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
Lockdown
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): It’s no longer clear Jacinda Ardern’s strategy is the right one (paywalled)
Kate MacNamara (Herald): Government’s Covid spin spend masks a failure to deliver (paywalled)
Keith Lynch (Stuff): How viable is New Zealand’s coronavirus elimination plan in the time of Delta?
Audrey Young (Herald): Lessons for Judith Collins and Jacinda Ardern in handling a crisis (paywalled)
Ben Thomas (Stuff): This pandemic has raised unsettling questions about who we really are
Ian Powell (Second Opinion): Government’s response to New Zealand’s Delta threat is the right response
Derek Cheng (Herald): No light at the end of the lockdown tunnel – yet (paywalled)
Luke Malpass, Keith Lynch and Henry Cooke (Stuff): The race is on to find the index case
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Nation plunges back into lockdown after mystery community case ends golden period
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Hunt for source of community case narrows to MIQ or bubble blunder
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Why Auckland’s locations of interest are ‘bad news’ for superspread potential
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): We knew this was coming
Kylie Klein-Nixon (Stuff): Lockdown 2021 is less strange than 2020, but feels more ominous
Stuff Editorial: We can get through this lockdown too
ODT Editorial: The bubble is back
RNZ: NSW shows it is important not to lift lockdown too early – Ashley Bloomfield
Tess McClure (Guardian): Ardern’s Covid lockdown finds favour as New Zealand watches Sydney’s Delta disaster
1 News: NSW v NZ: How recent Aussie outbreak shows snap lockdown right move
Andrew Barnes (Herald): What it’s like living with Delta in the UK (paywalled)
RNZ: Surprise overseas sees media report on NZ’s lockdown ‘after a single case is reported’
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): A single case and a ‘never-ending nightmare’: World media react to NZ lockdown
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Ben Leahy (Herald): Delta outbreak: Ten cases – everything we know about them
Michael Neilson (Herald): Auckland location of interest goes back two weeks – lockdown length hinges on test results on NSW border link
RNZ: Covid-19 lockdown day 1: What has happened
RNZ: Photos: New Zealand wakes up to first day of the Covid-19 level 4 lockdown – again
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): Covid-19 Delta cases shock Coromandel community
Herewini Waikato (Māori TV): Ngāti Maru runs spontaneous checkpoint at Manaia
Kirsty Frame (RNZ): How Wellington responded to the snap alert level 4 lockdown
Daisy Hudson (ODT): The Covid hush returns
Sinead Gill (Stuff): Resilient rural households will cope with three-day lockdown, says community worker
Vaccine rollout
Troels Sommerville (Stuff): Vaccine levels too low to consider no-lockdown response, experts say
1 News: NZ had ‘no choice’ but to lock down amid vaccine roll-out ‘failure’ – Collins
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Lockdown needed due to low vaccination rate
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Could this lockdown have been avoided?
