Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.

Today’s content

Labour Party
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The Third Referendum
Jason Walls (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern warns voters not to expect big Labour Party policies this election
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Labour’s hiding away this election
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Don’t expect large-scale policies from Labour this campaign
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Jacinda panics as she realises Labour are snookered into actually doing something 
Māori TV: Labour celebrates having more Māori in government

Greens
Audrey Young (Herald): Green Party confidence and supply deal – report card (paywalled)
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Green Party announces southern candidates

NZ First
Charlotte Graham-McLay (Guardian): ‘I’m going nowhere but up’: Winston Peters on populism, politics and the polls
Josh Van Veen (Democracy Project): A path to victory for NZ First

National Party
1News: ‘Wish I looked like that’ – Collins defends potential National candidate after leotard image shared
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Fitness photo of National Party candidate for Auckland Central circulating among party members
Henry Cooke (Stuff): National Party admits breaking own rules while trying to replace Nikki Kaye
Anna Whyte (1News): National rules ‘not strictly’ followed in Auckland Central candidate process
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): National Party admits breaking rules when selecting new Auckland Central candidate
Zane Small (Newshub): Judith Collins confident Todd Muller ‘will be fine’, thinks it’s ‘extremely poor form’ to send former leaders to backbench
Herald: National Party shuns supporters’ ‘offensive’ online page, asks Facebook to remove its name

Act
Dave Armstrong (Stuff): Liberal or populist: Will all be revealed in ACT Three?
Laura Walters and Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Young ACT faces more questions over online harassment
Newstalk ZB: David Seymour confident a centre-right government can win election

Māori Party
1News: ‘Really hard ask’ for Māori Party to return to Parliament, political scientist says
Zane Small (Newshub): Māori Party’s John Tamihere reflects on time with Labour, remembers feeling ‘assimilated, integrated and subjugated’

Election
Eugene Bingham and Adam Dudding (Stuff): Tick. Tick podcast: Survey shows powerful polarisation along party line
1News: What you need to know as election season kicks off
Jason Walls (Herald): PM Jacinda Ardern and National leader Judith Collins won’t say each other’s names
Hawkes Bay Today: Tukituki MP Lawrence Yule told taxpayer-funded signs breached rules (paywalled)
1News: Despite attracting ‘stupid behaviour’ every election, billboards still fulfil vital role, expert says
Kerrie Wateworth (ODT): Election billboards damaged
Bronson Perich (Māori TV): We wanted to work with Billy Te Kahika, not for him – NZ Outdoors Party
Māori TV: Rawiri Waititi dines with his Te Waiariki electorate rivals (video)
Michael Pulman (Spinoff): Disabled people like me need more than lip service. We need politicians to show up
Madeleine Chapman (Spinoff): Memebers of parliament: Who knew it would cost so much to come home?

Cannabis and euthanasia referendums
Nina Hindmarsh (Stuff): Cannabis referendum: how legalisation could change access for medicinal cannabis patients
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): Legalising cannabis – why would we be so dumb?
Judy Bailey (Newsroom): On euthanasia

Climate report
Jamie Morton (Herald): Climate report: ‘Extreme risk’ to people, buildings and water supplies
Jo Moir (RNZ): Climate change risks and opportunities outlined in government report
Eloise Gibson (Stuff): First climate change risk assessment lays out long list of threats
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Map shows New Zealand likely to get ‘extreme sea levels’ due to climate change, bringing more coastal floods
RNZ: James Shaw on national climate change risk assessment: ‘Forewarned is forearmed’
ODT Editorial: Local doers must be enabled

Operation Burnham report
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Political Roundup – The Burnham report shows why we can’t trust NZ’s military
Gordon Campbell: On the virtues (and fluffed opportunities) of the Operation Burnham report
Alexander Gillespie (The Conversation): Operation Burnham: the New Zealand military’s self-inflicted wounds will not heal by themselves
David Farrar: Stuff on Operation Burnham

