Today’s content

PM pulls out of weekly Mike Hosking interviews
Mike Hosking (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern doesn’t answer the tough questions
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): PM turning her back on voters by abandoning interview slot
Barry Soper (Herald): Jacinda Ardern is treading water, the master of soft, flattering interviews
Elle Hunt (The Guardian): New Zealand: Ardern’s decision to drop regular interview gives fuel to political foes
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): Mike Hosking lashes out at Jacinda Ardern as she quits weekly Newstalk ZB slot
Herald: Decision to scrap Jacinda Ardern’s weekly Mike Hosking slot made ‘weeks ago’
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): ACT’s David Seymour lashes out at ‘escalating arrogance’ of Jacinda Ardern dumping weekly talk with Mike Hosking
Zane Small (Newshub): National’s Judith Collins in disbelief at Jacinda Ardern dropping weekly interview with Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking
Zane Small (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern defends dropping weekly interview slot with Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking
Rebecca Moore (1News): Jacinda Ardern pulls out of weekly interview slot with Mike Hosking
Herald: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern cancels regular interview slot with Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern cancels weekly interview with Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Media Watch: Jacinda loses the Hosking War to win the 2023 Election
Crystal Wu (Newshub): John Key’s former press secretary says it’s Jacinda Ardern’s duty to front to media

Police, justice, corrections
RNZ: Police using app to photograph innocent youth: ‘It’s so wrong’
Lane Nichols (Herald): Police accused of racism over tactical use of pain on Māori (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): NZ Penal Reform League now calls on Government to halt new law that will persecute Maori
Karanina Sumeo (Herald): Women in prisons deserve human rights (paywalled)

Covid
Chris Trotter (Interest): Get in the people who get the job done
Richard Harman: An end to the Covid lockdowns in sight
TVNZ: ‘A real weakness’ — Expert calls for overhaul in Covid-19 precautions for aircrew after new case
Jamie Morton (Herald): The curious questions surrounding NZ’s latest case (paywalled)
Stuff: New flight attendant case ‘most likely’ had Covid-19 before being vaccinated
Herald: Infected Air New Zealand staffer had first jab last week
RNZ: New case of Covid-19 found in airline crew member
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Zane Small (Newshub): National’s Judith Collins likens COVID-19 restrictions to ‘cult’ as Jacinda Ardern promises to ‘reflect’ on response
Audrey Young (Herald): National leader Judith Collins wants inquiry into latest cluster
David Farrar: Unions and businesses support Nat policy
Rawiri Taonui (Waatea News): The Bungled Covid Communications to the Papatoetoe Community
Daniel Fraser (1News): Localised lockdowns could help avoid alert level yo-yoing but they have significant limitations, experts say
Editorial (Stuff): When we were on the cusp of Covid
Guy Williams (Otago Daily Times): MP calls for timetable on border reopening
Serena Solomon (Stuff): Child tells Jacinda Ardern that dad isn’t washing his hands properly
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Aimee Shaw (Herald): Auckland cafe owner slams change in wage subsidy criteria (paywalled)
Liz Kendall (Business Desk): The covid gender gap (paywalled)
Whatitiri Te Wake (Māori TV): Covid-19 disproportionately impacts Māori women – Minister for Women

Covid: MIQ
Herald: Unite Union’s open letter to Jacinda Ardern over wages paid to MIQ cleaners
Crystal Wu (Newshub): Union’s open letter to Jacinda Ardern over MIQ workers’ pay
Katie Todd (RNZ): NZ seafarers working overseas plead for priority MIQ spots

Covid: Vaccine
Stuff: PM Jacinda Ardern will be publicly vaccinated prior to general population
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Pfizer vaccine purchase order made for 8.5 million doses, enough for every New Zealander
Amelia Wade (Herald): Jacinda Ardern says more expensive Pfizer vaccine ‘worth it’
Newstalk ZB: Vaccinologist confident most Kiwis will get the Covid-19 vaccine
Zane Small (Newshub): Government buys extra 8.5 million Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine doses bringing total to 10 million
Herald: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern reveals enough Pfizer vaccines for every New Zealander
Jagadish Thaker (The Conversation): More than 1 in 3 New Zealanders remain hesitant or sceptical about COVID-19 vaccines. Here’s how to reach them
Waatea News: Message, messenger and media key to Maori Covid vax campaign
Stuff Editorial: Covid-19 vaccine passports will be hotly desired – and contested
Dave Perry (NZ Herald): Vaccination passport by digital tools
Mike Yardley (Stuff): Far more robust tracing and vaccine disclosure needed now
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Transport industry lobbies for vaccinations to protect drivers

Local government
Dave Armstrong (Stuff): A how-to guide to jumping on the anti-Wellington bandwagon
Tom Hunt (Stuff): ‘I hope you can sleep’: Bullying accusations at Hutt council revealed
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington Water in ‘dangerous spiral’
RNZ: The Detail: The passion and pain over Māori wards
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Council investigates selling surplus property to offset new library budget increases
Bernadette Basagre (Stuff): Free period products available in some Auckland Council facilities in pilot scheme
Kiri Gillespie (Herald): Tauranga city has reached ‘crisis’ point in ‘legacy of underinvestment’, meeting told (paywalled)

Terrorism
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Will the much-criticised SIS have the last laugh?
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Why aren’t police on the lookout for extremism?
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Group that alerted police of Christchurch mosque threat question security agencies
No Right Turn: Still ignoring white supremacy

International Women’s Day, gender
1News: Gender bias and inequality being called out on International Women’s Day
Peter Williams (Magic): What is it like to be a woman today?
Priscilla Dickinson (Newshub): ‘Women view money differently’: New money course caters to womens’ financial needs
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Advocate warns it’s important to not rush equality overhaul
Susan Watson (Newsroom): No good governance without diversity
Linda Burgess (Spinoff): Review: Six Angry Women doesn’t tell you what to think – it demands that you think
Jan Jordan (Newsroom): Why are women still angry?

Women’s sport
Zoë George (Stuff): $950k boost for Women in Sport Aotearoa on International Women’s Day
Jamie Wall (RNZ): How about Super Rugby Wāhine Toa?
Hamish Bidwell (RNZ): Women’s rugby let down once again
Zoë George (Stuff): Latest data: men’s rugby gets more news coverage than every women’s sport combined

Parliamentary parties
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): National election report delivered tomorrow, but the party’s MPs might be barred from seeing it
Waatea News: Tamihere welcomed to Maori Party executive
Waatea News: Compulsory reo next step for policy push

Health
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern responds to heartfelt plea from Pharmac funding advocate Malcolm Mulholland
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Gender gap: Health strategy urgently needed as ‘women are dying’ – experts say
Waatea News: Wahine Maori voices absent in health decisions
David Farrar: Where are the articles on men’s health?

Education
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): Wellington teacher celebrated for pay parity advocacy for early childhood sector ‘in crisis’
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Auckland Uni $5m house purchase ‘regrettable’, VC says, as reviews call for change
Herald: University of Canterbury establishes indigenous centre in partnership with Ngāi Tahu
Jody O’Callaghan (Stuff): Canterbury University to launch academy to help young Māori prosper

Housing
Bernard Hickey: For owners, houses are actually cheap
Jade Kake (Stuff): The ‘elephant in the room’ in New Zealand’s housing crisis
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Tenancy exit costs: How much is too much?

Environment and climate change
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Another 75,000 tonnes of toxic waste revealed to be stored near beach at Tiwai Point
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): NZAS looks to export toxic waste stockpiled at Tiwai Point
David Williams  (Newsroom): Last piece in puzzle for Mackenzie protection
David Williams (Newsroom): Hiking cost of getting to NZ ‘good’ thing, says Air NZ adviser
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): MPs tell govt to prioritise container deposit scheme (paywalled)

Cannabis
RNZ: Most New Zealanders support decriminalising cannabis, poll suggests
1News: Cannabis decriminalisation favoured by majority of National, ACT, Labour and Greens supporters, poll finds

Other
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Revealed: Government to review multi-billion dollar Working For Families scheme
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Government urged to move fast on modern slavery law
David Winsborough (Stuff): Remote work could kill office culture, which is probably a relief for many
Caleb Hulme-Moir (Stuff): Matariki concerns a tunnel-visioned productivity trap
Gavin Ellis: Let’s find the sources of Small Democracy
Daniel Mackisack and Tristan O’Hanlon (Stuff): Aotearoa’s unique role in the new space race
1News: Ardern says NZ unlikely to become a republic anytime soon after Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview
Terry Bellamak (Spinoff): Why we need safe areas outside abortion clinics
Cate Broughton (Stuff): ‘Puberty blockers’ improve mental health of trans teens, study finds
Maria Slade (NBR): Harbinger of a housing downturn? We rank the indicators (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): National questions taxpayer value from KiwiRail investment (paywalled)
Terry Baucher (Interest): The Week in Tax: Help for startups
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): 10 point left wing economic justice plan for Aotearoa New Zealand

Today’s content

Covid: Govt comms, blame, compliance
Graham Adams (Democracy Project): Ardern’s halo slips, rhetoric wears thin
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern’s Covid comms strategy is starting to look a bit tired
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Epidemiologist Michael Baker says recent COVID-19 cluster should have been contained earlier – points to communication issues
George Block (Stuff): Health officials never checked case house where undisclosed lodger lives
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Covid-19 blame game and comms strategy questioned
Claire Trevett (Herald): The Covid 19 coronavirus ‘rule-breakers’: Were Case M and Case L falsely accused? (paywalled)
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Earthquake on top of Covid a reminder for Ardern to share the reins (paywalled)
Efeso Collins (Stuff): Covid in south Auckland – What happened to ‘be kind’?
Tracy Watkins (Stuff): Has the rest of the team of five million got Auckland’s back?
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): PM has burned through her political capital this week
Tom Peters (World socialist website): New Zealand government negligence led to Auckland’s COVID-19 cluster
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Govt rejects Nats’ push for outbreak inquiry
Henry Cooke (Stuff): National calls for inquiry into Valentine’s Day cluster
RNZ: Covid-19 Minister to review outbreak communications

Covid: Vaccines
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Covid-19 vaccine rollout is a secretive, sluggish spin-fest
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Covid 19 coronavirus vaccination: 550,000 Kiwis have ‘wait and see’ attitude
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Vaccines on the agenda as Parliament returns
Ben Gray (Newsroom): Who should get the vaccine first in NZ, and why
Nikki Turner (Newsroom): Women can’t be excluded from vaccine trials

Covid: MIQ and travel
Michael Neilson (Spinoff): Risking their lives for minimum wage: Cleaners in managed isolation facilities speak out
Tom Dillane (Herald): America’s Cup team’s 98% success at critical worker border applications (paywalled)
Richard Harman: Hipkins talks up trans-Tasman bubble

Covid: General
Herald: Air New Zealand crew member tests positive for Covid, Auckland Airport Countdown supermarket a ‘location of interest’
Jenene Crossan (BusinessDesk): Avoiding New Zealand’s 0.04% covid club
Jon Johansson (Stuff): Our pandemic response is a marathon, not a sprint
Kate MacNamara (Herald): E is for Elimination, Emergency measure … and Enough already? (paywalled)
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Labour MP Peeni Henare says Opposition MPs’ social media posts about Covid ‘not helpful’
David Seymour (Herald): Why our pandemic response can and should be like Taiwan’
Keith Lynch (Stuff): How can we make sure people are self-isolating?
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Postcode lockdowns within Auckland likely wouldn’t work, experts say
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Government looks to plug holes in Covid response
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Covid-19: What does New Zealand look like in 2022?
Sarb Johal (Stuff): What will a Covid-safe city look like?
Siobhan Wilson (TVNZ): Q+A: Business to Government: We can do a lot more together
Steven Joyce (Herald): It’s time we climbed out of the Covid bunker (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: Pandemic world reveals our dark and light sides (paywalled)
Matthew Theunissen (RNZ): Destiny Church leaders blame media for earthquakes, tsunami
ODT Editorial: Tangling with the Tamakis
Herald Editorial: Destiny Church leaders’ comments are deplorable (paywalled)
Crystal Wu (Newshub): Destiny Church sign promotes ‘vaccine of faith, hope & love’ right next to Covid-19 testing station
Andrew Gunn (Stuff): The Book of Covid will need villains
Verity Johnson (Stuff): Bloomfield and Hipkins: Cute Canutes trying to stem the digital tide
Rob Stock (Stuff): Australia to decide on Tuesday whether to resume quarantine-free flights from New Zealand
Liz Kendall (Stuff): We’re all in this together, but women taking the burden
Ian Anderson (Stuff): All Blacks legend Zinzan Brooke a prominent anti-lockdown, anti-mask proponent

Parliament
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Minor party plans major push to solidify support
Phil Smith (RNZ): Whipping the biggest pack: managing a huge caucus
Georgie Ormond (Herald): Palmerston North’s Green MP enjoying new role (paywalled)
Caitlin Ellis (Newshub): National MP defends Dr Suess after books pulled due to ‘racist imagery’
Charlie Mitchell (Stuff): Jami-Lee Ross behind anti-5G supplement business
RNZ: Jami-Lee Ross behind company hawking anti-5G supplement

Government
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Confusion and frustration over Covid-19 messaging
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Kiritapu Allan diving into multiple ministerial roles
Heath Moore (Herald): Irish schoolgirl’s letter from New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

Dirty Politics
Simon Wilson (Herald): The trial of the ‘dirty politics’ man from Parnell (paywalled)
Sharon Brettkelly: The Detail: An end at last to the dirty politics saga
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): 7 years of Dirty Politics – The complete list of Winners & Losers

Housing
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Holding the Government to account on housing
Bernard Hickey (Stuff): Thought the property market couldn’t get any crazier? You’re wrong
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): Closed borders won’t quell New Zealand’s rising house prices
Tony Alexander (One Roof): What can the Reserve Bank actually do to curb rising house prices?
Mark Fowler (Herald): Government clutching at straws on housing (paywalled)
Catherine Harris (Stuff): Building costs hurting NZ’s construction chances, says property fund
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Snapshot from 1975: Auckland’s housing market then and now
Brian Gaynor (BusinessDesk): Looking back: The NZ housing boom — when and how it all began
Catherine Masters (One Roof): 51 suburbs earned more than six times the average worker
Greg Ninness (Interest): Auckland may be the first place to feel the cool winds of change expected to sweep over the housing market
Greg Ninness (Interest): Stand alone houses are as popular as ever and they aren’t getting any smaller
1News: Could this place help solve NZ’s housing crisis by building enough new homes for 100k people?
Nadine Porter (Stuff): Christchurch property market remains tough for first home buyers
The Standard: So, You Want To Buy Your First Home?
Ethan Te Ora (RNZ): ‘Not heterosexual’ renters twice as likely to have tenancies ended, says new research

Local government
Natalie Akoorie (Herald): Council chaos: Why is local government in New Zealand such a mess?
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Alan Bollard: Councils need to use their ‘idle’ balance sheets for infrastructure
Bess Manson (Stuff): Is Andy Foster the Lone Wolf of Wellington?
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): John Key was right – Wellington is dying (paywalled)
Harry Lock (RNZ): Wellington City Council proposes one-off rates increase of 13.5%
Abbey Wakefield (1News): ‘Classic Wellington’ — Resident unsurprised as another burst water pipe drenches home
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Nine vacant positions at Let’s Get Wellington Moving
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington left without a seat at Three Waters Steering Committee
Tim McCready (Herald): Covid 19 coronavirus tests Auckland mayor Phil Goff’s optimism (paywalled)
Steve Forbes (Herald): Auckland councillor highlights urban sprawl concerns in letter to minister
Tina Law (Stuff): Top Christchurch City Council bosses lose their jobs in leadership overhaul
Steven Walton (Stuff): Christchurch council expects 2021 dividend with $17m hole due to Covid-19
Hamish McNeilly (ODT): Dunedin council tight-lipped as crucial meeting over lead contamination nears

Economy, business
Shamubeel Eaqub and Rosie Collins (Stuff): Do young people have it tougher than their parents did?
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): MSD investigating more than 300 businesses for wage subsidy breaches
Damien Grant (Stuff): Hey Productivity Commission, leave ‘social justice’ alone
Kevin Jenkins (Herald): The story of Pasifika business is bigger than the minimum wage (paywalled)
Brian Easton (Pundit): Are we really budgeting for wellbeing?
Idealog: Why New Zealand women in business are key to our pandemic recovery
Madison Reidy (Newshub): Importer calls on government to sort out port delays

Inequality and poverty
Stephen Hickson (Stuff): Tax house rules and (dis)incentives
Andrew Becroft (Stuff): Children have the answers to a better future – we just need to listen
Helen Harvey (Herald): Kiwi kids paying a heavy price for lockdowns, report finds
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Why Jacinda & Grant’s words on poverty and inequality are so empty & hollow

International Women’s Day, gender issues
Susan St John (Daily Blog): International women’s day? How are the worst off mothers and their kids doing?
Caitlin Ellis (Newshub): New Zealand’s ‘disturbing’ gender property gap revealed
Herald: International Women’s Day: Kiwi women fall behind in sole home-owning stakes
Brent Melville (Business Desk): Trans-Tasman gender pay gap reflected in house ownership (paywalled)
Tina Morrison (Stuff): International Women’s Day 2021: Choose to challenge gender bias
Alison Mau (Stuff): Toilet talk and a plea for better health for International Women’s Day
Angela Lim (Herald): Is gender bias a myth? You better believe it isn’t (paywalled)
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Majority of women feel workplace is a threatening environment: study
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Employers encouraged to offer free course for women on money skills
Zoe George (Stuff): How to be a sporting ally this International Women’s Day
Ziena Jalil (Stuff): Let’s ‘choose to challenge’ for those women who can’t
Jane Phare (Herald): Top women share the secrets of their success

Justice, corrections
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Large increase in number and cost of cultural reports for offenders
Carolyne Meng-Yee (Herald): Christchurch mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant and two dangerous criminals in special ‘prison within a prison’ (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The Nation – Jan Logie vs Marie Dyhrberg
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): Will Maori suffer more convictions from new sexual assault laws?

Terrorism
Thomas Manch, Blair Ensor and Sam Sherwood (Stuff): Security Intelligence Service defend terror threat miss
Samantha Gee (Stuff): Claims of ‘excessive secrecy’ over violence threats in schools
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Christchurch mosque threat: Andrew Little defends security agencies
RNZ: Blocking site used by white supremicists should be a priority – expert
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Wait – what? The SIS failed to spot another white supremacist terror threat?
Hugh Collins (NZ Herald): ‘Anti-fascist researchers’ tipped off police after detecting Christchurch mosque threat

Media
Chris Schulz (Spinoff): An interview with the most feared man in New Zealand media
Michael Bassett (Bassett, Brash & Hide): Free speech and the New Zealand Herald
Steven Cowan: Banning Bassett
Scott Hamilton (Spinoff): All the things Michael Bassett got wrong in his noxious article
Karl du Fresne: On freedom of expression and that $55 million media handout

Health, Pharmac review
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Concern about loss of beds
Ian Powell: DHB deficit drivers
Peter Davis (Stuff): Pharmac does a great job, but it’s losing the PR battle hands down
RNZ: Pacific pharmacists want inclusion on Pharmac review
Rachel Moore (Stuff): Horowhenua GP says broken healthcare system an endless battle
Nicholas Jones (Herald): 1700 Auckland kids face painful wait for tooth surgery as Covid-19 aggravates dental backlogs (paywalled)
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Sick Kiwis forced onto black market by Govt’s restrictive new medicinal cannabis regime
Carolyn Providence (The Spinoff): I’m a doctor and a woman of colour. Here’s how my profession can tackle vaccine hesitancy
Jehan Casinader (Stuff): Drained brains: why nutrition could help to solve our mental health crisis
Hanna McCallum (Stuff): Wellington woman’s campaign to stamp out period poverty

Education
RNZ: Early childhood teachers hurting from ‘unfair’ pay disparity
John Gerritsen (RNZ): ‘We are not coping’: Ministry ordered schools to enrol 205 children in 2020
Francesca Rudkin (Newstalk ZB): What effect has lockdown had on education?
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Senior staff at mega polytech Te Pūkenga call for council member’s resignation
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Govt, universities should cover MIQ fees for returning international students, union says
Lee Kenny (Stuff): $20 million in unused English tuition fees should be used to support struggling language schools, says MP
Alwyn Poole (Kiwiblog): Fixing the NZ mathematics problem is … relatively easy

Tsunami response
Ursula Cochran (The Spinoff): Friday delivered a big test for NZ’s tsunami response. How did we do?
Stuff Editorial: Country still not ready for tsunami threats
John Weekes (Herald): Tsunami emergency texts: Who makes the call on alerting and why are some phones shrieking at their owners in US accents? (paywalled)
Susan Botting (Herald): Tsunami warning: Problems with sirens to be investigated – Far North Mayor

