Today’s content

Government management of outbreak, expert advice
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Government under pressure to explain when New Zealand will stop relying on Covid-19 lockdowns
Bernard Hickey: Calls to end elimination grow
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern offers hope as level 4 extended, but expert says lockdown may be failing
Kate MacNamara (Herald): Government ‘waited until election week’ to release favourable vaccine news (paywalled)
Barry Soper (Herald): Covid elimination strategy ditched by most of the world as being unworkable
Derek Cheng (Herald): Auckland’s light at the end of the tunnel, and what could still extinguish it (paywalled)
Ryan Bridge (Newshub): The Govt’s COVID-19 messaging is all over the shop – do lockdowns stop when enough Kiwis are vaccinated, or not?
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Move to extend Auckland’s level 4 lockdown ‘the right one’ – experts
Steve Braunias (Herald): Four o’clock looms (paywalled)
1 News: National says lockdown extension down to Govt’s ‘ongoing failures’
RNZ: Checkpoint: Further week of level 4 ‘not long enough’ – epidemiologist
Richard Harman (Politik): What comes after the lockdown (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Light at end of tunnel for Auckland amidst Delta darkness
Newstalk ZB: Des Gorman: Lockdown isn’t working
RNZ: Government sticks to elimination as Auckland enters fifth week of lockdown
RNZ: Auckland can’t afford to wait in level 4 for high vaccination rates – immunologist
RNZ: ACT leader David Seymour calls elimination strategy into question
1 News: Vaccination uptake the way to avoid future ‘harsh’ lockdowns – Ardern
RNZ: Aucklanders in seven suburbs told to get a test even without symptoms
Michael Neilson (Herald): Level 4 in Auckland extended for another week, rest of NZ to stay in level 2
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Auckland officially in longest ever lockdown, but there is hope
RNZ: Watch: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says Auckland to stay in lockdown for another week
Hannah Martin (Stuff): The next seven days ‘critical’ for Auckland’s move out of level 4
Tess McClure and Evan Corlett (Guardian): Auckland to remain in strict lockdown as New Zealand battles mystery Covid cases
RNZ: Auckland needs to stay in level 4 for at least one more week – Baker
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington to remain at Delta level 2
Dubby Henry (Herald): Cabinet meeting today decide on alert levels, Grant Robertson promises clear plan for Auckland
RNZ: The Detail: Masking out the virus
RNZ: Covid-19 outbreak day 27: Cases up again, lockdown extended

Vaccine rollout
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern explains why she won’t set a vaccination target to end lockdowns
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): To boost or not to boost?
Lincoln Tan (Herald): PM’s call to action – don’t wait, get vaccinated now
Amelia Wade (Newshub): War on misinformation continues raging as experts blast minority spreading rumours
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): Responding to David Seymour
Zane Small (Newshub): Minister Kelvin Davis rebuked by Green MP Elizabeth Kere for ‘pointing the finger’ at Māori over COVID-19 vaccination rates
Mihingarangi Forbes (Newshub): Whānau Ora providers need better access to Government data to target Māori for COVID-19 vaccinations – John Tamihere
Glenis Philip-Barbara and Andrew Becroft (Spinoff): How Māori and Pasifika groups are taking the vaccine message to whānau and aiga
1 News: Children could be next in line for Covid-19 vaccine
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Auckland vaccine programme director hopes for record-breaking week
RNZ: How a vaccine argument drove a wedge through our family

Wage subsidy, business, economy
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Third round of wage subsidies, but sales drops need to be pinned on Auckland
Anne Gibson (Herald): Workers’ pay might soon be cut, says building chief (paywalled)
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): It’s time the labels of essential business and workers were redefined
Newstalk ZB: Grant Robertson: Government have provided more financial support this lockdown than any previous
Jason Walls (Newstalk ZB): Hospitality businesses need more than just the Government’s ‘thanks’
Belinda Feek (Herald): The stressful toll of an Auckland business owner’s 10-day wait for wage subsidy
Helen Harvey (Stuff): Business to get a second Resurgence Support Payment to help ease financial burden during Covid-19
Stephen Forbes (Local Democracy Reporting): South Auckland businesses struggle with lockdown extension: ‘People are worried about their futures’
Rahul Bhattarai (Stuff): Another week in level 4 ‘devastating’ news – Retail NZ
Liz McDonald (Stuff): Alert level extension frustrating but not surprising
Herald: Lockdown extension another blow for Auckland businesses
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Level 4 extension ‘may be fatal blow’ for Auckland businesses
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Level 4 pain getting ‘a bit high’, different alert levels a strain for business
Rahul Bhattarai (Herald): Bars and restaurants at ‘crisis point’ as concern over lockdown conditions mount (paywalled)
Grant Bradley (Herald): Hotel Council Aotearoa counts $1.5 billion cost (paywalled)
Riley Kennedy (ODT): 35% of Otago jobs subsidy supported
Logan Savory (Stuff): Opening ILT Stadium Southland doors in level 2 almost pointless
Charlie Gates (Stuff): Community theatre groups scale back and risk closure over lockdowns
Kate Gree (Stuff): From zero diners to a full lunch service, it’s a promising start to the week for Wellington hospitality
Catherine Groenestein (Stuff): Garden shopping trumps eating out in Taranaki’s first weekend at level 2
Chris Tobin (Stuff): Mixed response to level 2 for South Canterbury businesses
Paul Mitchell (Stuff): Job opportunities rapidly returning to Manawatū after lockdown blow
Jake McKee (RNZ): Palmerston North ‘batted above its weight’ to help NZ through pandemic, mayor says
Tom Hunt (Stuff): WOW: Cancelled show costs Wellington City Council up to $5 million 
Liam Dann (Herald): GDP preview: Economy was red-hot. Is that meaningless now? (paywalled)
RNZ: GDP figures expected to illustrate state of economy prior to lockdown
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): GDP result this week: The leap before the fall
Sam Olley (RNZ): Building materials from Auckland running out in NZ
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Airbnb looks to RMA reform in latest push for consistent regulation with a ‘floor of rights’ (paywalled)
Dennis Wesselbaum (Newsroom): Is the focus on wellbeing a Cinderella story?
Ben Walker, Erin Roxburgh-Makea, Jesse Pirini, Stephen Cummings (The Conversation): Putting the community back into business: what te ao Māori can teach us about sustainable management

