NZ Politics Daily: 30 August 2021

Government management of outbreak
Andrea Vance (Stuff): If the Government is making the right decisions on Covid-19, it will withstand scrutiny
Matt Nippert (Herald): Delta Skelter: ‘A formidable enemy’ – inside the battle and what the Govt knew when(paywalled)
Vita Molyneux (Newsroom): Majority of New Zealand supports COVID-19 lockdown – research
Herald: Deputy PM Grant Robertson says ‘Covid is part of our future’
Claire Trevett (Herald): Just how long will we need a Fortress Auckland to keep the Delta enemy in rather than out?
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern and the last lockdown
Tracy Watkins (Stuff): Tougher lockdown measures will be a hard sell
Herald Editorial: It may take twice as much work to subdue a twice as bad variant (paywalled)
Siouxsie Wiles (Stuff): Blood clots suggest NZ on the correct Covid-19 course
Jehan Casinader (Stuff): During Covid, spare a thought for our leaders’ mental health
Henry Cooke and Bridie Witton (Stuff): Who is who in the Government’s Covid-19 response team
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Ardern struggles to give New Zealand certainty
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Shall we ask the virus what its plans are?
Nathan Morton (Stuff): New Zealand drops 26 places in ‘Covid Resilience Ranking’
Katie Kenny (Stuff): Long-term public health measures needed alongside vaccination for borders to re-open 
Liam Dann and Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Economist estimates Govt has $15b-$20b left for virus fight(paywalled)
Steve Braunias (Herald):  The Secret Diary of … Level 4 (paywalled)
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Dawn Chorus: Auckland faces weeks more in lockdown
Shane Te Pou (Herald): Our plan is working – Don’t listen to the Covid cowards (paywalled)
Lloyd Burr (Stuff): You don’t know how lucky you are, New Zealand
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Level 4 lockdown and how our mood has changed (paywalled)
Janet Wilson (Stuff): Dangerous time for Labour as cracks in the plan start to show
Bruce Cotterill (Herald):  What’s missing from our anti-Covid arsenal? A sense of urgency (paywalled)
Andrew Gunn (Stuff): Thanks for bringing us closer together, ScoMo!
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald):  Pandemic lessons are there for the taking (paywalled)
John Roughan (Herald): Looking beyond the case numbers (paywalled)
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): What’s the plan if case numbers don’t drop?
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): So what happens after this Delta lockdown is over? 6 things Labour must do or else
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): How many NZers are ACT & National prepared to allow die from Covid?
RNZ: Lockdown day 12: How it unfolded
RNZ: Lockdown day 11: How it unfolded
RNZ: Lockdown day 10: How it unfolded
RNZ: Lockdown stress: Know your trigger points, psychologist advises
1 News: Ardern jokes that showing graph is ‘for the memes’
Luke Malpass (Stuff) :The PM cranks out another visual aid
Zane Small (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern holds up graph showing New Zealand’s COVID-19 vaccine performance ‘just for the memes’
Piers Fuller (Stuff): Hipkins’ awkward ‘spread your legs’ gaffe immortalised on momento masks
Timothy O’Brien (Stuff): Where’s the kindness, fellow Kiwis?
Herald: Right-wing host mocks NZ’s response

Alert levels, expert advice
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Govt may need to tighten alert level 4 restrictions if Delta numbers don’t plateau soon – Shaun Hendy
William Hewett (Newshub): Yo-yoing from alert levels next step in NZ response to COVID-19 pandemic professor Michael Baker claims
RNZ: Possible case number plateau encouraging, but Delta variant outbreak taking longer to control – expert
Herald: Michael Baker says cases ‘look like’ a plateau, locked down ‘in the nick of time’
John Weekes (Herald): The key number to look out for in days ahead
Liz McDonald (Stuff): Government told to up its game after one of the worst pandemic days
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): ‘Doom and gloom predictions’ about being in lockdown until Christmas not helpful – Des Gorman
RNZ: Dr Richard Webby: ‘We’ll all catch Covid-19 eventually’
1 News: Scientist wants social distancing rules reviewed
Joel Rindelaub (Spinoff): Clearing the air on aerosol transmission and mask use
Hannah Martin and Joel MacManus (Stuff): ‘End is not in sight’, as Delta outbreak case numbers continue to grow
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Westland Mayor Bruce Smith sick of hearing from health experts about COVID-19, wants business leaders to have more say
Stuff Editorial: Split-level living for New Zealand
Stuff Editorial: A national team split into two
ODT Editorial: On the (alert) level
Mariné Lourens (Stuff): Falling case numbers, wastewater results and high testing rates key to shift to alert level 2
Mandy Te (Stuff): Wellington to move to alert level 3 – but we’re not out of the woods yet
Tumamao Harawira (Māori TV): Far North iwi outraged over lockdown level 

