PARLIAMENT, GOVERNMENT
Danyl McLauchlan (Listener): What the Nats and Labour need to fix to win in ’26 (paywalled)
Duncan Garner (Listener): A question for PM Christopher Luxon, what are you trying to hide? (paywalled)
David Harvey (Herald): The ritual and reality behind New Zealand’s endless political announcements (paywalled)
1News: Q+A: Speaker Gerry Brownlee reflects on two years as Parliament’s referee
James Bush (Post): Prime Minister Luxon and the problem with running a country like a business (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): Sick leave surges across public sector as MSD tops the charts (paywalled)
Stuff: Former National politician Roger McClay dies
ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING
Verity Johnson (Stuff): What we need is hope, what we’ve got is more of the same - stagnant politics and rising cost of living
Max Rashbrooke (Spinoff): One reason the left keeps losing economic arguments
Greg Hurrell (BusinessDesk): Arthur Grimes: productivity is the wrong question to ask (paywalled)
Richard Harman (Politik): Treasury is at it again (paywalled)
Cameron Bagrie (BusinessDesk): What soft housing demand signals is next for NZ’s economy (paywalled)
Matthew Hooton (Patreon): Exclusive: Reinventing the Misery Index (paywalled)
METH
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): ‘A fantastic start’- support for government’s plan to combat methamphetamine use
David Fisher (Herald): Government unveils major meth action plan to tackle organised crime
1News: ‘Scourge on our society’: Govt unveils methamphetamine action plan
Glenn McConnell and Katie Ham (Post): ‘Desperately needed’: The plan to fight back in the war on meth (paywalled)
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): New Zealand is losing the war on meth. Here’s how the Government plans to fight back
RNZ: Millions of dollars allocated to tackle increased methamphetamine use
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, TRADE
Barbara Dreaver (1News): New Zealand suspends nearly $30m in aid to Cook Islands
RNZ: New Zealand ‘reluctantly’ extends pause in Cook Islands funding
David Fisher (Herad): Inside the military unit where sexual assaults weren’t reported, drinking was out of hand and soldiers were bullied (paywalled)
Steve Hepburn (ODT): NZDF’s new base in city opened (paywalled)
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Could NZ plug into Australian ‘drone wall’ to keep China at bay?
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to NZ business: let’s 100x this relationship (paywalled)
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): NZ-India trade could soar if free trade deal finally lands (paywalled)
1News: Q+A: New Air NZ chief executive ‘really optimistic’ about India FTA
Ryan Bridge (Newstalk ZB): How are the India FTA talks going?
EDUCATION
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Education Review Office says ‘stronger consequences’ needed for struggling schools
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Education groups oppose minister’s Teaching Council shake-up
Jaime Cunningham (Newstalk ZB): Quake-era initiative becomes lifeline for students’ mental health
BOOT CAMPS
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Bootcamp politics overshadow strategies to address youth offending
ODT Editorial: Boot camp spin (paywalled)
Adam Pearse (Herald): Final verdict on Govt’s controversial bootcamp pilot released
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Implementation of boot camp rushed, report concludes
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): The Government tried another bootcamp. Did it work this time?
A J Hendry: Boot Camp an ‘expensive experiment’
POLICE, CRIME, JUSTICE
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): Criminal investigation called for after police falsify alcohol breath tests
Melissa Nightingale (Herald): Police gifts register shows alcohol, cash and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s child’s bike donated to cops
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Hipkins calls for more robust vetting after it failed to identify McSkimming’s behaviour
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): Disgraced former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming’s medals to be revoked
1News: Police Commissioner moves to strip McSkimming of medals after guilty plea
Samuel Sherry (Herald): Experts say Jevon McSkimming offending highlights need for early intervention online
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Police ordered to pay $25,000 to estate of officer who died of cancer
Tim Watkin (RNZ): Nark told he’d be ‘well looked after’ in exchange for prison beating evidence, records show
Phoebe Utteridge (Stuff): He was dismissed on day two of a new job. The reason: Choices he made 33 years earlier
Lloyd Burr (Stuff): This one-woman protest outside Premier House could soon be illegal
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): You win in court but suffer financially - how does that work?
