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, MPs, Parties
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Which MPs could lose their jobs in 2022? (paywalled)
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Neck, meet block. Predictions for 2022 (paywalled)
David Fisher (Herald): Profile: Harete Hipango and how she upset National colleagues (paywalled)
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Greens satisfied after first year of pact with Labour
Ian Powell (Daily Blog): What do you know about politics if politics is all you know?
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The list of Labour’s worst failures after 4 years & what they need to do at their annual caucus retreat this week
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Can Chris Luxon & David Seymour win in 2023?
Tonga volcanic eruption, tsunami
Stuff: New Zealand stands ready to help Tonga in wake of devastating tsunami
1 News: NZ Air Force aircraft to conduct flight over Tonga
Torika Tokalau and Josephine Franks (Stuff): NZ Defence Force poised to help, but no direct contact with Tonga Government yet
RNZ: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addresses situation in Tonga following volcanic eruption, tsunami
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Tonga volcanic eruption: ‘Too early to tell’ – Jacinda Ardern on injuries, damage from disaster
Herald: New Zealand ready to help Tonga; tsunami surge destroys boats, closes beaches in NZ
Newshub: Tonga eruption and tsunami: Jacinda Ardern gives update as officials determine what help New Zealand can provide
Māori TV: ‘We are thinking of our pacific friends and family’ – MPs express aroha for Tonga
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): New Zealand relatives of Tongans nervously wait for news from loved ones
Wyatt Ryder and Grant Miller (ODT): Blackout has families holding out for news
Rachel Sadler and Ruwani Perera (Newshub): Tonga eruption and tsunami: ACT calls out Civil Defence for not activating tsunami sirens before surge hit New Zealand
RNZ: Major repair job needed after Tūtūkākā Marina hit by strong wave surges
Avina Vidyadharan and Peter de Graaf (Northern Advocate): Northland’s east coast battered by effects of Tonga eruption and Cyclone Cody
Denise Piper (Stuff): Tonga tsunami: Tutukaka damage has business wondering, ‘what next?’
Kim Moodie (RNZ): Tonga eruption likely the world’s largest in 30 years – scientist
Covid, MIQ, border
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Boosters, Omicron, open borders: How New Zealand’s COVID-19 battle is set to change in 2022
Ian Powell (BusinessDesk): Take that, world! How we gave covid our best shot (paywalled)
Zoe Holland (Herald): Professor Michael Baker warns to prepare for a ‘very intense rise of cases’
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Omicron will overwhelm an ‘already overwhelmed system’, doctor fears
Katie Kenny (Stuff): The narrative of Omicron as a ‘milder’ variant is dangerous, given what we know about long Covid, experts warn
David Seymour (Herald): Omicron requires a whole new set of rules (paywalled)
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Traffic lights to be reviewed this week, as Govt prepares for Omicron’s arrival
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Jacinda Ardern to get booster as traffic lights get reviewed
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Only 1.5 per cent of travellers entering NZ have Omicron variant
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Some face masks ‘effectively worthless’, people urged to upgrade as Omicron looms
Mildred Armah (Stuff): Which face masks are available in NZ and which are the most effective?
