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, 2022
Michael Hall (RNZ): Green Party discontent: Members walk, ex-MPs criticise leadership
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Green Party implosion in 5…4…3…2…
Morgan Godfery (Guardian): New Zealand’s successful Covid policies hid inequality – the government can’t ignore it this year
Spinoff: NZ politics in 2022: The big issues on which the year will hinge
Chris Trotter (Interest): Paradise postponed
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): Winners and losers of 2021 (paywalled)
RNZ: National Party MP attends second anti-lockdown and mandate protest
1 News: National MP attends anti-mandate, anti-lockdown protest
Scott Palmer (Newshub): National MP Harete Hipango deletes post showing her at another anti-vaccine mandate and lockdown protest
Herald: National Party MP Harete Hipango attends second anti-lockdown and mandate protest
Stuff: Whanganui MP Harete Hipango posts support for Voices for Freedom protest
Craig Renney (Herald): National poking holes in its own accounts, and its credibility again
Sam Stubbs (Stuff): 2020’s biggest taxpayer rip-off
Jon Johansson (Stuff): Five summer political reads that you’ll battle to put down
Omicron, Covid
Matthew Hooton (Patreon): Ardern is dithering again, with urgent Omicron decisions needed (paywalled)
Ian Powell (Second Opinion): A story too familiar for comfort
RNZ: Covid-19 tracer app vital to minimising potential Omicron outbreak, expert says
Miriam Burrell (Herald): Expert believes New Zealand isn’t ready for Omicron outbreak
Mike Munro (Herald): Govt will need to keep moving at pace to keep up with virus (paywalled)
Laura Walters (Stuff): Experts and politicians say Omicron in the community is inevitable, the level of threat is up for debate
Jamie Morton (Herald): The five Omicron questions we’re all asking
Miriam Burrell (Herald): NZ urged to prepare for Omicron outbreak as child vaccine doses arrive
Laura Walters (Stuff): The new NZ divide: those anxious about Covid-19’s inevitable spread, and the accepting
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Māori health leaders warn Omicron will overrun testing, tracing systems
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Māori health leaders to work through best and worst-case scenarios for Omicron arrival
Simon Mercep (1 News): Concerns in NZ as Omicron causes havoc with Aus supply chains
Karen Coltman (Stuff): Supermarkets eye Australia’s Omicron troubles
Covid
Siouxsie Wiles (Guardian): As a scientist commenting on Covid I’ve attracted a lot of haters – I won’t let them silence me
Herald: Dr Siouxsie Wiles’ Guardian opinion piece on abuse from public amid employment dispute
Herald Editorial: The little country that said ‘yeah nah’ to Covid 19 (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: Learning from Australia’s outbreak
Ben Strang (Stuff): Documenting the pandemic – how Archives NZ and the National Library are keeping tabs
Jamie Morton (Herald): Covid 19 Alpha, Delta, Omicron: The great escapes that could have been outbreaks (paywalled)
Ben Strang (Stuff): Wellington well-placed for Covid-19 outbreak, but residents told to be vigilant
RNZ: Covid-19: Music festival risk downgraded by Health Ministry
1 News: Bay of Plenty music festival now lower risk Covid location
1 News: Covid scare almost saw Auckland festival cancelled mid-event
RNZ: Covid-19 update: 85 new community cases, 64 MIQ cases in past two days in New Zealand
Stuff: Pop-up testing centre opens in Whangamatā after Covid-19 detected in wastewater
1 News: Sydney-based 1News correspondent tests positive for Covid
Herald: Expert Michael Baker’s son tests positive in Sydney
Protests, rules
Suzette Howe (Newshub): Row brewing in Christchurch over ‘unlawful’ protests and Destiny Church events in Cranmer Square
Tina Law and Amber Allott (Stuff): Brian Tamaki attends Christchurch anti-vax protest in apparent breach of bail conditions
Niva Chittock (RNZ): Police investigate after Brian Tamaki speaks at Christchurch anti-vaccine protest
Herald: Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki attends anti-vax protest, police investigating
Ben Strang (Stuff): Covid-19 positive man caught after travelling from Bay of Plenty to Wellington
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Christchurch retail worker resigns after complaints of anti-vax abuse
Stuff: Worksafe yet to visit controversial market
Kylie Klein-Nixon (Stuff): Fat Freddy’s Drop cancel Sydney Festival gig due to Covid restrictions
Adam Pearse (Herald): Vaccine passes worked well – Rhythm and Alps festival director
Vaccine rollout, testing
Keith Lynch (Stuff): Will the vaccine protect me from Omicron?
