LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Amanda Gillies (RNZ): The Detail: Leaked papers, low votes, huge stakes
K Gurunathan (Post): Political distraction won’t fix local government’s real problems (paywalled)
Moana Ellis (Local Democracy Reporting): Whanganui council rejects $70k fix for election botch-up
Justin Hu (1News): Wellington mayoral poll: One candidate holds commanding lead
Samuel Sherry & Ethan Manera (Herald): Better Wellington deletes post comparing Green councillor to Charlie Kirk’s alleged murderer
Ava Whitworth (Stuff): ‘Hyperbolic and dangerous’: Councillor responds to post comparing her to Charlie Kirk’s shooter
Pretoria Gordon (RNZ): Council's City to Sea Bridge closure during busy capital weekend draws criticism
Post: Election countdown: Spies and scones as Wellington election nears (paywalled)
Campbell Barry (Post): Amalgamation is coming, whether you like it or not (paywalled)
Hillmarè Schulze (NBR): Rethinking council rates: how should we measure affordability? (paywalled)
Gwynn Compton (Local Aotearoa): From flood fiasco to looming landslide: Wayne Brown's mayoral turnaround
Andrea Vance (Post): Wayne Brown strengthens lead, new poll shows (paywalled)
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Post): Auckland Council annual salary costs balloon over $612 million (paywalled)
Mathew Nash (Herald): Haehaetu Barrett’s exit from Rotorua mayoral campaign raises election integrity questions
Peter Newport (Crux): Wānaka deserves more than the current old power base
PARLIAMENT, PUBLIC SERVICE
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): How Seymour fell short in Budget cost-cutting drive
Danyl McLauchlan (Listener): NZ First & Te Pāti Māori capitalise on Labour’s silence (paywalled)
Greg Dixon (Listener): Another Kind of Politics: NZ First reboots as dumpster for washed-up MPs (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Ratana 2 or the Kākāriki Alliance – how Labour, Greens and Māori Party could use MMP to win 2026 election
Gerrard Eckhoff (ODT): Time for Te Pāti Māori to set out what it wants
HEALTH
Salene Schloffel-Armstrong (Spinoff): The benefits of collectivity: Why free dental care should be a universal basic service
1News: Q+A: Former Aus health minister wants more trans-Tasman clinical trials
Nicholas Jones (Stuff): ‘It tears at your soul’: the cancer crisis robbing Kiwis of their shot at survival
Rachel Graham (RNZ): Why Health NZ is expanding hospital visiting hours to 24/7
Pokere Paewai (RNZ): Law changes will further sideline Māori in health sector select committee told
Emma Andrews (RNZ): Ngāti Kahungunu setting up own Māori Health Authority to combat 'health crisis'
Gary Hamilton-Irvine (Hawkes Bay Today): Ngāti Kahungunu establishing its own iwi health authority, could purchase medical clinics in future (paywalled)
RNZ: Input sought on draft model for palliative care
Todd Stephenson (ODT): Technical details of law lack compassion
Alice Peacock (Newsroom): ACC fined after manager torpedoes her ex-employee’s job chances – twice
EDUCATION, CHILDREN
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Principals divided as NCEA consultation closes
ODT Editorial: NCEA consensus needed (paywalled)
Jaime Cunningham (Herald): One in four schools struggling to hit Government attendance goal, 600 schools need extra support
RNZ: Secondary school teacher industrial action starts
Laine Priestley (ODT): Anger over 10% wage deduction (paywalled)
RNZ: New Teacher Bonding Scheme boosts recruitment for rural schools
Rod McNaughton (Post): The key element absent from NZ’s new high school curriculum (paywalled)
André Chumko (Post): Art history will no longer be a school subject in New Zealand (paywalled)
Claire Achmad (Stuff): When young people say they feel unseen, we must listen: An urgent open letter from the Children’s Commissioner
ENVIRONMENT, CONSERVATION, MINING
Andrea Vance (Post): Surprise penguin fishing ban from pro-industry minister Shane Jones (paywalled)
Katie Todd (RNZ): Queenstown hotelier's false claims revealed after heli-crayfish case
RNZ: Commercial fisherman caught trawling through protected marine reserve
Andrea Vance (Post): Shane Jones dismisses fears over Wellington hills mining permits (paywalled)
Mary Williams (ODT): Committee an ‘attempt to subjugate’ community (paywalled)
Hamish MacLean (ODT): OceanaGold requests more time to update plans (paywalled)
TE REO MĀORI
Layla Bailey-McDowell (RNZ): Te Wiki o te Reo Māori celebrates 50 years
Aaron Smale (Listener): Te reo rises again (paywalled)
Marama Davidson (E-Tangata): Violence beat te reo Māori out of my whakapapa. Aroha brought it back.
