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

Anti-vaxxers, protests
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): The protest that revealed a new, ugly, dangerous side to our country
Richard Harman (Politik): After the protest came the big defeat (paywalled)
John Minto (Daily Blog): Genuine, valid concerns at government policies masked by stereotypical reporting
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Parliamentary protest of those who feel unheard will just be ignored
Stuff Editorial: A protest where voices united, but agendas diverged
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Who is to blame for the AntiVaxx madness we saw in Wellington?
Jamie Morton (Herald): Lockdown brings ‘unprecedented’ disinformation surge
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Disinformation in Aotearoa has escalated since Delta outbreak 
Andrew Shepherd Stuff:  Freedom of choice does not exist in isolation – we are responsible for others too 
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Tess McClure (The Guardian): New Zealand anti-vaccine mandate protests: police and photographer attacked
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern says protest outside Parliament not representative of ‘vast bulk’ of Kiwis
Claire Trevett (Herald): PM Jacinda Ardern on anti-vaccination protests and message for the vaccinated
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Protests represent a small minority, politicians say
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): ‘I have never seen Parliament locked up like this’ – Judith Collins as protesters descend on Parliament
Jake McKee (RNZ): Protesters deliver anti-lockdown, vaccine messages to government
Rukuwai Tipene-Allen (Māori TV): Political agenda revealed in Tamaki/Trump-ish protest at Parliament
Jack Crossland (Newstalk ZB): Anti-vaccination protest in Wellington died an uneventful death
Herald: Lockdown protesters arrive at Parliament challenging Covid restrictions
Sophie Cornish (Stuff): No arrests at Parliament during protest, police to consider follow-up enforcement action
Herald: Thousands descend on Parliament in protest of Covid restrictions
Josie Adams (Spinoff): A nice day for a protest: Out among the anti-government marchers in Wellington
Bridie Witton, Sophie Cornish, Thomas Manch and Henry Cooke (Stuff): Protesters threaten ‘gridlock’ in all main cities if mandates not dropped
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Matt Burrows (Newshub): COVID-19 ‘freedom’ protesters confronted after trying to overthrow Northland iwi checkpoints, flying United Tribes flag upside-down
Māori TV: ‘If you need to protest, go to Wellington’
Northern Advocate: Police officer bitten as Northland protesters block Te Hana checkpoint
Bernadette Basagre (Stuff): Protester bites police officer at Auckland border
Herald: Heavy police presence at Auckland borders as protesters arrive
Luke Kirkness (Bay of Plenty Times): ‘Anti-mandate’ protesters gather in Tauranga
Blanton Smith and Thomas Manch (Stuff): Vaccine mandate protesters in New Plymouth
ODT: Anti-mandate protests reverberate
Evan Harding (Stuff): ‘Freedom of choice’ protestors march in Invercargill 

Vaccine mandates, certificate, incentives
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Jacinda Ardern on vaccine mandates: ‘Hard to know’ how long they will be used
Dubby Henry (Herald): How many teachers will quit over vaccine mandate? We still don’t know
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Principals work to fill gaps as vaccine-resistant teachers mean staff numbers likely to drop
Karen Rutherford (Newshub): Rural school principals fear they’ll have to shut if their teachers haven’t had first vaccine
Andrew McRae (RNZ): Unvaccinated teachers ‘putting the whole village at risk’ – mayor
Gill Bonnett (RNZ):Concerns fire brigades could fold as staff receive vaccine mandate
Mandy Te (Stuff): Porirua City Council considers mandatory vaccination for all staff 
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): Buller council distances itself from employee’s anti-vaccination comments
1 News: A look at vaccine passes set to be released this month
Henry Burrell (BusinessDesk): Building a NZ vaccine pass that Mattrs (paywalled)
Maggie Hewitt (Herald): New Zealand needs to remember what we have lost (paywalled)
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): Mandate rules mother can’t care for disabled daughter
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Samantha Gee (RNZ): Air NZ should implement no jab, no fly for domestic passengers, health expert says
John Anthony (Stuff): Air NZ’s domestic vaccination policy hits the mark, experts say
Grant Bradley
(Herald): Greg Foran – Why Air NZ’s vax regime is getting so tough (paywalled)
Dan Lake (Newshub): Explained: How Air New Zealand’s new domestic pre-flight COVID-19 checks will work
John Anthony (Stuff): Questions remain over Air NZ’s domestic vaccination policy
John Lewis (ODT): Otago institutions support new flight rules
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Government should take a leaf from Air NZ’s book
Thomas Bywater (Herald): Domestic airlines likely to follow Air New Zealand’s vaccine requirements