Vaccine rollout
Claire Trevett (Herald): A Covid-19 vaccines rollout with no vaccines in a Delta outbreak is a Government’s worst nightmare (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Borrowing vaccines, moving away from Pfizer on table in Government jabs plan
Bridie Witton and Henry Cooke (Stuff):Government plans to stretch out Pfizer stock as Delta cases mount
AAP: PM not worried about NZ’s Covid vaccine supplies after surge in jabs
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Vaccines might be ‘managed’
Jessica Roden (1 News): Some businesses starting to implement no jab, no job policy
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): We can’t make vaccinations mandatory so rule that out now
Herald Editorial: Time to mass vaccinate Auckland?
Jack Tame (Herald): It’s too late to set vaccination records
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Our vaccination rates vs England
Baz Macdonald (Re): Explainer: Was NZ’s vaccine rollout actually too slow?
Anna Bracwell-Worrall (Newshub): Why are almost a quarter of Kiwis still vaccine hesitant?
Cecilia Robinson (Herald): No room for anti-vaxxers, conspirators or sceptics in team of five million(paywalled)
Herald Editorial: Vaccination bookings good, but daily dose numbers need to rise (paywalled)
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Peeni Henare disappointed with vaccine uptake among Māori, admits system is racist
Barbara Dreaver (Stuff): Lingering issues with ministry and efforts to vaccinate Pasifika and Māori
Dianna Vezich (Newshub): Government keeping close eye on overseas trials of third booster shot
Hamish McLean (ODT): Student Covid jab clinic on for 2 days
1 News: Sky Stadium becomes Wellington’s first drive-through vaccine centre
RNZ: Vaccination error in Canterbury gave people lower doses
1 News: Covid vaccine error: Up to 13 may have received lower dose
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Epsom vaccination centre closed, more than 100 people booked not told
Tim Brown (RNZ): Pasifika uptake of Covid-19 vaccine ‘really reassuring’, GP says
Helen Harvey (Stuff): Mass vaccination event in New Plymouth sees 2500 essential workers get the jab
Robin Martin (RNZ): Taranaki essential workers disappointed not to get vaccine earlier
RNZ: Covid-19 vaccine rollout regional rates: Taranaki lags behind
Gary Hamilton-Irvine (Hawkes Bay Today): Dad steps in to help stop anti-vaxxer’s protest outside Hastings Countdown (paywalled)
Chloe Blommerde (Stuff): Covid-19 vaccine and a needle phobia: How virtual reality is helping people overcome fear
David Long (Stuff): Top agent warns unvaccinated league, rugby players could mess with their futures

Essential workers
Luke Malpass and Hannah Martin (Stuff): Cases among essential workers could spell end of elimination strategy
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): Investigations ongoing after transmission of Delta among essential workers
John Tamihere (Herald): Let’s pay tribute to Whānau Ora teams
Katie Bradford (1 News): Tighter restrictions possible after Covid spreads at four workplaces
Conor Whitten (Newshub): What 59 essential workers testing positive means for elimination
1 News: Covid cases amongst Auckland essential workers soar
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Essential workers pack out childcare scheme

