Stuff): Greenpeace launches mail-in service for nitrate water testing
Reweti Kohere (Spinoff): Man dressed as cow arrested for chalk message to Fonterra
Parliament
Michael Ashcroft: Post-Covid questions are piling up for Jacinda Ardern
Kirsty Wynn (Herald): Lord Ashcroft’s New Zealand poll ‘Living the Kiwi Dream?’ Q&A
Kirsty Wynn (Herald): Lord Ashcroft’s New Zealand poll ‘Living the Kiwi Dream?’ reveals frustration growing
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Where has Jacinda Ardern, the great communicator gone?
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Labour without Jacinda Ardern is unthinkable – but that’s just what the party is doing
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Grant Robertson plays sheepdog to get things moving (paywalled)
Claire Trevett (Herald): Government muscling on Covid, Auckland, and Three Waters (paywalled)
Janet Wilson (Stuff): This week shows not all political flip-flops are created equal
Steven Joyce (Herald): The sound of Labour’s wheels coming off (paywalled)
Jon Johansson (Stuff): Asking good questions – and avoiding groupthink – can you lead you to the optimal choice
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Week in Politics: Brute force and breathtaking determination
1 News: Ardern shares photo to celebrate Robertson’s 50th birthday
Carolyne Meng-Yee (Herald): Jacinda Ardern’s wedding: Stoush over wild venison, fresh seafood, jilted venue owner claims
Herald: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gives Wonder Woman a right telling off
Govt management, Delta outbreak, cases
1News: Hendy says Level 4 should be considered for Auckland
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expects cases to rise further, reach peak of daily infections ‘soon’
1News: Easing Auckland restrictions could endanger health system – Hendy
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Increase in cases expected, Auckland should remain under current restrictions – experts
RNZ: Covid-19 cases: ‘Not at all surprising that case numbers are increasing’
William Hewett (Newshub): Public health specialist warns Kiwis COVID-19 cases will continue to rise after Saturday’s record tally
Māori TV: Better protections for Māori and Pasifika before ‘Freedom Day’ – Māori pandemic group
Lawrence Gullery (Stuff): Hamilton hopes for green light to move into Auckland’s Covid-19 traffic light system
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Caution urged as Auckland eyes alert level move; virus spreads to Ngāruawāhia
Tom Dillane (Herald): Contact tracers to ‘prioritise’ new cases based on risk
Lawrence Gullery (Stuff): Hamilton hopes for green light to move into Auckland’s Covid-19 traffic light system
Tracy Watkins (Stuff): An early Christmas gift for Aucklanders
RNZ: National calls for royal commission into Delta response
Mike Munro (Herald): Longing for ‘normal’? It’s not that simple (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: High Delta case numbers but the Covid risk is not evenly shared (paywalled)
Heather Du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Jacinda Ardern must visit Auckland (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: Small steps in the right direction (paywalled)
Paul Lewis (Herald): The case against Sir Russell Coutts’ ‘freedom’ cry (paywalled)
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of The Delta Force (paywalled)
Melanie Earley (Stuff): ‘It was a nightmare’: Last time a pandemic swept Auckland, ‘death trains’ were needed to clear the bodies
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RNZ: Rise in fake vaxx bookings, case numbers jump, travel mandates criticised
Harkanwal Singh (Spinoff): The Spinoff Covid tracker: the live graphs that tell the story of delta in Aotearoa
Vaccine rollout
Matt Nippert (Herald): The jab: The full, inside story of New Zealand’s vaccine rollout (paywalled)
RNZ: Vaccinated Aucklanders should have more freedoms – Des Gorman
Jane Nixon (1 News): Baker says NZ ‘can’t afford to wait’ for Pfizer alternatives
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Double Vaxxed impatience vs unvaccinated paranoia – Jacinda’s balancing act
Amy Ridout and Melanie Earley (Stuff): When will New Zealand approve Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children 5 to 11?
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): Should we vaccinate the kids?
