FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE
Glenn McDonnell (Stuff): Revealed: Tens of thousands spent on prime ministers’ mountain trip
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Defence chiefs told top US space commander NZ could help by rapidly launching satellites
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Luxon talks up regional unity ahead of Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting
Mick Hall: NZ anger over Pacific summit's partner ban simmers
Adam Pearse (Herald): Pacific Islands Forum: NZ aid efforts complicated by exclusion of world powers (paywalled)
Caleb Fotheringham (RNZ): Moetai Brotherson backs Solomon Islands' decision to exclude external partners at Honiara meeting
Caleb Fotheringham (RNZ): Pacific leaders to endorse non-binding regional labour mobility principles at Honiara summit
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): NZ trade deal to be signed within months, Indian minister says
Thomas Manch (Post): India pushing for New Zealand FTA by year's end (paywalled)
Don Brash: That Clark/Key visit to China
RNZ, Reuters: Five Eyes security talks focus on border protection, migration
RNZ: US Air Force's largest plane lands in Auckland again
PARLIAMENT
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Labour goes back to drawing board after bruising Tāmaki Makaurau by-election defeat
RNZ: Labour signals it's not guaranteed to work with Te Pāti Māori after election
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Peeni Henare considering whether to stand in Tāmaki Makaurau after second loss
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Labour’s Chris Hipkins won’t call Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris’ Instagram post ‘racist’, says those labels aren’t helpful
Herald Editorial: Tāmaki Māori voters turn to unapologetic representation (paywalled)
Philip Temple (ODT): How they are shooting MMP messenger
Grant Duncan: Minor parties take centre-stage
Mountain Tui: I Hate Labour! But...Wait...Why?
Karanama Ruru (Stuff): What to know about Prime Minister, the new film on Dame Jacinda Ardern
Mitchell Hageman (Herald): Dame Jacinda Ardern documentary Prime Minister set for cinema release this month
RNZ: Jacinda Ardern's cousins can stop asking about her doco now
Herald: Women’s Rugby World Cup: Dame Jacinda Ardern pays surprise visit to Black Ferns ahead of quarter-final
NZ FIRST, STUART NASH
Henry Cooke (Post): Are there anti-woke Labour voters for NZ First to snatch up? (paywalled)
Azaria Howell (Newstalk ZB): A person with a p***y and a pair of t**s’: Winston Peters unimpressed with potential NZ First MP Stuart Nash’s ‘woman’ description
Lloyd Burr (Stuff): Stuart Nash offers crude definition of what a woman is
Greg Smith (Herald): Why Winston Peters wants a KiwiSaver overhaul
ENERGY
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Shane Jones wants to consider re-nationalising the power companies, more fossil fuels in energy shake-up (paywalled)
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Watts to challenge gentailers on 2026 'energy security’ (paywalled)
Matthew Martin (Waikato Times): Minister in talks with Kinleith Mill owners over energy options (paywalled)
Jamie Gray (Herald): Transpower to spend $1.1b on Cook Strait link upgrade
Jamie Gray (Herald): Canada’s Brookfield in talks to buy Rockgas owner Clarus Group in $2.2b deal - AFR (paywalled)
IMMIGRATION
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Some ministers want migrants to sign a ‘Kiwi values’ pledge, but the Prime Minister’s not so keen
Ethan Manera (Herald): James Cameron asked Act leader David Seymour to speed up citizenship application (paywalled)
RNZ: New Zealand tightens screening measures for Indian visa applicants
RESERVE BANK
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Willis: Not releasing texts about Orr's resignation met transparency expectations
Michael Reddell: Another snippet
Andrew Patterson (Newsroom): Call for Reserve Bank to improve transparency ahead of appointments
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): We need more transparency around the Reserve Bank
HEALTH
Maxine Jacobs (Press/Post): ‘The human cost of institutional failure’: Māori dying younger and sicker (paywalled)
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Hospital to fill private supply gap (paywalled)
Rob Campbell (Newsroom): Union draws puppeteer Brown out from behind the curtain
Ruth Bonita (Newsroom): Rapid switch from smoking to vaping is helping close NZ’s big health inequalities
Maddy Croad (Press/Post): Damaged in the womb - foetal alcohol action plan unveiled (paywalled)
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): ED like a ‘mass casualty situation’: Why this year’s winter lurgies are later and longer-lasting
Anna Whyte (Post): Marshmallows, briefly banned, are back in hospital cafés after minister’s intervention (paywalled)
Patrice Dougan (NZ Doctor): Only 14% of med students want to be GPs (paywalled)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Tom Hunt (Post): ‘Highly unusual': Council restructuring under fire (paywalled)
Gregor Thompson (BusinessDesk): New Wellington Council CEO enlists Deloitte for wider restructure (paywalled)
RNZ: Thirty jobs at Wellington City Council under threat in proposed restructure
Andrea Vance (Post): Former mayors back Wellington ‘super-city’ vote as debate looms (paywalled)
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): The mayors, the media man and the mystery shrouding Upper Hutt’s election
Todd Niall (Newsroom): Wayne Brown company deregistered
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): Two mayors to be elected unopposed in local government elections
RNZ: Referendums begin for Māori wards at 42 councils
Susan Botting (Local Democracy Reporting): Conflict at Northland Regional Council top table investigated
Emily Ireland (Local Democracy Reporting): Town hall: Plough on or rethink?
