PARLIAMENT, GOVERNMENT, POLLS
Henry Cooke (Post): Chris Bishop used Kāinga Ora money to fund a bridge in his electorate (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): National is still fighting the last war and risks losing the next one (paywalled)
Tova O’Brien (Stuff): Luxon ignores voters at his peril as poll numbers coalesce to send National a message
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Labour now more trusted to solve the big issues, new survey shows
RNZ: Mariameno Kapa-Kingi likely to take court action over Te Pāti Māori expulsion
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): When a party breaks up like a bad marriage
RNZ: Labour selects Dr Gary Payinda to take on former Health Minister Dr Shane Reti
Denise Piper (Northern Advocate): High-profile ED doctor Gary Payinda is Labour’s Whangārei candidate
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Labour talks tough, but it rings hollow
Chris Trotter (Interest): Leading the OP
Steven Cowan: Regulatory standards: privileging capital over people
Steven Cowan: A new socialist mayor in Seattle, but will the New Zealand left take notice?
No Right Turn: Rat******g our democracy
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Labour leader Chris Hipkins reveals engagement to partner Toni Grace
Sam Smith (Stuff): Chris Hipkins announces engagement to partner Toni Grace
Jenni Mortimer (Herald): Former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern to appear on Graham Norton’s talk show
FAST-TRACK, MINING
David Williams (Newsroom): Fast-track changes may speed up ministers’ pet projects, critic warns
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Simon Upton warns fast-track changes could predetermine project approvals (paywalled)
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Greens pledge to revoke fast-track consents for coal, hard-rock gold, seabed mining projects
Lloyd Burr (Stuff): Greens vow to kill off seven fast-track mining projects
Julia Gabel (Herald): Green Party unveils mining policy ahead of 2026 general election
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Greens pledge ‘green government’ would cancel seven fast-track mining consents (paywalled)
Tim Scott (ODT): Jones blasts Greens’pledge: Warns Otago economy would be ‘disembowelled’ (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Green Party accused of threatening jobs, economy and investment (paywalled)
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): Greens vow to scrap mining consents as fast-track changes rushed through
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): Miners awaiting consents chafe as gold price soars
Denise McNabb (BusinessDesk): KO Gold has eye on Central Otago as new West African gold belt (paywalled)
Crux: New video highlights environmental risks and restricted access linked to Bendigo mine
Andrew Ashton (ODT): Mining at Frasers pit completed
TRANSPORT
Anneke Smith (RNZ): NZ will be ‘dumping ground’ for high emission cars, EV advocate warns
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): It’s about to get cheaper to import dirty cars - but the climate impact is ‘negligible’
RNZ: Luxon on changes to clean vehicle standards threshold
Adam Pearse (Herald): Urgent change to Clean Car Standard spurred by fears of soaring car prices - Transport Minister Chris Bishop
Brent Edwards (NBR): Government says changes necessary to keep cars affordable (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Post): Government to slash emissions charge for imported vehicles (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): NZTA reveals full detail of Wellington tunnel plans: Homes and Town Belt land swallowed (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): Clock ticks on $3.8 billion Wellington road push but without key details (paywalled)
Eye of the Fish: Here we go again
No Right Turn: National cares about nothing but roads
Ian Llewellyn (BusienssDesk): New congestion charge law triggers political and commercial contest (paywalled)
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): There’s something dodgy about these congestion taxes
Nikolai Siimes (Newsroom): Roadside drug testing’s ‘puritanical’ political agenda
ODT Editorial: Tests a start but not the end of problem (paywalled)
UBER, EMPLOYMENT, WORKPLACE SAFETY
John Campbell (1News): Supreme Court dismisses Uber appeal – says drivers are employees
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): End of the road for Uber appeals after top court rules drivers should be treated as employees
Jenni McManus (Law News): Rideshare giant Uber loses three-year battle with drivers over employment status
Felix Walton (RNZ): Uber loses Supreme Court appeal over drivers’ employment status
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Uber drivers win battle for employee status in landmark Supreme Court case
Jonathan Mitchell (NBR): Uber drivers are employees not contractors, Supreme Court says (paywalled)
Rob Sarkies (Press/Post): Hoping for a form of ‘national soul-searching over Pike River’ (paywalled)
Samantha Gee (RNZ): Bench top manufacturer calls out use of potentially deadly engineered stone
Jazlyn Whales (Herald): AGB opens first zero‑silica stone factory in Nelson in fight against silicosis (paywalled)
RNZ: Crane driver flagged power line danger before his death
POLICE
Geoffrey Palmer (Spinoff): The McSkimming scandal shows we need a whole new Policing Act
1News: PM agrees McSkimming case involved police cover-up
Andrea Vance (Post): Police commissioner flies to Europe as top ranks remain in turmoil after IPCA report (paywalled)
Joseph Los’e (Herald): Former Deputy Police Commissioner Wally Haumaha distances himself from Jevon McSkimming and Andrew Coster after IPCA report (paywalled)
Fiona Rotherham (NBR): Will Coster get a payout to go? Lessons from McSkimming scandal (paywalled)
Dave Armstrong (Post): Policing, power, and the stories we tell (paywalled)
Chris Trotter: Bad Police Work (paywalled)
Linda Hall (Local Democracy Reporting): Former Hawke’s Bay police officers urge people to trust the badge amid McSkimming scandal
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): Police Commissioner accidentally takes FBI’s Kash Patel for ‘brief dip’ during active tsunami advisory
ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): The cost of living: So what changed at the end of 2021?
