Today’s content

Covid
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): The key Covid-19 questions for 2022
Peter Davis (Stuff): There’s no time to waste if we’re to keep Omicron out of NZ
Keith Lynch (Stuff): Could New Zealand actually eliminate Delta?
Jane Nixon (RNZ): Mixed views over school start date amid Omicron fears
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Epidemiologist suggests delay to school year to ramp up Covid-19 vaccination rollout for children
Molly Swift (Newshub): Kiwi epidemiologist warns Government threat of Omicron should see schools delay opening
Colleen Brown (Listener/Herald): Whatever it takes: The gulf between bureaucracy and reality in South Auckland’s Covid fight (paywalled)
RNZ: Covid-19 isolation facility opens at Rotorua lodge
Laura Smith (Herald): Rotorua lakeside lodge transformed into iwi-led isolation facility (paywalled)
Rawiri Taonui (Māori TV): Māori community cases pass 5,000
1 News: 14 new Covid-19 community cases in NZ today
Michael Daly (Stuff): The gripes and the fabulous of MIQ: Study finds big variation in hotel quality
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Australian father who waited 10 days to be at bedside of gravely ill son praises MIQ system
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Mocking Jamie Ridge’s privilege misses the building rage & why MIQ will get harder
Herald Editorial: Managed isolation frustrations and quandaries (paywalled)
Liam Napier (Herald): ‘They’ve harmed thousands of Kiwis’: David Higgins hits out at Government (paywalled)
Adam Pearse (Herald): Australia-based family’s last hope for transtasman move
Thomas Bywater (Herald): Cook Islands quarantine free travel: New requirements for returning travellers

Vaccine rollout, mandate, testing
Lillian Hanly (1 News): Almost 4% of mandated police not fully vaccinated
Steven Walton (Stuff): Christchurch council vaccine mandate in place, but status of 500 workers unknown
Herald: Herald includes booster coverage in vaccine tracker

Anti-vaxxers, protests, rule breaches
Amy Ridout (Stuff): Council staff retreat to back room as ‘aggressive’ protesters enter office
ODT Editorial: The Tamakis’ picnic
RNZ: Council charges anti-govt protest organisers more than $14,000
1 News: Christchurch council invoices mandate protest organisers $14k
Molly Swift and Caley Callahan (Newshub): Anti-mandate group founded by Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki fined over $14,000 by the Christchurch City Council
Mike Mather (Stuff): ‘Freedoms’ motorcade protester gets $500 fine for lockdown breach, unsafe riding on ute
Adam Pearse (Herald): Should Covid breach reports be anonymous?
Newshub: Deregistered, anti-vaxx doctor Jonie Girouard running ‘guilt free’ chocolate business
Newstalk ZB: Bryan Betty: “We need to have trust in the behaviour of doctors”
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Geraldine cafe under fire for comparing COVID-19 vaccine mandate to Holocaust
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): Amid misinformation and scams, the Ministry of Health advises people to go to trusted sources
Piers Fuller (Stuff): Carterton cafe allows dining on site despite opting out of vaccine pass system
Moana Ellis (Stuff): Iwi collective’s mobile Covid-19 units cop anti-vaccination flak

Parties, MPs, Parliament
Steven Cowan (Against the current): Green Party: Discontent grows with Shaw and Davidson
The Standard: Is it time for the Greens to go their own way?
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Labour MP Marja Lubeck’s summer break in Europe after securing MIQ slot
Peter de Graaf (Herald): Police investigating threat against Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern delivered to Kerikeri homes

Employment
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Stark warning to businesses: prepare now for ‘the big sick’
Audrey Young (Herald): Where the next big move in women’s pay is coming from (paywalled)
Riley Kennedy (ODT): Southern Taxis case a reminder of directors’ responsibilities
Riley Kennedy (ODT): Ex taxi firm owners may have to pay

Economy & Business
Andrew Barnes (Herald): Buy-now, pay-later consumer finance service hard trend to control (paywalled)
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Retailer ditches Paywave transactions after estimating almost $8000 in bank fees a year
Sam Olley and Sarah Robson (RNZ): Northland recommended to receive more tourism support to ‘not fall further behind’

