NZ Politics Daily – 21 October 2021

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Today’s NZPD testimonial from Dr Mike Reid, Principal Policy Advisor, Local Government New Zealand

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Today’s content

National Party Covid-19 strategy, reopening plan
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): National’s reopening date isn’t rooted in science
Russell Palmer (RNZ): National’s plan risks vulnerable communities, critics warn
Amelia Wade (Newshub): The glaring omission from National’s COVID-19 economic plan
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern, Greens rip into National’s COVID-19 plan as Judith Collins pushes for freedom day
Stuff Editorial: Taking care of business – National’s plan has shimmer but is it safe?
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): National gets out the chequebook, but does it have the cash? (paywalled)
Rahul Bhattarai (Herald): Businesses optimistic about National Party’s Covid recovery plan (paywalled)
Charlie Gates (Stuff): Events sector welcomes National proposal for pandemic insurance
RNZ: Judith Collins on National’s target for ending lockdowns
Anna Whyte (1 News): National propose $100 ‘dine and discover’ voucher, tax changes in economic plan
Luke Malpass and Thomas Manch (Stuff): National Party proposes tax cuts, wage subsidy boost, and $100 vouchers for the vaccinated
Grant Bradley (Herald): National’s rescue package for hospo, tourism, small business
RNZ: National proposes reopening fully vaccinated businesses in ‘back in business’ plan
Zane Small (Newshub): National proposes two-year tax cuts for workers and small businesses
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Dawn Chorus: National eyes $30b of spending cuts (paywalled)

Govt Covid strategy, expert warnings
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Michael Baker concerned sidelining investigation of mystery case infections risks New Zealand losing control of outbreak
RNZ: Early easing of Covid restrictions could be lethal for Maori/Pasifika
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Covid-19 ‘tsunami coming’: Emergency nurse says lack of planning causing anxiety
Stephen Forbes (Local Democracy Reporting): Middlemore Hospital’s triage tent a warning sign, nurses’ union says
RNZ: Little moves to reassure health workforce as hospitals prepare for Covid-19 explosion
Newstalk ZB: Health Minister confident health system will cope with coming rise in Covid-19 cases
Siouxsie Wiles (Spinoff): What the data is telling us about New Zealand’s delta outbreak
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Covid-19 is part of life in Auckland, but it doesn’t have to be for New Zealand
Derek Cheng (Herald): Stay home, save lives, but when is Fortress Auckland no longer worth it? (paywalled)
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Medical expert slams Govt’s ‘best in show’ mentality, warns it leads to complacency
Belinda Feek (Herald): Chris Hipkins rules out a snap L4 lockdown – for now
Herald Editorial: Demanding answers in a time of uncertainty (paywalled)
Lisa Tumahai (Stuff): Iwi Māori are so much more than numbers and must be part of the solution
Kaysha Brownlie (Newshub): South Islanders feel forgotten as Government fails to include them when talking about ‘team of 5 million’
RNZ: Covid-19 wrap: MIQ escapees caught, school resumes for senior students

Education
RNZ: Back to school measures fall far short of ‘gold standard’ – modeller
RNZ: Secondary teachers’ union ‘dismayed and angry’ with decision for return to school
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Classroom air quality an ‘incredible blindspot’, researcher says
Zoe Holland (Herald): Senior students to return to school but aerosol chemist warns of viral transmission
Adam Jacobson (Stuff): Education Minister Chris Hipkins ‘awake at night’ over Delta spread in schools
Lauren Hendricksen (Newshub): Marist College student scared to return to school after being at centre of second largest cluster
1 News: Starship paediatrician wants same effort from Govt put into schools as MIQ
1 News: Year 11-13 can return to school in Level 3 from October 26
Caroline Williams (Stuff): Relief and concern at Government’s back-to-school plans
Zane Small (Newshub): Education Minister Chris Hipkins confirms year 11-13 students in alert level 3 can return to school on October 26
Adam Jacobson (Stuff): Education Minister Chris Hipkins ‘awake at night’ over Delta spread in schools
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): Educators’ frustrating wait for vaccine mandate details
1 News: Some Northland principals fear they will lose teachers due to vaccine mandate
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Significant change to exams — they’re online
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Telling parents they need to be vaccinated to see a teacher was incorrect, says principal
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Literacy problems, transport, discrimination listed as reasons kids don’t attend school 

