PARLIAMENT, GOVERNMENT
Grant Duncan: Paradise Regained? How Can New Zealanders Get Out of the Hole They’ve Dug?
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Future Fund flop: Labour struggles to sell first major election policy (paywalled)
Peter Dunne: Labour’s good week masks ongoing challenges
Chris Trotter (ODT): Promising big things for the future requires courage now (paywalled)
Rob Campbell: Labours Lost Love
Derek Cheng (Herald): Fish hooks and cautious support: GPs weigh up Labour’s new health policy (paywalled)
Louis Collins (RNZ): The House: A question of intent: Takutai Moana Bill passes third reading
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Waitangi Tribunal tells Govt it’s ‘not too late’ to pivot its Treaty clauses review
Audrey Young (Herald): A moving tribute to Jim Bolger from a Green MP; Te Pāti Māori spars with Speaker over bill-burning (paywalled)
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): Burn, baby, burn the bill
RNZ: Right to Repair bill: Greens’ Marama Davidson apologises after missing member’s bill speaking slot
Dylan Smith (ODT): Can Mike Davidson do both jobs?
RNZ: Changes to granny flat rules pass final reading in Parliament
Henry Cooke (Post): Bill banning social media for under-16s drawn from ballot, but future uncertain (paywalled)
RNZ: Bill to criminalise explicit ‘deepfakes’ pulled from ballot
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): One MP, One Pint: Arena Williams, when did you get hot?
Alice Neville (Spinoff): A brief history of parliamentary dress-code dramas in Aotearoa
RNZ: Former prime minister Norman Kirk could soon have a Fiordland peak named after him
JIM BOLGER
Denis Welch (Listener): Remembering Jim Bolger, the King Country farmer who won over a nation (paywalled)
Adam Pearse (Herald): ‘End of an era’: How former PM Jim Bolger was remembered and laid to rest
Anna Whyte (Post): A farewell fitting for former PM Jim Bolger, ‘the Great Helmsman’ (paywalled)
Tumamao Harawira (Te Ao Māori News): Te Arikinui Kuini Ngawai hono i te po attends funeral of former PM Jim Bolger
MEGA-STRIKE
Martin Van Beynen (Press/Post): Mega strikers shouldn’t expect mega sympathy (paywalled)
1News: Mega-strike: Tens of thousands walk off job, rally in marches
Eva de Jong (Herald): 100,000 nurses, teachers, firefighters, prison staff and others join public sector walkout despite wild weather
RNZ: Thousands march through streets as part of nationwide strike action
Laine Priestley (ODT): Largest public service strike in decades
Sapeer Mayron (Post): Mega strike: ‘Erica, come teach 32 16-yo boys with me?’ - workers have their say (paywalled)
TRANSPORT, INFRASTRUCTURE
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): $5b-plus blowout for eight Roads of National Significance
Thomas Manch (Post): Wanted: Designers for billion-dollar Wellington, Nelson roads (paywalled)
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Construction company avoids $595k fine in first cartel prosecution case
Lucy Xia (RNZ): Auckland construction firm guilty of cartel conduct avoids half a million dollar fine
NBR: Second company sentenced in first criminal cartel case (paywalled)
Andrea Vance (Post): Cook Strait ferry route faces ‘catastrophic’ risk, report warns (paywalled)
RNZ: New Air New Zealand boss wants ‘situational subsidy’ for certain domestic routes
RNZ: Air NZ heading for first half-loss of up to $55 million
David Hargreaves (Interest): Air New Zealand forecasts loss amid lower than expected domestic and US bookings
Will Mace (NBR): Air NZ cuts half-yearly earnings forecast by up to $89m (paywalled)
Will Mace (NBR): Auckland Airport fees ‘not the reason it’s so expensive to fly’ (paywalled)
Robin Martin (RNZ): NZTA urged to do more to improve resilience of Awakino Gorge on SH3
Blessen Tom (RNZ): Alarm sounded over looming shortages in driving sector
HEALTH
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Minister calls for investigation after Nelson Hospital’s generators fail
Julia Gabel (Herald): Minister orders investigation into ‘unacceptable’ power outage at Nelson Hospital
Samantha Gee (RNZ): Staff cease strike action after generator fails at Nelson Hospital
Rowan Quinn (RNZ): ACC paid out $92m to people who didn’t receive medical treatment on time
RNZ: Health NZ misconduct hotline: No coordinator at the other end
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Pharmac’s set-up risks higher health costs: medicines research (paywalled)
Eric Crampton (Post): Pharmacies overdue for a prescription of competition medicine (paywalled)
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Man with infection can’t get ambulance to hospital, finds 50 people in waiting room
Mariné Lourens (Press/Post): Cancer centres a ‘necessity’ as cases are forecast to double by 2040 (paywalled)
Mariné Lourens (Press/Post): Could this quick procedure be the answer to NZ’s bowel cancer epidemic? (paywalled)
Jenny Carryer (Post): The ideological fanaticism at play in overhaul of health workforce (paywalled)
RNZ: Health NZ has started making backdated holiday payments to ex-staff
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Measles vaccination rates ‘disappointing’ as outbreak spreads
RNZ: Measles in New Zealand: What you need to know about the spread of the deadly virus
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Tenfold increase in East Coast mums giving birth in Tauranga after Whakatāne loses obstetrics
Olivia Caldwell (ODT): Alcohol views labelled outdated (paywalled)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WATER
Janine Hayward (Post): Māori wards more popular than ever with voters (paywalled)
Ethan Manera (Herald): Wellington council merger plans gain momentum as mayors, minister, public back amalgamation (paywalled)
Simon Shepherd (NBR): Wayne Brown goes to town on ‘idiotic’ Wellington (paywalled)
David Farrar: Why did Tory lose?
