Today’s content

Parliamentary Services, workplace culture
John Weekes (Herald): Former MP Nick Smith’s worker says he was treated ‘like disposable pieces of trash’
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Toxicity at Parliament: Union demands Parliamentary Service boss front up
Matt McCarten (Daily Blog): Questions the Chief Executive of Parliament must answer
Stuff Editorial: We need to think beyond the culture review
Greg Presland (Standard): Clearing the decks

Parliament, parties
Jason Walls (Newstalk ZB): My top five political predictions for 2022
Rukuwai Tipene-Allen (Māori TV): Prime Minister’s Delta year: ‘Terrible’
John Minto (Daily Blog): Luxon Vs Ardern: Spot the difference
Jennifer Lees-Marshment and Edward Elder (University of Auckland): What did the NZ 2020 election reveal about public opinion and political marketing?
Eleanor de Jong (Guardian): Fractious Australia has much to learn from the kindness and purpose of New Zealand politics
Tess McClure (Guardian): ‘An unfilled-in vision’: can Christopher Luxon lead New Zealand’s National party back to power?
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Christopher Luxon’s National team takes shape: Cameron Burrows appointed chief-of-staff
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Cameron Burrows to be new National chief of staff
Zane Small (Newshub): The ‘three constituencies’ National leader Christopher Luxon is focused on winning back from Labour
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): Interview: The Green leaders on 2022
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Act joins fiscal hole club with $43b inflation typo
1 News: Ardern, Breakfast exchange ‘tasteful’ Christmas gifts
Mike Houlahan (ODT): The anatomy of a landslide win – review

Govt management of Covid-19, Traffic light decision
Derek Cheng (Herald): Jacinda Ardern’s New Year’s present – except for Northlanders or the unvaccinated (paywalled)
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Opinion: Orange is the new Green
Herald: Pandemic modeller says Northland’s ‘vulnerable communities’ at risk of spread
Mina Kerr-Lazenby (Stuff): Experts grateful for a few more weeks in the red traffic light phase
RNZ: Government’s traffic light settings decision under fire from political opposition
Denise Piper and George Block (Stuff): Northland businesses frustrated, mayors divided as red light sticks
RNZ: Northland Chamber of Commerce leader unimpressed at region staying in red traffic light setting
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Relief, but also timing questions, as holiday hot spots prepare to move to orange traffic light 
Katie Todd (RNZ): Aucklanders looking forward to orange traffic light setting but businesses surprised by delay
Adam Jacobson (Stuff): Government gives Auckland New Year’s Eve parties the orange light
John Weekes (Herald): Jacinda Ardern says Auckland, other regions set to move to orange at midnight on December 30
Rahul Bhattarai (Herald): Auckland gets orange light date but ‘too late’ for some, says Hospitality NZ boss
John Weekes (Herald): Red Christmas for many leaves bitter taste for business
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Northern Bass festival postponed as Northland stays in red until 2022
RNZ: Rātana celebrations cancelled over traffic light system restrictions
1 News: Rātana Pā cancels 2022 celebrations
Adam Burns (Local Democracy Reporting): ‘Should be in Green?’ Mixed response from Mid Canterbury
James Perry (Māori TV): Time running out for regional centres to reach 90% before orange light turns on
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Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk):‘Big four’ consulting firms make hay on covid advice
Edward Miller (Newsroom): Soft approach on vaccine apartheid will impose significant cost to NZ
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): Whatever happened to pandemic pariah Sweden?

Auckland border, summer travel, Testing
1 News: Kids should be tested for Covid before leaving Auckland – Baker
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Up to 20 per cent of infected travellers could be missed by rapid antigen testing
1 News: Unvaccinated can get rapid antigen testing from Wednesday
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William Hewett (Newshub): Majority of New Zealanders say no to restricting movement until 90 percent of Māori are vaccinated
Grant Bradley (Herald): Mass exodus: 12,000 flying out of Auckland on Air New Zealand when border opens (paywalled)
RNZ: Auckland’s border reopening: 7500 people booked to fly out of city tomorrow
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): Leaks in the new Northland border
Laura James (1 News): Checkpoint stickers for Northland border run out a day early
Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): Queenstown Airport flight numbers will triple when Auckland borders open 
Tracey Roxburgh and Andrew Marshall (ODT): Auckland to head to resort

Inequality, welfare
1 News: Wealthy nearly $1 trillion richer since Covid began – Hickey
Mike Treen (Daily Blog): Universal entitlements – the welfare “reform” we desperately need
Charlotte Muru-Lanning (Spinoff): Why food banks aren’t the answer
1 News: Whānau in need to receive ‘Christmas magic’ from City Mission

Māori bear brunt of Covid-19
Maxine Jacobs (Stuff): Covid-19 deals heaviest blow to Māori and worse could be yet to come, report finds
RNZ: Māori bearing the brunt of Covid-19 in Tāmaki Makarau, Independent Māori Statutory Board says
Tureiti Moxon (Herald): Blocks and breaches remain in Ministry of Health response
Taroi Black (Māori TV): Māori in Auckland lost nearly 30% of jobs – new report
Māori TV: No new Pākehā – Māori and Pacific set new Delta records | Dr Rawiri Taonui

