NZ Politics Daily: 23 August 2021

August 23, 2021

Government management of outbreak, expert advice
Gordon Campbell: On our polarised attitudes to the Covid response
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Failings that were foreseeable and unforgivable let Delta loose
Charlie Mitchell (Stuff): The Delta variant can be beaten, but it’s also defeated some countries previously successful at fighting off coronavirus
Tess McClure (Guardian): ‘No second chances’: Can New Zealand beat Delta?
Luke Malpass (Stuff): What will the Government do if it can’t eliminate Delta?
Star News: Why NZ stands a good chance of avoiding Sydney’s fate
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): ‘We need a country that stands up to Delta’ – US Covid expert
Herald Editorial: Queensland a positive lockdown example (paywalled)
Claire Trevett (Herald): Delta outbreak – don’t rule out at least 4-week lockdown in Monday’s Cabinet decision (paywalled)
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Were Government departments prepared for Delta?
Stuff Editorial: In praise of staying put – purposefully
Herald Editorial: Delta variant a challenge we must rise to (paywalled)
Tracy Watkins (Stuff): We’ve been here before – so why weren’t we better prepared?
Claire Trevett (Herald): Delta outbreak leaves PM relying on fear instead of vaccines for lockdown success (paywalled)
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Exclusive poll: Resounding popular support for decision to take NZ into strict lockdown
Andrew Gunn (Stuff): Shock Covid news: Who knew there were tradesmen living in Devonport?
Efeso Collins (Spinoff): Where was this compassion for South Auckland?
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Covid-19 on the North Shore versus south Auckland: How location changed the narrative
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Lockdown: Delta outbreak raises the stakes
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Getting jabbed won’t stop another lockdown (paywalled)
Stuff: ‘An isolated dystopia’: British columnist condemns Jacinda Ardern’s zero Covid-19 policy approach
Damien Grant (Stuff): The virus has evolved. Our response should as well
Rodney Hide (Bassett, Brash and Hide): The Costs and Benefits of Lock Down
Imran Ali (Northern Advocate): Lockdown extension the right call
Janet Wilson (Stuff): Have we really ‘got this’, or will disillusion soon set in?
Kerre McIvor (Herald): Lockdown could be the last straw (paywalled)
Steven Joyce: (Herald): This time, let’s try a little humility as we learn lockdown’s lesson (paywalled)
RNZ: National criticises government’s handling of latest outbreak
Stuff: Legal basis for lockdown now ‘spelt out in neon lights’ – academic
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1 News: Chris Hipkins says Aucklanders should prepare for lockdown extension
Richard Harman (Politik): Lockdowns can’t go on forever (paywalled)
Herald: Delta raises ‘big questions’ about NZ’s future approach – Chris Hipkins; seven schools now caught in outbreak
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Cabinet to decide on next steps for lockdown
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Lockdown expected to remain
Derek Cheng (Herald): Ongoing lockdown for Auckland, but for how long? And what’s the Plan B?(paywalled)
Sam Sherwood (Stuff): South Island might drop to alert level 3 later this week, experts say
RNZ: Too soon to be optimistic over size, spread of outbreak – epidemiologist
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Three day lockdown was only to buy time, will likely last longer than 7 days, says Michael Baker
1 News: Covid cases could rise to between 50 and 100 in next few days, says modeller
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Grant Robertson confident ‘very long extended lockdown’ won’t be needed
Andy Fyers (BusinessDesk): Anatomy of a delta outbreak (paywalled)
Lee Kenny and Hanna McCallum (Stuff): Extended lockdown disappointing but not unexpected for South Islanders
1 News: ACT says Govt ‘unprepared’ for Delta outbreak in NZ
Tim Hunter (ODT): Stopping the virus an art, not just a science
Virginia Fallon (Stuff): New Zealand’s new normal is here to stay
Sarah Catherall (Stuff): ‘Avoid at all costs’: Kiwis who caught Covid-19 overseas urge country to take it seriously
Martin Van Beynen (Stuff): Shock, frustration, heartbreak – new lockdown, but past emotions return
Alice Angeloni (Local Democracy Reporting): Holidaymakers sent home from Mahia as iwi consider checkpoints

