Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.  Click here to subscribe to Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup and New Zealand Politics Daily.

Today’s content

NZ-China-Australia relations
Luke Malpass (Stuff): New Zealand isn’t ‘sucking up’ to China by learning from countries’ mistakes
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Outrage over Nanaia Mahuta’s speech is really about Jacinda Ardern
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Where’s the real criticism of NZ and Five Eyes coming from? (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Stuff): The Five Eyes bluster will blow over, but beneath it lies a greater struggle for New Zealand
Audrey Young (Herald): Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta made just one mistake on Five Eyes (paywalled)
Damien Grant (Stuff): Entangled in Five Eyes: Guarded in stealth, an alliance it is not
Gehan Gunasekara (Herald): Five Eyes has no place in human rights alliance (paywalled)
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): New Zealand’s tricky Five Eyes balancing act (paywalled)
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): The Five Eyes and the Mahuta Doctrine (paywalled)
1News: ‘I said exactly what I meant’ – Foreign Minister defends contentious China comments
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): New Zealand must be ‘respectful’ of China, even if there are disagreements – Nanaia Mahuta
Herald: Nigel Farage on Five Eyes: New Zealand has ‘sold its soul’ to China
Crystal Wu (Newshub): Australia should ‘urgently reset’ relationship with New Zealand to ease China’s leverage – Aussie academic
Jason Walls (Herald): Transtasman foreign affairs ministers face Five Eyes questions
Tom Peters (World socialist website): New Zealand facing demands for sharper anti-China line
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta ‘open to getting advice’ about labelling China’s treatment of Uighurs a genocide
Dan Satherley (Newshub): ‘We can’t just turn a blind eye to this genocide’: Kiwi Uighur says Government is ‘letting it happen’
Latika Bourke (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern savaged as British Parliament declares treatment of Uyghurs ‘genocide’
Tony Wright (Newshub): It’s time for Jacinda Ardern’s Government to stop denying genocide
Tom O’Connor (Stuff): Is the Anzac bond just a nostalgic dream?
Zane Small (Newshub): Australia takes New Zealand’s concerns ‘very seriously’, recognises ‘complexities’ in accused terrorist’s citizenship

Anzac Day
Chris Trotter (Interest): Anzac Day 2021: Myths under pressure
Rowan Light (Stuff): Solidarity and difference — how Anzac Day reflects an ever-changing New Zealand
RNZ: More New Zealanders commemorating Anzac Day – NZDF chief
Christine Rose (Daily Blog): Not honouring war but the dead
Mike Treen (Daily Blog): Anzac Day: Remembering the futility of wars for empire

Health reforms
Keith Lynch (Stuff): The plan to get rid of district health boards and centralise healthcare explained
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Health board fees of $5.5m up for grabs but new national system likely to cost more
Tim Tenbensel (The Conversation): No one is mourning the end of district health boards, but rebuilding trust in the system won’t be easy
Michael Bassett: Little’s health reforms
Mike Yardley (Stuff): It’s time to end our bureaucratic obsession
1News: Health advocates cautiously optimistic over Government’s plan to scrap DHBs
Pat Snedden (Spinoff): We’ve wasted time and money in health for years. Now let’s get on with it
Stuff: Points of Order: A total wipe out of DHBs, and Nanaia Mahuta sets a cat among the pigeons
Chris Marshall (Stuff): Guarded hope that health reforms can deliver to this small town in rural New Zealand
Peter Wilson (RNZ): The Week in Politics: High stakes in the health shakeup
Verna Smith (The Conversation): With closer ties to GPs, NZ’s new central health agency could revolutionise treatment of major diseases
Victor Billot (Newsroom): An ode for Andrew Little
Department of Public Health, University of Otago (Stuff): ‘Feathers will need to be ruffled’: Otago Uni academics call for strong action in health reforms
George Laking (Spinoff): How we changed the way we do health: a view from the future
Catherine Groenestein (Stuff): Reti critical of Government’s health reform plan
Francesca Rudkin (Newstalk ZB): Health system reform a radical and necessary move
Eleisha Foon (RNZ): Health system reforms: Residents in remote areas expect timely service
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Rural health needs resources, plan: union

Health reforms: Māori Health
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Why will a new Māori Health Authority work, when mainstream systems don’t?
Esther Ashby-Coventry (Stuff): New Māori Health Authority ‘got to be positive’
Moana Ellis (Herald): What health changes mean for Whanganui region Māori
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Don Brash ‘strongly opposed’ to ‘disaster’ Māori Health Authority
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): Labour Party radical Health shakeup & Maori Party radical self love campaign

Health: General
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Wait list for colonoscopies more than doubles since bowel screening starts
Ian Powell: How a leadership culture conflict escalated in New Zealand’s public health system
Louise Ternouth (RNZ): Antidepressants at all-time high: Māori, Pasifika, Asians left behind
Māori TV: Māori prescribed anti-depressants 34 times less than other ethnicities
Michelle Duff (Stuff): For an increasing number of women, the first line of defence against cervical cancer doesn’t work

