FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TRADE, DEFENCE
John Lewis (ODT): Opening of FBI office in Wellington ‘slightly ironic’
RNZ: China hits back at FBI director's 'groundless assertions' in Wellington
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Government pushes back on claims FBI's new office in Wellington to counter China
Russell Palmer (RNZ): FBI to open standalone office in Wellington
1News: FBI opens office in Wellington
Thomas Coughlan & Adam Pearse (Herald): FBI to establish base in New Zealand, after Director Kash Patel visit
Glenn McConnell and Lloyd Burr (Stuff): FBI opening base in Wellington, after director Kash Patel makes secret visit to the capital
Thomas Manch (Post): Trump-appointee Kash Patel opens FBI office in NZ (paywalled)
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): New Zealand 'lagging behind' rest of world by failing to recognise Palestinian statehood, former PM Helen Clark says
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): Calls grow for NZ to take a stand on Palestinian statehood
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Trade Minister says US tariff on NZ may rise to 15% on Friday
Caleb Fotheringham (RNZ): Cook Islands celebrates 60 years of self-governance amid growing rift with NZ
Herald: Solomon Islands PM Jeremiah Manele welcomed to Parliament with guard of honour
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): NZ to chip in $16m to help Pacific Islands ditch diesel for green energy (paywalled)
David Fisher (Herald): Drunken sailors shame Royal New Zealand Navy, Admiral orders sailors to sharpen up and stop boozing
PARLIAMENT, ELECTORAL REFORM
Toby Moore (Newsroom): Let’s not open the gate to US-style voter disenfranchisement
Steven Cowan: A democracy that is neither representative nor democratic
No Right Turn: Voter suppression is election rigging
Julia Braybrook (Stuff): Debate stuff: What do you think about voting reforms?
RNZ: How to check your enrolment after concerns from voters
RNZ: Te Pāti Māori files urgent High Court proceeding over electoral roll concerns
Māni Dunlop, Whatitiri Te Wake, Tini Molyneux (Te Ao Māori News): Te Pāti Māori files urgent court action over alleged voter suppression
Whatitiri Te Wake (Te Ao Māori News): Māori actors alarmed by missing voter records
Julia Gabel (Herald): Labour confirms fast-track position after National accuses party of ‘flip-flopping’
Audrey Young (Herald): New Zealand beginning to look like an outlier on Gaza (paywalled)
Chris Trotter (ODT): ‘Old Baldy’ falls foul of the ominous gender gap (paywalled)
Duncan Garner (Listener): Could Christopher Luxon be a one-term PM? (paywalled)
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): Echo Chamber: The interminable rage of Chlöe Swarbrick
Greg Dixon (Listener): Prime Minister shrugs off being booed by own MPs (paywalled)
Anna Rawhiti-Connell (Spinoff): That wasn’t an emergency alert, it was a wake-up call for dropkicks
Liam Hehir (The Blue Review): Did Chris Penk run over Christopher Luxon’s dog?
Tara Ward (Spinoff): Shhh, don’t tell Sam Uffindell about Dunedin’s half-built hospital
REPEAL OF OIL AND GAS BAN, ENERGY
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Coalition parties call for opposition not to re-ban oil and gas exploration
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Government's repeal of 2018 oil and gas exploration ban passes final reading
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Ban on new oil and gas permits lifted but no certainty exploration will resume (paywalled)
Science Media Centre: Offshore oil & gas exploration ban set to be overturned – Expert Reaction
Louis Collins (RNZ): Petroleum law passes, with a last minute twist
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): It's oil and gas ban repeal week - hooray!
Sharon Davis (Westport News): Stockton mine protesters 'selfish', 'irrational': Resources Minister Shane Jones
Greg Presland (The Standard): Can we trust Shane Jones?
CLIMATE CHANGE, INSURANCE, ENVIRONMENT
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Simon Watts’ climate and fossil fuel hats sit uncomfortably
Brent Edwards (NBR): Mother Nature’s not waiting for the climate adaptation framework (paywalled)
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Scientists urge coalition not to weaken methane target
Monique Steele (RNZ): Beef farmers likely first in line for emissions-reducing livestock pill
Cécile Meier (BusinessDesk): Government spent $200k on recycling campaign that never aired (paywalled)
Greg Hurrell (BusinessDesk): Government-provided house insurance could be ‘inevitable’ (paywalled)
Mandy Te (Interest): Insurers' claims processes need to meet consumer needs, FMA says
Grant Miller (ODT): South D residents don’t want ‘status quo’ (paywalled)
Pokere Paewai (RNZ): Tolaga Bay marae 'preparing people's minds' for moving their wharenui
Alexa Cook (RNZ): 'It's got a lot of significance spiritually': The managed retreat of marae
TSUNAMI WARNING, DISASTERS
Ben Tomsett (Herald): Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones turns phone off, unfazed by early morning tsunami alert
Michael Daly (Stuff): Why are there still ‘gremlins’ in emergency mobile alert system nearly eight years after it went live?
