Today’s content
National Party
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Luxon’s Disney fairytale draws close, but Bridges lurks
Matthew Hooton (Patreon): Another catastrophe looms for National (paywalled)
Richard Harman (Politik): National split down the middle
Audrey Young (Herald): How do you solve a problem like Judith Collins? (paywalled)
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Luxon hasn’t been able to strike a deal with Bridges to avoid a leadership vote
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Today National begins its next brighter future. That, or an epic capsize
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Simon Bridges not giving in as Chris Luxon apparently out in front
Chris Trotter (Interest): Isn’t one Todd Muller enough?
Simon Wilson (Herald): National’s battle of the blokes (paywalled)
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Chris Luxon front runner as National Party seeks saviour after years of bitter infighting
Luke Malpass (Stuff): New Covid-19 traffic light settings big test for new National leader as race tightens
Jason Walls (Newstalk ZB): Coveted Finance portfolio key bargaining chip in National’s leadership negotiations
Henry Cooke and Luke Malpass (Stuff): Battle between Bridges and Luxon on a ‘knife-edge’ with contested vote on the cards
Mike Yardley (Stuff): Luxon looms large amid desire for a clean break
Gordon Campbell: On Omicron, and the Bridges/Luxon dilemma
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Chris Luxon firming up numbers, push to settle leadership without contested vote
Claire Trevett and Kiri Gillespie (Herald): ‘Not my first rodeo’: National Party MP Simon Bridges ‘confident’ ahead of leadership vote against Chris Luxon
Lydia Lewis and Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Former Prime Minister Jim Bolger on why he has doubts about Simon Bridges as National Party leader
Claire Trevett (Herald): Don Brash rates ‘older, wiser’ Simon Bridges but says wide caucus support for a new leader is critical
Lawrence Gullery (Stuff): National can’t move on while its former leader Judith Collins ‘sticks around’
Tova O’Brien (Newshub): National MP Maureen Pugh says ‘very important’ for National Party caucus to unite behind a single leader
1 News: National Party needs a ‘crystallised message’ – commentator
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Crusher Burns Bridges: Winners & Losers
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): David Seymour has some ideas for the new National leader, including reforming housing and climate legislation
Suze Wilson (The Conversation): As it selects a new leader, National needs to remember one thing – confidence doesn’t always equal competence
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Thomas Manch (Stuff): National MP Jacqui Dean says she was caught in ‘power-play’ between Judith Collins and Simon Bridges
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Caught in a ‘political power play’ – Jacqui Dean speaks out
Zane Small (Newshub): National MP Jacqui Dean at centre of Judith Collins’ demotion of Simon Bridges speaks out
Anna Whyte (1 News): National MP speaks out on ‘political power-play’
Katie Scotcher (RNZ): Jacqui Dean says she did not set out to cause turmoil within National Party
Parliament, Parties
Sam Hurley (Herald): SFO’s National and Labour Party donations cases to be heard together, High Court rules
(Stuff): National and Labour Party donations fraud trials to be heard together
Karl du Fresne: The worst of all possible worlds
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Green MP Julie Anne Genter makes headlines around the world after cycling to hospital while in labour, again
Traffic light system, Auckland border
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Traffic lights: The next phase of the pandemic
Zane Small (Newshub): Conflicting COVID-19 ‘traffic light’ rules for unvaccinated published just days out from implementation
ODT Editorial: Brave new orange and red world
Zane Small (Newshub): Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March raises concerns about ‘inequitable’ COVID-19 traffic light system
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Siobhan Downes (Stuff): ‘No hard borders’: No limits to domestic travel under traffic light system
Thomas Manch (Stuff): ‘Caution’ means New Zealand won’t get ‘green’ light settings for foreseeable future
Michael Neilson (Herald): Red for Auckland under new traffic light system – but don’t expect green any time soon
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington moving to orange under new traffic light system
Helen Castles (1 News): Iwi looking to block holidaymakers from Bay of Islands
RNZ: Access to landmark blocked in bid to prevent virus spreading
Lorna Thornber (Stuff): Iwi close popular Northland holiday spot over summer
