Today’s content

Russian invasion of Ukraine and foreign affairs
Josie Pagani (Stuff): Why Russia’s outrageous aggression in Ukraine matters to us all
Herald: Ukraine invasion: New Zealand has ‘skin in game’, should rally small, mid-powered nations in opposition – expert
Herald: Russia invades Ukraine: Plea for New Zealand to welcome any refugees from war zone with open arms
Neil Reid (Herald): Russia invades Ukraine: Putin’s ‘full-scale war’ strike condemned by NZ politicians
Richard Harman: “Give Putin an inch and he’ll take a mile” — Helen Clark (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Stuff): NZ suspends high-level engagement with Russian foreign ministry over Ukraine invasion
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Government calls on Russia to ‘permanently withdraw’ military from Ukraine, as Putin declares war
RNZ: New Zealand announces bans on Russia in response to Ukraine invasion
Lynn Prentice (The Standard): No appeasement with Russia over invasion
Zoe Holland (Herald): New Zealand-based Ukrainian heartbroken as Russia invades Ukraine
Herald: Russian invasion of Ukraine will hit petrol prices, KiwiSaver in NZ
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Sky TV ‘more on alert’ over Russia Today, amid Ukrainian disinformation worries
Bruce Munro (ODT): ‘We can’t remain silent’: NZ must speak out against Russia, expert says
Chris Trotter: Bear-Baiting
Robert G Patman (Newsroom): Robert Patman: Why Putin Opted for a Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine
Lucy Craymer (Stuff): A quiet militarisation of the Pacific region is under way

Covid
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Phase 3 marks the day Government decided to really live with Covid
Keith Lynch (Stuff): Do border and MIQ settings make sense as Omicron spreads?
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Ashley Bloomfield tells Government border rules are at odds with new Omicron phase 3 isolation requirements
Stuff: Editorial – Welcome to the year of the RAT
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Govt’s muddled isolation message belies Phase 3 inequity
Derek Cheng (Herald): The new era of damage control from now and for the foreseeable future (paywalled)
Chris Hyde (Stuff): ‘Welcome to Omicron’: There are 25,000 daily infections in the community, not 6000, expert says
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): More than one percent of Aucklanders have Covid-19
James Halpin and George Block (Stuff): Fifty per cent increase in prisoners with Covid after RAT tests included in figure
Justin Wong and Matthew Tso (Stuff): Hopes ‘phase 3’ will ease pressure on testers as case numbers soar
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Government reviewing self-isolation for travellers as cases mount
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Less isolation and more RATs as Government moves to ‘phase 3’ of Omicron outbreak
Gianina Schwanecke (Stuff): New Zealand’s supply of rapid antigen tests set to increase with arrival of 10 million over the weekend, ahead of Omicron peak
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): Principals smell a RAT in ministry’s testing promise
Stefan Dimitrof (Māori TV): Sir Ian Taylor ‘depressed by government incompetence’ on Covid testing
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Government wildly off with estimate of workforce (paywalled)
Rahul Bhattarai (Herald): Phase 3: Retailers must be given green light now to sell rapid antigen tests – Barnett
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Government could decide to end self-isolation for returnees within next month – Chris Hipkins
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): ACT says ‘time to move on’ from Covid restrictions, leader David Seymour outlines party’s Omicron policy
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): ACT says Government should dump scanning, long isolation periods, traffic light system
Anna Whyte (1News): Self-isolation requirements being reviewed for returning Kiwis
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Bloomfield and Health Ministry fail us yet again
1News: Bloomfield: ‘Be mindful about who you visit’ as Covid cases surge
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): We had so long to plan for RATs, how are we still cocking this up?
David Farrar: The stupidity of maintaining a closed border now
Mary Breheny (Newsroom): Covid fears are different for everyone, so listen

Covid protests and mandates: Analysis
Reweti Kohere (Spinoff): What two former speakers of the house think about parliament’s protest response
Peter Dunne: Time to tone down the Covid19 rhetoric
Emile Donovan (RNZ): Politicians and the protest at Parliament
Katrina Bennett (Herald): An abject failure – protesters’ cars should never have been able to get back in
1News: Protest ‘concentrated form’, ‘manifestation’ of frustration in NZ
Max Rashbrooke (Stuff): Self-improvement won’t get us out of this mess
Giacomo Lichtner (The Conversation): The NZ anti-vax movement’s exploitation of Holocaust imagery is part of a long and sorry history
Stefan Dimitrof (Māori TV): Winston Peters: Lack of leadership is crippling New Zealand
Brent Edwards (NBR): Balancing act on raising anti-mandate protestors’ concerns (paywalled)

Covid protests and mandates: News reporting
Maiki Sherman (1News): Protesters chase Ardern’s vehicle down driveway after school visit
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Censor bans Christchurch conspiracy video posted by parliament occupation group
Pete McKenzie (New York Times): New Zealand protest, an echo of Canada’s, digs in and turns ugly
Molly Swift (Newshub): Anti-mandate protester Brad Flutey admits ‘quite a few getting really sick’ at Parliament (paywalled)
Matthew Tso (Stuff): Protest having ‘unreasonably negative impact’ on Wellingtonians
Adam Pearse and John Weekes (Herald): Kids cry, caught in stand-off on occupation’s 17th day
Piers Fuller (Stuff): Hundreds of vehicles remain in occupation zone
Sophie Cornish and Matthew Tso (Stuff): Police confirm 20 protesters vehicles entered after checkpoint breach
Matthew Hampson (Stuff): The ‘pirate boat’ of Picton taking protesters to Wellington
Herald: Police ‘disappointed’ after protesters present ‘homemade shields’
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Police in riot gear gather at Parliament; Protest site ‘high-risk’ location of interest
Georgia O’Connor-Harding (Herald): Protesters shout abuse at Prime Minister’s Christchurch school visit

