Today’s content

Covid, MIQ, border
Michael Baker, Jennifer Summers, Amanda Kvalsvig, Matire Harwood, Nick Wilson (Public Health Expert): Preparing for Omicron: A proactive Government response is urgently needed to minimise harms
RNZ: Experts list steps New Zealand government needs to take to fight Omicron
RNZ: Traffic light system may need strengthening or adjusting in face of Omicron – Bloomfield
Jamie Morton (Herald): Jacinda Ardern on her booster jab, experts call for NZ’s return to ‘flattening the curve’
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Omicron ‘a case of when, not if’, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says
RNZ: Days before extent of Omicron spread known, ‘scan in everywhere’ urges Covid-19 modeller
RNZ: Omicron outbreak would push New Zealand back to red traffic light setting, says Jacinda Ardern
Herald: Traffic light system needs revision – experts
Rebecca Moore (1 News): Omicron in NZ a matter of ‘when, not if’ – Jacinda Ardern
Herald Editorial: Has New Zealand’s luck run out with border-linked Omicron case?
Siobhan Downes (Stuff): Vaccine pass or negative test no longer required to leave Auckland
Anne Gibson (Herald): Canterbury business owners stuck in Australia, can’t get into MIQ, selling home (paywalled)

Vaccine rollout, mandate, testing
Zane Small (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ‘open’ to booster shot requirement for COVID-19 vaccine certificates
Mchael Andrew (BusinessDesk): The omission that makes My Vaccine Pass ‘far less useful’ (paywalled)
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): PM Jacinda Ardern breaks silence over Clarke Gayford’s alleged attempt to get rapid antigen tests for mates
Māori TV: Tamariki Māori should be fast-tracked in vaccine rollout – Taonui
RNZ: Covid-19 vaccination for children: ‘You could think of it as an insurance policy’
Katie Todd (RNZ): Children’s vaccine rollout kicks off as government warns of Omicron threat
1 News: Surge in demand as 5 to 11-year-old vaccine rollout begins
Emma Russell (Herald): Only half of vaccination centres available for kids
Herald: Child vaccine rollout marred by massive traffic problems
Adam Pearse (Herald): Auckland health officials apologise for long vaccination queues
Bernadette Basagre (Stuff): Vaccination centres busy as children queue to receive their first jabs
Zane Small (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s dig at anti-vaccine rhetoric as rollout begins for 5-11 year olds
Dubby Henry (Herald): Parents taking Medsafe, Govt to court to stop vaccine rollout for 5-11s
Mike Yardley (Stuff): Time to get boosted, as Omicron skyrockets, then plummets, elsewhere
Spinoff: All your questions about kids and Covid vaccines, answered
Eric Trump (ODT): Fights about vaccine harm children: expert
RNZ: Covid-19 vaccine booster: Online bookings open as advice for at-risk people changes
RNZ: Not ‘two and done’: education to lift Māori booster uptake
Herald: Bizarre booster shot side effect explained
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Fewer than 6000 AstraZeneca doses given in New Zealand
RNZ: Hundreds of unvaccinated firefighters stood down
Adam Jacobson (Stuff): Hundreds of council workers unvaccinated despite looming deadline
Nikki Mandow (Newsroom): Challenges to legality of work vaccine mandates

Anti-vaccination, protests, rule breaches
1 News: Brian Tamaki denied bail, held in custody after court hearing
Herald: Destiny Church’s Brian Tamaki to remain in custody for 10 days after bail application refused
RNZ: Brian Tamaki remanded in custody for alleged breach of bail conditions
Herald: The moment Destiny Church’s Brian Tamaki was arrested
Herald: Jay Laga’aia calls out Brian Tamaki after arrest
Sam Olley (RNZ): Anti-vax GP speaks out against doctor who reported him
RNZ: Women accused of breaching Covid-19 restrictions to go on trial
Riley Kennedy (ODT): 37 possible traffic light breaches
Guy Williams (ODT): Conviction, $500 fine for lockdown breach
Guy Williams (Stuff): ‘Sense of entitlement’: Man who jet-boated during Covid 19 lockdown fined $500

Housing
RNZ: Would-be homeowners face banks pulling pre-approvals
1 News: Interactive map shows NZ suburbs median house value rises
RNZ: All New Zealand suburbs experienced house price growth in 2021
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Here’s where median house values are under $300,000
Anne Gibson (Herald): Four areas where house values shot up by $550,000+ last year
Catherine Masters (OneRoof): Will the average house price in Christchurch hit $1m in 2022?
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Government had three years of warnings new credit rules would shut out borrowers
Damien Venuto (Herald):  Credit changes – Govt’s good intentions fall short in lending law fiasco (paywalled)
Eva Corlett (Guardian): New Zealand banks reject home loans over spending on Christmas gifts and pets as tighter rules hit

