PARLIAMENT, POLLS, PUBLIC SERVICE
Audrey Young (Herald): Loyalty and betrayal: Inside the struggle between Matt McCarten and Willie Jackson (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Winston Peters prepares ‘answer’ to silence questions about governing with Labour
Andrea Vance (Post): Labour extends lead on cost of living as voters focus on household pressures (paywalled)
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): One MP, One Pint: Yes, Act MP Todd Stephenson can read
Audrey Young (Herald): The three most improved MPs of 2025; zingers from Parliament’s Christmas roast (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (Post): Job vacancy: Got what it takes to lead NZ’s newest ministry? (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Post): High Court finds justice minister’s appointment of two commissioners unlawful (paywalled)
Steven Rainbow: His appointment as Human Right’s Commissioner was unlawful
No Right Turn: Unlawful appointments
Richard Harman: The year of discontent (paywalled)
Russell Palmer (RNZ): ‘Public good over corporate greed’: Greens challenge Willis to debate them instead
Julia Gabel (Herald): Former Te Pāti Māori lawyer Tania Waikato to stand for Green Party in 2026 general election
MEDIA, SOCIAL MEDIA
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): Inside the weirdest trial of the year: Jim Grenon, Julian Batchelor and TVNZ
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Batchelor v TVNZ: ‘Billionaires should not be allowed to play with litigation behind a cloak of invisibility’ - lawyer
Shayne Currie (Herald): Julian Batchelor v TVNZ defamation case - Jim Grenon funding and website story in spotlight (paywalled)
Peter Williams: My Day in Court. And not covering myself in glory
RNZ: John Campbell announced as new co-host of Morning Report
Shayne Currie (Herald): John Campbell’s new Morning Report role - RNZ’s robust board discussions; Girls Uninterrupted podcast ends; Sky TV sport content facelift; Westpac agency moves (paywalled)
Tara Ward (Spinoff): A new dawn for morning news?
Seven Price: Talley’s defamation decision looks strange to me
David Harvey: A Saucerful of Secrets
RNZ: Pulitzer-winning New Zealand war reporter Peter Arnett dies at 91
John Rogers (Post): Pulitzer Prize-winning NZ reporter Peter Arnett, who reported on the Vietnam and Gulf wars, has died
Martin Van Beynen (Post): The media and mass shootings (paywalled)
ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING, RESERVE BANK
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Election 2026 timing, debt and coalition deals now hang on GDP staying hot (paywalled)
Mandy Te (Interest): ‘Be sceptical’: BNZ’s head of research says latest GDP data ‘more noise than signal’
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): A merry minister promises higher wages, more jobs - Labour says she’s dreaming
Gyles Beckford (RNZ): Economy rebounds into 1.1 percent growth for September quarter
Brent Edwards (NBR): Stronger economy will help the Government’s books: Minister (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): Back in growth: GDP data shows economy expanded by 1.1% in third quarter (paywalled)
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): Strong GDP data didn’t spark calls for RBNZ rate hikes (paywalled)
Delphine Herbert (RNZ): Retail, construction, manufacturing industries eye GDP growth with cautious optimism
Roeland van den Bergh (Post): Business is feeling more confident as the economy grows 1.1% in the September quarter
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Government confirms plan to sell Chorus debt, will invest in infrastructure
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): KiwiSaver hardship application backlogs see man face vehicle repossession, house sale
Gordon Campbell: On The Wisdom Of Driving Faster Up An Economic Cul De Sac, And The Bondi Aftermath
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Nicola Willis needs to be braver and cut more
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): We’re all feeling the pinch, especially the Government
Kerre Woodham (Newstalk ZB): The Finance Minister is charting a tough course
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): ‘We do not operate a zero failure regime,’ RBNZ’s Anna Breman says
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): ASB, BNZ increase some fixed home loan interest rates
Herald: Westpac raises home loan rates by 14bps for 18-month fixed standard and special mortgages
David Chaston (Interest): ASB, BNZ & TSB raise fixed mortgage rates
FAST-TRACK, ENVIRONMENT
Felix Walton (RNZ): Retraction of key herbicide study won’t sway the government’s approach
Michael Neilson (BusinessDesk): Fast-track approvals accelerate as Government pushes flagship policy (paywalled)
RNZ: Councillors vote to oppose plans for fast-tracked sand mining at Northland’s Bream Bay
Lloyd Burr (Stuff): Controversial $8 billion gold mine plan given Fast Track approval
RNZ: First mining project gains fast-track approval
Thomas Manch (BusinessDesk): Preparations for fast-tracked Waihī mine expansion to begin ‘straight away’ (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (BusinessDesk): OceanaGold gets go-ahead at Waihī in first fast-tracked mining decision (paywalled)
Benn Bathgate (Waikato Times): Fast Track green light for $1bn Waihī gold expansion (paywalled)
JUSTICE, CORRECTIONS
Finn Blackwell (RNZ): High Court orders Corrections boss to obey law allowing prisoners one hour out of cell
Laura Walters (Newsroom): High Court orders Corrections boss to stop breaking the law
