GOVERNMENT, KIWISAVER
Justin Hu (1News): Q+A: Seymour questioned whether his record meets Regulatory Standards Act
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Will Christopher Luxon lead the Government into the 2026 election?
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): Fixing the basics, sticking with Luxon: the National Party’s 2026 plan
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): National’s KiwiSaver plan could add millions to balances - but there’s a catch
Bruce Munro (ODT): KiwiSaver pledge faces scrutiny
Luke Malpass (Post): From sugar rush to super savings: Christopher Luxon’s KiwiSaver reset (paywalled)
Giles Dexter (RNZ): KiwiSaver provider calls for increased contribution to be compulsory
Justin Hu (1News): National reveals new KiwiSaver boost as first election policy
Brent Edwards (NBR): PM pitches National would up KiwiSaver contributions to 12% (paywalled)
Greg Ninness (Interest): Early KiwiSaver withdrawals reach highest monthly value to date
Anna Whyte (Post): Recipients of first $50m for major state support shake-up revealed (paywalled)
Allan Brent: Farce Track?
PARLIAMENT
Chris Knox (Herald): MP property rich list: Our MPs have stakes in a combined $379 million of property - who owns the most? (paywalled)
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira (RNZ): ‘We want it to end’; Hui on Te Pāti Māori schism
RNZ: Labour selects CTU economist Craig Renney as Wellington Bays candidate
1News: Craig Renney selected by Labour as Wellington Bays candidate
Anna Whyte (Post): Labour confirms Ayesha Verrall as candidate for Wellington North electorate (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Back on track, new ferries, mining outrage, another rate cut (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (Stuff): Luxon signals ‘serious shake-up’ of local government as parties gear up for 2026
Zoran Rakovic: Why Independent MPs May Save New Zealand’s Democracy from Its Party Captors
David Cohen (Newsroom): Jacindamedia
ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING
Robert MacCulloch (Post): The ‘chumocracy’ at the root of our economic malaise (paywalled)
Veronica Schmidt (Spinoff): Surviving New Zealand’s economy feels like living in a dying marriage
David Hargreaves (Interest): Another one and done for the OCR?
Liam Dann (Herald): OCR Preview: Another rate cut coming - but will it be the last? (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Reserve Bank expected to cut Official Cash Rate to 2.25% this week (paywalled)
RNZ: The record number of Kiwis leaving New Zealand
Michael Sergel (Newstalk ZB): Cost-of-living cooldown: Insurance price hikes are over but higher prices are the new normal
David Chaston (Interest): If you don’t check, you could pay up to 60% too much
ASSET SALES, PRIVATISATION, NATIONALISATION
Danyl McLauchlan (Listener): Can NZ really have a ‘mature’ conversation on asset sales? (paywalled)
Brian Easton (Pundit): Should We Privatise More Government Businesses?
Bryan Bruce: Should We Buy Back The Electricity Network? (paywalled)
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Asset recycling: a good call, but no cash cow (paywalled)
POLICE
Thomas Manch and Katie Ham (Post): IPCA confirms fourth investigation related to Jevon McSkimming scandal (paywalled)
Katie Ham and Mike White (Post): Jevon McSkimming: The totally charmless, conscientious copper from the sticks who defies definition (paywalled)
Post: Cop turned aviation boss quits in latest fallout from McSkimming scandal (paywalled)
CRIME, JUSTICE, CORRECTIONS
Bruce Curtis (ODT): Courts open in theory but are closed in practice
Virginia Fallon (Post): Gang laws one year on: 182 patches, 178 firearms and 856 charges (paywalled)
David Harvey (Herald): Police scandals and court secrecy erode public trust in justice system (paywalled)
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): The Government says violent crime is down. Are they right?
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Coalition lauds 38,000 fewer victims of violent crime
Good Ideas: What we can learn from the controversial ‘boot camps’ pilot (paywalled)
ODT Editorial: Stopping stalking (paywalled)
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Legislation to make stalking specific criminal offence passes third reading in Parliament
Julia Gabel (Herald): ‘Vicious, sinister, deadly’: Stalking law passes with up to five-year jail term
Stuff: Stalking law passes, carries five-year jail term
Phoebe Utteridge (Stuff): He was indefinitely disqualified from driving more than 20 years ago (and has his licence back) but it still stops him getting a job
Libby Kirkby-McLeod (RNZ): Lawyers bring own audio equipment to run-down Rotorua District Court, say upgrades needed
Maxine Jacobs (Press/Post): The limits of second chances: When rape offenders return to society (paywalled)
HOUSING, BUILDING
Amelia Wade (Sunday Star Times): Moving on: The controversial plan to shift people from Auckland city’s streets (paywalled)
A J Hendry: Homelessness is a housing problem!
