NZ Politics Daily: 19 August 2021

Lockdown
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): It’s no longer clear Jacinda Ardern’s strategy is the right one (paywalled)
Kate MacNamara (Herald): Government’s Covid spin spend masks a failure to deliver (paywalled)
Keith Lynch (Stuff): How viable is New Zealand’s coronavirus elimination plan in the time of Delta?
Audrey Young (Herald): Lessons for Judith Collins and Jacinda Ardern in handling a crisis (paywalled)
Ben Thomas (Stuff): This pandemic has raised unsettling questions about who we really are
Ian Powell (Second Opinion): Government’s response to New Zealand’s Delta threat is the right response
Derek Cheng (Herald): No light at the end of the lockdown tunnel – yet (paywalled)
Luke Malpass, Keith Lynch and Henry Cooke (Stuff): The race is on to find the index case
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Nation plunges back into lockdown after mystery community case ends golden period
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Hunt for source of community case narrows to MIQ or bubble blunder
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Why Auckland’s locations of interest are ‘bad news’ for superspread potential
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): We knew this was coming
Kylie Klein-Nixon (Stuff): Lockdown 2021 is less strange than 2020, but feels more ominous
Stuff Editorial: We can get through this lockdown too
ODT Editorial: The bubble is back
RNZ: NSW shows it is important not to lift lockdown too early – Ashley Bloomfield
Tess McClure (Guardian): Ardern’s Covid lockdown finds favour as New Zealand watches Sydney’s Delta disaster
1 News: NSW v NZ: How recent Aussie outbreak shows snap lockdown right move
Andrew Barnes (Herald): What it’s like living with Delta in the UK (paywalled)
RNZ: Surprise overseas sees media report on NZ’s lockdown ‘after a single case is reported’
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): A single case and a ‘never-ending nightmare’: World media react to NZ lockdown
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Ben Leahy (Herald): Delta outbreak: Ten cases – everything we know about them
Michael Neilson (Herald): Auckland location of interest goes back two weeks – lockdown length hinges on test results on NSW border link
RNZ: Covid-19 lockdown day 1: What has happened
RNZ: Photos: New Zealand wakes up to first day of the Covid-19 level 4 lockdown – again
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): Covid-19 Delta cases shock Coromandel community
Herewini Waikato (Māori TV): Ngāti Maru runs spontaneous checkpoint at Manaia
Kirsty Frame (RNZ): How Wellington responded to the snap alert level 4 lockdown
Daisy Hudson (ODT): The Covid hush returns
Sinead Gill (Stuff): Resilient rural households will cope with three-day lockdown, says community worker

Vaccine rollout
Troels Sommerville (Stuff): Vaccine levels too low to consider no-lockdown response, experts say
1 News: NZ had ‘no choice’ but to lock down amid vaccine roll-out ‘failure’ – Collins
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Lockdown needed due to low vaccination rate
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Could this lockdown have been avoided?
Herald Editorial: Vaccination urgency required (paywalled)
Troels Sommerville (Stuff): Experts call for essential services staff to jump vaccine queue 
Te Aorewa Rolleston, Jamie Tahana, and Matai O’Connor (RNZ): Māori communities swing into action as health professionals sound warning
Jessica Tyson (Māori TV): Māori need to be vaccinated ASAP – Dr Rawiri Taonui
Marena Mane (Māori TV): Māori over 25 need jabs now – Dr Rawiri Jansen
Torika Tokalau and Sapeer Mayron (Stuff): Low vaccine uptake makes Delta more dangerous for Pasifika and Māori – expert
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Judith Collins says Government should let everyone get vaccine after community Delta outbreak
Ryan Bridgei (Newshub): Covid-19 is lurking and the official advice ‘wait your turn’ is hard to hear for young people wanting a vaccination
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Vaccinations to resume across Auckland sites amid growing outbreak
RNZ: Vaccination programme to continue in alert level 4
Amy Wiggins (Herald): Vaccinations – What you need to know
Sam Sherwood (Stuff): Low vaccination rate among police labelled a ‘failure’
Herald: Ashley Bloomfield awaits vaccination turn
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Judith Collins says Government should let everyone get vaccine after community Delta outbreak
Henry Cooke (Stuff): New Zealand hits record-high vaccine day, but many in vulnerable group 3 still unprotected
Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris (Spinoff): How Covid vaccinated people can still get infected
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Vaccine trial ‘rescued’ by just 300 Kiwis to proceed despite lockdown
Grant Bradley (Herald): Qantas takes hard line on jabs for staff (paywalled)
ODT: Qantas to require all employees to be vaccinated against Covid

