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 management
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Auckland level 3, step 2 decision spells trouble for at-risk Māori, leader says
1 News: Loosening of Covid restrictions described as ‘impending doom’
Matthew Hooton (Patreon): Internal borders set to crumble in next fortnight (paywalled)
Derek Cheng (Herald): Why Jacinda Ardern is easing restrictions as cases rise – again (paywalled)
RNZ: Easing of Auckland restricions a ‘fine balancing act’ but Covid-19 modeller has warning
Herald: Experts unsure if the move to step 2 next week is the right one
Hannah Martin (Stuff): ‘Nervous’ reaction to easing of lockdown restrictions in Auckland
Seni Iasona (Newshub): Experts concerned over Government’s plan to ease restrictions in Auckland
1 News: Auckland not ready for easing of restrictions – modeller
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Covid-19 modelling shows alert level 4 in Auckland was working
Anna Whyte (1 News): Auckland moving to step 2 of L3 next week
1 News: What you can do at step 2 of Alert Level 3
1 News: Team effort needed to ensure Christmas gatherings – Ardern
Michael Neilson (Herald): Jacinda Ardern announces new freedoms for fatigued Auckland as cases rise
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Bloomfield, Ardern positive on NZ’s COVID-19 future amid vaccine impact on cases, hospital and ICU rates
Joanne Naish (Stuff): South Island could move to traffic light system before Christmas as West Coast vax rates pick up pace
RNZ: Jacinda Ardern: Covid-19 cases may peak at 200 a day this month
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expects cases to rise further, reach peak of daily infections ‘soon’
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): 1pm media conferences cut back, infection stats dropped (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: Wide review of pandemic response to learn from it needed sooner rather than later (paywalled)
ODT Editorial: Tough Covid calls every other day
RNZ: Covid-19 wrap for 1 November: Restrictions easing, cases still may peak, lockdown for Tonga
Cases, demographics
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Covid-19 NZ: Official modelling suggests 1400 cases a week by end of month, 21 hospitalisations a day
Māori TV: Māori cases will pass Pacific tomorrow – Dr Rawiri Taonui
Devon Bolger (Herald): Positive signs for Christchurch to stay at level 2
Steven Walton and Jonathan Guildford (Stuff): Unexplained east Christchurch wastewater result ‘likely’ a historical case
Denise Piper (Stuff): Northland cases ‘no surprise’, with low vaccination rates at border
David Fisher (Herald): Virus hits north of Kaitaia amid frustration health ministry is keeping location of cases too vague
Mina Kerr-Lazenby (Stuff): Positive case confirmed in the Far North’s Kaitaia
1 News: 3 North Shore Hospital workers positive for Covid-19
1 News: Second staffer at Auckland rest home contracts Covid-19
Nikki Preston (Herald):Kāwhia man who tested positive abused despite ‘doing everything right’
Nikki Preston and Vaimoana Tapaleao (Herald): Waikato resident leaves house after testing positive
Vaccine rollout
Charlie Mitchell (Stuff): Why a small group of doctors oppose vaccination
Collette Devlin (Stuff): High Court rules Ministry of Health should give Whānau Ora access to Māori vaccination data
Richard Harman (Politik): Government loses second Covid court case; “another rung on our ladder of Maori liberation” (paywalled)
Māori TV: Unvaccinated make up 80.5% of Māori cases – Dr Rawiri Taonui
Alex Cook (Newshub): DHBs struggling to get schools on board for on-site vaccination clinics
Kate MacNamara (Herald): New Zealand’s vaccine buying and the PR spend that shaped what we know (paywalled)
Herald: Auckland’s vaccination rate could be high enough to stop growing outbreak
Matt Burrows (RNZ): Community rallies around Auckland councillor Josephine Bartley after abuse by COVID-19 anti-vaxxers
RNZ: Southern mayors take vaccinators – and campaign – on the road
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Farmgate vaccination tour starts in rural Southland