Other
Steven Walton (Stuff): Ardern not revealing cannabis stance may have been ‘decisive factor’ in referendum result
RNZ: Protection against Covid-19 ranks as NZ’s biggest issue
1News: Stats NZ trialling new census system to improve Māori engagement
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Decision on live exports’ future due as protestors take to the streets
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Green Party starts new push to ban bottom trawling
ODT: Editorial – Police culture change overdue
Eric Crampton (Stuff): Emissions Trading Scheme most durable path to net zero carbon goal
Audrey Young (Herald): Bill aimed at gangs and guns doesn’t go far enough says Police Association
George Fenwick (Stuff): Six Angry Women: ‘It was just such a volatile, ugly period in our history’
Steve Braunias (The Guardian): Discussing Doomsday with Kim Dotcom, I felt ashamed I’d seen him as a ridiculous figure
Jared Savage (Herald): CYFS should have checked Baby Royal within 24 hrs (paywalled)
Michelle Duff (Stuff): More than 800 commit to researching for anti-hate strategy
Te Rina Triponel (Herald): Auckland Mayor Phil Goff says mana whenua consulted in Erebus Memorial
Anna Loren (Stuff): Man who stabbed stepfather given NZ residence because he has a mental illness
Cornell Tukiri (E-Tangata): Reclaiming what was lost

Today’s content

Covid
Chris Trotter: Atavistic urges
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Lockdown 4 sparks Jacinda Ardern’s wrath (paywalled)
Peter Dunne: The government urgently needs to upgrade its Covid19 strategy
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Information contradicting Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on KFC worker came from Ministry of Health
Emile Donovan (Stuff): The Detail: NZ’s Covid-19 communications response has been hailed the world over, but is that shine beginning to fade?
Stuff Editorial: Cracks in Covid-19 communication
Damien Venuto (Herald): Has Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern lost the room? (paywalled)
TVNZ: Dr Bloomfield says Auckland lockdown decision pinned on remaining gym contact tests
Jamie Morton (Herald): No new cases means ‘reasonable chance’ lockdown worked
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Our ‘bad luck’ lockdown
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Government made a mistake putting Auckland into level 3
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): NZ should stay at level 2 for longer if Auckland restrictions ease – Covid-19 data modelling expert Shaun Hendy
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Ministry of Health to hire private firm to roll out saliva testing of border workers
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): These TikTok videos suggest young people do listen to Ashley Bloomfield
Brent Edwards (NBR): Is government suffering Covid-19 fatigue? (paywalled)
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): Lack of new cases could mean a move down alert levels, but ‘risk doesn’t go to zero’
Herald: Auckland’s freedom could hang on 85 Covid test results
Herald: Dr Bloomfield on vaccines, lockdown & his alternative career choice
Cathy Odgers: The Cult Of Ashley Bloomfield – Cabinet Ministers Now Interviewing Him!
Crystal Wu (Newshub): Dr Bloomfield unsure why Papatoetoe High school students refused to take a test
George Block (Stuff): Auckland cluster family’s undisclosed lodger was door-to-door salesman
Simon Plumb and Edward Gay (Stuff): Government facing questions over Malaysian MP’s trip to NZ to visit family
TVNZ: Under fire after leaving Auckland on eve of lockdown, Hannah Tamaki reveals she won’t be taking Covid-19 vaccine
Mina Kerr-Lazenby (Stuff): Hannah Tamaki says she will refuse vaccine despite assurances it will help curb spread of virus
Elle Hunt (Guardian): New Zealand has third day with no new Covid cases as church leader says she will refuse vaccine
RNZ: Brian Tamaki responds to criticism after leaving Auckland on eve of lockdown
TVNZ: Mayor Shadbolt says Tamakis not welcome in Invercargill after couple’s lockdown flee
Herald Editorial: Icy response to minister in Glacier Country sign of times (paywalled)

Covid: Vaccines
Stuff: Ministry of Health to hire private firm to roll out saliva testing of border workers
RNZ: South Auckland vaccination should start soon after border workers – academic
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Getting the vaccine to the most vulnerable communities
TVNZ: Peeni Henare confident Māori, Pasifika will be targeted in Covid vaccine rollout
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): Pfizer vaccine proving the most effective but Pacific ‘could miss out’

Housing
Anna Rawhiti-Connell (Newroom): Angry nausea over broken housing promises
Richard Harman: Robertson is asking for it
Financial Times: Editorial – Central banks cannot solve a housing crisis (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Adrian Orr frets over soaring asset prices as ASB warns more people low on cash
RNZ: Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr: ‘Absolutely a question mark over house prices’
Liam Dann (Herald): Adrian Orr warns of housing bubble risks but says Reserve Bank stimulus settings must stay (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Reserve Bank ponders its impact on housing market (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): ‘Gale force’ economic warning: what 1% rise in mortgage rates would mean
Rebecca Howard (Business Desk): RBNZ must consider housing but it’s more about financial stability (paywalled)
Herald: Financial Times opinion: Central banks cannot solve a housing crisis (paywalled)
Zane Small (Newshub): Housing crisis: Financial Times swipes at Government for using Reserve Bank as ‘convenient scapegoat’
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Pensioner reliant on temporary support to make rent as housing market shuts out retirees
Ethan Te Ora and Mandy Te (Stuff): Is Wellington a lost city for first home buyers? Economist says city ‘unattainable’ for those on modest incomes
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Sales records in more than 300 suburbs smashed
Treadwell Gordon (Whanganui Chronicle): Let’s Talk Law with Treadwell Gordon: Changes to the Residential Tenancies Act 1986

Local government
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): The stagnating little Capital
Bernard Hickey (Stuff): Hit by unfair debt rules, councils are cracking under financial pressure
Harry Lock (RNZ): Wellington City Council proposes one-off rates increase of 13.5%
Phil Quin (Stuff): We should welcome dissension and debate within local councils
Damian George (Stuff): Wellington Mayor Andy Foster in U-turn over partial library building privatisation and reducing collections budget
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington Mayor Andy Foster backtracks after Central Library controversy
Harry Lock (RNZ): Wellington librarians upset and angry over council decisions
Newstalk ZB: ‘Let’s Get Wellington’ transport plan under scrutiny
Mandy Te (Stuff): Wellington City Councillor to propose removal of $76 million ‘loan’ for airport’s seawalls at Long Term Plan committee meeting
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington City Council pulls the plug on $76 million loan for airport
Bernard Hickey: Dawn chorus: An invidious and unfair debt lid
Katy Jones (Stuff): Library decision commits city to millions in flood defences, lobbyists say
Newstalk ZB: Chris Lynch: Council owned company’s rebranding is financially reckless
Herald: Christchurch council employees report lack of transparency, bullying in survey
Otago Daily Times Editorial: Role for ratepayers associations
Logan Savory (Stuff): Invercargill city councillor Ian Pottinger says new media protocol isn’t needed
Waatea News: Maori on councils doesn’t mean Maori perspective
Waatea News: Kaipara to consider Maori ward

Auckland
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland Council plan rate rises of up to 23 per cent for thousands of homes (paywalled)
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Project Auckland: A Swan emerges from the cones
Michael Barnett (NZ Herald): Project Auckland: Time to turn Auckland on its head
Bill Bennett (Herald): Project Auckland: After the pandemic we need a smarter city
Graham Skellern (Herald): Project Auckland: A new agenda for Tāmaki Makaurau

Foreign affairs and trade
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Long-sought USA trade deal derailed by elections, says former ambassador
Selwyn Manning (Evening Report): PODCAST: Buchanan + Manning on private enterprise and the conflict market

Environment, climate change
Brian Fallow (Herald): Cutting farm emissions – without cutting farm output (paywalled)
Adam Currie (Spinoff): Enough with the focus on ‘targets’. We need real climate action – right now
Gareth Shute (Spinoff): New Zealand’s EV revolution may not come easy
Amber Allott (Stuff): Lawless’ high seas undoing New Zealand’s seabird conservation efforts

Māori Party
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The revolution all around us
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi apologises after deleting tweet on ‘archaic Caucasians’
Zane Small (Newshub): Māori Party MP Rawiri Waititi’s tweet about Pākehā being ‘archaic species’ was ‘made by someone else’
David Farrar: The MP’s tweet the media won’t report

Planned Erebus memorial
Jean Bell (RNZ): Erebus memorial protest ‘hugely distressing’, says family member of victim
Waatea News: MP wants hui to calm Erebus memorial row
Waatea News: Orakei back Erebus memorial in rohe

Economy and work
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Government’s move to limit immigration a mistake
Brent Edwards (NBR): Fair pay legislation likely to be introduced this year (paywalled)
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Apple growers pulling out trees because there are not enough pickers for harvest
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): WFH or WFO? How Kiwi businesses are handling the shift change (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Government accounts continue to outperform forecasts, up $3.1 billion from December forecast
RNZ: Government’s deficit of $4.4b, $3b less than forecast
Michael Reddell: No idea apparently, probably not much interest
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): ASB boss Vittoria Shortt warns: ‘We are not out of the woods yet’ (paywalled)

Health
Ian Powell: Taking the threat to New Zealand’s health system out of Simpson
Corazon Miller (TVNZ): Pharmac swapping epilepsy drugs ‘cannot be discounted’ as a cause of deaths — neurologist
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Epilepsy medication switch may have contributed to deaths – neurologist
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Tobacco tax revenue plunges as Kiwis kick the habit
Seni Iasona & Rosie Gordon (Newshub): Generous philanthropist funds brand new children’s hospital in Wellington

Online threat to Christchurch mosques
Elle Hunt (The Guardian): New Zealand police charge man over online threat to Christchurch mosques
RNZ: Man charged with threatening to kill after arrest over threat to Christchurch mosques
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Two arrested after car bomb threat

Other
Henry Cooke (Stuff): ‘Dead rat’ regurgitated? Repeal of Waka Jumping law looks possible as Labour mulls position
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Afghan interpreter who volunteered with Kiwi troops: ‘NZ is leaving me to face death’ (paywalled)
Karl du Fresne: An assumed right of veto?
Maja Burry (RNZ): Live animal exports decision coming soon – Agriculture Minister
No Right Turn: Labour’s organic secrecy
Colin Peacock (RNZ): NZME pulls racist article and bans Bassett
Kelly Jensen (Northland Age): Response to Michael Bassett’s `Racism on a grand scale’
Sarah Trotman (Herald): Courage needed to challenge bias and harassment of women (paywalled)
ODT: Editorial – Menstrual products in schools
Kym Hamilton (Stuff): Overcoming inequities in cricket
Zane Small (Newshub): New Zealand’s first transgender MP Georgina Beyer says Government ‘dithering’ on changing sex on birth certificates
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern opens up on self-care, motherhood in new magazine interview
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Cancel culture’s arrogance is out of control
Sam Stubbs (Stuff): Is Rocket Lab our Sputnik moment?
Peter Sara (Otago Daily Times): Use our Treaty to create the best for all its signatories
Rosemary McLeod (Stuff): The old boys in blue, policing by consent

Today’s content

Covid: Govt messaging, blame, compliance
Chris Trotter (The Daily Blog): When It Comes to Covid, the “Little People” Cast a Big Shadow 
Claire Trevett (Herald): The Prime Minister, Case L and the pickle of confusion (paywalled)
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Growing calls for an apology after Unite Against Covid-19 post contradicts Jacinda Ardern
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Prime minister’s ‘kindness’ must extend to Covid-19 costs
Gordon Campbell: On why the public doesn’t always do what its told, even in 24 different languages
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Unite against Covid-19 Facebook post contradicts PM’s claim infected KFC worker was told to isolate
Thomas Manch (Stuff): ‘Badly worded’ self-isolation health order issued nine days after cluster was discovered
Kendall Hutt (Stuff): Ministry post says KFC worker was not required to isolate, despite PM’s claims
Herald: Government website contradicts Jacinda Ardern’s KFC worker claim
Amelia Wade (Herald): Who was told what, when and by whom? A timeline of the messages to the Papatoetoe High School community
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Were families of Covid-19 contacts required to isolate?
Fa’anana Efeso Collins (The Guardian): Don’t blame one suburb for New Zealand’s Covid problems – Manukau is central to the fight, and we will win
Simon Collins (Herald): Jacinda Ardern and Papatoetoe High School principal Vaughan Couillault have ‘frank and open’ talk about blaming families with Covid
Alexander Gillespie (The Conversation): Lots of law, not enough order — the government must be clearer about dealing with COVID rule-breakers
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Judith Collins says contact tracing systems have become too complex
Rukuwai Tipene-Allen (Māori TV): Sorry – a word that ‘Case L’ may never hear from the government
1News: Judith Collins says Covid-19 messaging needs to be ‘spot on every time’ after confusion sees contacts skip isolation
Newstalk ZB: Hipkins, HDPA clash over what KFC worker was told; timeline on what was said when
1New: Hipkins backs PM, details ‘very clear’ guidance given to KFC worker who went to work while ‘symptomatic’
Kate Gregan (RNZ): Hipkins backs Ardern after Case L says she wasn’t told to isolate
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): Govt spent $1.3m on Covid-19 adverts in two weeks, but did it miss the mark?
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Te Anau locals criticise Brian Tamaki’s lockdown-defying South Island travels

Covid: General
Jamie Morton (Herald): Three questions about NZ’s road ahead
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Longer lockdowns, $30b wage subsidy, and food rationing in Covid worst-case scenario
Jason Walls (Herald): There’s light at the end of NZ’s Covid tunnel – but still a long way to go
Brigitte Morten (Pundit): We Should Leave ‘Be Kind’ For The Cushion Covers
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Are we being kind or not?
Herald: Editorial: Testing drops as contact tracing lags – are we drifting? (paywalled)
Peter Williams (Magic): Losing faith in our media and its framing of Covid
Kate Hawkesby: Government must look at other ways to contain small clusters
1News: ‘Insanity’ – Medical expert slams Government’s recent contact tracing efforts
RNZ: Covid contact tracing targets missed due to scale of operation – Chris Hipkins
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Did Bishop Brian Tamaki and wife Hannah deserve the wrath of the Government in ‘escaping’ Auckland?
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Destiny Church lashes out at critics after Tamakis flee Auckland lockdown
Lane Nichols (Herald): Destiny Church lashes out at critics after Brian and Hannah Tamaki flee Auckland lockdown
Danielle Clent (Stuff): Destiny Church leaders fleeing Auckland lockdown ‘completely irresponsible’
Katie Todd (RNZ): Govt investigates phone app that detects Covid-19 before onset of symptoms
Chris Keall (Stuff): Covid-19 coronavirus early-warning app: Govt close to deal with NZ’s Elarm
Ella Stewart (RNZ): How Auckland children are being affected by another lockdown
Aimee Shaw (Herald): Microbiologist on efficacy of ‘deep cleans’ after Covid exposure

Covid: Managed isolation payment proposal
Jo Moir (Newsroom): PM’s ‘kindness’ must extend to Covid costs
1News: Despite union and business support, Govt rejects National’s pitch to pay full wages for self-isolation
RNZ: Government rejects full wage for isolation payments
No Right Turn: A sensible idea from National
RNZ: National wants government to pay wages of those self-isolating

Covid: MIQ
Michael Neilson (Herald): Frontline MIQ workers share experiences earning minimum wage while carrying burden of a nation
Miriam Burrell (Herald): MIQ price hike ‘crippling’ for migrant families
Todd Niall (Stuff): Construction industry seeks MIQ quota to cut delays in bringing in staff
Thomas Airey (Herlad): Napier woman told to self-isolate despite completing MIQ stay

Covid: Vaccine
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Government criticised for ‘rolling maul’ vaccine strategy
Justin Giovannetti (The Spinoff): New Zealand’s Covid-19 vaccine programme is still largely a secret
Collin Tukuitonga (Newsroom): Why we should vaccinate Pacific Islands early
Josephine Franks (Stuff): New Zealand beating Australia’s vaccination rates with 9000 doses given
Nikki Preston (Herald): Health expert wants travellers prioritised for vaccine
Donna Miles-Mojab (Stuff): Structural racism produces Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy

Covid: Workers, business, economy
Catherine Harris (Stuff): Staff complain that ‘pandemic clauses’ are leaving them without pay
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Wage subsidy to make return on Thursday, payments go out Monday
Daniel Dunkley (Stuff): Business leaders are right to ask the tough Covid questions
Fran O’Sullivan (NZ Herald): Business knocking on Jacinda Ardern’s door
Liam Dann (Herald): How will NZ reconnect? Grant Robertson defends Government strategy (paywalled)
Richard Harman: What if the tourists don’t come back
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): No immediate panacea for housing crisis post-Covid, business leaders told
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Nash visits Franz Josef and Fox Glacier: ‘He’s left and we’re empty handed’
Julie Iles (NBR): Businesses again eligible for wage subsidy (paywalled)

Housing
Anne Gibson (Herald): Housing boom ‘past peak’, prices to fall, interest rates to rise: Westpac chief economist
RNZ:  House prices continue to surge, but easing market predicted later in year
Brent Melville (Business Desk): House prices will slow and start falling in next three years — Westpac (paywalled)
Bernard Hickey: Dawn chorus: Housing inflation raging in provinces
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Hamilton house prices continue to climb
Catherine Harris (Stuff): Building boom continues to charge ahead
Michael Andrew (Spinoff): A wish list for all that capital gains tax revenue, which doesn’t exist
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Pensioner reliant on temporary support to make rent as housing market shuts out retirees
Editorial (Stuff): ICC housing rentals: who had the tenants’ backs?
TVNZ: Could two Auckland developments serve as blueprints to solve NZ’s housing crisis?

Parliament
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Willie Jackson unleashes on Māori MPs
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): ‘Wokester’, cancel culture issue a winner for National, says party pollster
Steven Cowan: The woke madness of Marama Davidson
Bob Jones: The True Parliamentary Opposition

Media
Myles Thomas (The Spinoff): The TVNZ merger could improve RNZ, or destroy it. Let’s ensure it’s not the latter
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): RNZ warmer than TVNZ on merger in front of MPs
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Faafoi hopeful Google and Facebook will negotiate with NZ media
Audrey Young (Herald): Kris Faafoi hopeful meaningful talk will occur between Facebook, Google and local media
Melissa Lee (Kiwiblog) Fourth Estate for a price?

Dirty Politics – Carrick Graham defamation case
David Fisher (Herald): ‘Hit’ jobs case: PR consultant apologises and promises cash to settle defamation case that came from Dirty Politics
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Payment, apology in Dirty Politics case
Alex Braae (Spinoff): Crushing defeat for Dirty Politics PR man with apology to defamed academics
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Dirty Politics: Saga ends with Carrick Graham apology in court
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The final chapter of Dirty Politics closes – what did we learn?

Health, Pharmac review
Kate Nicol-Williams (1News): Health Minister says it’s ‘deeply worrying’ not everyone has access to secondary mastectomy
Waatea News: Pharmac review lacking patient voice
Newstalk ZB: Cancer Society says Pharmac review doesn’t go far enough
Martyn Bradbury (The Daily Blog): Pharmac review pointless
Dita De Boni (NBR): Fast food sector sees Covid-19 as marketing opportunity, says report (paywalled)

Local government
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Government cut $239m from proposed $1 billion water bailout fund for councils
Harry Lock (RNZ): Auditor-General rejects request for investigation into Wellington City Council
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington Library stoush: Auditor-General won’t investigate councillor’s concerns
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Hutt City Mayor Campbell Barry and eight colleagues call for resignation of fellow councillor, having ‘completely lost confidence
David Farrar: Trying to bully a Cr off Council
Chloe Blommerde (Stuff): ‘It’s a start’ – first steps made to establishing Māori Wards in Matamata-Piako
Todd Niall (Stuff): Climate Change: Aucklanders urged to put heat on council compromise
Marcus Anselm (RNZ): Bank closures: Mayors deliver plea for more bank branches to Beehive
Steven Walton (Stuff): Christchurch City Council-owned Vbase changes its name to Venues Ōtautahi
Skara Bohn (Stuff): Council must shake off ‘deep-seated belief’ that it is ‘incredibly hard to deal with’

Economy and work
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Treasury has it wrong on film subsidies
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Teenage beneficiaries forced to choose between going hungry or paying rent
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Covid reality bites: Business closures spike 130pc
Michael Andrew (Spinoff): A wish list for all that capital gains tax revenue, which doesn’t exist
Donal Curtin: What if they threw a party… and nobody came?
Transport
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Let’s Get Wellington Moving in shake-up, officials signal budget blowout
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Let’s Get Wellington Moving to be overhauled with new independent chair
Harry Lock (RNZ):  Council wants to make sure Wellington Airport expansion won’t undermine transport goals
Andrea Fox (Herald): MoT hands off on Auckland port productivity and auto project – but not eyes off (paywalled)

Child welfare
1News: Children’s Commissioner pleads for more funding to better monitor Oranga Tamariki
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Former Oranga Tamariki boss Grainne Moss makes final appearance, laying out achievements

Chief Ombudsman
Audrey Young (Herald): Court quashes decision by Chief Ombudsman on basis of ‘unfiltered’ emails to Speaker Mallard
No Right Turn: Time for a new Ombudsman

Other
George Ritchie: Love You: Public Policy For Intergenerational Wellbeing by Girol Karacaoglu
Aaron Stallard Olivia Hyatt (Stuff): Have your say on Climate Change Commission’s historic report
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): James Shaw accidentally reminds us all why being carbon Neutral by 2050 is meaningless
Stuff Editorial: Bullies in blue an indictment on police culture
Peter Hughes (Herald): Can our public service be trusted? Yes (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): NZ Super Fund now re-considering Chinese investments linked to Uyghurs (paywalled)
RNZ: New Zealand’s first drug saliva test offered in Canterbury
Stuart Smith and Arena Williams (Stuff): Christchurch was not always given the support needed to rebuild and cope
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): People unlikely to oppose push to turn away violent kids at school
Sarah Nealon (Stuff): The generational trauma stemming from war in the Waikato
Critic Editorial: Students Were Exploited In Orchard Work
Rachel Brown (Herald): Plastic piles up in our world of confusion (paywalled)
Stuff: More work needed to tackle our ‘make-take-waste’ culture
Moana Maniapoto (E-Tangata): Jemaine Clement: ‘They’re tough here’

