PARLIAMENT, POLLS, ELECTORAL REFORM
John Campbell (1News): Please, National and Labour, do something. Anything!
Andrea Vance (Post): Luxon’s leadership running out of oxygen as polls tighten (paywalled)
Tom Day (1News): Poll: Labour surges, Luxon's popularity hits two-year low
1News: 'A really difficult time': Party leaders react to latest poll
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Labour most popular party, polling average shows
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Should National be worried about these poll numbers?
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Luxon’s political poll playbook: ‘I don’t care’
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Greens look to be tail wagging the dog - should Labour be worried?
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): The Green Party positions itself as the left’s leader, and a friend to the coal miners
Chris Trotter (Interest): Raising taxes will be a hard-sell for Chris Hipkins if all the additional revenue is pledged to funding pay equity
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Zombie politics and the lost art of actually doing things
Audrey Young (Herald): Police Minister Mark Mitchell’s past police work revealed in health battle (paywalled)
Ani O’Brien: National has a storytelling problem
RNZ: Green Party launches petition after electorate's Māori name removed
Joris De Bres (Spinoff): Bye bye, Rongotai – but why?
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
RNZ: 'It's a matter of when not if' New Zealand recognises a Palestinian state, David Seymour says
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Why hasn’t Cabinet been able to agree on whether to recognise Palestine?
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Government accused of 'fence-sitting' on Palestinian statehood
Jamie Ensor (Herald): New Zealand considering recognition of Palestinian state, sets out timeline
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Government kicks can down the road on Palestinian statehood (paywalled)
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): NZ set to finalise its Palestine position ahead of UN meeting
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Foreign Minister Winston Peters raises recognition of Palestine as a state in Cabinet meeting
RNZ: Luxon confident Cabinet can come to unified decision on Palestine
Thomas Manch (Post): Formal decision on Palestine recognition to come in September, Peters says (paywalled)
Donna Miles (Press): In what world are we not supposed to care about this?
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Here's what was in Winston Peters' letter to UN Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): ‘Deeply regret’: Winston Peters writes to United Nations after David Seymour letter (paywalled)
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Post): Peters writes to UN after ‘breakdown in protocol’ from Seymour letter (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Post): EU-CPTPP trade dialogue, championed by NZ, could start before year’s end (paywalled)
RNZ: Defence mulls whether to follow in Australia's footsteps for navy contracts
Talaia Mika (Cook Islands News): United States eyes deeper ties with Cook Islands, help businesses form ties
Stuff: To hug or to hongi? Albanese goes in for hongi, Luxon for a hug
ECONOMY, GOVT SPENDING, INEQUALITY
Gordon Campbell: On A Clueless Government Running A Jobless Economy
Rob Campbell (Newsroom): The Govt’s more unequal and extractive economy is no accident
RNZ: Government policies working to fix economy, raise living standards, Luxon says
Craig Renney: Shoulder Pads, Telethons and Fiscal Policy. The Treasury thinks the 80s are back
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Labour leader Chris Hipkins dismisses criticism of Covid-19 overspending as 'Treasury spin’
Cameron Bagrie (BusinessDesk): Treasury signals need for independent fiscal watchdog (paywalled)
Natalia Albert: The Myth That Political Will Solves Child Poverty
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): How much money do you need to be happy?
RNZ: Economy to pick up despite high inflation, experts predict
Cameron Smith (Herald): US tariff uncertainty clouds New Zealand’s economic outlook - Westpac
Mike Jones: Real wage squeeze reinforces spending headwinds
PAY EQUITY
Ellen O’Dwyer (RNZ): Unofficial People's Select Committee starts pay equity hearings
Bridie Witton (Stuff): ‘Sexist, cowardly’: Great grandson of first woman MP slams pay equity changes
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Post): First female MP would have been ‘appalled’ by pay equity changes, says great grandson (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): ‘Turning women’s wages into a political piggy bank’
Mahvash Ikram (Law News): New legislation puts ‘a sinking lid on female pay’, former Governor-General tells People’s Select Committee
ENERGY
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): Why ending the offshore drilling ban won’t solve New Zealand’s gas crisis
Andrew Body (BusinessDesk): Toothless regulation and the Entrust/Vector issue (paywalled)
Chelsea Daniels (Herald): Front Page: ‘It won’t happen in my lifetime’: Shane Jones on renewable energy goal
RNZ: Minister Shane Jones looks to coal as businesses grapple with gas shortage
Jamie Gray (Herald): NZ industrial gas crisis: Rising costs force businesses to cut operations
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk):Gas users warn of business closures, job losses and price increases due to supply uncertainty (paywalled)
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Shane Jones looking at gas rationing for beleaguered industrial users (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): BusinessNZ calls for Government to put foot down on gas (paywalled)
The Standard: Good, Democratic, Easy-To-Support Energy Policies
Miriam Bell (Post): Boosting heat pump adoption could save NZ households billions and secure jobs (paywalled)
Mandy Te (Interest): If one of the Rankine units in Huntly gets removed, wholesale electricity prices could increase by up to 12% between 2026 to 2028, gentailers say
Bridget Abernethy (Herald): Electricity market shake-up proposal misses mark (paywalled)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Dave Armstrong (Post): Was a Crown Observer really needed for the city council? (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): $60–$80 million sludge plant overspend fuels council scrutiny (paywalled)
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): Could super-councils help ease rates rises in Wellington?
