FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE
RNZ: Green's co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick to decide whether to apologise and return to Parliament
Lloyd Burr (Stuff): Why is calling MPs ‘spineless’ offensive but the C-word isn’t?
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick barred from Parliament for rest of week after Gaza speech
1News: Swarbrick removed from Parliament amid Palestine debate
Sam Smith (Stuff): Chlöe Swarbrick booted from House as Palestine debate gets heated
Richard Harman (Politik): ACT behind Luxon’s Palestine position (paywalled)
No Right Turn: Principles versus Parliament
Chris Marriner (Stuff): After going to the Gaza border and seeing aid get turned back, Helen Clark had withering words for NZ
Thomas Manch (Post): Helen Clark leaves Gaza border with ‘chilling feeling’ (paywalled)
Herald: Front Page: Why NZ should take a nuanced path to Palestine recognition
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Aukus tech collaboration moves ahead without NZ
Phil Pennington (RNZ): US arms sales surge while NZ increases defence spending
Thomas Manch (Post): Defence Force cuts training to save money despite ‘fight ready’ rhetoric (paywalled)
Losirene Lacanivalu (Cook Islands News): Cook Islands deal has ‘nothing to do with military or security agenda’, says Chinese ambassador
John Braddock (World Socialists): New Zealand government snubs Cook Islands’ 60th anniversary celebration
Kate Green (RNZ): New Zealander detained by ICE waits for decision on six-year-old son's release
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): ‘She’d been kidnapped’: Friend’s fears after Kiwi mum and son taken by US immigration police
Natasha Gordon (Herald): New Zealand woman Sarah Shaw and 6-year-old son detained by US immigration
1News: 'Really difficult': NZ woman, son, detained by US immigration
PARLIAMENT, POLLS, PUBLIC SERVICE
Anna Whyte (Post): Ombudsman to appear back in front of select committee for OIA please explain (paywalled)
Geoffrey Palmer (Newsroom): ‘Sounding the bugles of democratic retreat’
Tom Day (1News): Govt gets big thumbs down on job creation from voters in poll
Tara Ward (Spinoff): What is Christopher Luxon doing on top of a mountain?
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Christopher Luxon won’t discuss poor polls with caucus, Labour not saying anything about tax policy
Lloyd Burr (Stuff): Eight major Luxon government wins (and eight controversies)
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Christopher Luxon shrugs off polls showing tight electoral race
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): Why the Labour-National stalemate is leaving voters looking elsewhere
Liam Hehir (The Blue Review): The case for relentless negativity
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Luxon isn't National's biggest problem
Libby Kirkby-McLeod (RNZ): Tauranga politicians remain outside the area, despite electoral boundary changes
Sandra Conchie (Bay of Plenty Times): Electorate boundary changes for Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, Rotorua for 2026 election
Brent Edwards (NBR): SOE Minister puts pressure on New Zealand Post to do better (paywalled)
Mandy Te (Interest): MBIE plans to set up separate reserve comprising court-awarded costs after FMA says it could run out of litigation money
Louis Collins (RNZ): The House: Bills this week
ENVIRONMENT, PRIMARY INDUSTRIES
David Williams (Newsroom): Last minute RMA changes ‘cave to farm lobby’
RNZ: Government undoes RMA Bill discharge rules, farmers won't need consent to pollute waterways
ODT: Some water permits to get extension
Eloise Gibson (RNZ): Australia could be about to leapfrog NZ on climate targets
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Justin Wong (Post): New water utility Metro Water stares at $2.6 billion hole (paywalled)
John Small (Post): Wellington Water to face new rules aimed at boosting transparency (paywalled)
Andrea Vance (Post): Wellington’s latest poo-storm: ratepayers left to wade through council’s sludge (paywalled)
Harriet Laughton (Post): Council weighs $3.8m plan to breathe new life into Cuba St (paywalled)
Ruby Shaw (ODT): Dunedin Residents in for ‘heck of a shock’ over cost of water delivery (paywalled)