Vaccine passports, mandatory vaccination
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Health ministry won’t endorse $20 staff vaccine sticker, says it’s ‘disappointing’ businesses ‘taking advantage’ of pandemic
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Universities investigating vaccine mandates for staff and students
Karen Coltman (Stuff): Fully vaccinated hairdressers are displaying a confirmation sticker on the door to reassure customers
Amy Williams (RNZ): Auckland hotel to allow only fully vaccinated guests
John Anthony (Stuff): Businesses want Government advice on whether they can ban customers unvaccinated against Covid-19
RNZ: Meat industry backs mandatory vaccination for sector workers
Rebecca Moore (1 News): Pregnant Canterbury mum ‘frustrated’ after midwife refuses Govt’s vaccine mandate
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Double-vaxxed doctor challenges mandate
Leonie Hayden (Spinoff): The mandate conundrum: NZ employers weigh up their options on requiring vaccination
Liz Gordon (Daily Blog): Daunting comparisons and necessary compulsion
Nadine Porter (Stuff): GP who may quit over Covid-19 stance tells anti-vax rally she tried to import ivermectin

Vaccine rollout
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Little points finger at DHBs failing Māori on vaccination
Robin Martin (Local Democracy Reporting): Taranaki vaccine rollout may have to rollover to 2022
Alice Angeloni (Local Democracy Reporting): Attitudes toward Covid-19 vaccine in Tairāwhiti revealed in survey
Andrew Macfarlane (1 News): New Zealand needs vaccine goals and fast
Julia Gabel (Herald): Revealed – Health authorities’ warnings that falling vaccine rates are putting Māori and Pacific children at risk
Mike Hosking (Herald): Give vaccine stragglers a deadline then let’s move on without them (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Booster Covid-19 vaccine doses to come before Christmas, as spread of Delta accelerates Government’s plans
Lucy Warhurst (Newshub): Vaccine boosters on way by end of year for high-risk people
RNZ: 15 people given expired vaccines, others given low doses
Piers Fuller (Stuff): Expired Covid-19 vaccinations given in Wellington
1 News: About 15 Wellingtonians received expired Covid vaccines
Adam Pearse (Herald): Vaccination shackles loosening in pursuit of equity
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Six Bay of Plenty residents given ‘low dose’ vaccine by accident
Nikki Preston (Herald): Minister’s message for Sandra Goudie – ‘no exception’ for mayor vaccinations
Henry Cooke and Kate Newton (Stuff): 11 charts show where the vaccine programme is after Super Saturday
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Murupara’s decisions should affect them, not NZ
Kim Moodie (RNZ): Free coffee, kai with vaccine offered to Ara students in Ōtautahi
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Interactive New Zealand map shows up-to-date vaccination data by suburb
Harkanwal Singh (Spinoff): The vaccination rate for every suburb in New Zealand on an interactive map
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Charting New Zealand’s vaccine rollout
Elspeth Frascatore (Spinoff): How to open a positive conversation with your vaccine hesitant friend
Maxine Jacobs (Stuff): More kōrero needed to get gang members over vaccination line, health leader says
Ben Strang (Stuff): Overseas vaccinations still not recognised in NZ

Auckland
Rawiri Taonui (Waatea News): Delta to go Exponential in Auckland
Waatea: Urban Māori resist Level 4 pressure
Claire Trevett (Herald): Pressure goes on PM to set out future for Auckland
RNZ: Govt defends Auckland restrictions, says daily Covid-19 cases could reach ‘high hundreds’
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): COVID-19 now detected in all Auckland city sample testing sites
Lana Andelane (Newshub): New Lynn park in Auckland removed as location of interest after visitors wrongly urged to isolate for 14 days, get tested

Cases, demographics
Anna Whyte (1 News): Over 1500 cases in latest outbreak unvaccinated, 409 of those kids
Māori TV: Māori still highest number of Covid cases for 17th straight day
Emma Russell (Herald): West Auckland man isolating in backyard tent, toileting in bucket after Covid exposure
RNZ: Checkpoint: Employer says man with Covid-19 on Waiheke can’t be trusted, breached health orders
Giles Dexter (Newshub): Waiheke’s first case leaves residents questioning Ministry of Health