Sophie Cornish (Stuff): Wellington health authorities working through vaccine supply issues after ‘very high demand’ for booster shots
RNZ: 97 percent of eligible Aucklanders now fully vaccinated
Esther Ashby-Coventry (Stuff): South Canterbury principal urges families to follow vaccine advice of experts
James Halpin (Stuff): Half a million kids’ vaccines arrive in country
Michael Morrah (Newshub): All New Zealanders will soon be able to buy rapid antigen tests as Omicron looms
1 News: NZ will have enough rapid tests in Omicron outbreak – McElnay
Border, MIQ
Katie Todd (RNZ): IT issues at govt departments lock out visa holders from MIQ
Corazon Miller (1 News): Work underway on MIQ glitch that locked visa holders out
1 News: Emergency MIQ spots open for Kiwis facing hardship in Aus
Sophie Cornish (Stuff): Kiwis stuck in Australia may be able to return if they face ‘significant and severe hardship’
Corazon Miller (1 News): Relatives of skilled migrants locked out of NZ by MIQ glitch
Anne Gibson (Herald): ‘I’d pay thousands to return’: Kiwi lawyer stuck in Britain fails trying for MIQ place (paywalled)
Anne Gibson (Herald): Kiwi laser specialist stuck in Britain wants to open business in Whangārei (paywalled)
Herald: Kiwi fashion blogger and socialite Jaime Ridge hits out at Jacinda Ardern over MIQ
1 News: Cook Islands implements new health rules ahead of border opening
Housing
Geraden Cann (Stuff): First-home buyer in 50s pessimistic after losing mortgage approval to new rules
Amy Ridout (Stuff): The people sleeping rough in Nelson
Stuff: Kāinga Ora spend $500k on maintenance for Nelson Tasman tenants
Russell Poole (Stuff): Transit camps in Palmerston North – an experiment in social housing
Steven Walton (Stuff): Record number of new homes approved in booming Selwyn district
Environment, conservation
ODT Editorial: Making power for all New Zealand
Edward O’Driscoll (Newshub): Satellites orbiting Earth tracking health of New Zealand lakes, potential threats to humans
Hanna McCallum (Stuff): Burnout risk for climate change activists suffering ‘hopelessness’ and ‘despair’
Maria Armoudian and Simon Thrush (Newsroom): How oceans are the key to climate change solution
Ben Liley (Stuff): Scientific advances give me hope for climate
Māori TV: Māori-led conservation projects across Canterbury receive ‘jobs for nature’ funding boost
Katy Jones (Stuff): Group finds carbon emissions higher for food than transport
Laura Hooper (Stuff): Southland ‘prepared’ for impending agricultural climate change commitments
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Protecting Pūtiki: The ongoing fight to stop Waiheke’s Kennedy Point marina
Amber Allott (Stuff): Planting seeds and restoring rivers: $12.6m for Canterbury nature jobs
Lee Kenny (Stuff): ‘It totally resonates’: Kiwi climate experts react to the number one movie Don’t Look Up
Transport
Craig Harrison (Herald): A shipping plan to resolve the supply chain crisis (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Car makers fail to persuade select committee to water down porposed carbon targets
Steven Joyce (Herald): Holiday road toll too high, safer regional roads urgently needed (paywalled)
Nicole Rosie (Stuff): Mistakes on the road are inevitable, but deaths and serious injuries aren’t
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland’s ‘spectacular’ cycleway between Glen Innes and Tamaki Drive making good progress (paywalled)
Health
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): Paul Rowe’s family questions Palmerston North Hospital’s actions after his death
Jennifer Eder (Stuff): ‘It was chaos’: NZ nurse who resigned from understaffed Blenheim hospital
Jennifer Eder (Stuff): Blenheim’s nurse shortage prompts merger for HDU at Wairau Hospital
Hawkes Bay Today: Tō Waha to Wairoa: The free clinic tackling Wairoa’s dental service deficit
John Lewis (ODT): Staffing shortage hits home
Tom Hunt (Stuff): NZ midwives mull holiday boycott as pay issues leave some struggling
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): How would New Zealand’s health system deal with a ‘Dr Death’?
