NZ Politics Daily: 26 August 2021

Vaccine rollout
Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Ministry of Health confirms another possible vaccine mistake
RNZ: Bloomfield: Ministry of Health always intended to disclose vaccine error
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Saline vaccination error: Delay in telling public ‘regrettable’ – Hipkins
RNZ: Those affected by vaccine botch-up should be swiftly contacted – immunologist
RNZ: Vaccination saline error: Parties demand transparency from government
Herald: Chris Hipkins should resign if Labour had the talent to replace him – Judith Collins
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Mystery remains over whether five people got saline or vaccine
1 News: Authorities ‘gathering information’ after mix up in five Covid vaccine doses
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Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): Could the vaccine roll-out have been quicker?
Daniel Riordan (NBR): Vaccine hopes dependent on Pfizer over-delivery (paywalled)
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Don’t be fooled, Israel was vulnerable to Delta, says data modeller
RNZ: Covid-19 booster shots not needed now but may be in time – expert
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Scientists correct National Party tweet accused of spreading ‘misinformation’ about COVID-19 vaccines
Henry Cooke and Kate Newton (Stuff): The vaccine rollout explained in 9 graphs, as New Zealand hits daily record of 80,000 doses 
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Charting New Zealand’s vaccine rollout
Nicholas Wood (Stuff): Under-12s are increasingly catching Covid-19. How sick are they getting and when will we be able to vaccinate them?
Jeremy Sutton (Herald): Ex-files: What happens if we don’t agree on our child getting vaccinated?(paywalled)
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Iwi services battle to get Māori vaccination numbers up
Jamie Morton (Herald): ‘Significant concern’ over Pacific vaccination rates
Spinoff: No place for anti-vaxx rhetoric in maternity care, midwives told
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Yet more revelations on our vaccine rollout
Arena Williams & Stuart Smith (Stuff): The message needs to be vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate
Sophie Trigger and Georgina Campbell (Herald): Porirua drive-through vaccine clinic for Pacific families tomorrow
Ethan Griffiths (Herald): New daily vaccine record for Whanganui DHB
Siouxsie Wiles (Spinoff): What we know about Covid vaccines, effectiveness and boosters
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Kiwi basketball star Corey Webster slammed for untrue, ‘dangerous’ tweet about COVID-19 vaccine

Government management of outbreak, expert advice
Jamie Morton (Herald): Why NZ needs to stick with elimination (paywalled)
RNZ: Michael Baker: Covid-19 strategy will allow NZ to ‘choose our future’
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): ‘Delta needs a sledgehammer, not a scalpel’ – NZ epidemiologist
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Delta variant to create ‘rough trip’ in coming months, may mutate to become more vaccine-resistant – expert
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Despite Delta outbreak, Sir David Skegg backs elimination
Charlie Mitchell (Stuff): Daily case numbers are increasing quickly. This simple mathematical concept gives us reason for optimism
Grant Miller (ODT): Eliminating virus best goal: next VC
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): A disturbing preoccupation: why the right-wing media hates Jacinda’s Covid elimination strategy
Tess McClure (Guardian): New Zealand won’t ‘throw in towel’ on Covid-zero strategy despite rising infections
1 News: Collins: Scott Morrison ‘talking to his audience’ as he dumps Covid elimination
Herald Editorial: What suppression looks like (paywalled)
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Australian opposition Senator Kristina Keneally blames Scott Morrison for New Zealand Delta outbreak
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Kiwis respond after Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says New Zealand can’t eliminate Delta
Stuff Editorial: Morrison’s crude caveman metaphor unhelpfully simplistic
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Dawn Chorus: Crucial delta moment
Richard Harman (Politik): Looks like Covid is here to stay
Keith Lynch (Stuff): Explaining why level 2 could be the new normal in the age of Delta
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Speed, size of cluster puts alert level system on notice
Derek Cheng: (Herald): Has the Health Ministry’s poor Delta preparation left us longer in lockdown?(paywalled)
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Minister tempers expectations over level change for South
Nick Mowbray (Herald): Lack of priorities reveals worrying signs from the Government (paywalled)
Dan Satherley (Newshub): British neoliberal think tank researcher Matthew Lesh says NZ is ‘stuck in a weird kind of Covid purgatory’
Audrey Malone (1 News): New MoH data will show if virus being controlled – Baker
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Experts warn Government one-size-fits-all response will miss the most vulnerable Kiwis
Eleisha Foon (RNZ): New Pasifika health-line for vaccinations inundated with calls
Waatea News: Maori Party waiting for Covid plan
Mike Hosking (Herald): When will our Government admit its errors? (paywalled)
RNZ: Covid-19 lockdown day 8: How it unfolded
Michael Andrew (Spinoff): New Google data shows New Zealanders more active in this lockdown than 2020
RNZ: The Detail: The 1pm Beehive presser – more of the same, but worse
Monika Barton (Newshub): IMDb users hilariously review ‘must-watch’ season 3 of COVID-19 1pm Daily Update