NZ’s covid response, travel bubbles, testing
Dean Knight (Newsroom): Lockdown’s legality and the rule of law
RNZ: Melbourne epidemiologist sounds warning to NZ over hotspot lockdowns
Andrew Geddis (Newsroom): Victoria’s lockdown a timely reminder
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Meet Daniel Andrews, Labour’s biggest electoral asset
Charlotte Graham-McLay (Guardian): ‘They didn’t close the deal’: New Zealand looks on in horror at Melbourne Covid-19 crisis
Anna Whyte (1News): Travel bubbles will need ‘absolute caution’, PM says, playing down airport preparations
Jamie Ensor and Perry Wilton (Newshub): Auckland Airport changes could be in place for some time due to unpredictable virus
Jordan Bond (RNZ): ‘Pacific neighbours in far greater need’ of travel bubble – specialist workers
RNZ: Travel bubble: Auckland Airport announces separate zones at terminal
Herald: Auckland International Airport to be split into two zones
Amelia Wade (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on travel bubble, virus response ahead of election
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern says Victoria outbreak pushes trans-Tasman bubble well into the future
1News: Jacinda Ardern says trans-Tasman travel bubble ‘a long way off’ as Covid-19 takes off across the ditch
Brook Sabin (Stuff): Why the Tasman bubble won’t happen until 2021
RNZ: Ardern highlights Covid-19 testing regime in final post-Cabinet briefing before election
Audrey Young (Herald): PM Jacinda Ardern on quarantine charges, border re-opening
Amelia Wade (Herald): Jacinda Arden urges complacent Kiwis to get tested
Liu Chen (RNZ): South Auckland clinic sees increase in Covid-19 tests taken
RNZ: Queenstown pop-up Covid-19 tests ‘an insurance policy’
1News: Kiwis urged to check flu-like symptoms experienced during pine pollen season aren’t Covid-19
Ian Powell (Second Opinion): New task for Prime Minister Ardern
Ian Powell (Second Opinion): Patient confidentiality scandal report reveals serious Health Ministry capability weakness
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Tony Blair commends Jacinda Ardern, Kiwis’ ‘top of class’ response to pandemic

Poverty, inequality
1News: Salvation Army fears sudden drop into poverty for ‘new group’ of Kiwis once Covid-19 wage subsidy ends
1News: Ōtara soup kitchen never more important as Covid-19 upheaval hits community hard
Bronson Perich (Māori TV): Māori food banks get bulk storage and distribution assistance

Animal welfare
Cat MacLennan (Newsroom): Where the parties stand on animal welfare
Rob Stock (Stuff): Animal welfare threats to New Zealand’s multi-billion dollar meat exports

Health
Zac Fleming (Newshub): Revealed: The dental funding proposals the Government wanted to keep secret
Mark Quinlivan and Miriam Harris (Newshub): Calls for urgent national Heart Health action plan to tackle NZ’s leading cause of death
Dan Satherley (Newshub): National denies it’s holding up vaping legislation
Oliver Lewis (Stuff): Canterbury DHB loses two senior executives, clinicians write to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
Shaun Robinson (Spinoff): Attention politicians: stop treating mental health as any other health issue
Herald: More Kiwis die from heart disease and cancer than Aussies
Emma Russell (Herald): Cancer: Breast reconstruction rates much lower for Maori and Pacifika patients
Bronson Perich (Māori TV): 10,000 Māori could have liver disease without knowing
Mark Quinlivan and Patrick Gower (Newshub): Trikafta manufacturer to fast-track application to have ‘miracle’ cystic fibrosis drug funded in New Zealand
Patrick Gower (Newshub): Sir Bob Elliott fights for cystic fibrosis drug Trikafta to be made available in New Zealand
Karen Rutherford (Newshub): Trikafta campaign group calling on Government to fund ‘miracle’ drug for cystic fibrosis sufferers
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Kiwi teen battling cystic fibrosis calls for Government to fund ‘miracle’ $470k per year drug
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Givealittle page set up for Kiwi teen Bella Powell’s ‘miracle’ $470k cystic fibrosis Trikafta drug

Education
1News: Māori and Pasifika scientists ‘severely underrepresented’ in NZ’s universities, Crown Research Institutes – study
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): Māori and Pasifika ‘severely under-represented’ at science faculties, study finds
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Budget cuts and job losses loom for education sector if overseas students blocked
Kate MacNamara (Herald): How to speak China’s language without selling out New Zealand schools? (paywalled)
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Fears research into exhausted health staff could be stymied
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): Violence, long hours, and stress: The state of New Zealand’s teaching workforce

Economy
RNZ: Jacinda Ardern and Paul Goldsmith on their plans for the economy
Priscila Dickinson (Newshub): Intention to spend reaches ‘recessionary level’ after post-lockdown surge – survey

