AUCKLAND HOUSING INTENSIFICATION
Felix Walton (RNZ): ‘Very strange’: Auckland councillors’ mixed reaction to government’s housing backdown
Erin Johnson (Stuff): ‘National has not heard the message’: Aucklanders cool on housing climbdown
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Govt retains right to second-guess changes to Auckland housing
Henry Cooke (Post): The many knives in Chris Bishop’s back (paywalled)
Chelsea Daniels (Herald): Auckland housing density plan scaled back amid density row in key suburbs
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Chris Bishop’s housing u-turn is basic common sense
Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): Bishop’s housing backtrack is a hollow victory for Parnell
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Bishop to slash 400,000 dwellings from Auckland’s 2m capacity requirement
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland suburbs spared blanket density as council told to redraw housing plan in Government U-turn
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Government weakens housing intensification rules for Auckland
Jonathan Killick (Post): Plan Change 120: Intensification placation comes unstuck with arguments over Epsom (paywalled)
Jonathan Killick (Post): ‘Learned a lesson’: Chris Bishop cuts Auckland housing target by 400,000 homes (paywalled)
Brent Melville (NBR): Government dials back Auckland housing capacity by 20% (paywalled)
PARLIAMENT, ELECTION
Rob Stock (Post): Expert’s shock as MPs cut her off as she explained supermarkets’ power games (paywalled)
Luke Malpass (Post): The Post/Freshwater Strategy Poll: Christopher Luxon’s approval drops sharply (paywalled)
Jenna Lynch (Stuff): ‘This bill is bullshit’: Fiery scenes as politicians debate English becoming official language
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Bill to make English an official language of NZ introduced to Parliament
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): All aboard the racist express to parliament
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Labour MP Kieran McAnulty ordered to leave the House after challenging Speaker
Adam Pearse (Herald): Labour MP Kieran McAnulty booted from the House over Speaker’s handling of Winston Peters’ ‘racist’ remark
Phil Smith (RNZ): The House: Chris Bishop and Kieran McAnulty speeches among the standouts in opening event
Louis Collins (RNZ): The House: Turning back time through law
Audrey Young (Herald): Winston Peters sparks House horror show; Chris Hipkins criticised over Labour policy vacuum (paywalled)
INTEGRITY ISSUES
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): The Teaching Council and the rot at the heart of NZ’s public sector
David Farrar: The real Teaching Council scandal is all the crappy projects
ODT: Editorial – Above reproach (paywalled)
1News: Kaushal defends near $1m contractor bill as retail crime group winds down
Zoran Rakovic: Legality is not legitimacy: How lawful appointments can erode public trust in New Zealand
GOVERNMENT
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Interest rates and Auckland housing U-turn could give Luxon election tailwind despite horrendous polls (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor & Azaria Howell (Herald): NZ First leader Winston Peters has say after deputy Shane Jones makes ‘New Delhi’, ‘Uber driver’ Indian migrants remarks
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Winston Peters has ‘no doubt’ he could’ve stopped contractors law if unions went to him earlier
Adam Pearse (Herald): Act leader David Seymour reveals first ministries he would axe to reduce size of government
Ethan Griffiths (Herald): Winston Peters says credit card surcharge ban is ‘going nowhere’
Troy Matich (Herald): Army pauses cultural skills framework after concern raised with Minister
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Paywave surcharge ban promises by Govt ‘going nowhere’
Jenna Lynch (Stuff): The Government backed down on housing changes - could they back down on the gas levy too?
OCR AND HOUSING
Herald: Editorial – Why house prices aren’t going to bounce back quickly – and that’s a good thing (paywalled)
Ryan Bridge (Newstalk ZB): House prices no longer lead economic growth
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Anna Breman says Kiwis can expect RBNZ to have integrity and ‘stay true to the data’ (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Reserve Bank provides more soothing words on inflation (paywalled)
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): RBNZ governor Anna Breman sets new tone (paywalled)
Jonathan Mitchell (NBR): RBNZ ‘focusing on the reality on the ground’: Breman (paywalled)
Lauren Crimp (RNZ): Many tenants of social housing agency Te Toi Mahana unable to access rent subsidy
Metiria Stanton Turei (ODT): Housing needs to be top of local, national political agenda (paywalled)
Deborah Morris (Post): Auckland house prices back over $1m, buyer demand surges 40% (paywalled)
Brent Melville (NBR): Queenstown house prices up $455k, breach $1.8 million (paywalled)
EMPLOYMENT AND WELFARE
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Unions called it a ‘dark day for workers’, but what does the latest employment law change actually do?