Nadine Porter (Stuff): Groundswell NZ denies being anti-vax after founder shuns vaccination promo video
Helen Harvey (Stuff): Taranaki vaccination rate has ‘definitely improved’, Associate Minister of Health Peeni Henare says
Deena Coster (Stuff): Iwi leader’s husband punched at mobile vax stop in South Taranaki
Adam Burns (Local Democracy Reporting): Ashburton vaccination turnaround
RNZ: Taumarunui plans to combat low Covid-19 vaccination rate
Ethan Griffiths (Herald): PM Jacinda Ardern heads to Whanganui to help vaccine rollout
Vaccine mandates and certificate
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Countdown proposing mandatory vaccination for staff
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland Council consulting staff on a vaccine mandate
Anne Gibson (Herald): ‘We can’t force them’ – Real Estate Authority on Covid vaccinations for 16,000 agents, managers (paywalled)
Adam Pearse (Herald): Community housing body calls for rapid testing, vaccine mandate
Herald: Unvaccinated port staff stood down while risk assessment carried out
RNZ: All Whites’ encouraged to get Covid-19 vaccination
Hannah Brown (ODT): No jab, no trips on Port to Port
Ben Strang (Stuff): Vaccine certificate data will be legally protected, and work offline
Mike Yardley (Stuff): Vaccine certificates the critical tool for transport
Ben Kepes (Stuff): Good leadership is making hard calls, including imposing vaccine requirements
Rewa Harriman (Newshub): Tetraplegic woman reliant on carers fears ‘no jab, no job’ policy will force skilled workers out of ‘understaffed’ industry
MIQ, NZ border, Home isolation
Corazon Miller (1 News): Calls to ease path for overseas-trained health workers in NZ
Zane Small (Newshub): Christmas travel: Jacinda Ardern defends forcing overseas arrivals to quarantine but not Aucklanders
1 News: Police locate Covid-positive pair who fled Auckland MIQ
Herald: Police locate one Covid-infected man who absconded from MIQ on Saturday
Tim Hunter (NBR): Catalogue of errors in MBIE MIQ decision, says judge (paywalled)
Adam Blackwell (Stuff): Nothing wrong in ‘dirty’ managed isolation stay, Ombudsman says
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): Bookings trickle in for quarantine-free flights from Samoa, Tonga, Tokelau, Vanuatu
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Ian Taylor (Herald): What the Twitter critics get wrong about me
Riley Kennedy (ODT): US trip testing on several levels
Shannon Redstall (Newshub): Dunedin-developed rapid saliva test proves worth instantly as Kiwi entrepreneur heads to US
Jane Phare (Herald): From cowshed to clinic: Covid 19 immunity test used by Ian Taylor originally designed for cows (paywalled)
Protests, Rules, compliance
Verity Johnson (Stuff): I heard no cohesive ideology, no logical list of demands
RNZ: Man arrested over Auckland Domain gathering
1 News: Man charged over latest Auckland Domain protest
Herald: Anti-lockdown protest: Police arrest 36-year-old, further charges likely
Sam Sherwood (Stuff): Man flew from Auckland to Christchurch only to be told he was not needed at court
Bernadette Basagre (Stuff): Landlord tried to kick tenant out for holding ‘party’ in alert level 4
Health system
RNZ: Parents of vulnerable children fear impact of Covid-19
Katie Harris (Herald): Concern long Covid will soon burden health system
RNZ: Covid-19 drug Ronapreve will help reduce risk of death in cases – expert
RNZ: Safety fears as supplement sales soar along with Covid cases
Kate Nicol-Williams (1 News): 1 in 5 secondary students vaping daily, survey finds
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Chinese medicine now regulated by govt
Belinda Feek (Herald): Hutt Valley DHB apologises to teen, family for failure to pick up septic arthritis
Environment, climate change, conservation
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Dodgy accounting reveals govt emissions target less ambitious than promised – lawyer
Zane Small (Newshub): Government accused of using ‘clever accounting’ to make climate target look better
Jamie Morton (Herald): What does NZ’s new pledge mean for Kiwis?
