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
National Party Covid-19 strategy, reopening plan
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): National’s reopening date isn’t rooted in science
Russell Palmer (RNZ): National’s plan risks vulnerable communities, critics warn
Amelia Wade (Newshub): The glaring omission from National’s COVID-19 economic plan
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern, Greens rip into National’s COVID-19 plan as Judith Collins pushes for freedom day
Stuff Editorial: Taking care of business – National’s plan has shimmer but is it safe?
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): National gets out the chequebook, but does it have the cash? (paywalled)
Rahul Bhattarai (Herald): Businesses optimistic about National Party’s Covid recovery plan (paywalled)
Charlie Gates (Stuff): Events sector welcomes National proposal for pandemic insurance
RNZ: Judith Collins on National’s target for ending lockdowns
Anna Whyte (1 News): National propose $100 ‘dine and discover’ voucher, tax changes in economic plan
Luke Malpass and Thomas Manch (Stuff): National Party proposes tax cuts, wage subsidy boost, and $100 vouchers for the vaccinated
Grant Bradley (Herald): National’s rescue package for hospo, tourism, small business
RNZ: National proposes reopening fully vaccinated businesses in ‘back in business’ plan
Zane Small (Newshub): National proposes two-year tax cuts for workers and small businesses
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Dawn Chorus: National eyes $30b of spending cuts (paywalled)
Govt Covid strategy, expert warnings
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Michael Baker concerned sidelining investigation of mystery case infections risks New Zealand losing control of outbreak
RNZ: Early easing of Covid restrictions could be lethal for Maori/Pasifika
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Covid-19 ‘tsunami coming’: Emergency nurse says lack of planning causing anxiety
Stephen Forbes (Local Democracy Reporting): Middlemore Hospital’s triage tent a warning sign, nurses’ union says
RNZ: Little moves to reassure health workforce as hospitals prepare for Covid-19 explosion
Newstalk ZB: Health Minister confident health system will cope with coming rise in Covid-19 cases
Siouxsie Wiles (Spinoff): What the data is telling us about New Zealand’s delta outbreak
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Covid-19 is part of life in Auckland, but it doesn’t have to be for New Zealand
Derek Cheng (Herald): Stay home, save lives, but when is Fortress Auckland no longer worth it? (paywalled)
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Medical expert slams Govt’s ‘best in show’ mentality, warns it leads to complacency
Belinda Feek (Herald): Chris Hipkins rules out a snap L4 lockdown – for now
Herald Editorial: Demanding answers in a time of uncertainty (paywalled)
Lisa Tumahai (Stuff): Iwi Māori are so much more than numbers and must be part of the solution
Kaysha Brownlie (Newshub): South Islanders feel forgotten as Government fails to include them when talking about ‘team of 5 million’
RNZ: Covid-19 wrap: MIQ escapees caught, school resumes for senior students
Education
RNZ: Back to school measures fall far short of ‘gold standard’ – modeller
RNZ: Secondary teachers’ union ‘dismayed and angry’ with decision for return to school
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Classroom air quality an ‘incredible blindspot’, researcher says
Zoe Holland (Herald): Senior students to return to school but aerosol chemist warns of viral transmission
Adam Jacobson (Stuff): Education Minister Chris Hipkins ‘awake at night’ over Delta spread in schools
Lauren Hendricksen (Newshub): Marist College student scared to return to school after being at centre of second largest cluster
1 News: Starship paediatrician wants same effort from Govt put into schools as MIQ
1 News: Year 11-13 can return to school in Level 3 from October 26
Caroline Williams (Stuff): Relief and concern at Government’s back-to-school plans
Zane Small (Newshub): Education Minister Chris Hipkins confirms year 11-13 students in alert level 3 can return to school on October 26
Adam Jacobson (Stuff): Education Minister Chris Hipkins ‘awake at night’ over Delta spread in schools
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): Educators’ frustrating wait for vaccine mandate details
1 News: Some Northland principals fear they will lose teachers due to vaccine mandate
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Significant change to exams — they’re online
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Telling parents they need to be vaccinated to see a teacher was incorrect, says principal
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Literacy problems, transport, discrimination listed as reasons kids don’t attend school
Vaccine passports, mandatory vaccination
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Health ministry won’t endorse $20 staff vaccine sticker, says it’s ‘disappointing’ businesses ‘taking advantage’ of pandemic
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Universities investigating vaccine mandates for staff and students
Karen Coltman (Stuff): Fully vaccinated hairdressers are displaying a confirmation sticker on the door to reassure customers
Amy Williams (RNZ): Auckland hotel to allow only fully vaccinated guests