Health system
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Why there’s concern over ICU capacity (paywalled)
Alex Kazemi (Spinoff): If you listen closely enough you can hear the whole system shudder
Michael Morrah (Newshub): More than 3000 Auckland hospital workers yet to have a single COVID-19 vaccine dose
Jamie Morton (Herald): Hundreds could die if NZ re-opened without health measures – study
Herald: Nurses who live with close contacts asked to work
1 News: Nurses’ union: PPE supply low amid Covid outbreak
David Williams (Newsroom): Health Ministry reassures on PPE stocks
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Nurses ‘providing childcare services for each other’ as lockdown limits options
RNZ: Long waiting times for Healthline despite 300 more staff taking calls
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): DHB launches independent probe into offensive Covid cartoons
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Ian Powell (Second Opinion): The luck and comings of Lester Levy: Part One
Laura Smith (ODT): Cancer campaigner questions exclusion
Jo Mckenzie-Mclean (Stuff): Did Blair Vining die in vain? Widow’s ongoing fight to improve cancer care
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Harsh truth of Maori health outcomes hits home
Greg Bruce (Herald): What’s going on in Mike King’s head? (paywalled)
Rajshjri Roy (Newsroom): A health challenge, delivered to your door

Contact tracing, locations of interest, testing, masks
Adam Pearse (Herald): Government caution to blame for mass Covid testing chaos (paywalled)
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Contact tracing system under pressure as outbreak grows
Herald: Locations of interest top more than 250 different locations
George Block (Stuff): Absolute shambles’: Auckland contact tracing staff missed four close contacts, tried to suppress info
Dubby Henry (Herald): Record-keeping to become mandatory in all levels
RNZ: Mandatory sign-ins now required for most events, businesses
Shannon Redstall (Newshub): Concerns as businesses required to enforce compulsory sign-ins at venues
Herald: Fears hospitality industry will have to enforce mandatory sign-in rules
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): The saliva testing stoush between Rako Science and the Ministry of Health
Adam Pearse (Herald): Government caution to blame for mass Covid testing chaos (paywalled)
Bridie Witton (Stuff): ‘Palpable frustration’ as Wellington waits for locations of interest
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Covid scare hits Weta Digital in Wellington as staff told to self-isolate
1 News: Robertson defends delay in naming Wellington locations of interest
Kate Newton (Stuff): How a few ordinary Kiwis helped determine the arc of the Delta outbreak
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Covid-19 testing delays could keep New Zealand in lockdown, expert says
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Surge in other illnesses likely created smokescreen for Delta, expert says
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Mandatory masks ‘historic moment for New Zealand’
Jehan Casinader (BusinessDesk): No reusable mask? You shouldn’t be allowed to fly (paywalled)

Vaccine rollout
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Failings that were foreseeable and unforgivable let Delta loose
Mark Longley (Newshub): Stop putting a spin on New Zealand’s vaccination numbers, we are woefully behind
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Vaccine rollout well and truly busted
Sam Sherwood and Bridie Witton (Stuff): New Zealand making ‘huge progress’ in vaccinations, experts say
Henry Cooke (Stuff): NZ jabs more than 1 per cent of population in single day, despite lockdown
Florence Kerr (Stuff): Health experts say the Government has failed to protect Māori and Pasifika from the latest outbreak, calling it “our worst nightmare”
Danielle Clent (Stuff): Country’s largest drive-through vaccination centre opens in Auckland
RNZ: Hundreds vaccinated on first day of NZ’s biggest drive-through centre
RNZ: Vaccinating young people helps protect communities – Immunisation authority
Jamie Morton (Herald): Should we vaccinate all children against Delta?
Felix Desmarais (Local Democracy Reporting): Elderly turned away from vaccinations for PPE training
Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): Switch to six-week gap between vaccine doses says expert
1 News: Dr Ashley Bloomfield receives first Covid-19 vaccine
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Ashley Bloomfield gets vaccine jab