David Williams (Newsroom): NZ gets A for anti-nuke, C for climate
Simon Wilson (Herald): 6 things wrong with the climate target, 1 big thing right (paywalled)
Jack Santa Barbara (Newsroom): Why COP26 is designed to fail
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): Gloomy, rainy start to world’s ‘last hope’ climate summit
RNZ: Shaw wary of climate conference, defends govt emissions plan
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): People have seemed to miss how much reducing net emissions will cost us
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Crown’s $100b investments told to go net zero by 2050
RNZ: Māori climate activist tells COP26 challenge modern ‘colonial project’ or be complicit in death
1 News: Māori climate activist calls for action at opening of COP26
Herald: Māori climate activist India Logan-Riley gives stern warning to G-20 leaders
RNZ: Pacific nations will be mostly unheard at major climate summit
Stuff Editorial: When it is truly batty to shun science
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): James Shaw forced to delay climate policies thanks to understaffing (paywalled)
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Andrea Vance (Stuff): This Is How It Ends: How producing milk turned a lake bright orange
RNZ: Morning Report: Bat steals robin’s thunder to win Bird of the Year
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): 15 hot tips for Bird of the Year 2022 (paywalled)
Ministry for Disabled People
Chris Ford (RNZ): Ministry for Disabled People: ‘Really good start’ but there are omissions
Dr Huhana Hickey (Stuff): We finally have a disability ministry, now we must work together to ensure its success
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): How an ageing population needs a Ministry for Disabled
Maxine Jacobs (Stuff): New Ministry for Disabled People needs a relevant Māori lens, advocates say
Tonga case
RNZ: Tonga’s main island going into lockdown
Stuff: Tonga to go into lockdown till Sunday after first coronavirus case
Economy, business, Wage subsidy
Kate Gregan (RNZ): Auckland level 3, step 2 move brings nervous excitement for retail return
1 News: Retail therapy offered to ease growing lockdown frustrations
Rahul Bhattarai (Herald): ‘Lifeline’: Auckland retailers set to reopen next week – but face a long recovery
Esther Taunton (Stuff): ‘Let us open now’: Auckland retail group calls for faster easing of level 3 restrictions
Nick Truebridge (RNZ): Checkpoint: Takapuna businesses closing after Covid-19 and roadworks
Courtney Winter (Herald): Bachcare being investigated by Commerce Commission over cancellation policy
Laura Smith (ODT): Loss of cancelled events in the millions
Nadine Porter (Stuff): Christmas wish-lists in jeopardy from Covid supply chain problems
Kushlan Sugathapala (Herald): The case for full employment (paywalled)
Todd Niall (Stuff): Fund a phantom bridge, or a bridge to the future for Māori and Pasifika?
Liam Dann (Herald): Unemployment tipped to hit new low despite lockdown (paywalled)
Grant Spencer (Listener/Herald): Inflation shock: What’s next for the NZ economy? (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): Hyper-inflation hype – why it won’t last (paywalled)
Greg Smith (Stuff): Why central banks are back in the spotlight
Supermarket inquiry
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Supermarket critics smell blood as ComCom probes separation options
RNZ: Foodstuffs, Woolworths deny holding duopoly
Kate MacNamara (Herald): The Commerce Commission weighs forcing the sale of supermarkets (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Four small retailers hope Commerce Commission will order supermarket sell-off
Banks
Lloyd Burr (Magic): The profits of these banks MAKES ME FURIOUS
Matevž Rašković (Newsroom): Making flush banks share responsibility in a morally bankrupt housing market
1 News: Westpac latest big bank to record whopping earnings
Rob Stock (Stuff): Westpac announces $1 billion profit
Jamie Gray (Herald): Westpac NZ boss Simon Power defends $1.01b profit (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Stuff): Is Westpac facing a costly ANZ-style lending failure?