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): The employment law changes are fine
Rob Campbell (Post): The sensible, strategic, non-political case for pay equity (paywalled)
Alice Peacock (Newsroom): Work safety minister butts head with officials over ‘missing’ evidence
Bronwyn Heenan (BusinessDesk): Health and safety reform is here: Is this the fix we needed? (paywalled)
Anneke Smith (RNZ): MSD claw backs will ‘financially cripple’ state abuse survivors, advocate says
INFRASTRUCTURE
Bernard Hickey: Can NZ grow with just the ‘bits-tacked-on’? (paywalled)
Anneke Smith (RNZ): ‘We’re not shagging spiders’: Minister on second Auckland harbour crossing
Phoebe Utteridge (Stuff): Why a senior government minister is talking about shagging spiders
Anna Whyte (Interest): Hecklers to ‘shagging spiders’: Lively housing reset sparks Wayne Brown-David Seymour showdown
WGTN SEWAGE DISASTER, WGTN WATER, SEWAGE INFRASTRUCTURE
Tom Hunt (Post): Swimming next summer in doubt as Tiaki Wai inherits Moa Point mess (paywalled)
RNZ: Overseas experts flown in to assess damage at Moa Point wastewater treatment plant
Ellen O’Dwyer (RNZ: No guarantee Moa Point will be fixed soon - water chair
Michelle Duff (Guardian): ‘It’s a catastrophe’: Wellington rages as millions of litres of raw sewage pour into ocean
1News: Wellington Water appoints new board chairperson
RNZ: Wellington Water appoints Bill Bayfield as new chairperson
RNZ: Expert warns lack of staff, experience and support will see future wastewater failures
RNZ: Wastewater may be flowing to a Coromandel beach after sinkhole forms
MINING
Fox Meyer (Newsroom): Govt to boost critical minerals by $80m, excluding gold and coal
Herald: Taiko Critical Minerals and Westland Minerals Sands eye slice of $80m regional infrastructure fund (paywalled)
Fox Meyer and Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Besieged mining firm withdraws fast-track bid to plough Taranaki seabed
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Mining company withdraws application for fast-track approval to mine Taranaki seabed
Carly Gooch (Post): Sam Neill video ramps up backlash to Central Otago gold mine (paywalled)
ENERGY
Ross Boswell (Post): The obvious solution to energy shortage: close Tiwai Point smelter (paywalled)
Roger Partridge (Herald): $1b LNG terminal is the cost of Labour’s gas ban (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): EA won’t say whether plan to build an LNG facility is a good one (paywalled)
John Anthony (BusinessDesk): Worley to advise Government on LNG import terminal (paywalled)
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Expert panel named as interest in $200m Gas Security Fund remains opaque (paywalled)
CONSTITUTIONAL
Liam Hehir (The Blue Review): What makes somebody a New Zealander?
David Farrar: Responding to Sir Geoffrey
Keith Rankin: Parliamentary term length; Is New Zealand really an outlier?
Stuff: Would a four-year parliamentary term have made any difference to getting things done?
Henry Cooke (Post): Stalemate within Government led to four-year term referendum being put off (paywalled)
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): It might be time for Aotearoa to choose its own head of state
HEALTH
Kate Green (RNZ): Warning shortage of neurologists will see struggle with demand
Kate Green (RNZ): Neurology patient sees specialist faster as a tourist in France than back home
Deborah Powell (Listener): Health NZ’s annual report is not a story of a system on the mend; it’s a real-time demonstration of managed decline (paywalled)
Listener: Pay more tax, greater equity and demand better: Three doctors on how to heal the health system (paywalled)
CARTOONS