PIKE RIVER, EMPLOYMENT
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Pike River and the problem of unrestrained corporate power
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): On a painful day, Pike River families go head to head with the Government
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Meeting with govt ‘complete waste of time’, Pike River families say
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Pike River ‘a murder scene’ - Winston Peters
Lianne Dalziel (Newsroom): The Govt to echo Uber in saying ‘take it or leave it’
PARLIAMENT, GOVERNMENT
Janet Wilson (Post): National missing the message by only listening to those it wants to
Matthew Hooton (Patreon): Polls leave blade at top Of National MPs’ guillotine (paywalled)
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): Trust in National slips further as voters turn away
Louis Collins (RNZ): Thirteen bills get urgency treatment in penultimate sitting block of 2025
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Former MP Hone Harawira weighs in on Te Pāti Māori turmoil
Michael Daly (Stuff): Former Te Tai Tokerau MP Hone Harawira tries to bring peace within Te Pāti Māori
1News: Hone Harawira calls for unity in Te Pāti Māori rebuild
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Government approves pay hikes for Crown board, authority members after fee framework changes (paywalled)
Susan St John: Some thoughts on public sector accounting as if the state is a business
Brent Edwards (NBR): New Opportunity leader says nobody is being bold enough on tax (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (Post): Climate activist turned councillor named as Labour’s Kāpiti candidate
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): One MP, One Pint: A visit to Wellington’s ‘last true public bar’ with Greg O’Connor
ASSET SALES
Jack Vowles, Sam Crawley and Matthew Gibbons (Newsroom): Why National’s taste for asset sales may prove bitter
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Lotto shake-up ‘dead in the water’, Peters says
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): What could the Government actually sell? The Treasury’s $100b figure under the spotlight
POLICE
LawFuel: The Problem with the ‘Independent’ KC appointed to review Police conduct
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): Twenty police staff investigated over ‘misuse and inappropriate content’
1News: McSkimming fallout: ‘About 20’ cases in review of police devices
Paula Penfold (Stuff): Twenty police staff under investigation over device misuse - charges possible
Samuel Sherry (Herald): Police probe about 20 device misuse cases in the force after Jevon McSkimming inquiry
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): Firearms Safety Authority review finds conflict of interest risks
Michael Morrah (Herald): Senior police including Tania Kura visited McSkimming amid ‘serious concerns’ for his welfare (paywalled)
Mike White (Post): How the plods lost the plot
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Two police officers face trial; ex-justice minister demands accountability
Tom Day (1News): Govt’s target for 500 new police officers bumped out again
RNZ: Police attend 7370 fewer mental health calls in a year after changes
FERRIES
Luke Malpass (Post): New Interislander ferries: From mega blowout to managed pain
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): The back-to-front ferry deal (paywalled)
Nick James (RNZ): How the government plans to save $2b on new Cook Strait ferries
RNZ: New Cook Strait ferries won’t cost more than $2b, Rail Minister vows
Michael Daly (Stuff): Winston Peters reveals new ferries deal, ‘saving billions’, says consultants had ‘hijacked’ past plan
1News: Govt reveals costs of its new Cook Strait ferries
Thomas Manch (Post): Replacing Cook Strait ferries to cost $1.86 billion
Rob Stock (Post): Bluebridge ferry owner StraitNZ up for sale by Morgan Stanley, Australian media reports
HEALTH
RNZ: New Zealand receives ‘Dirty Ashtray’ award for poor progress in tobacco control
Krystal Gibbens (RNZ): Daily smoking numbers plateau, slight increase in vapers
Harriet Laughton (Post): Smokefree 2025 goal missed as smoking rates stall
Kaya Selby (RNZ): ‘It’s unacceptable’ Pasifika smoking rate is still twice the national average, health leader says
Henry Cooke (Post): The coalition promise David Seymour admits he hasn’t started on
Bill Hickman (RNZ): AI scribe tool rolled out to emergency departments, promises to slash clinicians’ admin
Chris Keall (Herald): Health NZ deploying AI scribe Heidi to 16 emergency departments: But what’s the story with errors and privacy? (paywalled)
ODT Editorial: Consensus on Medicines Act (paywalled)
Public Health Communication Centre: Reframing the narrative: A call for a human rights-centred food system in Aotearoa
PUBERTY BLOCKERS, GENDER
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Govt halts new puberty blockers prescriptions for gender-affirming care
1News: Govt halts puberty blockers for new gender dysphoria patients
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Government pausing prescription of puberty blockers for some
Raul Seatown (Spinoff): Puberty blockers banned: The reality of raising a trans child in 2025
Ani O’Brien: Puberty Blockers Banned
Miriama Kamo & Mark Crysell (Herald): What is a woman? The Elephant tackles the transgender debate
ABUSE IN CARE, CHILD WELFARE
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): Abuse in care: Ministry of Education website bungle could impact survivors making claims - lawyer
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Abuse of adopted kids included burns, sexual abuse, unpaid labour
Michael Morrah (Herald): Oranga Tamariki knew of Gloriavale child suffocation claims eight years ago (paywalled)
TRANSPORT
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Hard choices lie ahead’ - Chris Bishop warns of ‘challenges’ with $56b Roads of National Significance (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Post): Transport Minister Chris Bishop says funding $56 billion in roads a ‘challenge’
Mandy Te (Interest): All road users should contribute in proportion to their use of NZ roads, Transport Minister says
Greg Presland (The Standard): Why does National really hate EVs?
