JIM BOLGER
Bryce Edwards (The Integrity Institute): Jim Bolger’s contradictory legacy
Liam Hehir (The Blue Review): The Passion of Saint Jim
Josie Pagani (Post): Jim Bolger was a leader who could see - and strive for - a different world (paywalled)
Vernon Small (Sunday Star Times): Jim Bolger’s economic legacy (paywalled)
Tracy Watkins (Sunday Star Times): Jim Bolger’s quiet greatness (paywalled)
Caron Copek (Stuff): Our economic reform was brave and saved NZ. Bolger and I did it together, says Ruth Richardson
ODT Editorial: A decent bloke and decent PM (paywalled)
Louis Collins (RNZ): The House: Moe mai rā, Jim Bolger: MPs farewell the ‘great helmsman’
Ryan Bridge (Newstalk ZB): We’ve been reminded our present day politicians aren’t up to much
PARLIAMENT, POLLS, GOVERNMENT
Henry Cooke (Post): National’s economic credibility collapses as Labour surges on cost of living (paywalled)
Andrea Vance (Sunday Star Times): Red renaissance? Or has the country just got the blues (paywalled)
Adam Pearse (Herald): National’s reprieve short-lived as Govt’s anti-strike squad assembles (paywalled)
Steve Braunias (Newsroom): The secret diary of .. Luxon’s last hour
Victor Billot (Newsroom): An Ode to .. Chris Bishop
Max Rashbrooke (Post): When violence beckons as a political solution, we must find a better way (paywalled)
Joanna Wane (Herald): Amnesty International chief Agnes Callamard calls on New Zealand to lift its game (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Te Pāti Māori has vaporised its chances of being in government with Labour (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Are we surprised by these allegations we’ve heard about the Māori Party?
PRIMARY AND EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES
Bryce Edwards (The Integrity Institute): How the pork lobby wrote its own cruel law
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Why Winston Peters hates the $4.2 billion Fonterra deal
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Winston Peters and David Seymour trade blows over Fonterra deal
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Winston Peters threatens Fonterra over sale of Anchor and Mainland brands
Lloyd Burr (Stuff): Winston pleads to farmers not to let Fonterra sell off Anchor, Mainland, Kapiti brands to French
Roeland van den Bergh (Post): Aussie miner lists on NZX, calls NZ ‘land of the long gold opportunity’ (paywalled)
RNZ: Australian mining company buys part of famed Central Otago station
ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING, TAX
Brian Easton (Pundit): Avoiding The Horrendous Fiscal Crisis.
Ganesh Ahirao: Spending, borrowing, taxing - it’s called fiscal policy
Rod Carr (Sunday Star Times): No quality-of-life acceleration, without more taxation (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Mother outraged as IRD takes $1000 a week from account
Damien Venuto (Stuff): How rich is NZ really? And what needs to change if we want to grow our wealth
David Hargreaves (Interest): The return of inflation - will what goes up come back down quickly this time?
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Bank economists loved the RBNZ’s big rate cut, others aren’t so sure
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Mortgage rates may breach 6% if Reserve Bank goes too far, Infometrics warns (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): The economy is recovering, but brace yourself, there’s bad news coming (paywalled)
Dita De Boni (Sunday Star Times): The ‘invisible web’ of community support is unravelling amid funding cuts (paywalled)
MEDIA, SOCIAL MEDIA
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Mediawatch: What is broadcasting - and who decides?
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Post): ACT considers bill to abolish Broadcasting Standards Authority (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): : Will the BSA have to back down on this?
Simon O’Connor: ‘Broadcasting’ too wide a net (paywalled)
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Truth, justice and the (TV) New Zealand way
RNZ: ‘Covid killed the magazine: Reader’s Digest discontinues print edition, moves solely to online
Madeleine Chapman (Spinoff): RIP Metro magazine: 1981 – 2025
Alex Beattie (The Conversation): As social media age restrictions spread, is the internet entering its Victorian era?