Tracer App
Andrew Chen (The Conversation): New Zealanders haven’t been scanning in enough, and that contributed to the need for a full lockdown
Bay of Plenty Times: Thames-Coromandel Mayor Goudie backtracks on Tracer app comments
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Coromandel Mayor Sandra Goudie backtracks on ‘absolutely ignorant’ COVID Tracer App comments
Kirsty Lawrence (Stuff): Coromandel mayor changes tune on use of coronavirus tracer app
RNZ: ‘Quite ashamed’ of Coromandel Mayor comments – Councillor

Testing
Mandy Te’ (Stuff): One shot at outbreak’ expert says as Covid-19 testing numbers increase
Cherie Howie (Herald): Long queues at testing stations
1 News: Three-hour wait at Covid-19 test site in Coromandel
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Covid test rates surge in South
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Earlier saliva testing could have prevented lockdown: Yale expert

Modelling
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): ‘Tip of the iceberg’: Modeller says 100 cases possible
1 News: Estimate of Covid outbreak reaching 120 cases a ‘ballpark figure’, says modeller
Keith Lynch (Stuff): Why are scientists saying there are 50 to 120 cases in the Delta outbreak
RNZ: Delta outbreak numbers could reach over 120 – Bloomfield
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): New Zealand could see between 50 to 120 more cases of Delta – Bloomfield
1 News: Expert: ‘No surprise’ more Delta Covid-19 cases are emerging

Level 4 rules, public health measures
Josephine Franks (Stuff): How New Zealand’s level 4 compares to NSW’s ‘strict’ Covid-19 lockdown
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Masks to be mandatory at all essential stores, Government announces
Herald: Mandatory mask wearing at essential services
RNZ: Pak’nSave and New World will turn people away if they’re not wearing a mask
Herald: Countdown won’t be refusing entry to non-mask wearers, knows not everyone can wear them
RNZ: ‘Stay away from people’ when you’re out of your house warns Siouxsie Wiles
Chloe Ranford (Local Democracy Reporting): Funeral restrictions send grieving family home
RNZ: Air NZ races to get 50k people home under lockdown rules
Brook Sabin (Stuff): Queenstown crisis: Air New Zealand reveals it’s trying to get more than 5000 people home

Anti lockdown protests, lockdown breaches
David Farrier (Webworm): RIP: Billy TK Jnr & Vinnie Eastwood
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Of Prophets – True And False
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Conspiracy theorists Billy Te Kahika and Vinny Eastwood face three charges each after anti-lockdown protest
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Three people charged after Auckland anti-lockdown protest
Herald: Billy TK arrested at anti-lockdown protest in Auckland
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Conspiracy theorists stop for no pandemic
Sam Sherwood and Catrin Owen (Stuff): Eight people arrested after attending anti-lockdown protests
RNZ: Conspiracy theorist Billy TK arrested at anti-lockdown protest
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): ‘Down with this sort of thing’
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Peter de Graaf (Northern Advocate): Lockdown exodus slammed as ‘selfish, appalling’
Denise Piper (Stuff): Aucklanders heading on holiday ahead of lockdown angers leaders
Sam Olley (RNZ): Concern high traffic suggests Aucklanders arrive north to holiday bachs
Kirsty Lawrence (Stuff): Coromandel residents set up illegal roadblock 
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Police called to shut down student party only 30 minutes into lockdown
Maddy Lloyd (1 News): Dunedin students already flouting lockdown rules
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Labour Party volunteer breaks lockdown for Poto Williams leaflet drop