Herald Editorial: Vaccination urgency required (paywalled)
Troels Sommerville (Stuff): Experts call for essential services staff to jump vaccine queue
Te Aorewa Rolleston, Jamie Tahana, and Matai O’Connor (RNZ): Māori communities swing into action as health professionals sound warning
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Māori need to be vaccinated ASAP – Dr Rawiri Taonui
Marena Mane (Māori TV): Māori over 25 need jabs now – Dr Rawiri Jansen
Torika Tokalau and Sapeer Mayron (Stuff): Low vaccine uptake makes Delta more dangerous for Pasifika and Māori – expert
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Judith Collins says Government should let everyone get vaccine after community Delta outbreak
Ryan Bridgei (Newshub): Covid-19 is lurking and the official advice ‘wait your turn’ is hard to hear for young people wanting a vaccination
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Vaccinations to resume across Auckland sites amid growing outbreak
RNZ: Vaccination programme to continue in alert level 4
Amy Wiggins (Herald): Vaccinations – What you need to know
Sam Sherwood (Stuff): Low vaccination rate among police labelled a ‘failure’
Herald: Ashley Bloomfield awaits vaccination turn
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Judith Collins says Government should let everyone get vaccine after community Delta outbreak
Henry Cooke (Stuff): New Zealand hits record-high vaccine day, but many in vulnerable group 3 still unprotected
Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris (Spinoff): How Covid vaccinated people can still get infected
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Vaccine trial ‘rescued’ by just 300 Kiwis to proceed despite lockdown
Grant Bradley (Herald): Qantas takes hard line on jabs for staff (paywalled)
ODT: Qantas to require all employees to be vaccinated against Covid
Tracer App
Andrew Chen (The Conversation): New Zealanders haven’t been scanning in enough, and that contributed to the need for a full lockdown
Bay of Plenty Times: Thames-Coromandel Mayor Goudie backtracks on Tracer app comments
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Coromandel Mayor Sandra Goudie backtracks on ‘absolutely ignorant’ COVID Tracer App comments
Kirsty Lawrence (Stuff): Coromandel mayor changes tune on use of coronavirus tracer app
RNZ: ‘Quite ashamed’ of Coromandel Mayor comments – Councillor
Testing
Mandy Te’ (Stuff): One shot at outbreak’ expert says as Covid-19 testing numbers increase
Cherie Howie (Herald): Long queues at testing stations
1 News: Three-hour wait at Covid-19 test site in Coromandel
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Covid test rates surge in South
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Earlier saliva testing could have prevented lockdown: Yale expert
Modelling
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): ‘Tip of the iceberg’: Modeller says 100 cases possible
1 News: Estimate of Covid outbreak reaching 120 cases a ‘ballpark figure’, says modeller
Keith Lynch (Stuff): Why are scientists saying there are 50 to 120 cases in the Delta outbreak
RNZ: Delta outbreak numbers could reach over 120 – Bloomfield
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): New Zealand could see between 50 to 120 more cases of Delta – Bloomfield
1 News: Expert: ‘No surprise’ more Delta Covid-19 cases are emerging
Level 4 rules, public health measures
Josephine Franks (Stuff): How New Zealand’s level 4 compares to NSW’s ‘strict’ Covid-19 lockdown
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Masks to be mandatory at all essential stores, Government announces
Herald: Mandatory mask wearing at essential services
RNZ: Pak’nSave and New World will turn people away if they’re not wearing a mask
Herald: Countdown won’t be refusing entry to non-mask wearers, knows not everyone can wear them
RNZ: ‘Stay away from people’ when you’re out of your house warns Siouxsie Wiles
Chloe Ranford (Local Democracy Reporting): Funeral restrictions send grieving family home
RNZ: Air NZ races to get 50k people home under lockdown rules
Brook Sabin (Stuff): Queenstown crisis: Air New Zealand reveals it’s trying to get more than 5000 people home
Anti lockdown protests, lockdown breaches
David Farrier (Webworm): RIP: Billy TK Jnr & Vinnie Eastwood
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Of Prophets – True And False
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Conspiracy theorists Billy Te Kahika and Vinny Eastwood face three charges each after anti-lockdown protest
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Three people charged after Auckland anti-lockdown protest
Herald: Billy TK arrested at anti-lockdown protest in Auckland
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Conspiracy theorists stop for no pandemic
Sam Sherwood and Catrin Owen (Stuff): Eight people arrested after attending anti-lockdown protests
RNZ: Conspiracy theorist Billy TK arrested at anti-lockdown protest
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): ‘Down with this sort of thing’
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Peter de Graaf (Northern Advocate): Lockdown exodus slammed as ‘selfish, appalling’
Denise Piper (Stuff): Aucklanders heading on holiday ahead of lockdown angers leaders
Sam Olley (RNZ): Concern high traffic suggests Aucklanders arrive north to holiday bachs
Kirsty Lawrence (Stuff): Coromandel residents set up illegal roadblock
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Police called to shut down student party only 30 minutes into lockdown
Maddy Lloyd (1 News): Dunedin students already flouting lockdown rules
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Labour Party volunteer breaks lockdown for Poto Williams leaflet drop
Health system
Derek Cheng (Herald): Have we boosted hospital ICU capacity enough?