MIQ, border, immigration
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Covid-19 quarantine facilities under more pressure as case numbers increase
Herald: Jet Park could be out of beds tomorrow – but there’s a backup
RNZ: New quarantine facility prepared near Auckland Airport – Hipkins
Zane Small (Newshub): Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirms plans for additional quarantine facility with ‘several hundred rooms’
Herald: New Zealand resumes red flights for Australian cities
Siobhan Downes (Stuff): Red flights from Australia to resume in September
Siobhan Downes (Stuff): Self-isolation travel trial still set to take place before end of year
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Crowne Plaza ‘gap’ sealed, public access closed and new testing requirements after possible Delta leak
Jo Moir (Newsroom): What we know about the Crowne Plaza investigation
Jordan Bond (RNZ): New Zealanders miss out on managed isolation rooms due to ‘cohorting’ system
Herald: Cook Islands travel cut off for weeks says PM Brown pending New Zealand Covid response
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): Family waiting out outbreak in Rarotonga says ‘it’s not a bad place to be stuck’

Contact tracing, locations of interest, testing
David Williams (Newsroom): Call for negative test to enter South Island
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Saliva testing year overdue, geneticist says
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): The 18-month contact tracing struggle
Sapeer Mayron (Stuff): Supermarkets are safe if they’re open, experts say
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Living in lockdown central, I’ve dodged the Covid bullet so far. Thanks, Covid app
RNZ: Our six days of waiting for teen’s high-risk Covid-19 test result
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): Waikato mayor to Aucklanders heading down for Covid tests — ‘Stay out’
Sarah Trotman (Herald): Mandatory scanning is more bad news for small business (paywalled)

Case demographics
Emma Russell (Herald): Delta outbreak: Pasifika, younger people infected, demographic breakdown of community cases shows
Torika Tokalau and Florence Kerr (Stuff): Singling out one ethnicity in team of 5 million ‘unhelpful’, Pacific leader says
Eva Corlett and Tess McClure (Guardian): New Zealand health chief slams ‘gutless’ racism against Pasifika people over Covid cluster
1 News: Bloomfield slams racism towards communities affected by Covid as ‘gutless’
Bridie Witton and Luke Malpass (Stuff): South Auckland bears brunt of fast-spreading Delta outbreak
Mandy Te (Stuff):Wellington ‘not out of the woods’ as Government set to announce whether lockdown will extend

Parliament suspended
RNZ: Judith Collins wants explanation over lack of government scrutiny
Newstalk ZB: Chris Bishop: Select committees ‘just Labour running interference’

Lockdown inequality
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Advocate warns poor likely to be hit harder by this COVID-19 lockdown than first
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Children ‘to miss out’ as lockdown cuts off food-in-schools programmes
Katy Jones (Stuff): Lockdown fuels school concerns about food poverty
Zane Small (Newshub): Social Development Minister pours cold water on pleas for more income support amid ‘ongoing hardship due to lockdown’
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Food parcels increase three-fold in Wellington over lockdown
Nadine Porter and Hanna McCallum (Stuff): Rush to distribute perishable food as foodbanks report soaring demand
Kirsty Wynn (Herald): Spice World owners offer free essentials for those in need