RNZ: Checkpoint: Whangārei mayor hopes orange possible for north by mid-Jan
Kurt Bayer (Herald): South Island reacts to orange traffic lights announcement
Mike Houlahan (ODT): South Island to begin traffic light system at Orange
RNZ: Watch traffic light settings update: Red for Auckland, Northland and parts of central North Island
Janine Rankin and Sinead Gill (Manawatū Standard): Low vaccination rates cast a red glow over half the region
Michael Neilson and Claire Trevett (Herald): Most of upper North Island moves straight into red of new traffic light system
Steven Walton, Amber Allott and Sophie Cornish (Stuff): Move to orange setting will mean ‘business as usual’ for South Island, parts of North
Anna Whyte (1 News): PM reveals regional levels in new traffic light system
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Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Businesses get financial support to transition to traffic light system
1 News: Govt to offer new ‘transition payment’ to businesses
Chris Tobin (Stuff): Orange light decision helps businesses plan, community leaders say
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): ‘Red’ traffic light won’t fix lockdown losses, but welcomed by chamber
RNZ: Auckland businesses hope customers play by the traffic light rules
RNZ: South Island hospitality hoping for busy weekend in traffic light system
Katie Harris (Herald): Traffic lights system – party hosts legally required to check guests’ vaccine passes
Courtney White (ODT): Confusion over how new Covid setting will work
Denise Piper (Stuff): Northland businesses see red over applying traffic light system
Tom Kitchin (RNZ): Gisborne locals oppose Rhythm and Vines: ‘It does put our community at risk’
Darren Bevan (Stuff): Thousands sign petition urging organisers to cancel Rhythm and Vines
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Andrew Little says Gisborne/Tairāwhiti needs to hit 90 pct vaccine rate for Māori before it can move to orange setting
Nita Blake-Persen (RNZ): Event organisers face tough decisions with regions in red level
1 News: Rhythm and Vines yet to make call as Gisborne put in Red
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Rhythm and Vines looks red-lined for now but COVID-19 traffic light settings could change before Christmas
Matai O’Connor (RNZ): Iwi say no to Rhythm & Vines over Covid-19 risk within Tairāwhiti
RNZ: Waka Ama Nationals cancelled due to traffic light system uncertainty
Todd Niall (Stuff): Covid-19 cancels Auckland fireworks and entertainment
1 News: SkyCity’s annual New Year’s Eve fireworks show cancelled
Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): Queenstown and Wānaka New Year’s Eve fireworks cancelled – party continues
Tracey Roxburgh (ODT): New Year fireworks, performances cancelled
Chris Schulz (Spinoff): Auckland is losing it
Govt management of Delta outbreak
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): The weeks the wheels fell off the Delta response
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (1 News): Low Māori vax rates not considered in alert level change
Todd Niall (Stuff): The biggest lesson from Auckland’s 107 days in Covid-19 lockdown
RNZ: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern: Omicron variant, traffic light system and vaccine passes
Herald: Epidemiologist says vaccination the future to living with the virus
Jake McKee (RNZ): Covid-19 could spread through apartments’ shared ventilation systems – expert
RNZ: Covid-19 wrap: Traffic light settings revealed, Rhythm and Vines urged to cancel, Omicron variant in spotlight
Home Isolation
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): The stories of two NZ men who died with Covid-19 while isolating at home, alone
RNZ: Deaths of two people self-isolating in Auckland were potentially preventable, report finds
Josephine Franks (Stuff): Two deaths in home isolation were ‘potentially preventable’, report finds
Herald: Two self-isolation deaths ‘potentially preventable’, report finds
Mandatory vaccination, vaccine pass, incentives
Stuff: Defence Force vaccine mandate legal challenge dropped
Helen Harvey (Stuff): Vaccine mandate: 314 staff, volunteers have left St John
Juliet Speedy (Newshub): Kiwis with vaccine exemptions struggling to get vaccine pass days out from new traffic light system
Stuff: Interislander introduces vaccine, testing requirements for passengers from December 15
Devon Bolger (Herald): Lyttelton Port Company determines all staff must be vaccinated
Evan Harding (Stuff): Principal: Government ‘lacked compassion’ during vaccine mandate rollout
Chris Tobin (Stuff): South Canterbury hospitality businesses expected to close due to mandates
RNZ: Interislander ferries bring in vaccination or test requirements for passengers
Vaccine rollout
1 News: Capital & Coast DHB hits 90% fully vaccinated rate
Chloe Blommerde (Stuff): Kawerau mayor calls on the Ministry of Health to ‘step up’ and take control of low vaccination rates