Zane Small (Newshub): January 17: A significant day in the Government’s COVID-19 response looms
Liu Chen (RNZ): International students stuck overseas plead for clarity about when they can come to NZ
Cate Broughton (Stuff): International arrivals go without masks in transit corridor – while border cases grow
RNZ: Government works to get 14 people into MIQ after identity verification error
Herald: MIQ lifeline for Kiwi travellers in Australia blind-sided by border opening backflip
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): A cunning way to get home
Clarke Gayford testing controversy
Herald Editorial: Prime Minister’s partner Clarke Gayford poorly miscast as Covid test adviser (paywalled)
ODT Editorial: Political spouse role not always easy
Janet Wilson (Stuff): Rules are rules for classic silly season stories
Vaccine rollout, mandate, testing
RNZ: Low delivery of booster shots puts NZ at risk from Omicron – epidemiologist
Herald: Expert says Omicron outbreak should be delayed to allow children to get vaccinated
Mataroria Lyndon (Herald): Vital to vaccinate our tamaraki now (paywalled)
1 News: Logistical issues hamper children’s vaccine rollout
Siouxsie Wiles (Stuff): Children’s Covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Booking vaccines for five to 11-year-olds not proving easy
Herald Editorial: Vaccinating children against Covid – what to consider (paywalled)
1 News: Covid-19 vaccinations start for 5 to 11-year-olds in NZ
Moana Ellis (Local Democracy Reporting): Iwi collective’s online blitz targets hesitancy over children’s vaccinations
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Experts fear 1 million rapid antigen tests a week for worst-case Omicron outbreak not enough
Herald: Vaccination rates continue to dampen community infections
Denise Piper (Stuff): Northland yet to reach 90 per cent first doses, a month after all other DHBs
Maxine Jacobs (Stuff): How Capital and Coast DHB won the race to 90 per cent double-vaccination for Māori
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Riverton a town divided over vaccines
RNZ: More than 200 police officers yet to get first Covid-19 vaccine dose, some face being stood down
RNZ: Covid-19 vaccines: Deadline hits for Fire and Emergency, police
Adam Pearse (Herald): Man fights for vaccine exemption after ‘terrible’ eight weeks after first dose
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Who are the 17,100 ‘unknown’ people counted in our vaccine statistics?
James Halpin (Stuff): Battle of the sexes: Are more men or women vaccinated against Covid-19?
Thomas Mead (1 News): Auckland woman denied Covid vaccine exemption despite rare side effect
Anti-vaccination, protests, rule breaches
Sam Olley (RNZ): Doctor recording vaccinated patients as ‘magnetic’ in clinic notes
Kim Knight (Herald): Restaurant diners’ attitudes to vaccine passes and Covid rules scrutinised in new survey (paywalled)
Bill Ralston (Herald): The toughest questions we face in 2022 (paywalled)
Polly Gillespie (Stuff): Fear binds the angry on both sides of the vaccine divide
John Anthony (Stuff): Traffic light loophole? Napier music venue Paisley Stage hosting concerts without vaccine passes
Herald: Manukau protest expected to cause traffic delays – police
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Brian Tamaki arrested for alleged breach of bail conditions
Martin Van Beynen (Stuff): Derek Tait: Destiny Church’s mouth in the south
Cases
1 News: Ardern expects ‘cautious approach’ over Auckland Omicron case
RNZ: Border worker confirmed as Omicron case
Lincoln Tan (Herald): MIQ worker confirmed as Omicron case, multiple high-risk locations of interest named
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Locations of interest in the Delta outbreak – January 16
Virginia Fallon and Liz McDonald (Stuff): Vigilance urged as community Omicron case confirmed in Auckland
Herald: MIQ worker infected with Omicron, 25 community cases
Josephine Franks and Denise Piper (Stuff): Infected border worker confirmed as Omicron case
RNZ: Auckland resthome caregiver tests positive
Gianina Schwanecke (Stuff): Two new Covid-19 cases announced in Hawke’s Bay
Education
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Educators should be urgently planning for safe return to schools and closures a ‘last resort’, expert says
Laura Walters and Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): As house prices rise, Wellington area school rolls are falling
Sarah Catherall (Stuff): Covid and climate change have robbed 20-somethings of the exciting transition to adulthood
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Financial burden of swimming lessons is ‘massive’ but crucial for New Zealanders after horror summer of drownings
Housing
Neil Reid (Herald): Home loans: Minister calls for ‘investigation’ into new rules to be brought forward
Rob Stock (Stuff): Commerce minister David Clark orders inquiry into falling lending levels
Rob Stock (Stuff): Dramatic drop in mortgage demand ‘threatens house prices’
Damien Venuto (Herald): Credit changes – Govt’s good intentions fall short in lending law fiasco (paywalled)
Wyatt Ryder (ODT): Bank loan questions ‘invasive’
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Home loan changes: Are the banks taking the rules too far?
Don Brash (Bassett, Brash & Hide): Crocodile tears on house prices
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Will Labour’s appalling handling of the housing crisis spark a Rent Strike in 2022?