John Anthony (Stuff): Businesses want Government advice on whether they can ban customers unvaccinated against Covid-19
RNZ: Meat industry backs mandatory vaccination for sector workers
Rebecca Moore (1 News): Pregnant Canterbury mum ‘frustrated’ after midwife refuses Govt’s vaccine mandate
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Double-vaxxed doctor challenges mandate
Leonie Hayden (Spinoff): The mandate conundrum: NZ employers weigh up their options on requiring vaccination
Liz Gordon (Daily Blog): Daunting comparisons and necessary compulsion
Nadine Porter (Stuff): GP who may quit over Covid-19 stance tells anti-vax rally she tried to import ivermectin
Vaccine rollout
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Little points finger at DHBs failing Māori on vaccination
Robin Martin (Local Democracy Reporting): Taranaki vaccine rollout may have to rollover to 2022
Alice Angeloni (Local Democracy Reporting): Attitudes toward Covid-19 vaccine in Tairāwhiti revealed in survey
Andrew Macfarlane (1 News): New Zealand needs vaccine goals and fast
Julia Gabel (Herald): Revealed – Health authorities’ warnings that falling vaccine rates are putting Māori and Pacific children at risk
Mike Hosking (Herald): Give vaccine stragglers a deadline then let’s move on without them (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Booster Covid-19 vaccine doses to come before Christmas, as spread of Delta accelerates Government’s plans
Lucy Warhurst (Newshub): Vaccine boosters on way by end of year for high-risk people
RNZ: 15 people given expired vaccines, others given low doses
Piers Fuller (Stuff): Expired Covid-19 vaccinations given in Wellington
1 News: About 15 Wellingtonians received expired Covid vaccines
Adam Pearse (Herald): Vaccination shackles loosening in pursuit of equity
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Six Bay of Plenty residents given ‘low dose’ vaccine by accident
Nikki Preston (Herald): Minister’s message for Sandra Goudie – ‘no exception’ for mayor vaccinations
Henry Cooke and Kate Newton (Stuff): 11 charts show where the vaccine programme is after Super Saturday
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Murupara’s decisions should affect them, not NZ
Kim Moodie (RNZ): Free coffee, kai with vaccine offered to Ara students in Ōtautahi
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Interactive New Zealand map shows up-to-date vaccination data by suburb
Harkanwal Singh (Spinoff): The vaccination rate for every suburb in New Zealand on an interactive map
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Charting New Zealand’s vaccine rollout
Elspeth Frascatore (Spinoff): How to open a positive conversation with your vaccine hesitant friend
Maxine Jacobs (Stuff): More kōrero needed to get gang members over vaccination line, health leader says
Ben Strang (Stuff): Overseas vaccinations still not recognised in NZ
Auckland
Rawiri Taonui (Waatea News): Delta to go Exponential in Auckland
Waatea: Urban Māori resist Level 4 pressure
Claire Trevett (Herald): Pressure goes on PM to set out future for Auckland
RNZ: Govt defends Auckland restrictions, says daily Covid-19 cases could reach ‘high hundreds’
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): COVID-19 now detected in all Auckland city sample testing sites
Lana Andelane (Newshub): New Lynn park in Auckland removed as location of interest after visitors wrongly urged to isolate for 14 days, get tested
Cases, demographics
Anna Whyte (1 News): Over 1500 cases in latest outbreak unvaccinated, 409 of those kids
Māori TV: Māori still highest number of Covid cases for 17th straight day
Emma Russell (Herald): West Auckland man isolating in backyard tent, toileting in bucket after Covid exposure
RNZ: Checkpoint: Employer says man with Covid-19 on Waiheke can’t be trusted, breached health orders
Giles Dexter (Newshub): Waiheke’s first case leaves residents questioning Ministry of Health
Alert level compliance, rules
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Brian Tamaki speaks out after pleading not guilty to breaching bail and breaking lockdown rules
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Police take 63-year-old man into custody for breaching bail, failing to follow COVID rules
RNZ: Brian Tamaki denies breaching level 3 rules at Auckland event
Craig Kapitan (Herald): Brian Tamaki in court again, following second protest
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Brian Tamaki pleads not guilty to latest charges
Kim Baker Wilson (1 News): Brian Tamaki appears in court as supporters shout ‘let him go’
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki returns to Auckland police station for ‘second round’
Dr Lynley Tulloch (Stuff): In the words of Shakespeare: Brian Tamaki ‘thou doth protest too much, methinks’
1 News: Four people charged over mass gatherings in North Island
Northern Advocate: Northland police charge man linked to Whangārei mass protest during alert level 3
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Police issue six infringement notices to North Shore partygoers
Herald: Wild North Shore party: Six people issued infringement notices
Belinda Feek (Herald): Waiheke Island councillor on ‘deeply frustrating’ case
NZ border, MIQ, immigration
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): MIQ rooms for health workers too little, too late for New Zealand’s ICU capacity as COVID cases rise – experts