Vaccine rollout
1 News: Regions pick up the pace on vaccine uptake
Maxine Jacobs (Stuff): 48,000 more vaccinations needed across Auckland to get Māori to 90 per cent
Whatitiri Te Wake (Māori TV): New Covid cases in Kaikohe as Te Whānau o Waipareira gets to work in Northland
Ella Stewart (RNZ): Late vaccination sees elderly woman catch Covid-19 in resthome
Taroi Black (Māori TV): Tūhoe healer chooses to fully vaccinate

Auckland border, Govt management of Delta outbreak, PM to visit Auckland
Gordon Campbell: On the politics of hoping for the best
ODT Editorial: Difficult days ahead
1 News: Rural NZ ‘deeply worried’ about Aucklanders holidaying in regions
1 News: Auckland border should remain closed if Covid cases climb – Baker
RNZ: Experts at odds over move to traffic light system
Derek Cheng (Herald): What does Freedom Day in three weeks mean for Aucklanders, and should we be there already? (paywalled)
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Andrew Little ‘can’t give precise number’ what unsustainable COVID-19 hospitalisations would be once Auckland reopens
Kate Gregan (RNZ): Covid-19: Mayors frustrated by ‘control of information’
RNZ: Aucklanders keen for move to traffic light system: ‘We are ready for it’
Jane Tolerton (Stuff):  Long before Jacinda Ardern, Ettie Rout knew the wisdom of ‘go hard, go early’
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Russell Palmer (RNZ): Ardern’s Auckland visit: ‘I’ll be able to talk to the workforce’
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Judith Collins doesn’t want to see Jacinda Ardern ‘threatened’ during Auckland visit
Michael Neilson (Herald): PM Jacinda Ardern to visit Auckland as restrictions ease following major protest
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Herald: Auckland awakens from 84 days of lockdown (paywalled)
Amy Williams (RNZ): Retail reopens in Auckland: Security guards on the doors as shoppers return
Adam Pearse (Herald): Auckland embraces level 3.2; protests risk transmission
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): ‘It won’t be like any other Wednesday we’ve ever experienced’ – Briscoes boss says as Auckland retailers reopen
Laura James (1 News): Auckland attractions to re-open, but not all at once
Herald: Aucklanders set to hit the shops after two months of being closed
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Alert level 3, step 2 rules for Auckland
Zane Small (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda defends allowing cosmetic botox visits in Auckland but not haircuts
RNZ: Covid wrap: Protests against Covid-19 measures, firefighters given vaccine mandate, 125 new cases

MIQ, home isolation and quarantine, NZ border 
MIchael Morrah (Newshub): Vulnerable people with COVID left isolating in cars, garages, garden sheds
Katie Todd (RNZ): Covid-19 positive Aucklander isolating in caravan feels ‘scared’, abandoned by authorities
Māori TV: Whānau isolating from home too far away from help – Dr Rawiri Taonui
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Judith Collins accuses Jacinda Ardern of saying people are choosing to self-isolate in cars, rather than go into MIQ
1 News: Response to National’s petition to end MIQ ‘extraordinary’ – Collins
Matthew Hooton (Patreon): Instruction Manual For Kiwis Abroad To Get Home This Month Without MIQ (paywalled)
Tumamao Harawira (Māori TV): ‘Discriminated against’ whānau Māori wants MIQ hotels to appoint Māori advisers
Troels Sommerville (Stuff): First quarantine-free Pacific Islands flight since Delta outbreak touches down
Teuila Fuatai (Herald): Overseas travel a distant daydream in the age of Covid (paywalled)