David Hargreaves (Interest): Households think the inflation rate’s higher than it is - but that it’s coming down
Stuff: Milk and cheese prices soar as power prices continue climb
RNZ: Food prices up again with dairy and eggs more expensive
Kate Nicol-Williams (1News): London v Auckland – how the cost of living compares
Mandy Te (Interest): ‘No obstacles’: Economists forecast OCR to be cut and inflation to drop
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): No obstacles to RBNZ 25bps OCR cut next week – economists (paywalled)
Roger J Kerr (Interest): The risk of the RBNZ ‘overcooking’ monetary policy stimulus – again?
RNZ: Services sector struggling to gain forward momentum
David Hargreaves (Interest): Twenty months and counting - services sector stays in contraction
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): Confidence is critical infrastructure (paywalled)
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): It’s been an excellent economic week
HEALTH
RNZ: Rising threshold for police help in mental health callouts
Mariné Lourens (Press/Post): Patient left partially blind after Health NZ leaves him waiting over a year for appointment (paywalled)
Amanda Gillies (RNZ): The Detail: How Kiwi kids are becoming the new face of ‘adult’ diabetes
RNZ: ACC’s use of AI to help decide who gets help shocks advocate
Shanti Mathias (Spinoff): Lessons from the ‘neglected’ under-18 dental service in the push to expand care
RNZ: IT system at Wellngton Hospital a ‘constant risk’ to patient safety, says union
Herald Editorial: Smokefree 2025 goal slipping and smoking rates for Māori and Pasifika still high (paywalled)
Rebecca Papprill-Toms (Post): The fight for dignity in treatment of eating disorders (paywalled)
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, TRADE
Geoffrey Miller (Democracy Project): As Saudi Crown Prince visits Washington, what’s New Zealand’s strategy for the Gulf?
Kaya Selby (RNZ): New Zealand assures Niue relationship remains unaffected despite Cook Islands funding row
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): How US politics just delivered NZ a beef break, and there could be more to come (paywalled)
Jamie Gray (Herald): New Zealand beef exporters welcome Donald Trump’s sudden tariff reversal (paywalled)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WATER
ODT: Christchurch council pays $1.36m to Ngāi Tahu consultancy firm
Tom Hunt (Post): Pay rises for all ‒ and ground shifting changes ‒ on first Wellington City Council agenda (paywalled)
Grant Duncan: How progressives win cities – maybe even Auckland 2028?
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland basketball hub proposed at North Harbour Stadium by Breakers owners (paywalled)
Sam Smith (Stuff): Local board chair apologises after leaving meeting due to karakia
Ruby Shaw (ODT): Rainbow crossings will have to wait: DCC (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): Council backtracks after parking coupon dispute (paywalled)
Sue Teodoro (Local Democracy Reporting): Mayor prioritises addressing water infrastructure challenges
ENVIRONMENT, CONSERVATION
Andrea Vance (Post): Environmental group takes glyphosate fight to Court of Appeal (paywalled)
Andrea Vance (Post): Alarming report shows rare penguin in freefall as Government moves to extend fishing ban (paywalled)
John Lewis (ODT): Proposal aims to cut hoiho bycatch (paywalled)
Harriet Laughton (Post): Climate minister enroute to attend United Nations Climate Change Summit (paywalled)
Eric Crampton (Post): How to improve the emissions trading scheme (paywalled)
Torika Tokalau (Local Democracy Reporting): Developer fined $48K for illegal Auckland earthworks
Eva de Jong (Herald): Conservationist Sir Alan Mark fears politics is failing the environment
Ross McNaughton (RNZ): Caulerpa invasion: ‘Government isn’t taking it as seriously as they need to’
Jamie Morton (Newsroom): The deadly threats in our air – and how we can fix them
EDUCATION, ASBESTOS
RNZ: Ministry of Education closer to making decision on Gloriavale Christian School’s future
Eva Corlett (Guardian): Schools close in New Zealand after play sand recalled over asbestos fears
Wei Shao and Mike Mather (Press/Post): Schools across NZ, Australia close over play-sand asbestos (paywalled)
Hanna McCallum (Post): ‘Chaotic’: Wellington primary to use high school’s classrooms over play-sand asbestos (paywalled)
RNZ: What to do if you have the coloured sand recalled for asbestos in your home