GOVERNMENT
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Watch out for Winston – the man set to gain from his partner’s poor polling
Tova O’Brien (Stuff): Hard work ahead for Christopher Luxon as his coalition partners draw battle lines
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Reshuffle needed at highest levels of Government (paywalled)
Chris Trotter (ODT): Will the government join the club of one-term wonders? (paywalled)
Lochlan Lineham (Herald): Winston Peters declines to rate Christopher Luxon’s performance as Prime Minister
Michael Daly (Stuff): Peters won’t rate Luxon performance - for now
Henry Cooke (Post): Coalition chaos: David Seymour says Winston Peters ‘getting ready to go with Labour’ (paywalled)
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Winston Peters vows to repeal Regulatory Standards Bill; David Seymour hits back
Julia Gabel & Jamie Ensor (Herald): NZ First leader Winston Peters promises to repeal two-day-old Regulatory Standards Act
Sam Smith (Stuff): David Seymour says Winston Peters siding with Labour on Regulatory Standards Bill
No Right Turn: An utter shambles
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): How to have a ‘mature conversation’ about asset sales
Anna Whyte (Post): Seymour not wielding red pen for Budget 2026 cost savings (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Minister badgers under-performing Crown assets to be profitable (paywalled)
PARLIAMENT
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Why Te Pāti Māori doesn’t want to fix Broken NZ
Māni Dunlop (Te Ao Māori News):Te Pāti Māori will not attend Ngāpuhi hui as pressure mounts in Te Tai Tokerau
Maiki Sherman (1News): ‘Hug and a hiding’: Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke breaks silence amid TPM turmoil
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke breaks silence on MPs expulsion
Te Rina Kowhai (Te Ao Māori News): Te Pāti Māori faces scrutiny over expulsion vote as the North prepares to meet
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Politicians warned to keep family out of debates after National MP Carlos Cheung takes issue with reference to his children
Chelsea Daniels (Herald): Front Page: Why politicians worldwide should pay attention to the ‘Mamdani effect’
Audrey Young (Herald): Target on Chris Bishop’s back as National’s poll slide continues; Labour set for big selection weekend (paywalled)
Gordon Campbell: On The Ferries Fiasco, Soft Power And Gaza
Greg Dixon (Listener): Grim Reaper to save Peters if ferry bill blows out (paywalled)
PIKE RIVER, EMPLOYMENT
Michael Morrah (Herald): Lawyer for Pike River families says police have enough evidence to lay manslaughter charges over disaster (paywalled)
Andrew Gunn: Van Velden: Won’t Somebody Think Of The Uber Drivers? (paywalled)
Eric Crampton (Newsroom): If this is employment law, the law needs to change
Christine de Lee (Bassett, Brash and Hide): The Uber Case
Mildred Armah (Stuff): He paid $16k for a job in NZ. When he arrived, there was just a mattress on the floor
POLICE
Andrea Vance (Post): Mitchell’s electorate office replied to McSkimming accuser’s emails (paywalled)
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): Police Assistant Commissioner Sam Hoyle also visited Jevon McSkimming after charges laid
Paula Penfold (Stuff): Six police staff stood down, criminal investigations underway after auditing of devices
Roger Partridge (Herald): Police integrity failures expose gap in law on misconduct in public office (paywalled)
Martin Van Beynen (Press): Overcomplicating the McSkimming scandal
Russell Smith (Post): After McSkimming, police must rebuild systems for tackling sexual violence (paywalled)
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): Breath test investigation: ‘Small number’ of police officers stood down for additional misconduct
Adam Pearse (Herald): 500 extra police: Why minister Casey Costello wouldn’t change her failed recruitment target
FAST-TRACK
Shanti Mathias (Spinoff): A check-in on the fast-track regime
Brent Edwards (NBR): Committee told fast-track amendment is executive over-reach (paywalled)
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Southland windfarm plan moves through fast-track process
FERRIES
ODT Editorial: Cruising on the Interislander (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Cruisin’ (for a bruisin’) on the Interislander
Thomas Manch (Post): Ocean-going tug for Cook Strait might not be needed with new ferries, Bishop says (paywalled)
HEALTH
Shanti Mathias (Spinoff): Making sense of the new health statistics
Derek Cheng (Herald): We’re mostly feeling great, but survey shows we’re getting fatter, more distressed, and youth drinking is spiking (paywalled)
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Manawatū, Bay of Plenty pharmacists pick up 1257 mistakes in prescriptions in a week
RNZ: ‘Absolutely ludicrous’: Casey Costello defends plunge in global tobacco control ranking
Keiller MacDuff (RNZ): Postcode lottery rampant in trauma care, South Island bears brunt of shortfall - specialists
Anna Sargent (RNZ): Govt to double amount of clinical psychologists: Mental Health Minister
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Clinicians call for more regulation of home pregnancy, Covid tests to ensure accuracy
PUBERTY BLOCKERS, GENDER
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Govt’s puberty blockers move attracts strong reactions
Harriet Laughton (Post): Puberty blocker ban: Government accused of getting between doctors and patients (paywalled)
Mariné Lourens (Press): ‘Shockingly inappropriate overreach of politics’: Doctors slam puberty blocker pause (paywalled)
Eva Corlett (Guardian): New Zealand bans puberty blockers for young transgender people
HOUSING
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Emergency housing motels end in Rotorua - but has it just shifted the problem elsewhere?