Housing
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Covid-19 making lives of those insecure and inadequate housing more vulnerable
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): Checkpoint: Rising rate of children living in motels a ‘moral failure’ – National
Tina Law (Stuff): Publicly-funded $6m housing scheme being reworked for the third time
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Lawyered-up property owners threaten new housing rules, Government warned
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Labour and National’s housing plan will turn Auckland into an ugly city, says heritage group
Jade Kake (Stuff): New housing density rules should not compromise on design of build
Duncan Garner (NBR): Labour’s clueless housing policy shafts those who thought help was coming (paywalled)
Carolyn Hill (Stuff): Time to get real about our urban heritage
1 News: NZ’s average asking price for home tops $933K
Conan Young (RNZ): Christchurch housing remains affordable despite rising prices
Andrea Fox (Herald): Waikato mayor crossing fingers Sleepyhead Estate wrangle can still avoid Environment Court (paywalled)
Parliament, Government
Graham Adams (Democracy Project): Jacinda Ardern and the Ghost of David Lange
David Farrar (Patreon): How can the centre right parties close the gender gap? (paywalled)
RNZ: MPs question Parliament’s additional isolation rule
Claire Trevett (Herald): PM could soon be able to visit Auckland after Speaker’s change of heart and rules
David Clarkson (Stuff): Winston Peters’ Parliament speech back in court
Kurt Bayer (Herald): High Court judge agrees to review decision that found Winston Peters made ‘defamatory comments’ in Parliament
Three Waters, local government
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Otago Regional councillor Marian Hobbs tight-lipped over resignation
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Hobbs stands by resign pledge
Todd Niall (Stuff): The $1 billion plan to lift Māori and Pasifika prosperity in Auckland’s south and west
Luisa Girao (ODT): Possible mayoral hopefuls still mulling next moves
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): ‘This is it’: lodge owner ready to sell up over sign stoush
Nicholas Boyack (Stuff): Can you imagine Wellington without Midland Park?
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Concern there will be less space for books in Wellington’s new library
Transport, Wellington and Auckland light rail
Grady Connell (Newshub): Calls for free public transport to help combat climate crisis
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Transport Minister Michael Wood hits back at National, says funding is secure
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Light rail, Basin Reserve traffic revamp mooted in capital transport overhaul
Georgina Campbell (Herald): The Transport Minister, a ‘massive’ test cricket fan, puts the Basin Reserve flyover to bed
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Wellington considers its transport future: Is light rail the way?
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Options for light rail and extra tunnel announced for Wellington
RNZ: Let’s Get Wellington Moving project offers four options for public transport
Grady Connell (Newshub): Is this the end of the line for Auckland’s iconic Wynyard Quarter tram?
Skara Bohny (Stuff): Mixed community reaction to transport plan
Gianina Schwanecke (Herald): State Highway 38 to Lake Waikaremoana to be New Zealand’s last stretch of unsealed highway (paywalled)
Soheil Mohseni, Alan Brent Janes Hinkley (The Conversation): Electrifying transport: why New Zealand can’t rely on battery-powered cars alone
Oliver Bruce (Stuff): Let’s unleash the ‘micro-mobility’ revolution on our streets
Kate Green (Stuff): First electric flight over Cook Strait lands at Wellington Airport
Primary industries
Richard Harman (Politik): Farmers blame Government for mental health issues (paywalled)
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declines to meet Groundswell NZ representatives
ODT: Federated Farmers rubbishes Ashburton feedlot criticism
Sally Rae (ODT): Cancelling field days ‘agonising decision’
Child welfare, education
Matai O’Connor (RNZ): New Children’s Commissioner Judge Francis Eivers welcomed into role
Bridie Witton (Stuff): New Children’s Commissioner: ‘Huge kaupapa and a marathon of a mission’
Deborah Morris (Stuff): Law change wanted to prevent children ending up in adult courts
John Gerritsen (RNZ): 2020 lockdown survey: Children in kitchen and outdoors more than usual
Dubby Henry (Herald): Growing up in New Zealand survey finds bigger lockdown bubbles linked to school satisfaction
RNZ: Pasifika legal education project launched
Other
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Mentally ill and shot in the back: The police killing of Jerrim Toms
Mihingarangi Forbes (Newshub): Friends and family fight for Tipene Halford’s release following his rejailing over minor parole violation
RNZ: The Detail: The Olympics of trade and industry
RNZ: Māori survivors of abuse in care to speak at Royal Commission hearing in March
Thomas Manch (Stuff): ‘US and UK must stop’: Chinese diplomat warns New Zealand audience of Australia’s nuclear ambitions
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Government appoints special representative for Afghanistan, as more evacuees reach New Zealand
Will Trafford (Māori TV): $115 million Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa settlement signed
Miriam Burrell (Herald): Teen accused of threatening to kill non-Muslims faces new charges
Grant Miller (ODT): Conscientious objectors commemorated
Amelia Wade (Newshub): New Zealand’s gender pay gap widens after trending down for nearly a decade
Helen Clark (Newsroom): Dame Cath – progressive, forthright and generous friend
