New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.
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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

Parliamentary Grounds occupation
Luke Malpass (Stuff): New poll shows 30 per cent of Kiwis support anti-mandate protest
Josie Pagani (Stuff): Tribal othering is easy to do, but it helps no one
Barry Soper (Herald): There’s an air of permanency at Parliament grounds
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): The new international brand of intolerance has arrived
Michael Neilson (Herald): Inside camp Parliament – the people who built a village outside Parliament (paywalled)
RNZ: No confidence in Ardern – Dame Tariana Turia
David Seymour (Stuff): Why the protesters should be heard
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Wellington iwi leader calls for ‘political solution’ to end protests
Rachel Smalley (NBR): Step up, face and engage with your critics, Jacinda Ardern (paywalled)
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Figureheads and factions: the key people at parliament occupation
Don Franks (Redline): How to Protest Properly
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Why there is no political deal to be done to end the Parliamentary protest
Stephen Franks: Outcomes of the Parliamentary occupation
Andrew Geddis (Pundit): I too am not a bit tamed
Stefan Dimitrof (Māori TV): Māori wardens’ helping hand amid Parliament protests
Stuff: Editorial – How does the Parliament protest sit, historically?
Kassie Hartendorp (Stuff): Understanding freedom means recognising we are all in this together
Chris Trotter: Caught in the crossfire
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Michael ‘Nazi Hunter’ Wood , Neale ‘send in the cops’ Jones & Clint’ Martial Law’ Smith – Why woke middle class marxism will kill Labour
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): 30% support the protestors?!?! – How did Jacinda’s neokindness lose the lumpenproletariat? 
Steven Cowan: The Madness of this Labour Government
Rosemary McLeod (Stuff): Who’s paying for the Parliament protest caterers?
David Beck (Herald): Freedom or freedumb? I’ve had enough of the vocal minority (paywalled)
Zane Small (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern refuses to engage with ‘illegal’ protest, insists involvement at Ihumātao ‘not the same’
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Labour’s Michael Wood warns MPs who want to support anti-mandate protest it has ‘river of filth’ running through it
Herald: Police to engage with protest leaders to bring the protest into a lawful state
Vandhna Bhan (1News) Police could have acted sooner on Parliament protest – Cahill
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Defence Minister says army’s towing vehicle could wreck protesters’ cars
RNZ: Vehicle towing yet to start, police ‘focus on engagement’
RNZ: Towing operator says companies ready to remove vehicles
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Towing company says task of shifting 450 vehicles an ‘impossibility’
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Political parties make joint-statement to protesters: We won’t talk until you clear roads
Herald: Govt in crisis meeting over protest, MP Michael Wood speaks out on dark undercurrent
Thomas Manch (Stuff): National security crisis group meets as Parliament protests continues
Jessica Mutch McKay (1News): Speaker asks for cross-party support in effort to talk with protesters
RNZ: Protest outside Parliament: Speaker Trevor Mallard says no dialogue until blockade clears
Newstalk ZB: Parliament protest liaison: Disappointed no one from govt has come to talk to us
Christopher Reive (Herald): Sir Russell Coutts to join Parliament protest
David Farrar: Sir Russell Coutts joins the protest
Claire Trevett (Herald): Former National MP Matt King confirms plans for new political party
Chris Hyde (Stuff): Is news media coverage of the Parliament protest throwing fuel on the fire?
Tim Brown (RNZ): Anti-media sentiment among protesters cause for concern – experts
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Far right video came from contractor working at Parliament
Tom Peters (World socialist website): New Zealand right-wing, pseudo-lefts urge government to “engage” with far-right protesters
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Central Wellington schools use security to keep students safe while protest ongoing
1News: Wellington retailers could see ‘permanent damage’ from protests
1News: Speaker outlines dialogue terms as protest hits day 11
RNZ: Protesters’ vehicle blockade remains on 10th day of occupation
Nadine Porter (Stuff): Inside the Christchurch protest and the stalemate angering locals
Niva Chittock (RNZ): ‘The law has failed’: Cranmer Square residents say protesters camping illegally
Matthew Hampson (Stuff): Trespass notices delivered after Picton protesters refuse to relocate
1News: Picton protesters refusing to move on despite trespass notice