Mihingarangi Forbes (RNZ): 'A glitch in the Matrix' - Māori Language Commissioner confident te reo can survive the political headwinds
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, TRADE
Audrey Young (Herald): Cabinet turns focus to recognition of Palestine (paywalled)
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Spot, jam and shoot dronemakers spread wares from London to Wellington
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): Estimated 20,000 pro-Palestine supporters hold protest march through central Auckland
Alka Prasad (Post): ‘Trade, not aid’: Fiji business leaders say trade overly skewed in NZ’s favour
ECONOMY
Verity Johnson (Stuff): New Zealand is broken - and you’re dumb to stay
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Wellington slumps to bottom of economic scoreboard
David Hargreaves (Interest): After another swoon in June, our economy looks to get back on track again
RNZ: NZ manufacturing contracts, but demand hits three-year high
RNZ: Gen Z 'a saving generation' but worried about cost of living
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Foreign investment vital to lift Kiwi living standards, says agency head
JUSTICE, POLICE, CRIME
Derek Cheng (Herald): ‘Counterintuitive’: Police slam Govt citizen’s arrest proposal as giving public more power than cops (paywalled)
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): Guilt until innocence proven would be a slippery slope
Joseph Los’e (Herald): Organised crime doing time: The full list of gangs filling up our jails (paywalled)
David Harvey: The Criminalization of Conscience
Simon Shepherd (NBR): Name suppression appeal filed over jailed wealth families member (paywalled)
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Outdated police system hampers coalition's clampdown on low-level crime
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): Advisory group wants retailers to be allowed to use pepper spray - a restricted weapon
RESERVE BANK
Michael Reddell: Outstanding questions
1News: Former Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr's new job revealed
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Adrian Orr’s first commercial post-RBNZ gig revealed: NZ Bio Forestry (paywalled)
TRANSPORT, INFRASTRUCTURE
Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): An interview with AT’s chief executive, on the eve of his corporate execution
Jonathan Mitchell (NBR): MPs hear frustration about Port of Tauranga expansion delays (paywalled)
Emma Stanford (Stuff): ‘Probably never’: Jetstar unlikely to return to the regions
Roeland van den Bergh (Post): Jetstar is building a New Zealand fortress to take on Air New Zealand (paywalled)
Roeland van den Bergh (Post): Jetstar is ready to take the fight to Air New Zealand (paywalled)
David Williams (Newsroom): Queenstown’s council grants licence to cableway project
Bruce Cotterill (Herald): NZ roads vs Australia: Why better highways could boost tourism (paywalled)
ODT: Dialogue on Wānaka Airport set to close
RNZ: Just how old is New Zealand's existing infrastructure?
Brianna McIlraith (BusinessDesk): Infrastructure Commission looks at 150 years of infrastructure spending going ‘boom’ (paywalled)
ENERGY
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Shane Jones’ nightmare: No gas for most from 2029 and ‘rust-belt decline’ (paywalled)
Vernon Small (Sunday Star Times): Power bill shocks supercharge search for energy solutions (paywalled)
Alice Peacock (Newsroom): SolarZero customer contracts vanish into thin air as they grapple with rising bills
Mike Roan (Post): Electricity reform? Let’s start with hydro lakes (paywalled)
Jonathan Mitchell (NBR): ‘Moment in time’ for energy, says Luke Blincoe (paywalled)
BANKS, INSURANCE, FINANCE
Sonita Chandar (Stuff): No silver bullet for banking
Rob Stock (Post): Can NZ First’s woke banking bill recover from humiliating criticism? (paywalled)
Mandy Te (Interest): Tower increases annual profit guidance by up to $40 million
Michael Neilson (BusinessDesk): Real estate industry wants left out of new Anti Money Laundering Levy (paywalled)
IMMIGRATION, REFUGEES
Maddy Croad (Press/Post): Calls to increase NZ refugee quota as global displacement numbers surge (paywalled)
Henrietta McNeill-Stowers (E-Tangata): The consequences of ‘crimmigration’
Neil Sands (Law News): Former Immigration Minister bankrupted after long-running battle with client
EVENTS FUNDING, TOURISM
Joanne Naish (Press/Post): Are Kiwis getting priced out of tourism market? (paywalled)
1News: Govt unveils $70m fund to lure global acts, support major events
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Coalition unveils $70 million funding boost for events and tourism
Bridie Witton (Stuff): The $70 million boost to bring big events like Coldplay, Pearl Jam to NZ
Herald: Government aims to attract major events, announces $70m package
Anneke Smith (RNZ): NZ back in the game for 'showstopper events' - music promoter
BUSINESS, EMPLOYMENT
Andrew Bevin (Newsroom): Foodstuffs’ regulatory hostility linked to market dominance – experts
Louisa Steyl (Southland Times/Press): Foodstuffs boss: Big investment needed for South Island grocery competition (paywalled)
Frankie Le Roy (Stuff): ‘As easy to cancel as to join’: Member’s bill takes aim at subscription traps
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): On the Money: Peter 'Utopia' Nunns, Stuart Nash, Brad Olsen, Nicola Willis, All-In and more (paywalled)
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): Polarisation moves from talkback to the trading desk (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Which sectors pay more than a median $100,000 salary?
Katie Hunter (Post): Work Interrupted: Tough job market poses a dilemma for graduates (paywalled)