LABOUR PARTY
Julia Gabel (Herald): Labour leader Chris Hipkins makes first speech of election year: ‘We want to win back the country’s biggest city’
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Labour MP Adrian Rurawhe to retire from politics
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Adrian Rurawhe to retire from politics next month
ELECTION DATE
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to announce election date, as National MPs gather for caucus retreat
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Election date announcement due as MPs gather for caucus retreats
Henry Cooke (Post): Super Wednesday: National and Labour caucuses to meet as election date expected (paywalled)
Nik Dirga (RNZ): When will Election Day be, and how is it decided?
RNZ: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon confirms he’s about to announce 2026 election date
Henry Cooke (Post): Christmas coalition talks: Why a late election date is looking likely (paywalled)
PARLIAMENT AND GOVERNMENT
Lloyd Burr (Stuff): Mood of the Workforce: Bishop outranks other senior National ministers (including PM)
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Jobs for mates in McKee’s gun advisory group
No Right Turn: Coalition of cronyism
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Luxon butters up business for a very different bread-and-butter election
Ani O’Brien: Luxon’s State of the Nation: Dull or disciplined?
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): One MP, One Pint: Hamish Campbell on circus tricks and Christchurch coolness
Waatea News: Government didn’t receive advice there are jobs for young people
GOVERNMENT DECISION ON AUCKLAND HOUSING
Jamie Ensor (Herald): David Seymour says Auckland housing debate become ‘highly politicised’, says Epsom residents not ‘anti-intensification’ (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Post): Chris Bishop’s second go at dismantling a NIMBY lightning rod will be far harder (paywalled)
Ava Whitworth (Stuff): Christopher Luxon signals housing changes but gives little detail on timing
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Christopher Luxon and the 195-country election
Nicholas Ross Smith (The Conversation): How NZ can survive – and even thrive – in Trump’s new world of great-power rivalry
Angus James: When the Rooms Move – How Greenland and Gaza reveal a changing reality for small states like Aotearoa
Josh Wineera (Post): As the ground shifts, how can New Zealand hold its footing? (paywalled)
Fox Meyer (Newsroom): Calculating the value of peace on a continent of science
ECONOMY AND BUSINESS
Juha Saarinen (Interest): Grocery and telco commissioner roles look set to go as govt reforms Commerce Commission
David Hargreaves (Interest): Living on the ceiling - inflation set to test limits of RBNZ’s target range again
RNZ: NPD–Gull merger plan lands at Commerce Commission
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Competition watchdog could rule on Gull, NPD merger by mid-March (paywalled)
Aimee Shaw (Post): Woolworths strikes a deal to use Google AI in chatbot (paywalled)
Miriam Bell (Post): Fire sale or masterstroke? Fletcher Construction sale has pros and cons: analyst (paywalled)
David Hargreaves (Interest): Further signs of life for the economy - service sector expands for first time in nearly two years
COST OF LIVING
RNZ: Council of Trade Unions survey shows incomes not keeping up with cost of living
Matthew Tukaki (Waatea News): Leaving Aotearoa: The Cost of Living Exodus
Matthew Tukaki (Waatea News): ‘The System Is Broken’: Health Pressures and Professional Flight
HEALTH
Harriet Laughton and Tom Hunt (Post): Wellington Hospital ED hits ‘code red’ almost twice a day (paywalled)
John Braddock (World socialist website): New Zealand “ManageMyHealth” hack exposes thousands of patients’ medical records
Kevin Norquay (Post): Hacked off: life as a Manage My Health victim, then not (paywalled)
ENVIRONMENT
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): ‘War on nature’: Forest and Bird says govt changes put wildlife at risk
Lucy Xia (RNZ): Racist threats made to Asian communities accused of stripping Whangaparāoa rockpools
Liu Chen (RNZ): Asian MPs call for immigration to be left out of seafood gathering debate
Viliame Kasanawaqa (The Conversation): Deep sea mining is the next geopolitical frontline – and the Pacific is in the crosshairs
Sarah Curtis (Herald): McCallum Brothers investigated by DoC over Pakiri protected corals
Waatea News: Conservation groups warn government rollbacks threaten species and habitats
Michael Cugley (Te Ao News): Mana whenua, DOC step up summer protection of Hauraki Gulf
RESERVE BANK GOVERNOR ANNA BREMAN
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Should Anna Breman be in trouble?
Jenny Ruth: RBNZ governor Anna Breman is doing the right thing
John Braddock (World socialist website): New Zealand foreign minister publicly rebukes Reserve Bank governor for criticising Trump
HOUSING AND BUILDING
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Kāinga Ora abandons social houses over distance to city, but ‘it’s a 30s walk to bus stop’
Greg Ninness (Interest): Residential construction showing tentative signs of recovery
Greg Ninness (Interest): Residential rental activity is increasing while rents are softer overall, Tenancy Services data shows
LOCAL GOVERNMENT; URBANISM
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Invercargill councillors reject claims they failed former Mayor Tim Shadbolt
Tina Law (Press): Council slams Government rates cap as ‘unrealistic and unworkable’ (paywalled)
Simon Wilson (Listener): City Desk – new urban ideals column (paywalled)
EDUCATION
Jaime Cunningham (Herald): Schools start year hundreds of teachers short as vacancies climb 12%
Serena Solomon (RNZ): Why do New Zealand schools have different start dates
INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSPORT
Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): Fiscal conservatives should be clamouring for cycleways
Brent Melville (NBR): Off the rails: train disruption extends to nearly half a year (paywalled)
CARTOONS