Doug Laing (Hawkes Bay Today/Herald): Napier’s new homeless shelter a success but needs ‘significant financial support’ to survive (paywalled)
Alice Peacock (Newsroom): Crown backs $11.7m of racecourse-edge project with underwrite
David Hill (Local Democracy Reporting): Kaikōura council plans to open up land for 400 new homes
Sinead Gill (Press): MP backs law change to expand Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust (paywalled)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WATER
Simon Wilson (Herald): Auckland voter fraud allegations heading to court on Friday (paywalled)
1News: Electoral fraud allegations in Auckland board election probed by police
RNZ: Police investigating 16 complaints in Auckland local body election
Tom Hunt (Post): Wellington’s Golden Mile or golden traffic island with a brown mile? (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): Wellington’s Golden Mile paused shortly after news lands of another blowout (paywalled)
Sam Smith (Stuff): Wellington Council pushes pause on Golden Mile project
Ethan Manera (Herald): Wellington’s Golden Mile paused after council agrees to review, staff warn cost could rise to $220m
Krystal Gibbens (RNZ): Wellington City Council votes to review Golden Mile
Tom Hunt (Post): Wellington City Council to vote on Ray Chung appointment after hot mic snafu (paywalled)
Stuff: Tory Whanau says harassment ‘ongoing’ as she outlines reasons for moving to Melbourne
RNZ: Tory Whanau says move to Melbourne isn’t ‘a permanent goodbye’
Tina Law (Press): ‘A sinking money pit’: Backlash from councillors over mayor’s estuary barrier plan (paywalled)
Chris Lynch: Mayor says he supports releasing details behind $1.36 million Council spend on Māori consultancy
Stuff: Proposal to build tidal barrier for Christchurch estuary resurfaces
Megan Wilson (Herald): Tauranga City Council seeks independent public inquiry into water fluoridation
Zizi Sparks (Crux): Remuneration pool for QLDC’s new councillors up 28 per cent
Sue Teodoro (Local Democracy Reporting): Masterton opens council workshops to the public
TRANSPORT
Herald: Officials warn of higher petrol costs from emissions standard change (paywalled)
Azaria Howell (Newstalk ZB): Road cone hotline: Less than 10% of sites visited by authorities have too many road cones
Austin Ellingham-Banks (Post): The fine line between fair road charges and unfair new taxes (paywalled)
Wendy Robertson (Post): How speed cameras can help make Kiwis better drivers (paywalled)
Mathew Nash (Local Democracy Reporting): Gridlock-causing roadworks pushed to 2026, MP says Rotorua was let down
CLIMATE CHANGE
Kate Newton (RNZ): NZ politicians react to failure of Australia-Pacific COP bid
Brent Edwards (NBR): Climate change consensus fractured as Coalition changes tack (paywalled)
Ella Scott-Fleming (ODT): Misinformation risk over tour, councillor says (paywalled)
Mike McRoberts (NBR): Govt tweak prompts crash in confidence in carbon market (paywalled)
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Govt in damage control over carbon market in turmoil
POPULATION
Paul Spoonley (The Conversation): Growing, going, gone: latest numbers show NZ now at risk of population stagnation
Stuff: New Zealand’s population now 5.33m - Stats NZ
Richard Harman: Misreading the Beehive (paywalled)
Chris Trotter: Doubling-Down (paywalled)
Roeland van den Bergh (Post): NZ needs 10 million people to stay afloat, business group warns (paywalled)
Herald: Labour crunch: NZ is facing a workforce shortfall of 250,000 in next 20 years
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, TRADE
Ed O’Driscoll (1News): Russian oil has flowed into New Zealand despite sanctions
Talaia Mika (Cook Islands News): Mark Brown says Cook Islands officials have engaged ‘consistently’ with New Zealand
Glenn McConnell and Paula Penfold (Stuff): Vietnam’s leaders welcomed, even as they shield cops accused of sex crimes
RNZ: Defence Force soldiers can now fill in for striking civilian workers
RNZ: Third highest ranking member of Chinese government visits Parliament
RNZ: Crowd gathers outside Parliament ahead of visit by China’s Zhao Leji
Amanda Gillies (RNZ): The Detail: Donald Trump’s tariff reversal delivers a major win for NZ farmers, but risks loom
Herald Editorial: Donald Trump’s tariff move a boost for exporters, but what next? (paywalled)
CARTOONS