WILLIS V RICHARDSON, ECONOMY
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Nicola Willis v Ruth Richardson: The finance debate is a lose-lose (paywalled)
Luke Malpass (Post): The Mother of all Debates: What is the Taxpayers’ Union game here? (paywalled)
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Clowns to the left, jokers to the right’: Willis-Richardson debate in doubt after ultimatum
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): ‘Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right’: Nicola Willis hits back as debate reaches deadlock
Sam Smith (Stuff): ‘I’ve always preferred flowers to fudge’: Nicola Willis hits back at Ruth Richardson
Henry Cooke (Post): Debate stalemate: Ruth Richardson says debate with Nicola Willis must be on Newstalk ZB (paywalled)
Harriet Laughton and Henry Cooke (Post): Taxpayers’ Union launch ‘fudge’ campaign against Nicola Willis - and say she is trying to get out of debate (paywalled)
Michael Reddell: Fiscal failure
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): Is Nicola Willis losing the right?
ODT Editorial: You had better shop around (paywalled)
Martin Van Beynen (Press/Post): Are we lifestylers or just lazy? (paywalled)
FAST-TRACK
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Fast-track expert panels won’t need sector expertise (paywalled)
Fox Meyer (Newsroom): Even with the RMA gone, the fast-track survives
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Fast-track amendment passes under urgency, backtracks on controversial proposals
Thomas Manch (BusinessDesk): Shane Jones: Fast-track changes ‘sends message’ to EPA and convenors (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (BusinessDesk): Government backs off some changes to fast-track as urgent amendments made (paywalled)
RMA REFORM
Russel Norman (Greenpeace): Can’t see the water for the well – crony capitalism and the RMA
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): The new RMA rules, explained for dummies
Louis Collins (RNZ): The House: MPs’ week begins with an RMA shakeup precursor
Local Democracy Reporting: Opportunity for NZ’s fastest growing district in RMA reforms – mayor
PARLIAMENT, PUBLIC SERVICE, YEAR IN REVIEW
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): 2025 in politics: two unpopular leaders, a farce, and civil war
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Government’s pig farming law changes passed through Parliament under urgency
Oliver Hartwich (Herald): Greyhound racing law change is legal overreach (paywalled)
Julia Gabel (Herald): ‘UN is a joke’: Government ministers take aim at United Nations over report criticising New Zealand treatment of Māori
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): ‘Highly offensive’ swearing, and counter-claims, in lead up to MP expulsion revealed in court documents
John Bowie (LawFuel): The Kapa-Kingi Kapa Haka
Brent Edwards (NBR): Measuring the volatility of the Coalition Government (paywalled)
RNZ: Government launches ‘one-stop shop’ app
Audrey Young (Herald): Finance Minister Nicola Willis shows her mettle as attacks come from left and right (paywalled)
Greg Dixon (Listener): Willis to defend Heartless Tory Finance Minister title in “Grumble in the Jungle” (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): FMA chair Craig Stobo is under investigation. Spotlight is falling on a trip he took to Estonia (paywalled)
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): One MP, One Pint: Green MP Kahurangi Carter wants you to make more memes
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Local Water Done Well: Council plans to cost $9b more than expected
Gwynn Compton: Once more unto the Wellington amalgamation breach
Ethan Manera (Herald): Amalgamation talks underway as Wellington councils take first step towards potential super city
Tom Hunt (Post): ‘Too important to be left to chance’: Wellington council amalgamation a step closer (paywalled)
Stuff: Wellington region mayors step forward together in move towards councils’ amalgamation
Ethan Manera (Herald): Wellington Mayor Andrew Little’s financial backers revealed, electoral officer queries Ray Chung’s funding
Nick James (RNZ): Wellington’s City to Sea bridge saved from demolition - for now
Ethan Manera (Herald): Wellington’s City to Sea Bridge avoids demolition for now
Tom Hunt (Post): City to Sea Bridge officially removed from demo list (paywalled)
Alexa Cook (RNZ): Ombudsman investigating Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s role in post-cyclone buyout
Tina Law (Press): Christchurch City councillors’ pay jumps to almost $127,000 (paywalled)
David Williams (Newsroom): Murder, the Government wrote
David Hill (Local Democracy Reporting): North Canterbury mayors face ‘tsunami of changes’
Blayne Slabbert (Press/Post): Lyttelton Port signs off $800m expansion, but who’s going to pay for it? (paywalled)
Robin Martin (RNZ): Positive Ageing mobilises after council scraps aged working party
CONSERVATION, MINING
Andrea Vance (Post): West Coast conservation shake-up clears path for mining, tourism and grazing (paywalled)
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Coalition strains over stewardship land shake-up
Ian Lewellyn (BusinessDesk): Stewardship land continues to divide (paywalled)
Mike White (Post): Shane Jones a ‘bully and hypocrite’: Sam Neill fires back over controversial gold mine (paywalled)
Joanne Naish (Press/Post): Nine protesters fight trespass charges after West Coast coal bucket protest (paywalled)
EDUCATION, SCHOOL LUNCHES, TRAINING
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Government delays final Cabinet decision on whether to abolish NCEA as officials scrutinise 11,000 submissions (paywalled)