Wage subsidy, business
Emma Hatton (RNZ): Many big businesses not applying for the wage subsidy
Paul McBeth (BusinessDesk): Just one corporate seeks wage subsidy so far
Newstalk ZB: Robertson: Big businesses likely to take wage subsidy if level four continues
1 News: Confusion persists around businesses operating at Level 4
Dita De Boni (NBR): Let’s revisit ‘essential’ food suppliers in lockdown (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Is a supermarket more risky than a greengrocer? (paywalled)
Mariné Lourens (Stuff): Businesses could have days – or hours – to prepare for a drop in alert levels
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Supermarket supply woes having knock-on effect on smaller stores
Magic: ‘We’ve had over a year to sort this out’: Small fresh food sellers urging to reopen at Level 4
Molly Houseman (ODT): Produce having to be thrown away
Riley Kennedy (ODT): Food, drinks restricted after change in rules
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Daffodil Day disaster for grower as flowers left unpicked
Lorna Thornber (Stuff): Why Air New Zealand should follow Qantas in offering incentives to vaccinated travellers 
Hanna McCallum (Stuff): Eco-conscious vendors prevent waste during lockdown but losses still ‘significant’
Tina Morrison (Stuff): SkyCity says NZ lockdown is costing it about $1m in profit a day 
Bonnie Flaw (Stuff): Rule change means service stations can’t sell hot drinks, bakery food
Chris Tobin (Stuff): Truckies concerned at possibility of freight delays if levels change 
Karen Coltman (Stuff): Liquor deliverers ‘like Santa’ during lockdown
Andrea Fox (Herald): US doles out pandemic comfort to its dairy farmers – with repercussions for NZ industry (paywalled)
Sapeer Mayron (Stuff): Pukekohe growers risk harvest amid essential worker shortage
Sinead Gill (Stuff): Essential catering skills feeding the frontline
Piers Fuller (Stuff): Frontline heroes: Farmers keep primary production humming during lockdown 
Anne Gibson (Herald): BDO construction survey reveals impact of holdups (paywalled)
Marta Steeman (Stuff): Building company warns of delays and worsening materials shortages from lockdown 

Lockdown compliance, enforcement
David Fisher (Herald): Had an anti-vax pamphlet? Tell police (paywalled)
Whatitiri Te Wake (Māori TV): Maori Party co-leader encourages whānau to flout seafood gathering ban
Georgia Forrester (Stuff): Google mobility data shows visits to shops, supermarkets and workplaces plummet amid level 4 lockdown
Alice Angeloni (Local Democracy Reporting): East Coast hapū call for ‘regional emergency’ declaration
Diane McCarthy and Hazel Osborne (Whakatāne Beacon): Confusion reigns over Covid-19 alert level whitebaiting rules
Jamie Tahana (RNZ): Iwi say trust in police damaged after Northland Covid-19 checkpoints set up 7 days into lockdown
RNZ: Police checkpoints set up on Northland border
Ben Leahy (Herald): Police set up new checkpoints north of Auckland
Nathan Morton (Stuff): Police at Auckland Harbour Bridge checkpoint warn motorists on non-essential journeys
Karina Cooper (Northern Advocate): Mangawhai locals frustrated police checkpoints exclude them from Northland
Gianina Schwanecke (Herald): Seal the borders: Mahia locals unimpressed with lockdown breaches
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Four-hour ‘test drive’ ends with $300 fine
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): North Shore 4 Square workers praised for patiently dealing with ‘inconsiderate’, ‘abusive’ woman refusing to wear mask
Herald: Maskless woman arrested after coughing on police officer in Kaitaia
Cira Olivier (Herald): Man spits and swings scooter at security in Tauranga (paywalled)
Craig Kapitan (Herald): Two accused of breaching lockdown rules in Auckland in court
Nathan Morton (Stuff): Fisherman breaking lockdown rules spooks armed police
Kelly Makiha (Herald): Rotorua police warn mountain bikers could be trespassed (paywalled)
Denise Piper (Stuff):Light no outdoor fires in lockdown, fire service pleads
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Conspiracy graffiti removal given the same priority as racism
Virginia Fallon (Stuff): New Zealand’s lockdown list of shame 
George Block (Stuff): Covid-19 lockdown-breaching Labour Party pamphlets reported in third city

Health
Cecile Meier (Stuff): Health staff able to work from home upset at being told to go to office 
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Delta outbreak response hampered by DHBs flying blind on staff vaccination(paywalled)
Barry Soper (Herald):  Cancellation of life-saving surgery shows pandemic’s brutal toll
Georgia-May Gilbertson (Stuff): Teenage cancer patient urges people to follow lockdown rules to protect vulnerable
Ian Powell (Second Opinion): The Third Coming of Lester Levy – a process glued together by hypocrisy: Part Two
John Weekes (Herald): More alcoholism likely in lockdown, but spirits drinkers may go dry, researcher says
Emma Russell (Herald): Life-saving kidney transplant cancelled due to Auckland City Hospital nursing shortage
Frances Chin (Stuff): Family violence spikes during alert level 4
Nikki Preston (Herald): Square eyes: Half of Kiwis addicted to devices, many blame Covid pandemic
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Business case now released

