PARLIAMENT, GOVERNMENT, POLLS
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Government performance rating hits new low in survey
Stuff: Cost of living tops Kiwis’ concerns - but faith in government performance hits new low, poll shows
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Capital gains tax: Country split down middle on CGT, but Aucklanders set against it – poll (paywalled)
RNZ: Ousted Te Pāti Māori MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi calls for hui
Justin Hu (1News): ‘Sliver of hope’ to help Te Pāti Māori’s MPs reconcile - iwi leader
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Maori Party Self Mutilation- winners, losers and predictions
Matthew Hooton (Patreon): Why Social Investment is probably utopian nonsense (paywalled)
Troy Matich (Herald): The Opportunities Party launches new leader, Qiulae Wong, and policies for 2026 election
RNZ: Qiulae Wong named as new leader of Opportunity party
David Long (Stuff): ‘150,000 votes, we’re coming for you’: New leader of Opportunity Party sets target for 2026 election
Brent Edwards (NBR): Opportunity comes knocking for new party leader (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (Post): New name and new leader for The Opportunities Party (paywalled)
Fiona Rotherham (NBR): What will the NZ Institute for Advanced Technology actually do? (paywalled)
Nevil Gibson (NBR): Undertanding Jacindamania: From the origins to the future
POLICE
Bryce Edwards (The Integrity Institute): Calling the C-word in the Police cover-up scandal
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): When the law is an ass, somebody’s got to kick it
Richard Harman: Why the Police and the public service prefer to cover-up (paywalled)
Danyl McLauchlan (Listener): The rot at the top of the NZ Police (paywalled)
David Harvey: Public Confidence and the Rule of Law
Paula Penfold: The truth came out this week
Bryan Bruce: The Sunday Long Read- Sex, Police and Trust (paywalled)
Ani O’Brien: Rot Part 3: Coster’s legacy and the political fallout
Tim Selwyn (Daily Blog): Roastbusters vs McSkimming vs a few bad apples
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Former Transport Minister Maurice Williamson says he’s had five speeding fines
FAST-TRACK
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Fast Track law: Final approvals still in hands of expert panels, government says
Greg Presland (The Standard): The Fast Track law is being made worse
Andrea Vance (Post): The push to build big in Queenstown’s quietest corner (paywalled)
EDUCATION
Aotearoa Educators Collective: Wheels come off the charter school circus clown car
Benn Bathgate (Waikato Times/Post): Otago worked to block Waikato’s bid for NZ’s third medical school - documents (paywalled)
Cameron Bagrie (BusinessDesk): Equality of opportunity in schooling? Nope (paywalled)
Nicholas Jones (Stuff): ‘Our dirty laundry has been aired’: Wesley College principal overcome with emotion defending school
Stuff: Schools close after asbestos detected in stationery products
TRANSPORT, DRUG-DRIVING LEGISLATION
Tom Hunt (Post): Town Belt land will be taken for second Wellington tunnel, deputy mayor confirms (paywalled)
RNZ: Australian company to supply police’s new roadside drug-testing kits
1New: Detection device chosen for roadside drug screening
RNZ: Quarter of all trucks tested in blitz fail brake test
Sharon Brettkelly (RNZ): The Detail: The father fighting NZTA over ‘inherently unsafe’ brakes in some 70,000 vehicles
Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): Controversial: Public transport in Auckland is actually pretty good
David Long (Stuff): The seven-minute city: How the City Rail Link could pull Auckland back together
Benn Bathgate (Waikato Times): City to Sydney near miss sparks investigation (paywalled)
HEALTH
Ruth Hill (RNZ): GP owners want separate primary health organisation after big corporates make their own
Harriet Laughton (Post): Your address affects how much you pay for a GP visit p w
Ian Powell (Newsroom): Health minister walks alone down boulevard of broken dreams
ODT Editorial: Interference stand unconvincing (paywalled)
Ruth Bonita (Newsroom): Some good news about smoking
Sophie Trigger (1News): Health star ratings on food fail to shine – falling well short of target
Cécile Meier (BusinessDesk): Health NZ to unveil long-awaited Digital Investment Plan this month (paywalled)
RNZ: Aged Care Association calls on government to fund Alzheimers care
John Lewis (ODT): ‘A gloomy place’ if services cut (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (Post): Wellington Hospital IT failures risk patient safety, say clinicians (paywalled)
Stuff: Two separate VRE outbreaks detected at Christchurch Hospital
Corina Grey (E-Tangata): Health inequalities aren’t inevitable
Mariné Lourens (Press/Post): ‘I need a rest’: The toll of a bowel cancer diagnosis at 38 (paywalled)
Post: 37,500 health workers start two-week industrial action (paywalled)
Tayler Mutton (Press/Post): Eating disorder refresh: ‘Good start’ after a long wait (paywalled)
Mildred Armah (Stuff): For nine years she asked doctors for answers, now the mother-of-three is dying
John Anthony (BusinessDesk): Employers turn to health insurance as public waitlists grow (paywalled)
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, TRADE
Thomas Manch (Post): Foreign affairs officials advised recognition of Palestine (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Sunday Star Times): New Zealand-Cook Islands dispute now ‘entrenched’ (paywalled)
Caleb Fotheringham and Tiana Haxton (RNZ): Cook Islands PM says economy remains strong despite NZ funding pause
Losirene Dasalusalu (Cook Islands News): Cook Islands tourism industry concerned by NZ funding pause and lack of government clarity
Felix Walton (RNZ): Donald Trump’s tariff ‘flip-flopping’ has NZ businesses on edge, economist says
Lauren Crimp (RNZ): US drops tariffs on $2b of NZ exports
Alice Peacock (Newsroom): Tariffs bite small NZ exporters: ‘We have paused shipping’
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): NZ rejects India’s basmati trademark bid, in proxy war
Mohammed El-Sayed Bushra (Newsroom): United Arab Emirates trade deal dirties NZ’s hands
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Homegrown maritime surveillance platform may help in fight against meth - Prime Minister
Matt Nippert (Herald): Naval surveillance start-up moves closer to capital clientele (paywalled)
Mike Scott (Herald): German Air Force joins NZ Defence in major exercise
Herald Editorial: HMNZS Manawanui sinking: Navy ‘owns’ training failures which led to human error (paywalled)
Nobuki Yamashita (Newsroom): What’s the point of the East Asia summits?