Today’s content

Covid: Govt messaging, blame, compliance
Branko Marcetic (Democracy Project): We’ve cut the Govt slack for its own Covid missteps, so let’s do the same for workers
Josie Pagani (Stuff): Let’s stop this lockdown blame game, finger-wagging won’t get you anywhere
Josh Van Veen (Democracy Project): Bloomfieldian Optimism – The Tragedy of Case M
Chris Trotter (Interest): Sunday services
Alex Braae (Spinoff): People are confused. So what are the rules on testing and self-isolation?
Jackie Clark (Spinoff): ‘You don’t know their lives’: A call for empathy from The Aunties’ Jackie Clark
Jason Walls (Herald): Govt under pressure for ‘confusing’ messaging – Ardern pushes back
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern, Ashley Bloomfield push back on COVID-19 KFC worker Case L’s miscommunication claims
TVNZ: Bloomfield details ‘multiple attempts’ to get in touch with KFC worker who says she was never told to isolate
Herald: Jacinda Ardern says 15 calls made to KFC worker’s family
Simon Collins (Herald): ‘Level 3 lite’ claim as Ministry of Education says parents can judge if their kids need to go to school or childcare in level 3 lockdown
Elle Hunt (Guardian): New Zealand urged ‘don’t let virus divide you’ as Covid frustration builds
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): Kindness towards South Auckland whanau more important than ever
Herald: Editorial: More starch and less soft soap for Covid rule breaches? (paywalled)
ODT: Editorial – Covid-19 compliance issues
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Auckland cluster families who failed to isolate are ‘remorseful’, no need for punitive approach – Bloomfield
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Unclear whether lockdown rule-breakers will face investigation
Lana Andelane (Newshub): How public health rule-breakers can be prosecuted
RNZ: Ashley Bloomfield says he won’t refer self-isolation breaches to police
Nikki Preston (Herald): Police 105 phone line overwhelmed as people seek clarity over rule and report breachers
Kendall Hutt (Stuff): Church group breached alert level 3 rules by meeting in south Auckland
RNZ: ‘We should be TikToking’ – Collins calls for better messaging
TVNZ: Bloomfield rules out appearing on TikTok or Tinder to communicate Covid-19 info — ‘It’s the PM who dances’
TVNZ: ‘I was told it was too casual’ – Ardern jokes about Instagram post to outline challenges of Covid messaging
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern used Tinder to advertise in 2014, now she’s endorsing TikTok for COVID-19 messaging
Amelia Wade (Herald): Jacinda Ardern on rulebreakers, reveals who’s next in queue for vaccine
Peter Williams (Magic): Team of five million – yeah right
Peter Williams (Magic): Jacinda Ardern admits it’s ‘propaganda’

Covid: Govt response
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Three tough choices that will define the Government’s Covid response
Richard Prebble (Herald): Covid-19 requires a Royal Commission (paywalled)
Michael Bassett: Jacinda’s Luck Running Out?
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): We need to keep asking questions about the Govt’s Covid response
Newstalk ZB: Government defends early exit from previous lockdown
Crystal Wu (Newshub): International media reacts to Auckland’s 7-day lockdown

Covid: Managed isolation fees, workers
Lucy Xia (Stuff): ‘Where is our compassion?’: managed isolation fee hike hits families
Miriam Burrell (Herald): MIQ fees for temporary visa holders set to skyrocket
Stuff: Government hikes managed isolation fees for temporary visa holders to $5520
TVNZ: More Covid-19 MIQ workers getting living wage, but half still struggling with inadequate pay, union says

Covid: Vaccines
Gordon Campbell: On Who Decides On The Priority List For Covid Vaccines
Teuila Fuatai (Herald): Errors in New Zealand’s first week of Covid vaccinations

Covid: Business
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Business leaders need to stop pulling punches on Govt criticism
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Asking businesses to bear brunt of lockdowns ‘not sustainable’
Hugh Collins (Herald): Tourism Minister Stuart Nash and region’s MP Damien O’Connor to meet struggling West Coast businesses

Covid: General
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Māori and Pasifika hospitalised more than other ethnic groups – new data
1News: National wants boost in Covid-19 self-isolation payment to match person’s full income
Giles Dexter (Newshub): Calls to adjust support payments based on income
Mark Jennings (Newsroom): Compliant Aucklanders let down by checkpoint chaos
Herald: Far less testing done during latest Covid outbreak
Kirsty Wynn (Herald): Survey: Kiwis say working from home one of toughest challenges
David Downs and Joe Davis (Guardian): New Zealand’s Covid baby boom: where familiarity didn’t breed contempt

Housing
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Tens of thousands more families could find themselves in dire housing position
David Hargreaves (Interest): It’s housing investor hunting season
Mandy Te (Stuff): Wellington city’s average house value exceeds $1 million and the rest of the region isn’t far behind
Greg Ninness (Interest): NZ’s average dwelling value increased by $21,275 in February
Greg Ninness (Interest): Sharp drop in new home completions in Auckland at the end of 2020
Rob Stock (Stuff): House asking prices up nearly $90K in ‘completely out-of-control frenzy’
Herald: Wellington first-home buyers drawing on ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ amid soaring deposits
Waatea News: Rent subsidy gift for speculators
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Time to change our housing mindset
Catherine Masters (One Roof): Housing affordability: ‘There is no short-term solution’
Emma Houpt (Stuff): Mum ‘beyond exhausted’ after being rejected from more than 130 Tauranga rentals
David Farrar: Another case of no homework from the media
Brent Melville (Business Desk): Tauranga looks to break housing ranks, Gisborne at ‘highest level’

Local government
Andy Asquith (Stuff): Is local government in New Zealand fit for purpose?
Janine Hayward (Newsroom): A ward by any other name just as democratic
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Why Wellington’s Mayor should have known better (paywalled)
Neil Holdom (Stuff): Mayors can’t be effective if councillors are not ready to work constructively
Hilary Beaton (Stuff): Now is the wrong time to cut back on library spending
Damian George (Stuff): Proposal to privatise parts of Wellington’s central library building set to be overturned
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington Water Committee chairman David Bassett to resign
ODT: Editorial – Media muddle
Matthew Tso (Stuff): Big repair bills for water pipes could soon be a reality for residents across the region
Stuff: Public submissions open to gauge support for Taranaki Regional Council Māori constituency
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): The man bringing council and iwi together with meaningful talk and careful listening
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland’s Watercare prosecuting alleged water theft, as incidents on the rise
Ben Leonard (Newsroom): Big spend-up on Auckland recycling
Devon Bolger (Herald): Impacts on major projects in Christchurch costing council $6.5m
Steven Walton (Stuff): Council proposes targeted rate for owners of vacant land in central Christchurch
Logan Savory (Stuff): Invercargill City Council’s 35 percent rent increase to be staggered

Economy and work
Ananish Chaudhuri (Stuff): Wide CGT, including on family home, best answer to inequality
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Here’s what you should be earning… at any age
Dennis Wesselbaum (Newsroom): Less ‘kind talk’, more rigour needed in post-Covid economy
Brent Edwards (NBR): Reserve Bank says Auckland lockdown confirmed monetary policy stance (paywalled)
Dan Satherley (Newshub): ASB’s huge interest rate hike for deposits still ‘unattractive’ – economist
Pharmac review
Stuff Editorial: Pharmac ripe for reassessment
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Pharmac inquiry promises to look at transparency, but not funding decisions
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern appoints consumer rights advocate Sue Chetwin to lead Pharmac review into funding, equity ‘concerns’
Herald: Pharmac review to focus on speed, transparency of decision

Health
Anna Matheson (British Medical Journal blog): Transformational change in New Zealand means putting communities at the heart of decision making
Robert Beaglehole (Spinoff): If we’re serious about public health, the government must keep a critical promise
Rukuwai Tipene-Allen (Māori TV): Set them up to win! Shane Reti on Māori health providers
Larissa Howie (TVNZ): Endometriosis sufferer says public health system dismissed her agony for 17 years
Lyndy Matthews (Herald): Stigma and shame do not help smokers quit (paywalled)

Police
John Weekes (Herald): Police bullying report: Dog-eat-dog workplace cultures and cronyism must go, IPCA finds
RNZ: IPCA report: Police Commissioner Andrew Coster says bullying behaviour ‘unacceptable’
Ben Strang (RNZ): IPCA finds significant elements of bullying within police workforce
No Right Turn: A toxic organisation

Climate change and environment
The Conversation: NZ’s Climate Change Commission needs to account for the huge potential health benefits of reducing emissions
Guy Trafford (Interest): Big carrot and small stick, or small carrot and big stick?
Nadine Anne Hura (Spinoff): On the waka to carbon zero: Where have we come from, and where are we going?
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Full removal of all stored Southland dross and ouvea premix likely four years away – council
David Williams (Newsroom): DoC dobs itself in for errant spraying
Nadine Porter (Stuff): Demand for natural fertilisers increasing as environmental reforms prompt change
David Farrar: Why the proposed policies for getting to net zero emissions are the worst option

Education
David Law (Herald): Does more money always buy better education? (paywalled)
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Increased spending won’t fix Kiwi students’ academic decline – report
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): ‘We need a solution’: Principals push back on forced enrolments, saying it puts kids at risk

Media
Bernard Hickey: Reclaiming our information
Damien Venuto (Herald): Online ghosts: Facebook’s millennial ‘reach’ is thousands above NZ population (paywalled)

Other
Lisa Marriott (Social and legal studies): Privileging white-collar crime in New Zealand
David Bromell (Georgetown Journal of International Affairs): After Christchurch: Hard questions for policymakersMartyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Jan Logie strikes back & why she’s still wrong
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): MPs are failing to hold electricity giants to account
Anna Whyte (TVNZ): Greens leaders pull out of KiwiSaver scheme distributed by Kiwibank after Yemen war link
Victoria Young (BusinessDesk): Ombudsman’s emails see decision taken away from him (paywalled)
Todd Niall (Stuff): Public transport slump a ‘structural shift’, with work from home to stay
Waatea News: Revived interest in kaupapa-driven Maori Council
Waatea News: Marae invasion threat over water treatment
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Free app for learning Moriori released to help revive endangered native language
TVNZ: Siouxsie Wiles among New Zealander of the Year finalists
Herald: Farid Ahmed, mosque shooting victim, New Zealander of the Year finalist
Skara Bohny (Stuff): ‘We’re here, we’re queer, and we’re in Nelson’; LGBT+ community cautiously optimistic on crossing
Chris Marriner (Herald): ‘God will never forgive you’: Protesters confronted at Auckland Pride March
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Christchurch far-right activist Kyle Chapman selling Nazi toy figures in New Zealand

Today’s content

Covid: Auckland community outbreak
Crystal Wu (Newshub):  Jacinda Ardern refuses to apologise to KFC worker, says family was told to self-isolate
1News: Auckland KFC worker with Covid-19 says she was never told to isolate, wants apology from PM
Mandy Te (Stuff): Questions raised over whether people are being told they must self-isolate following Covid-19 tests
Stuff: Jacinda Ardern denies KFC worker who tested positive wasn’t told to self-isolate
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): 7 Day lockdown political winners & losers
Newstalk ZB: Professor slams Govt as ‘inconsistent’ over ‘deja vu’ lockdown
Justin Giovannetti (The Spinoff): Is the Ardern government’s kindness mantra beginning to fray?
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Prime Minister changes tune on narking
Andrew Geddis (The Spinoff): The trouble with demands for a police crackdown on Covid isolation rule-dodgers
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern is a great communicator, but clearly not everyone’s listening
John Weekes (Herald): Will New Zealand choke just when the finish line’s in sight?
Stuff Editorial: Trust alone is no longer enough
Dr Celia Lie (Newsroom): Thoughts on why some young people flout the rules
Barry Soper (Herald): Time for Govt to consider being cruel to be kind
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): ‘It’s easy to blame a 21-year-old’: Judith Collins, David Seymour say Government also at fault for COVID-19 outbreak
RNZ: We should be TikToking information’ – Collins calls for better messaging
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Young people to Government – ‘your message is too old, too stale and way too long’
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern encourages calling out COVID-19 rule-breakers, but with ‘kindness’
Alan Kenyon (TVNZ): Ardern asks Kiwis to call out Covid-19 rule breakers — ‘It’s not OK to let the rest of us down’
RNZ: PM Jacinda Ardern urges New Zealanders to call out rule-breakers
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern says actions of latest COVID-19 cases had ‘devastating’ consequence
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Angry Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern tongue lashes Covid-19 cases for ‘letting down’ team of five million
Herald: Rulebreakers facing judgment of entire nation – Ardern
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): New Auckland COVID-19 case ‘absolutely’ did all the wrong things – Professor Michael Baker
Simon Collins (NZ Herald): Manukau student leader asks Kiwis to lay off South Auckland
Adam Jacobson (RNZ): Manukau Institute of Technology asks for kindness towards student
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Auckland Regional Public Health says no issues with language barriers prior to latest outbreak
Newstalk ZB: Collins accuses Government of being apathetic towards Covid-19, criticises kindness focus
TVNZ: ‘Post-kindness’ rhetoric targeting South Auckland Covid cases will backfire, warns Efeso Collins
John Weekes (Herald): Instinct for retribution must not take over, leaders say
Justin Latif (Herald): Punishing rule-breakers would backfire, warns South Auckland councillor
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Auckland is lucky to have Efeso Collins leadership & vision during Covid
Sela Jane Hopgood (RNZ): Covid: One year on for Pasifika leaders at the frontline
Justin Latif (Spinoff): South Auckland DHB chief: NZ owes our people a ‘debt of gratitude’
Te Rina Triponel (Herald): South Auckland marae leaders urge communities to be more vigilant as community transmission spreads
TVNZ: South Auckland man infected with Covid-19 after family member’s secret lockdown contact with another infected family
Lynley Ward (Herald): Four families, one school and rule breaker – the Valentine’s Day cluster unravelled (paywalled)
Crystal Wu (Newshub): Two mothers from Auckland cluster went for a walk during lockdown
RNZ: Jacinda Ardern on latest Covid-19 cases: ‘Everyone is angry… I get that’
Elle Hunt (Guardian): ‘Everyone is angry’: Ardern under pressure over latest Auckland Covid lockdown
Lana Andelane (Newshub): New Zealanders who refuse testing, deny science ‘put everyone at risk’ – Phil Goff
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): Biggest weakness in our Covid response is our population
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald):Government must take the blame for this lockdown
Heather du Plessis-Allan: Covid 19 lockdowns a sign of failure
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Complacent Government asleep at the wheel over Covid-19
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): Ministry of Health dropping the ball has led us to new lockdown
John Weekes (Herald): Police not asked to prosecute Case M, say education, support pivotal
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): National wants Covid-19 rule breakers to be fined
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Police assistance seldom needed to enforce Covid-19 rules, Bloomfield says
Nadine Porter (Stuff): Police yet to issue any fines to people not wearing face masks
Stephen Forbes (Stuff): District Health Board slams Covid-19 conspiracy theory on rheumatic fever swabs
Northern Advocate: Harawira calls on Northland iwi leaders to speak out over danger of new Covid strains
John Anthony (Stuff): Air NZ suspends trans-Tasman flights as Australia responds to Auckland Covid-19 ‘hotspot’
Brook Sabin (Stuff): Travel bubble gamechanger: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern delivers huge boost for chances of Australia travel bubble
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Food banks brace for ‘flood’ of demand in Auckland’s fourth lockdown
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): Lockdowns keeping psychologists busy
Morgan Godfery (The Guardian): Repeated lockdowns are a version of hell – Aucklanders deserve our thanks

Covid: Workers and business
Michael Neilson (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern defends sick pay scheme
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Support scheme for those self-isolating $100m cheaper than expected, call for it to be made more generous
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): More generous Covid-19 leave scheme ‘could save NZ money overall’
Victoria Young (Business Desk): Change self-isolation payments – Eaqub (paywalled)
TVNZ: Government ‘doing everything’ they can to ensure workers who need time off due to Covid-19 get paid – Ardern
RNZ: Covid-19: Union aware of ‘pressure on employees’ to work when sick
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): Businesses asked to ‘do the right thing’ and pay staff correctly during lockdown
Katie Bradford (TVNZ): Some retailers still not paying staff in full as latest Covid-19 lockdown hits Auckland
——
RNZ: Business leaders demand government’s Covid-19 plan be made public
Herald: Business leaders call for clear path out of virus
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Business leaders ask: What’s the long-term Covid strategy?
RNZ: Level 3 lockdown ‘absolutely devastating’ for many Auckland businesses – Barnett
Richard Harman: Business leaders ask the HealthMinistry to open up
Debrin Foxcroft (Stuff): Lockdown rules ‘absurd’, Retail NZ says
Newstalk ZB: Government looking at options to help support struggling tourism regions
Debrin Foxcroft (Stuff): Inland Revenue system back online after maintenance went faster than expected
RNZ: Latest Covid-19 alert levels change to cost economy $240 million – ASB economists
TVNZ: Businesses ‘right up against the wall’ because of Auckland lockdowns, economist says
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Lockdowns costing $240m a week, ASB estimates
Liam Dann (Herald): Economic cost of lockdown falls on Auckland, again (paywalled)

Covid: Vaccine
Josie Adams (The Spinoff): Should South Auckland get the vaccine first?
Julie Iles (NBR): Auditor-General to review Covid-19 vaccine rollout (paywalled)
Nikki Preston (Herald): Frontline health workers next in line for vaccine
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Aucklanders should be vaccinated first, Mayor Phil Goff says
Belinda Feek (Herald): Auckland Airport MPI staff ‘fuming’ after being left behind in vaccine rollout
1News: DHBs apologise after some Auckland GPs denied leftover Covid-19 vaccines

Housing
Kate Nicol-Williams (TVNZ): ‘Pointless’ — First Home grant increasingly out of touch with property market
Eva Corlett (RNZ): LVR rules reinstated but industry skeptical it will cool housing market
Sophie Cornish and Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): Wellington’s emergency housing grows by 300 per cent in a year, under strain from Covid-19 and escalating housing crisis
Herald: Wellington housing market: $171k for a deposit in 2021
Chris Ross and Tom Peters (WSWS): New Zealand government policies worsen housing crisis
One Two Three Home: What are the benefits and risks of developing mixed-tenure communities in New Zealand?
Tony Alexander (One Roof): Don’t expect a slam-dunk end to rising house prices
Catherine Masters (One Roof): Fighting FOMO: The real pressures in NZ’s ‘cheapest’ housing markets
1News: Should a brand new city be built in New Zealand to take pressure off housing market?
Waatea News: Colonial thinking hold back Maori housing action

Climate change and environment
Mark Thomas (Newsroom): Climate action speaks louder than words
David Farrar: Did the Climate Commission mislead Parliament’s Environment Committee?
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): MPI opposed nitrogen bottom line over economic concerns
No Right Turn: Why are we paying for MPI again?
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): Government report challenges claims of carbon-neutral meat farms
Riley Kennedy (RNZ): Environment Ministry addresses shortcomings of Beef and Lamb report
No Right Turn: Climate Change: Even dodgier accounting
The BFD: The Dog Ate Rod Carr’s Homework

Local government
Felix Desmarais (Herald): Green leader James Shaw, Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick take aim at David Seymour over Māori wards-apartheid comparison
Waatea News: National promises Maori ward law repeal
Dave Armstrong (Stuff): Successful council team-building retreat prompts a review into team-building weekends
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Green Wellington City councillor reconsiders controversial library vote
Shane Te Pou (Herald): Will mayor help Wellington get its mojo back? (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Wellington Mayor Andy Foster asks councillors to stay quiet on waterfront market opening during Covid-19 alert level 2
Stephen Franks: Are “local boards” and “community boards” real democracy?
Mike Yardley (Stuff): Good news that burden for Foundation funding to be lifted off ratepayer
Whanganui Chronicle: ‘Wrong to say’ raw sewage put out to sea, says Whanganui council boss
Matthew Tso (Stuff): Wainuiomata mayoral street name to be replaced after just 12 days

Health
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Review asks how Govt can get the new drugs it wants funded
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Nurse shortage a major pressure point at Southland Hospital
Sam Kilmister (Stuff): Meth addicts say recovery is failing due to inadequate care post-rehab
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Disabled Kiwis plan ‘Hikoi of Hope’ to Parliament

Policing, corrections
Ananish Chaudhuri (The Conversation): Despite claims NZ’s policing is too ‘woke’, crime rates are largely static — and even declining
Waatea News: Gang member wants investment alongside crackdown
Waatea News: Waititi says prison alternatives needed

Transport
Todd Niall (Stuff): Time for faster, not just bigger, transport projects
Alex Braae (Spinoff): How to get to zero deaths on New Zealand’s roads
Stephen Forbes (Herald): Auckland Transport sets the groundwork for New Zealand’s first hydrogen bus
Stuff: New Plymouth Airport a safe space for LGBTQI+ community

