NOTE TO SUBSCRIBERS – PLEASE READ
From Monday 29 December, these newsletters will be sent from a new email address:
bryce@democracyproject.org.nz
To make sure you continue receiving News Briefing and Democracy Briefing — and to prevent them being filtered into spam or junk — please do one or more of the following now:
Add bryce@democracyproject.org.nz to your email contacts
If you use Gmail, move this email to your Primary inbox
Mark any previous emails from me as “Not spam”
(Best of all) reply briefly to this email — even just “thanks” — as this signals to your email provider that my newsletters are wanted
If you don’t take one of these steps, some email providers may automatically filter future emails after the address change.
If you stop receiving emails, please check your junk or spam folder, mark the message as “Not spam”, and move it to your inbox — this helps train your email provider. You can also always read the newsletters directly on the website.
We’ll continue sending News Briefing and Democracy Briefing over the summer break (generally not on public holidays).
Thanks for taking a moment to do this — it really helps ensure reliable delivery.
Bryce
News Briefing: 24 December 2025
TRADE, FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Labour, Greens in the hot seat over India free trade agreement
Russell Palmer (RNZ): India Free Trade Agreement ‘for political purposes’, Winston Peters says
Adam Hollingworth (Stuff): Coalition splinters as PM and Peters clash over India trade deal
Dita De Boni (Post): A cautionary tale: The Australia-India free trade agreement (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): India free-trade agreement a win-win for New Zealand, economist says
Rob Stock (Post): NZ-India FTA a disappointment for Kiwi dairy exporters still facing tariffs of 30% to 60% (paywalled)
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): India-NZ trade deal disappoints dairy exporters (paywalled)
NBR: Labour disappointed by lack of dairy gains in India FTA (paywalled)
Dileepa Fonseka ( BusinessDesk): India’s NZ FTA ‘clawback’ and why apples are a win (paywalled)
Whatitiri Te Wake (Te Ao Māori News): ‘A lost opportunity for Māori’ in India‑NZ Free Trade Agreement
Mountain Tui: Luxon promises India $34 billion investment & 20% of all Indian skilled visas
Ani O’Brien: Will NZ-India trade deal survive NZ Parliament?
—————
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Winston Peters on a mission to restore NZ’s diplomatic ‘mojo’
Claudia O’Neill (Newstalk ZB): UN looking down the barrel of bankruptcy - with the US still yet to pay its dues
Teuila Fuatai (RNZ): NZ’s been a ‘good neighbour’: Former Samoa government minister backs compensation amount for Manawanui disaster
PARLIAMENT, PUBLIC SERVICE, YEAR IN REVIEW
Henry Cooke (Post): Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer opens up ahead of tough election year (paywalled)
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Nicola Willis on the election: ‘the jury’s out’ (paywalled)
Māni Dunlop (Te Ao Māori News): ‘We’re going to work like hell to keep the government and make it better’ Seymour wraps up 2025
Anna Whyte (Post): Sir Brian Roche’s case for reshaping the public service (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Collaborative committee culture working for infrastructure (paywalled)
Gaurav Sharma (RNZ): 2025 in review: A year when New Zealand-India relations took off
David Farrar: 2025 Kiwiblog Award winners
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Juggernaut 2: The story of the fourth National government – all episodes out now
Paul Little (Listener): New Zealand’s honours system: does it need a polish up? (paywalled)
Bevan Rapson (Listener): 2025’s Dubious Achievement Awards (paywalled)
ECONOMY, SOCIETY, COST OF LIVING, INEQUALITY
Peter Griffin (BusinessDesk): Our productivity complacency is killing our future (paywalled)
Gordon Campbell: On GDP Growth, And Other Holiday Diversions
Sue Chetwin (Herald): Christmas food costs lay bare the true price of supermarket power (paywalled)
Carly Gooch (Press)): Family-owned supermarket ready to take on the duopoly (paywalled)
Aziz Al Sa. afin (1News): ‘$30 left for the week’: The families relying on charity for Xmas cheer
Rachel Graham (RNZ): Christchurch Methodist Mission provides more than 160 Christmas hampers to families in need
