Today’s content

Parliamentary Grounds occupation
Luke Malpass (Stuff): New poll shows 30 per cent of Kiwis support anti-mandate protest
Josie Pagani (Stuff): Tribal othering is easy to do, but it helps no one
Barry Soper (Herald): There’s an air of permanency at Parliament grounds
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): The new international brand of intolerance has arrived
Michael Neilson (Herald): Inside camp Parliament – the people who built a village outside Parliament (paywalled)
RNZ: No confidence in Ardern – Dame Tariana Turia
David Seymour (Stuff): Why the protesters should be heard
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Wellington iwi leader calls for ‘political solution’ to end protests
Rachel Smalley (NBR): Step up, face and engage with your critics, Jacinda Ardern (paywalled)
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Figureheads and factions: the key people at parliament occupation
Don Franks (Redline): How to Protest Properly
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Why there is no political deal to be done to end the Parliamentary protest
Stephen Franks: Outcomes of the Parliamentary occupation
Andrew Geddis (Pundit): I too am not a bit tamed
Stefan Dimitrof (Māori TV): Māori wardens’ helping hand amid Parliament protests
Stuff: Editorial – How does the Parliament protest sit, historically?
Kassie Hartendorp (Stuff): Understanding freedom means recognising we are all in this together
Chris Trotter: Caught in the crossfire
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Michael ‘Nazi Hunter’ Wood , Neale ‘send in the cops’ Jones & Clint’ Martial Law’ Smith – Why woke middle class marxism will kill Labour
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): 30% support the protestors?!?! – How did Jacinda’s neokindness lose the lumpenproletariat? 
Steven Cowan: The Madness of this Labour Government
Rosemary McLeod (Stuff): Who’s paying for the Parliament protest caterers?
David Beck (Herald): Freedom or freedumb? I’ve had enough of the vocal minority (paywalled)
Zane Small (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern refuses to engage with ‘illegal’ protest, insists involvement at Ihumātao ‘not the same’
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Labour’s Michael Wood warns MPs who want to support anti-mandate protest it has ‘river of filth’ running through it
Herald: Police to engage with protest leaders to bring the protest into a lawful state
Vandhna Bhan (1News) Police could have acted sooner on Parliament protest – Cahill
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Defence Minister says army’s towing vehicle could wreck protesters’ cars
RNZ: Vehicle towing yet to start, police ‘focus on engagement’
RNZ: Towing operator says companies ready to remove vehicles
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Towing company says task of shifting 450 vehicles an ‘impossibility’
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Political parties make joint-statement to protesters: We won’t talk until you clear roads
Herald: Govt in crisis meeting over protest, MP Michael Wood speaks out on dark undercurrent
Thomas Manch (Stuff): National security crisis group meets as Parliament protests continues
Jessica Mutch McKay (1News): Speaker asks for cross-party support in effort to talk with protesters
RNZ: Protest outside Parliament: Speaker Trevor Mallard says no dialogue until blockade clears
Newstalk ZB: Parliament protest liaison: Disappointed no one from govt has come to talk to us
Christopher Reive (Herald): Sir Russell Coutts to join Parliament protest
David Farrar: Sir Russell Coutts joins the protest
Claire Trevett (Herald): Former National MP Matt King confirms plans for new political party
Chris Hyde (Stuff): Is news media coverage of the Parliament protest throwing fuel on the fire?
Tim Brown (RNZ): Anti-media sentiment among protesters cause for concern – experts
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Far right video came from contractor working at Parliament
Tom Peters (World socialist website): New Zealand right-wing, pseudo-lefts urge government to “engage” with far-right protesters
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Central Wellington schools use security to keep students safe while protest ongoing
1News: Wellington retailers could see ‘permanent damage’ from protests
1News: Speaker outlines dialogue terms as protest hits day 11
RNZ: Protesters’ vehicle blockade remains on 10th day of occupation
Nadine Porter (Stuff): Inside the Christchurch protest and the stalemate angering locals
Niva Chittock (RNZ): ‘The law has failed’: Cranmer Square residents say protesters camping illegally
Matthew Hampson (Stuff): Trespass notices delivered after Picton protesters refuse to relocate
1News: Picton protesters refusing to move on despite trespass notice