Afghanistan
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Taliban blocking Afghan evacuations ‘worrying development’, New Zealand troops ‘up against it’ with US deadline – commander
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Firm deadline set on Afghanistan evacuation mission, as New Zealand airlifts about 200 people
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Interpreters resettled in New Zealand fear Taliban revenge on family left behind
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Group with New Zealand visas safe at Kabul airport
Michelle Duff (Stuff): Former Kiwi soldier pleads for visas for Afghan allies
Andrew McRae (RNZ): NZ Afghans say it’s vital evacuees from Kabul get extensive support in Aotearoa
Suzanne Loughlin (Stuff): NZ must do everything possible to bring our former partners in Afghanistan to safety

Local government
Joanne Naish (Stuff): West Coast council announces staff restructure during lockdown Zoom call
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Council to expand under reforms allowing extra Māori seats
Craig Ashworth (Whanganui Chronicle): Objectors win chance for two Māori seats on Taranaki Regional Council
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Every Wellington City Councilor should be ashamed of these results
RNZ: Wellington City Council votes to go ahead with City Streets active and public transport project
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Green light for Wellington’s $350m walking, cycling, public transport plan
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Wellington City Council approves $350 million city streets package from Let’s Get Wellington Moving
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Southern mayors ask Government to hit pause on national three water reforms
Joanne Naish (Stuff): More South Island mayors join call for minister to halt water reforms
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Pause on water requested

Housing
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Nearly 100 per cent of people selling their homes make big profits
RNZ: House resale profits hit record high
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Rents leap by largest amount on record: Trade Me 
Rupert Gough (one roof):What would happen to your mortgage if the housing market crashed?
Greg Ninness (Interest): Home ownership increasingly the preserve of those on above average incomes as high prices and rising interest rates hit first home buyers hard
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Homeless youth get dedicated emergency housing in Auckland

Energy 
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Meridian accuses big business critics of cynical self-interest (paywalled)
Reweti Kohere (NBR): Meridian Energy: profiteering claims ‘bizarre’, ‘inappropriate’
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Low hydro inflows hit Meridian’s cash profits, dividend maintained
Matthew Littlewood (Stuff): Covid-19 lockdown helps boost South Island hydro storage
Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Meridian urges Government not to get in the way of gas, for the sake of the environment (paywalled)
ODT: Dam spills water due to fall in electricity demand

Transport
Joel MacManus and John Anthony (Stuff): Opening of Transmission Gully likely to be delayed, says transport minister
Zane Small (Newshub): National MP Christopher Luxon urges Transport Minister to ditch ‘dumb’ cycle bridge as NZTA bleeds $40m per week in lockdown
Brent Melville (BusinessDesk): Lockdown: No ‘get out of jail free card’ for major projects – Wood(paywalled)
RNZ: Truck drivers fear penalties during lockdown, industry group warns

Other
Max Harris and Phoebe Carr (Guardian): New Zealand’s stance on ‘people’s vaccine’ for Covid undermines its principled reputation
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Knives out in National, as caucus struggles to show unity despite obvious division
Josh Van Veen (Democracy Project): On the lifestyle nation and Simon Bridges
1 News: NCEA exams pushed back after Covid disruption
Bernadette Basagre (Stuff): NZQA high school exams pushed back by two weeks due to lockdown
RNZ: Covid-19 lockdown slows down courts
Chlöe Swarbrick (Herald): Tackling climate change requires a collective effort
RNZ: Royal Commission Māori hearing scheduled for next month postponed
Anuja Nadkarni (Newsroom): Deportation officials unable to access files in lockdown – again
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Climate conscious investors challenged to scrutinise fuel company purchase
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Dawn Chorus: RBNZ set on rate hikes
Will Trafford (Māori TV): ‘Haakaa’ company ‘deeply sorry’ for branding it earlier claimed had no link to Te Ao Māori
Steven Moe (Stuff): The bottom line is not enough, companies should be required to have a purpose 
Sam Stubbs (Stuff): Why it is time for KiwiSaver 2.0
Duncan Johnstone (Stuff): New poll shows vast majority of Kiwis want Team NZ to defend America’s Cup at home