MANAGE MY HEALTH SCANDAL, CANOPY HEALTHCARE HACK
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): How Privatisation built the MisManageMyHealth disaster
Tom Hunt (Post): The battle and ‘90-day’ wait to close a Manage My Health account and remove data (paywalled)
RNZ: Manage My Health breach: Northland doctors frustrated by inconsistent messaging
Xiaohan Hu and Colin Simpson (Newsroom): Stakes are high in Manage My Health breach fallout
Chelsea Daniels (Herald): Why the Manage My Health hacker set a low ransom and what it says about NZ’s cyber risk
RNZ: Second health provider, Canopy Health, hit in major cyber attack
Karanama Ruru (Stuff): Another health provider hacked - but took six months to let patients know
Chris Keall (Herald): Canopy Healthcare alerts patients to a data breach that occurred six months ago
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TRADE
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Trump’s strongman act in Venezuela and elsewhere tests NZ
John Braddock (World Socialists): New Zealand government refuses to condemn Trump’s Venezuela intervention
Dave Armstrong (Post): My big, beautiful plan to save Wellington (but first, a drink) (paywalled)
RNZ: New Zealanders in Iran ‘should leave now’, Ministry of Foreign Affairs warns
Teuila Fuatai (RNZ): Samoa chief suggests returning Manawanui compensation to NZ as it’s not enough
PARLIAMENT, GOVERNMENT
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Treasury boss Iain Rennie on what’s required to bolster the books in the absence of high immigration and house prices (paywalled)
Herald: David Seymour defends coalition’s stability, hails productivity ahead of election
Graham Adams: Election 2026: Swarbrick’s plan for Green supremacy falters
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff):The topics that will define politics in 2026
ODT Editorial: Out of sight, not out of mind (paywalled)
CLIMATE CHANGE, ENVIRONMENT
Henry Cooke (Post): Climate reporting threshold set four times higher than officials advised (paywalled)
Jessica Palairet (Newsroom): NZ should be lauded, not embarrassed, for its climate action
David Williams (Newsroom): Inside the investigation into French-owned Barker’s
ECONOMY
Ganesh R Ahirao: Is growth the answer? If so, what is (or was) the question?
Rod McNaughton (The Conversation): NZ’s low productivity is often blamed on businesses staying small. That could be a strength in 2026
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): QSBO survey to give first steer on how economy may fare in 2026 (paywalled)
Joseph Los’e (Herald): Iwi and Māori businesses drive rapid growth across new sectors (paywalled)
BUSINESS, EMPLOYMENT
Kim Baker Wilson (RNZ): Kmart needs to be held accountable for asbestos in sand, shopper says
Herald Editorial: Locals need to support independent supermarkets (paywalled)
RNZ: Christchurch shoppers out in droves for new alternative supermarket
Herald: Boxing Day shopping falls 12.4% in 2025, loses title of most popular shopping day
Annemarie Quill (Stuff): ‘Are these ghost jobs?’ ‘Exhausting struggle’ to find work as fruit picker ad attracts 400 applicants
Jamie Gray (Herald): Fonterra’s Matt Bolger on the Mainland sale and navigating a complex trade environment (paywalled)
ENERGY
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Energy: If 2026 goes to plan, it will be a first (for all of us) (paywalled)
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Government expecting Open Electricity savings by 2027
Diane McCarthy (Local Democracy Reporting): Residents say solar farm fell short on native plantings
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Electricity Authority board below legal minimum as members depart (paywalled)
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Govt extends open-data regime to electricity retailing (paywalled)
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Transpower firm on lake levels as Meridian says rules let rivals shape prices (paywalled)
Jamie Gray (Herald): Meridian boss backs more hydro after 2024 winter price shock
HOUSING
Deborah Morris (Post): The housing economist who tested the rental market — and watched it prove him right (paywalled)
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Student flat crackdown: Rodents, mould and broken toilets
Rob Stock (Post): Reports of tenants ‘in tears’, waiting nearly two months for bond returns (paywalled)
TRANSPORT, ROADING, INFRASTRUCTURE
RNZ: Bluebridge’s ferry Connemara to resume sailing Monday night following door woes
Tom Rose (Herald): Bluebridge’s Connemara ferry to recommence sailing tonight after days of cancellations
Krystal Gibbens (RNZ): Ferry cancellations: Stranded travellers left with thousands in costs
Sue Teodoro (Local Democracy Reporting): Fight to save tourist route from the sea
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WATER
RNZ: Financial support needed for communities following severe weather events, LGNZ says
Ruby Shaw (ODT): Early interest as DCC by-election set (paywalled)
Steve Hepburn (ODT): Councillors to discuss plan to get rid of councils (paywalled)
EDUCATION
John Gerritsen (RNZ): School attendance falls short of targets during December slump
Mike Yardley (Press/Post): Time to cut the summer school holidays and get kids back in class (paywalled)
OTHER
Pokere Paewai (RNZ): ‘How do the people break through?’ - third of Māori land considered landlocked
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Remembering Sir Tim Shadbolt: Pineapple, cheese and jellybeans
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): Firearms Safety Authority executive director Angela Brazier retires following McSkimming report
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): God, I love those blue cat people in their loin cloths
Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): Trying to enjoy the NZ summer while the world burns
Kirsty Needham (Reuters): Jacinda Ardern joins boycott of top Australian arts festival
Stuff: Dame Jacinda Ardern joins boycott of Australian arts festival over barring of Palestinian author
Hannah Bartlett (Open Justice Reporting): Firearms seizures in 2025: What they tell us about gun trends in NZ
RNZ: ‘We can’t rely on goodwill’ - NZ lags behind on battling AI creation of sexual images
Peter de Graaf (RNZ): Hundreds gather in Northland to remember the Battle of Ruapekapeka Pā
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): Remembering New Zealand’s wars
RNZ: Australian bushfires: FENZ asked for help to battle blazes