Parliament, Government, Parties
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): National Party leadership: Simon Bridges fails to give definite answer on whether Judith Collins will make it into New Year
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Judith Collins brushes off speculation her leadership under threat from Simon Bridges
Herald: Coups, cocks, and Covid: Auckland MPs descent on Wellington (paywalled)
Jacinda Ardern: The day I decided to delay the 2020 election
RNZ: Watch: Party People – Season 2 | Episode 1
Logan Savory (Stuff): Marcus Lush: Time to lower the voting age to 16

Health
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Andrew Little says new health entities will be ‘set up to succeed’ 
Janine Rankin (Stuff): Palmerston North Hospital staff frustrations boil over at board meeting
Kim Moodie (RNZ): Plea for more dementia support and resources to meet growing demand
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Fluoridation of drinking water bill passes third reading
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Bill passes final reading in Parliament
Bronwen McNoe (Newsroom): A call to action on skin cancer
John Donne Potter and Naomi Brewer (The Conversation): Cervical cancer screening in New Zealand: self-testing at home will improve equity of outcomes for non-European women
Mike Houlahan (ODT): WellSouth head pleading pay parity for primary care nurses

Housing
RNZ: Average residential home now worth more than $1m
Miriam Bell (Stuff): New Zealand’s average house price cracks $1m: Corelogic
Priscilla Dickinson (Newshub): Housing market: Price of average Kiwi home cracks $1 million for the first time – report
Zane Small (Newshub: Housing Minister Megan Woods expects 1260 new homes from latest infrastructure boost to help Auckland’s 25,000 shortage
David Hargreaves (Interest): Westpac economists see substantial slowing in house price growth in coming months followed by declines in prices next year
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland Council releases images of Labour and National’s intensification plans (paywalled)
Adam Jacobson (Stuff): Govt to spend $282m building 1260 more affordable homes in five Auckland suburbs
Paul Mitchell (Stuff): First-home buyers scrambling as Palmerston North house prices continue to skyrocket
Tim Newman (Stuff): Housing supply continues to struggle to meet demand in Nelson-Tasman

Environment, climate change, conservation
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): James Shaw optimistic COP26 negotiations will get results
Rod Oram and Marc Daalder (Newsroom): FAQ: What does the COP26 climate summit mean for NZ?
Rod Oram (Newsroom): A darker prediction from COP26
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): NZ’s fossil fuels investments: When COP26 promises are made to be broken
Jamie Morton (Herald): Climate change: Will this vast Antarctic ice sheet reach tipping point?
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): It appears COP26 is another climate change bust
Ralph Chapman (Newsroom): New Zealand’s slow-moving transport problem
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): COP26: Article Six talks might finally get over the line
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Former US President Barack Obama addresses High Ambition Coalition countries at COP26
Scott Burnett, Apisalome Movono, Regina Scheyvens: (The Conversation): How Māori knowledge could help New Zealanders turn their concern for the environment into action
Anne Gibson (Herald): Injunctions granted against 32 Waiheke marina protesters

Economy, business
Lloyd Burr (Magic): It’s a smart move by the government to essentially be an insurer for large concerts and events over summer
Marjorie Cook (ODT): Events policy boosts confidence
Monika Barton and Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Government to cover 90 pct of ‘unrecoverable costs’ for fully vaxxed summer festivals amid COVID-19 pandemic
Luke Malpass and Charlie Gates (Stuff): Summer festivals more certain after Government underwrite
John Weekes (Herald): Summer festival bailout scheme for big events
RNZ: Government announces insurance scheme for large summer events
1 News: Govt moves to mitigate loss for summer festivals
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David Hargreaves (Interest): ‘Days of reckoning’ for New Zealand fast approaching say BNZ economists
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Economist says retail set for a ‘pretty good rebound’, with one major caveat – we haven’t eliminated Delta
Rahul Bhattarai (Herald): Insolvency numbers ‘significantly lower’ than the GFC but worst is yet to come, expert says (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Stuff): Auckland shop owners relieved to open on Wednesday, but hospitality businesses despair
Vaimoana Tapaleao and Nikki Preston (Herald): People already lining up outside Auckland shopping mall
Bryce Wilkinson and Leonard Hong (Herald): Why we’re walking the path to the next global financial crisis (paywalled)
Rahul Bhattarai (Herald): SMEs concerned about supply chain disruptions leading into Christmas rush
Juliette Sivertsen (Stuff): The great dichotomy in wellness tourism

