NZ Politics Daily: 25 August 2021

Government management of outbreak, expert advice
Max Rashbrooke (Guardian): Why we’re happy hobbits in Jacinda’s ‘mysterious socialist hermit kingdom’
Steve Braunias (Herald): In level 4 Covid lockdown again, New Zealand clings to luck (paywalled)
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Why elimination will have to end before most voters want it to
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Judith Collins won’t say how many COVID-19 deaths would be ‘acceptable’ number to live with
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Ashley Bloomfield defends NZ’s elimination strategy, responds to Kiwis saying COVID-19 is ‘just like the flu’
Zane Small (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern pushes back on ‘continuous lockdowns’ query during Facebook Live
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Exclusive poll: Seven out of 10 back NZ sticking with elimination strategy
Stuff: Australian PM slams NZ’s approach, hits back at state opposition to Covid-normal
Claire Trevett (Herald): The goal of stamping out Delta relies on information we aren’t getting (paywalled)
Richard Prebble (Herald): A better way to beat the virus (paywalled)
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Deputy PM Grant Robertson hits back after Australian PM Scott Morrison criticises NZ’s COVID-19 elimination strategy
Derek Cheng (Herald): NZ can’t do that’ – Australian PM Scott Morrison likens elimination to living in cave
Daily Telegraph UK editorial: Leaders still committed to Zero Covid are embracing a dangerous paranoia
Tara Ward (Spinoff): The 1pm Daily Update is back, and the IMDB reviews are in
ODT Editorial: The comfort of the Covid conference
Annemarie Jutel (Newsroom): The patriotic power of words like ‘team’
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): This lockdown is far from over
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Marc Daalder (Newsroom): How to tell if lockdown’s not working
RNZ: Australian states provide scenarios for NZ’s Covid-19 fate – modeller
1 News: Expert says fast tracking South Island down alert levels ‘too risky’
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Those reopening plans look a lot further away now
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): Coromandel may have skated by on luck
Susan Botting (Local Democracy Reporting): Don’t put Northland into level 3 due to close contacts in the region – Kaipara Mayor Jason Smith
Hone Harawira (Daily Blog): Northland in real danger from Delta
Aroha Mane (Māori TV): Northland iwi issue a traffic alert on the water
RNZ: Covid-19 lockdown day 7: How it unfolded

Parliament suspended
Andrew Geddis (Pundit): Covid, Politics, Parliament And Accountability
Newstalk ZB: Barrister: Parliament suspension ‘not the end of the world’
Stuff Editorial: Robust scrutiny by epidemic response committee needed
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Impossible to respect Jacinda Ardern’s decision to refuse epidemic response select committee
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Why was Jacinda Ardern able to suspend Parliament sitting and what happens next?

Vaccine rollout
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Analysis: Sluggish vaccine rollout deserves an explanation
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Mandatory vaccination considered for health workers treating Covid-19 patients(paywalled)
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Covid-19 vaccine mistake in Auckland sparks investigation
Teuila Fuatai (Herald): Lack of targeted vaccination leaves Maori and Pasifika in harm’s way (paywalled)
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Some GP clinics waiting a month for permission to start vaccinating
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): New Zealand needs high uptake of vaccine to mitigate cases, hospitalisations, deaths once borders reopen – study
Claire Breen (The Conversation): What rights do NZ children and their parents have when giving consent to be vaccinated?
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Judith Collins sets vaccine rollout target for reopening, Ardern says ‘ambition is far beyond’ what other countries have achieved
Ryan Bridge (Newshub): Ardern reckons everyone will have a chance for a vaccine by Christmas, that’s plenty of room for Delta to strike again
RNZ: Inequity embedded in vaccine rollout – National Māori Pandemic Group
Christine Rovoi (RNZ): Community leaders say govt’s vaccine rollout plan is not working for Pasifika
Susan Botting (Local Democracy Reporting): Northland Māori Covid-19 vaccination rates four times lower
Chris Hyde (Herald): To my old friend, the new anti-vaxxer (paywalled)
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Maxine Jacobs (Stuff): Drive-through vaccinates hundreds of Māori, Pasifika and essential workers 
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): The small health service that opened one of NZ’s biggest Covid vaccine centres
1 News: Thousands jabbed in Dunedin drive-thru campaign led by iwi
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): Māori-led vaccination clinic administers 1200 doses in three days
Robin Martin (RNZ): 100-year-old proud to be among those vaccinated at Mōkau
RNZ: Surge in Covid-19 vaccinations in East Coast since lockdown
RNZ: Vaccination centres move to bigger venues to improve availability
Maia Hart (Stuff): One and not done: 60 per cent of Marlborough’s eligible population jabbed
Maia Hart (Stuff): How many ‘essential’ wine workers vaccinated anyone’s guess
Richard Davison (ODT): ‘A very good turnout’ includes former anti-vaxxers
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Vaccination centre needed for students, OUSA says
Guy Williams (ODT): ‘Nothing to it’: ease of jab setup praised
Mare Haimona-Riki (Māori TV): Huge increase in Māori and Pasifika vaccinations at Manurewa marae

