Today’s content

Parliament, MPs, Parties
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Which MPs could lose their jobs in 2022? (paywalled)
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Neck, meet block. Predictions for 2022 (paywalled)
David Fisher (Herald): Profile: Harete Hipango and how she upset National colleagues (paywalled)
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Greens satisfied after first year of pact with Labour
Ian Powell (Daily Blog): What do you know about politics if politics is all you know?
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): The list of Labour’s worst failures after 4 years & what they need to do at their annual caucus retreat this week
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Can Chris Luxon & David Seymour win in 2023?

Tonga volcanic eruption, tsunami
Stuff: New Zealand stands ready to help Tonga in wake of devastating tsunami
1 News: NZ Air Force aircraft to conduct flight over Tonga
Torika Tokalau and Josephine Franks (Stuff): NZ Defence Force poised to help, but no direct contact with Tonga Government yet
RNZ: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addresses situation in Tonga following volcanic eruption, tsunami
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Tonga volcanic eruption: ‘Too early to tell’ – Jacinda Ardern on injuries, damage from disaster
Herald: New Zealand ready to help Tonga; tsunami surge destroys boats, closes beaches in NZ
Newshub: Tonga eruption and tsunami: Jacinda Ardern gives update as officials determine what help New Zealand can provide
Māori TV: ‘We are thinking of our pacific friends and family’ – MPs express aroha for Tonga
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): New Zealand relatives of Tongans nervously wait for news from loved ones
Wyatt Ryder and Grant Miller (ODT): Blackout has families holding out for news
Rachel Sadler and Ruwani Perera (Newshub): Tonga eruption and tsunami: ACT calls out Civil Defence for not activating tsunami sirens before surge hit New Zealand
RNZ: Major repair job needed after Tūtūkākā Marina hit by strong wave surges
Avina Vidyadharan and Peter de Graaf (Northern Advocate): Northland’s east coast battered by effects of Tonga eruption and Cyclone Cody
Denise Piper (Stuff): Tonga tsunami: Tutukaka damage has business wondering, ‘what next?’
Kim Moodie (RNZ): Tonga eruption likely the world’s largest in 30 years – scientist

Covid, MIQ, border
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Boosters, Omicron, open borders: How New Zealand’s COVID-19 battle is set to change in 2022
Ian Powell (BusinessDesk): Take that, world! How we gave covid our best shot (paywalled)
Zoe Holland (Herald): Professor Michael Baker warns to prepare for a ‘very intense rise of cases’
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Omicron will overwhelm an ‘already overwhelmed system’, doctor fears
Katie Kenny (Stuff): The narrative of Omicron as a ‘milder’ variant is dangerous, given what we know about long Covid, experts warn
David Seymour (Herald): Omicron requires a whole new set of rules (paywalled)
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Traffic lights to be reviewed this week, as Govt prepares for Omicron’s arrival
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Jacinda Ardern to get booster as traffic lights get reviewed
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Only 1.5 per cent of travellers entering NZ have Omicron variant
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Some face masks ‘effectively worthless’, people urged to upgrade as Omicron looms
Mildred Armah (Stuff): Which face masks are available in NZ and which are the most effective?
Zane Small (Newshub): January 17: A significant day in the Government’s COVID-19 response looms
Liu Chen (RNZ): International students stuck overseas plead for clarity about when they can come to NZ
Cate Broughton (Stuff): International arrivals go without masks in transit corridor – while border cases grow
RNZ: Government works to get 14 people into MIQ after identity verification error
Herald: MIQ lifeline for Kiwi travellers in Australia blind-sided by border opening backflip
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): A cunning way to get home

Clarke Gayford testing controversy 
Herald Editorial: Prime Minister’s partner Clarke Gayford poorly miscast as Covid test adviser (paywalled)
ODT Editorial: Political spouse role not always easy
Janet Wilson (Stuff): Rules are rules for classic silly season stories