Health system
Derek Cheng (Herald): Have we boosted hospital ICU capacity enough?
Marena Mane (Māori TV): Panic, stress and anxiety felt by nurses

Wage subsidy, business
Richard Harman (Politik): Why Robertson needs a short lockdown (paywalled)
Andy Fyers (BusinessDesk): Covid kitty: we’ll borrow more if we have to, Robertson says (paywalled)
RNZ: ‘We’ve shown that we come back quickly’ – Robertson
Adam Jacobson (Stuff): Supermarket workers get pay bonus during level 4 lockdown 
Māori TV: Supermarket staff promised 10% bonuses as lockdown panic buying resumes
Rahul Bhattarai (Herald): SME advice – How essential businesses should operate at level 4
Liam Dann (Herald): What lockdown will cost the economy – and how the experts work it out (paywalled)
Maja Burry and Sally Murphy (RNZ): Minister and primary sector leaders discuss lockdown implications
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Lockdown could be ‘last straw’ for battling businesses
Anne Gibson (Herald): How $750m NZICC is faring, 650 people away from site (paywalled)
John Weekes (Herald): Delta forces Auckland economy up against the wall, food wasted
Riley Kennedy (ODT): Heavy hit, then rebound predicted
RNZ: South Island businesses support lockdown: ‘We’re gutted but we understand’
Marta Steeman (Stuff): Hospitality business owners brace for a longer lockdown than seven days
Grant Bradley (Herald): NZ Board of Airline Representatives says aviation dealt a crushing blow(paywalled)
Gianina Schwanecke (Herald): Hawke’s Bay horticulture industry relieved as pruners and sprayers deemed essential workers (paywalled)
Laura Hooper (Stuff): Murihiku Polyfest event in question in light of national lockdown
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Meat processors temporarily reduce capacity after lockdown announced
Herald: Wellington lockdown: Chamber of Commerce urges businesses to apply for support early
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Transmission Gully: Too early to say how Covid 19 lockdown will affect troubled build
Chris Tobin (Stuff): SC business leader seeks Government clarification over Covid-19 support
Damian George (Stuff): Thousands of baked goods and school lunches donated, businesses still facing heavy losses
Uma Ahmed (Stuff): Cafes in Southland worried about food wastage during lockdown
Grant Bradley (Herald): Air New Zealand sticks to refund policy

Education
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): Schools better prepared for lockdown: ‘They know what they’re doing’
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): School leaders want to get laptops to students if lockdown is extended
Lee Kenny and Josephine Franks (Stuff): Classes cancelled or moved online as New Zealand’s eight universities fall silent

Afghanistan
Richard Jackson (ODT): An all-too predictable disaster
Nicholas Ross Smith (Herald): US self-belief is a one-way street to blunders
Thomas Manch (Stuff): New Zealand’s Afghan allies were pleading for help for months
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Afghanistan interpreter, civilians who worked with New Zealand Defence Force fear being left behind
1 News: C-130 Hercules to depart Auckland for Afghan mission
Shireen Khalil (Herald): Kiwi journalist for Al Jazeera only 1 of 3 women at Taliban conference
Matthew Tso (Stuff): New Zealander stuck in Kabul wants to get home with husband and child 
Negar Partow (Stuff): International legitimacy of Taliban government only tool for protecting Afghan people
Maxine Jacobs (Stuff): ‘It was worth it’: Soldiers speak to the fall of Afghanistan
Jimmy Ellingham (Stuff): Widow of Kiwi soldier killed in Kabul says deployment not in vain

