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
Covid
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): The key Covid-19 questions for 2022
Peter Davis (Stuff): There’s no time to waste if we’re to keep Omicron out of NZ
Keith Lynch (Stuff): Could New Zealand actually eliminate Delta?
Jane Nixon (RNZ): Mixed views over school start date amid Omicron fears
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Epidemiologist suggests delay to school year to ramp up Covid-19 vaccination rollout for children
Molly Swift (Newshub): Kiwi epidemiologist warns Government threat of Omicron should see schools delay opening
Colleen Brown (Listener/Herald): Whatever it takes: The gulf between bureaucracy and reality in South Auckland’s Covid fight (paywalled)
RNZ: Covid-19 isolation facility opens at Rotorua lodge
Laura Smith (Herald): Rotorua lakeside lodge transformed into iwi-led isolation facility (paywalled)
Rawiri Taonui (Māori TV): Māori community cases pass 5,000
1 News: 14 new Covid-19 community cases in NZ today
Michael Daly (Stuff): The gripes and the fabulous of MIQ: Study finds big variation in hotel quality
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Australian father who waited 10 days to be at bedside of gravely ill son praises MIQ system
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Mocking Jamie Ridge’s privilege misses the building rage & why MIQ will get harder
Herald Editorial: Managed isolation frustrations and quandaries (paywalled)
Liam Napier (Herald): ‘They’ve harmed thousands of Kiwis’: David Higgins hits out at Government (paywalled)
Adam Pearse (Herald): Australia-based family’s last hope for transtasman move
Thomas Bywater (Herald): Cook Islands quarantine free travel: New requirements for returning travellers
Vaccine rollout, mandate, testing
Lillian Hanly (1 News): Almost 4% of mandated police not fully vaccinated
Steven Walton (Stuff): Christchurch council vaccine mandate in place, but status of 500 workers unknown
Herald: Herald includes booster coverage in vaccine tracker
Anti-vaxxers, protests, rule breaches
Amy Ridout (Stuff): Council staff retreat to back room as ‘aggressive’ protesters enter office
ODT Editorial: The Tamakis’ picnic
RNZ: Council charges anti-govt protest organisers more than $14,000
1 News: Christchurch council invoices mandate protest organisers $14k
Molly Swift and Caley Callahan (Newshub): Anti-mandate group founded by Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki fined over $14,000 by the Christchurch City Council
Mike Mather (Stuff): ‘Freedoms’ motorcade protester gets $500 fine for lockdown breach, unsafe riding on ute
Adam Pearse (Herald): Should Covid breach reports be anonymous?
Newshub: Deregistered, anti-vaxx doctor Jonie Girouard running ‘guilt free’ chocolate business
Newstalk ZB: Bryan Betty: “We need to have trust in the behaviour of doctors”
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Geraldine cafe under fire for comparing COVID-19 vaccine mandate to Holocaust
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): Amid misinformation and scams, the Ministry of Health advises people to go to trusted sources
Piers Fuller (Stuff): Carterton cafe allows dining on site despite opting out of vaccine pass system
Moana Ellis (Stuff): Iwi collective’s mobile Covid-19 units cop anti-vaccination flak
Parties, MPs, Parliament
Steven Cowan (Against the current): Green Party: Discontent grows with Shaw and Davidson
The Standard: Is it time for the Greens to go their own way?