Liu Chen (RNZ): NEMA to investigate glitches with emergency alert system
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Why Civil Defence issued a 6.30am tsunami alert
RNZ: 'Technical glitch' sends out tsunami emergency alert to phones multiple times or not at all
Karanama Ruru and Sam Smith (Stuff): Tsunami warning x12: Frustration over repeat emergency alerts
Sam Smith (Stuff): ‘Civil Defence is playing a joke’: Kiwis share their thoughts on the emergency alert wake up call
Phil Pennington (RNZ): 'Fairy dust' gets in the way, but does not stop chopper rescues
EDUCATION
Danyl McLachlan (Listener): Results give NZ education system a very middling grade (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Herald): NCEA changes: Concerns over qualification’s vocational education pathways as announcement looms (paywalled)
Cate Macintosh (Press/Post): David Seymour withheld school lunch criticism, but shared the praise (paywalled)
Gordon Campbell: On The Dubious Rationales For The Waikato Medical School
David Farrar: Waikato Medical School gets approved
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Need for meeting urgent: polytech
Cameron Bagrie (BusinessDesk): The drums are beating louder for change in education, NCEA (paywalled)
Laura Waltesr (Newsroom): New early childhood education law aims to help get parents back in labour force
Dan Johannsen (RNZ): Blanket ban on ‘Year 14s’ in school sport proposed in new eligibility rules
PAY EQUITY
Bridie Witton (Stuff): New documents show how ministers pushed through controversial pay equity changes
Gail Pacheco (Post): Why we should be pushing back for a fair go on pay equity (paywalled)
HOUSING
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Councillor Christine Fletcher slams Bishop’s Auckland housing plan as ‘bully-boyish’ (paywalled)
Stuff: Homelessness in Auckland almost doubles within a year, council data shows
Anne Gibson (Herald): Simplicity Living buys Kāinga Ora Northcote site for $65m to build nine-level build-to-rent apartments (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): Average home loan passes $500,000 as size of first home-buyer loans nears historic peak (paywalled)
Miriam Bell (Post): Simplicity's build-to-rent programme hits Auckland's North Shore (paywalled)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WATER
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira (RNZ): New government stats reveal how much councils are spending
Tina Law (Press/Post): New council benchmarking figures show high debt levels, inability to meet rates cap
Luke Malpass (Post): Council benchmarks good step for transparency (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Post): Govt lobbies breakaway councils over water plans (paywalled)
ODT Editorial: Reining in rates (paywalled)
Chris Knox (Herald): Auckland Council rates increase - is your bill up by the promised 5.8% or a whopping 9%? Find your new bill (paywalled)
David Long (Stuff): ‘Not good enough’: Wayne Brown hits out at councillors missing meetings, quips about running one over
Jessica Hopkins (RNZ): Wayne Brown lashes out at Auckland councillors over no-shows at meetings
Justin Hu (1News): Auckland mayoral race static as more than 350 vie for council positions
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Millions at risk as museum’s Māori treasures off-limits
RNZ: Hindu temple in South Auckland gets resource consent amid local opposition
Peter de Graaf (RNZ): Far North Mayor Moko Tepania to seek second term
Todd Niall (Newsroom): Jami-Lee Ross seeks political comeback
Paula Penfold (Stuff): Former MP turned escort agency owner plans return to politics
Pokere Paewai (RNZ): Councillors to vote on new agreement of Lake Taupō and the Upper Waikato River with local iwi
Robin Martin (RNZ): New Plymouth councillor felt 'disdain' and 'contempt' at Treaty Principles Bill meeting
Michael Cugley (Te Ao Māori News): A return to council for one of Flaxmere’s heroes
Inside Government: Manawatū council signs partnership with Timor-Leste
RNZ: Graphics reveal what Wellington's waterfront could look like with safety balustrades
ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING, PERSONAL FINANCE, TAX
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Accountants call for capital gains tax
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Commerce Minister backs lifting KiwiSaver contributions closer to 12%
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): 'Really, really well off people' needing help with problem debt