Sinead Gill (Stuff): Hidden homeless: Living life between the cracks
Imran Ali (Herald): State houses in Northland: Kāinga Ora plans up to 250 homes by 2024 (paywalled)
Jane Matthews (Stuff): What it’s like living in New Plymouth’s 68-house Kiwibuild community
Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): The Wellington luxury townhouse development that is pleasing neither the Nimbys nor the Yimbys
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Construction ‘reset’ needed to help housing market in 2022
Scott Yeoman (Stuff): Housing or green space? Tauranga debates future of Crown reserve land
Economy & Business
Damien Grant (Stuff): We Kiwis are a content lot, but trouble looms over the horizon
RNZ: First lot of 25,000 Auckland activity vouchers to be allocated
Murat Ungor (Newsroom): Inflation’s challenge for central banks
Matai O’Connor (RNZ): Summer profit down in Gisborne without Rhythm and Vines influx but locals enjoy quiet town
John Key (Herald): Ultra Fast Broadband programme has been fantastic, but the job is not done (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): Smashing Supermarket Duopoly could be a perfect example of co-governance
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Plan ahead, and don’t stockpile: What can Kiwis expect as supply issues continue?
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Land bought for $1 billion bid to turn Southland into global IT hub
Lana Hart (Stuff): Should we work for society’s benefit, and follow our passions elsewhere?
Environment, conservation
David Williams (Newsroom): Emissions from farm fertilisers are flying
Pete McKenzie (Guardian): New Zealand offshore drilling rig prompts furious backlash from climate activists
Amber Allott (Stuff): Fears climate change could tip toxic algae to deadly levels
Sarah Kaplan and John Muyskens (Stuff): The past seven years have been the hottest in recorded history, new data shows
Will Harvie (Stuff): 97 per cent of viruses in a NZ river new to science, study says
Kiri Gillespie (Herald): Bay of Plenty swimming spot Kaiate Falls plagued by seven-year poo problem (paywalled)
Blair Jackson (Stuff): Call for inquiry into failed MPI prosecution case in Southland
George Heagney (Stuff): ‘Stop disrespecting our moana’ – iwi upset at pāua pillage
Health
Lucy Xia (Stuff): Continued delays for younger Kiwis with bowel cancer symptoms seeking colonoscopies
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Auckland Mason Clinic patient locked in seclusion room for eight days
Emma Russell (Herald): The vaping ‘epidemic’: Stores more common than fast food – hundreds close to schools (paywalled)
Emma Russell (Herald): ‘History repeating’: The rise of vaping-addicted teens (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: Vaped crusaders – heroes or villains? (paywalled)
Transport
RNZ: Auckland trains to resume as network shutdown nears end
Steven Walton (Stuff): Debate over when Christchurch bus timetables will return to normal
Prince Andrew
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern says Prince Andrew no longer holds New Zealand military patronage
Matthew Tso (Stuff): Prince Andrew stripped of NZ military title amid assault case
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Prince Andrew stripped of New Zealand military title
Other
Susan St John (Daily Blog): Tackling the Big Issues in 2022? Yeah Right!
Tina Law (Stuff): Party politics: A blessing or a curse for local government?
Olivia Caldwell (Stuff): Law experts and gun owners concerned over police use of warrantless search powers
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Delayed appeal will decide convicted drug smuggler Karel Sroubek’s fate
Pete McKenzie (Guardian): China’s choice of ambassador to New Zealand indicates focus on deepening economic ties
Simon Draper (Stuff): Asia elections in 2022 to have flow-on effects in New Zealand
Gerard Hindmarsh (Stuff): New Zealand’s forgotten slaves of the Pacific
Sharon Stephenson (Stuff): ‘I feel a real connection to New Zealand’ Behrouz Boochani on life and work in Aotearoa
Jono Galuszka (Stuff): Linton Military Camp defence force members rack up criminal convictions
Alison Mau (Stuff): Need something to look forward to in 2022? Here’s some inspiration for your year ahead
Keith Woodford (Interest): 2022 will be a big year for the primary industries
Christine McCarthy (Newsroom): A case for open prisons
Karen Pasco (ODT): Uncertainty continues for prison staff
Jacqui Southey (Stuff): Save the children’s commissioner, NZ’s campaigning superhero
Steve Braunias (Herald): On the importance of having good neighbours (paywalled)