RNZ: Report shines light on Southeast Asia views of New Zealand
JUSTICE, LAW
RNZ: Privacy commissioner insists New Zealand’s laws need modernising
Carolyne Meng-Yee (Herald): Polkinghorne: Auckland lawyer criticises ‘insensitive’ Law Society promotion of Steve Braunias book event (paywalled)
John Lewis (ODT): Māori prison, health link poor: studies
Ryan Bridge (Herald): Why Corrections’ handling of Mt Eden escape matters (paywalled)
Rafaella Melo (Hawke’s Bay Today): How long does a Hawke’s Bay sexual assault victim have to wait for their day in High Court? An average of 932 days
Keiller MacDuff (RNZ): Justice system not equipped to deal with obsessive criminals like Nathan Boulter - chief victims advisor
Jordan Dunn (Newstalk ZB): Prison doctor wait times shorter than in community, Corrections data shows (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): Anti-stalking bill to protect company directors’ home addresses passes unanimously (paywalled)
Hamish McNicol (NBR): New law will hide directors’ addresses, but only in some cases (paywalled)
FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES
Keiller MacDuff (RNZ): Paid firefighters to head back to bargaining table next week, two strikes still scheduled
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Fire and Emergency restructure biggest in its 8-year existence
RNZ: Paid firefighters call off latest strike
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Redundancy ‘a last resort’: Fire and Emergency set to propose sweeping changes, some jobs to go
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Government must stop ‘short-sighted’ FENZ job cuts, PSA says
Peter Dunne: When Bureaucrats Favour Doing Nothing Over Doing What Is Right
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Firefighter training facility shut down over structural safety fears, carcinogenic smoke risk
RNZ: Asbestos found in breathing equipment ‘distressing’ for firefighters, union says
RNZ: FENZ brushes off rumours as ‘scaremongering’
Phil Pennington (RNZ): FENZ aims to save $50m a year: ‘We can’t keep doing everything for everybody’
SUPERANNUATION, KIWISAVER
Eric Frykberg (Spinoff): Perpetually broke: How New Zealand could (eventually) afford its future
Max Rashbrooke (Post): How kids are the key to our KiwiSaver future (paywalled)
Paul McBeth: Manufacturing intent
HOUSING, BUILDING SAFETY
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Govt intervenes in councils-builders stoush, to break ground on new homes
David Long (Stuff): This charity has 400 volunteers, but it’s not enough for the worsening homelessness crisis
Nina Hindmarsh (Nelson Mail/Press): Nelson mum moved from ‘uninhabitable’ Kāinga Ora home into another mouldy house (paywalled)
Michael Wright (Press/Post): ‘Fishing expedition’ or ‘deeply unfair’? The latest legal stoush in bitter CTV fallout (paywalled)
Jaime Lyth (Herald): Balcony collapse leaves Auckland man paralysed, engineer finds ‘serious risks’ at Queenstown Airbnb
Greg Ninness (Interest): Complaints against real estate agents/salespeople hit record annual high
Anne Gibson (Herald): Complaints against real estate agents up 35% in ‘challenging’ market (paywalled)
Miriam Bell (Post): Ockham launches new apartment development onto ‘thawing’ market’ (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Would Donald Trump’s 50-year mortgage idea work in New Zealand?
TOURISM, MICHELIN GUIDE
1News: Some regions to benefit from multi-million-dollar tourism boost
Shane Te Pou (Herald): Government too focused on elite’s fine dining over homeless (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: NZ Michelin Guide will grow and become a great promotional tool (paywalled)
Danielle Zollickhofer (Herald): New Zealand Michelin Guide’s launch in four cities disappoints regional restaurateurs
RNZ: Government gives $6m to tourism campaigns aimed at attracting travellers into the regions
RNZ: Government invests $2 million in Dunedin Tunnels Trail (paywalled)
ODT: Dunedin Tunnels Trail gets $2m govt injection (paywalled)
Mark John (ODT): $2 million wheeled out for cycleway (paywalled)
Deborah Morris (Post): The fight for cruise ships to help keep Wellington tills ringing (paywalled)
ENERGY
Katie Todd (RNZ): Dipping into Lake Pūkaki: Locals and experts conflicted over Meridian Energy proposal
Gill South (BusinessDesk): Transpower CEO sees New Zealand as ‘the lucky country’
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Methanex doubts overturning oil and gas exploration ban will save NZ business (paywalled)
NZ Energy: What if renewables don’t keep getting cheaper?
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Election politics weigh on gentailer valuations, Forsyth Barr warns (paywalled)
CARTOONS