Justin Wong (Post): Upper Hutt council defends closed tender for $55m pool upgrade (paywalled)
Joel McManus (Spinoff): Windbag: The waterfront fences debate isn’t really about fences
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): Why league legend Ken Laban wants to be Lower Hutt’s first Pasifika mayor
Mary Afemata (Local Democracy Reporting): Councillors hit back at Wayne Brown's 'Pacific victims' remark
Jessica Hopkins (RNZ): Auckland mayoral candidate promises key policy release after blunder
Joseph Los’e (Herald): Auckland mayoral candidate Kerrin Leoni says she was abused putting up her signage - police called
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Given the Wayne Brown silent treatment, Leoni finds her voice
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): 11-storey timber building on K Road gets green light after appeal
Ruby Shaw (ODT): Radich stands by letter to government (paywalled)
ODT: Signs of an upcoming election
Linda Hall (Local Democracy Reporting): Wairoa mayoral candidate wants council-run cannabis business
Jean Edwards (RNZ): Heritage-listed library's future threatened by funding cut
HOBSON’S PLEDGE
Grant Duncan: Māori representation in local wards and in parliament: a readers' poll and an explainer
Steve Braunias (Newsroom): The secret diary of .. Don Brash
Richard Shaw (E-Tangata): I doubt this is what Hobson had in mind
RNZ: Hobson’s Pledge founder wants ratepayer activist seat at table
HEALTH
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Deaths from heart disease highest in regions with fewest cardiac staff - research
Ava Whitworth and Shilpy Arora Gaikwad (Stuff): Daughter speaks out about family’s fight with New Zealand’s failing heart healthcare system
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Older patients stuck in hospitals due to limited aged care spaces
Jude Ball, Jessica Reid, David Hammond, Anaru Waa, Michaela Pettie, Janet Hoek (Public Health Communication Centre): Nicotine pouches and young people: Evidence from Aotearoa New Zealand
Amy Williams (RNZ): Alcohol sale hours need to be reduced after reform u-turn - Salvation Army
Harriet Laughton (Post): The battle brewing over Wellington liquor licences (paywalled)
Finn Blackwell (RNZ): Public Service Association pushes for more staff to boost Auckland Hospital safety
RNZ: ACC services not designed for people with concussion, says support group
RNZ: Hospital security guards want handcuffs, powers to detain violent people
BANKS
John Bowie (lawFuel): National’s Silence on Banking Law Controversy Gets More Mysterious by the Day
RNZ: Co-operative Bank replacing banking system as it looks to take on big four
Nick Stride (Interest): RBNZ wants to regulate the mammoth HVCS. But what is it?
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): ANZ cuts home loan rate, predictions others will follow
David Chaston (Interest): ANZ pushes term deposit rates sharply lower, but Kiwibank raises a key one
PRIMARY INDUSTRIES, OVERSEAS INVESTMENT, ENVIRONMENT
Chris Knox & Nyree Tomkins (Herald): Can’t see the sheep for the trees: 10 years, 100,000 hectares and $900m of foreign forestry conversions - mapped
Kate Green (RNZ): Controversial West Coast Te Kuha Mine project has fast-track application declined
Blayne Slabbert (Press): Pay cheques soar as miners flood to West Coast for biggest opportunity in a generation (paywalled)
Monique Steele (RNZ): More detail on gene tech regulations to come, as industry mulls opportunities
Eloise Gibson (RNZ): Why congestion charging might not lower Auckland's air pollution
TRANSPORT
Angela Curl and Caroline Shaw (Newsroom): Scrapping petrol tax could be transformative – but will it?