MIQ/Border
Jamie Morton (Herald): How did Delta get into NZ? (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Stuff): You’re not critical, NZ tells lab staffing specialist
Jane Bowron (Stuff): Is it time to build a billionaire-proof fence for the South Island?
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Public walkway could be missing link
Felix Desmarais (Local Democracy Reporting): Waiariki rivals Rawiri Waititi and Tāmati Coffey join growing call against additional MIQ facilities in Rotorua
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Govt to foot bill for temporary accommodation for returnees leaving MIQ
RNZ: NZ travellers in Cooks may have to self-isolate

Lockdown compliance, protest, misinformation
Jarrod Gilbert (Herald): The contagion of crazy
RNZ: Police oppose bail for protesters fearing they will again breach lockdown rules
Lucy Craymer (Stuff): We’re lockdown compliant – mostly
Steve Braunias: (Herald): The secret diary of Billy Te Kahika (paywalled)
Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris (Spinoff): The red flags of Covid misinformation
Ben Strang (RNZ): First person: ‘Anger and misinformation’ about Covid-19 growing
Liz Gordon (Daily Blog): Our own little Trumpian army
Victor Billot (Newsroom): An ode for .. Billy Te Kahika
RNZ: Police ‘happy’ with level 4 compliance; 23 arrests, 65 warnings
Molly Houseman (ODT): Four-hour trip among breaches

Parliament
Henry Cooke (Stuff): National and ACT keen for Parliament to return during lockdown
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Will Ardern unilaterally suspend Parliament?
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Marilynn McLachlan (Woman’s Weekly): Simon Bridges on what’s next: ‘I’ve found my true happiness’ (paywalled)
Kelly Dennett (Stuff): Behind the scenes: The rise of ACT, and its leader David Seymour
Kiri Gillespie (Herald): The rise, and demise, of National MP Todd Muller’s political career, and what’s next(paywalled)
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): Criminal lawyer turned Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman’s book Know Your Place (paywalled)

Employment, employer lockdown breaches
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Retailers forcing staff to work ‘a much more serious’ risk to NZ than ‘nutbar’ Billy Te Kahika – union
Christine Rovoi (RNZ): ‘Do the right thing’ union says, after workers report reduced pay or annual leave requests
ODT Editorial: Shopping around for leadership
Jessica Higgins (ODT): Duty to consult, behave in good faith with employees
Anuja Nadkarni (Newsroom): Veteran hospitality workers ready to walk out on industry
Derek Cheng (Herald): Free childcare for essential workers from tomorrow – Hipkins

Wage subsidy, business
1 News: Wage subsidy essential for successful lockdown, says economist
Herald: More than 47,000 businesses apply for Wage Subsidy
Madison Reidy (Newshub): Businesses beg to be allowed to reopen as lockdown brings financial pain
Stephen Forbes (Local Democracy Reporting): Potential economic cost causes alarm in Auckland
Riley Kennedy (ODT): Businesses disappointed but not surprised
RNZ: Small businesses grapple with lockdown disparity, ambiguity
Nikki Mandow (Newsroom): Industrial lockdown plan fell on deaf ears, business leader says
RNZ: Countdown staff bear brunt of customer annoyance at meat shortages
Rob Stock (Stuff): Challenge for self-isolating households as supermarket delivery and ‘click and collect’ slots book out
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Online shopping full up, supermarkets encourage you to shop in-store
Maja Burry and Sally Murphy (RNZ): Retail Meat NZ fears some butchers won’t survive extended lockdown
Sam Hurley (Herald): West Auckland microbrewery blames bureaucracy for closed doors in lockdown(paywalled)
Guy Williams (ODT): Stance on accommodation refund ‘mind-blowing’
Sam Olley (RNZ): Plant nurseries rush to save seedlings on eve of lockdown
Liam Dann (Herald): Precedented times – life in 2021 just feels like one giant caveat (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): Nation of Debt: New Zealand’s great borrowing blowout (paywalled)
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): The Monitor economy Q&A: Economics professor Tim Hazledine
Brad Olsen (Stuff): Resilient economy means we’ll bounce back from this setback
Rob Stock (Stuff): Insurers undecided on whether to give car insurance rebates this lockdown
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Adrian Orr: Decision to hold OCR ‘literally down to the uncertainty of the day’
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Don’t expect lockdown to stop mortgage rate rises
Karen Coltman (Stuff): Closed for business and rent to pay
Andre Chumko (Stuff): LOTR has departed. Covid-19 is back. What does that mean for our screen sector?
Anne Gibson (Herald): What future for $26b of construction work after lockdown? (paywalled)
Gregor Paul (Herald): Inside the Rugby Championship chaos: What really happened when All Blacks pulled out of Perth (paywalled)
Mike Watson (Stuff): ‘Go local’ message key to Taranaki’s Covid-19 lockdown recovery
Amber Allott (Stuff): Regions ‘let down’ by airlines and government, say still-stranded North Islanders