CLIMATE CHANGE, EMERGENCY RESPONSE
Kate Newton (RNZ): COP30: NZ must commit to buying offshore credits to meet Paris target, climate experts say
John Drummond (ODT): Now is the time to act on climate change, not to do nothing
K Gurunathan (Post): How - and why - councils are paralysed on climate change adaptation (paywalled)
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Emergency response roles on the chopping block with Government merger
Gary Hamilton-Irvine (Hawkes Bay Today/Herald): Hawke’s Bay is the third most flood-exposed region in NZ, new rainfall maps show (paywalled)
FAST-TRACK, ENVIRONMENT
Neil Sands (Law News): Critics of proposed fast-track legislation warn of ‘Trojan horse’
Gary Hamilton-Irvine (Hawkes Bay Today): Decision nears on Maraekākaho Quarry project near Hastings; opponents voice concerns
MĀORI-CROWN RELATIONS, TREATY
Pokere Paewai (RNZ): Crown apologises to Auckland, Hauraki iwi Ngāti Paoa for leaving them ‘virtually landless’
Te Karere: Ngāti Pāoa celebrate passing of $23m Treaty settlement bill
Pokere Paewai (RNZ): Ngāi Te Rangi welcomes Waitangi Tribunal finding on government’s te reo policies
Te Ao Māori News): Mōkai Pātea take major step toward Treaty settlement after three decades of claims
Julia Gabel & Chris Knox (Herald): Taranaki’s hidden story: Why Parihaka invasion echoes today – Whenua
Alistair Reece (E-Tangata): Our legacy of peace
Catherine Delahunty (E-Tangata): Towards He Whakaputanga
Karen Bird (The Conversation): The Māori ward vote in New Zealand contains important lessons for Canada
SPACE
Richard Easther (Newsroom): Speed over safety – how MethaneSAT was lost in space
Kate Green (RNZ) Simulated emergency response to solar storm exercise run for first time
RNZ: Space Agency looks into possible government-owned and operated satellite
Anna Marie Brennan (The Conversation): The threat of space terrorism is no longer science fiction, but we’re ill-prepared to combat it
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): Space weather, solar tsunamis: The Government is preparing for a potential disaster. But what is it?
Greg Hurrell (BusinessDesk): So far so good for NZ’s space station mission (paywalled)
MEDIA
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Mediawatch: Saving the marriage of journalism and the people
Shayne Currie (Herald): Wellington advertising agency loses six key staff, wins $15.5 million Electoral Commission election contract (paywalled)
Roeland van den Bergh (Post): Stuff’s Petone printing press building sold to property developer (paywalled)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WATER
Joseph Los’e (Herald): Westhaven Marina appeal begins as Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei defends mana whenua claim (paywalled)
Mark Geyde (Herald): Saying Auckland’s CBD is dead is unhelpful and inaccurate (paywalled)
Claire Mabey (Spinoff): Tauranga finally has nice things, but can it keep them?
Tina Law (Press): Another rates hike on the horizon for Christchurch ratepayers (paywalled)
Mike Mather (Waikato Times): Whip it good: New mayor takes disciplinarian approach in first full city council meeting (paywalled)
Tim Scott (ODT): Mayor’s move ‘sidelining me’: Simms (paywalled)
BUSINESS
Chris Keall (Herald): After three days of blunders, Microsoft finally delivers on 365 refund – but some of the fine print still annoys readers (paywalled)
Juha Saarinen (Interest): Microsoft apologises to NZ subscribers for sneaky Copilot AI M365 plans price hike
Fiona Rotherham (NBR): It’s official: the R&D tax incentive works better than grants (paywalled)
Nicholas Pointon (NBR): The SFO is (probably) investigating Sacred Hill (paywalled)
Tom Raynel (Herald): Commerce Commission investigates creatine supplement maker Push Gummies after 34 complaints (paywalled)
HOUSING, HOMELESSNESS
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): Concerns grow over plan to let police move on rough sleepers
Fiona Ellis (Waikato Times): Homeless fear move-on orders will push them further to the margins (paywalled)
Miriam Bell (Post): Rents are falling. What does that mean for landlords? (paywalled)
Mariné Lourens (Press/Post): ‘It is so hard’: Family unable to secure pet-friendly rental ends up in emergency housing (paywalled)
David Hargreaves (Interest): NZ’s mortgage pile set for its largest growth in four years in 2025
BANKS, FINANCE
Rob Stock (Post): Commerce Commission prepares to launch High Court action against ASB (paywalled)
Nicholas Pointon (NBR): Council of Financial Regulators’ purpose questioned in new report (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Foundations of next-gen ‘banks’ undermined by non-performing loans
Janine Starks (Post): This emerging non-bank competitor to the big banks is impressive
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Which banks most often have the lowest interest rates?
ENERGY
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Taxpayers would pay the tab on a majority of any electricity price reductions, while renationalising the sector entirely could cost $20 billion
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Electricity Authority launches review as questions linger (paywalled)
Peter de Graaf (RNZ): Two major Far North power outages not connected - Top Energy
INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT
David Long (Stuff): Cycling groups clash with minister over plan to scrap proposed bike lane
Sam Stubbs (Sunday Star Times): InfraKiwi gives Kiwis a stake in their own infrastructure (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Private partnerships take next steps from roads to prisons to hospitals
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Buildings that ‘drift’ less perform better in quakes, according to growing global consensus
Jimmy Ellingham, Louisa Cleave (RNZ): Safety campaigners call for ban on imported vehicles with cardan shaft brakes
Jimmy Ellingham, Louisa Cleave (RNZ): Cardan shaft park brakes ‘inherently unsafe’, coroner rules
Dean Kimpton (Sunday Star Times): Sneak peek at City Rail Link a fast, smooth ride (paywalled)
Justin Wong (Post): RiverLink ramps up as Hutt braces for years of disruption (paywalled)
Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): Experience: I was trapped in the country’s most beautiful municipal building
Brent Melville (NBR): Maersk ‘reviews’ Lyttleton visits as industrial action steams on (paywalled)
CARTOONS