Today’s content

Parliament, government, 2021, 2022
Michael Hall (RNZ): Green Party discontent: Members walk, ex-MPs criticise leadership
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Green Party implosion in 5…4…3…2…
Morgan Godfery (Guardian): New Zealand’s successful Covid policies hid inequality – the government can’t ignore it this year
Spinoff: NZ politics in 2022: The big issues on which the year will hinge
Chris Trotter (Interest): Paradise postponed
Sasha Borissenko (Herald):  Winners and losers of 2021 (paywalled)
RNZ: National Party MP attends second anti-lockdown and mandate protest
1 News: National MP attends anti-mandate, anti-lockdown protest
Scott Palmer (Newshub): National MP Harete Hipango deletes post showing her at another anti-vaccine mandate and lockdown protest
Herald: National Party MP Harete Hipango attends second anti-lockdown and mandate protest
Stuff:  Whanganui MP Harete Hipango posts support for Voices for Freedom protest
Craig Renney (Herald): National poking holes in its own accounts, and its credibility again
Sam Stubbs (Stuff): 2020’s biggest taxpayer rip-off
Jon Johansson (Stuff): Five summer political reads that you’ll battle to put down

Omicron, Covid
Matthew Hooton (Patreon): Ardern is dithering again, with urgent Omicron decisions needed (paywalled)
Ian Powell (Second Opinion): A story too familiar for comfort
RNZ: Covid-19 tracer app vital to minimising potential Omicron outbreak, expert says
Miriam Burrell (Herald): Expert believes New Zealand isn’t ready for Omicron outbreak
Mike Munro (Herald): Govt will need to keep moving at pace to keep up with virus (paywalled)
Laura Walters (Stuff): Experts and politicians say Omicron in the community is inevitable, the level of threat is up for debate
Jamie Morton (Herald): The five Omicron questions we’re all asking
Miriam Burrell (Herald): NZ urged to prepare for Omicron outbreak as child vaccine doses arrive
Laura Walters (Stuff): The new NZ divide: those anxious about Covid-19’s inevitable spread, and the accepting
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Māori health leaders warn Omicron will overrun testing, tracing systems
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Māori health leaders to work through best and worst-case scenarios for Omicron arrival 
Simon Mercep (1 News): Concerns in NZ as Omicron causes havoc with Aus supply chains
Karen Coltman (Stuff): Supermarkets eye Australia’s Omicron troubles

Covid
Siouxsie Wiles (Guardian): As a scientist commenting on Covid I’ve attracted a lot of haters – I won’t let them silence me
Herald: Dr Siouxsie Wiles’ Guardian opinion piece on abuse from public amid employment dispute
Herald Editorial: The little country that said ‘yeah nah’ to Covid 19 (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: Learning from Australia’s outbreak
Ben Strang (Stuff): Documenting the pandemic – how Archives NZ and the National Library are keeping tabs
Jamie Morton (Herald): Covid 19 Alpha, Delta, Omicron: The great escapes that could have been outbreaks (paywalled)
Ben Strang (Stuff): Wellington well-placed for Covid-19 outbreak, but residents told to be vigilant
RNZ: Covid-19: Music festival risk downgraded by Health Ministry
1 News: Bay of Plenty music festival now lower risk Covid location
1 News: Covid scare almost saw Auckland festival cancelled mid-event
RNZ: Covid-19 update: 85 new community cases, 64 MIQ cases in past two days in New Zealand
Stuff:  Pop-up testing centre opens in Whangamatā after Covid-19 detected in wastewater
1 News: Sydney-based 1News correspondent tests positive for Covid
Herald: Expert Michael Baker’s son tests positive in Sydney

Protests, rules 
Suzette Howe (Newshub): Row brewing in Christchurch over ‘unlawful’ protests and Destiny Church events in Cranmer Square
Tina Law and Amber Allott (Stuff): Brian Tamaki attends Christchurch anti-vax protest in apparent breach of bail conditions
Niva Chittock (RNZ): Police investigate after Brian Tamaki speaks at Christchurch anti-vaccine protest
Herald: Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki attends anti-vax protest, police investigating
Ben Strang (Stuff): Covid-19 positive man caught after travelling from Bay of Plenty to Wellington
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Christchurch retail worker resigns after complaints of anti-vax abuse
Stuff:  Worksafe yet to visit controversial market
Kylie Klein-Nixon (Stuff): Fat Freddy’s Drop cancel Sydney Festival gig due to Covid restrictions
Adam Pearse (Herald): Vaccine passes worked well – Rhythm and Alps festival director

