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Today’s content

Parliamentary Grounds occupation
Ben Thomas (Stuff): Protest presents a diabolical challenge for PM
Brigitte Morten (NBR): The ‘deplorables’ on Parliament lawns (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Parliament occupation inevitable, but end should also be (paywalled)
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Parties pressure government for detail on vaccine mandate exit strategy
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Police face serious credibility gap as protest grows after towing threat
Steven Cowan: Marama Davidson turns her back on Māori demonstrators
Rachel Smalley (NBR): Don’t just ignore the yelling mob (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Neale Jones smackdown – when RNZ have left you Labour, you know you are in trouble
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Reality and the left – A bitter divorce
Merepeka Raukawa-Tait (Herald): If you’re going to protest, then know what you’re doing (paywalled)
Emile Donovan and Sharon Brettkelly (RNZ): Covering the protest at Parliament
John Tamihere (Herald): Pākehā protesters now know how Māori feel (paywalled)
Dita De Boni (NBR): The Battle of Portaloo (paywalled)
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Who is winning the PR war at Parliament?
Peter Gluckman (Stuff): Trust and transparency are an antidote to rising autocracy
Glenn McConnell and Bronte Metekingi (Stuff): Wellington’s tangata whenua want protesters to leave
Michael Neilson (Herald): Police claim ‘progress’ at protest despite more cars arriving than leaving
Sophie Cornish (Stuff): Four Defence Force vehicles arrive in Wellington, remain on stand-by
1News: Army vehicles in Wellington on day 10 of Parliament protest
Chris Hyde (Stuff): Crisis negotiator says police are neglecting a direct line to Parliament protesters – social media
Erin Gourley (Stuff): Tow companies saying they are avoiding protest because ‘it could get nasty’
Herald: Police union fears more confrontation ‘likely’ with protesters if vehicles towed
RNZ: Protest outside Parliament: Still no sign of towing to remove blockade of vehicles
RNZ: Protesters outside Parliament ‘disappointed’ over no meeting with Cabinet ministers
1News: Police thank protest ‘influencers’ for helping move vehicles
Peter Dunne: The Ever-so earnest Commissioner of Police
Stuff: Editorial – Parliament protest – the chance that came and went
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): ACT Leader David Seymour, defends meeting with anti-mandate protesters, slams Government’s response
Russell Palmer (RNZ): ACT leader David Seymour meets with protesters: Time for a ‘mature de-escalation’
Thomas Manch (Stuff): ACT leader David Seymour speaks with Parliament protesters, as anti-mandate movement tries to gain legitimacy
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): ACT-voting Parliament protester says David Seymour is trying to win votes
Zane Small (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern slates ‘irresponsible’ ACT leader David Seymour for engaging with Parliament protesters
Thomas Manch (Stuff): ACT leader David Seymour speaks with Parliament protesters, as anti-mandate movement tries to gain legitimacy
1News: Ardern, Luxon condemn David Seymour’s meeting with protesters
Susan Botting (Local Democracy Reporting): Kaipara councillor’s Wellington protest participation risks constituents’ health – Mayor
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): ‘Trespassed’ from Parliament’s lawn: a firsthand account
Daniel Dunkley (BusinessDesk): NZ journalists face growing threat of violence (paywalled)
Herald: National pursue no confidence motion in Speaker Trevor Mallard
Kerre McIvor (Newstalk ZB): The protesters have made their point, now time to go home
Madeleine Chapman (Spinoff): Were the rubber mats at the protest stolen from a local skate park? An investigation
Jess Berentson-Shaw (Newsroom): Why we need stories of strength not division
Greg Presland (The Standard): What does the right to protest actually mean?
Andy Brew (Stuff): Protesters vote to break promise and stay at Picton’s Nelson Square
RNZ: Picton protesters refuse to move despite council deadline
1News: Anti-mandate protest in Christchurch continues for third day
Nadine Porter (Stuff): More tents erected as Christchurch’s anti-vaccine mandate protest grows

Polls, Parliament, parties, MPs
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): TPU/Curia political poll: National closes gap to Labour, with minor parties losing ground
RNZ: Labour holds strong in latest political poll, while National creeps up and minor parties suffer
Henry Cooke (Stuff): New poll: National surge up closer to Labour; Greens and ACT down
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): More of us think we’re headed in the wrong direction
Newshub: Social media users critical of Jacinda Ardern bombard Harvard University Facebook post announcing her as guest
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Christopher Luxon can’t say whether or not National supports minimum wage boost