Contact tracing, locations of interest, testing
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Govt urged to ban police from using contact tracing data
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Who counts as a close contact? New definition sees 10 times more than previous outbreaks
Sophie Trigger (Herald):  Mandatory recordkeeping poses questions of public trust, digital divide
Rachel Moore (Stuff): Small business owners navigate mandatory signing in
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Wanted – 600 new contact tracers as locations of interest exceed 400
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Recruitment drive for hundreds of Healthline callers
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David Williams (Newsroom): A week of Covid tests in charts
Zane Small (Newshub): ACT leader David Seymour shocked at only half of COVID-19 case contacts returning tests
Ben Leahy (Herald): Some Aucklanders facing delays in Covid test results
Mina Kerr-Lazenby (Stuff): Close contact told to drive from South Auckland to Hamilton for test
Lana Andelane (Newshub): Grant Robertson slams Aucklanders driving outside of the city for testing to avoid queues
Grant Miller (ODT): Testing, tracing ramp up
Michael Neilson (Herald): Cases tipped to surge as more test results land
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Harkanwal Singh (Spinoff): All the locations of interest on an interactive NZ map, sorted by exposure time and date of listing
Stuff: Heat map shows spread of close contacts isolating across New Zealand

MIQ, border, immigration
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Government has 11,000 rooms in managed isolation yet to be released
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): MIQ bookings frustration made worse by government tweet
Rebecca Moore (1 News): MBIE apologises over ‘insensitive’ tweet about MIQ booking pause
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): MBIE apologises for ‘disgraceful’ tweet about managed isolation room release pause
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Mystery Crowne Plaza passersby identified by Ministry of Health after delay
Herald: Crowne Plaza now empty, next guests arrive in two weeks
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Crowne Plaza atrium barrier extended, sealed as leak inquiry continues
Herewini Waikato (Māori TV): Ask another town to set up a new MIQ, not Rotorua – Merepeka Ruakawa-Tait
Andrew Marshall (ODT): Cancelled flights proving ‘taxing’

Case demographics
1 News: Pasifika leader: Health Ministry highlighting ethnicity in Covid cluster ‘unnecessary’
RNZ: Most Covid-19 community cases younger than 30, Pasifika
Justin Latif (Local Democracy Reporting): ‘God bless them’: Church at centre of latest outbreak brushes off racist abuse
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Pacific people being targeted by racism amid latest outbreak – Ministry of Health
Herald: Health ministry says racist remarks thrown at Pacific community
Whatitiri Te Wake (Māori TV): ‘Ugly, racist messages directed at South Auckland Covid hotspot a ‘double standard’
Justin Latif (Local Democracy Reporting): Church at centre of outbreak brushes off racist abuse
Vaimoana Tapaleao (Herald): Samoan church cluster has 58 cases, largest source of current outbreak
RNZ: Pacific health advocate says self-isolating for church close contacts difficult
Bridie Witton and Luke Malpass (Stuff): South Auckland bears brunt of fast-spreading Delta outbreak

Health
RNZ: Nurses living with close contacts asked to turn up for work: union
John Weekes (Herald): Covid 19 coronavirus: Middlemore ED staffer tests positive
Emma Russell (Herald): Those hospitalised 50 per cent more likely to get blood clots during surgery
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Some cancer treatments deferred, Wellington health bosses confirm
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Lockdown leads to further surgery deferrals for SDHB
Alice Angeloni (Local Democracy Reporting): DHBs fly stranded health workers out of Queenstown

Lockdown compliance, enforcement
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Patients, doctors and scientists all agree COVID-19 disinformation is deadly
Newstalk ZB: Epidemiologist: 5% decrease in lockdown compliance enough to spread Delta
George Block (Stuff): Labour again caught delivering party advertising during lockdown
David Fisher (Herald): ‘Horrifying’ pamphlets from anti-vaxxers stuffed in letterboxes during lockdown(paywalled)
Zoe Holland (Herald): Auckland Mayor Phil Goff ‘disappointed’ in rule breakers
Herald: Restriction breaches nationwide continue to grow
Nadine Porter (Stuff): Man wrestled to ground and charged after ‘refusing to wear mask’
Sophie Cornish (Stuff): Wellington police take action over 57 lockdown breaches including one drink-driver four times over limit
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Dunedin police round-up: ‘Martial artist’ warned over Covid-19 lockdown breach
Lucy Xia and George Block (Stuff): No masks, no helmets – large group on dirt bikes rides through south Auckland 
Craig Kapitan (Herald): Man charged with violating lockdown
Herald Editorial: The best and worst of these Covid 19 coronavirus times (paywalled)
Nicholas Boyack (Stuff): Frontline heroes: Policing in lockdown ‘is about keeping everyone safe’ 
Chris Marriner (Herald): Hamilton man stops man fleeing police, video goes viral