Alert level rules, compliance, enforcement
Vera Alves (Herald): Auckland couple who flew to Wānaka holiday home granted interim name suppression
Karen Rutherford (Newshub): Auckland couple who flouted lockdown rules to escape to holiday home seek name suppression
1 News: Parent of Wānaka travel accused a high-ranking legal professional
Nadine Porter and Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): Official’s son caught breaching lockdown rules granted suppression
Mark Quinlivan and Isabella Durant (Newshub): Man who allegedly crossed Auckland border, flew to Wānaka is the son of a high-ranking public official
RNZ: Couple who flouted Auckland lockdown rules were dobbed in online
RNZ: Queentown’s mayor wants police plan to avoid future Covid-19 border breaches
Stuff Editorial: Flying in the face of a nationwide effort
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Lincoln Tan (Herald): Auckland woman emotionally distraught after being denied border crossing for mum’s funeral
Guy Williams (ODT): Queenstown businessman charged over lockdown travel
Herald: Two ‘essential workers’ with cannabis arrested at Auckland checkpoint
Mike Dinsdale (Northern Advocate): Two sisters remanded in custody for allegedly driving through Northland/Auckland border
Michael Neilson (Herald): PM vows to ‘find a way’ for summer festivals to go ahead
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern gives hope that level 1 won’t be a pale shade of normal life
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Government extends expired WoFs, regos and licences
Kim Knight (Herald): Delta Diary – Week 4 (paywalled)

Inequality, charities
Todd Niall (Stuff): After triple-whammy lockdown, south Auckland deserves more than just vaccination
1 News: Govt offers $10m funding for Aucklanders to access food, essential items
Jade Temepara (Stuff): Food insecurity is Aotearoa’s gaping wound, and we’re running out of band-aids
Myjanne Jensen (Northland Age): Lockdown Hero – fisherman gives away $12,000 of fish to people in need

Border, MIQ, immigration
Katie Todd (RNZ): New Zealand losing migrant rest home staff to Canada, UK due to MIQ unavailability
Sahiban Hyde (Herald): Hawke’s Bay RSE worker’s cancer diagnosis: ‘I just want to get back (home)’
Nadine Porter (Stuff): Australia pinches NZ’s migrant dairy workers who cannot get residency
Adam Burns (Local Democracy Reporting): Migrant exodus felt in Mid-Canterbury as ongoing immigration delays bite
Anuja Nadkarni (Newsroom): Pacific corridor brings some relief to short-staffed orchards

Cases, demographics
Jamie Morton (Herald): 10 maps that reveal NZ’s vulnerability
Rawiri Taonui (Māori TV): Analysis: Expect Māori Covid cases to spike this week as second-highest by ethnicity
Rawiri Taonui (Waatea): Māori highest number of cases for the first time
Herald Editorial: Protecting children from Delta requires an effort from everyone (paywalled)

Siouxsie Wiles rule-breaking allegations
Zane Small (Newshub): National leader Judith Collins denies fat-shaming microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles
Newstalk ZB: National leader: Criticism for Siouxsie Wiles comments are politically motivated

Contact tracing, testing
Sam Olley (RNZ): Burnout a primary concern for Covid-19 vaccinators, contact tracers, testers
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): Corporates opt for private covid saliva tests (paywalled)

Health
RNZ: Auckland DHB restricts visits to compassionate grounds only
Emma Russell (Herald): Auckland DHB changes visitor policy – ‘compassionate’ entry only

Afghanistan
Stephen Hoadley (Herald): Twenty years after 9/11 – where to now for America? (paywalled)
Evan Jones (Newsroom): A plea for Afghanistan
Mary Argue (Spinoff): Afghans in Aotearoa on the agony of whānau facing life under the Taliban