Economy, Business, Employment
Liz McDonald (Stuff): Employers ‘desperate’ as shortfall of 10,000 workers hits productivity and profits
Marine Lourens (Stuff): 10,000 new workers a year needed to fill labour gap in Canterbury, study finds
Gianina Schwanecke (Stuff): Growers weary as harvest ‘crunch time’ nears amidst ongoing labour shortage
Richard Wagstaff (Stuff): Lifting worker confidence is critical to New Zealand’s success
Rob Stock (Stuff): Tony Alexander surveys households for tips on how to fight inflation
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Inflation, Covid, interest rates – what economists got wrong in 2021
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Kiwis literally freezing credit cards to curb urge to splurge
Kirk Hope (Herald):  Five big things on business owners’ minds in 2022 (paywalled)
Mikaela Wilkes (Stuff): Bay of Islands music festival 2022 is cancelled
Megan Wilson (Herald): Tauranga businesses hope for move to green (paywalled)

Tonga volcanic eruption, tsunami
RNZ: Distress signal prompts UN concern after Tonga volcanic eruption
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Tonga’s undersea cable could take weeks to repair
RNZ: Significant damage on Tonga’s west coast – NZ High Commission
RNZ: Tonga eruption: Power restored in Nuku’alofa as New Zealand sends air support
RNZ: Tonga eruption: NZ Air Force plane leaves for reconnaissance flight to assess damage
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Air Force Hercules preparing to air drop supplies to Tonga, naval deployment likely
Zane Small (Newshub): Defence Minister Peeni Henare’s gym selfie tribute to Tonga sparks outrage
Kim Moodie (RNZ): ‘Crucial time for our community’: Tongans in NZ pray family and friends are safe
RNZ: Horticulture industry using fund to support growers impacted by Tonga eruption
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Northland boat owners angry no tsunami siren, texts before waves hit Tūtūkākā Marina

Immigration
Jon Stephenson (Stuff): Did Government ‘simply cave’? National demands answers over residency decision for former vice-president of Afghanistan Sarwar Danish
Jem Traylen (BusinessDesk): Faafoi tight-lipped about overdue immigration reset (paywalled)

Environment, conservation
Simon Wilson (Herald): The value of superglue climate-change protests (paywalled)
Todd Niall (Stuff): Omicron and the threat it poses to Auckland climate action
Jamie Morton (Herald): No, Hunga-Tonga eruption won’t slow global warming
RNZ: Toxic algae found at fourth Southland river
Karen McWilliams (Spinoff): Game-changer or greenwashing tool? The new climate law could go either way

Health
RNZ: Wairau Hospital’s HDU to return to full operations
1 News: ‘Missed opportunities’ as man dies of septic shock, cancer
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Southern DHB missed cancer diagnosis despite seven trips to ED
John Lewis (ODT): Gastroenteritis outbreak closes two wards
Susan Wardell (Spinoff): Meet Aotearoa’s cyborg kids

Transport
Todd Niall (Stuff): Temporary fare freeze on Auckland public transport due to Covid-19 
Kate MacNamara (Herald): The $85m spend to revive KiwiRail workshops that officials recommended against (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Fuel firms set to be required to store more petrol in NZ after refinery closes

Local government
Luisa Girao (ODT): City council proposes extra funding and a loan for CBD precinct project
Phil Goff (Herald):  Heartening trends at future-focused Auckland Council (paywalled)
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Former Porirua mayor Nick Leggett considering a return to politics

Other
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The Choice
Chris Trotter (Interest): Cancelling the cancellers
Andy Fyers (BusinessDesk): Who’s who in the Wellington beltway
Rukuwai Tipene-Allen (Māori TV): ‘Wipe the Māori out’ – racist messages and threats towards Māori need to stop
Michael Neilson (Herald): Green MP Dr Elizabeth Kerekere on a year of wins for LGBTQI+
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Tova O’Brien goes to court in radio v TV employment tussle
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Ex Russell McVeagh partner suspended for two years over summer clerk groping
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Former Russell McVeagh partner suspended after sexually inappropriate behaviour
RNZ: Russell McVeagh ex-partner barred from law work, ordered to pay $100,000
Anna Leask (Herald): Government adviser in court on violence charge after alleged Christmas Eve bar assault in Christchurch
Niva Chittock (RNZ): Salvation Army Queenstown area community hub nears funding goal
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): ‘White men can’t dance’: Why Sir Buck Shelford changed the All Blacks haka
Christine McCarthy (Newsroom): Calling home: Why phone access for prisoners matters
Dave Armstrong (Stuff): From Isis to Prince, should NZ overhaul the baby name rules?
ODT Editorial: No-one so high as to be above the law