Lockdown inequality
Melanie Carroll  (Stuff): Level 4 lockdown could be worse than first, says Child Poverty Action
Maia Hart (Stuff): Māori support agency ‘inundated’ with demand for kai
Jamie Tahana (RNZ): Manurewa Marae sees huge demand for tests, vaccines, and food parcels
Amy Ridout (Stuff): A week into level 4, a dozen people are still on the street in Nelson
Sam Olley (RNZ): New isolation rules cutting off food support for families
Denise Piper (Stuff): Lockdowns have similar stress as rocket-attacks, says ex-Afghanistan businessman
Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): Is an emergency-housing blacklist hindering efforts to house homeless people over lockdown?

Employment
Anuja Nadkarni (Newsroom): Workers’ rights in spotlight as lockdown extends
Susan Hornsby-Geluk (Stuff): Should employees who can’t work from home be paid during lockdown?
RNZ: Covid-19 lockdown putting huge pressure on supermarket workers – union
Charlotte Muru-Lanning (Spinoff): Explained: hospitality and retail workers’ rights during level four
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Worker concern over Navy ship lockdown maintenance
Marta Steeman (Stuff): Two big retirement villages boost staff wages during lockdown

Wage subsidy, business
Richard Harman (Politik): Has Robertson got enough money to pay for Covid?
RNZ: Grant Robertson: ‘A strong public health response is still the best economic response’
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Robertson defends Covid fund spending at finance select committee
Zane Small (Newshub): Finance Minister Grant Robertson probed on how much money is left in COVID-19 coffer
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): More than $480m paid out in wage subsidy: Grant Robertson
Derek Cheng (Herald): Finance Minister Grant Robertson fronts on economic hit of Delta
John Anthony (Stuff): Government opens Covid-19 resurgence support to help businesses cover costs
Caley Callahan (Newshub): 26,000 resurgence support payment applications made in one day
Paul McBeth (BusinessDesk): Just one corporate seeks wage subsidy so far (paywalled)
Rebecca Stevenson (BusinessDesk): A guide to all the support on offer at level 4
Riley Kennedy (ODT): ‘Vital’ payment welcomed by Southern employers
RNZ: Businesses rue narrow criteria for opening in lockdown
RNZ: South Island businesses want clarity over lockdown duration
Carolyne Meng-Yee (Herald): Headquarters Bar: Boss, Leo Molloy will only serve customers with vaccination passport
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Butchers losing sleep, claims supply is being prioritised for supermarkets
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Countdown extends delivery subscriptions as shoppers struggle to book slots
John Anthony (Stuff): Alcohol spending jumped nearly 500 per cent on eve of alert level 4, supermarkets do roaring trade
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Shoppers continue to report food shortages amid supply chain disruption
Sarah Trotman (Stuff): Lockdowns take emotional toll on small-business owners

Education
Dubby Henry (Herald): NCEA changes could be made ‘if necessary’
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Plea for teachers to be able to visit disabled children at level 4
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Principals raise concerns as students go into remote learning without devices
Josephine Franks (Stuff): South Auckland principal says this lockdown is the worst one yet
Daisy Hudson (ODT): University apologises for distressing email
Adam Jacobson (Stuff): Students’ association demands halls of residence rent pause

Cook Islands
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Cook Islands vaccinates 96 per cent of eligible adults
RNZ: Cook Islands achieves over 90 percent vaccination coverage
RNZ: Cook Islands ramps up Covid testing

Energy 
Anan Zaki (RNZ): Meridian Energy accused of making billions in extra profit
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Amid calls for electricity market reform, industry group says Meridian is generating ‘super profits’ (paywalled)
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Meridian’s $3.5 billion ‘super profits’ (paywalled)
Chris Marshal (Stuff): Lockdown unlikely to impact on North Island water storage levels
Nikki Mandow (Newsroom): Keeping the lights on: Huntly switches to lockdown power plan