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Labour MP Marja Lubeck’s summer break in Europe after securing MIQ slot
Peter de Graaf (Herald): Police investigating threat against Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern delivered to Kerikeri homes
Employment
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Stark warning to businesses: prepare now for ‘the big sick’
Audrey Young (Herald): Where the next big move in women’s pay is coming from (paywalled)
Riley Kennedy (ODT): Southern Taxis case a reminder of directors’ responsibilities
Riley Kennedy (ODT): Ex taxi firm owners may have to pay
Economy & Business
Andrew Barnes (Herald): Buy-now, pay-later consumer finance service hard trend to control (paywalled)
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Retailer ditches Paywave transactions after estimating almost $8000 in bank fees a year
Sam Olley and Sarah Robson (RNZ): Northland recommended to receive more tourism support to ‘not fall further behind’
Environment, conservation
Rod Oram (Newsroom): The most important day this year
Bruce Glavovic, Iain White, Tim Smith (The Conversation): Scientists call for a moratorium on climate change research until governments take real action
Jamie Morton (Herald): Scorching seas: Planet’s oceans running at record temperatures
RNZ: Warmer ocean temperatures clear indication climate change continuing – academic
Sophie Harris (Stuff): Ocean temperatures hit record high for third year in a row, global study shows
Leah Tebbutt (RNZ): NIWA’s annual climate summary: Aotearoa continues warming trend with 2021 topping record
Jamie Morton (Herald): Niwa confirms 2021 was NZ’s hottest year on record
Jamie Ensor and Ruwani Perera (Newshub): 2021 was New Zealand’s warmest year on record
1 News: 2021 was New Zealand’s hottest year on record – NIWA
Nathan Morton (Stuff): 2021 officially New Zealand’s hottest year on record, Niwa says
Karen Coltman (Herald): Farmers say more dams needed in hotter climate
Laura Hooper (Stuff): Southland should prepare for more extreme weather in 2022
Jamie Morton (Herald): Does NZ’s ‘marine heatwave’ mean more shark encounters?
Rachael Comer (Stuff): Health warning in place at Twizel River
Housing
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): ‘Real-life nightmare’: Renters facing dwindling options, Trade Me data shows
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Good news for house buyers: Options double in some areas
Anne Gibson (Herald): Numbers of houses for sale surges, annual sales numbers also up
Janine Rankin (Stuff): More sellers gain confidence to provide for housing demand
Tony Alexander (OneRoof): Can’t get a mortgage, don’t want to buy – what will kill the boom
RNZ: National average property asking price hits 14-year high
Carmen Hall (Herald): ‘It’s ridiculous’: 27 days before bank picks up home loan application (paywalled)
Diana Clement (OneRoof): ‘Suck it up’: Just how much will interest rates rise in 2022?
Herald: Rental advocacy group slams ramshackle West Auckland listing
Melanie Earley (Stuff): TradeMe pulls listing for caravan inside shed that was offered as $285pw rental
Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): ‘The council do nothing’: No respite for refugee man and pregnant wife in mouldy Wellington council flat
Sinead Gill (Stuff): Housing project for homeless gets help to navigate red tape
Waitangi
Maiki Sherman (1 News): Te Tii Marae to host three-day Waitangi event
RNZ: Waitangi commemoration: Hapū agree to hold events at lower grounds
Tumamao Harawira (Māori TV): Te Tī Marae to continue with Waitangi Day celebrations
Health
Susan St John (Herald): Changes to our accidental compensation scheme (paywalled)
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Auckland short five ambulances on Monday due to ‘ongoing’ staffing issues – union
RNZ: Doctors’ union calls for remuneration over ‘demanding’ workload
Mare Haimona-Riki (Māori TV): Whanganui iwi collective calls for more nurses in Covid response efforts
Oscar Francis (ODT): ACC vaping claims rise
RNZ: Lack of funding for financial mentors increasing stress on communities – FinCap report
Eric Trump (ODT): Schools lament loss of ChatBus
Transport
Sam Olley (RNZ): ‘Dangerous’ crash site unchanged despite investigation
Karen Rutherford (Newshub): Petition launched by mayors fighting reduced speed on deadly Napier-Taupō highway
Jo Lines-MacKenzie (Stuff): New Zealand’s toll roads ‘a waste of time’, motoring commentator says
Local government
Felix Desmarais (Local Democracy Reporting): “Extremely disturbing”: 12 appeals lodged against council’s representation review
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Attacked on the street: Parking wardens assaulted with scooters, told ‘I hope you die’ (paywalled)
Other
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Police to no longer photograph youth unless in custody, barrister concerned arrests of Māori could increase
1 News: Calls grow for rāhui to have greater legal recognition
Newshub: Charity horrified by three major child abuse allegations in first 10 days of 2022
Daily Blog: The Working Group 1 hour Economy Special with Bernard Hickey, Simon Bridges & Damien Grant
Laura O’Connell Rapira: Help us donate $1,000,000 to youth movements in Aotearoa
Laura Walters (Stuff): New Chinese ambassador touches down in Wellington
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): New Chinese ambassador Wang Xiaolong begins term in Wellington
Georgina Campbell (Herald): A thousand Inland Revenue staff to remain displaced for most of the year