Media, 1pm briefing
Jason Walls (Newstalk ZB): In defence of the Press Gallery – No, Kate, we don’t take our order from the PM
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): I wanted to stick needles in my eyes during the 1pm presser
Alison Mau (Stuff): Why we need to hear those Covid-19 messages over, and over, and over again
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Businesses need less podium performance and more facts (paywalled)
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Judith Collins says waiting for 1pm daily briefings ‘adds to the anxiety’ of lockdown
Steven Cowan (Against the current): Pulpit of truth 2
1 News: Hipkins’ slip of the tongue gives Kiwis ‘something to laugh about’
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Danyl Mclauchlan (Spinoff): Things fall apart: why journalism might not survive what’s coming next
Daniel Dunkley (BusinessDesk): Stuff returns to Facebook (paywalled)

Economic hardship, inequality
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Tāmaki Makaurau homeless assured accommodation available during lockdown
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Fears Covid-19 outbreak to reverse economic position of Pacific communities
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): Pressure builds to provide needy with enough food
Sarah Robson (RNZ): South Seas Healthcare seeing more young families ask for help this lockdown
RNZ: Victims, survivors of family violence urged to seek help, despite lockdown
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Pfizer vaccine effectiveness against Delta falls after three months, study shows
(Herald): Whanganui freedom camping site turns into homeless hub for lockdown

Afghanistan
John Minto (Daily Blog): Afghanistan – those who supported the invasion are desperately trying to rewrite history
Golriz Ghahraman (Guardian): Afghans need our help – there must be no empty seats on New Zealand’s rescue mission
Jon Johansson (Stuff): The full tragedy of our involvement in Afghanistan is only just beginning to unfold
1 News: Taliban thanks NZ for financial aid for Afghanistan
1 News: Kiwi Tampa survivor calls for emergency Afghanistan intake
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): NZ refusing to take in a single extra refugee
Paula Penfold (Stuff): Frontline of fear: Why we mustn’t shirk our moral responsibility to Afghanistan
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Afghanistan was never a war for feminism
RNZ: Lawyers call on government to help Afghanistan’s women judges
Robert G. Patman (Stuff): The Taliban takeover and its implications for New Zealand
Thomas Manch (Herald): Prospect of rescuing all New Zealanders in Afghanistan dwindling
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Taliban leader vows safe exit of New Zealand nationals and ex-Afghan interpreters from Kabul
Uma Ahmed (Stuff): Soldier: ‘Afghanistan is one of the most invaded countries in living memory’
RNZ: Kabul airport chaos among obstacles hampering Defence Force mission – PM
Kurt Bayer (Herald): New Zealand journalist Charlotte Bellis praised for frontline reporting for Al Jazeera from Afghanistan (paywalled)
Michael Neilson (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says NZ unlikely to rescue ‘everyone we want to’
Zane Small (Newshub): How New Zealand Defence Force plans to get inside ‘chaotic’ Kabul
RNZ: New Zealand gives $3m in humanitarian assistance for ‘dire’ Afghanistan situation
Peter Griffin (Stuff): For refugees, Covid-19 is particularly traumatic

Housing
Rob Stock (Stuff): ‘Generation Rent’ waiting for property prices to fall, but will they?
Daniel Riordan ((NBR):): Housing market “a perfect storm”, Reserve Bank tells MPs (paywalled)
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Nation of debt: Housing debt jumps 19pc in just two years (paywalled)
David Hargreaves (Interest): The first home buyers – they were knocked before, will they be knocked again?
Daniel Smith (Stuff): Senior housing crisis on the horizon
Donna-Lee Biddle (Stuff): When your neighbours-to-be roll out the ‘you’re not so welcome here’ mat
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): City of the future: Hamilton’s housing landscape mapped out