Henry Cooke (Post): Government’s new ‘flexible fund’ for social housing locks out Kainga Ora (paywalled)
James Ball (1News): Mum moved from ‘uninhabitable’ Kāinga Ora home into second mouldy house
Luke Malpass (Post): Dodgy builders in Government’s sights in next round of building reforms (paywalled)
Kathy Spencer (Post): David Seymour’s sympathy for a ruined retirement is far from adequate (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Ten things your landlord can’t do
TRANSPORT, INFRASTRUCTURE
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Will a weaker Clean Car Standard have only minimal impact on emissions? (paywalled)
Ed Harvey (Press/Post): Weakening the Clean Car Standard puts NZ in the slow lane (paywalled)
Amy Ridout (Stuff): We were planning to stay until the end of our lives’: couple upset they could lose their home
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WATER
Liu Chen (RNZ): Ballots to be examined amid Auckland voter fraud allegations
Jonathan Killick (Post): Judge to unseal ballot box after allegations of Auckland election ‘irregularities (paywalled)
Simon Wilson (Herald): Good growth or the worst plan ever? (paywalled)
Verity Johnson (Stuff): Tory Whanau isn’t leaving - she was hounded out
Jessica Hopkins (RNZ): ‘It just seems cruel’: Councillor shocked by comments after cycling accident
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland councillor Bo Burns pushes review of city’s flat rates system
Grant Miller (ODT): DCC takes hybrid route on governance (paywalled)
Jonathan Killick (Post): A heritage hotel and a ‘sinkhole’: inside a legal stoush between an investor and the council (paywalled)
Maxine Jacobs (Press/Post): New security allowance introduced as threats against councillors rise (paywalled)
Julie Jacobson (Post): Wellington council admits error in festive season stuff up (paywalled)
Megan Wilson (Bay of Plenty Times/Herald): Tauranga City councillor pay rises: Why they earn $163k for a ‘part-time’ job (paywalled)
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, TRADE, SPY AGENCIES
David Fisher (Herald): Spy whistleblowers raise ‘genuine concerns’ about risks on intelligence operations (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): China’s rise ‘a choice we don’t get to make’
Ian Powell: Gaza doctor speaks truth to genocidal power; New Zealand government needs to listen, learn and act
David Fisher (Herald): Inquiry into Chief of Air Force ‘rumour’ comes after Public Service Commission screening for top military role (paywalled)
RNZ: Revealed: What the new Defence Force planes will look like
Alice Peacock (Newsroom): Move over ‘diversification’ – NZ trade has a new buzzword
EDUCATION, TRAINING
Brodie Stone (Northern Advocate): Northland schools defy Government move to drop Te Tiriti obligations
RNZ: Primary school enrolments drop, as national roll growth slows
Mark John (ODT): ‘Worn out’ by curriculum change pace (paywalled)
BUSINESS, CONSUMER AFFAIRS
Davina Zimmer (Newsroom): The Detail: The internet tricks designed to make you spend money
Andrew Bevin (Newsroom): Loss-making airport retail monopoly ships cash offshore, reducing tax liability
Aimee Shaw (Post): Shop local call as billions of dollars head offshore (paywalled)
MĀORI-CROWN RELATIONS, TREATY
Mike McRoberts (NBR): Ngāi Tahu to sue the Government over conservation reform (paywalled)
Maxine Jacobs (Press/Post): Ngāi Tahu warns conservation reforms could take iwi settlements back to court (paywalled)
Maxine Jacobs (Press/Post): ‘Privatisation by stealth’: Ngāi Tahu launches court action over conservation reform (paywalled)
HEALTH
Olivia Caldwell (ODT): Reduced callouts, changes to mental health response programme denounced
Amy Williams (RNZ): Woman says son pleaded to leave boarding house in distress
Ian Powell: What’s the difference between private management of public hospitals and a ‘perfumed turd’?
John Lewis (ODT): ‘Shameful’: NZ handed Dirty Ashtray Award (paywalled)
Katie Ham (Sunday Star Times): Dying for a cure: Inside the global drug trial that ended in tragedy for two Kiwi families (paywalled)
ENERGY
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): No ‘gas renaissance’ in landmark report charting NZ’s energy future
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Electricity study proposes strategic gas reserve and faster build-out of renewables (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Meridian moots drilling tunnel into Southern Alps, new dam to raise Lake Pukaki over 5 metres (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Meridian could divert more water into Lake Pukaki and raise it several metres (paywalled)
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Industry signals 5PJ gas switch-off potential, but system constraints dominate (paywalled)
CARTOONS