Lana Andelane and Dan Satherley (Newshub): David Seymour says Govt should skip Medsafe process and approve vaccine for kids
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Auckland GP wants unused COVID-19 vaccines used as boosters for frontline health staff
Joe Pinkstone (Stuff): Pfizer booster jab reduces risk of Covid-19 hospitalisation by 93%
Marc Wilson (Listener/Herald): Do scare tactics push people to do the right thing? (paywalled)
Maxine Jacobs (Stuff): Low vaccine rates a symptom of health system failures and incomplete data
Deborah Dunsford (Newsroom): Taking health services to Māori: learning from the past
RNZ: The Detail: A tale of two Māori vaccination rollouts
Florence Kerr (Stuff): How mistrust shadows the roll-out in a time of crisis
Imogen Wells (1 News): Taranaki DHB boss hits back at Māori vaccination rate criticism
Khylee Quince (Stuff): Calls for Māori Covid-19 vaccination targets prompt a question: Who, or what are Māori?
Nick Truebridge (RNZ): Checkpoint: Vaccine rollout needed more iwi, community involvement – Ōtara locals
Laura James (1 News): Push continues to see more Māori vaccinated in Auckland
Herald: New Zealand hits two ‘vaccination milestones’ as daily numbers rise
Māori TV: National calls out government’s ‘poor’ Māori vaccination strategy
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Auckland councillor worried after three ‘intimidating men’ threaten to vandalise car
1 News: Shock and sadness as Auckland medical clinic vandalised
Qiuyi Tan (Herald): Auckland vaccination centre hit by vandals
Anuja Nadkarni (Newsroom): Overstayers deterred from jab after ID requests at vaccination centres
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Infected anti-vaxxer regrets not getting vaccinated
1 News: Vaccination event targeting tradies hailed a success
Herald: Auckland GP says vaccine booster shots for frontline workers ‘urgently’ needed
1 News: Rotorua gang members roll up sleeves for Covid vaccine
RNZ: Disability advocates push for increased efforts to up vaccination rates
1 News: Collins joins previously sceptical woman getting first jab
Christopher Baker and Andrew Robinson (Stuff): Your unvaccinated friend is roughly 20 times more likely to give you Covid
Cecile Meier (Stuff): Pregnant women delaying getting vaccinated playing ‘Russian roulette’
Tina Law (Stuff): Why a woman in one of NZ’s worst-vaccinated areas finally got the jab
Matthew Theunissen (RNZ): The ‘lab in a box’ which determines immunity response
Harkanwal Singh (Spinoff): The vaccination rate for every suburb in New Zealand on an interactive map
RNZ: NZ reaches 75 percent double-vaxxed, 80 percent in Auckland
William Hewett (Newshub): New Zealand reaches 75 pct fully vaccinated
Helen Harvey and Tara Shaskey (Stuff): Taranaki on track for 90 per cent first dose in days
Jane Bowron (Stuff): We have to hold the line, keep the faith and get vaccinated
Mike Kilpatrick (Newsroom): Helen Clark and Jenny Shipley unite to stop rich nations hoarding COVID vaccines
Vaccine mandates and certificate
Simon Connell (Pundit): The Hole In The Vaccine Mandate
Adam Pearse (Herald): DHB Covid guidance scrapped following vaccination mandate
RNZ: Mandatory vaccines needed in community housing – agency
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Mandates and certificates pushing unvaccinated into a corner, as employment opportunities shrink
Damien Grant (Stuff): Human cost to those who do not comply with the Covid-19 vaccine mandate is catastrophic
RNZ: SkyCity isn’t taking a gamble, will only open to vaccinated people
Anne Gibson (Herald): No jab, no entry: SkyCity introduces blanket ban on non-vaccinated (paywalled)
1 News: SkyCity to require vaccine certificates for all visitors
Ben Strang and Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Air New Zealand signals vaccine certificates could be coming for domestic travel
Gerhard Uys (Stuff): Farmers want clarity over vaccine mandates
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Vaccine ‘apartheid’ post could damage business reputation, expert says
Maddisyn Jeffares (Hawkes Bay Today/Herald): Hawke’s Bay tattoo artist says vaccine mandate could push industry underground
Rob Stock (Stuff): Rental property management staff and contractors must be fully vaccinated to work, Crockers says