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Alert level compliance, rules
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Brian Tamaki speaks out after pleading not guilty to breaching bail and breaking lockdown rules
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Police take 63-year-old man into custody for breaching bail, failing to follow COVID rules
RNZ: Brian Tamaki denies breaching level 3 rules at Auckland event
Craig Kapitan (Herald): Brian Tamaki in court again, following second protest
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Brian Tamaki pleads not guilty to latest charges
Kim Baker Wilson (1 News): Brian Tamaki appears in court as supporters shout ‘let him go’
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki returns to Auckland police station for ‘second round’
Dr Lynley Tulloch (Stuff): In the words of Shakespeare: Brian Tamaki ‘thou doth protest too much, methinks’
1 News: Four people charged over mass gatherings in North Island
Northern Advocate: Northland police charge man linked to Whangārei mass protest during alert level 3
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Police issue six infringement notices to North Shore partygoers
Herald: Wild North Shore party: Six people issued infringement notices
Belinda Feek (Herald): Waiheke Island councillor on ‘deeply frustrating’ case

NZ border, MIQ, immigration
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): MIQ rooms for health workers too little, too late for New Zealand’s ICU capacity as COVID cases rise – experts
RNZ: Govt sets aside 300 places a month for health workers
1 News: Health workers guaranteed 300 MIQ spots a month
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Government announces 300 MIQ spots a month for health workers
RNZ: Chief Ombudsman investigating MIQ booking system after hundreds of complaints
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon calls on PM to urgently prioritise pregnancy for MIQ places
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Investigation launched into managed isolation booking system following hundreds of complaints to Chief Ombudsman
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Only two of 200 dairy workers through the gate
Richard Harman (Phttps://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/126721728/miqueue-only-two-of-200-dairy-workers-through-the-gatelitik): MIQ: help is on its way (paywalled)
Katie Todd (RNZ): Pair charged with escaping MIQ facility, third person hands herself in
1 News: 3 Covid-positive cases escape MIQ in Auckland
Lloyd Burr (Magic): It’s time we scrapped MIQ
George Block (Stuff): 501 deportee flights to resume, dedicated isolation hotel stood up
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Email flurry from diplomats reveal reasons they want to come home
Mike Houlahan (ODT):Sailor still cannot get MIQ spot

Environment, climate change, conservation
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): One in five Kiwis don’t believe in climate change – survey
1 News: 1 in 5 Kiwis don’t believe in climate change — new research
Kevin Hague (Stuff): This Is How It Ends: Nature can protect us from climate change
David Williams (Newsroom): The burning questions about gas
Laura Revell (The Conversation): Microplastics are in the air we breathe and in Earth’s atmosphere, and they affect the climate
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): What’s happening at Glasgow, and will it be enough? (paywalled)
Rochelle Constantine and Wendi Roe (The Conversation): The critically endangered Māui dolphin is a conservation priority – we shouldn’t let uncertainty stop action to save it
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Researcher fearful old dumpsite could spell disaster for Hector’s dolphins
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Environment advocate says govt needs to focus on supply chain for waste reduction
Morgane Solignac (Stuff): Talley’s gets $1 million boost to reduce its carbon footprint in Blenheim

Housing
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): The ‘Townhouse Nation’ bipartisanship lasted just 112 minutes
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): Heritage homeowners will be feeling a little uneasy
Sam Stubbs (Stuff): Will the housing reforms work?
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): New housing rules: ‘There are going to be issues’
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Refreshing to see political unity over housing
Steven Cowan (Against the Current): Another doomed-to-fail market ‘solution’ to the housing crisis
Miriam Bell (Stuff): First-home buyers take record share of house purchases
Matthew Tso and Joel MacManus (Stuff): Caught on the hop – Wellington region’s mayors want more detail about government’s housing intensification plans
Newstalk ZB: Wellington Mayor: Housing bill goes against Govt’s climate change objectives
David Hargreaves (Interest): ANZ economists say housing market could ‘flip more abruptly than expected’
RNZ: Number of property sales drops over lockdown, but upturn in first home buyers
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): The rise and rise of townhouses in Hamilton
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Notice of motion filed to freeze rent increases for Wellington social housing tenants
Kiri Gillespie (Herald): Rotorua mayor reveals plans to address ‘humanitarian crisis’ with 3000 homes in five years (paywalled)
Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): Mayoral taskforce to tackle Wellington council’s social housing crisis
Carmen Hall (Herald): Whangamata and Waihī Beach house prices ‘skyrocket’ to record levels as remote workers move in (paywalled)
RNZ: Super Fund commits $300m to drive Warkworth property development project