Justin Latif (Local Democracy Reporting): Clinic owned by Destiny Church members helping to vaccinate South Auckland
Te Aorewa Rolleston (RNZ): Auckland kaumātua among first to receive booster vaccine doses
Derek Fox (Herald): Let’s have a Covid plan for Christmas
Doug Laing (Hawkes Bay Today/Herald): In the war against a virus, a Hawke’s Bay gang leader finds a way (paywalled)
Luisa Girao (ODT): Organisers ‘super stoked’ about drive-through clinic
Troels Sommerville (Stuff): Vaccination centre manager in race to get Māori immunised
Cases, demographics, Contact Tracing, testing
George Block (Stuff): Popular journalist and staunch anti-vaxxer dies of Covid-19
1 News: Ardern says Auckland Covid cases ‘plateauing’
Adam Pearse (Herald): Apology after BestStart Covid cluster hits babies as young as eight months old
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Positive wastewater detection in Opononi, number of hospitalised COVID patients increases
1 News: New Covid-19 case announced in Nelson-Tasman region
Katie Townshend, Skara Bohny and Vanessa Phillips (Stuff): First active case in Nelson since 2020
Herald: Covid-19 case in Nelson-Tasman region
Omicron variant
1 News: NZ’s tight border can keep Omicron out for now – modeller
RNZ: Border protections will ‘buy us time’ as Omicron spreads – scientist
Jamie Morton (Herald): The three big questions surrounding Omicron (paywalled)
Stuff Editorial: Omicron a fresh test of reactivity and stamina against Covid
Anthony Zwi (Stuff): Travel bans aren’t the answer to stopping new Covid-19 variant Omicron
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Michael Baker says Omicron variant manageable for NZ, could be ‘very grim’ for poor countries
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Officials looking into extra border measures
Nadine Porter (Stuff): Kiwis scuppering flights home in anticipation of border closing
Paulina Firozi and Brittany Shammas (Stuff): International travellers stranded, angry in Omicron’s wake: ‘The first thing I did was cry’
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Trade Minister Damien O’Connor returning to New Zealand after WTO meeting unexpectedly cancelled
Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): Global travel restrictions as Omicron variant emerges
Greg Smith (Stuff): Like Delta, will the markets ultimately also take Omicron in their stride?
Housing
Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): Food, or rent? Wellington council housing tenants say they can’t afford both
Geraden Cann (Stuff): Mega Landlords: Being a tenant of Dunedin’s student accommodation barons
Cira Olivier (Herald): Fifteen Rotorua motels paid over $1 million for emergency housing (paywalled)
RNZ: Building Code changes to boost new houses’ energy efficiency
RNZ: Finance and investment firms join in plan for community housing
Sahiban Hyde (Hawkes Bay Today/Herald): Showgrounds Hawke’s Bay Tomoana housing proposal: Hawke’s Bay A&P Society considering development, growers outraged (paywalled)
Economy, business, government subsidies
Mike Treen (Daily Blog): Why we are creeping towards a crisis of the system
RNZ: Roadmap for tourism recovery outlines potential challenges and costs
RNZ: Carbon footprints in the spotlight at tourism industry summit
Ben Kepes (Stuff): Why business leaders should engage with their critics
Liz Wylie (Whanganui Chronicle/Herald): Whanganui business says expansion could be thwarted by plan change (paywalled)
Tamsyn Parker (Herald): The big KiwiSaver transfer: 230,000 members expected to change providers (paywalled)
Grant Bradley (Herald): Air New Zealand bookings surge, outlines big expansion plans (paywalled)
Health
Miguel Quiñones-Mateu (Newsroom): We need to be one step ahead of the next coronavirus outbreak
Naomii Seah (Spinoff): Fabric masks are fine and good, actually
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): DHB doesn’t have the staff to meet coroner’s mental health care recommendation
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Gaps, inequities and staff shortages in maternal mental health services
Ian Powell (Second Opinion): Distracted health system leadership neglects kidney transplants
Cate Broughton (Stuff): Christchurch nurses plan protest over stalled pay rise
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Medical physicists who are crucial to cancer care set to strike
Chris Barclay (Star News): ‘Worst site in Christchurch for a liquor store’
Siouxsie Wiles and Toby Morris (Spinoff): Why you should care about antimicrobial resistance
Northern Advocate: Northland Māori youth affected by Covid-19 pandemic get government funding
Education
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Commission pans attempts to close Māori, Pacific achievement gap
Ellen O’Dwyer (Stuff): What will schools look like under the traffic light system?