Housing
Jem Traylen (BusinessDesk): Treasury’s doubts about Kāinga Ora’s $2B war chest
Jane Patterson (RNZ): ‘A campaign of denial’ – NZ Police and emergency housing
RNZ: Report reveals emerging issues in housing market
RNZ: Property prices increased in November amid continued supply pressure – REINZ
1 News: Median house price in NZ hits record high in November
Greg Ninness (Interest): House prices continuing to rise strongly but sales numbers are looking wobbly
BusinessDesk: Canterbury house prices rose 38.1% annually in Nov (paywalled)
Anne Gibson (Herald): NZ house prices hit new record $925,000, up 23.8%, Auckland now $1.3m
Liz McDonald (Stuff): Big dollars paid for city homes in record-breaking 2021
1 News: One family’s two-year battle to help son buy first home
Miriam Bell (Stuff): ‘Bleak picture’ for tenants as rental affordability declines further
Anne Gibson (Herald): ‘Pretty bleak picture for tenants’: Rents up 9.4% annually, nearly double inflation rate (paywalled)
Jake McKee (RNZ): Regions hit hard as rents increase nationally
Rob Stock (Stuff): Petition to rewrite laws that mortgage advisers say are ‘working against the NZ public’
Rob Stock (Stuff): Lending law change threatens to create an army of people who can’t get a bank loan – KPMG report
Heather du Plessis Allan (Newstalk ZB): The PM doesn’t seem to know what she’s talking about
Eric Frykberg (Listener/Herald): Through the roof: Will sky-high building costs ever come down to earth? (paywalled)
RNZ: Sections in new Gore subdivision to go on sale as housing demand soars
Herald: Max Key announces sale of his first Auckland property development

Border, MIQ, Omicron
Siobhan Downes (Stuff): PM hints border reopening date may be in jeopardy due to Omicron 
RNZ: New Zealand ‘vulnerable’ to Omicron until more people have booster – Covid-19 modeller
Richard Harman (Politik): Ardern hints at quarantine free border back-off (paywalled)
1 News: Border settings to be reassessed early Jan as Omicron looms
Tracey Roxburgh (ODT): Govt urged to open border with Australia

Vaccine pass, mandate
RNZ: Rugby players will need vaccination passes for club games
Will Trafford (Māori TV): NZ Rugby will require vaccine passports
Charlie Gates (Stuff): Parents barred from school Christmas concert over fears of vaccine legal stoush
Sam Olley (RNZ): Returnees vaccinated abroad stuck without vaccine pass: ‘It’s an absolute joke’
Robin Martin (RNZ): Womad organisers refund about 500 tickets over vaccine mandate

Vaccine rollout
1 News: ‘Don’t take anger out on us’ threatened vaccinator pleads
Williams Hewett (Newshub): Covid-19 vaccinator makes emotional plea after being threatened by parent
Corazon Miller (1 News): Māori, Pasifika the target of Auckland vaccination drive
RNZ: Health providers unite in final vaccination effort before Auckland re-opens
Moana Ellis (Local Democracy Reporting): Whanganui DHB hits 90 per cent vaccination milestone
1 News: Ardern praises ‘huge work’ from Northlanders on vaccine rates

Fake vaccine exemptions, anti-vaxxers, misinformation
RNZ: Dunedin nurse referred to Nursing Council over online threats to attack vaccination buses
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Police making enquiries after anti-vaxxer posts threatening video on social media
Avina Vidyadharan (Herald): ‘I’ll take you on a boot ride’: Northland nurse’s life threatened by anti-vaxxer (paywalled)
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Former COVID-19 denier discharged from hospital receives influx of kind messages
Zane Small (Newshub): Police texts to Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki amid anti-lockdown COVID-19 protest revealed
Herald: Police text Brian Tamaki to tell 1000-strong protest crowd to social distance
Stuff:  New campaign calls on Kiwis to ‘dial down’ vitriolic virus rhetoric
Eva Corlett (Guardian): New Zealand authorities investigate claims man received 10 Covid vaccinations in one day

Economy, business, government subsidies
Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): How Treasury and the Reserve Bank could work together to remove billions of dollars from the financial system
David Hargreaves (Interest): This week’s GDP figures expected to show a drop – but by nothing like the sort of drop economists earlier expected
RNZ: Cybersecurity expert warns of risk with too many holding onto unnecessary client info
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): After 18 months of silence, Fender Leathers’ tour guide patter is back
RNZ: Service industry’s hopes of recovery ‘limited’ as capacity pressures continue – economist
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Inquiry finds structural engineer negligent but not incompetent
Justine Smyth (Herald):  The challenges of change in a post-pandemic world (paywalled)
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Slowest lending growth for finance sector since 2010 – KPMG (paywalled)