Water reforms
RNZ: Hawke’s Bay leaders write to Mahuta to rethink Three Waters model
Tim Hunter (NBR): The flaw at the heart of water reform (paywalled)
Bryan Cadogan (Stuff): Making sense of someone else’s agenda

Oranga Tamariki
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Judge in Oranga Tamariki case rebukes senior judges over intervention
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Oranga Tamariki implosion: Labour should thank their stars NZers are distracted by Lockdown
David Farrar (Kiwiblog: Serious judicial misconduct
Jimmy Ellingham (Stuff): Former youth justice worker says sit-in protest measure of last resort

Energy
Brian Easton (Pundit): Has Our Electricity System Burnt Itself Out?
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Blackouts prove need for power company split-up say minnows (paywalled)

Environment, climate change, conservation
Rod Oram (Newsroom): The climate failure of companies
Bruce Munro (ODT): Going hard and early
Eric Crampton (Stuff): Country needs freshwater protection that’s fit for purpose
Cherie Sivignon (Stuff): RMA replacement draft law a ‘skeleton document with significant gaps’
Molly Houseman (ODT): Details on dumping in Clutha revealed
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Landfill contamination fears at lagoon’s edge
Marty Verry (Herald): Building green – Stuart Nash on right side of climate history (paywalled)

Primary industries
Craig Hickman (Stuff): Should people really be thanking farmers for their morning latte?
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Southern say: Another battle about land ahead
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Groundswell NZ hold ‘Can You Hear Us?’ protest during lockdown
ODT: Lone protest not anti-vaccination, lockdown or masks
Sally Rae (ODT): The hills are alive…
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Primary producers charter ships to beat global ports logjam
Cherie Sivignon (Stuff): Construction of Waimea dam to restart during lockdown
Lawrence Gullery (Stuff): Level 4 lockdown in the middle of calving ‘not ideal’
Marta Steeman (Stuff): Vegan cheese: The Holy Grail of plant-based dairy products. Have local makers cracked it?

Other
Jane Clifton (Listener/Herald): Government move to tackle anti-competitive business just got massive boost (paywalled)
Ben Doherty (Guardian): The Tampa affair, 20 years on: the ship that capsized Australia’s refugee policy
Russell Brown (Herald): When Nobody Was Looking, Dr Oliver Sutherland – anti-racism campaigner(paywalled)
Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): ACC rules have ‘failed’ grieving families of suicide victims since 2010
Te Aorewa Rolleston (RNZ): Māori King’s commemoration: Koroneihana 2021 moved online
John Anthony (Stuff):Government mulls regulation that could make buy now pay later transactions more expensive
Mark Fowler (Herald): Bank economists continue to ‘lean’ on the RBNZ (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Herald): Islamic State terror suspect Suhayra Aden arrives in New Zealand
Herald: ‘Isis bride’ Suhayra Aden arrives in New Zealand; PM Jacinda Ardern says public safety ‘an absolute priority’
Ben Strang (RNZ): $180k Clean Car Discount ads a waste of money – Taxpayers’ Union
RNZ: Fiji university threat draws ire in New Zealand
Tim Newman (Stuff): Springbok Tour ‘a watershed moment’ for Nelsonians on both sides of the divide
Khylee Quince (Stuff): School sanctions should be proportionate to harm done
Adam Jacobson (Stuff): Auckland business associations pen open letter to PM demanding urgent action on crime
Adam Burns (Local Democracy Reporting): Mid Canty rugby boss warns about helping pay for Christchurch stadium
Nile Bijoux (Stuff): Think we have a lot of speed cameras? Think again
Helen Harvey (Stuff): That relaxing glass of wine as you get your hair done – could cost your hairdresser or barber a fine of up to $40,000
Tom Dillane (Herald): Auckland Film Studios rebuild being ‘reviewed’ (paywalled)
Herald (Herald): DOC’s Aoraki/Mount Cook rescue base hit by ransomware attack