Omicron
Keith Lynch (Stuff): Are NZ’s vaccine mandates justified in the age of Omicron?
Herald: 10,000 daily cases by March, Omicron peak in sight – expert
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): One in every 26 Covid-19 tests is positive
Russell Palmer (RNZ): MIQ rules begin to loosen as border opens and Omicron spreads
Oscar Francis and Eric Trump (ODT): Student sentiment appals epidemiologist
Brent Edwards (NBR): The new reality for businesses dealing with Omicron (paywalled)

Economy and employment
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Minimum wage workers pushed near middle tax bracket
David Williams (Newsroom): $1m legal bill for wage subsidy probes
Bernard Hickey: Fletcher’s very profitable inflation (paywalled)
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Government investigating ‘tikanga Māori based employment policy’
RNZ: Government launches Te Mahere Whai Mahi Māori strategy
Chris Keall (Herald): Amazon adds to its $7.5 billion Auckland data centre plans (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): Economic tide is turning – ANZ’s latest quarterly outlook (paywalled)
Andrea Fox (Herald): Mainfreight warns Auckland should brace for long freight delivery delays due to port issues (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Finance Minister insists ‘balance right’ on tax (paywalled)

Housing
Miriam Bell (Stuff): ‘Drastic fall’ in NZ housing affordability takes it to worst level on record
RNZ: Housing affordability at an all-time low – CoreLogic report
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): House prices now at a record 8.8x NZ incomes (paywalled)
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): The housing crisis ‘lever’ discounted by government (paywalled)
1News: First-home buyer says all-time low in housing affordability ‘daunting’
Felix Desmarais (Local democracy reporting): Ardern: Motel housing a ‘stopgap measure’ but no end date in sight for Rotorua

Parliament and Government
Matthew Hooton (Herald): One last chance left for Jacinda Ardern to deliver (paywalled)
Zane Small (Newshub): Greens renew call for Rainbow Ministry, an idea once dismissed by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
Brent Edwards (NBR): Housing ‘catastrophe’, child poverty – grim reading for govt in Sallies report (paywalled)
John Weekes (Herald): Charlotte Bellis MIQ dispute resurfaces, Nats scold jovial diplomat and claim privacy breach

Foreign affairs and trade
Whatitiri Te Wake (Māori TV): Foreign Affairs policy through a bicultural lens: Nanaia Mahuta’s first ministerial trip to Europe
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Nanaia Mahuta to travel to Europe for Indo-Pacific talks, meet WHO chief, UN Human Rights commissioner
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Australia indicates progress on NZ taking refugees issue but Aotearoa stays quiet
Michael Neilson (Herald): Australia accepts ‘in principle’ New Zealand’s refugees offer for 150 a year, nine years after first made

Health
Bridie Witton (Stuff): ‘Significant disruption’: Thousands of public health staff vote to strike as Omicron cases rise
Rowan Quinn (RNZ) Hospitals consistently understaffed, nurses overworked – report
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Bipartisan approach to mental health off to bad start
Ian Powell: Health systems, patient safety and Swiss cheese

Other
Andrew Ecclestone and Simon Wright (Stuff): How the media can improve the toxic dynamic with government
1News: Animal rights groups call for Todd’s knighthood to be revoked
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland mayoralty: Silence over possible contest for Labour blessing
Sean Rush (Stuff): Community projects must be decided by the community
Richard Harman: Defence Chief admits much of our defence force not up to “warfighting”
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Demand for Children’s Commissioner to be retained amid Government reforms
Trisia Farrelly (The Conversation): An international treaty to curb plastic pollution risks being watered down — New Zealand needs to take a stand
Māori TV: Government could fix gambling but won’t
Karl du Fresne: Well, at least we now know who the real defenders of free speech are

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