Dawn Freshwater (Herald): International study has changed – for good (paywalled)
Employment
Daniel Smith (Stuff): More jobs and higher pay on the way, Infometrics
Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Do you know how much tax you pay?
Andrea Fox (Herald): KiwiRail worker strikes still on as mediation stalls: union boss ‘optimistic’ of resolution
Environment, conservation, Climate Change
Rohan MacMahon and Jez Weston (Newsroom): Offsets, not tricky climate accounting is the outrage
Gerhard Uys (Stuff): Is farm-specific emission pricing possible?
Raymond Wood (Stuff): Let’s keep doing our part to battle climate change, Aotearoa
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): How to protect low-lying coastal Dunedin
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Fight to eradicate wilding pines far from over – expert
Primary industries
Michael Morrah (Newshub): MPI fisheries officers to use body cameras during illegal fishing investigations following surge in violence, abuse towards staff
Andrew Watters (Herald): Why it’s a great time to be a North Island hill country landowner (paywalled)
Police
Anna Whyte (1 News): Glen Eden shooting: Police Minister’s thoughts with officers
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Rise in firearms and violence against cops a ‘worrying trend’
RNZ: Fatal West Auckland shooting: Police tried to disarm man for 30 minutes – Coster
Melanie Earley (Stuff): Glen Eden police shooting: Man’s death a ‘tragedy for all’, commissioner says
RNZ: West Auckland shooting: Man dead after opening fire on three police officers
Herald: Gunman killed, four police officers in hospital after 11 hours of mayhem
Ireland Hendry-Tennent, William Hewett and Shannon Redstall (Newshub): West Auckland incident: Man shot dead by police after he opened fire on three officers
1 News: Auckland police fatally shoot man after three officers shot, injured
Justice, corrections, crime
Nikki Macdonald (Stuff): ‘This is how the truth is buried’: Coroner’s inquests plummet five-fold since 2012
Ben Strang (Stuff): Waitangi Tribunal fast-tracks kaupapa inquiry into justice system
1 News: Auckland crime surge linked to poverty – councillor
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Woman’s photo posted to porn site but only perpetrator gets access to counselling
Sarah Robson (RNZ): Sharing intimate content without permission has ‘serious consequences’ – Netsafe
Foreign Affairs, trade
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): WTO’s ‘existential crisis’ further complicated by Omicron
Adrian Muckle (Newsroom): Peaceful decolonisation at risk from New Caledonia referendum
Media
Maxine Jacobs (Stuff): Our Truth, Tā Mātou Pono: One year on, what’s changed and what still needs to
Nadine Porter (Stuff): People who get info from Facebook more likely to be anti-vaccine – study
Herald Editorial: Why media are setting aside differences in a joint approach to Facebook and Google (paywalled)
Gavin Ellis (Knightly Views): Big Billy-Goat Gruff gives trolls a good kicking
Transport
Geraden Cann (Stuff): More than 490,000 vehicles due for inspection as extended WoF deadline looms
Dave Armstrong (Stuff): Let’s Get Wellington Moving gets moving online
Jack Crossland (Herald): The future of water transport setting sail in Wellington
Nikki Mandow (Newsroom): A tale of two bad leaders
Other
Anuja Nadkarni (Newsroom): Exploitation claims expected to rise as migrants apply for new residency visa
RNZ: Refining NZ plans to offer private storage for customers as part of operations changes
André Chumko (Stuff): National Library hits pause on Internet Archive deal days before deadline
Jessica Morris (1 News): National Library U-turns on plans to cull thousands of books |