Local government, Three Waters
RNZ: Māori wards voted in by Napier City Council but won’t be ready until 2025 term
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Napier council votes in favour of Māori wards from 2025
Doug Laing (Hawkes Bay Today): Napier City Council to adopt Māori wards by 2025 (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Let’s Get Wellington Moving options revealed, ahead of imminent public launch
Emily Ireland (Local Democracy Reporting): Five Towns Trail: ‘Where there is a will, there’s a way’
Chloe Ranford (Local Democracy Reporting): Council may backtrack on Picton beach access after safety concerns backed by experts
Georgina Campbell (Stuff): Wellington City Council votes to put district plan out for consultation
Hamish MacLean (ODT): ORC to consider 18% rates rise
Claire Edmondson (Herald): Why Three Waters is necessary despite divide (paywalled)

Parliament, Parties, MMP
Jack Vowles (Stuff): It’s a myth that MMP forces parties to follow the median voter
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Rendering Unto Caesar: In Labour, L’état c’est Jacinda.
Arena Williams and Stuart Smith (Stuff): The government commissioning a review of electoral law is frankly absurd
Lloyd Burr (Magic): Why would anyone want to be Chris Hipkins right now?
Phillida Bunkle (Newsroom): Book of the Week: Margaret Wilson’s revenge

Economy, business, Wage subsidy
Amy Williams (RNZ): Prolonged Covid-19 restrictions affecting Auckland businesses financially, mentally
Richard Meade (Spinoff): One chance to avoid a needless bonfire of Auckland business
Ella Stewart (RNZ): Bills mounting for barbers and hairdressers with no reprieve in sight
RNZ: Businesses urged to get ready for climate-related reporting
Peter Griffin (BusinessDesk): NZ has hard mahi ahead to meet the ransomware threat (paywalled)
Anne Gibson (Herald): Lockdown unlucky: SkyCity earnings forecast downgraded by $55m in new research (paywalled)

Supermarkets
1 News: Food and Grocery Council, Consumer NZ team up to combat supermarket duopoly
David Hargreaves (Interest): Joint call for Government action on the ‘concentration of market power’ in the supermarket sector
Newsroom: The breaker-upperer Tex Edwards: Taking on the supermarkets duopoly
Miranda Ffowcs Williams (Newsroom): How I survived being deleted by the supermarkets
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): This is why the Supermarket Duopoly must be smashed!

Health system
1 News: Minister: Covid vaccine disparities evidence health system not working for Māori
RNZ: Pae Ora Healthy Futures Bill: Health system reform introduced to Parliament
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Health reforms framework introduced to Parliament
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): If there were ever a time to acknowledge the need for a Māori Health Authority – COVID is it
Stephen Forbes (Local Democracy Reporting): Pharmac says all patients who meet criteria will get next generation diabetes drugs, despite concerns
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Wins ACC battle but ‘no joy’

Employment,
Alex Penk (A Place to Stand): Sweeping generalisations about the minimum wage can do more harm than good
Michael Andrew (BusinessDesk): Sam Stubbs: why the pay gap matters in the talent war (paywalled)
Dita De Boni (NBR): New movement nudges companies to self-report pay gap (paywalled)

Other
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): NZ’s pension system falls out of top 10 in global rankings (paywalled)
RNZ: New Zealand pension system drops in world rankings
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Inland Revenue uses new powers to write to wealthy Kiwis demanding wealth details (paywalled)
Susan St John (Herald): Time we had some bold action for children (paywalled)
Barbara Dreaver (1 News): 1 in 7 families in Pacific sending children to work, report finds
Sri Krishnamurthi (Evening Report): Perceptions over NZ’s public interest journalism project – saint or sinner?
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Chief Justice and Justice Young acted appropriately in ‘Moana’ case – commissioner
Philip Temple (ODT): Hydrogen not energy option for Manapouri
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Germans backing South Island green hydrogen research centre
RNZ: 10 percent of Central Otago-grown fruit going to waste, report finds
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): It’s time New Zealand bureaucrats & politicians took responsibility for their actions
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Inland Revenue to go offline for a week to complete $1.7b technology overhaul
RNZ: The Detail: The barriers before you even get to Customs
Dita De Boni (NBR): Ron Brierley: establishment pedophile and his thousands of victims (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Number of gang members on national list rises but Government says it’s not ‘complete picture’
Jolisa Gracewood (Spinoff): Situation vacant: who will turn around the transport supertanker for Aotearoa?
Emily Keddell (Newsroom): What our child protection system should be doing
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Internet comes to New Zealand’s defence after Jeremy Clarkson blasts Aotearoa, makes derogatory comment about Jacinda Ardern

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