Tiwai Point Smelter deal Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Aluminium smelter deal – who caved? Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Power play: Meridian Energy reaches deal with Rio Tinto over Tiwai Point Smelter No Right Turn: Paying the BluffGeld Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Tiwai Point negotiations continuing despite breakthrough on smelter RNZ: Locals ‘absolutely thrilled’ about Tiwai Point’s revival Evan Harding (Stuff): Tiwai aluminium smelter to stay open until end of 2024 Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Tiwai …

Covid Nick Wilson & Michael Baker (The Conversation): With COVID-19 mutating and surging, NZ urgently needs to tighten border controls Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Government’s latest Covid measures described as both too strong and too weak RNZ: Covid-19: Ban on UK flights should be considered – Professor Nick Wilson Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Covid-19 testing numbers plummet, worrying experts Phillip Hill & Brian Cox (Newsroom): How NZ should respond …

Covid, vaccine, and border Matthew Theunissen (RNZ): Government accused of being ‘too relaxed’ over new Covid strains Herald: Judith Collins on urging Govt to accelerate rollout of vaccine Jason Walls (Herald): Government being lobbied to accelerate the Covid vaccine rollout ‘before it’s too late’ Shannon Redstall (Newshub): Coronavirus: Judith Collins calls for vaccine roll-out ‘now’, or consider closing the borders Newsroom: Lockdown expected if new Covid variant found …

US politics and NZ Chris Keall (Herald): NZ Privacy Commissioner critical of Facebook and Twitter’s decision to ban Trump Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): NZ privacy commissioner says social media bans on Trump ‘arbitrary and cynical’ RNZ: PM should not ‘tiptoe’ around Trump’s culpability – professor Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): US riots: NZ Trump aide Chris Liddell staying on to ‘lead successful transition’ Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Liddell stays to manage …

US politics and NZ Marc Daalder (Newsroom): It could happen here Matthew Hooton (Herald): Capitol Riot confirms Donald Trump leaves office as worst President in history(paywalled) Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Kiwi Chris Liddell weighs up resigning as Trump’s deputy chief of staff Damian George (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern on US Capitol riot: Democracy ‘should never be undone by a mob’ Herald: ‘Democracy will prevail’: Jacinda Ardern condemns US Capitol violence …

Waikeria prison riot Te Aorewa Rolleston and Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Police fired rubber bullets at men during Waikeria Prison standoff Alexander Gillespie (RNZ): Waikeria inmates’ protest: a symptom of a much larger problem ODT: Editorial – Thorough Waikeria review needed Mackenzie Smith (RNZ): Waikeria prison protest prompts calls for Hōkai Rangi rethink John Weekes (Herald): Waikeria riot: Jail staff union’s disgust as dust settles and clean-up …

Housing Financial Times: New Zealand’s housing crisis poses big test for Jacinda Ardern Jean Bell (RNZ): Buying first home will be out of reach for more people in 2021 – CoreLogic Dan Satherley (Newshub): House prices kept going up through December, Government and investors blamed David Chaston (Interest): History repeating Craig Elliffe (Herald): Taxing residential properties: Is it time to pull the lever? (paywalled) RNZ: Average house price hit …

Today’s content Waikeria prison riot Chris Trotter: A Powerful political metaphor Polly Gillespie (Stuff): The prison riot that didn’t need to happen Kim Workman (RNZ): Transforming Waikeria – Hōkai Rangi or Hōkai Nuku? John Minto (Daily Blog): Waikeria – dignity and respect still missing 38 years later Ani O’Brien: Waikeria Prison riots and calls for prison abolition Don Franks (Redline): Reflections after Waikeria incident Martyn Bradbury (Waatea …

Today’s content New Year’s Honours 2021 list announced Amber Allott (Stuff): Christchurch’s new knight reflects on nearly 30 years in politics Rahul Bhattarai (RNZ): David Carter on knighthood: Speaker’s role vital in a democracy Bridie Witton (Stuff): Wellington epidemiologist who pushed for lockdown honoured John Weekes (Herald): New Year 2021 Honours: Constellation of Kiwi stars shine bright Caroline Williams (Stuff): New Year Honours: Dame Anne Salmond lands …

Today’s content Housing Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): What would actually happen if *shock horror* house prices fell? Rob Stock (Stuff): House prices set to rise further in first half of 2021 Susan St John (Interest): The speech I would like Grant Robertson to give in the New Year Tom Peters (WSWS): Housing crisis fuels poverty and inequality in New Zealand Brendon Harre: Depoliticising Housing Greg Ninness (Interest): Rising house prices …

Today’s content Parliament, and end of year reviews Bryce Edwards (Guardian): The secret of Jacinda Ardern’s success lies in her conservatism Chris Trotter (Interest): Jacinda Ardern knows that it’s restoration people want – not revolution Alexander Gillespie (The Conversation): New Zealand’s 2020 report card: doing well but could try harder Martin Van Beynen (Stuff): A year of soul-searching and virtue signalling Damien Grant (Stuff): Sir Roger Douglas’ great …

Today’s content Parliament, and end of year reviews Chris Trotter: 2021 will be about brown poverty and white guilt Steve Braunias (Guardian): Photos of New Zealand politicians and their bookcases are creepily revealing Claire Trevett (Herald): The lol-lights and comedy awards of 2020 (paywalled) John Minto (Daily Blog): We are a little people Mark Jennings (Newsroom): David Seymour: My best year in politics Brent Edwards (NBR): Fact or …

Housing Dan Satherley and Rosie Gordon (Newshub): Housing crisis: Rents up everywhere, as demand far outstrips supply Miriam Bell (RNZ): Median rent now 21 per cent higher than in 2015, Trade Me data shows Marta Steeman (Stuff): Construction sector slump forecast with calls for Government action Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Auckland to build 23,000 fewer homes than pre-pandemic forecast RNZ: Residential building drop predicted: ‘We are in …

Today’s content Parliament, and end of year reviews Chris Trotter (Interest): How the state was reclaimed for the people Richard Shaw (The Conversation): 2020 hindsight: can New Zealand apply the political lessons of COVID-19 in the year ahead? Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Arise, Sir Handbrake ‘Stuff political reporters’ (Stuff): How good were our political predictions for 2020? Well … we missed Covid-19 Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Signs …

Today’s content Parliament, and end of year reviews Claire Robinson (Guardian): Jacinda Ardern should make Speaker Trevor Mallard pay the price for his costly ‘mistake’ Tova O’Brien (Guardian): It’s been an ugly year for New Zealand politics but there are grounds for optimism in 2021 Henry Cooke (Stuff): Green Party co-leaders keen to stay on through next election Stuff: The best and the rest: Stuff’s …

Ihumātao deal RNZ: Ihumātao: SOUL marks the beginning of the end 1News: Ihumātao protest leader celebrates land deal with Government, but not sold on housing proposals Justin Latif (Spinoff): The story behind the fight to save Ihumātao NZ Herald: Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson denies Ihumātao will spark more deals for private land RNZ: At Ihumātao after the breakthrough: Relief, exhaustion – but work not …

Today’s content Speaker Trevor Mallard’s rape allegations Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Trevor Mallard has made things worse Barry Soper (Herald): Trevor Mallard raises more questions than he answers Claire Trevett (Herald): National’s attacks water off a Mallard’s back (paywalled) Newstalk ZB: Barry Soper reacts to Trevor Mallard’s select committee hearing Henry Cooke (Stuff): Speaker Trevor Mallard says he almost immediately regretted ‘rape’ comment Zane Small (Newshub): ‘Taxpayer invoice’ mascot …