Today’s content

National Party, ACT
Charlie Mitchell and Laura Walters (Stuff): Christopher Luxon’s property gains soar as National promises to tackle housing crisis
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): National leader Christopher Luxon unaware his $7m Remuera home increased in value by $2.3m over one year
Herald: New National leader Chris Luxon owns seven properties – two funded by taxpayers
Zane Small (Newshub): National leader Christopher Luxon with 7 properties ‘wouldn’t want to see house prices fall dramatically’
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Matthew Hooton (Patreon): Bridgesnomics (paywalled)
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The Fellowship Of The Upper Room
Brigitte Morten (NBR): Labour should be worried by Luxon’s leadership tale (paywalled)
Josh Van Veen (Democracy Project): Bridges isn’t the one
Josie Pagani (Stuff): Actually, Leader of the Opposition is a great job
Herald: National Party reset around Christopher Luxon needs to work
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Abortion u-turn, housing pivot: Chris Luxon’s first day as National Party leader
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Christopher Luxon says he will vote for safe zones outside abortion clinics at second reading
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Willis promises to be balancing force as National’s new deputy leader
1 News: National’s new leaders sit down with Jessica Mutch McKay (video)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald):  Christopher Luxon’s rise – and the tricky question of faith in politics (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Stuff): New National leader Christopher Luxon and the big issues, where he stands
Newstalk ZB: Christopher Luxon: New National leader on his vision, key issues and moving forward (audio)
Newstalk ZB: Nicola Willis: National’s liberal and conservative wings came together yesterday (audio)
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Christopher Luxon praised for performance after leadership election, listening to groups Government ‘has lost’
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Time will tell, but Luxon is off to a good start
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): I’ve changed my mind on Christopher Luxon
Pete Burdon (Media Training): Chris Luxon’s Media Interview Skills
Zane Small (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has no plans to change approach with Christopher Luxon as National leader
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): The National Party opted for predictable Christopher Luxon over changemaker Shane Reti
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Southern MPs positive on Luxon; Woodhouse set to lose role
Herald: Winston Peters says Judith Collins displayed terrible judgment, queries Simon Bridges’ business skills
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Christopher Luxon offers to wear cowboy hat during interview, help The AM Show hosts water-ski
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Peter Dunne: Can ACT’s dream run continue?
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Friend or foe – Seymour welcomes Luxon challenge

Public Service
Barbara Allen and James Gluck (The Conversation): Can New Zealanders be confident about ethics in public service?
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Procurement gets political: Gumboot Friday
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Beyond price: ‘better balance’ for government procurement

Traffic light system, Auckland border opening
Northland Age (Herald): Northland iwi leaders get backing from DHBs to keep border closed to unvaxxed
Sam Olley (RNZ): Iwi chairs, DHB bosses have ‘grave concerns’ Covid will spread into Northland this summer
1 News: Holidaymakers won’t be barred from Bay of Islands over summer
Whanganui Chronicle: Whanganui iwi leader asks holidaymakers not to visit this summer
Maxine Jacobs (Stuff): ‘Don’t come if you’re not vaccinated’ — Whakatū iwi urge holidaymakers to be responsible
Lorna Thornber (Stuff): Should we travel to areas with low vaccination rates this summer?
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Chris Hipkins says iwi shouldn’t set up roadblocks to stop tourists
Lloyd Burr (Magic): Good intentions doesn’t give you the power to police the roads, and stop and check people
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Elimination first option, SDHB says
William Terite (Herald): Rural hospitals anxious as Aucklanders set to flee city
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): The restaurants refusing to take part in traffic light system and check vaccine certificates
Monika Barton (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern reveals she may have to uninvite wedding guests under COVID-19 traffic light system, leaving planning to Clarke Gayford
Herald: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on wedding plans: ‘You’d have to ask Clarke’
Lillian Hanly (1 News): Waitangi Treaty Grounds to be crowd free at 2022 events
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Waitangi commemorations cancelled under Covid’s shadow
Denise Piper (Stuff): Waitangi Day celebrations at Treaty Grounds canned for 2022
RNZ: Waitangi Day events for 2022 cancelled
Stuff:  Suzuki Series and Cemetery Circuit cancelled
Dubby Henry (Herald): Afterschool care, holiday programmes can reopen under red light
James Halpin (Stuff): Anti-vaccine mandate pastor says church will comply with traffic light rules

