DEFENCE AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Don Brash: Mr Hegseth, you have to be joking!
Keiller MacDuff (RNZ): Nuclear free status changes not on the table, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s office says
Anneke Smith (Post): As defence armament heats up Down Under, can NZ sustain its response? (paywalled)
Henry Oliver (Spinoff): Are we really just a bunch of (military) freeloaders?
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Dependence on China trade ‘constrains NZ’s freedom’ – army officer
Liam Hehir (The Blue Review): Chris Penk is right about the need to think (paywalled)
ODT: Editorial: The percentage debate (paywalled)
Anna Fifield: As US wavers and China looms, Asia’s ‘middle powers’ band together
Van Jackson (Un-Diplomatic): New Zealand Rents and the Permanent War Economy
PARLIAMENT, ELECTION AND GOVERNMENT
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): The honours list is open for business
Josh Van Veen: The Postliberal Moment
Kylie Klein Nixon (Post): You want a definition of ‘woman’? I’ll give you a definition of woman (paywalled)
Mava Moayyed (1News): ‘I chickened out’: The biggest hurdle facing the Opportunity Party
Andy Macdonald (BusinessDesk): Winston Peters rules out KiwiSaver use in BNZ buyback plan (paywalled)
Finn Hogan (Stuff): ‘Line in the sand’: Children’s Commissioner says social media ban isn’t enough
TECHNOLOGY AND AI
Chris Trotter (Interest): Can AI help Nicola Willis to cut public expenditure?
Nona Pelletier (RNZ): AI data centre development has regional economic development benefits, proponent says
Chris Keall (Herald): DataMasque raises $7m, founder says his product is better than OpenAI’s new free tool (paywalled)
Justin Flitter (Herald): Why cuts first, AI later is the wrong move for New Zealand’s public service (paywalled)
Sarah Ellison (Post): Too much legacy spaghetti, not enough bread and butter policy (paywalled)
Frith Tweedie (Herald): Manage My Health privacy breach provides lessons for us all (paywalled)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Simon Wilson: Hitting golf balls in the dark
Mary Williams (ODT): Iwi made no ‘financial demands’ (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): The $420,000 campaign to let you know Tiaki Wai exists (paywalled)
Selva Selvarajah (ODT): The amalgamation process basics (paywalled)
BUDGET 2026
Brent Edwards (NBR): Shane Jones felt ambushed by Nicola Willis at Budget lock-up (paywalled)
Jonathan Mitchell (NBR): Tame Budget no red flag for inflation: RBNZ’s Conway (paywalled)
David Chaplin (BusinessDesk): Budget smugglers: inside the trans-Tasman tax boxes (paywalled)
Tracey Martin (Post): Budget 2026 missed the chance to stabilise aged care (paywalled)
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