Cases, demographics, Pacific communities
Barbara Dreaver (1 News): Pasifika in Bay of Plenty forced to present passports to get Covid jabs
Bay of Plenty Times: Bay of Plenty Health Board apologises for requesting passports from Pasifika community at vaccinations
RNZ: BOPDHB apologises for requesting passports at vaccine appointments
Lucy Warhurst (Newshub): Data on New Zealanders hospitalised, how many are vaccinated against Covid-19
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): The latest on hospitalisations, contacts, where people are catching the virus
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): 30 out of 34 hospital admissions are Pacific people 
Torika Tokalau (Stuff): More than 60% of hospital admissions below age of 30 
Dan Satherey (Newshub): Associate Health Minister Aupito William Sio defends naming church, ethnicity of those in Auckland outbreak
Emmaline Pickering-Martin  (E-Tangata): Here we go again: Covid and racism
1 News: Pasifika social providers run off their feet as Covid outbreak grows
1 News: Young Pasifika volunteering as Covid cases rise in community

Contact tracing, testing
Andrew Chen: What’s wrong with Bluetooth Tracing?
Irra Lee (1 News): ‘Less than 10’ Bluetooth Covid Tracer app notifications sent in Delta outbreak
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Govt hasn’t used Bluetooth tracing since start of outbreak
Herald: New locations of interest include apartment building and bar
Janine Starks (Stuff): How much should New Zealand invest in surveillance testing?
Edward O’Driscoll (Newshub): Saliva testing company waiting on Ministry of Health support to turn around 10,000 samples a day
Adam Pearse (Herald): Rako Science’s plea for saliva testing to Ministry of Health
Adam Pearse (Herald): Is saliva testing the answer? (paywalled)
1 News: Auckland testing centres say some Covid contacts seeking Day 12 test early
Susan Botting (Local Democray Reporting): Northland iwi leader calls for swifter wastewater testing

Health
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Auckland Hospital nurses told to wear unfitted N95 masks because of backlog
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Are ICUs really in better shape than they were pre-pandemic?
Kate Green (Stuff): What would a gold standard ICU look like? Experts say it’s not out of reach
1 News: ICU bed-to-patient ratio not enough if Delta cases increase, expert says
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Hospitals hone contingency plans in case of Covid-19 patient surge
Peter Hughes (Newstalk ZB): In response to Kate Hawkesby’s criticism of the Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield
Kate Hawkesby (Newstalk ZB): More scrutiny is needed for our bureaucrats
Hamish Cardwell (RNZ): Mental health delays in Wellington making patients harder to treat
RNZ: $1m fast-tracked to help youth mental health in lockdown
1 News: Lockdown isolation difficult for NZ’s youth, Mike King says
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Lockdown may have helped stamp out RSV outbreak, says immunologist
Paul Mitchell (Stuff): Palmerston North’s 700 per cent spike in alcohol sales attributed to youthful population
—————
Laura Smith (ODT): Criticism of health indicators result of ‘targets’ confusion
Cecile Meier (Stuff): Cash-strapped health board’s deficit ballooning despite ambitious savings plan
Miriam Burrell (Herald): ‘Everything has changed’: How a decade of doctors in helicopters has saved thousands of lives
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Māori Health Authority must enable tino rangatiratanga – feedback

Alert Level rules
Cecile Meier (Stuff): Teachers and students won’t have to wear masks when schools reopen at level 3
Mariné Lourens (Stuff): The dos and do nots at alert level 3
Sophie Trigger (Northern Advocate): Lockdown burial: Northland man will watch from road as wife laid to rest
1 News: Grieving families ‘bend rules’ to come together during Level 4 – funeral director
Māori TV: Level 4 fishing rules changed, clearing up confusion
George Block (Stuff): Military personnel told they can’t return home during alert level 4

MIQ, border, immigration
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Calls for medical staff to be prioritised for residency: ‘We need to look at it like an emergency’
RNZ: Māori Party launches petition against more MIQ in Rotorua
Māori TV: Petition launched opposing more MIQ facilities in Rotorua
John Anthon (Stuff): Anguished Kiwis stranded by MIQ bottleneck – is there a better way?
Liu Chen (RNZ): Delayed Covid-19 transfers affect families: ‘Major issues around food supplies’
Stuff: Team of six million? MIQ strugglers tell their stories
(Stuff):Fear and loathing of MIQ: Kiwis share their border strife

