LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WATER
Gwynn Compton: Simon Watts: The Minister Against Local Democracy
Henry Cooke (Post): Christopher Luxon’s rates caps a very clever political time bomb (paywalled)
Alexia Russell (Newsroom): What does the big local government shake-up mean?
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Simon says cap your rates – how will councils respond?
Chris Trotter: Democracy Becoming a “Nice to Have”? (paywalled)
Mike Yardley (Press): By any measure, New Zealand is grossly over-governed (paywalled)
Catherine Knight: Regional councils do have a long history ...
Adam Pearse (Herald): Govt dismisses concerns its impending rates cap will degrade basic public services
RNZ: Auckland mayor hits out at government’s rates cap, says it could impact City Rail Link
RNZ: Local councils relieved with government’s rates capping approach
Grant Miller and Ruby Shaw (ODT): ‘Appropriate’ water left out of rates cap (paywalled)
Sam Smith and Emma Ricketts (Stuff): Government announces rates cap to keep councils ‘within their means’
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Christopher Luxon faces questions amid speculation over rates cap policy
Mandy Te (Interest): Central government hits local government with rates cap, suggesting upper limit of 4%
Harriet Laughton (Post): Government reveals rate caps to be in place from 2029, limit set by GDP growth (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Councils only able to exceed rates cap in extreme circumstances (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): Wellington City wins power struggle over water votes (paywalled)
Todd Niall (Newsroom): No surprises, ‘little consultation’ needed in Wayne Brown’s budget
RNZ: Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown says budget, City Rail behind proposed 7.9% rate hike
Jonathan Killick (Post): Wayne Brown’s Auckland budget: 7.9% rates increase, a $50m hole and CRL opening date (paywalled)
Felix Walton (RNZ): Auckland beachgoers warned of sewage overflows
Grant Miller (ODT): Call for ‘major assets’ to be returned (paywalled)
GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC SERVICE
Russell Palmer (RNZ): David Seymour, Paula Bennett defend $357k exit payment to former Pharmac head
Adam Pearse (Herald): Pharmac defends near-$350,000 exit payment to one employee in same year CEO resigned
Harriet Laughton (Post): Pharmac makes secret $357k payout following exit of Sarah Fitt
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Public Service Commission’s social media advertising under independent review
Rachel Moore (Stuff): Review to be carried out into PSC’s anti-mega strike Facebook ads
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Social Investment Agency work continuing despite high-profile absence of boss
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Andrew Coster still off work after three weeks, staff can’t say where he is
Anna Whyte (Post): Social investment bosses front Parliament in Andrew Coster’s absence (paywalled)
Adam Pearse (Herald): Acting Social Investment boss tight-lipped as Andrew Coster’s fate still unresolved
Michael Daly (Stuff): Luxon says regulatory standards law should be given a go; National to form opinion on it later
Eric Crampton: The state of the books
Noel O’Malley (ODT): Which reputations should we be concerned about?
PARLIAMENT
Michael Daly (Stuff): None of his ministers vying for his job, Luxon says again
Nik Dirga (RNZ): How leadership challenges happen in New Zealand politics
Chris Trotter: The Cross benches beckon NZ First (paywalled)
Dave Armstrong (Post): Why small parties keep blowing themselves up (paywalled)
Post: Te Pāti Māori wants electorate seats recalculated (paywalled)
Louis Collins (RNZ): The House: Urgency ends early after voting gaffe
Rajiv Thind (Newsroom): David Cohen’s biography of Jacinda Ardern, reviewed
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): The day the suicide squad burned down the house at New Zealand’s parliament
Christine Rose: Zombie politics
LABOUR
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Labour’s centrist weekend conference
ODT Editorial: Labour pitches to anyone listening (paywalled)
No Right Turn: You don’t win elections by telling voters to expect less
RNZ: GPs welcome Labour’s proposal, advocating for doctor owned practices
RNZ: Labour’s GP plan ‘a bit confused’, Christopher Luxon says
Kiwiblog: Guest Post: Labour and Jordan Rivers
HOUSING, BUILDING
Kim Baker Wilson (RNZ): Number of under 16s sleeping rough ‘much larger than we’d first anticipated’
Herald: Prime Minister Luxon confirms action plan on ‘move-on’ orders for homeless, announcement soon
RNZ: Home ownership at the core of the ‘Kiwi Dream’, but 85 percent ‘given up hope’ - survey
Miriam Bell (Post): Kiwibank: Its still tough - but not as tough as it’s been - to get on the property ladder
Andy Macdonald (BusinessDesk): Kiwibank eyes co-ownership policy (paywalled)