Vaccine rollout, testing
Keith Lynch (Stuff): Will the vaccine protect me from Omicron?
Sophie Cornish (Stuff): Wellington health authorities working through vaccine supply issues after ‘very high demand’ for booster shots
RNZ: 97 percent of eligible Aucklanders now fully vaccinated
Esther Ashby-Coventry (Stuff): South Canterbury principal urges families to follow vaccine advice of experts
James Halpin (Stuff): Half a million kids’ vaccines arrive in country
Michael Morrah (Newshub): All New Zealanders will soon be able to buy rapid antigen tests as Omicron looms
1 News: NZ will have enough rapid tests in Omicron outbreak – McElnay

Border, MIQ
Katie Todd (RNZ): IT issues at govt departments lock out visa holders from MIQ
Corazon Miller (1 News): Work underway on MIQ glitch that locked visa holders out
1 News: Emergency MIQ spots open for Kiwis facing hardship in Aus
Sophie Cornish (Stuff): Kiwis stuck in Australia may be able to return if they face ‘significant and severe hardship’
Corazon Miller (1 News): Relatives of skilled migrants locked out of NZ by MIQ glitch
Anne Gibson (Herald): ‘I’d pay thousands to return’: Kiwi lawyer stuck in Britain fails trying for MIQ place (paywalled)
Anne Gibson (Herald): Kiwi laser specialist stuck in Britain wants to open business in Whangārei (paywalled)
Herald: Kiwi fashion blogger and socialite Jaime Ridge hits out at Jacinda Ardern over MIQ
1 News: Cook Islands implements new health rules ahead of border opening

Housing
Geraden Cann (Stuff): First-home buyer in 50s pessimistic after losing mortgage approval to new rules
Amy Ridout (Stuff):  The people sleeping rough in Nelson
Stuff:  Kāinga Ora spend $500k on maintenance for Nelson Tasman tenants
Russell Poole (Stuff): Transit camps in Palmerston North – an experiment in social housing
Steven Walton (Stuff): Record number of new homes approved in booming Selwyn district

Environment, conservation
ODT Editorial: Making power for all New Zealand
Edward O’Driscoll (Newshub): Satellites orbiting Earth tracking health of New Zealand lakes, potential threats to humans
Hanna McCallum (Stuff): Burnout risk for climate change activists suffering ‘hopelessness’ and ‘despair’
Maria Armoudian and Simon Thrush (Newsroom): How oceans are the key to climate change solution
Ben Liley (Stuff): Scientific advances give me hope for climate
Māori TV: Māori-led conservation projects across Canterbury receive ‘jobs for nature’ funding boost
Katy Jones (Stuff): Group finds carbon emissions higher for food than transport
Laura Hooper (Stuff): Southland ‘prepared’ for impending agricultural climate change commitments
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Protecting Pūtiki: The ongoing fight to stop Waiheke’s Kennedy Point marina
Amber Allott (Stuff): Planting seeds and restoring rivers: $12.6m for Canterbury nature jobs
Lee Kenny (Stuff): ‘It totally resonates’: Kiwi climate experts react to the number one movie Don’t Look Up

Transport
Craig Harrison (Herald):  A shipping plan to resolve the supply chain crisis (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Car makers fail to persuade select committee to water down porposed carbon targets
Steven Joyce (Herald): Holiday road toll too high, safer regional roads urgently needed (paywalled)
Nicole Rosie (Stuff): Mistakes on the road are inevitable, but deaths and serious injuries aren’t 
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland’s ‘spectacular’ cycleway between Glen Innes and Tamaki Drive making good progress (paywalled)