ODT Editorial: Dunedin Inc deserves a new approach (paywalled)
Mike Mather (Waikato Times): All aboard the fast track train: Council foes unite for building consent fix (paywalled)
Mike Mather (Waikato Times): Velocity council: ‘Pay extra’ to accelerate building consent process - but not all convinced (paywalled)
Marika Hill (Local Democracy Reporting): No votes, no problem: The early winners in local elections
Shanti Mathias (Spinoff): Here’s what we know about the 3,145 candidates running in local elections
Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): The motley crew of contenders trying to take down Auckland mayor Wayne Brown
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Mayoral hopeful's website condemned as 'horrendous'
Peter Newport (Crux): Crux lodges complaint with Government as QLDC refuses to answer Lakeview questions
Richard Shaw (The Conversation): Māori wards: how the Hobson’s Pledge campaign relies on a ‘historical fiction’
Emily Ireland (Local Democracy Reporting): Masterton rates arrears top $1m
Max Frethey (Local Democracy Reporting): King runs for Tasman mayor one last time
Matthew Martin (Waikato Times): Stiff competition for Thames Coromandel mayoralty as challenges mount (paywalled)
HEALTH
Nadine Roberts (Stuff): Damning report lays bare Canterbury mental health failures after two high-profile murders
Mariné Lourens and Maddy Croad (Press/Post): ‘Significant failings’ in mental health service found after two patients murdered women (paywalled)
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): Canterbury's Mental Health Services inquiry findings 'really concerning', psychiatrist says
RNZ: National health plan fails to meet Auditor-General's expectations
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): How ACC plans to manage the estimated $3.6b cost of compensation for abuse survivors
Ian Powell: Heart health care system “verge of collapse” a barometer of wider public hospital verging
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Cabinet rift leaves procurement of medical devices in halfway house
ODT: ACC staff protest ‘unacceptable pay offer’
Fiona Cassie (NZ Doctor): Practising GPs top 4000 for first time – latest Medical Council stats (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: Stricter sale regulations needed as alcohol harm costs soar (paywalled)
1News: Six out of eight businesses fail Taranaki underage booze sting
TRANSPORT
David Hill (Local Democracy Reporting): Mayors disappointed by bypass toll: '$1300 a year for commuter'
RNZ: Canterbury's Woodend Bypass and Belfast to Pegasus motorway extension cold cost $5 a day
Maxine Jacobs (Press): ‘Deeply concerned’: Locals worry toll road will push traffic into townships (paywalled)
Eric Crampton (Newsroom): One small step towards better land transport funding
HOUSING
Thomas Manch (Post): Kāinga Ora more than halves builders as public building programme slows (paywalled)
Lauren Crimp (RNZ): Wellington social housing residents' desperate measures during unbearable summer heat
Ellen O’Dwyer (RNZ): Newtown homeless woes: 'We need some assistance if we are going to help them'
Ruby Shaw (ODT): Council seeks trial for social housing at lodge (paywalled)
Karamia Müller & Deidre Brown (Post): The only hope for tackling homelessness (paywalled)
Michael Cugley (Te Ao Māori News): Youth homelessness on the rise, report calls for urgent government action
Mildred Armah (Stuff): The baby who spent first five months of life in a garage
Steve Kilgallon (Stuff): Judge orders colourful Kāinga Ora tenant out, but she’s not done fighting yet
Herald: New Zealand house values slump 13% below Covid peak
EDUCATION
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Education Minister cut Māori words from future junior books, documents reveal
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Literacy experts say no problem with Māori words in book for learner readers
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Government treating 'te reo Māori as less important', Principals' Federation says
Māni Dunlop (Te Ao Māori News): Education Minister defends axing student reader over too many Māori words, criticises media