Duncan Greive (Spinoff): The signs all point to the end of New Zealand’s property obsession
Justin Wong (Post): High Court reverses Kāpiti council rezoning vote in favour of developer (paywalled)
RNZ: Parliament picnic marks beginning of pet bonds
CONSERVATION, ENVIRONMENT, PRIMARY INDUSTRIES
Andrea Graves (Listener): Appalling, incomprehensible and baffling: Experts react to proposed sow crate law change (paywalled)
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Ten-year pig crate pardon, yet Minister Hoggard still has a bone to pick with vegans
Nick James (RNZ): Lawyers criticise ministry’s advice to Fisheries Minister Shane Jones on set net fishing
Andrea Vance (Post): Tragedy at sea: Another rare hoiho drowns as High Court battle begins (paywalled)
Kate Newton (RNZ): Relying on forestry for carbon removal is placing ‘eggs in one basket’, MPs warned
Tim Hazledine (Post): Time to shake up the milk business - Fonterra is a major disappointment (paywalled)
HEALTH
Public Health Communications Centre: Reconsidering our low-risk alcohol advice: The dark influence of the alcohol industry
Rob Campbell (Newsroom): Health NZ hampered by ministerial announcement fever
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Health NZ and nurses union at loggerheads over strike plan
Mary Argue (RNZ): NZ facing health crisis from chronic methamphetamine use - emergency doctor
Anna Whyte (Post): Difficult decisions and trade offs loom for ACC over injury prevention (paywalled)
TRANSPORT, INFRASTRUCTURE
Thomas Manch (BusinessDesk): Infrastructure Commission not let in on Roads of National Significance (paywalled)
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Infrastructure Commission suggests phased approach to highway builds could counter costs
Tom Hunt and Justin Wong (Post): NZTA wants Wellington highway changes in one fell swoop (paywalled)
James Ball (1News): Trickle of calls to ‘complete waste of money’ road cones hotline
Thomas Manch (BusinessDesk): Ownership of Interislander ferry service remains undecided (paywalled)
Shanti Mathias (Spinoff): Christchurch is growing. How can it avoid the traffic trap?
Matt Lowrie: CRL delayed till second half of 2026
POLICE, CRIME, PHILLIPS INQUIRY
Jared Savage (Herald): Jevon McSkimming case: The woman at the centre of the sex scandal calls on government to open wider inquiry into police culture
Jared Savage (Herald): Jevon McSkimming case: Exclusive interview with Ms Z who alleges former deputy police boss groomed her for sex (paywalled)
Stuff: ‘They protected him, not me’: Woman in McSkimming scandal demands wider police inquiry
RNZ: Police Commissioner Richard Chambers ‘determined’ to prevent another Jevon McSkimming saga
RNZ: Better laws needed to protect sexual violence survivors - Helen Clark Foundation
Laura Walters (Newsroom): ‘Cover-up’ Phillips inquiry should include Family Court, experts say
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): Tom Phillips hearing underway challenging media restrictions, publication of case details
1News: Media challenge Tom Phillips reporting restrictions at High Court
EMPLOYMENT, BUSINESS, TAX
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Why are we all paid close to minimum wage?
Fiona Rotherham (NBR): Next steps in Uber employee/contractor stoush (paywalled)
Herald: One NZ hit with $1.1 million penalty for breaching emergency call obligations
Dita De Boni (Post): One NZ fined $1.1m for not checking on vulnerable customers’ access to 111 (paywalled)
ODT: Rio Tinto announces $50m investment in Tiwai Point facility
Te Mahurangi Teinakore (Te Ao Māori News): Māori economy reaches $126b as growth plans aim to drive further expansion
Rob Stock (Post): A German idea to fix New Zealand’s ‘zombie’ company PAYE and GST tax debt crisis (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): Tax crack-down: IRD targets credit scores of stubborn debtors (paywalled)
RNZ: Crypto accountant warning investors that tax collector is coming for them
Olena Onishchenko (The Conversation): A global tax crackdown is coming for crypto – including NZ trades worth billions
Morgan Theakston (Post): We need to stop dragging our feet on modern slavery legislation
NATURAL DISASTERS, EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS
Linda Hall (Local Democracy Reporting): The end of ‘Category 3’: Cyclone red zones to be phased out
Amy Williams (RNZ): Auckland couple take legal action over refusal to buy out flood-damaged home
RNZ: Invercargill council’s $2.4m storm damage bill unlikely to be recovered by insurance
EDUCATION
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Charter School Agency reveals enrolment numbers after telling schools to keep figures under wraps
Jessica Hopkins (RNZ): Parents horrified children ate mouldy mince in government-funded school lunches
Rachel Graham (RNZ): Food poisoning warning after Christchurch students eat contaminated school lunches
Rachel Moore (Stuff): Christchurch school says it was given rancid lunches covered in mould
CARTOONS