Other
Keith Lynch (Stuff): A beginner’s guide to paying less tax (if you’re very rich)
Terry Baucher (Interest): The Week in Tax: clues on what’s next in tax, and how much tax do the rich pay?
Mike Treen (Daily Blog): How to end race and class inequalities destroying working people’s lives
Erin Polaczuk (Stuff): Employer surveillance of workers is increasingly common, and it should worry you
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): Report finds gaps in Animal Welfare Act (paywalled)
Amber Allott (Stuff): Muslim community wants royal commission’s March 15 recomendations fast-tracked
RNZ: Mayors nationwide call on PM for inquiry into bank closures
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Signs growing economy will drift down in 2021
Rob Stock (Stuff): First real estate agency warned for anti-money laundering failures
John Battersby (Herald): How NZ overlooked Isis bride Suhayra Aden and what we must learn from it (paywalled)
Brian Easton: A brief history of the Māori economy: How things change
Mackenzie Smith (RNZ): Analysis: NZ review of Tokelau’s justice system could complicate decoupling
Alwyn Poole (Kiwi Blog): Education in Prisons: I need some advice … please help.
Waatea News: Iwi upset at Erebus statue siting
Waatea News: Wage link means bigger benefit increase
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Head of female Mongrel Mob chapter addresses Waitangi Tribunal claim
Hugh Collins (Herald): Canterbury earthquakes NZ’s most costly insurance event, $38 billion in property claims
Brent Edwards (NBR): How to drive New Zealand’s productivity performance?
Daisy Ditchburn (ISO): The Resource Management Act Is No Good, but Beware its Replacement
Gavin Ellis (Knightly Views): These are moving times
Emile Donovan (Newsroom): The Detail: How the declining birthrate will impact New Zealand
Chris Trotter (Interest): Sunday services
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): ‘We need to have hope,’: Early Childhood teachers renew calls for pay parity

Today’s content

Covid: Auckland community outbreak
Richard Harman: Ardern’s new tough talk
Claire Trevett (Herald): When will Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s patience with rule-breakers wear thin? (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Blame and fear for the team of five million, as PM pleads for compliance
Michael Baker (Herald): Why government is right to yo-yo between alert levels
Joel Maxwell and Thomas Manch (Stuff): A confident Government, a spreading virus, and Covid-19 tests outstanding: Here’s how Auckland reached lockdown, again
Jo Moir (Newsroom): As compliance wanes, Government hits more serious tone
RNZ: National wants Covid-19 rule-breakers to be punished ‘so others don’t do it as well’
Michael Plank, Shaun Hendy and Siouxsie Wiles (Stuff): Widespread testing in Auckland now key to ruling out possible undetected coronavirus outbreak
Toby Manhire (The Spinoff): When, and how, will we know if the level three lockdown will need to go longer than seven days?
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Pay people to stay home
Jason Walls (Herald): Minister Willie Jackson under fire over attending Parker fight after Cabinet call
Justin Latif (The Spinoff): ‘Post-kindness’ rhetoric targeting South Auckland Covid cases will backfire, warns Efeso Collins
Danielle Clent (Stuff): Community says ‘let’s move on’ from pointing fingers at latest case
Sharnae Hope (Stuff): MP Rawiri Waititi tells thousands to self-isolate, against Ministry advice
Crystal Wu (Newshub): Dr Ashley Bloomfield tells Kiwis to refer to MoH website after Māori Party co-leader’s misleading Facebook post
Kate Green  (Stuff): Was it too soon to move? Perhaps, but hindsight is a wonderful thing
Crystal Wu (Newshub): David Seymour attacks ‘cult of Ashley Bloomfield’, Government’s ‘self-congratulating complacency’
Jason Walls (NZ Herald): Jacinda Ardern’s warning – more community cases ‘more than likely’
Kerre McIvor (Herald): Latest Covid 19 coronavirus outbreak reveals holes in Government’s strategy (paywalled)
Richard Prebble (Herald): Why was New Zealand’s latest Covid lockdown the only option? (paywalled)
Lynley Ward (Herald): Auckland councillor faces online abuse from conspiracy parishioners
Belinda Feek and Vaimoana Tapaleao (Herald): Almost 10 hours trying to get back into Auckland
John Weekes (Herald): Instinct for retribution must not take over, leaders say
1News: PM ‘frustrated’ recent Covid-19 cases broke isolation rules, but reluctant to threaten ‘repercussions’
Denise Piper (Stuff): Fleeing Aucklanders run risk of spreading virus through NZ, expert says
Belinda Feek (Herald): Hours of delays for motorists – confusion at Auckland borders
1News: Dr Siouxsie Wiles issues call for Aucklanders escaping city for baches to ‘bloody well take Level 3 with you’
1News: As Auckland scrambles back into lockdown, Michael Baker says there’s a ‘huge responsibility’ on people to look out for symptoms
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Politicians call for a stronger approach to ensure people self-isolate
John Weekes (Herald): Anger at breach, fears about ‘conspiracy theories’ during lockdown
Patrick John O’Dea (The Daily Blog): Ardern Falters
Caitlin Ellis (Newshub): Judith Collins calls for tougher monitoring of self-isolating Covid-19 contacts
1News: Alert levels unlikely to lift early as UK Covid-19 variant may have ‘longer tail’ — Ardern
Mitch McCann (Newshub): Police to get involved against suspected isolation rulebreakers, offenders could be charged
Victoria Young (BusinessDesk): Ardern: Bosses should check if staff should be isolating (paywalled)
Vera Alves (Herald): ‘Take level 3 with you’ – warning to Aucklanders leaving city
Newstalk ZB: Experts react to Government’s decision to enter another snap lockdown
1News: South Auckland food bank expecting ‘hectic’ days ahead following lockdown announcement
Aimee Shaw (Herald): Return to level 3 will hit business hard
Jamie Gray (NZ Herald): Auckland economy braces for more pain from another lockdown
Herald: Grant Robertson confirms business support packages
1News: Judith Collins calls ‘yo-yo lockdown disappointing’
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): New Zealand’s yo-yoing between alert levels draws criticism from Opposition MPs
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): Auckland back in lockdown: What we know so far
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Prime minister ‘frustrated’, pleads for Kiwis to ‘follow the rules’
Scott Palmer (Newshub): David Seymour says Government has ‘attitude problem’ after latest lockdown
Siobhan Downes (Stuff): What now for the Wiggles?
Rebecca Stevenson (Business Desk): Where and how to get lockdown support payments

Covid: General
Alan Bollard (Stuff): New Zealand has fared well in year one of Covid, but how can we take that next step towards normality?
Claire Trevett (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s year of pandemic and hope for Alert Level Zero (paywalled)
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Immunity inequality means the Covid crisis won’t end for all of us
Simon Collins (Herald): Covid generation: Shaken and still feeling the hurt (paywalled)
Alison Mau (Stuff): Vaccinate south Auckland first – you just can’t argue with this truly good idea
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): GPs denied DHBs’ leftover vaccines – ‘It’s just soul destroying’
Elle Hunt (The Guardian): Words matter: how New Zealand’s clear messaging helped beat Covid
Alison Brook (Interest): Which countries will recover best from COVID-19?
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Covid-19: Controlling the vaccine campaign narrative – is the Government holding the reins too tight?
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Covid-19: Unaccompanied minors as young as 12 in MIQ cause ‘child protection concerns’ for nurses union
Bruce Cotterill (Herald): NZ must get ready for post-Covid world (paywalled)
Jack Tame (Newstalk ZB): One year on from Covid-19 arriving into New Zealand
Stuff: Jacinda Ardern’s positivity backed up with grit, experts say
Claire Trevett (Herald): PM Jacinda Ardern plans to get vaccinated before public
Cate Broughton (Stuff): PM’s decision not to jump Covid vaccination queue backed by experts and Judith Collins
Siouxsie Wiles (Stuff): Sorry, I don’t supply Covid testing services
Sharnae Hope  (Stuff): Health expert on Six60’s full house – ‘make tracing mandatory’

Housing
Bernard Hickey (Stuff): New Zealand’s economy is a housing market with bits tacked on
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Housing propels NZ’s wealth: Are you in the 1%?
1News: Government doesn’t want to push house prices down, fearing loss of votes – Bernard Hickey
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Up isn’t the only way for property prices (paywalled)
Hannah Kronast and Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Surging house prices propelling New Zealand to one of the world’s wealthiest populations
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Here’s why I can’t get excited about 12 families getting homes
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): More politicking than policy
David Hanna (Stuff): The myth of the ethical property investor
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Public housing waitlist climbs again, to record 22,521 households
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Legally blind teen gets just one flat viewing in three years in tough housing market
1News: Finance Minister defends Labour’s efforts to tackle housing crisis in combative interview with John Campbell
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Is Grant Robertson just out of ideas?
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Finance Minister Grant Robertson says Government isn’t kicking housing problems to Reserve Bank
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Property investors making it ‘so much worse for others’ in ‘overheated’ housing market – Jacinda Ardern
1News: Auckland fourth least affordable city for housing among world cities – 2021 Demographia report
Ben Leahy (NZ Herald): OneRoof Property Report: Home loans deposits shoot up $41k in one year
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Is office conversion the answer to the housing shortage?
Crystal Wu (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern forced to ‘beg people’ to stop investing in houses an ‘admission of failure’ – ACT
Catherine Harris (Stuff): Super-charged house prices ‘can’t continue’: BNZ economist
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Expensive homes rising in value more quickly than affordable homes
No Right Turn: The central problem with housing policy
RNZ: Grant Robertson defends telling Reserve Bank to consider housing in its policy decisions
Victoria Young (BusinessDesk): Robertson on housing: ‘We have some tough decisions’ (paywalled)
Kelly Dennett (Stuff): Is pre-fab the future of housing?
Bernard Hickey: Diversionary direction
Zane Small (Newshub): Housing Minister Megan Woods on the ‘very simple’ reason the Government still sells off state homes
Catherine Masters (One Roof): How Queenstown dodged annihilation
Catherine Smith  (One Roof): NZ’s hottest suburbs: Where house prices have shot up more than 35%
One Roof: Revealed: Wellington first home buyers hardest hit by the boom
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Opportunity beckons as rents soar everywhere, but plunge in Auckland’s CBD
Lucia Best (Stuff): The rental squeeze: Not all landlords are greedy – we have bills too
Jane Bowron  (Stuff): Welcome to the new Vulgarians
Ben Leahy (Herald): Family sell Papatoetoe house for $980,000, but cannot afford to buy new Auckland home
Jimmy Ellingham (Stuff): First-home buyers face the squeeze as investors swoop in Palmerston North
Louise Gould (Herald): More than $100k income, can’t buy a home: Hawke’s Bay house deposit requirements up $75k in five years (paywalled)
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): 2000 houses to be built next to protected wetland in Porirua

National
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Why Judith Collins could already be a lame duck leader — whether she knows it or not
Claire Trevett (Herald): What’s eating National MP Simon Bridges, and why is Judith Collins letting him get away with it? (paywalled)
Newstalk ZB: Judith Collins defends Shane Reti as other MPs snap up attention
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Simon Bridges defies Judith Collins’ order to stop criticising Police Commissioner because she’s not his wife
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): National’s Simon Bridges continues beating ‘wokester’ drum, denies desire for leadership

Parliament
Geoffrey Miller and Mark Blackham (RNZ): Career diversity among MPs could act as bulwark against populist revolt
Stuff: Chris Bishop asks for defamation claim document to check Trevor Mallard’s ‘veracity’
Stuff: Points of Order: Simon Bridges enjoys a week back in the spotlight
Phil Smith (RNZ): Baptism of fire for new master
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Week in Politics: Reserve Bank told to help with house prices

Local government
Logan Savory (Stuff): Invercargill City Council may revisit controversial new media protocols
Southland Times: Editorial – Now, perhaps, we’re getting somewhere
Stuff: Where Wellington councillors stand on the independent review
Gavin Ogden (Herald): Tauranga’s new boss, Anne Tolley suggests she’ll be back for a second go
Damian George (Stuff): Independent review into Wellington City Council to cost up to almost $75,000
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington City Council review could cost ratepayers almost $75,000
RNZ: Wellington Council review could cost ratepayers $75k
Damian George (Stuff): Independent review into Wellington City Council to cost up to almost $75,000
Catherine Groenestein (Stuff): Māori Wards opposition petitions fail, even before law change made them worthless
Northern Advocate: Calls for Far North Council to revisit Māori seats decision
Grant Gillon (Herald): The Auckland Council isn’t broke but it sure looks broken (paywalled)
Gerry Eckhoff: Local Government Reform

Media
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): TVNZ doubles profit and repays $4.9m in wage subsidies
RNZ: TVNZ to pay back $5m in wage subsidies as profit doubles
David Court (Stuff): Why NZ should copy Australia’s crazy media law
David Cohen (BusinessDesk): Minister Kris Faafoi on likely RNZ-TVNZ merger: ‘Change needs to happen’ (paywalled)
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): TVNZ set to spend most on local content in a decade
1News: TVNZ reports interim profit of $33.9 million, OnDemand attracts record weekly audience
Colin Peacock (RNZ): It’s newsworthy, I swear
Hayden Donnell (RNZ): MediaWorks admits ‘organisational failure’ over racist radio broadcast
Karl du Fresne: The right to say what you (and others) think
Daniel Dunkley (Business Desk): Stuff boss calls for NZ social media news code (paywalled)
Malcolm Evans (The Daily Blog): Lords Of The Lies

Crime, policing and prisons
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): An attack on the Police Commissioner is an attack on the PM (paywalled)
RNZ: Claims of police softness ‘completely wrong’, commissioner says
Aaron Hendry (Stuff): Poverty, desperation, social exclusion, this is the soil in which gangs grow
Tom O’Connor (Stuff): A proper way to ask important questions
Jimmy Ellingham (Stuff): Sweeping review of prison system called for after inmate’s death
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): Kelvin Davis has another terrible day at the office
Liz Gordon (Daily Blog): Get those prisons reformed!

Economy and work
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): Real estate agents under fire for not repaying wage subsidies
Matt McCarten (E-Tangata): Utu for workers
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): ‘Quite a 364 days’: Grant Robertson on Covid, a year on, and the crisis today – housing
Damien Grant (Stuff): Reserve Bank tasked with an impossible riddle
Brian Fallow (Herald): Unhappy returns set to remain for hard-hit savers (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): What is the great reflation … and what will it do to investments? (paywalled)
Tim Hazledine (Herald): Why the transtasman income gap is larger than it appears (paywalled)
Matt Burrows (Newshub): PM Jacinda Ardern tells Immigration Minister to consider ‘anything more we can do’ to reunite critical migrant health workers with families
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Infrastructure and housing could still be handbrakes in a post-Covid world

Health
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Nurses working for Māori providers paid a quarter less than DHB colleagues, says union
Ian Powell: Reforming the funding of district health boards
Kerre McIvor (Newstalk ZB): Why keeping our kid’s teeth healthy is so important
1News: Nearly half of NZ’s DHBs don’t have specialist diabetic care for young adults
RNZ: Private hospitals say study on cost to taxpayers is ‘misleading’

Inequality and poverty
Otago Daily Times: Editorial: Some progress on poverty
Crystal Wu (Newshub): Assistant Māori Children’s Commissioner says Government shouldn’t have to ‘wait for data’ to fix child poverty
Steven Cowan: The fat cats get fatter
Thomas Manch (Stuff): New Zealanders don’t want the most wealthy paying less tax than lowest earners, Green Party says

International relations
Rebecca Smith (Stuff): Covid has helped turn New Zealand into one of the world’s most trusted country brands
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): New Zealand fastest rising ‘soft power’ nation in new rankings as Hillary Clinton praises Jacinda Ardern
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Chinese state media compares Xinjiang to New Zealand in article pushing back against Uighur human rights abuse
Dan Satherley (Newshub): What will happen to suspected Kiwi terrorist’s children? Expert outlines the potential solutions
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern says children of NZ-born suspected Islamic State terrorist better off in Turkey than Syria, but should go to Australia

Climate change
Philip Matthews (Stuff): National Portrait: Rod Carr, climate tsar
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Dairy business gets loan discount if hits environmental targetsRod Oram (Newsroom): NZ, this is your Volkswagen moment

Immigration
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): The cost of fewer migrants entering NZ will be massive
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Migration will not return to pre-Covid levels when NZ border reopens, Immigration Minister warns
RNZ: Lack of migrant workers a concern for aged care sector

Other
Brian Easton (Pundit): We must avoid treating Māori as living fossils
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Bill an important part of recompense, healing
Will Harvie (Stuff): Opiods: How NZ avoided the crisis engulfing North America
Monika Barton (Newshub): ‘To be a feminist, you have to fight’: Helen Clark to star in doco about gender equality called Revolt She Said
Karl du Fresne: The heroic journey of Ricardo Menendez-March

Today’s content

Housing
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Government’s slow crawl on housing continues
Jason Walls (Herald): ‘Kiwis can’t outbid Kāinga Ora:’ Government grilled over $750 million house-buying bill
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Auditor-General investigates MSD scheme which paid landlords $3k per week for ‘uninhabitable’ houses
Stuff Editorial: A clue from the Aussies for Ardern
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr warns against ‘the FOMO’ in housing market
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Housing crisis: Reserve Bank Governor says auctions create FOMO, stops short of saying they should be banned
Susan Edmunds and Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Reserve Bank ordered to consider housing in decision-making
Craig McCulloch and Gyles Beckford (RNZ): Reserve Bank must consider impact on housing of its policy decisions, Robertson says
Liam Dann (Herald): Grant Robertson’s RBNZ policy change ‘goes too far’ – economist
Liam Dann (Herald): Finance Minister says RBNZ ‘now required to consider housing’
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Housing crisis: Govt tells Reserve Bank to consider house prices when setting monetary policy
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Financial conditions tighten further on monetary policy remit tweak
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Reserve Bank tasked with restraining house prices
Dan Satherley and Ella Prendergast (Newshub): Housing crisis: It’s harder to save for a house deposit than almost ever before – analysts
Mike Hosking: Govt remains clueless over housing
Melissa Chan-Green (Newshub): Casting blame for housing crisis on auctions ‘shooting the messenger’ – auctioneer
Cameron Bagrie (Business Desk): Auckland: Housing crisis or no housing crisis — that is the question (paywalled)
Mikaela Wilkes (Stuff): When is a lounge also a bedroom? Wellington’s rentals reignite calls for residential WOF
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Nearly 80 per cent of landlords own just one property, data shows
Te Aorewa Rolleston (RNZ): Prioritise papakāinga over state houses, iwi leaders tell housing conference
Waatea News: Iwi trust helps with homeless plan
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): MP says heritage-listed Gordon Wilson flats are a symbol of Wellington’s problems
Cameron Bagrie (BusinessDesk): Auckland: Housing crisis or no housing crisis — that is the question (paywalled)

Covid
Peter Dunne: This is likely to be an unpopular column
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): Reasons to be (not too) cheerful
Michael Baker, Amanda Kvalsvig and Nick Wilson (The Conversation): A year on from the arrival of COVID-19 in NZ: 5 lessons for 2021 and beyond
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): Covid-19: A year since New Zealand’s first reported case
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): If Govt wants people to isolate, they need to pay them more
Justin Giovannetti (The Spinoff): Covid hit NZ a year ago. Where will it – and we – be in February 2022?
Stuff: New Zealand still candidate for Covid-19 ‘best responder’ but slow vaccination a concern, Time magazine says
Newstalk ZB: Michael Baker: Too early to suggest opening up trans-Tasman bubble
Rawiri Taonui (Waatea News): Explaining the Numbers and Risks in the Papatoetoe Cluster
Newstalk ZB: Professor ‘disappointed’ Government won’t increase cost of isolation subsidy
Tova ‘O Brien (Newshub): Immigration Minister knew all along about border inconsistency splitting migrant workers from families
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Trans-Tasman officials ‘concluding’ bubble travel arrangements
Lucy Xia (Stuff): Big events still ‘massive’ spreading risk in wake of Auckland’s move to alert level 1, expert warns
Lynley Ward (Herald): Hopes to reopen school closed by outbreak, with surprise call from director-general of health
Zane Small (Newshub): Chris Hipkins apologises for making ‘unfair assumption’ about Pacific people not spending in Queenstown
Lucy Xia (Stuff): Covid-19: Govt needs better messaging for ethnic groups, Auckland councillor says
Alice Wilkins (Newshub): Growing calls for South Aucklanders to get COVID-19 vaccine priority following recent outbreaks
Bridie Witton (Stuff): People in MIQ are missing out on health checks because of chronic nurse shortage — nurses’ union
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): Why are lockdowns still our only option for keeping Covid out?
Keith Lynch (Stuff): We could do this, this and this to stop the virus. So why don’t we?
Verity Johnson (Stuff): Aucklanders really want a shift in the Covid-19 debate

Local government
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Suffer The Little Children: Neoliberalism’s Attack On Local Democracy Intensifies
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Wellington regional mayors raised alarm about city council three weeks ago
Damian George (Stuff): Councillors reveal discomfort at being called to private meeting to hear mayor’s plans for independent review
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Wellington City Council review receives backing, but importance of communication highlighted
Katie Harris and Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington mayor appoints Peter Winder to review embattled council
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Auditor-general called in again over surprise announcement from Wellington Mayor
Damian George (Stuff): Wellington Mayor Andy Foster worried he would be beaten to the punch on review announcement
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Call for Local Government NZ to undertake Wellington City Council independent review
Melissa Nightingale (Herald): Auditor-General contacted about Wellington Mayor Andy Foster’s funding cut proposal for Chinese Garden
Stuff: Councillor Jill Day calls for Local Government New Zealand to conduct independent review into Wellington City Council
Harry Lock (RNZ): Credibility of proposed Wellington City Council review questioned
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Time’s almost up: Minister and officials to meet over Let’s Get Wellington Moving
Tina Law (Stuff): Christchurch Foundation boss describes critical report as ‘ridiculous’
RNZ: Christchurch Foundation criticises review of its finances
Stuff Editorial: Too much focus on image, ICC
Logan Savory (Stuff): Former mayor: Invercargill City Council is messing with democracy
Mike Mather (Stuff): City council ready to reveal its cunning (long term) plan to ratepayers
Grant Miller (ODT): Group to represent ratepayers