Marena Mane (Māori TV): Panic, stress and anxiety felt by nurses
Wage subsidy, business
Richard Harman (Politik): Why Robertson needs a short lockdown (paywalled)
Andy Fyers (BusinessDesk): Covid kitty: we’ll borrow more if we have to, Robertson says (paywalled)
RNZ: ‘We’ve shown that we come back quickly’ – Robertson
Adam Jacobson (Stuff): Supermarket workers get pay bonus during level 4 lockdown
Māori TV: Supermarket staff promised 10% bonuses as lockdown panic buying resumes
Rahul Bhattarai (Herald): SME advice – How essential businesses should operate at level 4
Liam Dann (Herald): What lockdown will cost the economy – and how the experts work it out (paywalled)
Maja Burry and Sally Murphy (RNZ): Minister and primary sector leaders discuss lockdown implications
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Lockdown could be ‘last straw’ for battling businesses
Anne Gibson (Herald): How $750m NZICC is faring, 650 people away from site (paywalled)
John Weekes (Herald): Delta forces Auckland economy up against the wall, food wasted
Riley Kennedy (ODT): Heavy hit, then rebound predicted
RNZ: South Island businesses support lockdown: ‘We’re gutted but we understand’
Marta Steeman (Stuff): Hospitality business owners brace for a longer lockdown than seven days
Grant Bradley (Herald): NZ Board of Airline Representatives says aviation dealt a crushing blow (paywalled)
Gianina Schwanecke (Herald): Hawke’s Bay horticulture industry relieved as pruners and sprayers deemed essential workers (paywalled)
Laura Hooper (Stuff): Murihiku Polyfest event in question in light of national lockdown
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Meat processors temporarily reduce capacity after lockdown announced
Herald: Wellington lockdown: Chamber of Commerce urges businesses to apply for support early
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Transmission Gully: Too early to say how Covid 19 lockdown will affect troubled build
Chris Tobin (Stuff): SC business leader seeks Government clarification over Covid-19 support
Damian George (Stuff): Thousands of baked goods and school lunches donated, businesses still facing heavy losses
Uma Ahmed (Stuff): Cafes in Southland worried about food wastage during lockdown
Grant Bradley (Herald): Air New Zealand sticks to refund policy
Education
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): Schools better prepared for lockdown: ‘They know what they’re doing’
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): School leaders want to get laptops to students if lockdown is extended
Lee Kenny and Josephine Franks (Stuff): Classes cancelled or moved online as New Zealand’s eight universities fall silent
Afghanistan
Richard Jackson (ODT): An all-too predictable disaster
Nicholas Ross Smith (Herald): US self-belief is a one-way street to blunders
Thomas Manch (Stuff): New Zealand’s Afghan allies were pleading for help for months
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Afghanistan interpreter, civilians who worked with New Zealand Defence Force fear being left behind
1 News: C-130 Hercules to depart Auckland for Afghan mission
Shireen Khalil (Herald): Kiwi journalist for Al Jazeera only 1 of 3 women at Taliban conference
Matthew Tso (Stuff): New Zealander stuck in Kabul wants to get home with husband and child
Negar Partow (Stuff): International legitimacy of Taliban government only tool for protecting Afghan people
Maxine Jacobs (Stuff): ‘It was worth it’: Soldiers speak to the fall of Afghanistan
Jimmy Ellingham (Stuff): Widow of Kiwi soldier killed in Kabul says deployment not in vain
Economy
Daniel Dunkley (Stuff): Path to interest rate hikes tricky as Covid-19’s Delta looms
Liam Dann (Herald): Rates hikes postponed not cancelled (hopefully) (paywalled)
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Dawn Chorus: The disappearing rate hikes
Herald: Major banks do U-turn, now expect no change in OCR
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Reserve Bank delays interest rate hike because of Delta outbreak
Gyles Beckford (RNZ): Reserve Bank leaves OCR unchanged due to Covid uncertainty
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Economy propped up to resist ‘unpredictable and disruptive’ virus
Priscilla Dickinson (Newshub): Finance Minister supports Reserve Bank move to keep cash rate on hold
Housing
RNZ: The Detail: An ideological switch that led to our housing crisis
Diana Clement (One Roof): ‘We’ve been here before’: Will house prices rocket once NZ comes out of lockdown?