Wage subsidy, business
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Employers can’t just decide to pay staff 80% in lockdown, lawyers say
Liz McDonald, Marine Lourens and Charlie Gate (Stuff): Businesses plead for Government help as lockdown draws on
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Essential business confusion ‘on the Government’
Mark Riggall (Herald): What Covid is doing to business (paywalled)
RNZ: Consumer confidence falls, remains below average
Damien Grant (Stuff): An economic catastrophe is looming
Liam Dann (Herald):  Gimme Shelter – Markets an island of calm in Covid storm (paywalled)
William Hewett (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern warns businesses south of Auckland will be affected by city remaining at level 4
Rahul Bhattarai and Anne Gibson (Herald): ‘Difference between us being open and closed is over $1m a day’ (paywalled)
Andre Chumko (Stuff): Aotearoa’s cultural sector and its changing role in a Covid-19 world
Vicki Anderson (Stuff): Lettuce serve: Hospitality ‘struggling’ but online business soars during Covid lockdown
Tim Newman (Stuff): Second lockdown ‘the final straw’ for some Nelson businesses
Tom Pullar-Strecker and Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Employers body says South Island firms disappointed drop to level 3 isn’t sooner
Will Trafford (Māori TV): Calling out Countdown: Tāne’s video goes viral
RNZ: NZ Post pleas for ‘patience’ as it adjusts to alert level changes
ODT Editorial: ‘A host of golden daffodils’ lost
Simon Draper (Stuff): Connecting more important than ever in the Covid era
Piers Fuller (Stuff): Covid lockdown’s silver lining: keeping people from their offices forced flexible work maturity 
Charlotte Lockhart (Herald): Busting myths about the four-day week

Parliament
Henry Cooke (Stuff): National and ACT reject plan for virtual Parliament and Question Time
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Week in Politics: Ardern suspends Parliament, National demands transparency
Greg Presland (The Standard): Gumming up the works
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s New York UN trip likely canned
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Lockdown for Clark less fraught this time
Maiki Sherman (1 News): Politicians take to social media to stay in touch after Covid closes Parliament
Richard Swainson (Stuff): Making a mountain out of a Churchill
Phil Smith (RNZ): Michael Cullen on caucus
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Roy Morgan poll August 2021

National party
Richard Harman (Politik): The complex manoeuvrings of Judith Collins (paywalled)
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Woodhouse lands shadow Leader of House role
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Judith Collins strips Chris Bishop of key portfolio
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Chris Bishop stripped of portfolio but keeps ranking in National reshuffle
RNZ: Judith Collins announces National portfolio reshuffle
Mark Longley (Newshub): Judith Collins reveals National’s new-look Shadow Cabinet
1 News: National tweaks portfolios after Collins reviews MPs’ performance

Lockdown compliance, enforcement, checkpoints
Andrew Geddis (Spinoff): Are police stretching their legal Covid-combatting powers?
Herald: Police threaten to arrest ex-Greens candidate Luke Wijohn who films them making late night arrest
Pat O’Dea (Daily Blog): Wijohn threatened
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): Consequences of breaking level 4 lockdown rules (paywalled)
Ben Leahy and Qiuyi Tan (Herald): Woman injured in accident, 50 mountain bikers on Queenstown trails
1 News: Police ‘disappointed’ after one of 50 mountain bikers on Queenstown track injured
RNZ: Coastal cruisers urged to follow lockdown rules
Newstalk ZB: Police Association: Bearded police officers not on the frontlines during Covid
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): One person shows up at anti-lockdown protest in Auckland
Tom Hunt and Kate Green (Stuff): Orca remain in harbour north of Wellington, police checkpoint halts rubberneckers 
Herald:TV host Ryan Bridge pulled over by police, asked to prove identity