Māori wards law change
Steven Cowan: Willie Jackson Is Not Your Friend
RNZ: ACT rails against Māori ward legislation
Waatea News: Maori wards law change just start of fight
Zane Small (Newshub): National’s first election 2023 promise: Judith Collins vows to overturn ‘undemocratic’ Māori wards law change
1News: Fast-tracked Māori wards legislation labelled ‘shoddy lawmaking’ by National
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Fast-tracked legislation covering council Māori wards passes in Parliament
Waatea News: Dragged out Maori wards debate a Hollywood tackle
Delilah Whaitiri (Herald): Taupō mayor says Māori wards law change a landmark decision

Police
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Bridges v Coster: Top cop in fiery spat with National MP over gang numbers and ‘policing by consent’
Jason Walls (Herald): National MP Simon Bridges continues attack on ‘wokester’ Police Commissioner Andy Coster
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Simon Bridges, Andrew Coster clash in dramatic face-to-face gang numbers showdown
Irra Lee (TVNZ): ‘Do police still arrest criminals in New Zealand?’ Simon Bridges and top cop Andrew Coster clash over increased gang activity
RNZ: ‘As much as double the reality’: Gang statistics are inaccurate says expert
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): ‘Simply not true’: Expert says claims of exploding gang numbers ‘heavily inflated’
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Newshub’s appalling gang story has no idea of what is happening
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Simon Bridges refuses to back down on ‘wokester’ scrap with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster
Emily Writes (Spinoff): A short list of the ‘wokesters’ Simon Bridges should target next
Bryan Bruce (The Daily Blog): Simon Bridges is wrong about policing and Commissioner Coster is right
Kirsty Lawrence (Stuff): ‘It’s just not right’: Frontline cops slam new police pursuit rules

Parliament and government
Chris Trotter: Correcting Corrections – and its Minister
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): It’s never been a better time to be the Opposition
Richard Harman: Luxon clashes with transport chief
Che Baker (Stuff): Disgraced former Clutha-Southland MP racks up $10k bill in days before departure
Jason Walls (Herald): Discredited former National MP Hamish Walker racked up $10k bill in final days in office
Jason Walls (Herald): Outspoken senior National MP Simon Bridges apologises to Mallard for calling him a ‘twat’
John Minto (The Daily Blog): Yes Minister!
1News: Simon Bridges mocked over ‘leadership issue’ in question time spat

Health
Ian Powell: Public health system subsidises private health system but!
Susan Strongman (RNZ): Free contraception criteria ‘punitive, stigmatising and restrictive’ – doctor
Oliver Lewis (Newsroom): A new problem to plague $525m new hospital
Newstalk ZB: Whangārei’s Mayor against DHBs making fluoride decisions
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Independence of Māori Health Authority paramount – Lady Tureiti Moxon

Business
Kate Gregan (RNZ): Millions paid out two days into new Covid-19 business support scheme
Aimee Shaw (Herald): Small business revenue declines for first time since May
Paul McBeth (Business Desk): Can Air NZ extract a better deal from the government?
John Anthony (Stuff): Air New Zealand posts half year loss of $72 million
RNZ: Air New Zealand could not survive without further help from Government – chief executive

Inequality
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): ‘Reckoning’ coming for unsustainable tax system, commentator says
No Right Turn: The rich should pay their fair share

Economy
Bernard Hickey: Dawn chorus: Monetary conditions tighten
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): 2021 won’t be an easy year for the NZ economy, says ANZ chief economist

Climate change, environment and conservation
Ian Spellerberg (Stuff): There is too much emphasis on climate change
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Greens’ Julie Anne Genter hits out NZTA for failing to commit to short-term carbon emission drops
Eric Crampton: For a bigger carbon dividend
Steven Walton (Stuff): ECan endorses 24.5 per cent rate rise and only four councillors voice concern
Edward O’Driscoll (Newshub): Government proposes marine sanctuary in Bay of Islands as bottlenose dolphins face extinction
Guy Trafford (Interest): Same ol’, or will the new greener version be even more popular?
ODT: Editorial – Tourism changes sought
Universities
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Foreign PhD students ‘lifeblood’ of universities’ research effort
Eleanor de Jong  (Guardian): New Zealand police reveal student binge drinking strategy: more pubs
Herald: 40% of MDMA tested at Christchurch and Dunedin O-weeks contains dangerous substitute

Foreign affairs
Thomas Manch (Stuff): New Zealand diplomats seeking visit to Xinjiang, ‘forced labour’ policy response being mooted
Zane Small (Newshub): New Zealand Foreign Secretary’s ‘great concern’ for Uighurs: ‘Ongoing discussion’ with China about diplomat visit
John Power (South China Morning Post): Australia and New Zealand’s ‘mateship’ tested over terror suspect, China ties
Rosemary McLeod (Stuff): We’re too nice to jeer at misguided Aussies

Ricardo Menendez March
Amelia Wade (Herald): Immigration to check Green MP Ricardo Menendez March’s partner’s visa
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March’s partner’s visa application in question

Other
Amelia Wade (Herald): ‘Unfair’ immigration policy keeping 1100 families separated but Government doesn’t expect a quick fix
Waatea News: Law will lay Moriori myth to rest
Tumamao Harawira (Māori TV): Mana Wahine claim heard at Tūrangawaewae marae
Anna Whyte (1News): Kelvin Davis waiting to hear Corrections’ side over judge’s highly critical prison report
Belinda Feek (Herald): Changes in KiwiSaver rules for those with congenital conditions to kick in from next month
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Christchurch school rebuild to begin, five years behind schedule
Karl du Fresne: A letter to Cam Wallace
Sophie Trigger (NZ Herald): Auckland Harbour Bridge can no longer be strengthened, traffic could be restricted, says NZTA
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Freedom of speech: The slippery slope from silence to corruption
Anne Goulding (Stuff): The value a society places on knowledge is judged by how it treats public libraries
Matthew Hooton (Herald): America’s Cup – why Team NZ does not hold all cards over 2023 location (paywalled)

Today’s content

Housing
Richard Harman: Government has little to say about housing crisis
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Govt set to bring out big tools to manage housing pressure
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Housing affordability at worst point in ‘at least 17 years’
Adam Jacobson (RNZ): New Zealand housing affordability plummets to historically low levels
Zane Small (Newshub): National’s Nicola Willis in disbelief as Megan Woods reveals results of Progressive Homeownership Scheme
RNZ: Progressive Home Ownership Scheme houses just 12 families in seven months
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Govt’s Progressive Home Ownership Scheme houses only 12 families
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Housing crisis: Auckland housing affordability among fastest-deteriorating in the world – report
Stuff: My Wellington apartment is depressing, yet my rent just went up $100 a week
David Hargreaves (Interest): RBNZ sees house price inflation above 22% by middle of this year
Taroi Black (Māori TV): Change the Māori land laws: Marama Davidson
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): Housing affordability heads into uncharted territory (paywalled)
Danyl Mclauchlan (Spinoff): Government launches $950 million fund to help Brent get haircut

Inequality and child poverty
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): More than 40pc of millionaires paying tax rates lower than the lowest earners, Government data reveals
Stuff: Editorial – Limited progress in child poverty, but it’s not on track yet
Max Rashbrooke (RNZ): Tackling child poverty a mountain that keeps getting steeper
Gordon Campbell: On Labour’s fudging on child poverty
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Are the child poverty figures really a win for the Govt?
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Children still living in poverty but number of whānau struggling to provide the basics drops – Stats NZ
Waatea News: Housing and benefits key to child poverty action
Brenda Harwood (Otago Daily Times): Good and bad news in Sallies report

Policing and Simon Bridges
Jarrod Gilbert (Stuff): Simon Bridges v Andrew Coster: The National MP went too far in his attack on ‘wokester’ police commissioner
Bethan Greener (The Conversation): Policing by consent is not ‘woke’ — it is fundamental to a democratic society
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Simon Bridges is right to call out Andrew Coster
1News: Simon Bridges told off by Judith Collins for attempt to insult NZ’s ‘wokester’ top cop
RNZ: Collins on Bridges’ wokester jibe: ‘I wouldn’t call someone that’
Jason Walls (Herald): Judith Collins attempts to pull Bridges into line over ‘wokester’ attack on Police Commissioner
Reuters: Judith Collins distances herself from Simon Bridges’ ‘wokester’ comment about Police Commissioner Andrew Coster
The Standard: Who’s the wokester?
Dan Satherley (Newshub): ‘Raid their premises:’ Judith Collins call for tougher action on gangs
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Discharge without conviction for sports star ‘important for Māoridom’ – lawyer

Corrections
Daphna Whitmore (Redline): Government threatening free speech rights over prison protest leaflet
Whatitiri Te Wake (Māori TV): Prison advocacy group calls for Kelvin Davis to resign
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Prison reform group hits back at Correction Minister over claims of violence
Waatea News: Waikeria riot advice sparks war of words

Parliament and Government
Nikki Mandow (Newsroom): A new boost for our biscuit tin democracy
Laura Walters (Newsroom): What’s the rush? Lawmaking in a hurry
Jo Moir (Newsroom): National Party’s missed opportunity
Jason Walls (Herald): Parliament storm out: National MPs Paul Goldsmith, Simon Bridges exit after argument with Speaker Trevor Mallard
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Simon Bridges swears as he storms out of Parliament after stoush with Speaker Trevor Mallard
1News: National MPs stage Parliament walkout after argument with Speaker
Zane Small (Newshub): National’s Paul Goldsmith, Simon Bridges storm out of Parliament after tiff with Speaker Trevor Mallard
RNZ: Simon Bridges storms out of Parliament in spat with Speaker Trevor Mallard
Newstalk ZB: Goldsmith: National doing it’s best for Speaker’s system
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Why can Government only pass woke virtue signals on gay conversion, sexual violence & hate speech but can’t do anything on mental health, poverty & housing?
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): ACT calls for NZ Parliament to recognise Uighur atrocities in China after Canada declares ‘genocide’

Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March’s MIQ application
Zane Small (Newshub): Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March defends applying twice for emergency MIQ spot as Judith Collins calls for answers
Tova O’Brien and Zane Small (Newshub): Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March tried not once, but twice, to get emergency spot in MIQ
David Farrar: Green MP tried to nab emergency MIQ spot on grounds of national security!!!
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Green MP Ricardo Menendez March sought emergency room in MIQ a second time for ‘national interest’ reasons
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March applied for emergency MIQ spot twice

Local government: Māori wards
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Labour denying democratic rights of ratepayers with Māori ward move
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Labour’s push to protect Māori wards is political dishonesty
Amelia Wade (Herald): Bill to abolish local veto on Māori wards passes despite National’s marathon opposition
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Māori wards amendment bill passes final reading in Parliament
Phil Smith (RNZ): The hungry, hungry parliament: The bill that ate Wednesday
Denise Piper (Stuff): Changing Māori ward laws means Whangārei must list poll opposing
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): Hawke’s Bay Regional Council opens consultation on Māori wards

Local government: Wellington
Dominion Post: Editorial – Wellington City Council needs adult supervision. Now.
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Analysis: Wellington City Council the place where no one wants to be
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington Mayor Andy Foster announces independent review of city council’s governance
Damian George (Stuff): Wellington Mayor Andy Foster calls for independent review into city council, calls for end to infighting
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Independent review of Wellington City Council ‘surprising and disappointing’ – Councillor
RNZ: Wellington Mayor Andy Foster announces review into council governance
RNZ: Wellington councillors taken aback over independent review
Newstalk ZB: ‘Rancour and partisanship’: Independent review of Wellington City Council announced
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Wellington cycleway over budget by $70m before construction begins

Local government: Christchurch
Tina Law (Stuff): Report highlights big operating costs and lack of transparency at Christchurch Foundation
Conan Young (RNZ): Christchurch Foundation under fire over a lack of transparency
Lois Williams (Stuff): Poutini Ngāi Tahu reject mention of other iwi in new district plan
Tina Law (Stuff): Plan to charge Christchurch residents for water labelled ‘absurd’
Anan Zaki (RNZ): Environment Canterbury opens consultation for rates increase options
Steven Walton (Stuff): Christchurch council seeks clarity on cost of multi-million dollar climate change strategy
Ryan Boswell (1News): Up to 30,000 Christchurch households could be stung by proposed excess water charge
Amber Allott (Stuff): Canterbury’s proposed rates hike – a move in the right direction, or anti-farmer?

Local government: Auckland
Rob Stock (Stuff): Auckland Council to pay $10 million to homeowners after Commerce Commission investigation into insulation loans
RNZ: Council suspends home improvement scheme after uncovering billing errors
David Hargreaves (Interest): Auckland Council warned over ‘lending failures’ with ratepayers
Tom Dillane (Herald): ‘Hard to see the explanation’ – $2m wage spike for Auckland Museum staff riles council CEO (paywalled)

Local government: Other
Stuff: Editorial – What the hell have you done, Invercargill City Council?
Evan Harding (Stuff): Sir Tim Shadbolt says he refuses to be muzzled by city council, laments ‘sad day’ for freedom of speech
Jimmy Ellingham (Stuff): Local body voting malaise cannot continue; by-election turnouts an embarrassment
Kiri Gillespie (Herald): Tauranga City Council commissioner lays down law: ‘We’re not here to rubber-stamp stuff’
Amber Allott (Stuff): Otago Regional Council promises accountability if it caused fish deaths

Health
Zac Fleming (Newshub): PM Jacinda Ardern promises to deliver two key solutions to New Zealand’s dental health ‘epidemic’
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): New Zealand risks exodus of critical migrant healthcare workers due to immigration anomaly
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Private health patients costing public system $11.5 million a year
RNZ: Taxpayers paying millions of dollar for private healthcare – study
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Minister defends work of Canterbury health board Crown monitor – despite deficit growth
Kiki Van Newtown (Spinoff): Our maternity sector is at crisis point 
1News: Government promises to reduce cochlear implant waitlist with extra $6 million investment

Pharmac and drug buying
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Pharmac knew of epilepsy drug change risks – inquest
Brooke van Velden (Herald): We need to make Pharmac relevant for the 21st century (paywalled)
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Epilepsy drug deaths: Medsafe told Pharmac it was ‘not desirable’ to switch brands
Sharon Brettkelly (Stuff): Urgent call for framework to treat rare disorders

Mental health
1News: Andrew Little says mental health reforms ‘largely on track’, following criticism
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Government pulling funding for Mental Health Foundation’s COVID-19 campaign ‘doesn’t make sense’ – CEO
1News: Ministry of Health ‘silences’ criticism about NZ’s mental health system — advocate

Covid
Josh Van Veen (Spiked Online): New Zealand is not back to normal
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Covid-19: Call for earlier vaccine rollout for South Auckland amid outbreak
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Casual plus contacts calling Healthline for advice face hours-long wait
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Health officials did not attempt house visit of student who later developed coronavirus, despite failure to reach them by phone
Herald: NSW shuts border to Auckland, Queensland and Victoria require Kiwis to quarantine
1News: Law expert warns Covid-19 vaccination passports might lead to discrimination for some
1News: Green Party calls for Government to help developing nations access Covid-19 vaccine
Hannah Martin (Stuff): No new community cases ‘good news’ but Auckland in a ‘holding pattern’
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Expert confident latest cluster of COVID-19 cases can be contained
Eric Crampton: Border Costs
Simon Thornley (The BFD): What Is the End Game for New Zealand with COVID-19?
Newstalk ZB: NZ’s ‘unacceptable’ risk higher than Australia’s – study
Newstalk ZB: ‘Return the favour’: NSW Premier calls on Jacinda Ardern to open borders
Anna Loren and Bernadette Basagre (Stuff): Covid-19 ‘tough’ to control in schools, expert says as student testing continues
Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris (Spinoff): How the Pfizer vaccine for Covid-19 works

Economy and work
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Has Grant Robertson’s $50b bet paid off? (paywalled)
Graeme Buchanan (Stuff): This whistleblowers’ bill could make us fair game for the bullies
Peter Davis (Herald): Looking beyond growth for a Covid recovery (paywalled)
Gilbert Wong (The Big Q): What are the economics of happiness?
Robyn Walker (Stuff): Tax obligations for businesses claiming Covid-19 support
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Bank funding costs fall as interest rates paid to savers tumble
Gyles Beckford (RNZ): Bank profits fall amid Covid-19 pandemic
Jamie Gray (Herald): Sweetened Tiwai contract, dry weather, to weigh on Meridian’s 2nd half (paywalled)
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Skilled migrant residency programme in need of review – Faafoi

Reserve Bank OCR announcement
Katie Bradford (1News): Reserve Bank boss says no ‘free lunch’ for housing investment as return of LVRs looms
David Hargreaves (Interest): Reserve Bank stays the ‘dovish’ course
Liam Dann (Herald): RBNZ pushes back on celebrating recovery too soon (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): Reserve Bank leaves OCR unchanged – ‘prolonged stimulus necessary’
Brent Edwards (NBR): RBNZ not yet confident economic recovery is sustainable
Donal Curtin: An OCR cut isn’t dead after all
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): OCR on hold at 0.25 per cent as Reserve Bank signals it will stick to its guns

Tourist towns in trouble
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Coronavirus: New report reveals extent of Covid-19’s impact on West Coast jobs, businesses
Mike Hosking (Herald): Why Queenstown and tourism needs government help (paywalled)
Liz McDonald (Stuff): Glacier region pleads for Government help to overcome Covid crisis as tourism mecca fights for survival

Environment and water reforms
Daniel Dunkley (Stuff): Why water reforms need to go further
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Awe-inspiring waterfalls and vital rivers reduced to open sewers
Phillip Neal (Stuff): Federated Farmers: Charge for freshwater compliance risks damaging relationship with council
David Hall and Nina Ives (The Conversation): New Zealand’s COVID-19 stimulus is a ‘lost opportunity’ to move towards a low-emissions economy
Gianina Schwanecke (Herald): Hawke’s Bay wind farm will create 260 jobs in 3 years, but iwi’s long term concerns remain
Waatea News: Kaipara clean up body interim step to wider iwi governance
No Right Turn: Climate sea-lioning
Education
Herald: Editorial: Disabled access to schools should be a right (paywalled)
Jody O’Callaghan (Stuff): Teachers will soon be taught to unteach racism
Troels Sommerville (Stuff): Kaumātua call for resignation of Unitec board chairman in wake of racism row
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Ministry of Education to monitor modern classroom noise

Media
Mark Jennings and Tim Murphy (Newsroom): SKY and NZME: Life by a thousand cuts
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): NZME hopes for ‘Facebook’ millions after cost cuts return it to profit
Herald: NZME beats full year earnings guidance, signals return of dividends
RNZ: NZME reports $14m profit in turnaround from loss last year
Alex Casey (Spinoff): I listened to Magic Talk for 12 hours straight and I think my brain melted
Stuff: Danny Watson and Leah Panapa to replace Sean Plunket on Magic Talk

International relations
Newstalk ZB: Australian reports: Deepening friction between Australia-New Zealand officials
RNZ: More NZ women & children in Syrian camp: radicalisation expert
Jessie Chiang (Newsroom): Trouble in the Pacific

NZ First Foundation case
Sam Hurley (Herald): NZ First Foundation case: Accused pair slowly edge to trial, suppression appeal to be heard in June
Catrin Owen (Stuff): New Zealand First Foundation case: Fraud accused duo set for High Court trial
RNZ: NZ First Foundation donation case: Trial scheduled for mid-2022

Other
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Fears grow data hacked from Reserve Bank may be leaked by ransomware group
Chris Keall (Herald): Data breach: Reserve Bank likely facing $250K ransom; files from other victims made public (paywalled)
Andre Chumko (Stuff): National Fale Malae looking for new site after consent uncertainty
No Right Turn: One way of fixing the OIA
Jordan Williams: The fight for free speech: how we can all help
Bob Jones: Conversation therapy
Emma Hatton (RNZ): Organisations hold onto pokie proceeds
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Bitcoin could give NZ charities global fundraising reach, says Heart Kids
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Gerrymandering the legal system to find more men guilty of sexual assault isn’t justice
Virginia Fallon (Stuff): Thirty years on and women are still being told we’re asking for it
Ursula Cochran, Kelvin Berryman, Hugh Cowan (Spinoff): A decade on, NZ is yet to properly reckon with our tolerance for risk
Mike Mather (Stuff): Funding still possible for HCC projects says Waka Kotahi, councillors sceptical
Delilah Whaitiri (Herald): Local Focus: From hui to zui, iwi sees added benefits from treaty negotiations
Te Aorewa Rolleston (RNZ): Moriori Treaty settlement passes first reading
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): This is now the New Zealand dream? The promise of democracy never looked so broken
James Borrowdale (Metro): The ‘green fairy’ prepared to defy the law to give people what they need