Economy
Daniel Dunkley (Stuff): Path to interest rate hikes tricky as Covid-19’s Delta looms
Liam Dann (Herald): Rates hikes postponed not cancelled (hopefully) (paywalled)
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Dawn Chorus: The disappearing rate hikes
Herald: Major banks do U-turn, now expect no change in OCR
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Reserve Bank delays interest rate hike because of Delta outbreak 
Gyles Beckford (RNZ): Reserve Bank leaves OCR unchanged due to Covid uncertainty
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Economy propped up to resist ‘unpredictable and disruptive’ virus
Priscilla Dickinson (Newshub): Finance Minister supports Reserve Bank move to keep cash rate on hold

Housing
RNZ: The Detail: An ideological switch that led to our housing crisis
Diana Clement (One Roof): ‘We’ve been here before’: Will house prices rocket once NZ comes out of lockdown?
Rob Stock (Stuff): How half of home loan borrowers are using lockdown interest rates to get ahead
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Grant Robertson and Adrian Orr see house prices becoming more ‘sustainable’
David Hargreaves (Interest): The Reserve Bank now believes house prices are likely to fall right through from 2022 to 2024; says current prices are unsustainable
Miriam Bell (Stuff): The surprising ways new property tax rules impact on families 
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): House prices will fall 5% off top of rollercoaster, says Reserve Bank
RNZ: Queenstown community encouraged to give feedback on affordable housing

Environment, climate change, conservation
Tom Powell and Budyong Hill (Stuff): Is the National Party turning anti science?
Eloise Gibson (Stuff): What the big climate report said about New Zealand
Todd Niall (Stuff): Emission reduction: Submitters back transport plan but demand more
Jess Berentson-Shaw (Newsroom): Ask not what you can do for your country ..
Joanne Naish (Stuff): Sand mining proposal alarms residents in coastal village
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): EPA extends deadline on methyl bromide ban by 13 years
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Watercare reveals contaminant dumping data

Local government
Mark Vincent (Herald): Opportunities in Three Waters reforms (paywalled)
Luisa Girao (ODT): Activity ‘unacceptable’
Luisa Girao (ODT): Some councillors defend access to mayor’s email

Energy
Marcos Pelenur (Stuff): Why more electric vehicles won’t make the lights go out 
Shane Te Pou (Herald):  Is it time to unleash KiwiPower? (paywalled)
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Pete Hodgson called in to look at power cut issues (paywalled)
RNZ: Lockdown’s reduced power demand gives Transpower time to fix conductor

Media
Karl du Fresne: Afghanistan? Remind me – where’s that again?
Alison Mau (Stuff): Second MediaWorks boss resigns in wake of Maria Dew report into allegations of harassment and bullying
Kristin Hall (1 News): Mediaworks’ head of people and culture resigns as second high-level departure

Other
Melanie Carroll (Stuff):‘Basic racism’: Pacific workers struggle to get training and promotions
Tina Morrison (Stuff): Fletcher Building CEO’s $6.8m pay is ‘not justified’, professor says
Tina Morrison (Stuff): Fletcher posts $305m profit, sees ‘stronger for longer’ building activity
Eric Crampton (NZ Initiative): Political pull critical for scarce MIQ rooms
Eruera Tarena and Adrienne Anderson (Stuff): Race-baiting politics hurts all New Zealanders
Rob Stock (Stuff): Uninvited visits at home from the bank manager, and other unreasonable things in bank home loan contracts
Sarah Nealon (Stuff): How did this happen? Newshub’s Patrick Gower looks at hate in New Zealand 
Barbara Dreaver (RNZ): Tongans in NZ who put thousands into pyramid scheme left without cash in lockdown
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Teaching Council expects $10m shortfall unless law changes
RNZ: Former Samoa leader unhappy with NZ judge appointments
David Fisher (Herald): Ron Brierley: Inside the mind and crimes of a fallen knight (paywalled)
Chris Keall (Herald): After broadband miss, Spark doubles down on 5G spend, unveils 10 megawatt data centre plan (paywalled)
Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): Queenstown Airport profits plummet during turbulent year
Nadia Lim (Stuff): The true cost of the food in our trollies
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Lockdown protracts fight to protect mānuka honey as Kiwi