Catherine McLeod Glenda Lewis (Stuff): Should the Hepatitis A vaccine be mandated in NZ?
Tara Shaskey (Stuff): Broken on the frontline: PTSD a ‘huge and hidden’ problem among first responders
Stephanie Ockhuysen (Stuff): Plunket’s move away from in-home visits ‘heartbreaking’, say mums
Carly Gooch (Stuff): Hospital of the future on track for 2030 completion
Jo Lines-MacKenzie (Stuff): Waikato DBH bracing for challenging year
Economy & Business
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Māori-backed third supermarket group would ‘benefit Pākehā too’
Janet Wilson (Stuff): Why rising food prices present a dilemma for Labour
Liam Dann (Herald): Economists pick the top five trends to watch in 2022 (paywalled)
Diana Clement (Herald): Warning – inflation is coming to steal your money (paywalled)
Emma Turton (Newshub): NZ businesses prepare to welcome workers back after Christmas break with new COVID protocols in place
Marena Mane (Māori TV): Māori-owned business giving back to their community in Tāmaki
Education
Gaven Martin (Stuff): We are having the wrong debate over how we teach science
George Heagney (Stuff): Māori determining their own success through education
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Education needs to be flexible and responsive, director says
Herald Editorial: Academia must protect its greatest assets (paywalled)
Local government
Tina Law (Stuff): Hundreds of staff leave Christchurch City Council in the past year
Tina Law (Stuff): Water reforms put democracy and transparency under threat, councillor claims
Ethan Griffiths (Herald): Whanganui mayor Hamish McDouall will seek third term at 2022 election (paywalled)
RNZ: Timaru council imposes restrictions to fix water discolouration
Janine Rankin (Stuff): Palmerston North gears up for $496m wastewater upgrade after years-long process mired in complaints of secrecy
Janine Rankin (Stuff): Labour and the Greens look for more local body candidates
Andrew Marshall (ODT): Role excites new Dunedin City Council’s heritage adviser
Water safety
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Horror holiday period the deadliest for drownings in 25 years, 14 victims aged 4 – 74
Laura Hooper (Stuff): Southland boating fatality rate disproportionately higher than participation
Other
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Migrant exploitation complaints jump more than 250 per cent
1 News: Southern Response to pay $300 million over Christchurch quake claims
Herald: Officials opposed $85m Hillside spend
James Halpin (Stuff): Generations of abuse in state care: Mother and daughter speak out
RNZ: New details revealed in law suit over Whakaari eruption
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Whakaari/White Island lawsuits filed in US claim Royal Caribbean didn’t tell tourists of active volcano risks
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Whakaari/White Island lawsuits claim victims weren’t warned of active volcano risks
Mina Kerr-Lazenby (Stuff): A sport on its last legs – can greyhound racing in New Zealand survive?
Sinead Gill (Stuff): Afghans in hiding because of service to New Zealand deserve hope, says former soldier
Stuff: ‘I had a better upbringing in jail than I did with my family,’ says former Black Power leader
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): 50 child sex offenders in NZ granted name changes over last five years
RNZ: Ability to access and share data may drive more cybercrime in 2022 – security firm
Jarrod Gilbert (Herald): Cashless future could create headaches for criminal underworld (paywalled)
John Lewis (ODT): Deportees longing for their families
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Another union which has had a good year
Jenny Ruth (BusinessDesk): More amiss at RBNZ than senior staff loss (paywalled)
Jill Herron (Newsroom): Just how viable is the Tarras airport plan?
Rukuwai Tipene-Allen (Māori TV): ‘Please show respect to our tūpuna who lay here and stay off Taratara’
Māori TV: Far North’s Waiharara wildfire damages some wāhi tapu sites
Māori TV: ‘The women led everything’ – Ngā Tamatoa member
Māori TV: Fat Freddy’s Drop pull out of Sydney Festival for Covid travel restriction reasons, after pressure to withdraw over Israeli funding of event
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Babies too close in age, so women miss out on paid leave