Lockdown inequality, charities
Steven Cowan (Against the Current): Socialism for the rich. Capitalism for the rest of us.
Stuff: Government funding for extra 60,000 food parcels
Dubby Henry (Herald): Charity KidsCan calls for donations to help feed hungry families during lockdown
Josephine Franks (Stuff):Families struggle to feed children with schools and daycares closed
Vicki Anderson and Nadine Porter (Stuff): Tales of lockdown – ‘There’s more despair this time’
Bernard Orsman (Herald): It’s okay to feel frustrated and there’s places for help, says Ardern
Lucy Xia (Stuff): Chinese elders missing out on key information about Covid-19 community outbreak
Karen Coltman (Stuff): Bracing for a big lockdown power bill 
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Westpac NZ boss Simon Power: Financial hardship cases will rise if lockdown extended (paywalled)
Belinda Feek (Herald): Charity, secondhand shops inundated with dumped rubbish during lockdown
Gary Hamilton-Irvine (Herald): Domestic violence service expects wave of calls after lockdown(paywalled)

Education
Katy Jones (Stuff): Less appetite for distance learning reported this lockdown
Dubby Henry (Herald): Reading, maths didn’t suffer overall in 2020 despite lockdowns
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Uni’s handling of sexual misconduct questioned

Afghanistan
Jono Galuszka (Stuff): Former Kiwi soldier says Taliban already hunting down Afghan allies
Andrew McRae (RNZ): Government urged to lobby for safe passage of those wanting to flee Afghanistan
Andrew McRae (RNZ): ‘Hundreds’ of people left behind in Afghanistan – Minister of Defence
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Possibly hundreds left behind as New Zealand Afghanistan evacuation mission ends after Kabul terror attack
Tess McClure (Guardian): ‘Total betrayal’: Afghan interpreters shocked as New Zealand ends Kabul evacuation
Kate Banville, Tess McClure, Ben Doherty and Daniel Hurst (Guardian): Afghan allies feel ‘abandoned’ by Australia and New Zealand, as Kabul evacuation flights end
Jono Galuszka (Stuff): New Zealand-based Afghan woman says the Government has ‘forgotten about people like us’
Damian George (Stuff): Kiwi fears for Afghan friend on Taliban hit list as New Zealand ends evacuation
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Inside the extraordinary New Zealand Defence Force evacuation mission to Kabul
RNZ: 370 evacuees from Afghanistan headed for New Zealand, Foreign Affairs says
Newstalk ZB: Defence Force Minister: We still plan on evacuating people stuck in Afghanistan
Zane Small and Caley Callahan (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern promises ‘future evacuation’ but warns it will ‘look different’ as allies withdraw
Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern condemns ‘despicable attack’ in Kabul as final Defence Force evacuee flight lands safely in UAE
RNZ: Kabul attack: Final evacuation flight had left ahead of bombing – PM
Helen Clark (Spinoff): The world must not turn its back on Afghanistan
Thomas Manch (Stuff): New Zealander narrowly misses evacuation, flees from terror attack
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Afghan leader’s refuge plea to NZ: ‘The scars on my heart will remain’
Abbas Nazari (Stuff): The case for refugees: What New Zealand can do to help Afghanistan 
Edward Gay (Stuff): Auckland gun shop cans idea for ‘Kabul Skydiving Club’ T-shirt after complaints

Local government
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland mayoral race firming up: Mark Mitchell versus David Shearer?(paywalled)
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland’s Zoom mayor working alone in a council skyscraper
Stephen Forbes (Local Democracy Reporting): Supercity infrastructure projects grapple with lockdown restrictions
Mike Mather (Stuff): Hamilton mayor urges colleagues to look deeper into waters reforms process
Andrew Marshall (ODT): DCC lagging going online for meetings
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Call to disband councillors, bring in commissioners
Hilary Calvert (ODT): Governance after operational advice
Guy Trafford (Interest): Service to the community has been lost

Housing
Arthur Grimes (Listener/Herald): Government has caused housing crisis to become a catastrophe(paywalled)
1 News: Renter given notice during lockdown as landlord ignores ‘be kind’ message
Greg Ninness (Interest): Rent increases strongest in the central North Island, weak in Wellington with a big decline in Queenstown
Newshub: ‘Elitist’ Auckland golf club wins rezoning battle, won’t be turned into housing
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Time to make auctions work better for first-home buyers 
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Lockdown prompts Auckland eyes to wander to property elsewhere
Kerre McIvor (Herald): Sleepyhead and the plan to transform Huntly (paywalled)

Transport
Karol Abrasowicz-Madej (Herald): Sustainable motoring is more than just switching to an electric vehicle(paywalled)
Joel MacManus (Stuff): How a pedestrian crossing is dividing Wellington
RNZ: New operator appointed to run Auckland Transport’s suburban rail service
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland commuter rail service gets $1 billion shake-up
Riley Kennedy (ODT): Deal signed for Ritchies sale
RNZ: Ritchies sold to New York-based investment giant
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Citing emissions, unions call for KiwiRail ferry review (paywalled)

Employment
Steve Kilgallon (Stuff): Net closing on infamous bottle store owner accused of ‘modern-day slavery’
Alison Mau (Stuff): Are we being duped on the gender pay gap?

