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
Parliament, government, 2021
Graham Adams (Democracy Project): 2022: Ardern’s plans for co-governance with iwi face rough seas
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Politics and the pandemic – another year of Covid-19
Russell Palmer (RNZ): NZ politics in 2021: Rabbles, restrictions and recriminations
Martin Bradbury (Daily Blog): TDB 2021 predictions vs 2021 reality
RNZ: David Shearer: from South Sudan to Tāmaki Makaurau
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Summer off politics: Cooking and hiking for Labour’s Ayesha Verrall
Housing
1 News: Average NZ home value surpasses $1m; slowdown predicted
Niva Chittock (RNZ): Million dollar homes: Average New Zealand house price exceeds $1 million for first time
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Want an ‘average’ NZ home? You’ll need $1 million
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Auckland median house price jumped $230,000 in 2021, says Barfoot & Thompson
Steven Walton (Stuff): ‘Pretty exceptional’: Christchurch house values jump record 38 per cent in 12 months
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Auckland landlord ups rent $50 to $900 per week due to ‘overwhelming response’
Anne Gibson (Herald): Holy Trinity Cathedral land leased: Trees, homes gone for apartment project (paywalled)
Covid
1 News: NZ needs to do ‘a lot of preparation’ for Omicron – Baker
1 News: NZ has dodged Omicron bullet ‘for now’ – expert
Lincoln Tan (Herald): NZ’s ‘lucky escape’ with Omicron as cases hit record levels overseas
Keith Lynch (Stuff): The NSW Omicron outbreak is not what you think
Troels Sommerville (Stuff): Pelican Club cluster grows to ten as New Year’s cases begin to emerge
Herald: Ten cases now linked to Auckland brothel Pelican Club
Julia Czerwonatis (Herald): Northland health authorities urge for more testing, booster shots after new regulations kick in
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Fears of ‘appointment pile-up’ as booster shot rollout ramps up
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Strong demand for booster vaccine as 1.2m people become eligible for third shot
Esther Ashby-Coventry (Stuff): Long Covid-19 booster queues frustrate some in Timaru
Adam Pearse (Herald): Booster interval shortened as third Omicron case found
1 News: Over 20,000 Kiwis receive Covid-19 booster vaccines today
Leni Ma’ia’i (Guardian): New Zealand yoga industry suffers as anti-vax sentiment co-opts wellness industry
Border, MIQ
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Five Covid cases would ‘overwhelm’ a hospital: How Rotorua said no to more MIQ
RNZ: Daily cases in MIQ outnumber those in the community
Stuff: Travellers from Australia shut out of next MIQ room release
Herald: MIQ room release: Kiwis stranded in Australia locked out
Laura Hooper (Stuff): Clougher: It’s not a political issue, it’s a human rights issue
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Research into how Delta spread in Auckland MIQ reveals ‘findings of global importance’
Herald: DJ Dimension avoids prosecution – Ministry of Health
Environment, conservation
1 New: NZ seeing five times more temperature extremes than expected
David Chaston (Interest): The paradox of “clean” EVs and the “dirty” lithium mining business
David Lewis (Stuff): Lifting the lid on responsible investing
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Will DoC make progress on stewardship land in 2022?
Kethaki Masilamani (Newshub): Coromandel iwi take back the reins to protect forest from kauri dieback
University of Auckland: Microplastics in Auckland waters rival the Rhine
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Southland’s freshwater objectives call for a big drop in contaminants
Transport
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): $600m hit to war chest: Agency fears public transport will cut budget
Simon Wilson (Herald): Safer roads: How cable barriers have cut deaths on NZ highways (paywalled)
Alexa Cook (Newshub): Holiday road toll ends at ‘absolutely horrendous’ total of 17 with desperate calls for safer driving
RNZ: Police stress need for driver responsibility after holiday road rises to 17
1 News: Holiday road toll climbs to 17, police ‘disappointed’
Dan Satherley (Newshub): ACT claims ‘irresponsible spending’ on cycling is driving up inflation
Herald: Which Auckland intersection has sparked the most red light camera fines? (paywalled)
Northern Advocate: Refining NZ infrastructure support Govt’s biofuel mandate
Herald: Air New Zealand suspends in-flight food and drinks
1 News: Air New Zealand named world’s safest airline
Police
Te Aniwa Hurihanganu (1 News): Police set new rules after young Māori unlawfully photographed
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Thirty-three cents here, $135m there: How police seized more than half a billion in criminal assets in five years
Jared Savage (Herald): Follow the money: New intelligence tool to find dirty cash as police focus on professional money laundering services (paywalled)
Employment
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): The NZ industries hit hardest for labour breaches (paywalled)
1 News: Employers urged to step up as pandemic sees more resigning
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Assets of former Indian restaurant owners frozen in employment dispute
Anne Gibson (Herald): Two mothers denied paid parental leave for second children, ERA upholds decisions
Health
Ben Thomas (Stuff): Smoking policy shaped by acrid whiff of hatred
Māori TV: Health survey shows people are smoking less
Troels Sommerville (Stuff): More needs to be done to tackle synthetic cannabinoids, experts say
Katrina Bennett (Herald): ICU doctor thanks ‘heroic’ Kiwis for protecting health system from Covid-19 in 2021
Economy & Business
Keith Woodford (Interest): Economic storm clouds lie ahead
Denise Piper (Stuff): Northland businesses busy despite red light, but bookings slowing
Matthew Hooton (Patreon): Damien Grant, economic forecasting, cluelessness, efficient market theory, wisdom of crowds, effective altruism & conservatism (paywalled)
Simon Bridges (Stuff): Why Grant Robertson should listen to US Senator Joe Manchin
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Shoppers splashed out on alcohol for New Year’s, data shows
Andrea Fox (Herald): Vodafone billing bungle reveals customer names, numbers and addresses
Education
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Otago Covid experts copping abuse
ODT Editorial: Covid’s avenues and alleyways
Esther Ashby-Coventry (Stuff): Veteran kindergarten teacher: ‘NZ kids need male role models’
Mike Styles (Stuff): NZ schools are failing dyslexic kids. Parents should consider US-style class action
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Challenges, success for tertiary institutes
Local government
Natalie Akoorie (RNZ): Council dysfunction, healthcare chaos and political showdowns – Local Democracy Reporting captures it all
Tom Hunt (Stuff): New Wellington convention centre already has more than 60 conference bookings
David Hanna (Stuff): Reimagining Wellington: The art of being community
Todd Niall (Herald): Inner City Pressure: Auckland CBD’s quest to find its post-lockdown mojo
Yashas Srinivasa (Stuff): Timaru water restrictions imposed to fight discolouration issue
Water safety
Elizabeth White (Newshub): Concerns Kiwis losing ability to swim as 27 people dead in water incidents already this summer
RNZ: Concern about level of water safety education after spate of drownings
Piers Fuller (Stuff): NZ on track for one of the deadliest summers in the water in 2022
ODT Editorial: A summer of despair
Other
Kaysha Browlie (Newshub): Kiwi gathering 501 deportee stories in hikoi before suing Australian government
Shane Te Pou (Herald): Why diversity is a winning formula (paywalled)
Daniel Rutledge (Newshub): Chris Bishop says sorry after Chlöe Swarbrick again accuses Opposition of ‘lies’ about drug testing
Stuff: Heritage NZ cash boost for Mātauranga Māori programmes across country
Cherie Howie (Herald): New Zealand gay rights pioneer Ngahuia te Awekotuku remembers first protest (paywalled)