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori; Aotearoa, place names
1 News: Māori Party launches petition to change NZ’s official name to Aotearoa
Chloe Ranford (RNZ): Iwi on mission to restore mana to mangled Marlborough place names
RNZ: From surviving to thriving
Prof Rawinia Higgins (Stuff): An open letter to Aotearoa
Mare Haimona-Riki (Māori TV): Māori Language Week kaupapa looks to top last year’s efforts
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Pioneering Māori language programme celebrates 30 years
Paul Brooks (Herald): Māori Language Week is about broadening the mind
Te Rau Winterburn (Stuff): Aotearoa, walk with me
Ben Walker, Erin Roxburgh-Makea, Jesse Pirini and Stephen Cummings (Stuff): What te ao Māori can teach us about sustainable business management
Scott Yeoman (Stuff): Dream of a bilingual nation – what will the linguistic future of Aotearoa New Zealand look like?

Housing
Emily Ireland (RNZ): Shelter Masterton homing vulnerable seeks funding support
RNZ: Pressure on construction work changing way houses are sold
Anne Gibson (Herald): $2b-$3b of Auckland house sales hang in balance (paywalled)
Ashley Church (OneRoof): Are higher house prices really a bad thing?
John Bolton (OneRoof): The big difference between buying a home in 2008 and buying a home in 2021
Liz McDonald (Stuff): New development with houses, apartments and shops approved by Environment Court

Local government
Dave Armstrong (Stuff): Corporate cliches distract nicely
Damian George (Stuff): Wellington City Council unable to spend $94 million on capital projects
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Groundswell NZ calls for councils to hold referendums before deciding on 3 Waters reforms
Janine Rankin (Stuff): Council restructuring aims to strengthen leadership as it copes with 140 vacancies
Lawrence Gullery (Stuff): Have community boards had their day?
Taroi Black (Māori TV): Councils shut iwi out of planning process
Kerrie Waterworth (ODT): Public input means board likely to stay
Gary Taylor (Herald): Auckland needs a proper metro rail system
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Road deaths soar in Auckland after bold new safety plan and lower speeds come in (paywalled)
Robin Martin (RNZ): Councillor’s comments on composting concerns raises a stink
ODT Editorial: Keeping sports’ hall dream alive
Grant Miller (ODT): Lifeline offered to keep hall open
Andrew Marshall (ODT): Suburban heritage protection mooted

Parliament
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Is there anyone left who thinks Judith Collins is a future PM?
Michele Hewitson (Listener/Herald): The rise and rise of David Seymour: Could he really lead NZ? (paywalled)
Verity Johnson (Stuff): What we need right now is for politicians to stop trolling
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Suspect white powder discovered in envelope by prime minister’s staff posed ‘no risk to anyone’
RNZ: Emergency services at Parliament after suspicious parcel sent to Beehive

Transport
Simon Wilson (Herald): In praise of bonkers – the transport debate (paywalled)
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Dangers, ‘incompetence’ among truck specialist engineers
1 News: Changes to learner and restricted licence renewals proposed
John Anthony (Stuff): Air NZ plans to be flying electric aircraft by 2030, chief pilot says

Education
Katy Jones (Stuff): Think-tank examines how to put new history curriculum into practice
Miriam Burrell (Herald): Parents and schools clash over school holiday dates
RNZ: Covid-19 demands school ventilation standards as priority – health experts

Media
Gavin Ellis (Knightly Views): Kill Facebook ‘comments’ before the buck stops with you
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Cornell Tukiri chosen from thousands for NZ Geographic photographer of year final

Environment, Climate change
Lindsay Wood (Newsroom): Now’s not the time for your climate change high horse
Inga Smith (ODT): Holding back the rivers of ice

Cyber attacks
Chris Keall (Herald): The one move our Government must make to deter hackers (paywalled)
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Kiwibank customers still having access issues

Primary industries
Seth Borenstein (Herald): No bull: Kiwi scientist potty trains cows to use ‘MooLoo’
Maja Burry (RNZ): MooLoo – researchers find toilet training cows is possible
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Wool farmers see potential salvation in new products for builders, architects

Other
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Not Understood: Chris Trotter Replies To Susan St John
Graeme Edgeler (Public Address): Everything was Done; or some answers to some of the questions people have been asking
Greg Billington (Stuff): Meet ‘the Woke’ – they’re neither social revolutionaries nor extremists
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Woods grabs new powers in electricity sector (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (1 News): Public submissions on proposal to ban conversion therapy highest ever received
Dan Lake (Newshub): Conversion therapy prohibition bill receives over 100,000 submissions
Karl du Fresne: A few thoughts on that Moana decision
Liz Gordon (Daily Blog): Replacement theory, wokism, Karens and the politics of the zero sum game
1 News: Rotorua whānau ‘disgusted’ by letter sent to kuia over Māori flag
Giles Dexter (Newshub): Food prices rise for fifth consecutive month as tomato growers ‘try to survive’
The Standard: The problems for women with sex self-ID in law and society