Economy, business, government subsidies
RNZ: Millions being spent to ‘reactivate economic activity, enhance wellbeing’ in Auckland
1 News: Aucklanders to get attractions vouchers to ‘spark’ recovery
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Chris Hipkins defends hospitality being left out of Govt’s $37.5 million Auckland stimulus package
RNZ: ‘Auckland is being punished’ as government pulls wage subsidy – Hospitality NZ
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Hospo misses out on $37m Government voucher package to reactivate Auckland
1 News: Auckland hospitality ‘crushed’ at voucher scheme exclusion
Michael Neilson (Herald): 100,000 vouchers for Aucklanders to reactivate city as lockdown ends
Adam Jacobson (Stuff): Prime Minister unveils $37m Auckland recovery fund, including 100k free tickets
Herald: Auckland’s arts sector welcomes move to traffic light system – but few shows to hit the stage before Christmas
Herald: $37m package includes explore Auckland vouchers over summer
Shawn McAvinue (ODT): Sector asks for further govt support
RNZ: Government expenses and deficit surge as it grapples with Covid-19 pandemic
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Covid puts further $1b dent in Government coffers in October
RNZ: Travelling in a pandemic: ‘Plan for what insurance won’t cover’ – Insurance Council
Evan Harding and Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Backpacking industry on verge of collapse; Invercargill hostel adjusts to survive
Courtney White (ODT): Workers nervous about rules
Jared Morgan (ODT): Covid complications test for hospitality
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Kim Moodie (RNZ): Employers lagging behind on support for menopausal women
Daniel Dunkley (Stuff): Omicron Covid-19 variant highlights Reserve Bank’s perilous path
Cameron Bagrie (BusinessDesk): Taming the beast that’s inflation (paywalled)
ODT: Beware the scourge of inflation
Toby Allen (Interest): What’s in store for housing, interest rates and the Kiwi dollar in 2022?
Anne Gibson (Herald): American film, TV giant Warner Bros wins consent to buy Auckland land
RNZ: The Detail: The MLM scheme making money from money-traders
Megan McNay (Herald): How to make a difference

Govt management of Delta outbreak
RNZ: Covid-19 wrap: Child vaccines in early 2022, Omicron in MIQ ‘inevitable’
Mike Hosking (Herald): Damning report on Covid-19 response tells us what we already know (paywalled)
Derek Cheng (Herald): How Auckland avoided the hundreds of deaths in Sydney and Melbourne (paywalled)

Mandatory vaccination, vaccine pass, rules
William Hewett (Newshub): Chris Hipkins blames overseas vaxxed Kiwis ‘supplying their information at the last minute’ for vaccine pass delays
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Fully vaccinated Kiwis struggling to get vaccine pass two days from traffic lights system
Newstalk ZB: Chris Hipkins: People vaccinated overseas may wait up to 14 days to get Vaccine Passes
Jo Lines-MacKenzie, Jonathan Guildford and Esther Ashby-Coventry (Stuff): Elderly, disabled struggling with tech requirements of vaccine passes
Chris Keall (Herald): Pharmacy a life-saver; MoH updates on overloaded help line (paywalled)
James Ting-Edwards (Stuff): Digital Identity in New Zealand: Technical choices have human impacts
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Lone Star New Lynn goes against vaccine mandate by advertising for waiting staff on No Jab Jobs website
Kirsty Wynn (Herald): The cafes and restaurants refusing to open doors in support of unvaxxed
Herald: Gisborne’s Tatapouri Bay campsite to allow unvaccinated visitors this summer
Esther Taunton (Stuff): VTNZ to require proof of vaccination from learner drivers before practical test
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): ANZ to require branch workers to be vaccinated or take rapid antigen test. But what about customers?
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Schools no longer required to keep register of vaccinated students
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Uni proposes vaccine mandate for all
ODT: Dunedin only one of southern councils insisting on passports
Logan Savory (Stuff): No vaccine proof needed at most Invercargill City Council facilities
Rachael Comer (Stuff): Vaccine passes required at libraries and pools in Timaru district
ODT: Most Invercargill public facilities won’t require pass
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): The unvaxxed: councils brace for 100s of dismissals (paywalled)

MIQ, home isolation
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Climate Change Minister James Shaw skipped COVID-19 managed isolation MIQ and joined self-isolation trial
Richard Harman (Poliitk): Government maintains tough clamp on migration
Tom Hunt (Stuff): No plans to replace Wellington MIQ despite calls for closure by Ombusdman
Robin Martin (RNZ): Shortage of oximeters worries iwi healthcare provider

Cases, demographics
Jamie Morton (Herald): Modeller answers five key questions about case trends
RNZ: Hospitalisation rate has dropped, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield says
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Hospitalisation, ICU cases ‘levelled off’ in Auckland outbreak 
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): ‘Emerging cluster’ at Bay of Plenty School, 70 pct of hospitalised COVID patients unvaccinated
Anna Whyte (1 News): Latest Nelson Covid case not linked to initial ones
RNZ: Two Nelson schools close after staff test positive for Covid-19