RNZ: Govt sets aside 300 places a month for health workers
1 News: Health workers guaranteed 300 MIQ spots a month
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Government announces 300 MIQ spots a month for health workers
RNZ: Chief Ombudsman investigating MIQ booking system after hundreds of complaints
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon calls on PM to urgently prioritise pregnancy for MIQ places
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Investigation launched into managed isolation booking system following hundreds of complaints to Chief Ombudsman
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Only two of 200 dairy workers through the gate
Richard Harman (Phttps://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/126721728/miqueue-only-two-of-200-dairy-workers-through-the-gatelitik): MIQ: help is on its way (paywalled)
Katie Todd (RNZ): Pair charged with escaping MIQ facility, third person hands herself in
1 News: 3 Covid-positive cases escape MIQ in Auckland
Lloyd Burr (Magic): It’s time we scrapped MIQ
George Block (Stuff): 501 deportee flights to resume, dedicated isolation hotel stood up
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Email flurry from diplomats reveal reasons they want to come home
Mike Houlahan (ODT):Sailor still cannot get MIQ spot
Environment, climate change, conservation
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): One in five Kiwis don’t believe in climate change – survey
1 News: 1 in 5 Kiwis don’t believe in climate change — new research
Kevin Hague (Stuff): This Is How It Ends: Nature can protect us from climate change
David Williams (Newsroom): The burning questions about gas
Laura Revell (The Conversation): Microplastics are in the air we breathe and in Earth’s atmosphere, and they affect the climate
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): What’s happening at Glasgow, and will it be enough? (paywalled)
Rochelle Constantine and Wendi Roe (The Conversation): The critically endangered Māui dolphin is a conservation priority – we shouldn’t let uncertainty stop action to save it
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Researcher fearful old dumpsite could spell disaster for Hector’s dolphins
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Environment advocate says govt needs to focus on supply chain for waste reduction
Morgane Solignac (Stuff): Talley’s gets $1 million boost to reduce its carbon footprint in Blenheim
Housing
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): The ‘Townhouse Nation’ bipartisanship lasted just 112 minutes
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): Heritage homeowners will be feeling a little uneasy
Sam Stubbs (Stuff): Will the housing reforms work?
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): New housing rules: ‘There are going to be issues’
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Refreshing to see political unity over housing
Steven Cowan (Against the Current): Another doomed-to-fail market ‘solution’ to the housing crisis
Miriam Bell (Stuff): First-home buyers take record share of house purchases
Matthew Tso and Joel MacManus (Stuff): Caught on the hop – Wellington region’s mayors want more detail about government’s housing intensification plans
Newstalk ZB: Wellington Mayor: Housing bill goes against Govt’s climate change objectives
David Hargreaves (Interest): ANZ economists say housing market could ‘flip more abruptly than expected’
RNZ: Number of property sales drops over lockdown, but upturn in first home buyers
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): The rise and rise of townhouses in Hamilton
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Notice of motion filed to freeze rent increases for Wellington social housing tenants
Kiri Gillespie (Herald): Rotorua mayor reveals plans to address ‘humanitarian crisis’ with 3000 homes in five years (paywalled)
Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): Mayoral taskforce to tackle Wellington council’s social housing crisis
Carmen Hall (Herald): Whangamata and Waihī Beach house prices ‘skyrocket’ to record levels as remote workers move in (paywalled)
RNZ: Super Fund commits $300m to drive Warkworth property development project
Local government, Three Waters
RNZ: Māori wards voted in by Napier City Council but won’t be ready until 2025 term
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Napier council votes in favour of Māori wards from 2025
Doug Laing (Hawkes Bay Today): Napier City Council to adopt Māori wards by 2025 (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Let’s Get Wellington Moving options revealed, ahead of imminent public launch
Emily Ireland (Local Democracy Reporting): Five Towns Trail: ‘Where there is a will, there’s a way’
Chloe Ranford (Local Democracy Reporting): Council may backtrack on Picton beach access after safety concerns backed by experts
Georgina Campbell (Stuff): Wellington City Council votes to put district plan out for consultation
Hamish MacLean (ODT): ORC to consider 18% rates rise
Claire Edmondson (Herald): Why Three Waters is necessary despite divide (paywalled)
Parliament, Parties, MMP
Jack Vowles (Stuff): It’s a myth that MMP forces parties to follow the median voter
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Rendering Unto Caesar: In Labour, L’état c’est Jacinda.