Vaccine rollout, mandate, testing
RNZ: Low delivery of booster shots puts NZ at risk from Omicron – epidemiologist
Herald: Expert says Omicron outbreak should be delayed to allow children to get vaccinated
Mataroria Lyndon (Herald): Vital to vaccinate our tamaraki now (paywalled)
1 News: Logistical issues hamper children’s vaccine rollout
Siouxsie Wiles (Stuff): Children’s Covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective
Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Booking vaccines for five to 11-year-olds not proving easy
Herald Editorial: Vaccinating children against Covid – what to consider (paywalled)
1 News: Covid-19 vaccinations start for 5 to 11-year-olds in NZ
Moana Ellis (Local Democracy Reporting): Iwi collective’s online blitz targets hesitancy over children’s vaccinations
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Experts fear 1 million rapid antigen tests a week for worst-case Omicron outbreak not enough 
Herald: Vaccination rates continue to dampen community infections
Denise Piper (Stuff): Northland yet to reach 90 per cent first doses, a month after all other DHBs
Maxine Jacobs (Stuff): How Capital and Coast DHB won the race to 90 per cent double-vaccination for Māori
Louisa Steyl (Stuff): Riverton a town divided over vaccines 
RNZ: More than 200 police officers yet to get first Covid-19 vaccine dose, some face being stood down
RNZ: Covid-19 vaccines: Deadline hits for Fire and Emergency, police
Adam Pearse (Herald): Man fights for vaccine exemption after ‘terrible’ eight weeks after first dose
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Who are the 17,100 ‘unknown’ people counted in our vaccine statistics?
James Halpin (Stuff): Battle of the sexes: Are more men or women vaccinated against Covid-19?
Thomas Mead (1 News): Auckland woman denied Covid vaccine exemption despite rare side effect

Anti-vaccination, protests, rule breaches
Sam Olley (RNZ): Doctor recording vaccinated patients as ‘magnetic’ in clinic notes
Kim Knight (Herald): Restaurant diners’ attitudes to vaccine passes and Covid rules scrutinised in new survey (paywalled)
Bill Ralston (Herald): The toughest questions we face in 2022 (paywalled)
Polly Gillespie (Stuff): Fear binds the angry on both sides of the vaccine divide 
John Anthony (Stuff): Traffic light loophole? Napier music venue Paisley Stage hosting concerts without vaccine passes
Herald: Manukau protest expected to cause traffic delays – police
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Brian Tamaki arrested for alleged breach of bail conditions
Martin Van Beynen (Stuff): Derek Tait: Destiny Church’s mouth in the south

Cases
1 News: Ardern expects ‘cautious approach’ over Auckland Omicron case
RNZ: Border worker confirmed as Omicron case
Lincoln Tan (Herald): MIQ worker confirmed as Omicron case, multiple high-risk locations of interest named
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Locations of interest in the Delta outbreak – January 16
Virginia Fallon and Liz McDonald (Stuff): Vigilance urged as community Omicron case confirmed in Auckland
Herald: MIQ worker infected with Omicron, 25 community cases
Josephine Franks and Denise Piper (Stuff): Infected border worker confirmed as Omicron case
RNZ: Auckland resthome caregiver tests positive
Gianina Schwanecke (Stuff): Two new Covid-19 cases announced in Hawke’s Bay

Education
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Educators should be urgently planning for safe return to schools and closures a ‘last resort’, expert says
Laura Walters and Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): As house prices rise, Wellington area school rolls are falling 
Sarah Catherall (Stuff): Covid and climate change have robbed 20-somethings of the exciting transition to adulthood
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Financial burden of swimming lessons is ‘massive’ but crucial for New Zealanders after horror summer of drownings

Housing
Neil Reid (Herald): Home loans: Minister calls for ‘investigation’ into new rules to be brought forward
Rob Stock (Stuff): Commerce minister David Clark orders inquiry into falling lending levels 
Rob Stock (Stuff): Dramatic drop in mortgage demand ‘threatens house prices’
Damien Venuto (Herald):  Credit changes – Govt’s good intentions fall short in lending law fiasco (paywalled)
Wyatt Ryder (ODT): Bank loan questions ‘invasive’
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Home loan changes: Are the banks taking the rules too far?
Don Brash (Bassett, Brash & Hide): Crocodile tears on house prices
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Will Labour’s appalling handling of the housing crisis spark a Rent Strike in 2022?
Sinead Gill (Stuff): Hidden homeless: Living life between the cracks 
Imran Ali (Herald): State houses in Northland: Kāinga Ora plans up to 250 homes by 2024 (paywalled)
Jane Matthews (Stuff): What it’s like living in New Plymouth’s 68-house Kiwibuild community 
Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): The Wellington luxury townhouse development that is pleasing neither the Nimbys nor the Yimbys
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Construction ‘reset’ needed to help housing market in 2022
Scott Yeoman (Stuff): Housing or green space? Tauranga debates future of Crown reserve land