Māni Dunlop (Te Ao Māori News): Racist and ideological - response to Ministry getting rid of reader because it has too many reo Māori words
Derek Cheng (Herald): Analysis: NCEA overhaul - what we know and don’t know, and who might fall through the cracks (paywalled)
Azaria Howell (Newstalk ZB): Government warned of risks with polytech merger break-up: ‘Similar, if not worse’ financials
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): ‘Urgent need’ for more staff cuts (paywalled)
John Lewis (ODT): Industry tick for SIT, polytech collaboration (paywalled)
Cate Macintosh (Press/Post): Specialist learning staff reject zero % pay offer (paywalled)
ECONOMY, WEALTH VISAS
Rebecca Stevenson (BusinessDesk): Golden visa residency cash mostly going to private credit and managed funds (paywalled)
Simon Wilson (Herald): Auckland: 5 paths to prosperity for a could-be super city (paywalled)
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown urges Government to reconsider bed night levy to reboot city’s struggling economy
Liam Dann (Herald): The double tax hitting ratepayers in the pocket, another rate cut looms and concrete data shows hard times roll on (paywalled)
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): Productivity Unleashed: The $113b 'What-If' (paywalled)
IMMIGRATION, MIGRANT WORKERS
Alka Prasad (Post): New visas bad for health and won’t get Kiwis working, unions say (paywalled)
Gaurav Sharma (RNZ): Advisory group links migrant exploitation to organised crime
BUSINESS
Rob Stock (Post): Woolworths seeking further details of ComCom’s mis-pricing allegations (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Telcos push for lighter touch as Government reviews sector rules (paywalled)
John Weekes (Herald): Airports say nanny state risks stifling business but airlines say ‘monopoly’ airports exploit customers (paywalled)
Jenny Ling (Northern Advocate): Northland businesses brace for price increases with surcharge ban
James Doolan (Post): If we want to be a world-class tourist destination, we need to plan for it (paywalled)
INSURANCE, NATURAL HAZARDS
Mandy Te (Interest): Land cover 'a contribution payment, not full cover', Natural Hazards Commission says
Mandy Te (Interest): Natural Hazards Insurance Levy: ICNZ urges Government to ensure insurance is accessible
Deborah Morris (Post): Not all your land is insured if you have a landslide (paywalled)
Joanne Naish (Press): Westport homes left out of flood scheme offered hope after $2m pledge from local businesses (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): Thousands accessing Auckland flood maps every day (paywalled)
RESERVE BANK
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Adrian Orr’s Reserve Bank hiring spree unwound, with proposal for 1 in 4 jobs to be cut (paywalled)
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): RBNZ to cut more than 20% of its workforce
Anna Whyte (Post): One in five roles could go at the Reserve Bank (paywalled)
Michael Reddell: One in five roles could go at the Reserve Bank
Michael Reddell: Reserve Bank bits and pieces
Michael Reddell: Still waiting for a Governor
Fiona Rotherham (NBR): ‘Between a rock and a hard place’: Adrian Orr’s departure (paywalled)
AI
Fox Meyer (Newsroom): Privacy commissioner flags risks in new AI strategy
Michael Daubs (Newsroom): Govt’s AI strategy is all hype and no vision
Cécile Meier (BusinessDesk): AI agents are clocking in, but NZ still trailing global peers (paywalled)
Kenny Ching (The Conversation): AI is peeling back the layers of ‘low-value’ work – NZ may be well placed to adapt
MEDIA
Shayne Currie (Herald): Media Wellbeing Survey - how New Zealand’s remaining journalists feel about their roles and the industry (paywalled)
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Mediawatch: Media applauds old school move on NCEA
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Mediawatch: 'Surprise' rise in Trump's trade tariff?
Shayne Currie (Herald): Paul Henry Traitors host twist, RNZ tweaks Morning Report; Ad industry shake-ups - ANZ reviews agency (paywalled)
Gavin Ellis: Far-reaching consequences of cloaking this man’s past
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Linear TV in NZ is in trouble
David Farrar: The Press found to have breached Media Council rules with its school lunches article