Anne Gibson (Herald): Top Remuera real estate agent won’t get vaccinated, wear mask: banned from office (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Asia-Pacific business leaders oppose vaccine travel mandate
John Farrow (ODT): Rights and obligations around employee vaccination
Home isolation
1 News: Q + A: Covid-infected mum on battle to get symptomatic kids tested
1 News: Explainer: Rules around isolating at home with Covid
MIQ, NZ border
Jared Savage (Herald): MIQ staff’s safety fears as police flag half of community cases ‘high risk’ (paywalled)
RNZ: Two escape Jet Park quarantine; person isolating at home missing
1 News: Pair with Covid on run for a day after escaping Auckland MIQ
1 News: Picture shows MIQ staff chasing after alleged Covid-positive escapee
Herald: Person required to self-isolate left West Auckland property on Saturday still on the run
1 News: Covid positive man arrested after escaping Auckland MIQ facility
Melanie Earley (Stuff): A man who tested positive for the virus allegedly escaped from an Auckland MIQ facility
RNZ: Man with Covid-19 arrested for absconding from MIQ hotel in Ellerslie
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1 News: Overseas Kiwis angered by MIQ shake-up
Siobhan Downes (Stuff): MIQ makes ‘significant’ change to passport entry requirements
Katie Todd (RNZ): Returnee calls for answers after ‘brutal’ MIQ treatment
Newstalk ZB: Chris Bishop: MIQ facility that had only one guest in it is ridiculous
Kerre McIvor (Herald): The MIQ mess – why we need to dismantle system to end cruelty on families (paywalled)
RNZ: Checkpoint: NZ couple separated from baby son, denied MIQ exemption
Amber Allott (Stuff): Calls for overhaul of ‘inhuman’ MIQ exemption system, after woman misses dad’s death
Ian Taylor (Herald): The risk to our international business and recovery is growing daily (paywalled)
Ben Strang (Stuff): Wellington MIQ hotel had just one occupant for a week
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): Iraqi hairdresser desperate to get family to New Zealand
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): MIQ bureaucrats didn’t protect us, and left the country unprepared for Delta
Evan Harding (Stuff): Business owner: ‘They won’t let me home to run our company’
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Guardian: ‘Road to recovery’: quarantine-free travel from New Zealand to Australia set to resume
RNZ: New Zealanders able to travel to NSW, VIC, quarantine-free
Education
1 News: Two Auckland high schools closed after Covid cases detected
1 News: Covid-positive staff member closes Auckland college
RNZ: Auckland school to close after staffer tests positive
Kate Nicol-Williams (1 News): Low number of Auckland and Waikato students return to school
Dubby Henry (Herald): Auckland primary school return – staggered days may not
Chloe Blommerde (Stuff): Waikato’s Covid border cut off half a school’s staff until the principal got an exemption work, principals say
RNZ: $15m in extra funding to help students get through ‘tumultuous time’
Avina Vidyadharan (Herald): Whangārei student misses out on school because of Covid-19 lockdown alert level changes (paywalled)
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Jimmy Ellingham and Phil Pennington (RNZ): Taihape school rejects Education Ministry’s apology over farm debacle
Protests, Rules, compliance
1 News: Anti-lockdown protests ‘not an expression of freedom’ – Little
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): ‘Disappointing’: Emails reveal scramble to contain lax Covid border checks
Hannah Martin (Stuff): What we do and don’t know about how and when Aucklanders can cross the border
RNZ: ‘White lady in a mint Chrysler’ had correct paper work to cross alert border – police
MIke Kilpatrick (Newshub): Hīkoi of Truth protester boasts being white in a ‘mint Chrysler’ helped her cross Auckland COVID-19 checkpoint, but police say there’s more to it
Herald: Woman claims she was able to cross Auckland border
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Hikoi protestor is another example of compliance being undermined
RNZ: No arrests after thousands breach lockdown restrictions
Herald: Protesters slowing traffic on Auckland’s Dominion Rd
Herald: Police to prosecute after Auckland Domain lockdown protest – Hannah Tamaki decries lost freedoms
1 News: Police to prosecute ‘number of individuals’ at Auckland protest