Arena Williams and Stuart Smith (Stuff): The government commissioning a review of electoral law is frankly absurd
Lloyd Burr (Magic): Why would anyone want to be Chris Hipkins right now?
Phillida Bunkle (Newsroom): Book of the Week: Margaret Wilson’s revenge
Economy, business, Wage subsidy
Amy Williams (RNZ): Prolonged Covid-19 restrictions affecting Auckland businesses financially, mentally
Richard Meade (Spinoff): One chance to avoid a needless bonfire of Auckland business
Ella Stewart (RNZ): Bills mounting for barbers and hairdressers with no reprieve in sight
RNZ: Businesses urged to get ready for climate-related reporting
Peter Griffin (BusinessDesk): NZ has hard mahi ahead to meet the ransomware threat (paywalled)
Anne Gibson (Herald): Lockdown unlucky: SkyCity earnings forecast downgraded by $55m in new research (paywalled)
Supermarkets
1 News: Food and Grocery Council, Consumer NZ team up to combat supermarket duopoly
David Hargreaves (Interest): Joint call for Government action on the ‘concentration of market power’ in the supermarket sector
Newsroom: The breaker-upperer Tex Edwards: Taking on the supermarkets duopoly
Miranda Ffowcs Williams (Newsroom): How I survived being deleted by the supermarkets
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): This is why the Supermarket Duopoly must be smashed!
Health system
1 News: Minister: Covid vaccine disparities evidence health system not working for Māori
RNZ: Pae Ora Healthy Futures Bill: Health system reform introduced to Parliament
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Health reforms framework introduced to Parliament
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): If there were ever a time to acknowledge the need for a Māori Health Authority – COVID is it
Stephen Forbes (Local Democracy Reporting): Pharmac says all patients who meet criteria will get next generation diabetes drugs, despite concerns
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Wins ACC battle but ‘no joy’
Employment,
Alex Penk (A Place to Stand): Sweeping generalisations about the minimum wage can do more harm than good
Michael Andrew (BusinessDesk): Sam Stubbs: why the pay gap matters in the talent war (paywalled)
Dita De Boni (NBR): New movement nudges companies to self-report pay gap (paywalled)
Other
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): NZ’s pension system falls out of top 10 in global rankings (paywalled)
RNZ: New Zealand pension system drops in world rankings
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Inland Revenue uses new powers to write to wealthy Kiwis demanding wealth details (paywalled)
Susan St John (Herald): Time we had some bold action for children (paywalled)
Barbara Dreaver (1 News): 1 in 7 families in Pacific sending children to work, report finds
Sri Krishnamurthi (Evening Report): Perceptions over NZ’s public interest journalism project – saint or sinner?
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Chief Justice and Justice Young acted appropriately in ‘Moana’ case – commissioner
Philip Temple (ODT): Hydrogen not energy option for Manapouri
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Germans backing South Island green hydrogen research centre
RNZ: 10 percent of Central Otago-grown fruit going to waste, report finds
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): It’s time New Zealand bureaucrats & politicians took responsibility for their actions
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Inland Revenue to go offline for a week to complete $1.7b technology overhaul
RNZ: The Detail: The barriers before you even get to Customs
Dita De Boni (NBR): Ron Brierley: establishment pedophile and his thousands of victims (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Number of gang members on national list rises but Government says it’s not ‘complete picture’
Jolisa Gracewood (Spinoff): Situation vacant: who will turn around the transport supertanker for Aotearoa?
Emily Keddell (Newsroom): What our child protection system should be doing
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Internet comes to New Zealand’s defence after Jeremy Clarkson blasts Aotearoa, makes derogatory comment about Jacinda Ardern