Political party donations prosecution court case
Sam Hurley (Herald): Labour Party art auctions: Charged trio of businessmen also accused in SFO’s National donations case
Katie Todd (RNZ): Labour Party donations case: Suppression lapses for three defendants
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Businessmen charged with making unlawful donations to Labour and National named
Zane Small (Newshub): Chinese businessman Yikun Zhang caught in Labour and National donation investigations vows to defend charges
Michael Andrew (BusinessDesk): Labour party donor vows to defend ‘misguided’ SFO prosecution
Brent Edwards (NBR): Yikun Zhang denies being a Chinese Communist Party member (paywalled)

Child poverty
Benedict Collins (1News): Govt’s child poverty progress ‘dismal’ – action group
Michael Neilson (Herald): Child poverty continues to trend down, but Government fails to fully meet key targets
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Child poverty tracks down but Government doesn’t meet key target
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Omicron looms over the small gains in child poverty

Economy and employment
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Economics forum to explore opening up the ‘hermit kingdom’
Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): Businesses complain support payment criteria is confusing, thresholds too tight (paywalled)
Rachel Smalley (NBR): Queenstown our canary in the coal mine (paywalled)
Kathy Spencer (Herald): Forget the unemployment insurance scheme, just fix what we have (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Reserve Bank has no regrets over its Covid monetary policy conduct (paywalled)
Brian Fallow (Herald): Reserve Bank’s hopes of soft landing for the economy will be hard to pull off (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Stuff): KiwiSaver is a creation of politicians. They can change it at will
Herald: Editorial: Air New Zealand’s heavy loss reflects pain for tourism sector (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Stuff): Insurance law reforms to protect consumers finally arrive 25 years after first being proposed
Tim Hunter (NBR): The Kiwibank solution is staring us in the face (paywalled)

Housing
Ian Powell: Time to tax property speculation
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Property investors bank median $446,000 from selling properties: Corelogic
Priscilla Dickinson (Newshub): Property owners pocket median profit of $420,000 from December quarter sales
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Chlöe Swarbrick, David Seymour grill Adrian Orr over whether the Bank knew it was igniting a housing boom
Miriam Bell (Stuff): The housing boom is over, Westpac says
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Hiking interest rates in a falling housing market: ‘That’s a pretty big deal’
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Home loan applications sharply down, credit law fix needed: Kiwibank boss (paywalled)
Ben Leahy (Herald): Karaka housing development: Land ready for new homes, can’t get water connected (paywalled)
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): Is home ownership really worth the stress?

Local government
Andrew Marshall (ODT): Mayor repeats racism concerns about water group
Emily Ireland (Local democracy reporting): Masterton councillor pushes for Three Waters Reforms opposition
Kate Green (Stuff): Increase in Wellington’s bus, train fares on cards, out of step with rest of country
Amber Allott (Stuff): Free buses for under-25s mooted, as ECan proposes 24 per cent rates hike
Gianina Schwanecke (Stuff): Residents of ‘community in crisis’ fear loss of representation through creation of Hastings Māori ward
Conor Knell (Stuff): Local Government Commission hears community outrage in Manawatū
Susan Botting (Local Democracy reporting): Mayor dismisses councillor from meeting for breaching council rules

Health
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Auckland GPs, nursing staff under pressure
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): Person in wheelchair dies after waiting 6 hours for ambulance
Emma Russell (Herald): Ambulance crews facing record number of callouts – people waiting up to 12 hours
Troels Sommerville (Stuff): Concern staff rotation could increase risk of spread at Middlemore Hospital

Other
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Odds-on it’s Christopher Luxon for PM in 2023 (paywalled)’
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): Blinkered: The danger when impartial public servants are seen as political apparatchiks
Rod Jackson (Herald): An epidemiologist’s expert views on sailing – thanks to social media (paywalled)
David Fisher (Herald): Operation Burnham: New NZ Defence Force inquiry after SAS raid info cover-up alleged
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Chief Ombudsman to investigate Defence Force for allegedly ‘misleading’ over Operation Burnham
Sam Olley (RNZ): Government terminates agreement relating to Whakaari/ White island
Tracy Neal (Herald): Advertising Standards Authority says its hands are tied after racist pamphlets return to Auckland letterboxes
Ric Stevens (Herald): New Zealand deported 400 criminals to Pacific countries over five years
Nikki Preston (Herald): Under attack: TVNZ staff threatened or abused 21 times in the past year
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Critics warn Lake Onslow power scheme’s $4b price tag may balloon
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): InternetNZ survey shows Kiwis growing more worried about online ‘misinformation’
Lee Kenny (Stuff): Millions in tertiary hardship cash was never paid to students
Sam Sherwood (Stuff): Police budget more than $600,000 to resume cannabis eradication operation
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Te Huia is a disaster, time to pull the pin
Neal Wallace (Farmers Weekly): Stricter foreign investment rules met with cautious optimism