Omicron
Qiuyi Tan and Chris McDowall (Herald): Positivity rate jumps as New Zealand reports record new cases
Amy Williams (RNZ): Businesses prepared to keep vaccine mandates, workers’ union says
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Government reviewing traffic light system
Bridie Witton (Stuff): New self-managed home isolation scheme a ‘big psychological shift’
RNZ: ‘Sheer confusion’ among Queenstown businesses with Omicron outbreak and changing rules’
Rahul Bhattarai (Herald): Hospitality industry upset at Covid self-isolation rules and lack of financial support
Susana Suisuiki (RNZ): Pasifika make up half of the cases in the current outbreak of Omicron variant
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): As Omicron cases surge, rapid antigen tests will be used more. Here’s what you need to know
Steven Walton and Kate Newton (Stuff): The latest on the vaccine rollout, explained in 7 charts
Marisa Bidois (Stuff): It’s crunch time: Restaurants need Covid support – and they need it now
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Self-isolation’s ‘honesty box’ system (paywalled)
Gordon Campbell: On Freedom, And Government Mandates
Isaac Davison (Herald): Outbreak at Starship children’s hospital, 12 cases confirmed
Herald: The secret life of: A classroom of Kiwi kids in a Covid pandemic (paywalled)

Economy, Business
Kim Moodie (RNZ): Experts split on raising age of superannuation
Shane Te Pou (Herald): Why we should the get behind the Social Unemployment Insurance scheme (paywalled)
David Hargreaves (Interest): Re-surfacing ‘old villains’ are continuing to spoil the economic party
Richard Harman: Treasury Secretary busts political myth (paywalled)
Lauren Hendricksen (Newshub): Hospitality businesses crying out for help as data reveals 30 percent drop in year on year revenues
Duncan Garner (NBR): NZ suddenly at social, economic crisis point (paywalled)
Arena Williams; Stuart Smith (Stuff): Do we need an Income Insurance Scheme?
Herald: Editorial: Time for economy to take its medicine as inflation rises (paywalled)
Carmen Hall (Herald): ‘Pouring petrol on inflation fire’: Bay of Plenty business leaders opposed to minimum wage hike
Brent Edwards (NBR): Finance Minister tells select committee he is comfortable about NZ’s debt (paywalled)
BusinessDesk: Budget 2022 to be delivered May 19

Housing
Zane Small (Newshub): Government’s commitment to solving housing crisis in doubt with just a handful of staff working on renting issues
Bernard Hickey: Govt set to honour housing guarantee (paywalled)
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Landlords won’t be regulated in property management licensing scheme
RNZ: Rental property managers would be licensed under government proposal
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Treasury forecasters put more weight on the impact interest rates have on house prices

Foreign affairs and trade
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Contentious leader’s exit plan leaves obstacles on path to Pacific unity
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Ukraine crisis: Nanaia Mahuta voices concerns about Russian military build-up in phone call with Ukrainian minister
Michael Neilson (Newshub): Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta ‘concerned’ over Australia immigration changes that could increase 501 deportees
David Farrar: The Ukraine war will test Labour’s only the UN can approve sanctions policy

Other
Liz McDonald (Stuff): Push to look again at passenger rail for Christchurch
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Almost $250,000 spent on consultants for pedestrian crossing in Wellington
Jono Galuszka (Stuff): Alternatives to Government’s water reforms allegedly better value for money
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Oranga Tamariki watchdog reforms ‘may perpetuate harm, dysfunction’
Sinead Gill (Stuff): Law professionals calling for more te reo Māori and Māori law in the legal system
Maxine Jacobs (Stuff): Legal interpretations of wāhi tapu and rāhui sought in landmark rights hearing
Te Rina Triponel (Herald): ‘Enjoy the victory’: Activist calls for celebration despite death threats after conversion therapy ban
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): TVNZ, RNZ merger proposal to go to the Cabinet ‘soon’
Blair Ensor (Newshub): ‘We’re not coping’: Police resources stretched as Omicron takes hold
William Mace (NBR): Government’s Digital Strategy being finalised, but where will it lead? (paywalled)
Claire Dale (Newsroom): Busy year ahead for NZ’s first aged care commissioner
Aaron Hendry (Spinoff): For queer Christians, the conversion therapy ban is only the first step