John Gerristen (RNZ): Primary school principals reject government pay offer
Anna Whyte (Post): Secondary settlements ease pressure, but big pay battles loom in election year (paywalled)
RNZ: School caused ‘major drama’ by speaking out about mouldy lunches - David Seymour
Rachel Maher (Herald): Mouldy lunches: David Seymour blames Haeata Community Campus head for avoidable week of drama
Matthew Martin (Waikato Times/Post): Waikato ‘earn as you learn’ pilot gets national roll-out (paywalled)
TRANSPORT
Timothy Welch (The Conversation): Higher speeds lower productivity: what the data shows crash delays really cost Auckland
Rosie Leishman (Herald): Victory for Holcim workers as Government backs local seafarers
RNZ: Associate transport minister bars Holcim from using foreign-flagged ship for transport
Lloyd Burr (Stuff): Cement giant warns of 500 extra trucks per month after foreign-run coastal shipping plan rejected
Sinead Gill (Press): Traffic experts warn against tolling Woodend Bypass (paywalled)
Nick James (RNZ): Wellington commuters to get contactless payment options in 2026
Iona Pannett (Post): The real price Wellingtonians will pay for NZTA’s proposed highway (paywalled)
Peter de Graaf (RNZ): Two aircraft came within 41 seconds of a head-on collision, TAIC report reveals
John Weekes (Herald): Aircraft near-collision ‘too close’, investigators call for urgent overhaul (paywalled)
John Weekes (Herald): Airways team staff turnover concerns aviation industry group, Airways says safety never compromised (paywalled)
Post: Software glitch sparked air traffic outage for trans-Tasman flights, investigation finds (paywalled)
Bernard Orsman (Herald): City Rail Link: Auckland’s $5.5b project on track for late 2026 opening, despite handover delay
Samuel Sherry (Herald): Auckland train shutdown: Calls for free replacement buses over summer
RNZ: Jetstar ordered to stop using faulty baggage scales at Wellington Airport
JUSTICE, CORRECTIONS
David Harvey (Law News): Tikanga and the law: evolution or a quiet revolution?
Tim Hunter (NBR): NZ courts are decades behind the times (paywalled)
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): Double-bunk cell death: Jonathan Trubuhovich’s family want Corrections to be held accountable
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): Three double-bunk deaths at Mt Eden prison in a year
Al Williams (Open Justice Reporting): Mt Eden prisoner Johnathan Trubuhovich dies after attack by another inmate, family demand answers
HEALTH
Rob Campbell (Post): We still have the basis of a health service we can be proud of (paywalled)
Pokere Paewai (RNZ): Māori smoking rates stall for the first time in over a decade
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Ageing cardiac workforce under strain
Charlotte Cook (RNZ): ACC petition for volunteer firefighters rejected by Parliament
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): ACC announces chief executive Megan Main won’t seek reappointment; News comes as organisational change looms
Anna Whyte (Post): ACC boss not seeking reappointment, as scheme faces major hurdles (paywalled)
EMPLOYMENT, BUSINESS, CONSUMER AFFAIRS
Alice Peacock (Newsroom) Tweaks to employment relations bill override Uber Supreme Court decision
Neil Sands (Law News): Controversial employment relations bill reported back to Parliament with tweaks
Bronwyn Heenan (BusinessDesk): Significant shake-up to New Zealand’s employment law landscape set to proceed in the New Year (paywalled)
David Burton (Post): The Government’s steady erosion of worker rights in 2025 (paywalled)
Damien Venuto (Stuff): The surcharge ban was meant save us $150m. Here’s why it might not happen
Andrew Bevin (Newsroom): Cabinet’s new commerce bill sidesteps special codes to boost competition
Nona Pelletier (RNZ): Public listed companies can expect rise in shareholder activism, major legal reform - report
Jo Cribb (Post): We have all the pay gap data we need to act (paywalled)
RNZ: ACC backs down on less flexible remote working policy
HOUSING
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Dozens of student flats found wanting (paywalled)
Justin Wong (Post): Porirua Pasifika housing project welcomes first homeowners (paywalled)
Greg Ninness (Interest): QV says average national dwelling values flat overall in November but still declining in Auckland
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Central Wellington has NZ’s cheapest homes, Herne Bay still the most expensive suburb
Miriam Bell (Post): Ngāti Whātua starts building first homes at Te Punga development (paywalled)
MEDIA, SOCIAL MEDIA
Sam Smith (Stuff): Bill to make tech giants pay for local news halted because of Trump, minister says
Shayne Currie (Herald): Air NZ sends flight safety video into holding pattern; RNZ faces shake-up at highest level; NBR v IRD stand-off heats up (paywalled)
Shayne Currie (Herald): RNZ salary costs rise $5m, number of people earning more than $100,000 increases from 145 to 178 (paywalled)
Shayne Currie (Herald): RNZ’s $11m move into TVNZ delayed by up to eight months, broadcaster outlines details of new-look studios (paywalled)
NBR: IRD admits NBR copyright breaches, won’t budge on damages claim
Stuff: Reality Check Radio to have say on BSA decision about online content jurisdiction, as part of complaint
Spinoff: Podcast: Ranking the performances of New Zealand’s major media companies in 2025
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Australia just banned kids from social media, will New Zealand like and subscribe?
Neil Sands (Law News): Select committee calls for social media ban for under-16s, a single regulator and a ‘proactive, system-wide approach
CARTOONS