Afghanistan
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Afghan allies fear they’re no longer a priority in New Zealand evacuations 
Karen Rutherford (Newshub): Interpreter who worked with NZ Defence Force says siblings left behind to die at hands of Taliban
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Former NZ prime ministers, Sir John Key and Helen Clark on Taliban takeover(paywalled)
Ellen O’Dwyer and Piers Fuller (Stuff): Afghan Kiwi pleads for evacuation help as brothers face Taliban threats
Lara Andelane (Newshub): Afghanistan: Interpreter who assisted NZDF says group were promised seats on evacuation flight that arrived on Monday
Amy Williams (RNZ): Afghani man relieved family evacuated from Kabul but others still waiting
RNZ: RNZAF evacuates New Zealanders and Australians from Afghanistan
1 News: Defence Force release images of Afghanistan evacuation
Tess McClure (Guardian): ‘Time matters’: the NZ families desperate to save loved ones trapped in Afghanistan
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): NZ has an obligation to rebuild Afghanistan and take thousands of refugees

Local government
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Survey reveals Wellington residents are more unhappy with city council than ever before
Damian George (Stuff): Public confidence in Wellington City Council’s decision-making plunges by almost half
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Four councillors object to Let’s Get Wellington Moving plan for city streets
Luisa Girao (ODT): Unveiling of report stymied
Logan Savory (Stuff): Sir Tim Shadbolt’s email concerns sparks $10k independant council review
Luisa Girao (ODT): Electronic policies review assent
Luisa Girao (ODT): Sir Tim email saga: Council to review electronic policies
RNZ: Invercargill mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt alone in opposing independent review into email access
Jono Galuszka (Stuff): Two Māori wards suggested by Horizons Regional Council for 2022 election
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): Resource Management Act replacement ‘erodes democracy’, regional council says
Liz Wylie (Herald): Whanganui District Council chief executive Kym Fell resigns
Justin Latif (RNZ): Goff grills Watercare for straight answers over its climate change preparedness
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Lockdown wipes funding for transport projects across Auckland (paywalled)
RNZ: Ōpihi appeal heads to High Court
Chris Tobin (Stuff): Timaru District Council says staff turnover below national rate
Molly Houseman (ODT): Fate of flat $2 bus fare to be decided
Liz McDonald (Stuff): Construction halt at Te Pae convention centre just weeks before opening day
Molly Houseman and Andrew Marshall (ODT): Councils adapting to working from home
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): New Plymouth council apologises to iwi after starting construction on car park without consulting
Mike Watson (Stuff): Final decision closer for Māori representation on Taranaki Regional Council
Jono Galuszka (Stuff):Two Māori wards suggested by Horizons Regional Council for 2022 election
Tim Newman (Stuff): Thirty-year vision for Nelson city centre set for public feedback
Charlie Gates (Stuff): ‘People’s steeple’ plan rejected for Christ Church cathedral restoration

Environment, climate change, conservation
Rob Stock (Stuff): KiwiSaver funds dump $331 million of fossil fuel investments
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): RMA replacement law ‘erodes democracy’

Housing
Michael Reddell (Croaking Cassandra): Rising house prices do not make New Zealanders better off
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Record 99 pct of New Zealand properties sold for profit last quarter – CoreLogic
Tony Alexander (One Roof): Why this lockdown is different for the housing market
Cherie Sivignon (Stuff): Housing development tipped for ‘eyesore’ Motueka site

Immigration
Janet Wilson (The Listener): Lost labour: The inequities in NZ’s immigration policy (paywalled)
Jem Traylen (BusinessDesk): How I became an overstayer (paywalled)

Other
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Veterans’ Affairs under culture review over ‘toxic’ bullying allegations, resignations
Bryan Gould: Missing in action
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Is Jacinda Ardern the Messiah?
Sela Jane Hopgood (RNZ): New study aimed at getting the best start for Pasifika children
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Nation of debt: Consumer debt on the decline but is it hidden elsewhere?(paywalled)
Wayne Brown (Herald):  Power, port, vaccine rollout. Why are all these stuff-ups happening? (paywalled)
Patricia A. O’Brien (The Conversation): ANZUS at 70: Together for decades, US, Australia, New Zealand now face different challenges from China
Abbas Nazari (Guardian): ‘Who is New Zealand?’: the moment Tampa refugees were told some had a new home
RNZ: Buller gets $8m recovery funds after severe flooding
Georgia-May Gilbertson (Stuff): Tributes flow after Hawke’s Bay kaumātua Des Ratima dies
Sahiban Hyde (Hawkes Bay Today): Hawke’s Bay kaumātua Des Ratima, ‘staunch advocate’ for the underdog, dies aged 69
Waatea: Poroporoaki: Des Ratima, ONZM
RNZ: The Detail: Let’s have the ‘All Whites’ debate