Vaccine rollout
Jake McKee (RNZ): Officials urged to move faster on vaccinating children aged 5-11
1 News: Vaccine rollout for children likely to begin in January
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Vaccinations for children aged 5 to 11 due to begin from January
Florence Kerr (Stuff): Kids and the Covid-19 vaccine
RNZ: ‘Confident’ Māori vaccination rates will hit target – Dr Rawiri Jansen
1 News: 15 out of 20 DHBs at 90% first dose jab rate
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Fewer than 24 hours left to get both doses in time for Christmas
Monika Barton (Newshub): Siouxsie Wiles and David Seymour among stars of ‘Vax The Nation’ music video from Dr Joel Rindelaub and Randa
Anna Leask (Herald): Christchurch psychologists team up to combat needle anxiety, boost vaccination rates
Anna Leask (Herald): Coroner investigating whether Dunedin man’s death connected to vaccine days earlier

Omicron variant
RNZ: Chris Hipkins: ‘Inevitable’ Omicron variant will show up in MIQ
Brittney Deguara (Stuff): ‘Inevitable’ Omicron will arrive in MIQ, Chris Hipkins says
James Ussher (Newsroom): Vaccine equity must be a global priority
Gwynne Dyer (Stuff): Digital peasants and the ignorant rich

Housing
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Snap decision time: National’s new leader prises open 3-storey housing pact
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Housing advocates urge National to stay the course on bipartisan deal to force councils to allow more homes
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Mega Landlords: 48 per cent rise in homes owned by trustees ‘suggests tax avoidance’
BusinessDesk: Is housing market FOMO finally evaporating?
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): ASB: House prices will fall next year
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Mortgage rates have shot up but deposit rates are still low. Are banks ripping savers off?
Katrina Shanks (Stuff): Want a mortgage? Get ready for extra scrutiny 
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Wellington house prices: New Zealand’s first state home is now worth more than $1m
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Wellington City Council to consider rent freeze for social housing tenants
Kirsty Frame (RNZ): Wellington City Council social housing tenants may soon get help with rent
Sahiban Hyde (Hawkes Bay Today/Herald): A&P Society member calls for Government help to save Hawke’s Bay showgrounds, housing proposal stays on table (paywalled)
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Canterbury home consent numbers beat earthquake rebuild record

Health
Herald: Ministry of Health survey: Covid mental health toll, smoking down, obesity up
Cushla Norman (1 News): Record number of Kiwis gave up cigarettes in the past year
Natalie Akoorie (Local Democracy Reporting): Waikato DHB cyberattack: Cancer hub out of action in chaotic aftermath
Nikki Preston (Herald): MoH investigation into Waikato DHB cyber attack still months away
Tess McClure (Guardian): New Zealand to enshrine protections for pill testing in ‘world first’
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Medical physicists to walk off the job
Luling Lin (Herald): Nitrates in water and risks to babies – what the evidence shows (paywalled)

Local government, Three Waters
Arena Williams and Stuart Smith (Stuff): Government reforms will make water safer and cheaper for us all, so why the protests?
Andrew Bayly (Herald):  The strategic value of water (paywalled)
Phil Pennington (RNZ): MBIE officials meet with Auckland Council over delays to hospital building consents
Moana Ellis (Local Democracy Reporting): Rangitīkei District Council sticks with 11 seats, including two new Māori seats
Logan Savory (Stuff): Council governance group meetings to now be held in public
Craig Ashworth (Local Democracy Reporting): Iwi will be first in line to buy council land
Riley Kennedy (ODT): DCC companies report profits despite pandemic
Susan Botting (Local Democracy Reporting): Whangārei: District’s new residential property value increases ‘mind boggling’ – resident
Felix Desmarais (Stuff): Rotorua waste plan: Kerbside organic waste collection, charges for rubbish dumpers floated
Matthew Littlewood (Stuff): Timaru District Council’s $1.5m grant tipped Scott Base bid in PrimePort’s favour

Auckland Council climate tax
Simon Wilson (Herald): Hooray for Auckland Council’s billion-dollar climate plan (paywalled)
Jordan Bond (RNZ): Goff’s climate levy a sly way to raise rates – ACT
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland mayor Phil Goff announces climate change tax among proposed 5.9 per cent rates increase
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Auckland climate tax a potential PR failure
RNZ: Auckland mayor proposes to charge households a climate levy
Tess McClure (Guardian): Auckland homeowners to pay $1.10 a week under ‘climate tax’ plan to green the city