David Hargreaves (Interest): Non-performing housing loans still rising
Mandy Te (Interest): 21,600 home loans past due in June quarter – Centrix
Mandy Te (Interest): 478,000 people behind on payments, hospitality sector prominent among business failures
Martin Van Beynen (Press/Post): We need to talk about boring old super (paywalled)
Amy Williams (RNZ): Debt collectors harassing borrowers at their homes and workplaces, charity warns
Rob Stock (Post): Crackdown needed on unaffordable lending and ‘wild west’ debt collection (paywalled)
HEALTH, DISABILITY
RNZ: 1000 people sign petition calling for MPs to give up private health care
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): Taupō struggling to attract doctors as residents rally to improve working conditions at town hospital
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): Pharmacy owners call on government to take 'urgent' action after baby's death
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Nurses' strike: 4300 patient appointments, procedures postponed
RNZ: Midwives to get 3.5% pay increase, $235 lump sum after settling pay claim
RNZ: Meningococcal B vaccine to be funded for all children under five
Kate Green (RNZ): Russian-born man who was adopted as child loses ACC appeal as injury occurred before immigrating
RNZ: Government funds more mental health support for pregnant women, new mothers
Emma Rickett (Stuff): Luxon pooh-poohed them but ‘fancy toilets’ game-changing for disabled New Zealanders
Annabel Reid (Rotorua Daily Post): Frustration grows over smoking and vaping at Rotorua Hospital entrance
BUSINESS
Andrew Bevin (Newsroom): Grocery code crackdown is ‘globally unprecedented intrusion’, supermarkets warn
Roger Partridge (Herald): Govt sending a dangerous signal to business investors with butter dramas (paywalled)
RNZ: Business confidence rises for second month in a row but residential construction slumps
Rob Stock (Post): Southern Cross Travel Insurance pays $1.1m for overcharging customers (paywalled)
Mandy Te (Interest): Southern Cross Travel Insurance admits liability for breaches of fair dealing laws - FMA
Blayne Slabbert (Press/Post): Broadband bills surge for Kiwi households (paywalled)
TRANSPORT
Justin Hu (1News): Transit ticketing project review: Wide-ranging recommendations
Brent Edwards (NBR): Infrastructure Commission backs congestion charging (paywalled)
RNZ: Vehicles stolen after NZTA breaches privacy of 1000 owners
Simon Wallace (Herald): Government must step up to save vital regional air routes (paywalled)
RNZ: Air Chathams considers cutting services
Jehan Casinader (Stuff): The racist backlash against Air NZ’s new CEO
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): Air NZ’s new CEO Nikhil Ravishankar: what analysts and insiders are saying (paywalled)
Roeland van den Bergh (Post): Air New Zealand appoints insider Nikhil Ravishankar as new CEO (paywalled)
Zita Campbell (Local Democracy Reporting): Gisborne Air NZ flights cancelled due to plane repairs
David Hill (Local Democracy Reporting): MP joins calls to scrap contentious T2 commuter lane
ABUSE IN CARE, CHILD WELFARE, ORANGA TAMARIKI
Ellen Dwyer (RNZ): Government to fund one-off national day of reflection for survivors of abuse in care
Julia Gabel (Herald): Date of national day to acknowledge abuse in care survivors announced with $1m fund for local events
RNZ: Child sexual exploitation not sufficiently addressed in NZ, new report finds
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Judge slams Oranga Tamariki's ‘egregious’ behaviour, awards costs to ‘Moana’ foster parents
Cherie Howie (Herald): High Court judge criticises Oranga Tamariki, awards $108,000 to former foster parents
IMMIGRATION
Jamie Ensor (Herald): David Seymour resurrects idea of migrants signing NZ ‘values statement’ (paywalled)
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): New Zealand authorities investigating over 40 trafficking offences
Rob Campbell (Newsroom): NZ wants the economic benefits of migrants without helping them
RESERVE BANK
Michael Reddell: Orr, Quigley, and Willis: 31 July edition
Michael Reddell: The Treasury file note of the 24 February meeting
Michael Reddell: Rereading the material
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Treasury releases minutes of meeting Adrian Orr had with Nicola Willis before he resigned as Reserve Bank governor (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Adrian Orr pushed back on Nicola Willis in final meeting, minutes show (paywalled)
Michael Reddell: Two sets of Willis comments, and a plausible story