Tom Hunt (Post): Labour Wellington City Council candidate opts out of vote recount (paywalled)
Deborah Morris (Post): Hutt library staff told to take leave amid storm and strikes (paywalled)
Justin Wong (Post): Porirua Māori ward candidate files for recount (paywalled)
Mike Mather (Waikato Times): Swearing-in ceremony becomes speech competition as politicians vie to impress
Libby Kirkby-McLeod (RNZ): Hamilton’s new mayor sworn in at Civic Square
Max Frethey (Local Democracy Reporting): Nelson commuters urged to ditch car once a week
STATE CARE OF CHILDREN, ABUSE IN CARE
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Children’s Minister accepts state care harm statistics didn’t provide full picture
Māni Dunlop (Te Ao Māori News): “They should not be punished twice” Opposition MPs condemn redress Bill for failing survivors
Russell Palmer (RNZ): State care residences report first recorded reductions in harm
HOUSING, BUILDING
Philippa Howden-Chapman (Herald): Why ideology won’t house the disadvantaged (paywalled)
Zizi Sparks (Crux): Housing project fast-tracked despite infrastructure concerns
A J Hendry: 5 things our Government can do to #EndYouthHomelessness
Greg Ninness (Interest): Housing now the most affordable it has been for first home buyers in more than four years
Greg Ninness (Interest): More properties available to rent and rents in decline as rental market moves in tenants’ favour
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): 700 property owners in limbo, millions at stake while council and Government play blame game
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Will home loan rates drop below 4 percent?
Elsie Williams (Press): Building a home now costs 61% more than a decade ago - but not in Canterbury (paywalled)
Jenny Ling (Northern Advocate): Kaikohe to get 100 affordable homes in $51.5m iwi‑Crown project
Benn Bathgate (Waikato Times): ‘We’ve won’: Claudelands campaigner hails Environment Court ruling (paywalled)
MEDIA, INTERNET, SOCIAL MEDIA
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): The Mead in the Talley’s sandwich
Matt Nippert (Herald): Talley’s defamation trial: The injured workers not heard in court (paywalled)
Liam Hehir (The Blue Review): Static Interference (paywalled)
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Stuff and RNZ audiences rise in month of Marokopa tragedy
ENERGY
Bryce Edwards (The Integrity Institute): The “Chocolate Teapot” Electricity Authority
Fox Meyer (Newsroom): Taranaki eruption poses ‘quite unique’ threat to energy security
Levi Gibbs (Post): The question Nicola Willis needed to ask: Why keep the power companies? (paywalled)
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Kominik resigns from Electricity Authority, will start review (paywalled)
CLIMATE CHANGE, ENVIRONMENT, WEATHER EVENTS
Monique Steele (RNZ): Environmental lawyers’ bid for reassessment of weedkilling glyphosate rejected
Rob Stock (Post): Future insurance scenarios from bad to apocalyptic feature in Suncorp’s climate risk report (paywalled)
Liam Rātana (Spinoff): A deed of acknowledgment has been signed – so what’s next for the Waitākere Ranges? (paywalled)
Te Aniwaniwa Paterson (Te Ao Māori News): Indigenous climate adaptation network launched in Ōtautahi
Jonathan Leask (Local Democracy Reporting): Millions flow into Canterbury flood protection push
Moana Ellis (Local Democracy Reporting): Manawatū-Whanganui Civil Defence boosting staff numbers as more stormy weather looms
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, TRADE, SPY AGENCIES
Thomas Manch (Post): Trump administration happy New Zealand ‘stepping up’ - Defence Minister Judith Collins (paywalled)
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): Soldier espionage case: Suppression orders, sentence to be re-examined
RNZ: Australian think tank proposes ‘Pacific-Eyes’ intelligence alliance for regional security
JUSTICE, LAW
Melanie Earley (RNZ): Held alone in cells for days: Are secure units being used too often, and for too long?
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Law doubling tribunal civil case maximum value threshold passes
Rob Stock (Post): Disputes Tribunal limit lifts to $60,000, to allow 2000 compensation claims each year (paywalled)
RNZ: Prisoner waited four months for mental health help before suicide - coroner
Jake Kenny (Press/Post): Mosque terrorist to give evidence at inquest into March 15 attack (paywalled)
Mahvash Ikram (Law News): Leading KC urges lawyers to push back against the erosion of fundamental rights, warns of ‘slippery slope’
James Farmer: New silks appointed
KIWISAVER, RETIREMENT
David Chaplin (BusinessDesk): Pensions and politics: why governments can’t keep their hands off private assets (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Why you might need $1m to retire in a big city
Mandy Te (Interest): Are first-home buyers who make KiwiSaver withdrawals for their deposit saving enough for retirement?
Jamie Gray(Herald): KiwiSaver turns 18, assets climb $5b to nearly $135b (paywalled)