Today’s content

Child poverty report and inequality
Janet McAllister (Spinoff): What the new child poverty stats tells us – and what they don’t
Claire Trevett (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s do-or-die child poverty promise (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Poverty figures a sigh of relief for PM – but will it last?
Branko Marcetic (Democracy Project): NZ’s economic “bounce-back” is a myth – but lifting benefits would bring it closer to reality
CPAG: “Shocking, disappointing” child poverty statistics show incrementalism isn’t working
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Solo mum living in tent with six kids in stark contrast to Government celebrating drop in child poverty
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Child poverty: ‘Huge time lag’ means latest stats do not reflect post-Covid hardship – Andrew Becroft
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Mind your Ms and Ps when you’re talking about child poverty
Anna Whyte (1News): Child poverty declining before Covid-19, but latest stats ‘profoundly bad news’ for children with disabilities – Children’s Commissioner
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Children still living in poverty but number of whānau struggling to provide the basics drops – Stats NZ
Melanie Carroll and Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Child poverty declines: Maori, Pacific children worst off but some improvement
Keith Ng and Michael Neilson (Herald): Child poverty more than twice as likely to affect Māori, Pasifika, disabled children as Pākehā
Sela Jane Hopgood (RNZ): High number of Pasifika children experience material hardship
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Child poverty numbers improving – Stats NZ
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Crunch time for Ardern on child poverty
Brent Edwards (NBR): Government hails child poverty figures but more needs to be done (paywalled)
Jean Bell (RNZ): Demand for food parcels and housing soars in Bay of Plenty
Katie Harris (Herald): Hamilton mum forced to choose between living in a car with kids, or splitting them up (paywalled)

Housing
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): We don’t know how many houses we need – we should
Kirsty Johnston (Stuff): Half of ‘new’ public houses not actually new stock
Leonard Hong (Herald): Housing crisis? You ain’t seen anything yet (paywalled)
Susan St John (Herald): Housing and the art of the possible (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Home ownership scheme announced in 2019 has housed just 12 families
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Property experts at odds over whether Government should lift Kāinga Ora’s ‘unrealistic’ First Home Grant caps
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Labour to support National Party bill reforming apartment law at first reading
Brent Edwards (NBR): Housing supply needs serious boost to meet changing demographic demands (paywalled)
Marta Steeman (Stuff): Retirement village operator Summerset posts bumper $230m profit as property values jump
Elinor Chisholm: What is a mixed-tenure community? Views from New Zealand practitioners and implications for researchers
Bryan Bruce (Daily Blog): New Zealanders gave a mandate to Labour to be transformative
Waatea News: Agencies challenged to back Maori housing moves

Covid: Auckland community outbreak
Herald: Covid 19 coronavirus: Next few days critical after new community cases – experts
Bernadette Basagre and Anna Loren (Stuff): Auckland should go back to level 2 after new community cases – expert
Jamie Morton (Herald): Covid 19 coronavirus: Auckland still has ‘low risk’ of outbreak – experts
Lana Andelane and Emma Turton (Newshub): Health officials need to find out how latest Auckland case contracted the virus – Siouxsie Wiles
Richard Prebble (Herald): Why was New Zealand’s latest Covid lockdown the only option? (paywalled)
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Coronavirus: ‘Short, sharp lockdown’ prevented wider outbreak, ‘more dramatic’ measures – Chris Hipkins

Covid: General
Abbey Wakefield (1News): Covid-19 expert Michael Baker argues for more levels to be added to NZ’s alert system
Herald: Editorial: Vigilance needed as much as vaccine (paywalled)
1News: Taxpayers to foot bill for extra weeks Australian spent in MIQ after refusing Covid-19 tests
RNZ: Govt faced with competing advice on mandatory mask use – Chris Hipkins
Anna Loren and Bernadette Basagre (Stuff): Covid-19 ‘tough’ to control in schools, expert says as student testing continues
Cecile Meier (Stuff): When will the Covid-19 vaccine be available for children?
Matt Burrows (RNZ): 329 Immigration NZ staff to lose jobs, offices around the world to close amid huge drop in visa requests
Cecile Meier (Stuff): Skilled migrant desperate for his wife and children to join him in Wellington
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Bowel movements could have led to Covid-19 Pullman Hotel outbreak – report
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Australian refusing a Covid test should be deported, says Judith Collins
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): Forget being grateful for level one
Curwen Ares Rolinson (Daily Blog): A Failure at the border – What one returnee’s worrisome experience reveals about what’s actually going on in isolation

Local government
Alex Braae (Spinoff): Ten massive questions facing local government in 2021
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Local Government Minister not considering commissioners for Wellington City Council – yet
Logan Savory (Stuff): Invercargill City councillor: New media protocols close to gagging order
RNZ: Invercargill City Council introduces new media protocols
RNZ: Wellingtonians unimpressed by fractured city council
Rebecca Kiddle (Stuff): Whose heritage do we in Wellington care about?
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Green Party to issue a ‘please explain’ over Wellington deputy mayor’s cycleway vote
Mike Mather (Stuff): Councillors hit warpath after Govt funding for cycle paths dries up
Amber Allott (Stuff): Canterbury regional council rates could jump more than 24 per cent
Tara Shaskey (Stuff): New Plymouth District Council, City Care fined total of $179k for 1.5 million litre raw sewage spill
Herald: Māori wards law change: Northland councils may end call for submissions
Herald: Dover Samuels – hopes for Maori wards pinned on younger generation
Māori TV: New app embeds Te Ao Māori in local government

Prisons
Jane Patterson (RNZ): ‘Inappropriate’ pamphlet found at Spring Hill prison referred to police
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Corrections refers prison pamphlet to police over concerns it might incite riot
No Right Turn: A captive Minister
Anna Whyte (1News): NZ needs ‘by-Māori, for-Māori, to-Māori approach’ to prisons, says MP Rawiri Waititi
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Māori Party calls for ‘urgent inquiry’ into ‘inhumane’ treatment of inmates in New Zealand
RNZ: Te Paati Māori calls for urgent ministerial inquiry into treatment of prisoners

Simon Bridges on Police head Andrew Coster
Amelia Wade (Herald): National’s Simon Bridges says police commissioner Andrew Coster is too ‘woke’ for the job
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern responds after Simon Bridges labels Police Commissioner Andrew Coster ‘wokester’
Thomas Manch (Stuff): National Party MP Simon Bridges lashes out at ‘wokester’ police commissioner Andy Coster
RNZ: National Party’s Simon Bridges doubles down on ‘wokester’ jibe against Police Commissioner
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Simon Bridges starts his National Party leadership bid by attacking Police Commissioner Coster

Law and order
1News: Gang members grew to 8000 last year, Wellington sees greatest increase — National
Christian Fuller (Herald): Gangs in Hawke’s Bay: More patches, more players, fewer crimes (paywalled)
Jared Savage (Herald): Video of gang’s botched $1m drug deal that brought down Comancheros leader (paywalled)
Jared Savage (Herald): Police Commissioner Andrew Coster wants to test ‘fit and proper’ licence criteria after it emerges 12 people on gang list can buy guns
RNZ: Man jailed for 7 years over kiss appeals in Supreme Court

Health
Ian Powell (Democracy Project): Rescuing Simpson from Simpson
Ian Powell: ‘Gagging’ attempt highlights importance of voice in health system
Nick Truebridge (RNZ): Ex-DHB psychologist claims chronic failings in mental health services
1News: Ministry of Health ‘silences’ criticism about NZ’s mental health system — advocate
Caroline Shaw (The Conversation): NZ’s smoking rates dropped dramatically thanks to a hard-hitting campaign. Could we do the same to bring emissions down?
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): University orientation week drug testing reveals high levels of eutylone instead of MDMA

2020 election administration and political finance
Claire Trevett (Herald): Shane Jones, Christopher Luxon, Anna Lorck – who got the most donations in 2020 election?
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Billy Te Kahika may have broken Electoral Commission election campaign spending rules
Herald: Election 2020: 48 voters referred to police for voting twice

Parliament and government
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): How powerful is Labour’s Māori caucus?
Jason Walls (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ‘surprised’ at $12k bill for Winston Peters’ farewell bash
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern, Judith Collins face media as Parliament returns to full strength
Alan Kenyon (1News): Seymour questions Ardern’s te reo knowledge as pair clash over police gang operation
Cameron Slater (BFD): Hang on a minute Chris, time for a fact check

Environment
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Environment Minister David Parker ‘frustrated’ at Tiwai smelter, WorkSafe to assess compliance
Herald: Sanford to forfeit $20m vessel, fined for bottom trawling in restricted area
Stuff: Editorial – Nitrates in our water – the doubts remain alarming
Andrea Vance (Stuff): The Forgotten Islands: Pest control plan halted by Covid-19
Nadine Porter (Stuff): Bowel Cancer NZ questions links between the disease and low nitrate levels in drinking water
Gary John Brierley et al. (The Conversation): Why we should release New Zealand’s strangled rivers to lessen the impact of future floods
RNZ: Government not ruling out limits on nitrogenous fertiliser

Economy and work
Gilbert Wong (The Big Q): Is slavery a problem in New Zealand?
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Government considered $36 million tax break for company cars
RNZ: Thousands of businesses taking up govt support package
Tony Alexander (One Roof): Don’t be surprised if mortgage rates start to creep up
Susan Hornsby-Geluk (Stuff): Wronged employees’ compensation increasing
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Covid-19 makes $1.6b hole in bank profits
Sam Stubbs (Stuff): Think share markets are high? Think again
Jenny Ruth (BusinessDesk): Banks making covid-forced working from home permanent (paywalled)
Adam Jacobson (RNZ): Construction sector positive, despite Covid-19
NZIER: NZ’s V-shaped recovery intact despite Valentine’s Day community case surprise
Newstalk ZB: Agriculture Minister urges incentives to fix fruit picking shortage
Louisa Steyl (Southland Times): Southland Federated Farmers welcome M.bovis review

Conversion therapy ban proposal
Sophie Trigger (Herald): ‘Protect us, and mean it’: Conversion therapy survivors call for bill without religious exemptions
Zane Small (Newshub): Greens table conversion therapy petition despite Government’s promise to ban it by 2022
1News: ‘Wonderful’- Gay man who worked as conversion therapist backs Government’s move to ban practice
Clive Aspin (Waatea News): Gay therapy on way out
Stuff: Greens’ petition to fast-track ban on conversion therapy presented to Parliament
RNZ: Greens present petition in support of gay conversion therapy ban

Education
RNZ: Tough times for ECE services revealed in new Education Ministry figures
Te Aorewa Rolleston (RNZ): Te Tira Kāpuia back calls for resignation of Unitec board
Kataraina Werahiko (Herald): A mother’s anguish – How the school system demonises children with disabilities (paywalled)
Josh King (Newsroom): Turfing Latin part of a disturbing pattern

Climate change and energy
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Rising sea levels could erode parts of Auckland’s coastline more than 200m in next 110 years, report finds
David Farrar: Climate Commission must release economic modelling data
Jack Santa Barbara (Newsroom): Our energy system has been broken for too long
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): EV advocates know they’ve lost their argument
Luke Blincoe (Stuff): A better future for NZ: Electricity market must cut its reliance on gas
Craig Stent (NBR): Electricity sector can enable move to a carbon-free economy (paywalled)

Other
Harry Lock (RNZ): Climate Change Commission blocked by Facebook
Stuart Smith; Arena Williams (Stuff): It’s ultimately about making sure everyone feels okay to be who they are
Thomas Manch (Stuff): New Zealand backs Britain’s call for a UN fact-finding mission into Xinjiang human rights abuse
Teuila Fuatai (Herald): NZ beats Australia on human rights of citizens (paywalled)
Donna Chisholm (Listener): The vitamin boom: Do supplements really work? (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Change to ‘safe areas’ in abortion law sought by Labour MP Louisa Wall, expected to get first reading backing from Act Party
Stuff: ‘Chief barking dog’ Matthew Tukaki on putting Māori issues front and centre
Michael Lueck (Stuff): Freedom camping laws need reform but foreign tourists aren’t the only villains
Helen Nickisson (Stuff): Youth hui to give Marlborough’s young people a voice
Charlotte Muru-Lanning (Spinoff): How non-Māori students play a part in te reo revitalisation
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Pole dancer asked to cover up at Wellington fair says it perpetuates shaming of female
James Dann (Slate): The Last City of the 20th Century
Muriel Newman (NZCPR): The Failed Ideology of Cultural Marxism
The BFD: “Yes Prime Minister” comes to Inland Road

Today’s content

Covid: General
Tim Watkin (Pundit): The Law Of Diminishing Covid Returns: The Government’s Mood Management Task
Liam Dann (Herald): Riding Dr Ashley Bloomfield’s Covid roller coaster (paywalled)
Jamie Morton (Herald): Auckland lockdown was ‘frustrating’ but justified, says expert
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Experts call for seven-tier alert level system as Auckland moves to level 1
Stuff Editorial: MIQ facility suggestion is poor timing
RNZ: Michael Barnett urges ‘more clinical’ response to Covid-19 community cases, Chris Hipkins says each case unique
Amelia Wade (NZ Herald): Epidemiologist slams ‘highly problematic’ border operation as Jacinda Ardern pours cold water over building specialist MIQ
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern throws doubt on National’s purpose-built COVID-19 quarantine facility idea
TVNZ: Ardern pours cold water on National’s proposal of purpose-built quarantine facilities
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): More than $700m of the Covid-19 wage subsidy repaid before alert level change
Kate Gregan (RNZ): Business support package opens today, to give alert level help
Jason Walls (Herald): Government officials turned their noses up at a potential policy to subsidise Kiwis’ dinners out
TVNZ: Ardern hopes Kiwis will make public transport mask wearing ‘new normal’ as mandatory rule remains
Richard Harman: Trans Tasman bubble looks closer
1News: Trans-Tasman travel bubble kicked down the road again, after initial ambition to start by end of March

Covid: Vaccine
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): PM should be bumped up the vaccine queue
Herald: Jacinda Ardern says she will be publicly vaccinated — but not yet
Zane Small (Newshub): National’s deputy Shane Reti ‘happy to help’ Jacinda Ardern get public COVID-19 vaccination
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern says she will get vaccinated against COVID-19 publicly but is ‘torn’ over timing
Aimee Shaw (NZ Herald): Big employers on board with Government’s vaccine roll-out plans (paywalled)

Canterbury earthquake anniversary
Dmytro Dizhur (Spinoff): Lessons learned from a city destroyed: making buildings safer post-Christchurch
Tom Peters (WSWS): Ten years after New Zealand earthquake, no justice for victims of building collapse
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Remembering Christchurch a decade on: Sir John Key says earthquake was his toughest day as Prime Minister
TVNZ: ‘Bitterness of 10 years of injustice’ still churns for man whose wife was one of 115 killed in CTV building
Anan Zaki (RNZ): Ten years after Christchurch’s devastating quake ‘anchor projects’ yet to be completed
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): 10 years on, Christchurch deserves better from its rebuild
Charlie Gates (Stuff): Looking after traumatised young people is a legacy of the quakes, says PM
Elle Hunt (Guardian): Jacinda Ardern pays tribute as Christchurch commemorates earthquake victims
Stuff: Then and now: The February 2011 Christchurch earthquake in pictures
Newshub: Remembering Christchurch a decade on: A raw, powerful account of the events that unfolded after the quake

Housing
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Govt delays housing policy announcements to mid-March
Jade Kake (Stuff): Housing rethink poses mighty challenge
Brent Melville (Business Desk): Housing: From avoiding catastrophe to finding solutions (paywalled)
David Hargreaves (Interest): Records all around in the searing mortgage market in 2020
Brent Melville (Business Desk): NZ Initiative: Auckland to remain ‘crowded house’ for new arrivals
Charlotte Muru-Lanning (Spinoff): What the new tenancy laws mean for Māori
Greg Ninness (Interest): Immigration is the biggest single driver of housing demand
Georgina Campbell (NZ Herald): Call for Government to support reform of apartment living legislation
Rupert Gough (One Roof): The Reserve Bank’s LVR rules and how they apply to new-builds

Economy
Luke Malpass and Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): S&P Global ratings upgrade a massive boost to Grant Robertson and Labour’s economic management credentials
David Hargreaves (Interest): Grimes: The RBNZ should tighten monetary policy
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): NZ dollar reaches 34-month high as S&P upgrades NZ’s credit rating
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Eyes on Reserve Bank: Next OCR move tipped to be up
Brent Edwards (NBR): The Reserve Bank’s dilemma over its Covid-19 response (paywalled)
Newshub: What the Reserve Bank’s first monetary policy statement could mean for Kiwis – Simon Power interview

Inequality and poverty
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Covid lockdown months not included in tomorrow’s child poverty statistics
RNZ: Pasifika unemployment in NZ rising, report shows
No Right Turn: An open door waiting to be pushed on

Media, Facebook
Gordon Campbell  (Werewolf): On Australia’s attempt to demonise Facebook
Gavin Ellis (Knightly Views): Thank God Facebook doesn’t supply electricity and water
Mandy Henk (Herald): Facebook and the disinformation wars (paywalled)
Callum Baird (Newsroom): Online extremism: Censorship isn’t the solution
The Big Q: Should social media companies be owned by the public? (audio)
Steven Cowan (NZ Against The Current): They’re Reading Our Socialist Commentary over There

Local government
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland’s 10-year Budget: What you see masks what you won’t get
Stuff Editorial: ICC must tread carefully with media policy
Dave Armstrong (Stuff): Shades of the flyover vote as Foster makes last-minute library move
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Councillors and Wellington Mayor in full blown stoush over library
Nikki Mandow (Newsroom): Wellington water chaos a warning for all
RNZ Checkpoint: Foster’s leadership questioned over Wellington library saga
Grant Miller (Otago Daily Times): Petitioners push to get vote on STV on ballots
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): Why banning anti-Maori petitions is true democracy
Waatea News: Wainuiomata naming disturbs peace

Conversion therapy ban
Graham Adams (Democracy Project): Greens stir the pot on banning conversation therapy
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Conversion therapy banned by early next year, Government reveals
Māori TV: Faafoi reaffirms ban on harmful ‘conversion’ practices
The BFD: The Heart of the Conversion Therapy Debate

Health
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Maker of epilepsy drug warned over quality control
RNZ: Up to 800,000 New Zealanders may have increased bowel cancer risk due to nitrates in water
Ian Shaw (Otago Daily Times): Better safe than sorry with lead in water
Otago Daily Times: Lead not detectable in latest water tests
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Mental health: A top priority stalls

Employment
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Overhaul of confusing Holidays Act promised as Government accepts improvements
RNZ: Holidays Act overhaul planned, including earlier entitlements
Jo Cribb (Stuff): What has actually changed for women?

Parliament
Chris Trotter: The French Connection
Jason Walls (NZ Herald):
Taxpayers foot $12,000 bill for Winston Peters’ farewell bash – an event he didn’t even want

Australia-NZ dispute over terrorist suspect in Turkey
John Ip (Newsroom): Revoking citizenship just global NIMBYism
No Right Turn: The first test of control orders

Primary and extractive industries
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Smelter stockpiles 100,000 tonnes of hazardous waste near beach
No Right Turn: The end of offshore exploration?
John Anthony (Stuff): Will alternative proteins become the norm, and what will it mean for Aotearoa?
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): Millennials embracing plant based diets forcing restaurants to take notice

Corrections
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Treatment at Auckland Women’s Prison ‘degrading’ and ‘inhumane’ – judge
Yvette McCullough (RNZ): Minister seeking details about ‘inhumane’ prisoner ruling

Climate change, environment
Kate MacNamara (Herald): Storm brewing for the Climate Change Commission (paywalled)
Ethan Griffiths (Herald): Hapū concerns over Whanganui water bottling proposal

National – Jami-Lee Ross SFO case
Sam Hurley (Herald): Former National Party MP Jami-Lee Ross agrees to destroy ‘leaked’ SFO documents
Business Desk: Former National MP Jami-Lee Ross and SFO settle over sensitive document leak

Other
Toby Manhire (The Spinoff): Exclusive poll: Do New Zealanders back the tough border rules?
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Ministry of Transport comes under pressure to rein in budget blowouts
Sam Sherwood (Stuff): Annual cannabis operation culled in shift to ‘more significant and sophisticated’ approach to organised crime
Emile Donovan (Newsroom): Re-shaping the RMA
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Far-right group threatened with legal action over use of Buy NZ Made trademark
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Navy will be without war-making frigates the end of 2021
Simon Ewing-Jarvie: Cake Stall Security
Newsroom: Oranga Tamariki re-thinks its uplift policy
Josh Robertson (Re News): Reflecting on Captain Cook’s many mistakes

Today’s content

Housing
Damien Grant (Stuff): Who’s to blame for housing unaffordability?
Bernard Hickey (Stuff): Should Reserve Bank overheat economy to blast free of low interest rate trap?
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): You can’t lose with property mate
Zane Small (Newshub): Housing Minister Megan Woods fires up when quizzed on lack of property shortage figures
Gill South (Stuff): Single buyers get it rough when it comes to the housing market
Don Brash: Housing still the mammoth in the room
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): The trauma and privilege of buying property (paywalled)
Janine Starks (Stuff): Investor ban would cool our boiling-over housing market
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): RBNZ: LVRs could lower bank lending to property investors by as much as 40%
Stuff: Cost pressures in busy construction industry start to ramp up
Jane Matthews (Stuff): Buying a $400k New Plymouth KiwiBuild house a ‘no brainer’, first-home buyer says
Josephine Franks (Stuff): State house theatre secures MSD funding, green light from Kāinga Ora
Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): Rental law change ‘casualties’: evicted tenants fear homelessness
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Renters suffer from anxiety, sickness from unjust evictions – study
Blair Jackson and Evan Harding (Stuff): Struggling Southland pensioners living in ‘draughty dog boxes’