Matthew Nash (Local Democracy Reporting): Future of Rotorua nursery in question: Union claims it is set to close, council says no decision made
Deena Coster (Manawatū Standard/Post): Rates capping proposal draws mixed views from regional mayoral candidates (paywalled)
ODT: STV electoral system easy to use, avoids ‘wasted votes’ (paywalled)
ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Adopting Australia's inflation target 'insane economic illiteracy' - Finance Minister
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Chris Hipkins hoses down discussion on Labour tolerating higher inflation after Barbara Edmonds’ interest in discussing idea with economists (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Labour open to ‘having a discussion’ about changing Reserve Bank rules to tolerate higher inflation, economist calls the idea ‘ludicrous’ (paywalled)
Zane Small (Stuff): 10,000 fewer jobs in three months: Is a ‘recovery’ really underway?
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Weak jobs and manufacturing numbers suggest economy facing ‘larger headwinds’ (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): Recession risk rises as gloom about June quarter GDP grows (paywalled)
David Hargreaves (Interest): June quarter manufacturing slump signals possibly bigger than expected GDP fall
Nona Pelletier (RNZ): Two large retailers preparing to lay off staff as sector far from optimistic
Angus Dowell (The Conversation): Politicians love comparing NZ’s economy to Singapore or Ireland – but it’s simplistic and misleading
BUSINESS, TAX
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Scathing feedback on surcharge ban: ‘Cost of living virtue signalling’
Kate MacNamara (Herald): Struggling Moana Pasifika helped through last season with interest-free grace period on government loan (paywalled)
Garth Bray (BusinessDesk): Fourth-quarter IRD tax surge finds $75m more from property investors, developers (paywalled)
Jonathan Mitchell (NBR): ComCom inquiry could determine if outsized profits in insurance (paywalled)
RNZ: City Fitness' advertised membership prices misleading - Commerce Commission
Nona Pelletier (RNZ): Construction insolvencies remain high in NZ, report shows
RNZ: City Fitness gyms charged under Fair Trading Act over alleged misleading fees
Dita De Boni (Post): CityFitness pinged for undisclosed transaction fees (paywalled)
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Dozens of FreshChoice supermarkets hit with suspension over booze promo
RNZ: Dozens of supermarkets banned from selling alcohol for two days
Nicholas Pointon (NBR): Few directors satisfied with their fees, despite 7.4% lift (paywalled)
CLIMATE CHANGE
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Ex-climate tsar likens squabbling politicians to toddlers
Henry Cooke (Post): Government still mulling methane target, with coalition partners yet to agree (paywalled)
Richard Harman: Seymour’s political games (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): Ten takeaways from Auckland climate conference (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): Climate change minister Simon Watts mounts tame defence of ‘solid’ emissions policies (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): Forget limiting global warming to 1.5C, British lord tells NZ climate forum (paywalled)
MEDIA, SOCIAL MEDIA
Josie Pagani (Post): I don’t think they’re right about what it means to be left (paywalled)
Duncan Greive (Spinoff): Sean Plunket now stands alone on his Platform
Shayne Currie (Herald): Rich-lister Wayne Wright jnr exits The Platform, Sean Plunket takes 100% ownership (paywalled)
Shayne Currie (Herald): TVNZ news story on Destiny Church investigation breached secret interviewee’s privacy by revealing her face to some viewers (paywalled)
Greg Bruce (Listener): Local media meltdown? 70+ NZ community newspapers still in the fight (paywalled)
ODT: Civis: The national broadcaster and facing hard truths (paywalled)
Emma Gleason (Spinoff): New Zealand media’s many, many attempts to reach ‘the youth’
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): The Govt promised what they can't deliver
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Post): ‘Changes' planned at Metro Magazine amid ‘tough’ times (paywalled)
Kate Newton (RNZ): Four phones, three weeks: Would a social media ban for teens work?
Kate Newton (RNZ): Four phones, three weeks: Teen self-esteem and social media’s distorted mirror
HOUSING, BUILDING
Simon Wilson (Herald): David Seymour, Joni Mitchell and the Auckland housing density debate (paywalled)
Sally Hughes (Herald): Auckland’s housing intensification: What’s really at stake in Kingsland? (paywalled)
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Site suggested for city’s homeless sold to developer (paywalled)
Greg Ninness (Interest): Average Wellington housing values down almost 30% from peak, Auckland down 20%
POLICE, ORGANISED CRIME
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Organised crime fight should be led by one minister - report
Jared Savage (Herald): Experts call for dedicated Minister to tackle organised crime in New Zealand (paywalled)
Nik Dirga (RNZ): Why NZ Police don't wear body cameras - and if that will change
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): This Tom Phillips documentary needs to be called off
Shayne Currie (Herald): Tom Phillips documentary crew receives exclusive access behind police cordons; police commissioner questioned on whether it should proceed
Rachel Moore (Stuff): Did the cops do the right thing in pursuing Tom Phillips?