Primary industries
RNZ: National, environment groups take aim at government over delay to winter grazing rules
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Pugging and sowing date rules shelved as animal rights activists decry ‘mud farming’
Rachael Kelly (Stuff): Groundswell NZ have had a win, but they won’t stop their campaign
Peter Cressey Belinda Cridge Catherine McLeod Glenda Lewis (Stuff): Unlikely nitrates in water or food increase New Zealand cancer risk – study
Daniel Smith (Stuff): The future of farming could be up, not out
1 News: Farmers doing their best to keep Covid at bay
Lawrence Gullery (Stuff): Kiwis can’t hide from Covid-19 at the bottom of the world
RNZ: The Detail: Farming the sea bed for weed

Conservation, environment
Conan Young (RNZ): Only 54 Māui dolphins remain, DoC survey shows
Mare Haimona-Riki (Māori TV): Environment group wants government force added to rāhui

Superannuation
1 News: Retirement Commissioner: NZ Superannuation – play with it at your peril
1 News: Changes urged to make Super equitable for Māori, Pasifika
Connor Stirling (1 News): How does NZ’s Super Scheme compare to the world?
Whena Owen (1 News): Brutal reality of retirement in the Bay of Plenty

Media
Jenny Nicholls (Stuff):Aotearoa needs investigative journalism, not more ‘reckons’
Martyn Bradbury (Daily blog): Andrea Vance & Spin-off begging their woke supporters to not be arseholes is the best thing to happen this week
Victor Billot (Newsroom): An ode for .. Duncan Garner

Other
Brian Easton (Pundit): Economic Predicting Is Not What It Seems
Morgan Godfery (Guardian): A neat trick’: Critics aim to shift Aotearoa debate, but historical fidelity no longer matters 
Ruby Heyward (ODT): Name reflects shared history
Bruce Munro (ODT): Not in your backyard
Emma Hatton (RNZ): Officials keep close eye on ‘buy now pay later’ usage during lockdown
RNZ: Borrowers to get refunds after Harmoney and Commerce Commission strike deal
Jane Tolerton (Listener/Herald): Kate Sheppard and the myth of one (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): China export clampdown threatens Kiwi businesses
RNZ: NZ discusses West Papuan accused of treason with Indonesia
John Berry (Stuff): Ampol should commit to funding low-carbon energy infrastructure, if it’s to be allowed Z Energy 
Phil Pennington (RNZ): MBIE cuts back on staff churn in areas with high turnover
RNZ: Petition calls for better mobility parking enforcement
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Plunket takes on its history, and future, to be ‘a better Treaty partner’
Kennedy Warne (E-Tangata): Molecules and mātauranga
Duncan Johnstone (Stuff): America’s Cup hosting bids go to the wire and result will be spectacular
Zoë George (Stuff): 40 years on: Photographer Ans Westra in the thick of the 1981 Springbok protest
Trevor Richards (Herald): How about an apology from NZ Rugby? (paywalled)
Tamati Tiananga (Māori TV): Ngāti Maniapoto people vote to sign treaty settlement
Mare Haimona-Riki (Māori TV): New documentary explores misappropriation of haka
Melanie Reid and Bonnie Sumner (Newsroom): Feeling belittled and marginalised in the Family Court
Simon Ewing-Jarvie (Unclas): Podcast: Defending New Zealand 1: Armed Neutral and Long Range
Mike Mather (Stuff): Hamilton becoming less and less safe at night, survey reveals
Benn Bathgate (Stuff): Whakaari/White Island defendants all enter not guilty pleas