Environment, conservation, Climate Change
Jamie Gray (Herald): NZ carbon prices hit record $68/unit at auction, post COP26 (paywalled)
RNZ: Dunedin City Council wants plan that addresses coastal system ‘as a whole’
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Diving into mātauranga Māori to find an 800-year-old solution for 70-year-old problem 
Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): Government to spend $850,000 on cycle trail maintenance
David Williams (Newsroom): DoC caves on national park walkway ‘extravagance’
Nina Hall, Charles Lawrie, and Sahar Priano (Stuff): Climate activism has gone digital, disruptive, and is facing up to racism within the movement
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Predator Free Wellington wants to use ‘inhumane’ trap to catch elusive rats

Primary industries, Groundswell protests
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Prime Minister may release information about Groundswell NZ
Tina Morrison (Stuff): Fonterra expected to pay highest milk price since it was formed 20 years ago 
Maja Burry (RNZ): Report funded to inform councils on farmland use and forestry

Employment
Charlotte Lockhart (Stuff): The ‘great resignation’ creates fertile ground to demand flexible working
Chris Tobin (Stuff): Timaru port workers may strike for two days
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Gender equality not happening at the expense of men, ANZ CEO says (paywalled)

Police, crime
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): ‘Open secret’ NZ has offensive cyber capability, security firm says
RNZ: GCSB offers new cyber defence service to private security providers
Phil Pennington (RNZ): High Court rules against police in unprecedented proceeds-of-crime case
RNZ: Checkpoint: Self-styled justice reformer knew he could not be charging to help prisoners – Corrections

Foreign Affairs
George Block (Stuff): Solomon Islands unrest: Defence Force, police to deploy for weeks-long mission
1 News: NZDF, police being sent to Solomon Islands amid unrest
Scott Palmer (Newshub): New Zealand sending Defence Force, Police to Solomon Islands after days of violence and rioting
Herald: Solomon Islands crisis: New Zealand sends troops and police to assist with humanitarian crisis looming
RNZ: New Zealand forces deployed to Solomon Islands
Agence France-Presse (Guardian): Solomon Islands unrest: New Zealand to send dozens of peacekeepers

Immigration
Anuja Nadkarni (Newsroom): Immigration plugs hole after unlawfully misinterpreting its policy
Hanna McCallum Brianna Mcilraith Tina Morrison (Stuff): Website crashes as applications open for fast-track migrant resident visas
Michael Neilson (Herald): Immigration residency visa website for one-off fast track applications crashes

Transport
Courtney Winter (Herald): Canterbury’s road toll highest in New Zealand
Kate Green (Stuff): Free public transport for Wellingtonians at Christmas, New Year
Damien O’Carroll (Stuff): VTNZ and Waka Kotahi brace for a surge in driver licencing tests under traffic light system
Tara Shaskey (Stuff): Waka Kotahi to propose highway speed limit of 80kmph – transport committee members
Steven Walton (Stuff): Christchurch bus services to be scaled back during weekdays due to driver shortage
Sapeer Mayron (Stuff): Auckland mother concerned Ministry’s school transport scheme bursts Covid bubbles

Energy
Andrew Owen (Stuff): Massive Taranaki wind turbine application gets resource consent
Liz McDonald (Stuff): $100m ‘world-leading’ solar plant will be 50 times bigger than any in New Zealand
Herald: Solar farm to be built at Christchurch Airport

Infrastructure
Ross Copland (Herald):  We need to be in for the long term (paywalled)
Stephen Douglas, Michele Villa, James Viray and Greg Carli (Herald): Infrastructure: Radical collaboration
Graham Skellern (Herald): Infrastructure: Price of a world-class infrastructure system (paywalled)
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Infrastructure: Time to make the big calls (paywalled)
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Infrastructure: Political buy-in is central to success of long-term plans (paywalled)
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Infrastructure: Water – Dealing with a long-standing deficit (paywalled)
Tim McCready (Herald): Infrastructure: Credit for green credentials
Tim McCready (Herald): Infrastructure: Compensation for businesses impacted by construction (paywalled)
David Greig (Herald): Infrastructure: KiwiRail’s infrastructure problem (paywalled)

Other
Laura James (1 News): Abuse towards disabled Kiwis reaches ‘epidemic proportions’
1 News: Kiwis, Australians most trusting of scientists – survey
Roger Partridge (Herald):  Roadblock on literacy’s pathway to prosperity (paywalled)
Stuff Editorial: Swamped coroners mean anguished families and less insight
Mark Story (Hawkes Bay Today/Herald): Nash’s freedom camping rules half-cocked (paywalled)
RNZ: RNZ launches new platform for rangatahi