Health
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): Paul Rowe’s family questions Palmerston North Hospital’s actions after his death
Jennifer Eder (Stuff): ‘It was chaos’: NZ nurse who resigned from understaffed Blenheim hospital
Jennifer Eder (Stuff): Blenheim’s nurse shortage prompts merger for HDU at Wairau Hospital
Hawkes Bay Today: Tō Waha to Wairoa: The free clinic tackling Wairoa’s dental service deficit
John Lewis (ODT): Staffing shortage hits home
Tom Hunt (Stuff): NZ midwives mull holiday boycott as pay issues leave some struggling
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): How would New Zealand’s health system deal with a ‘Dr Death’?
Catherine McLeod Glenda Lewis (Stuff): Should the Hepatitis A vaccine be mandated in NZ?
Tara Shaskey (Stuff): Broken on the frontline: PTSD a ‘huge and hidden’ problem among first responders
Stephanie Ockhuysen (Stuff): Plunket’s move away from in-home visits ‘heartbreaking’, say mums
Carly Gooch (Stuff): Hospital of the future on track for 2030 completion
Jo Lines-MacKenzie (Stuff): Waikato DBH bracing for challenging year 

Economy & Business
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Māori-backed third supermarket group would ‘benefit Pākehā too’
Janet Wilson (Stuff): Why rising food prices present a dilemma for Labour 
Liam Dann (Herald):  Economists pick the top five trends to watch in 2022 (paywalled)
Diana Clement (Herald):  Warning – inflation is coming to steal your money (paywalled)
Emma Turton (Newshub): NZ businesses prepare to welcome workers back after Christmas break with new COVID protocols in place
Marena Mane (Māori TV): Māori-owned business giving back to their community in Tāmaki

Education
Gaven Martin (Stuff):  We are having the wrong debate over how we teach science 
George Heagney (Stuff): Māori determining their own success through education
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Education needs to be flexible and responsive, director says
Herald Editorial: Academia must protect its greatest assets (paywalled)

Local government
Tina Law (Stuff): Hundreds of staff leave Christchurch City Council in the past year
Tina Law (Stuff): Water reforms put democracy and transparency under threat, councillor claims 
Ethan Griffiths (Herald): Whanganui mayor Hamish McDouall will seek third term at 2022 election (paywalled)
RNZ: Timaru council imposes restrictions to fix water discolouration
Janine Rankin (Stuff): Palmerston North gears up for $496m wastewater upgrade after years-long process mired in complaints of secrecy
Janine Rankin (Stuff): Labour and the Greens look for more local body candidates
Andrew Marshall (ODT): Role excites new Dunedin City Council’s heritage adviser

Water safety
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Horror holiday period the deadliest for drownings in 25 years, 14 victims aged 4 – 74
Laura Hooper (Stuff):  Southland boating fatality rate disproportionately higher than participation

Other
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Migrant exploitation complaints jump more than 250 per cent
1 News: Southern Response to pay $300 million over Christchurch quake claims
Herald: Officials opposed $85m Hillside spend
James Halpin (Stuff): Generations of abuse in state care: Mother and daughter speak out
RNZ: New details revealed in law suit over Whakaari eruption
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Whakaari/White Island lawsuits filed in US claim Royal Caribbean didn’t tell tourists of active volcano risks
Esther Taunton (Stuff):  Whakaari/White Island lawsuits claim victims weren’t warned of active volcano risks
Mina Kerr-Lazenby (Stuff): A sport on its last legs – can greyhound racing in New Zealand survive?
Sinead Gill (Stuff): Afghans in hiding because of service to New Zealand deserve hope, says former soldier
Stuff:  ‘I had a better upbringing in jail than I did with my family,’ says former Black Power leader
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): 50 child sex offenders in NZ granted name changes over last five years
RNZ: Ability to access and share data may drive more cybercrime in 2022 – security firm
Jarrod Gilbert (Herald):  Cashless future could create headaches for criminal underworld (paywalled)
John Lewis (ODT): Deportees longing for their families
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Another union which has had a good year
Jenny Ruth (BusinessDesk): More amiss at RBNZ than senior staff loss (paywalled)
Jill Herron (Newsroom): Just how viable is the Tarras airport plan?
Rukuwai Tipene-Allen (Māori TV): ‘Please show respect to our tūpuna who lay here and stay off Taratara’
Māori TV: Far North’s Waiharara wildfire damages some wāhi tapu sites
Māori TV: ‘The women led everything’ – Ngā Tamatoa member
Māori TV: Fat Freddy’s Drop pull out of Sydney Festival for Covid travel restriction reasons, after pressure to withdraw over Israeli funding of event
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Babies too close in age, so women miss out on paid leave