Covid: General
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): National wants MIQ out of Auckland CBD, calls for purpose-built facility
1News: National proposes building of purpose-built quarantine facility on Auckland’s outskirts
Josh Van Veen (Democracy Project: The Queen’s Gambit
Jamie Morton (Herald): Kiwis back tough measures – but complacency a risk
Audrey Young (Herald): The beginning of the end for Fortress New Zealand (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan: (Stuff): ‘No justification’ for keeping Auckland in level 2, as Cabinet meets to review Covid settings
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Covid-19: ‘No reason’ Auckland shouldn’t move to alert level 1 on Monday
Herald: Editorial: Why the answer to border breaches could be building back better (paywalled)
Jamie Morton (Herald): Why is Auckland not seeing a major outbreak? (paywalled)
Damien Venuto (Herald): Wage shame: Why MIQ cleaners have ‘fallen through the cracks’
Emma Russell (Herald): MIQ staffers speak of human cost of working on the frontline
Caryn Wilkinson (Stuff): The workers stuck in the cycle of perpetual managed isolation
Luke Kirkness (Herald): Government to hire security teams for MIQ directly (paywalled)
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Short lockdown but is enough being done at the border?
Liam Dann (Herald): Riding Dr Ashley Bloomfield’s Covid roller coaster (paywalled)
John Anthony (Stuff): Trans-Tasman bubble ‘increasingly unlikely’ before mass Covid inoculations, aviation analysts say
Liz Gordon (Daily Blog): Some are not in the team
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): Kiwis should expect to pay more for Pacific travel when borders reopen – experts

Covid: Vaccine
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Exclusive poll: One in four New Zealanders would refuse Covid vaccine. Can they be persuaded?
George Block (Stuff): Ministry assures doctors last year’s flu shot debacle won’t happen with coronavirus vax
Simon Louisson (Stuff): Labour’s vaccine persuasion policy is inadequate
Emma Russell (Herald): Covid 19 coronavirus vaccine: All you need to know
Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris (Spinoff): The Covid vaccine is a delicious great big slice of cheese
Virginia Fallon (Stuff): New Zealand’s Covid battle: The year that was, and the year ahead
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Simon Bridges ‘pulling pants down’ as soon as he’s eligible for Covid-19 vaccine
RNZ: Covid-19 vaccines: Pacific leaders hold fono on raising awareness
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Māori health workers must be trained to give Covid-19 vaccine – providers
The Guardian: New Zealand begins Covid vaccine rollout, starting with border workers
1News: NZ immunisation director assures border workers, public about safety of Covid-19 vaccine
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Vaccines could be given at stadiums, schools, workplaces, pharmacies and GP clinics, Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins says
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Managed isolation workers hoping Pfizer vaccine ends virus and stigma too
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): As the vaccine roll-out begins, NZ enters ‘new phase’ of managing virus

National
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Is Chris Luxon the new John Key, or the new Todd Muller?
Richard Harman: A bluer shade of green
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of The Seymour Gang (paywalled)
Karyn Henger (Herald): National leader Judith Collins opens up about why she had to change: ‘People aren’t born resilient’ (paywalled)

Labour
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Labour’s first 100 days in Parliament – Winners & Losers
Daphna Whitmore (Redline): Labour will cater to the woke not the broke
Steven Cowan: Labour: Enforcing the status quo, and we’re the losers
Alex Birchall: What the Left can learn from Jacinda Ardern about the power of the collective idea

Parliament and government
Claire Trevett (Herald): A win for satire, Speaker schooled on eggplants, is a Covid baby boom on the horizon? (paywalled)
Stuff: Points of Order: Berocca, BAs, and the Beehive
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): National’s Anna Lorck ‘Berocca’ ad returns after parliamentary ruling
Jason Walls (Herald): National’s Chris Bishop comes out on top in video stoush with Speaker Trevor Mallard
Zane Small (Newshub): National’s video poking fun at Labour MP Anna Lorck can be re-published but with tweaks
Jane Patterson (RNZ): National Party ad featuring Labour MP ‘clearly satirical’, committee rules
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Healthy debate proof parties can work together

Media
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The Strange (and sad) demise of Radio New Zealand
Rebecca Barry-Hill (Herald): TVNZ’s A Current Affair host Susie Nordqvist: ‘The health scare that changed my life’
Cathy Odgers: Grant Robertson attempts to gaslight Peter Williams
Peter Williams (BFD): Peter Williams Hits a Nerve with Grant Robertson over ‘Great Reset’
Jane Bowron (Stuff): The newsreader redundancy that wasn’t

Facebook
David Farrier: Why Facebook decided to kill the news
Hal Crawford (Spinoff): Facebook is running an uncontrolled news experiment on a whole country. Let’s hope it doesn’t work out
Herald: Former New Zealand Facebook boss slams move to block Australian news
Dita De Boni (NBR): We’ll have better conversations than Aussie with Google/Facebook: Faafoi (paywalled)
Jack Tame (Newstalk ZB): I’m backing Aussie’s fight with Facebook

Local government
Jack Vowles (Newsroom): Local government’s Māori representation gap
Alexa Cook (Newshub): Study finds one in six Kiwis exposed to high levels of nitrates in tap water, links to bowel cancer
Rebecca Matthews (Newsroom): The madness at Wellington’s library
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Wellington city councillors ask Auditor-General to investigate irregularities in central library privatisation stoush
Eric Crampton (Stuff): Time to stop councils’ ability to stand in the way of growth
Janine Rankin (Stuff): Palmerston North’s new councillor the first former refugee to be elected
RNZ: Panel to consult with Invercargill ratepayers about best representation at council
Damian George (Stuff): Andy Foster ‘destroying’ council’s credibility by pulling funding for park upgrade, says Chinese Garden Society
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Why Wellington’s Green Deputy Mayor voted against tripling cycleway budget
Steven Walton (Stuff): Experts say elevated lead levels in Otago residents may not be just due to water
Jennifer Eder (Stuff): Water reforms and record capital works behind proposed rates rise for Marlborough
Sarah Free (Stuff): Cycling budget has to give in challenging times
Herald: Name calling and swear words: Details of Waikato Regional Council conduct complaint revealed
Auckland Council (Stuff): What does the future of Auckland’s city centre look like?

Economy and work
Amelia Wade (Herald): Matariki holiday could cost up to $448m as minister rules out subbing out another day off
Anan Zaki (RNZ): NZ could follow UK’s Uber ruling – employment expert
David Hargreaves (Interest): The RBNZ will ‘do’ nothing – but what they say will be vital next week
Steven Joyce (Herald): Covid stimulus party risks waking inflationary bear (paywalled)
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Is Covid’s economic carnage still to come?
Nadia Trent (Stuff): How the port blockage threatens our global trade network
RNZ: Queenstown business no longer viable without international tourists
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Tourism industry warned it needs to hang on for one more year
Stuff: Cost pressures in busy construction industry start to ramp up
Diana Clement (Interest): How to fix the retirement village industry
Terry Baucher (Interest): The Week in Tax
Brent Edward (NBR): Todd Muller sceptical about UK rhetoric on free trade (paywalled)
Rebecca Stevenson and Pattrick Smellie (Business Desk): Where to now for Air New Zealand? (paywalled)
Stephen Franks: Continuous disclosure folly

Inequality and poverty
Harry Lock (RNZ): Survey finds 69% want income support for those in need increased
Ziena Jalil (Stuff): Covid pandemic has highlighted how discrimination and poverty persist in NZ
Waatea News: Covid crisis heightens inequality in Aotearoa
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Is funding tampons more important than feeding our kids?

Migration and immigrants
Steve Kilgallon and Lucy Xia (Stuff): ‘It’s all fake’: Chinese migrant builders sold a dream, left exploited and hungry
Ankur Sabharwal (Stuff): What future for permanent migration to New Zealand?
Amelia Wade (Herald): Visitor visas extended for two months as Government warns ‘you are guests’ and further extensions can’t be guaranteed

Australia-NZ dispute over terrorist suspect in Turkey
Peter Dunne: Australia and NZ play politics over alleged terrorist
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Standing up to Australia – what’s Jacinda Ardern’s game here? (paywalled)
Jonathan Guildford (Stuff): Law expert praises New Zealand Government’s handling of woman set to be deported from Turkey
RNZ: Alleged ‘Kiwi’ Isis terrorist: Suhayra Aden set to be deported from Turkey
The BFD: Diplomatic relations is Ardern’s weak point

Education
Katy Jones (Stuff): Smaller classes, more teacher aides, says outgoing special needs teacher
Steve Stannard (Stuff): Students’ declining ability in maths and science a concern
Jo Bowler (Herald): Why we need to bring back night classes (paywalled)
Khylee Quince (Stuff): Maths is everywhere – so we need better ways of learning and teaching it
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): Rising tides put up to 94 schools at risk of flooding and closures
Ben Leahy (Herald): University apologises to its vice-chancellor after buying $5m mansion for her to live in
Simon Collins (Herald): Children barred from school bus by 117-year-old law

Treaty and race relations
Carmen Parahi (Stuff): New Zealand on a revolutionary pathway, between Māori and the Crown
Dale Husband (E-Tangata): Ngarimu Blair: For Ngāti Whātua, a new fight
Joanna Kidman (E-Tangata): ‘I follow the trail of blood’
Catherine Delahunty (E-Tangata): Tripping over Te Tiriti
Fiona Connor (Newshub): ‘Traumatising’: Auckland woman assaulted, harassed over race says abuse of Asians is ‘moral pandemic’
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Kaumātua, last man standing in Nelson Supreme Court case, says ‘just give us back our land’
Martyn Bradbury (The Daily Blog): Can’t Get You Out Of My Head – why a post-Covid Pakeha-Māori Nationalist Revolution in NZ is a solution
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): Pakeha children will be better cared for under Maori structures

Christchurch earthquake anniversary
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Quake anniversary: Why is Christchurch still broken? (paywalled)
Tom Hawker (1News): Ten years on from the CTV collapse – ‘I still find it hard to comprehend’
Susan Wardell (The Spinoff): Christchurch remembers: The politics of memory, on the anniversary of tragedy
Lianne Dalziel (Stuff): The earthquake evokes memories we will never forget
Elle Hunt (The Guardian): Healing the heart of the city: the battle to restore Christchurch’s cathedral

Climate change
Stuff: Editorial – We need a solution to tourism’s pressures
Katy Jones (Stuff): Climate action plan launched by citizen-led group
Herald: Report paints Queenstown tourism as ‘ogre’ says Mayor Jim Boult
Stephen Knight-Lenihan (Newsroom): Ecological decline can no longer prop our economy’

Health
RNZ: DHBs and hospitals at staffing, funding tipping point – union
Jessica McAllen (Stuff): Ministry of Health accused of ‘gagging’ Mental Health Foundation
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Liquor companies flout own codes on targeting children and sexualised ads

Law and order
Siobhan Wilson (1News): Tackling ‘an epidemic of sexual violence’ the aim of a proposed new law
Waatea News: Elite lawyers challenged on access to justice
1News: ‘Just take the guns off the gangs’ – politicians press for stronger police response to gun violence
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Revealed: The number of New Zealanders in court for cannabis-related crimes in 2020

Air NZ work for the Saudi military
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Saudi deals’ shifting sands could let Air New Zealand off hook (paywalled)
Amal Samaha (Spinoff): We’re already forgetting about the Air New Zealand-Saudi Arabia scandal
Alexander Gillespie (The Conversation): The crisis in Yemen demands an independent review of NZ’s military links with Saudi Arabia

Billy Te Kahika quits politics
RNZ: Billy Te Kahika quits politics, shuts down New Zealand Public Party
Herald: Freedom Party leader Billy Te Kahika says he is quitting politics

NZ troops to leave Afghanistan by May
Wayne Mapp (Stuff): Two decades in Afghanistan: Was it worth it?
Waatea News: Post-Afghan future for Defence Pacific for Greens

Other
Paul Spoonley (Spinoff): A baby implosion? The implications of our very low fertility rate
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): TV review: Q&A – Jan Logie’s demand to make men guilty should terrify Labour
Ben Fahy (Spinoff): When brands take a stand
Cameron Slater (BFD): When virtue signalling goes wrong
Sam Brooks (Spinoff): Two years after the breakup, what does Pride in Auckland look like?
Rob Stock (Stuff): Pensioner loses $70,000 from NZ Super payments as overseas deduction policy once again raised in Parliament
Georgina Blackmore (Redline): Please don’t sign this petition
Bruce Quirey (ODT): Questions on NZ’s energy after drilling plans dropped

Today’s content

Covid: General
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Jacinda Ardern’s boldest and most adept Covid move yet (paywalled)
ODT: Editorial – Trust and politicians in the Covid era
Richard Harman: Living with covid
Lisette Reymer (Newshub): New Zealand should stop living in fear of COVID-19 – expert
Henry Cooke (Stuff): National says move out of alert level 3 lockdown is ‘bold’ and ‘ambitious’
Keith Lynch (Stuff): The ‘edge’ cases and when transmission gets weird
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): What makes Covid-19 a ‘tricky’ virus?
Jason Walls (Herald): ‘No stone unturned’ in hunt for source of community outbreak
RNZ: Declining trend of UK, US cases shows ‘an end in sight’ – modeller Rodney Jones
Jamie Morton (Herald): Should these be NZ’s new alert levels? (paywalled)
Whatitiri Te Wake (Māori TV): Alert level decision ‘wrong’ – Dr Rāwiri Taonui
Damien Venuto (Herald): The shameful wages being paid to MIQ cleaners
Waatea News: Collins keen on Harawira checkpoints
RNZ: QR code scanning too difficult for businesses to enforce if mandated – EMA
Michael Andrew (Spinoff): Who is eligible for the Covid-19 Resurgence Support Payment?

Covid: Vaccine
George Block (Stuff): Secrecy around NZ vaccine roll-out sparked by sabotage, theft fears
Newstalk ZB: Online Covid-19 vaccination register won’t be ready for Saturday start
RNZ: Vaccine rollout: Dry runs invaluable for sorting teething issues – Hipkins
David Farrar: Should Asian NZers be prioritised for Covid vaccinations?
Jordan Bond (RNZ): First jab of Pfizer vaccine to be administered to vaccinators today
Justin Latif (Spinoff): The vaccine rollout starts this weekend – but are we ready?
Herald: Why new vaccine is safe – your questions answered
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Special syringes secured for vaccine rollout, despite global shortage
Newstalk ZB: Māori and Pasifika lack confidence in Covid vaccines
Māori TV: ‘No privilege in dying early’ – Māori doctors address vaccine anxiety
Amelia Wade (Herald): Government social media moderators set to pounce on vaccine misinformation

Housing and inequality
Brian Fallow (Herald): Housing crisis only adds to inequality (paywalled)
Simon Wilson (Herald): Why do we care so little about poverty? (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Salvation Army Report highlights hidden Covid Poverty
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): Housing crisis: More than 4,000 NZ children living in motels
James Solari (Stuff): Here is what is needed to improve housing
Ben Leahy (Herald): Investors buy record share of homes as first-home buyers squeezed
Miriam Bell (Stuff): House price records smashed nationwide
1News: Average asking price for homes reaches all-time high; lack of supply to blame — Trade Me
Rob Stock (Stuff): ASB backtracks on investor loan limits for new homes
Robin Martin (RNZ): First-home buyers snapping up KiwiBuild homes in New Plymouth
Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): A letting fee in disguise, or a reasonable cost? New rental fee stirs debate
RNZ: Fletcher Building benefits from strong housing market and improved margins

Local government
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Time to seriously think about our useless councils
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland 10 Year Budget: Record rates rise plan needs public support
RNZ: Auckland Council to consult residents on 5% rates hike
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Wellington City Council long-term plan meeting ‘a shambles’ and ‘almost incomprehensible’
Damian George (Stuff): Let’s Get Wellington Amending – confusion and chaos as Wellington mayor Andy Foster tables late changes to 10-year plan
RNZ: Plan to privatise part of Wellington Central Library moves forward
Damian George and Joel MacManus (Stuff): Wellington City Council looks at slashing library collection budget by 40 per cent
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Proposal to spend an extra $45m on cycleways in Wellington
Mike Mather (Stuff): Let us play: New council strategy reimagines entire city as an urban playground
Logan Savory (Stuff): Marcus Lush surprised by public’s dislike for Invercargill City Council
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Marcus Lush winning is so far the best thing of 2021
Waatea News: Four Maori seats needed for Auckland Council

Dunedin City Council water lead poisoning
Jonathan Guildford (Stuff): Tests show children among Otago residents with lead levels above internationally safe standards
RNZ: High levels of lead in children: More analysis of blood required to assess effects – expert
RNZ: East Otago water scare: Unsafe lead levels found in children’s blood tests
Newstalk ZB: Lack of resources to blame for low-quality tap water

Media and Facebook
Henry Oliver (Metro): Tova O’Brien is ready for anything
Chris Keall (Herald): Winners and losers in latest NZ streaming survey
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Hey Kris Faafoi, if you’ve finished being a useless Broadcasting Minister…
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Facebook’s devastating return of serve
Patrick Crewdson (Stuff): To spite media companies, Facebook has cut off its users’ facts
Stuff: Editorial – Facebook’s news blockade could do real harm
Duncan Greive (Spinoff): Media explosion in Australia: Facebook just blocked all news
Zane Small (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi weigh in on Facebook’s Australian news ban
John Anthony (Stuff): Facebook blackout could happen in New Zealand, experts say
Jesse Mulligan (RNZ): What does the Facebook news ban in Australia mean for NZ?
Damien Venuto (Herald): Facebook move shows the company has gulped its own Kool-Aid (paywalled)
Herald: Editorial: Nothing to like about Facebook news ban (paywalled)

Australia-NZ dispute over terrorist suspect in Turkey
Sharon Brettkelly (Newsroom): Why is Australia so mean to us?
Anthony Galloway (Stuff): Annette King says Australian citizenship cancellation has left NZ in ‘difficult position’
Claire Breen (The Conversation): With their mother’s Australian citizenship cancelled over alleged ISIS-links, how will NZ deal with her children?
Gordon Campbell (Scoop): On another epic failure by Australia to act decently on the world stage
ODT: Global Insight: NZ needs to ‘up its game’ over jihadists
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Scott Morrison wins again
1News: Ardern-Morrison spat over Turkish detainee a sign of worsening trans-Tasman relations: NZ experts

NZ troops to leave Afghanistan by May
Dan Satherley and Perry Wilton (Newshub): ‘Abject failure’: New Zealand’s involvement in Afghanistan War questioned
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Afghanistan war was far from a success
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Taliban welcomes NZDF withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years
No Right Turn: Ending our unjust war

Economy and work
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Taxpayers to fork out $1 billion in film subsidies over the next five years
Ananish Chaudhuri (The Conversation): Latest NZ unemployment figure may not give a true picture of the number of people out of work
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Government debt breaches $100b for first time, books outperform pessimistic forecasts showing a $4b deficit
Liam Dann (Herald): Post lockdown spend-up drives $1.1 billion boost to Crown accounts
Liam Dann (Herald): What will this week’s lockdown mean for interest rates? (paywalled)
Eric Crampton: Covid loans?
Elle Hunt (Guardian): Could Covid give New Zealand’s struggling tourism sector a chance to go green?
Marta Steeman (Stuff): Government accused of letting West Coast tourism-dependent communities ‘fall over’ by hotel chain boss
Herald: No extra wage subsidy for tourism businesses in Queenstown Lakes District
Maria Slade (NBR): Covid grace period on overdue tax at an end (paywalled)

Birth rate plummeting
RNZ: Drop in birth rate may lead to smaller New Zealand population – analyst
Eleanor de Jong (Guardian): New Zealand birthrate sinks to its lowest ever
Bridie Witton (Stuff): New Zealand’s birthrate the lowest ever, but fewer deaths and migration nudge population growth – Stats NZ
Dan Satherley (Newshub): NZ’s fertility rate plummeted in 2020 – but so did deaths, thanks to COVID-19
1News: Fewer people died in 2020, and lockdown may have helped, Stats NZ reports
David Farrar: Birth rate plummeting

Period products to be free in schools
Eleanor de Jong  (Guardian): All New Zealand schools to offer free period products as part of poverty drive
Kristin Hall (1News): Campaigners hoping free period products roll-out in schools will be extended
Zane Smalln (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern says period products will be free in all New Zealand schools from June 2021
RNZ: Govt to fund free period products for all school, kura students

Climate change; Tourism report
Kirsty Wild (Spinoff): Why doesn’t New Zealand just make public transport free?
Mike White (Stuff): Enough talk – time for action on tourism’s environmental impact, says commissioner
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): Tourism report: add $6-155 tax to long-haul flights to pay for climate fixes
Alex Braae (Spinoff): Simon Upton wants NZ to totally overhaul tourism
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Changes needed to ensure tourism less harmful to environment – Upton
Paul McBeth (BusinessDesk): NZ’s environmental iceberg: cruise ships (paywalled)
Newstalk ZB: James Shaw: Explaining the Climate Change Response bill
Harry Lock (RNZ): Greenhouse gas emissions sharply rose after going back to alert level 1 last year

Health
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Wellington hospitals ‘at tipping point’ and face delaying surgeries
Ruth Hill and Michael Cropp (RNZ): Call for Nurses Organisation to release review into board’s performance
Waatea News: Eye health data gap leaves planners blind
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): Study shows cannabis legalisation leads to increase youth use
Libby Wilson (Stuff): Free X-rays, fast diagnoses the aim of Māori health provider’s $15m plans

Law and order
Jared Savage (Herald): Gangs and guns: Police unveil operation targeting firearms and organised crime (paywalled)
Yvette McCullough (RNZ): ACT questions why more gang members getting firearms licence
Amelia Wade (Herald): Corrections boss grilled over Waikeria Prison riots as National pushes for probe into impact of gangs
Jo Lines-MacKenzie (Stuff): Waikeria prison rioters have international gang links, Corrections CEO confirms
Sophie Cornish (Stuff): Worst I’ve seen in 20 years’: Hospitality workers grapple with crime in central city
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Is a Spinoff threshold of guilt to convict more men of sexual assault actual justice?