Michael Daly (Stuff): EVs expected to retain a running-cost advantage when petrol tax goes
Megan Drayton (Post): Keeping off the tracks the only way to stop rail tragedies (paywalled)
Lloyd Burr (Stuff): Winston Peters uses Rail Safety Week launch to rubbish high-viz overkill
Chris Knox (Herald): New road user charge calculator: How much could you pay? (paywalled)
Poppy Clark (Stuff): It’s the biggest change to driving costs ‘in 50 years’, so naturally, you had questions. Chris Bishop answered
Herald: Winston Peters resists high-vis gear at City Rail Link event
RNZ: Politicians attend Auckland's City Rail Link's test run
Bernard Orsman (Herald): City Rail Link test train showcases Auckland’s modern rail future
Ellen O’Dwyer (RNZ): Wellington train satisfaction falls, record-high bus passengers
IMMIGRATION
1News: Q+A: NZ govt announces two new work visas to aid workforce shortages
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): $2 shops, high-tech exports and buying retirees' firms - Entrepreneur visa changes likely
Gary Hamilton-Irvine (Hawkes Bay Today/Herald): NZ receives 1500 refugees each year but Hawke’s Bay doesn’t settle any. Why? (paywalled)
Ankur Sabharwal (Post): Why the Parent Resident Visa Category is unfair (paywalled)
Iain MacLeod (Post): A shrinking population means immigration should become a major election issue(paywalled)
ORANGA TAMARIKI, CHILD WELFARE, BOOT CAMPS
Julia Gabel & Jamie Ensor (Herald): Military style bootcamps: Seven of 10 participants reoffended but official says there were ‘successes’
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Bootcamp re-offending rate revealed: 80% allegedly offended within the year
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira (RNZ): Minister, OT hail boot camp success despite majority reoffending
Hannah Bartlett (Open Justice Reporting): Teen boy housed in Tauranga motel by Oranga Tamariki for more than a year
Isaac Davison (Herald): Malachi Subecz: The lingering questions answered by the coronial inquest(paywalled)
SOCIAL MEDIA HARM, INTERNET REGULATION
Samantha Marsh (Public Health Communication Centre): Evidence supports the need to protect adolescents from social media harms
Chelsea Daniels (Herald): Should we regulate YouTube’s algorithm to protect children?
Kelly Makiha (Rotorua Daily Post/Herald): Rotorua doctor calls for social media ban for under-16s amid safety concerns (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Labour MP drafts alternative plan for Internet regulation (paywalled)
Eric Crampton (Post): Learning from Britain’s headlong plunge into policing the internet (paywalled)
EDUCATION
Laura Walters (Newsroom): ‘Pause NCEA consultation’ – principal’s plea
Ben Leahy (Herald): NCEA overhaul: NZ principals predict short-term Cambridge boost amid curriculum changes (paywalled)
RNZ: Auckland teacher 'not surprised' at increasing rate of teens leaving school unqualified
Amanda Gillies (RNZ): The Detail: Clearing out the confusion over NCEA changes
Matthew Martin (Waikato Times): Tokoroa taskforce adds polytech Toi Ohomai to the list (paywalled)
HOUSING
Mildred Armah (Stuff): A New Zealander lives here: Bob ‘sleeps’ sitting upright in his single-cab ute. He’s 64
RNZ: New Zealand 'can't talk about homelessness without tackling poverty', advocate says
Ani O’Brien: Chlöe Swarbrick’s Homelessness Hyperbole
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Flat conditions leave some unimpressed
Nick Hill (Herald): House building and inspections: Target property cowboys not the system (paywalled)
Catherine Masters (One Roof): Has NZ finally solved its housing crisis? Ten years after soaring prices triggered nationwide panic
JUSTICE
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Terror law consultation extended amid overreach concerns
Lloyd Burr (Stuff): Revealed: Why the Government did a late U-turn on the Proud Boys’ terrorist status
John Braddock (World Socialists): Secretive overhaul of New Zealand terror law targets protests
Molly Swift (RNZ): Victims of Sexual Violence Bill explained: Why sex offender name suppression is changing
Hamish McNicol (NBR): The Lawyers 2025: sizing up New Zealand’s legal industry (paywalled)
Jack Riddell (Herald): Number of high-security beds at Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison could rise by up to 460, document shows (paywalled)
Allan Brent: Ellis and all that - Part I
Allan Brent: Ellis and all that - Part II
RNZ: New district court case review hearing guidelines to help trials stay on schedule
Tara Shaskey (Open Justice Reporting): 'Coward punch’ laws need to be fast-tracked, says family of New Plymouth victim
Susana Suisuiki (RNZ): Parents of Caleb Moefa'auo, who died after being pepper sprayed, call for mental health reforms
REGULATION
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): These are the rules irritating Kiwis, and what the Government is doing about them
Phil Smith (RNZ): What you need to know about Regulations Review Committee and the new law undermining it
RNZ: Government to review product labelling regulations
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Product safety and ingredient labels are the next target in war on ‘red tape’
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): BusinessNZ upbeat about review of NZ’s product labelling system
INFRASTRUCTURE
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): NZ infrastructure: Bishop, McAnulty seek consensus for long-term planning(paywalled)
Shane Te Pou (Herald): We can’t spend Government ghost money (paywalled)
Crux: Rod Drury’s masterplan: Queenstown to be a national template for how to get things done
Fox Meyer (Newsroom): A kiwi can never be a tiger, warns Ireland’s former PM
BUSINESS
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Why are some South Island products cheaper in North Island supermarkets?
Andrew Bevin (Newsroom): Grocery duopoly to sell land that could support new supermarkets
RNZ: Grocery supplier costs rising faster as global prices soar
Rob Stock (Post): Zuru court case reveals supermarket exclusivity tactics (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): One in five businesses reporting losses
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): How a property developer’s implosion created 2025’s biggest legal mess
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): On the Money: Leo Varadkar, Luxon, the Browns, Winston Peters, Chris Bishop, Richard Yetsenga and more (paywalled)