Employment
Rebecca Macfie (Newroom): Court: Wharfies’ on-call contracts unlawful
Nathaniel Herz-Edinger (Stuff): Speak up for a living wage for ‘those who make our lives possible’
Peter Cullen (Stuff): Fair pay agreements run the risk of opposition

Banks
Rob Stock (Stuff): BNZ makes $1.32 billion profit
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Why recently departed BNZ CEO Angela Mentis received million dollar pay packet bump in her final year (paywalled)
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): BNZ profit up 74 per cent to record $1.32 billion
RNZ: BNZ annual net profit rises by 74% to $1.3bn
Greg Ninness (Interest): RBNZ working to improve inconsistencies in the data it collects from banks on mortgage top ups

Three Waters, local government
Brent Edwards (NBR): Political controversy dogs Three Waters reform (paywalled)
Tina Law (Stuff): Angry mayors ‘seek audience’ with prime minister over water reforms 
Gianina Schwanecke (Herald): Overhaul of city’s stormwater system would cost $341 million, council report finds (paywalled)
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Southern mayors’ salaries and spending since last local elections
Deena Coster (Stuff): Surprise move sees no further action taken at New Plymouth councillor’s alleged conduct breach
Felix Desmarais (Local Democracy Reporting): Rotorua’s seven deputy chief executives: Seven months in, no job descriptions
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): Gisborne Port’s neighbours endure ‘banging, crashing and thumping’
Local Democracy Reporting: Whanganui becomes NZ’s only UNESCO City of Design
Yashas Srinivasa (Stuff): Living wage confirmed for Timaru’s bus drivers
Toni Williams (ODT): Freshwater rules a stressor: report
Mick Jensen (ODT): Water report serious

Foreign Affairs
Lucy Craymer (Stuff): Internal Defence Force briefing warning of ‘much worse’ strategic environment removed from public website
RNZ: Foreign Minister Mahuta to visit six countries in first official overseas trip
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta to visit Australia, UAE, Canada and the US in first trip abroad
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Nanaia Mahuta to make first trip as foreign minister

Education
Nathan Morton (Stuff): Auckland kindergartens face ‘logistical nightmare’ ahead of alert level shift
Katy Jones (Stuff): Parents desperate as ECE centre closes over vaccine mandate
Tara Shaskey (Stuff): Taranaki principals get creative to farewell seniors

Transport 
Simon Court (Magic): Opinion: Light rail a heavy burden
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Legislation needed to save Wellington transport plan from never-never-land (paywalled)

Other
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Police try to assume people’s online identities
Steven Cowan (Against the Current): The virus of cancel culture
George Driver (Spinoff): Will more money for struggling families put a real dent in child poverty?
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Supply strain stresses hit building standards change
Michael Reddell (Croaking Cassandra): The Beehive will have been happy, I suppose
RNZ: Misgivings despite Aotearoa being ranked second in world for drug policies
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): Some still without homes on first Napier flood anniversary
Steve Braunias (Newsroom): Sticking it to the National Library
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Government mulls dragging BNPL sector under credit contracts law
Gerhard Uys (Stuff): Higher vegetable price don’t mean more money for farmers
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Hunt for new privacy commissioner as John Edwards steps into bigger UK role
Richard Prebble (Herald):  Justice delayed is justice denied (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): State-owned Kiwistar Optics courted for sale by defence company (paywalled)
Juha Saarinen (Herald): Turning the tables on hackers (paywalled)