Economy and work
Derek Cheng (Herald): Finance Minister Grant Robertson on why he needs more powers to restrict bank lending
Joel MacManus (Stuff): NZ Bus hires PR firm led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s former chief as contract dispute drags on
Steve Kilgallon (Stuff): The body meant to resolve employer-employee disputes has huge backlog of cases with long delays common
Barrie Saunders: A fairer tax system
Ananish Chaudhuri (Herald): Small wage increases not behind inflation (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): The next massive economic experiment – opening our borders (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Caralee McLiesh, the Treasury Secretary who comes prepared
Kirsty Wynn (Herald): Rise of the tradies: Record numbers sign up as apprentices (paywalled)
RNZ: Wellington NZ Bus lockout: Employment Court rules in favour of drivers
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Treasury claims Rio Tinto faces ‘investor backlash’ amid frustration over Tiwai Point negotiations (paywalled)
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Parker on Rio Tinto environmental reports: ‘It’s a start’
Miriam Bell (Stuff): The end of record low interest rates is near
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Will inflation tsunami spark economic black hole & social unrest?
Andrew Bayly (Stuff): Kiwis face rapid cost increases thanks to recent government decisions
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Government could give Finance Minister new powers over banks
Carmen Hall (Herald): The $17.5 billion industry that’s hungry for funding (paywalled)

Housing crisis
Jane Patterson (RNZ): ‘Inhumane conditions’: Green Party minister condemns some emergency housing
Christian Fuller (RNZ): ‘Motel generation’: Nearly 4000 kids are living in NZ motels
Mark Todd (Spinoff): I’m a landlord and I cringe at the sound of landlords screaming like spoilt brats
Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): After almost 20 years fighting homelessness, Stephanie McIntyre focuses on family and home
Crystal Wu (Newsroom): Auckland house fire blamed on frustration over skyrocketing rents
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Landlords missed a chance to change NZ’s mind
Hannah Kronast, Emma Stanford, Heather McCarron (Newshub): Govt accused of running get-rich-quick scheme after National reveals motels being paid millions for emergency accommodation
Catherine Masters (Stuff): ‘There are so many buyers it’s just getting ridiculous’
Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): ‘It’s hard to breathe’: Dampness, mould return to Wellington flats as cold weather arrives
Diana Clement (Interest): Collateral damage from Government’s new housing rules

Local government
Thomas Coughlan and Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Funding on the table in biggest local government shake-up in 30 years
Bernard Hickey: A review of how to pay
RNZ: Local government review to focus on evolution over next 30 years
Susan Botting (RNZ): Northland leaders: Review must keep the ‘local’ in local government
Mike Mather (Stuff): Southgate ‘keeping an open mind’ on local government reform
Janine Rankin (Stuff): Mayors open to review of the future of local government
Logan Savory (Stuff): Working group yet to revisit Invercargill City Council media protocol
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Council will cut far fewer staff than expected after upturn
Joel MacManus (Stuff): City at a standstill: Transport problems keeping Wellington from moving
Mike Yardley (Stuff): We are being swamped in local government bureaucracy
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland Council manager accused of bullying gets appointed to a new council-paid job

Covid: Vaccinations programme and border
Derek Cheng (Herald): How Government opened transtasman bubble without raising risk at border (paywalled)
Cathy Odgers: Covid shows why New Zealand needs a one passport law
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Labour MP David Parker still thinks border system ‘damn-near perfect’ despite worker going 6 months without test
Dan Satherley and Emma Stanford (Newshub): Simon Bridges predicts India ban will stay due to ‘incompetently run’ borders
Herald: Editorial: Nerves over stuttering start to travel bubble (paywalled)
Herald: Editorial: Our stepping stones towards long-haul flights (paywalled)
John Anthony (Stuff): Officials urge returnees to cancel MIQ ‘ghost bookings’ so others can come home
Anna Whyte (1News): Government announces MIQ shake up to separate returnees
Sapna Samant and Mohan Dutta (E-Tagata): Shut the border, open the dialogue

Media
Audrey Young (Herald): Lifting the lid on how the parliamentary Press Gallery works (paywalled)
Brian Easton (Pundit): Destroying public service broadcasting
David Farrar: Dom Post readership plummeting
Gavin Ellis: I hate racism…and chopped liver
E-Tangata: Reforming Māori media

Climate change and environment
Amber Allott (Stuff): ‘Rubbish at recycling’ – New Zealand ranks second last in international trial
RNZ: Poor score for New Zealand’s recycling systems – Consumer NZ
Sophie Handford (Spinoff): ‘Take it up a step’: Helen Clark talks climate change action with Sophie Handford
RNZ: Global climate summit: Jacinda Ardern urges nations to follow New Zealand’s lead on financial action
Rod Oram (Newsroom): World leaving us behind on climate ambition
Steven Cowan: There is no market solution to climate change

National Party
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of the Luxon Gang (paywalled)
Bob Jones: The National Party’s dilemma
Chris Tobin (Stuff): Christopher Luxon discounts party leadership ambitions during Timaru visit

Parliament
Dale Husband (E-Tagata): Che Wilson: Not your conventional party president
Phil Smith (RNZ): Dear Parliament, Try again, Sincerely, the Courts

Government
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Centralisation is fine, but Govt doesn’t always get it right
Andrew Gunn (Stuff): Government for the people on two fronts

Other
ODT: Editorial – Spotlight on animal welfare
Shane Te Pou (Herald): Māori-led prison reform signals welcome shift in Crown’s thinking (paywalled)
Willie Jackson (Herald): Why institutional racism against Māori exists in NZ (paywalled)
Chlöe Swarbrick (Stuff): Greyhound racing is cruel, and we must end it now
Jacqueline Rowarth (Stuff): Want the truth? Trust the experts
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Immigration New Zealand apologises and refunds over covert residence policy
No Right Turn: We don’t need mass-surveillance to pay for the roads