Ethan Manera & Grace Symmans (Herald): Former broadcaster Polly Gillespie eyes political run for next year’s election
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WATER
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): Local election results will embolden Govt on ‘back to basics’ policy path
Press/Post Editorial: Reversing local voter decline
Simon Wilson (Herald): Wayne Brown’s big game, the new council, fraud allegations and low voter turnout (paywalled)
RNZ: Police confirm electoral fraud complaint in Auckland local body election
Mary Afemata (Local Democracy Reporting): Kerrin Leoni claims cracks in Auckland’s democracy
RNZ: Almost half of Auckland’s special local body election votes thrown out
Torika Tokalau (Local Democracy Reporting): ‘A necessary evil’: Councillor on working with Wayne Brown again
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Kaipara’s embarrassing mayor, his heir and the spare
Susan Botting (Local Democracy Reporting): Kaipara District Council backs Craig Jepson election complaint in secret vote
Peter de Graaf (RNZ): Kaipara councillors to lodge complaint over mayor’s vote irregularity claim
RNZ: Jonathan Larsen wins Kaipara mayoralty by slim margin
Samuel Sherry (Herald): Tight local election results confirm new mayors across New Zealand
RNZ: Ken Couper named as Whangārei’s new mayor after tight race
RNZ: Seven votes decide two Taupō council positions
Moana Ellis (Local Democracy Reporting): Nail-biting win for Māori seats at Horizons Regional Council
Pokere Paewai (RNZ): 21-year-old Māori-Tongan rangatahi secures council seat in rural Tararua
Nick James (RNZ): Wellington councillor Ray Chung re-elected with a margin of 45 votes
Deborah Morris (Post): Could 2026 be Wellington’s year? (paywalled)
David Hill (Local Democracy Reporting): Waimakariri Mayor keen to put heated campaign behind him
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, TRADE
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Inside NZ’s ‘hectic day’ after US President Donald Trump’s tariff shock
RNZ: Defence MinisterJudith Collins visits Central Intelligence Agency headquarters
Teuila Fuatai and Susana Suisuiki (RNZ): ‘We’re eating tinned fish’: Samoa villagers plead for Manawanui wreckage compensation
Renate Rivers (PMN): Villagers begin talks with government on sharing Manawanui compensation fund
Gordon Campbell: On New Zealand’s Willing Submission To The Pentagon’s Command And Control
Ethan Griffiths (Herald): Ireland ambassador Trevor Mallard told he was being recalled early via email, asked to stay with his dog
Lloyd Burr (Stuff): Greens say Trump shouldn’t get any credit for Israel-Gaza peace deal
RNZ: Gaza aid flotilla: Actor-turned-activist detained by Israeli navy claims he was ‘zip-tied, abused’
Neil Reid (Herald): Ukraine court case aims to reclassify fallen New Zealander Shan‑Le Kearns as killed in action
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): NZer sanctioned by British govt for role in Ukraine war
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): EU needs ‘predictability’ for NZ investment push
RNZ: New Zealand to re-impose sanctions on Iran
EMPLOYMENT, WELFARE
Vaimoana Mase (Herald): Public sector is walking off the job on October 23 as Judith Collins fires back
Anna Whyte (Post): Tense new era ahead of next week’s mass walkout (paywalled)
Post: Teachers and nurses are striking - what’s at stake? (paywalled)
RNZ: Social development benefits continue to increase in September
Julie Jacobson (Sunday Star Times): Still on the clock: No stepping off the treadmill for the over 65s (paywalled)
Paul Jarvie (Herald): New Zealand needs a smarter approach to health and safety training (paywalled)
Amelia Wade (Sunday Star Times): Paid fortnightly, penalised quarterly: FamilyBoost’s rules catching out salaried workers (paywalled)
BUSINESS
Mandy Te (Interest): Commerce Minister keen to press ahead with full surcharge ban despite ACT wanting to make it more targeted
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Retailers back ACT’s proposal for ‘flexible’ credit card surcharges
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): ACT says payment surcharge ban needs fix; minister says it’s too late (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): Inside HelloFresh’s misleading cold calling campaign: When ‘no’ means ‘yes’ (paywalled)
CLIMATE CHANGE, WEATHER EVENTS, ENVIRONMENT
Mandy Te (Interest): ‘End state’: Simon Watts signals reset of Govt’s role in buyouts for homeowners after major weather events
Angus Kebbell (Interest): Planning for certainty in a changing climate
Jonathan Leask (Local Democracy Reporting): Government pours millions into Canterbury flood defences
Moana Ellis (Local Democracy Reporting): Health risk warnings as Ruapehu’s multi-million dollar clean-up begins
RNZ: Fixing storm-damaged roads in Ruapehu could cost millions
Samantha Gee (RNZ): Price to fix town stopbanks at ‘catastrophic risk of failure’ double
HEALTH
RNZ: Health Minister Simeon Brown mulls law change over feud with striking doctors
Shane Te Pou (Herald): Access to dental care shouldn’t be a luxury (paywalled)
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Troubled Starship Hospital unit ‘working extremely well right now’ - Dame Naida Glavish
RNZ: Online help services not designed for acute mental health crises, coroner warns
Good Ideas: New research lays bare the cost of health underfunding (paywalled)
Nikki Macdonald (Sunday Star Times): The cancer that won’t stop rising (paywalled)
Nikki Macdonald (Post): ‘Something’s really broken’: What is going on with gynae cancer surgery? (paywalled)
Mariné Lourens (Press/Post): EDs are busier than ever, but non-urgent patients aren’t the problem (paywalled)
EDUCATION, CHILDREN
Gordon Campbell: On The Government’s Dodgy Claims About Reading Achievement
Cecilia Robinson (Herald): Signs of Spring: The education and health transformation changing everything (paywalled)
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Government to build 82 more classrooms and a new school
Lauren Crimp (RNZ): Hundreds of principals urge minister to halt ‘rushed’ rollout of new curriculum
RNZ: Union representing primary principals accepts 2.5 percent pay rise
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Treasury criticised polytech plans (paywalled)
Jaime Cunningham (Newstalk ZB): Ministry revises AI marking rules as teachers warn of confusion
Azaria Howell (Newstalk ZB): Potential for $131 million of asset sales with Te Pūkenga de-merger, concerns raised over ‘Going for Growth’ impacts
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): ‘Reset’ for uni dept suggested amid bullying claims (paywalled)
RNZ: Auckland University in U-turn on mandatory Treaty of Waitangi course after backlash
Hanna McCallum (Post): From textbook to a second teacher: How AI has changed study (paywalled)
Chris Tobin (Press/Post): School pool closures ease but ‘most kids’ can’t survive in water (paywalled)