Stuff: Police will prosecute individuals for protest at Auckland Domain
1 News: Huge anti-lockdown crowd marches through Auckland streets
Cherie Sivignon (Stuff): Police may prosecute over weekend rally at Nelson
Fraser Macdonald (Spinoff): Why Destiny Church and other NZ Pentecostals oppose lockdowns and vaccination
Qiuyi Tan (Herald): Police looking into ‘activity’ at Far North self-isolation address
Hawkes Bay Today: Breach charges after junior Navy sailor allegedly travelled from Auckland to Hawke’s Bay for funeral
Sapeer Mayron (Stuff): Resident unimpressed by response after reporting gatherings on his street
Health system
Matt Nippert (Herald): 5400 cases a week – Auckland hospitals plan for the worst-case
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Infected unvaccinated will pressure health system, cancel surgeries – Andrew Little
Stephen Forbes (Local Democracy Reporting): Middlemore’s new negative pressure rooms unlikely to be in action until 2022
Mike Houlahan (ODT): SDHB plans for Covid worst-case scenario
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Up to 900 weekly cases in Southern worst-case scenario
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Southern DHB 681 surgeries behind
RNZ: Southern DHB debating ways to minimise worst impact of Delta
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Pharmac to fund Covid-19 treatment Ronapreve
1 News: NZ approves new drug to treat severe Covid-19 symptoms
William Hewett (Newshub): Pharmac strikes deal to buy Ronapreve drug to help protect Kiwis fight COVID-19
RNZ: Pharmac signs deal for new drug to fight Covid-19
Corazon Miller (1 News): Nurse shortage feared as Covid cases rise
Selah Hart (Stuff): Covid-19 and cigarettes: Two parallel public health challenges
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Addictions services see spike in relapses, fear people will die in lockdown
Mike Houlahan (ODT): SDHB’s Sept deficit doubles
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Aged-care nurses in short supply
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RNZ: Govt funding to speed up medicinal cannabis industry
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Vaping surging in NZ teens with one-in-five using e-cigarettes daily
Tara Shaskey (Stuff): Traditional Chinese medicine to be regulated under new law
Miriam Burrell (Herald): First responders, Defence Force see homestead retreat as next step in addressing mental health
Sophie Harris (Stuff): Fears elderly, vulnerable will lose healthcare access when shuttle service closes
Euthanasia
Ian Powell (Second Opinion): Euthanasia and palliative care funding: “horribly distorted”
Ben Gray (Public Health Expert): Is Funding Euthanasia a Health Priority for Aotearoa New Zealand: Part 2?
Siobhan Wilson (1 News): Q + A: Auckland hospice prepares for assisted dying
ACC
RNZ: ACC suspends two people for allegedly sharing clients’ data
ODT Editorial: In-depth ACC review needed
Disability ministry
Anneke Smith and Russell Palmer (RNZ): Disability sector cautiously hopeful over new ministry: Time to ‘really start to test big ideas’
Philip Matthews (Stuff): The activist telling the ‘real’ story of disability
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Government announces new Ministry for Disabled People and accessibility law
Laura James (1 News): Govt ministry established for Kiwis with disabilities
Derek Cheng (Herald): ‘A new era’ – Major overhaul of disability support will see new Ministry for Disabled People
Christchurch cases
Kim Moodie (RNZ): Christchurch faces uncertain weekend as Covid-19 cases continue
The Press: Cantabrians on high alert as vaccination rate passes 90 per cent
Ben Leahy (Herald): Christchurch rushes to vaccinate
1 News: New Christchurch Covid case had been released from MIQ
Steven Walton (Stuff): Fifth case in Christchurch ‘likely’ historical, source of Tongan case remains unknown
Tonga case
Jonathan Guildford, Steven Walton and Tina Law (Stuff): Questions linger about Christchurch Covid case that flew to Tonga
RNZ: Covid-19 stirs hurt from 1918 pandemic in Tonga
RNZ: Frontline workers who met NZ flight now in MIQ – Health CEO
1 News: Two contacts of Tonga Covid case travelled to Wellington
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Contacts of Tonga case isolating in Wellington
RNZ: Tongan MIQ positive case reportedly flew in from Christchurch