Housing
RNZ: More Māori, Pasifika in damp, mouldy homes than previously reported
Dan Satherley (Newshub): The Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill: What it changes, and who stands to benefit
Kylie Klein-Nixon (Stuff): Retirement: What housing options are available to the over 65s
Dan Satherley and Emma Stanford (Newshub) Government slammed as ‘most anti-landlord in history’ despite rising house prices
1News: Housing shortage driving prices up across the country, new data shows
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern promises to help family of six stuck in cramped emergency accommodation

Police
1News: Beneficiaries more than 1000 times more likely to be drug tested than police, new figures show
1News: Independent inquiry needed after Auckland man’s death in police custody while he wore a spit hood – top defence lawyer
1News: Spit hoods – Police in NZ breach own policy on controversial restraint
RNZ: Name suppression extended for officers accused of manslaughter

Foreign affairs
RNZ: China retaliates over New Zealand’s Hong Kong extradition treaty suspension
Reuters, Rachel Sadler (Newshub): China suspends Hong Kong’s extradition treaty with New Zealand
Stuff: China says it is suspending Hong Kong’s extradition agreement with New Zealand
Herald: China eyes suspension of extradition agreement with New Zealand – report
Herald: South Korean diplomat accused of sexual harassment in NZ ordered to return home

Fire and Emergency
Sam Sherwood (Stuff): Two dozen complaints of sexual harassment at Fire and Emergency NZ in five years
Harry Lock (RNZ): Calls for independent complaints authority for Fire and Emergency

Immigration
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Backpackers beg for visa extension, fearing Covid-19 if they have to leave NZ
Tracy Neal (RNZ): Foreigners stranded in NZ call for extension to visas

Transport
1News: National promises $330m, if elected, on lower North Island transport projects
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Traffic congestion levels lower than before lockdown – AA
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): Government accused of ignoring dangerous Napier to Taupō highway

KiwiSaver
Peter Dunne: Leave KiwiSaver alone
Sam Stubbs (Stuff): KiwiSaver could lead economic renaissance – if politicians leave it alone

Local government
Samantha Motion (Herald): Texts revealed: Tauranga mayor Tenby Powell considered resigning, called a colleague a ‘soft c**k’
Matt Shand (Stuff): Leaky luxury apartments case costs Tauranga City Council $1.5 million in legal fees
Mike Mather (Waikato Times): Massive support for switch to STV in Hamilton City Council survey
Susan Botting (RNZ): Kaipara mayor warns of costs in water reform

Sport
Zoe George and Dana Johannsen (Stuff): Sports Minister Grant Robertson labels abuse reports in NZ gymnastics ‘deeply concerning’ as calls mount for independent inquiry
Zoe George (Stuff): NZ gymnasts allege they were physically pushed to breaking point, literally
RNZ: The Detail: The science of transgender women in sport
Jacob McSweeny (ODT): Travel agent says billions at stake

Other
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Newshub-Reid Research Poll: Half of Kiwis support taxing biggest earners at higher rate
Yvette McCullough (RNZ): Shane Jones’ 10,000 job creation claim under scrutiny
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Tourism industry cries foul over the $311m Covid aid package
Michael Hayward (Stuff): Faulty electrical equipment started huge fire in Christchurch’s Port Hills, court hears
RNZ: Orion accused of impeding Port Hills fire investigation
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): BNZ plans restructure that could axe 25 branch management jobs
Laura O’Connell Rapira (Spinoff): I want a Māori prime minister
Māori TV: Significant Māori sites in Far North to be restored
Kate MacNamara (Herald): Christchurch mosque shootings: Brenton Tarrant prison bill to cost taxpayers $3.6m – Cabinet papers
Jason Walls (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s message to comedian who joked about March 15 terror attacks
Mandy Te (Stuff): Coronavirus: Former PM Helen Clark talks about World Health Organisation panel, economy as world grapples with Covid-19
David Seymour (Stuff): Empower Tiwai owners to build their own transmission line – then they probably won’t need to
Gavin Ellis: Let’s hit Cyber-barons with Australia’s big stick
Ian Hyslop (Newsroom): Some home truths about child protection
Teuila Fuatai (Herald): Abortion, Harete Hipango and the PM (paywalled)
Melissa Tapper (Newshub): Melanie Bracewell on life as Jacinda Ardern