Health
Ian Powell (Second Opinion): Who should one believe over hospital safety concerns?
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): ‘Aged care is going to be different’ association says
Mark Dye (Herald):  Why you’ll be hearing more about cannabis, bud (paywalled)

Smoking
Anna Rawhiti-Connell (Spinoff): I smoked for 20 years. I desperately wish there’d been a cigarette ban
James Pocock (Hawkes Bay Today/Herald): ‘Dairygeddon’: Hawke’s Bay dairy owners fear the new smokefree laws could bring ruin (paywalled)

Local government, Three Waters
Grant Miller (ODT): Council to reviewThree Waters assets ahead of reforms
RNZ: Three Waters: Ashburton mayor says process ‘farcical’ if mandate decided months ago
Mike Yardley (Stuff): Pause on Three Waters reforms suggests Government may be spooked by public backlash
ODT: Water users vote for private ownership
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Trash, water, roads: Wellington council looking at bringing it all back in-house
Tara Shaskey (Stuff): Chong and Bennett in the race for New Plymouth mayoralty
Tina Law (Stuff): Unsuccessful by-election contender could face criminal conviction for not declaring expenses in time
Sinead Gill (Stuff): Council faces tight deadline to get buildings earthquake strengthened
Grant Miller (ODT): Former DCC CEO left with $67.5K of unused leave
RNZ: Waikato bus drivers to get $1000 Christmas bonus
Stuff:  Waikato bus drivers all aboard for $200,000 Christmas bonus, living wage
Todd Niall (Stuff): Questions for 2022: Who do you want as Auckland mayor and will you ditch your car?

Environment, conservation, Climate Change
David Hall (Herald): Why pricing emissions isn’t enough (paywalled)
Nathan Cooper (The Conversation): Courts around the world have made strong climate rulings – not so in New Zealand
Mike Dinsdale (Northern Advocate/Herald): Campaign to buy land next to Northland’s Ngunguru Sandspit and return it to public ownership
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland Council and Government in talks about reinstating greater tree protection (paywalled)
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Assessment of Manuherikia River tailor-made

Education
George Driver (Listener/Herald): Education’s big OE: Can the international student sector recover, and do we want it to? (paywalled)
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Covid-19 has fundamentally disrupted teacher supply – Ministry
Dubby Henry (Herald): Oversupply of teachers possible next year, Ministry of Education forecasts show
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Covid-19 vaccine mandate could push teacher shortfall to 870 in 2022
Alice Wilkins (Newshub): Dilworth class action group calls for resignation of two of school’s trust board members
Herald: Dilworth class action group calls for the school’s chairman to resign

Transport
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Transmission Gully was never going to open before Christmas, here’s why (paywalled)
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Transmission Gully: Blame games and anger at road’s fifth delay in two years 
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Transmission Gully will not open in 2021, transport agency confirms
Mitchell Alexander (Newshub): Waka Kotahi chair Sir Brian Roche apologises for Transmission Gully not opening in 2021, hopes road ready by Easter 2022
1 News: Transmission Gully won’t open before Christmas
Dave Armstrong (Stuff): Ratepayers to stump up for driver shortage
Steven Walton (Stuff): Councils join forces to approach minister for cash to upgrade Christchurch buses
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Calls to include aviation in biofuel mandate this week
RNZ: Tarras community divided over planned international airport
Simon Wilson (Herald):  The right and wrong way to spend money on cycling (paywalled)

Police, Justice, corrections
Derek Cheng (Herald): Fear of jailing the innocent: Waitangi Tribunal claim hovers over bill to overhaul rape trials
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Seizures of drugs in prison increasing

Foreign affairs, defence, trade
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): How the US-China ‘decoupling’ drive will affect NZ
Ford Hart (Stuff): New Zealand is not a bystander when it comes to ‘strategic competition’
Vangelis Vitalis (Spinoff): Apec 2021: How the New Zealand event boosted Asia-Pacific’s pandemic response

Primary industries, Groundswell protests
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Coroner recommends tougher safety rules after forestry worker’s death
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): SNAs great if you have the space: West Coast farmer
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): Clarity coming on flood-hit West Coast farms – O’Connor
Herald: Groundswell founders distance themselves from racist protesters

Media
Gavin Ellis (Knightly Views): It’s Christmas: E-Lim-I-Nate the negative
Karl du Fresne: Journalistic prejudice exposed (#149 in a continuing series)
Daniel Dunkley (BusinessDesk): Facebook offers funding to The Spinoff (paywalled)

Other
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): ‘Essentially fobbed off’ – Sexual assault victims say they struggled to get financial help from ACC
NZ: The Detail: A new direction on domestic violence in NZ
Will Trafford (Māori TV): Equity and Economics; Equal footing for Coromandel rohe’s development plans
Newshub: Republican Senator Wendy Rogers under fire for calling Jacinda Ardern ‘Lenin with hair’
Herald: New Zealand’s Quote of the Year finalists announced
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Pew and the meaning of life