RNZ: ‘Significant failure on the part of Corrections’: Inmate dies after guard
Finn Blackwell (RNZ): Auckland duty lawyers stop work for a week to highlight poor pay, working conditions
RNZ: Spike in complaints accusing lawyers of incompetence
EDUCATION
Krystal Gibbens (RNZ): Former Gloriavale teacher applauds ‘courageous’ move to cancel school’s registration
RNZ: Gloriavale Christian School registration cancelled
Joanne Naish (Press): Gloriavale School to shut after being declared not ‘emotionally and physically safe’ (paywalled)
Ellen O’Dwyer (RNZ): Education Ministry sets up financial support scheme for schools facing asbestos sand clean-up
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Principals say ERO not giving rural schools credit for challenges
HEALTH, DISABILITY
Paula Penfold (Stuff): ‘No due diligence’: The failures behind a $1.7m Govt contract for a firm linked to an advisor
Steve Hepburn (ODT): Despair at cancer treatment delays (paywalled)
Ian Powell: Getting our health system out of the poop begins with an engagement, empowerment and relational cultural shift
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Parents of suspected suicide victim call for better information sharing
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): Family roster themselves on to care for elderly relative over hospital standard concerns
Ellen O’Dwyer (RNZ): Hangaroa mother’s pleas for help went unanswered before 5-year-old son found dead in pond
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WATER
ODT Editorial: Politics and money (paywalled)
Fiona Ellis (Waikato Times): Hamilton-Waikato water merger faces countdown risk (paywalled)
Will Harvie (Press): Government blitz puts ECan’s future - and finances - under strain (paywalled)
Evie Richardson (RNZ): Mahurangi oyster farmers still waiting for compensation package
Susan Botting (Local Democracy Reporting): Dargaville’s town hall replacement by 2028: Deputy mayor
Julie Jacobson (Post): Oath, that was an expensive swearing in (paywalled)
EMPLOYMENT
Rob Campbell (Post): We’re being dragged into a gangsta’s paradise on employment issues (paywalled)
Neil Sands (Law News): Expert predicts a raft of litigation likely to test the boundaries of our new employment relations law
Neil Sands (Law News): Controversial employment relations bill reported back to Parliament with tweaks
Fiona Rotherham (NBR): The year of employment law overhaul (paywalled)
Damien Venuto (Stuff): It’s the hardest time in 30 years to find a job. This is why
Jeffrey Paparoa Holman (Listener): Did we learn nothing? The new push that endangers NZ workers again (paywalled)
POLICE
Anna Marie Brennan (The Conversation): Jevon McSkimming sentencing: why a public inquiry into the police should be next
Kate Green (RNZ): Why former deputy police commissioner Jevon McSkimming’s prosecution was so unique
Kate Green (RNZ): Jevon McSkimming avoids jail sentence over possession of child sexual exploitation material
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Jevon McSkimming case a wake-up call to child abuse ‘at every level’, charity says
RNZ: Police officers spat at, called paedophiles in wake of Jevon McSkimming scandal
Amy Ridout (Stuff): Disgraced former top cop Jevon McSkimming avoids jail over objectionable material
Joseph Los’e (Herald): Jevon McSkimming sentencing: Police reversed just one policy that disgraced ex-cop had ordered
RNZ: Police announce ‘refreshed leadership team’ for 2026 after controversial year
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): Mike Pannett named as new Deputy Commissioner of Police
1News: New statutory Deputy Commissioner of Police appointed
Katie Ham and Harriet Laughton (Post): Michael Pannett named new deputy commissioner, amid police top brass clean-out (paywalled)
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Struggle with cliffside rescue ‘tip of the iceberg’, firefighters says
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Police refused use of rescue chopper because they wrongly thought teenager was dead
ENERGY
Kate Newton (RNZ): Households ponder future of gas as supply dwindle (paywalled)
Herald: Shane Jones opens $200m gas security fund for proposals next month
Ian Lewellyn (BusinessDesk): $200m Gas Security Fund opens in Jan (paywalled)
Blayne Slabbert (Press/Post): Watchdog cuts Transpower bonus on $200m South Island grid upgrade after shaky estimates (paywalled)
Ian Lewellyn (BusinessDesk): Power users warn unresolved affordability risks carry into 2026 (paywalled)
Ian Lewellyn (BusinessDesk): ComCom backs $193m Transpower upgrade (paywalled)
Brent Melville (NBR): ComCom to look at ‘counterproductive’ clauses in energy contracts (paywalled)
Richard Davison (ODT): Wind farm project aired at meetings (paywalled)
BUSINESS, CONSUMER AFFAIRS
Tim Hunter (NBR): When Crown capital doubles as corporate subsidy (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Inland Revenue liquidates nearly 900 companies in one year
RNZ: Shoppers get surcharge warning
Herald: Retail spending down on last year before busy Christmas period
RNZ: Rocket Lab launches fourth spacecraft into orbit for US Department of War testing
NBR: Rocket Lab the big winner at Deloitte Top 200 awards (paywalled)
Chris Keall (Herald): Deloitte Top 200: Company of the year - Sir Peter Beck’s Rocket Lab (paywalled)
Miriam Bell (Post): What will happen to the Kiwi ‘block of shops’ in the Costco era? (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ):$4 million travel insurance claim one of thousands this year
Jenni Mortimer (Herald): James Cameron on Avatar’s future, the NZ film industry’s problems and being part of the solution
CARTOONS