Environment, conservation
Rod Oram (Newsroom): The most important day this year
Bruce Glavovic, Iain White, Tim Smith (The Conversation): Scientists call for a moratorium on climate change research until governments take real action
Jamie Morton (Herald): Scorching seas: Planet’s oceans running at record temperatures
RNZ: Warmer ocean temperatures clear indication climate change continuing – academic
Sophie Harris (Stuff): Ocean temperatures hit record high for third year in a row, global study shows
Leah Tebbutt (RNZ): NIWA’s annual climate summary: Aotearoa continues warming trend with 2021 topping record
Jamie Morton (Herald): Niwa confirms 2021 was NZ’s hottest year on record
Jamie Ensor and Ruwani Perera (Newshub): 2021 was New Zealand’s warmest year on record
1 News: 2021 was New Zealand’s hottest year on record – NIWA
Nathan Morton (Stuff): 2021 officially New Zealand’s hottest year on record, Niwa says
Karen Coltman (Herald): Farmers say more dams needed in hotter climate
Laura Hooper (Stuff): Southland should prepare for more extreme weather in 2022
Jamie Morton (Herald): Does NZ’s ‘marine heatwave’ mean more shark encounters?
Rachael Comer (Stuff): Health warning in place at Twizel River

Housing
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): ‘Real-life nightmare’: Renters facing dwindling options, Trade Me data shows
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Good news for house buyers: Options double in some areas
Anne Gibson (Herald): Numbers of houses for sale surges, annual sales numbers also up
Janine Rankin (Stuff): More sellers gain confidence to provide for housing demand
Tony Alexander (OneRoof):  Can’t get a mortgage, don’t want to buy – what will kill the boom
RNZ: National average property asking price hits 14-year high
Carmen Hall (Herald): ‘It’s ridiculous’: 27 days before bank picks up home loan application (paywalled)
Diana Clement (OneRoof): ‘Suck it up’: Just how much will interest rates rise in 2022?
Herald: Rental advocacy group slams ramshackle West Auckland listing
Melanie Earley (Stuff): TradeMe pulls listing for caravan inside shed that was offered as $285pw rental
Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): ‘The council do nothing’: No respite for refugee man and pregnant wife in mouldy Wellington council flat
Sinead Gill (Stuff): Housing project for homeless gets help to navigate red tape

Waitangi
Maiki Sherman (1 News): Te Tii Marae to host three-day Waitangi event
RNZ: Waitangi commemoration: Hapū agree to hold events at lower grounds
Tumamao Harawira (Māori TV): Te Tī Marae to continue with Waitangi Day celebrations

Health
Susan St John (Herald):  Changes to our accidental compensation scheme (paywalled)
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Auckland short five ambulances on Monday due to ‘ongoing’ staffing issues – union
RNZ: Doctors’ union calls for remuneration over ‘demanding’ workload
Mare Haimona-Riki (Māori TV): Whanganui iwi collective calls for more nurses in Covid response efforts
Oscar Francis (ODT): ACC vaping claims rise
RNZ: Lack of funding for financial mentors increasing stress on communities – FinCap report
Eric Trump (ODT): Schools lament loss of ChatBus

Transport
Sam Olley (RNZ): ‘Dangerous’ crash site unchanged despite investigation
Karen Rutherford (Newshub): Petition launched by mayors fighting reduced speed on deadly Napier-Taupō highway
Jo Lines-MacKenzie (Stuff): New Zealand’s toll roads ‘a waste of time’, motoring commentator says

Local government
Felix Desmarais (Local Democracy Reporting): “Extremely disturbing”: 12 appeals lodged against council’s representation review 
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Attacked on the street: Parking wardens assaulted with scooters, told ‘I hope you die’ (paywalled)

Other
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Police to no longer photograph youth unless in custody, barrister concerned arrests of Māori could increase
1 News: Calls grow for rāhui to have greater legal recognition
Newshub: Charity horrified by three major child abuse allegations in first 10 days of 2022
Daily Blog: The Working Group 1 hour Economy Special with Bernard Hickey, Simon Bridges & Damien Grant
Laura O’Connell Rapira: Help us donate $1,000,000 to youth movements in Aotearoa
Laura Walters (Stuff): New Chinese ambassador touches down in Wellington
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): New Chinese ambassador Wang Xiaolong begins term in Wellington
Georgina Campbell (Herald): A thousand Inland Revenue staff to remain displaced for most of the year