Guardian: Tonga reports first Covid case since start of pandemic
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): How Tonga’s ‘incredibly wise’ response helped it avoid the pandemic for so long
Economy, business, Wage subsidy
RNZ: Business groups urge PM to relax lockdown restrictions
1 News: Collins visits ‘frustrated’ Auckland business owners
RNZ: Consumer confidence falls as Covid-19 restrictions continue
Louise Ternouth (RNZ): NZ Post overwhelmed by Auckland’s ongoing lockdown
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Inland Revenue fixes resurgence support payment application problem
Grant Bradley (Herald): The Air New Zealand routes that will refuel growth (paywalled)
Mike O’Donnell (Stuff): Time to get in the global amazing race for the tourism dollar
Anne Gibson (Herald): Luck not on SkyCity Entertainment Group’s side: Coronavirus pandemic deals company hard hand (paywalled)
Anne Gibson (Herald): SkyCity Entertainment Group talking to funders, can’t give 2022 financial outlook (paywalled)
Katy Jones (Stuff): Adventure tourism ‘not dying’ say operators as worker shortage hits
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RNZ: Government finances take billion-dollar hit in latest Covid-19 outbreak
Liam Dann (Herald): Hyper-inflation hype – what’s bugging the billionaires? (paywalled)
David McLeish (Herald): The great interest rate debate (paywalled)
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): D-Day for supermarket owners in competition probe (paywalled)
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): What happens when a new supermarket company comes to town?
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): No fishy business: Sealord says it didn’t suggest freezer grab to Foodstuffs
Banks
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): A response to Adrian Orr calling on banks to help the vulnerable
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Orr calls on banks to use their balance sheets to back NZ’s economic recovery
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Do we really need an inquiry into ANZ?
Employment, migrant labour
RNZ: Workplace exploitation of migrants to be investigated in new $50m government inquiry
Reweti Kohere (Spinoff): From brain drain to brain gain – and back again?
Housing
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): More children living in motels as housing crisis unrelenting
Miriam Bell (Stuff): House prices have already exceeded Treasury’s 2025 forecast
Anan Zaki (RNZ): Property prices expected to maintain despite LVR restrictions
Karen Coltman (Stuff): National average house asking price just under $1m
RNZ: ‘Multiple leaks, black mould’: Landlord to pay tenant after child falls sick in rental property
Gianina Schwanecke (Herald): No Fixed Abode: Exposing the hidden effects of Hawke’s Bay’s housing crisis (paywalled)
Greg Ninness (Interest): 2021 looks like the year that housing supply caught up with demand – in most places
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Yes, the runaway housing market has finally peaked
Greg Ninness (Interest): Residential sales to foreign buyers appear to have bottomed out
Ethan Te Ora and Kate Green (Stuff): Reimagining Wellington: Should we have a moratorium on greenfield developments?
Three Waters, local government
Jack Tame (Newstalk ZB): It’s our own fault the Govt needs Three Waters
Mandy Te (Stuff): Three Waters reform: Māori leaders in Wellington region welcome changes, focus is on wellbeing of people
Judith Collins (Herald): Three Waters reforms mean you will pay more for less control (paywalled)
Stuff Editorial: Wrong, Minister – communities weren’t consulted over Three Waters
Gianina Schwanecke (Herald): Some Havelock North gastro outbreak victims see Three Waters as another disaster (paywalled)
Victor Billot (Newsroom): An ode for .. Lord Winston
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Thomas Manch (Stuff): Government ‘deletes’ proposed election-delaying power in Covid-19 bill
Alice Angeloni (Local Government Reporting): Gisborne council meeting adjourned five minutes in after resident’s anti-vax tirade
Whanganui Chronicle: Horizons councillors choose shape of future council
Jono Galuszka (Stuff): Horizons Regional Council unable to agree on payments for non-elected members
Anna Fifield (Stuff): Wellington is great. Wellington can be even better.