Omicron
Keith Lynch (Stuff): Are NZ’s vaccine mandates justified in the age of Omicron?
Herald: 10,000 daily cases by March, Omicron peak in sight – expert
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): One in every 26 Covid-19 tests is positive
Russell Palmer (RNZ): MIQ rules begin to loosen as border opens and Omicron spreads
Oscar Francis and Eric Trump (ODT): Student sentiment appals epidemiologist
Brent Edwards (NBR): The new reality for businesses dealing with Omicron (paywalled)

Economy and employment
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Minimum wage workers pushed near middle tax bracket
David Williams (Newsroom): $1m legal bill for wage subsidy probes
Bernard Hickey: Fletcher’s very profitable inflation (paywalled)
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Government investigating ‘tikanga Māori based employment policy’
RNZ: Government launches Te Mahere Whai Mahi Māori strategy
Chris Keall (Herald): Amazon adds to its $7.5 billion Auckland data centre plans (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): Economic tide is turning – ANZ’s latest quarterly outlook (paywalled)
Andrea Fox (Herald): Mainfreight warns Auckland should brace for long freight delivery delays due to port issues (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Finance Minister insists ‘balance right’ on tax (paywalled)

Housing
Miriam Bell (Stuff): ‘Drastic fall’ in NZ housing affordability takes it to worst level on record
RNZ: Housing affordability at an all-time low – CoreLogic report
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): House prices now at a record 8.8x NZ incomes (paywalled)
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): The housing crisis ‘lever’ discounted by government (paywalled)
1News: First-home buyer says all-time low in housing affordability ‘daunting’
Felix Desmarais (Local democracy reporting): Ardern: Motel housing a ‘stopgap measure’ but no end date in sight for Rotorua

Parliament and Government
Matthew Hooton (Herald): One last chance left for Jacinda Ardern to deliver (paywalled)
Zane Small (Newshub): Greens renew call for Rainbow Ministry, an idea once dismissed by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
Brent Edwards (NBR): Housing ‘catastrophe’, child poverty – grim reading for govt in Sallies report (paywalled)
John Weekes (Herald): Charlotte Bellis MIQ dispute resurfaces, Nats scold jovial diplomat and claim privacy breach

Foreign affairs and trade
Whatitiri Te Wake (Māori TV): Foreign Affairs policy through a bicultural lens: Nanaia Mahuta’s first ministerial trip to Europe
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Nanaia Mahuta to travel to Europe for Indo-Pacific talks, meet WHO chief, UN Human Rights commissioner
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Australia indicates progress on NZ taking refugees issue but Aotearoa stays quiet
Michael Neilson (Herald): Australia accepts ‘in principle’ New Zealand’s refugees offer for 150 a year, nine years after first made

Health
Bridie Witton (Stuff): ‘Significant disruption’: Thousands of public health staff vote to strike as Omicron cases rise
Rowan Quinn (RNZ) Hospitals consistently understaffed, nurses overworked – report
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Bipartisan approach to mental health off to bad start
Ian Powell: Health systems, patient safety and Swiss cheese

Other
Andrew Ecclestone and Simon Wright (Stuff): How the media can improve the toxic dynamic with government
1News: Animal rights groups call for Todd’s knighthood to be revoked
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland mayoralty: Silence over possible contest for Labour blessing
Sean Rush (Stuff): Community projects must be decided by the community
Richard Harman: Defence Chief admits much of our defence force not up to “warfighting”
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Demand for Children’s Commissioner to be retained amid Government reforms
Trisia Farrelly (The Conversation): An international treaty to curb plastic pollution risks being watered down — New Zealand needs to take a stand
Māori TV: Government could fix gambling but won’t
Karl du Fresne: Well, at least we now know who the real defenders of free speech are