Economy & Business
Damien Grant (Stuff): We Kiwis are a content lot, but trouble looms over the horizon
RNZ: First lot of 25,000 Auckland activity vouchers to be allocated
Murat Ungor (Newsroom): Inflation’s challenge for central banks
Matai O’Connor (RNZ): Summer profit down in Gisborne without Rhythm and Vines influx but locals enjoy quiet town
John Key (Herald):  Ultra Fast Broadband programme has been fantastic, but the job is not done (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Waatea News): Smashing Supermarket Duopoly could be a perfect example of co-governance
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Plan ahead, and don’t stockpile: What can Kiwis expect as supply issues continue?
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Land bought for $1 billion bid to turn Southland into global IT hub
Lana Hart (Stuff): Should we work for society’s benefit, and follow our passions elsewhere?

Environment, conservation
David Williams (Newsroom): Emissions from farm fertilisers are flying
Pete McKenzie (Guardian): New Zealand offshore drilling rig prompts furious backlash from climate activists
Amber Allott (Stuff): Fears climate change could tip toxic algae to deadly levels
Sarah Kaplan and John Muyskens (Stuff): The past seven years have been the hottest in recorded history, new data shows
Will Harvie (Stuff): 97 per cent of viruses in a NZ river new to science, study says
Kiri Gillespie (Herald): Bay of Plenty swimming spot Kaiate Falls plagued by seven-year poo problem (paywalled)
Blair Jackson (Stuff): Call for inquiry into failed MPI prosecution case in Southland
George Heagney (Stuff): ‘Stop disrespecting our moana’ – iwi upset at pāua pillage

Health
Lucy Xia (Stuff): Continued delays for younger Kiwis with bowel cancer symptoms seeking colonoscopies
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Auckland Mason Clinic patient locked in seclusion room for eight days 
Emma Russell (Herald): The vaping ‘epidemic’: Stores more common than fast food – hundreds close to schools (paywalled)
Emma Russell (Herald): ‘History repeating’: The rise of vaping-addicted teens (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: Vaped crusaders – heroes or villains? (paywalled)

Transport
RNZ: Auckland trains to resume as network shutdown nears end
Steven Walton (Stuff): Debate over when Christchurch bus timetables will return to normal

Prince Andrew
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern says Prince Andrew no longer holds New Zealand military patronage
Matthew Tso (Stuff): Prince Andrew stripped of NZ military title amid assault case
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Prince Andrew stripped of New Zealand military title

Other
Susan St John (Daily Blog): Tackling the Big Issues in 2022? Yeah Right!
Tina Law (Stuff): Party politics: A blessing or a curse for local government?
Olivia Caldwell (Stuff): Law experts and gun owners concerned over police use of warrantless search powers
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Delayed appeal will decide convicted drug smuggler Karel Sroubek’s fate
Pete McKenzie (Guardian): China’s choice of ambassador to New Zealand indicates focus on deepening economic ties
Simon Draper (Stuff): Asia elections in 2022 to have flow-on effects in New Zealand
Gerard Hindmarsh (Stuff): New Zealand’s forgotten slaves of the Pacific
Sharon Stephenson (Stuff): ‘I feel a real connection to New Zealand’ Behrouz Boochani on life and work in Aotearoa
Jono Galuszka (Stuff): Linton Military Camp defence force members rack up criminal convictions
Alison Mau (Stuff): Need something to look forward to in 2022? Here’s some inspiration for your year ahead
Keith Woodford (Interest): 2022 will be a big year for the primary industries
Christine McCarthy (Newsroom): A case for open prisons
Karen Pasco (ODT): Uncertainty continues for prison staff
Jacqui Southey (Stuff): Save the children’s commissioner, NZ’s campaigning superhero
Steve Braunias (Herald): On the importance of having good neighbours (paywalled)