Mandy Te, Ross Giblin and Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Reimagining Wellington: More housing, better transport and spirit needed to make Wellington a liveable city, people say
Tamatha Paul and Thomas Nash (Spinoff): Please don’t leave Wellington’s future to the same old power brokers
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Crs vote themselves to pocket colleague’s salary
Transport, Auckland light rail
RNZ: Auckland light rail from CBD to airport: Locals weigh cost and benefits
Stephen Forbes (Local Democracy Reporting): National says $14.6 billion Auckland light rail project proposal doesn’t stack-up
RNZ: Auckland light rail: Transport Minister discusses task ahead for rapid transport
Adam Jacobson (Stuff): Auckland light rail: Preferred tunnelling option met with scepticism
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Ben Strang (Stuff): Let’s Get Wellington Moving could see 21,000 new homes built along mass transit route
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Will Let’s Get Wellington Moving plan turn to trains and tunnels?
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): Wairoa takes new approach to unlicensed drivers
Jo Lines-MacKenzie (Stuff): Speed change considered for Waikato Expressway
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): Palmerston North set to ride the e-scooter wave
Media
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Te Rito – a new bid to boost diversity in our newsrooms
Dan Sabbagh (Guardian): Facebook trained its AI to block violent live streams after Christchurch attacks
Matt Bartlett (Newsroom): Metaverse is the future, but not Facebook’s
Foreign affairs
Gordon Campbel: On how AUKUS undermines our no-nukes cred, plus a music playlist
Pete McKenzie (Guardian): ‘Is it to satisfy you or to satisfy us?’ Why New Zealand’s Pacific colony doesn’t want independence
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Escape from Kabul: Nowroz Ali’s remarkable story (paywalled)
Paul Karp (Guardian): Peter Dutton did not explain how deporting NZ man was in his children’s best interest, court told
Luke Hazelton and Robert G. Patman (Stuff): Why Aukus has not diminished NZ’s non-nuclear security strategy
Immigration
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Couple denied NZ residence due to Chinese intelligence links
1 News: Migrants no longer automatically excluded due to HIV status
Justice, corrections
Karl du Fresne: Tony Ellis ups the ante in the Callinicos affair
Chris Penk (Kiwiblog): Attorney-General Must Address Judicial Conflict
RNZ: Man with schizophrenia jailed under three-strikes rule gets sentence shortened
Jarrod Gilbert (Herald): Why male inmates could benefit from reform in women’s prisons (paywalled)
Catherine Tizard has died
Dan Lake (Newshub): Former Governor-General Dame Catherine Tizard dies after long illness
Herald: ‘True trailblazer for women’: Auckland’s first female mayor and NZ’s first female Governor-General Dame Catherine Tizard dies at 90
RNZ: Dame Catherine Tizard dies, aged 90
Stuff: Dame Catherine Tizard dies, aged 90, after long illness
Other
1 News: Becroft reflects on five years as Children’s Commissioner
Aaron Smale (Stuff): Why protecting the state trumped justice for the children of Lake Alice
Peter Griffin (Stuff): Our science system needs a big shake-up
Shaneel Lal (RNZ): The worrying gaps in the conversion therapy ban bill -activist
Richard Walker (Stuff): Privacy online: The endless creep of surveillance
RNZ: Aotearoa commemorates Te Pūtake o Te Riri
John Harbord (Stuff): Wholesale electricity market review misses the mark
Matai O’Connor (RNZ): Te Matatini Kapa Haka competition postponed
Diana Clement (Listener/Herald): In New Zealand, racism and sexism are not OK – but ageism is flourishing (paywalled)
Keryn Pivac (Stuff): Government to consider buying back Taipa Point Reserve in the Far North
Alice Angeloni (Local Government Reporting): New $1m emergency centre for Gisborne, and it’s out of the tsunami zone
Jean Bell (RNZ): West Auckland residents deal with flood damage two months on, millions in insurance claims
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): ‘Stigma can stick’: End to decade-long battle as NZ’s first memorial to conscientious objectors is unveiled