Rob Stock (Stuff): How half of home loan borrowers are using lockdown interest rates to get ahead
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Grant Robertson and Adrian Orr see house prices becoming more ‘sustainable’
David Hargreaves (Interest): The Reserve Bank now believes house prices are likely to fall right through from 2022 to 2024; says current prices are unsustainable
Miriam Bell (Stuff): The surprising ways new property tax rules impact on families
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): House prices will fall 5% off top of rollercoaster, says Reserve Bank
RNZ: Queenstown community encouraged to give feedback on affordable housing
Environment, climate change, conservation
Tom Powell and Budyong Hill (Stuff): Is the National Party turning anti science?
Eloise Gibson (Stuff): What the big climate report said about New Zealand
Todd Niall (Stuff): Emission reduction: Submitters back transport plan but demand more
Jess Berentson-Shaw (Newsroom): Ask not what you can do for your country ..
Joanne Naish (Stuff): Sand mining proposal alarms residents in coastal village
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): EPA extends deadline on methyl bromide ban by 13 years
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Watercare reveals contaminant dumping data
Local government
Mark Vincent (Herald): Opportunities in Three Waters reforms (paywalled)
Luisa Girao (ODT): Activity ‘unacceptable’
Luisa Girao (ODT): Some councillors defend access to mayor’s email
Energy
Marcos Pelenur (Stuff): Why more electric vehicles won’t make the lights go out
Shane Te Pou (Herald): Is it time to unleash KiwiPower? (paywalled)
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Pete Hodgson called in to look at power cut issues (paywalled)
RNZ: Lockdown’s reduced power demand gives Transpower time to fix conductor
Media
Karl du Fresne: Afghanistan? Remind me – where’s that again?
Alison Mau (Stuff): Second MediaWorks boss resigns in wake of Maria Dew report into allegations of harassment and bullying
Kristin Hall (1 News): Mediaworks’ head of people and culture resigns as second high-level departure
Other
Melanie Carroll (Stuff):‘Basic racism’: Pacific workers struggle to get training and promotions
Tina Morrison (Stuff): Fletcher Building CEO’s $6.8m pay is ‘not justified’, professor says
Tina Morrison (Stuff): Fletcher posts $305m profit, sees ‘stronger for longer’ building activity
Eric Crampton (NZ Initiative): Political pull critical for scarce MIQ rooms
Eruera Tarena and Adrienne Anderson (Stuff): Race-baiting politics hurts all New Zealanders
Rob Stock (Stuff): Uninvited visits at home from the bank manager, and other unreasonable things in bank home loan contracts
Sarah Nealon (Stuff): How did this happen? Newshub’s Patrick Gower looks at hate in New Zealand
Barbara Dreaver (RNZ): Tongans in NZ who put thousands into pyramid scheme left without cash in lockdown
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Teaching Council expects $10m shortfall unless law changes
RNZ: Former Samoa leader unhappy with NZ judge appointments
David Fisher (Herald): Ron Brierley: Inside the mind and crimes of a fallen knight (paywalled)
Chris Keall (Herald): After broadband miss, Spark doubles down on 5G spend, unveils 10 megawatt data centre plan (paywalled)
Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): Queenstown Airport profits plummet during turbulent year
Nadia Lim (Stuff): The true cost of the food in our trollies
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Lockdown protracts fight to protect mānuka honey as Kiwi