Tom Hunt (Post): Transport planner gives NZTA Wellington plans a fail: ‘I just don’t think NZTA has tried’
Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): Why Auckland’s traffic is bad, in one map
Connor Sharp (Post): Pedal power surges, but Auckland infrastructure trails the biking boom
EDUCATION, TRAINING
Lane Nicholas (Herald): Whistleblower claims Teaching Council spent public funds with firm run by CEO Lesley Hoskin’s husband, sparking high-level probe
Max Rashbrooke (Spinoff): The warning signs for New Zealand in England’s ‘back to basics’ school reforms
Jae Major (Post): Feedback for Education Minister Erica Stanford: Do better
Kim Baker Wilson (RNZ): Kelston Boys’ board hopes no other school will face unwanted charter bid
Indira Stewart (1News): Trust drops hostile takeover for Auckland state school
RNZ: Kelston Boys’ High School charter takeover bid abandoned
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Good vocational pathways ‘capped and trapped’ - tradie trainers
Richard Prebble (Herald): Why New Zealand’s school attendance problem signals deeper decline (paywalled)
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Review finds school phone ban is working, could smartwatches be next?
Janhavi Gosavi (Re:News): Uni halls were a rite of passage, now they’re a financial headache
ENVIRONMENT, CONSERVATION, CLIMATE CHANGE
Robin Martin (RNZ): Accusations of ‘green washing’ after tests find no contamination at Paritūtū Dow chemicals plant
Zita Campbell (Local Democracy Reporting): Asbestos, waste found at old Tolaga Bay sports site near Gisborne
Kate Newton (RNZ): NZ silent so far on climate summit push for a ‘fossil fuels’ roadmap
Greg Hurrell (BusinessDesk): Govt policies won’t change path to emissions reduction: Genesis CEO
Andrea Vance (Post): Accidental turtle killings ‘a major conservation failure’
NATURAL HAZARDS
Mandy Te (Interest): Government delays decision on whether to increase Natural Hazards Levy
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Natural Hazards Commission to remain underfunded, as Government delays levy hike until after the election (paywalled)
Deborah Morris (Post): Taking a look at why we are still not ready for the big one
ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING
Mandy Te (Interest): Economic divide between the North Island and the South Island continues - Infometrics
Liam Dann (Herald): Economic recovery gathers pace, from the south up - Infometrics (paywalled)
1News: Investor confidence bounces back, but faith in housing dropping
David Hargreaves (Interest): Reserve Bank gets three green lights for OCR cut next week
Mandy Te (Interest): ‘No obstacles’: Economists forecast OCR to be cut and inflation to drop
Liam Dann (Herald): The real reason economists are confident the recovery is coming (paywalled)
Amy Williams (RNZ): Christmas without food and presents? More families struggling, expected to go without
RNZ: Many households likely turning to debt to pay for this year’s presents
Aimee Shaw (Post): Gen Z turns to side hustles to fund Christmas spending
BUSINESS, FOREIGN INVESTMENT, CONSUMER AFFAIRS
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Fair Trading Act fines to rise to $5m, ban on indemnity insurance abandoned
Jason Walls (1News): ‘Play by the rules’ - Huge jump in fines for misleading promotions
Tim Scott (ODT): Fair trading breach fines to be raised (paywalled)
Matt Burrows (Newstalk ZB): Why Consumer NZ takes joy in being ‘inconvenient and annoying to businesses’
RNZ: Māori business leaders feeling upbeat about performance after primary sector strengthens
MĀORI-CROWN RELATIONS, TREATY, TE AO MĀORI
Tureiti Moxon (Post): Why taking our complaint to the United Nations was the last resort
Kingi Smiler (Spinoff): Why a Māori collective is arguing for the protection of New Zealand’s water
Liam Rātana (Spinoff): Whakapapa, not birthplace: Should citizenship be a birthright for all Māori?
SOCIAL MEDIA
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Stanford promises change after social media ban petition outside parliament
Harriet Laughton (Post): Gaming, AI considered in under-16 social media ban (paywalled)
Cecilia Robinson (Herald): Why momentum is building for a social media age ban (paywalled)
Chris Keall (Herald): Social media firms earn ‘billions’ in revenue from scam ads: How they could be stopped (paywalled)
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Disability advocate has Facebook account shut down
MEDIA
Harriet Laughton (Stuff): ACT looks to abolish Broadcasting Standards Authority
David Farrar: Some useful BSA research
Greg Bruce (Listener): Is the criticism of Radio NZ National fair? (paywalled)
Anna Rawhiti-Connell (Spinoff): YouTube killed the TV star: What new NZ On Air stats tell us about media’s last decade
Mitchell Hageman (Herald): Censorship in New Zealand: How Caroline Flora is helping keep viewers safe (paywalled)
Shane Currie (Herald): Why Jenny-May Clarkson’s Breakfast time is over; Laura Tupou leaving Three News; TVNZ in spotlight over Trump speech report; Unauthorised Dame Jacinda Ardern book sales (paywalled)
EMERGENCY SERVICES
Harriet Laughton (Post): Emergency services face record number of call outs
Laine Priestley (ODT): Fenz restructure sending anxiety levels ‘through the roof’ (paywalled)
Bill Hickman (RNZ): Firefighter unions head to Employment Relations Authority over restructure
RNZ: FENZ restructure poses ‘tremendous human cost, union says
Natasha Gordon (Herald): PSA and Firefighters Union take urgent legal action to stop ‘reckless’ FENZ restructure
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Thanks again for your work Bryce. I always feel frustrated when I see Hooton’s headlines which are paywalled in Patreon and expensive. Are you able to give us an overview of his talking points at some stage so we know what he is opining?