Other
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): National curriculum: This ‘refresh’ needs to go right
1News: ‘Morally cowardice’ — Pike River recovery effort hasn’t gone far enough, some victims’ families say
Rob Stock (Stuff): How to go weapons-free in KiwiSaver
Benedict Collins (1News): ‘Appalling’ – Chlöe Swarbrick devastated to learn of ANZ KiwiSaver link to Yemen war
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern writes article about Associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall for Time Magazine
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): NeoKindness: Housing & Welfare risks Labour becoming a Government of empty gestures
Ankur Sabharwal (Stuff): What future for permanent migration to New Zealand?
Anna Leask (Herald): Unlawfully detained: NZDF conducting full inquiry into man’s military police kidnap allegation (paywalled)
Chris Lynch (Newstalk ZB): The Twitter mob and the dopamine hit of outrage
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Spies cast a wider net in search for domestic threats after Christchurch terrorist attacks
Mike Mather (Stuff): Christchurch mosque attack response ‘needs to be more inclusive’
RNZ: Christchurch East since 2011 earthquake ‘a place of hope and beauty’
David Williams (Newsroom): A decade on, a tale of two cities
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Sooooo let’s talk about banning ‘Conversion Therapy’
Edd Coomber (Stuff): Gay conversion therapy is harmful, hateful, and doesn’t work
Michael Neilson (Herald): Pride 2021: Auckland’s Karangahape Rd gets its first ‘Progress Pride’ rainbow crossing
Charlotte Jones (RNZ): Iwi tell council: ‘This development threatens our relationship to the land’
Leonie Hayden (Spinoff): Some thoughts about Pākehā learning and speaking te reo Māori
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Wait goes on, three years after law firm Russell McVeagh’s #Metoo moment
Andrea Fox (Herald): China’s suspension of some NZ seafood exports still in place (paywalled)
Chris Keall (Herald): Data breach: Reserve Bank likely facing $250K ransom; files from other victims made public (paywalled)

Today’s content

Covid: Auckland outbreak decisions
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Contact tracing ‘Ferrari’ will be enough to contain future outbreaks
Jamie Morton (Herald): Shift to Level 2 ‘not cautious enough’ – expert
Science Media Centre: Auckland jumps down to Alert Level 2 – Expert Reaction
Jason Walls (Herald): Auckland’s lockdown exit comes with a Jacinda Ardern warning
Richard Harman (Politik): Living with covid
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Community surprised as Auckland moved into alert level 2
1News: Dr Siouxsie Wiles ‘a little surprised’ at alert level drop announcement
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): NZ forges new, riskier path in dropping levels
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Latest lockdown is more than ‘just three days’ for businesses
1News: NZ wakes up to lowered Covid-19 restrictions, despite three community cases announced yesterday
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Health officials struggling to pin down source of Auckland’s community cases – Chris Hipkins
Dan Satherley (RNZ): ‘Stay a couple of days and see what happens’ – Siouxsie Wiles says it’s too early to lift restrictions
Jamie Morton (Herald): Why the Govt was right to order lockdown (paywalled)
Nicholas Jones (Herald): ‘Work bubble’ approach at Auckland Airport must be expanded: PSA
Waatea News: Maori feel wrong signals sent on Covid response
No Right Turn: Woodhouse lets the mask slip
Stephen Forbes (Stuff): South Auckland businesses will be hit hard by extended lockdown – advocates
Amy Williams (RNZ): Businesses brace for more pain – ‘Clock ends up ticking’
Julia Gabel (Herald): Australia extends pause on quarantine-free flights from New Zealand

Covid: Vaccine
Daniel Dunkley (Stuff): Will our economic recovery be held hostage by anti-vaxxers?
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Nearly a quarter of Kiwis unlikely to take coronavirus vaccine, Ministry of Health research shows
Charlotte Cook (RNZ): Covid-19 vaccines: Authorities combat misinformation
Shelley Knowles (Stuff): Why the hesitancy? Vaccinations save lives every day
Qiuyi Tan (Herald): Covid 19 coronavirus: Is the vaccine really free?
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Should there be a specific Covid-19 vaccination plan for Māori?
Katie Todd (RNZ): Frontline staff prepare to get first dose of Covid-19 Pfizer vaccine
1News: Government aiming to have 12,000-strong border workforce vaccinated in two or three weeks
Stuff: Māori doctors address the issue of vaccine hesitancy as the Covid-19 vaccination is set to roll out

Covid: General
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Exclusive poll: NZ support for Covid-19 response remains sky high
Anna Whyte (1News): Jacinda Ardern details the ‘indescribable anxiety’ that comes with managing a pandemic
Zane Small (Newshub): ‘Stigmatised’ and refused gym memberships: E tū shares Jacinda Ardern’s concern for border workers
Liu Chen (RNZ): Some Aucklanders support mandatory Covid app scanning
RNZ: New Zealand academics help plan world’s recovery from pandemic
Damien Venuto (Herald): How much the Government is spending to upgrade quarantine hotels (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern says compulsory QR code scanning being considered
Michael Neilson (Herald): Calls for tracer scanning to be compulsory after latest cases didn’t use app
Josie Adams (Spinoff): Spit take: Saliva testing is something extra, not a nose swab replacement
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern appears frustrated at Judith Collins, David Seymour for ‘trying to have an argument’ about Covid-19 saliva testing
Geraden Cann (Stuff): MIQ checks put in place to combat travellers booking overlapping slots
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Māori health providers miss out on ‘masks for whānau’
Waatea News: Maori Covid plan sought

Australia-NZ dispute over terrorist suspect in Turkey
Jo Moir (Newsroom): PM’s lashing out at ScoMo will fall on deaf ears
ODT: Editorial – Anzac relations under stress
David Fisher (Herald): Isil Kiwi ‘shook with fear’ as she spoke of how she wanted to come home – to Australia
David Fisher (Herald): Isis Kiwi’s journey to Syria and her quest to come home (paywalled)
Claire Breen (Spinoff): NZ is fuming at Australia for washing its hands of a dual citizen. What does it mean for her children?
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Ardern stresses Turkey detainee case not yet resolved
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Should we revoke jihadi citizenship first?
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern pleased Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison accepts ‘difficult situation’ in citizenship dispute
Newstalk ZB: PM says trans-Tasman relationship important despite Morrison criticism
Kerre McIvor (Newstalk ZB): Why was PM surprised by Australia’s decision on ISIS bride?

Housing
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Ministry still sees need for Govt to underwrite housing developments
Rob Stock (Stuff): Investors plead with ASB’s rival banks not to restrict loans for new builds
David Hargreaves (Interest): Fletcher Building sees ‘robust’ future demand for its new houses in NZ
Ashley Church (One Roof): The new victims of the property blame game
Corazon Miller (1News): Beneficiaries, low-income earners running out of places to live on Waiheke Island
Eleanor Black (Newsroom): Unlocking a housing impasse
Scott Fisher (Newstalk ZB): Can pre-fab houses help fix the housing crisis?
Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): Returning students flock to the halls, bypassing Wellington’s rental shortage in favour of nine-month leases

NZ troops to leave Afghanistan by May
Herald: NZ troops to leave Afghanistan after 20 years, 10 NZ lives lost
Thomas Manch (Stuff): New Zealand to end 20-year military deployment to Afghanistan
Zane Small (Newshub): New Zealand to conclude Afghanistan deployment in 2021 after 20 years

Economy and work
Spinoff: The future of work: Insights from across Aotearoa
Brent Edwards (NBR): Govt looks to hit employers with three-year minimum wage increase (paywalled)
Andy Fyers (BusinessDesk): Productivity growth heading in the wrong direction (paywalled)
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union to return $60,000 from wage subsidy
David Hargreaves (Interest): Community Covid cases confirm caution from RBNZ

Parliament and Government
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): In the know: Making sense of Labour’s inaction
Claire Trevett (Herald): Is Act outflanking National in the shifting sands of Opposition? (paywalled)
John Bishop (Stuff): Political leaders’ language seeks to manipulate us
Phil Smith (RNZ): The importance of being critical: the opposition role
Jason Walls (Stuff): National’s Chris Bishop stands his ground ahead of Berocca video please explain meeting
Kerry Harvey (Stuff): Chloe Swarbrick plays the brain game for Celebrity Brain Busters

Local government
Logan Savory (Stuff): Prominent broadcaster Marcus Lush wins Invercargill City Council by-election
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Broadcaster Marcus Lush wins race for spot on Invercargill City Council in landslide
RNZ: Marcus Lush elected to Invercargill Council in by-election
Herald: Marcus Lush elected to Invercargill City Council
Ethan Griffiths (Herald): Coral Raukawa takes out Rangitīkei District Council byelection
Bill Hickman (Stuff): Wellington tots may lose free swimming as council looks to save $120,000
Tina Law (Stuff): Residents using too much water face charges in Christchurch’s new budget
BusinessDesk: Beyond the Waikato: Auckland needs salt or recycled water options (paywalled)
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Gore estimates cost of $300m to comply with freshwater rules
Newstalk ZB: More critcisim over Let’s Get Wellington Moving
Aaron Stallard (Stuff): Survey shows demand for council action on climate in Nelson-Tasman

Māori wards in local government
Gavin Beattie (Stuff): How the law on Māori wards was drawn up
Waatea News: Kia tere call for Maori seat change

Discrimination survey
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Chinese Kiwis fear for safety as more experience discrimination amid pandemic
Te Aorewa Rolleston (RNZ): Covid-19 heightens racism against Māori, Chinese – research
Lucy Xia (Stuff): Māori, Chinese communities report most discrimination during pandemic
1News: Chinese, Māori communities in NZ face high rates of Covid-19-related discrimination — report

Inequality
Andrew McRae (RNZ): Claims rising incomes only shows growing disparity in society
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Child poverty, inequality at ‘unacceptable levels’, wealth tax crucial to improving outcomes – Green Party
Newstalk ZB: Calls for more action to lessen the rise in poverty

Health
Eva Corlett (RNZ): ‘Crap pay and horrible conditions’: Midwives at breaking point in capital DHB
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Midwife shortage and more babies creates ‘perfect storm’ for Wellington hospital maternity ward
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Supplier of expensive cystic fibrosis medication yet to apply for Pharmac approval

Other
Marie Dyhrberg (Stuff): Marie Dyhrberg oped on sexual violence bill
Herald: Public sector employment boosted post-pandemic, and not only in Wellington
Rob Stock (Stuff): Prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s KiwiSaver profited from Saudi military deals
Robert MacCulloch (NBR): ‘Sniff tests’ the new ethical standard for Kiwi business (paywalled)
Newsroom: Outdated adoption law set for change
Mohsen Mohammadzadeh (Newsroom): NZ’s car ownership culture can’t be our future
Waatea News: Maori role vital in RMA reform support
Amber Allott (Stuff): Massive oil drilling prospect off Otago coast canned
Teuila Fuatai (Herald): Has John Banks set the tone of corporate anti-racism conversation? (paywalled)
Georgia-May Gilbertson (Stuff): More than 80,000 people on low incomes can earn more before their benefits are cut
RNZ: Baby mortality for young Māori, Pacific, Indian mothers needs urgent action – report
Stuart Smith; Arena Williams (Stuff): Learning history not only teaches us our past, it makes us think critically and look at the way in which those stories are told
Eloise Gibson (Stuff): Why 2020’s lockdowns hit the economy worse than they hit pollution
RNZ: Department of Conservation reveals new visitor strategy
The Standard: The very, very lucky country
Cushla Norman (1News): Two insects to be introduced from Europe to help
Rachel Canning (Herald): 1.1ha of Torepatutahi Wetland dies after Contact Energy spraying goes wrong
Victoria Young (Business Desk): Boat, bach… baby? Covid boom for fertility businesses (paywalled)

Today’s content

Australia-NZ dispute over terrorist suspect in Turkey
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Judith Collins defends Australia’s move to dump terrorist problem on New Zealand
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): How Australia snookered New Zealand and angered Jacinda Ardern
Audrey Young (Herald): Australia fails to meet its own ‘fair go’ test (paywalled)
David Fisher (Herald): Isis bride grew up in Australia – now they’re sending her to New Zealand (paywalled)
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Trans-Tasman row over terror suspect deepens as Ardern accuses Australia of exporting problems
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): ScoMo seems determined to turn NZ into a penal colony
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Arguing over terrorist in Syria risks further trans-Tasman tension
Tova O’Brien and Zane Small (Newshub): Terrorist citizenship row: Jacinda Ardern’s call with Scott Morrison ‘constructive’, both acknowledge ‘complexities’
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern, Scott Morrison agree to work in ‘spirit of our relationship’ over alleged Isis terrorist
RNZ: Trans-Tasman row: PM’s phone call with Scott Morrison ‘constructive’
Stuff: Plea for compassion towards children of Kiwi ‘terrorist’ detained in Turkey
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Australian PM won’t budge over terrorist, despite Jacinda Ardern’s fury
Thomas Manch (Stuff): New Zealand ‘terrorist’ detained in Turkey becomes trans-Tasman issue
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): ‘Tired of Australia exporting its problems’: Ardern denounces Morrison over detainee in Turkey
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern accuses Australia of ‘abdicating its responsibilities’ over detainee identified as ISIS terrorist at Turkish border
Anna Whyte (1News): Jacinda Ardern delivers extraordinary broadside at Australia over woman detained in Turkey – ‘Abdicated its responsibilities’
RNZ: Jacinda Ardern slams Australia over Turkey ‘terrorist’ detainees
Newstalk ZB: Brownlee: New Zealand citizen detained in Turkey responsible for herself

Housing and inequality
Chloe Swarbrick (Herald): Tackling inequality in New Zealand requires political guts (paywalled)
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Concerns over housing market frenzy
Liam Dann (Herald): ‘Jaw-dropping’ new data highlights NZ’s housing crisis challenge (paywalled)
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Median house price jumps $118,000 in a year, says REINZ
Tony Alexander (One Roof): Revealed: The Kiwis who want house prices to rise the most
Lisette Reymer (Newshub): New Zealand’s housing market hottest it’s been in almost two decades
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): First-home buyers’ hurdle increases again, data shows
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): House price index up 19% last month as buyers flock to auctions
Herald: Wellington housing market: Median house prices see 27.7 per cent increase
Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): First-home buyer ‘nightmare’: Wellington house prices hit record high as stock at record low
RNZ: Median house price goes up 2 percent – REINZ
Anne Gibson (Herald): REINZ data: Auckland house prices drop $25,000, sales fall 46%
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Major bank clamps down on new build lending to investors ahead of LVR changes (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Govt calls for councils’ support: ‘What we say we’ll build – we’ll build’
Amy Ridout (Stuff): ‘All we want is a chance’: Rental shortage continues to bite
Georgia-May Gilbertson (Stuff): Hastings District Council addresses housing crisis as more than 1000 people remain in motel accommodation

Salvation Army State of the Nation Report
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Salvation Army calls for ‘brave policy action’ to stem increasing inequality
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Salvation Army urged govt to use pandemic recovery to address inequality
Alex Braae (Spinoff): Those with less getting left behind, new Sallies report shows

Inequality
Max Rashbrooke (Spinoff): New housing and incomes data underscores breadth of Ardern’s problems
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Household income was up, but so were housing costs, before Covid-19: Stats NZ
Brent Edwards (NBR): Household incomes rising but the wealthier are doing better (paywalled)

Covid: Lockdown decisions
Lucy Xia (Stuff): Hipkins ‘optimistic’ lockdown will be lifted with no new cases overnight
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Government to make alert level decision after possible ‘false alarm’ lockdown
1News: NZ’s Covid-19 response ‘lagging’ because it’s ‘extremely slow’ at embracing new science — Michael Baker
Richard Harman: Covid debate becoming ideological
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Covid-19: Ideal scientific policy doesn’t exist and if it did, you might not like it
Sharon Brettkelly (Stuff): Why Government pulled the trigger on lockdown
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Leaving lockdown a risky move
Jason Walls (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Cabinet decides today on lockdown, alert levels
Claire Trevett (Herald): Cut and Thrust: Covid-19 Parliament – National holds back, David Seymour lets rip (paywalled)
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern snaps at David Seymour, Chris Bishop after questions on Covid-19 saliva tests
Alan Kenyon (1News): ‘Glad there is an expert’ – Ardern appears frustrated at interjections during Covid-19 debate at Parliament
Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris (Spinoff): How NZ sleuths are investigating the new mystery Covid cases

Covid: Saliva testing
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Ministry of Health has completed just 140 saliva COVID-19 tests, despite having ability to do them six months ago
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Judith Collins keen to see mandatory daily saliva tests for all arrivals and border workers
Amelia Wade (Herald): National wants daily saliva testing at MIQ as epidemiologist slams ‘extremely slow’ embrace of scientific advances
Jamie Morton (Herald): Explained: What are saliva tests and can they beef up our borders? (paywalled)
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Experts weigh in on effectiveness of saliva tests versus nasal swabs
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern pushes back on ‘attempt to build a case for our opposition to saliva testing’ as Judith Collins digs in

Covid: Economics
Richard Meade (The Conversation): Would ‘COVID loans’ be a more affordable and sustainable way to support national economies?
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Government loosens requirements for lockdown business support
Priscilla Dickinson (Newshub): Economists estimate Auckland’s lockdown will cost ‘$45 million per day’
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Restaurants want immediate Govt support through lockdowns
Madison Reidy (Newshub): Auckland businesses forced to close doors struggling to pay loans from previous lockdowns
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Cost of cancelled Auckland events runs to millions for affected businesses
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Air freight subsidy extended for a month

Covid: Vaccine
Collin Tukuitonga and Grace Shaw (Newsroom): Why Māori and Pacific people should get the vaccine first
Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Māori-specific Covid-19 vaccine plan to account for increased risk – Hipkins
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Expiration dates and ‘inevitable’ computer glitches – what challenges our historic vaccine roll out (paywalled)

Covid: General
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Government considering making Covid-19 tracer app mandatory
Keith Lynch, Kate Newton and Aaron Wood (Stuff): Covid 19: How the UK variant could spread and restrictions may not be enough
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Pullman Hotel reopens as MIQ facility while air filtration is installed
Rosie Gordon (Stuff): Taranaki health workers plead for more clinics as they struggle with COVID-19 testing demand
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): We haven’t learned any lockdown lessons
Herald: Editorial: Covid 19 coronavirus UK variant even more of a threat (paywalled)
John Gibb (ODT): NZ urged to test wastewater for presence of the virus
1News: No new community cases overnight; Hipkins ‘optimistic’ Covid lockdown could end today
Eric Crampton (Newsroom): We are missing the obvious at the border
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Iwi joining police to control checkpoints on Northland’s southern boundary
Stephen Forbes (Stuff): Fears for south Aucklanders’ mental health amid third lockdown
Rodney Hide: The news is comedy

Local government
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Local government ineptitude has left the country broken
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Heads should roll over Wellington’s $6.4b transport plan (paywalled)
Georgina Campbell (Stuff): Transport Minister speaks after scathing Let’s Get Wellington Moving letter
Harry Lock (RNZ): Wellington density plans face ‘character area’ concerns
Damian George (Stuff): Wellingtonians support housing intensification in central city
Harry Lock (RNZ): Upper Hutt City Council revokes restrictive brothel bylaw

Economy
Dan Satherley (Newshub): New Zealand already back in recession, we just don’t know it yet – economist
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Westpac economists forecast second ‘technical recession’ for NZ (paywalled)
Rodney Dickens (Interest): What the ANZ business survey will and won’t tell you
Brent Edwards (NBR): MBIE mulls mail future when NZ Post funding runs out (paywalled)

Climate change
Jen Purdie (The Conversation): As NZ gets serious about climate change, can electricity replace fossil fuels in time?
Richard Prebble (Herald): Climate Change Response Amendment Bill contains sneaky new tax (paywalled)
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Why Commission called for no new natural gas links
Tim Jones (Newsroom): It’s coal’s turn on the ash heap of history

Media
Newstalk ZB: Media researcher doubts Google will do deal with any NZ media companies
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Identity Politics Acolytes cheer Vodafones creepy corporate blacklist
Devon Bolger (Herald): RNZ and TVNZ Christchurch moving in together

Other
Karl du Fresne (The Spectator Australia): New Zealand is being transformed, but not in a good way
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Kris Faafoi happy with security arrangements at Beijing visa office as Canada opens inquiry
Lorinda Cramer (The Conversation): The politics of the necktie — ‘colonial noose’, masculine marker or silk status symbol?
Guy Trafford (Interest): Exposing our own double-standards for cheap political points
Samira Taghavi (Herald): Irony and obfuscation in Sexual Violence Bill (paywalled)
Bob McCoskrie: Ministry of Health Advised No Ban on ‘Conversion Therapy’
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Conversion therapy: Green Party’s petition to end conversion therapy amasses 100,000 signatures in 48 hours
Mark Reason (Stuff): John Parker’s cunning plan to loosen gambling’s grip on community sports funding