Tracey Martin (Newsroom): A country is not its GDP, a country is its people
Scottie Reeve (Post): How our ordinary lives can be the continuation of the miracle in a manger (paywalled)
HEALTH
Mary Argue (RNZ): Health NZ green lights General Practice Owners Association breakaway PHO
Joanne Naish and Mariné Lourens (Press/Post): New doctor-run organisation wins Health NZ backing, with more than 100 general practices keen to switch (paywalled)
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): ‘Forever lost in a broken system’ (paywalled)
Rob Campbell (Newsroom): The rise of black market cigarettes should surprise no one
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Nurses’ union boss on the ‘shadow land’ of Te Whatu Ora
Geof Mortlock (Herald): New Zealand needs to do more to promote early prostate cancer detection (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: New Zealand’s attitudes to alcohol are changing, and that’s a good thing (paywalled)
RNZ: Human rights lawyer lodges Ombudsman complaint over asbestos sand
ODT Editorial: Finally, some progress to report (paywalled)
FAST-TRACK, RMA, ENVIRONMENT
Ben Tomsett (Herald): Queenstown Homestead Bay housing development fast-tracked despite backlash (paywalled)
Miles Anderson (ODT): Mines an economic boost if done well
Mary Williams (ODT): River ‘E. coli’ spike ‘an infrastructure failure’ (paywalled)
CORRECTIONS, JUSTICE
ODT Editorial: Court correcting Corrections (paywalled)
Katherine Doolin (Newsroom): Drug treatment courts can jam addiction’s ‘revolving door’
Kevin Phillips (ODT): Getting shirty about a protest shirt
ENERGY
RNZ: Electricity Authority lodges formal complaint against Genesis
Jamie Gray (Herald): Genesis Energy faces complaint over alleged Huntly power plant code breach
Mark Callander (Post): The Energy Monopoly: We need another round of market reforms (paywalled)
PROTEST, DESTINY CHURCH
Herald: National MP, Free Speech Union criticise Brian Tamaki-linked protest at Sikh parade
Whatitiri Te Wake (Te Ao Māori News): Tāmaki Makaurau MP calls out use of haka in Sikh standoff
Ani O’Brien: Brian Tamaki and the Sikh parade confrontation
Alice Peacock (Newsroom): Charitable trust linked to Destiny Church owes $2.4m – liquidator’s report
1News: John Campbell on Destiny Church: ‘I’ve never encountered so much fear’
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WATER
Tom Hunt (Post): Empty desks counted in Wellington City Council over-staffing report (paywalled)
Sue Teodoro (Local Democracy Reporting): Too early to tell if proposals mean job losses: PSA
TRANSPORT, INFRASTRUCTURE
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): NZTA orders data analysis to identify full scale of falsely recorded breath tests
Nicholas Jones (Stuff): Luxury car owners told vehicles should have been de-registered - hit with 3 month deadline
Roeland van den Bergh (Post): Vehicle registration costs rise on Jan 1 (paywalled)
IMMIGRATION
Katie Todd (RNZ): Nurse’s autistic son could face deportation after Immigration NZ rejects visa
Harriet Laughton (Post): Immigration Minister refuses to lower English standards for migrant bus drivers (paywalled)
MEDIA
Karl du Fresne: RNZ’s boss gives New Zealand the fingers
Karl du Fresne: Death wish 2025
SPORT
Dana Johannsen (RNZ): Landmark integrity probe into Yachting NZ drags into second year
Nathan Limm (Herald): Labour MP Willie Jackson labels ex-CEO Jennie Wyllie ‘sacrificial lamb’, slams Netball NZ board (paywalled)
Nathan Limm (Herald): Dame Noeline Taurua: Politician joins push for Netball New Zealand board overhaul (paywalled)
OTHER
Mirjam Guesgen (Listener): Racing a deadline: Fears are emerging for the future of greyhounds (paywalled)
Alice Peacock (Newsroom): Zespri pinged for offloading carbon guilt to its consumers using outdated data
Herald: FMA board shake-up as Steven Bardy named deputy chair from 2026
Te Ao Māori News: Tribunal: Crown governance denied Te Raki Māori authority guaranteed by Te Tiriti
Felix Walton (RNZ): Sexual abuse support services facing cuts have contracts extended
Dane Giraud (Post): I’m Jewish but I don’t support more curbs on hate speech and protest (paywalled)
Roeland van den Bergh (Post): US philanthropists move their gifting to New Zealand in the Trump era (paywalled)