PARLIAMENT, TĀMAKI MAKAURAU BY-ELECTION, PUBLIC SERVICE
Danyl McLauchlan (Listener): The least worst: Choosing the next government (paywalled)
Dennis Wesselbaum and Arthur Grimes (The Conversation): Treasury has a great cost-benefit calculator for big-spending projects – we just need to use it better
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Tamaki Makaurau by-election: Early voting begins today
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Peeni is harming Labour's chances at government
Kerre Woodham (Newstalk ZB): What good would repealing the gang patch ban do?
Donna Miles (Press): The polls show New Zealanders want a principled leader, not a manager (paywalled)
Grant Duncan: NZ Politics: a precarious symmetry
Elliot Crosson: It Is Not Enough Only to Change the Government
BANKS
David Farrar: The very dodgy $12.9b figure
Richard Harman (Politik): Not quite what the PM ordered (paywalled)
BusinessDesk: Banks carry almost $1b of unseen flooding risk: research
Rob Stock (Post): NZ reverse mortgage market a $170 billion ‘opportunity’ (paywalled)
EDUCATION
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): TEC accused of ‘hand-holding’ for medical school proposal (paywalled)
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Ministry suspects some schools open too few days per year
Stuff: Minister claimed the average teacher earned $140k - she was wrong, but some of them do
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): The teacher strike achieved nothing
Eric Crampton (Post): The conundrum of paying high performers in education (paywalled)
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Thirty suppliers vie to deliver government's school lunch programme to primary schools
Welby Ings (E-Tangata): Invisible intelligence
Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn (E-Tangata): Preparing our kids for the real world?
Te Aumoana Kingi (E-Tangata): I’m a teacher and I can’t ignore this
Jaime Cunningham (Herald): Calls for more Government action on costly school vandalism
Rod McNaughton and Guy Bate (Newsroom): Open Day is now AI Day for students
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TRADE, DEFENCE
RNZ: PM Christopher Luxon says famine declaration will not speed up Palestinian state decision
Bridie Witton (Stuff): PM Luxon: Gaza famine won’t shift NZ’s Palestine stance
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Prime Minister Christopher Luxon hits out at Israel over Gaza famine, will not hasten Palestinian statehood decision
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Mallard finally gets what he deserves
Jeremy Wilkinson (Open Justice Reporting): What life at Burnham Military Camps detention centre will look like for attempted spy
Christopher Pugsley (Newsroom): The dumbing down of the Defence Force
RNZ: Businesses paying out refunds after NZ Post suspends deliveries to US
HEALTH
Farah Hancock (RNZ): Colonoscopy crisis: Thousands go private as public waits grow
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Mum battles red tape to get help for child with OCD
Wei Shao (Press): Christchurch after-hours surgery warns of long wait times (paywalled)
Russell Palmer (RNZ): ACT MP seeks support for bill changing End of Life Choice Act
RNZ: Battle over Māori Health Authority disestablishment goes to court
Mildred Armah (Stuff): Kiwi woman with rare disease had to fly to Brisbane every two weeks to stay alive
Caroline Williams (Stuff): ACC law ‘penalises mothers’ says victim of ‘freak’ fitness injury
ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Retirees struggle as cost of living in even a paid-off house mounts
Matthew Hooton (Patreon): Beehive strategists should remember Northcliffe Rule (paywalled)
Bridie Witton (Stuff): ‘It will come’: PM promises brighter economic future for cities
Tayla Forward (Post): Fiscal responsibility doesn't mean what Nicola Willis thinks it means (paywalled)
SOCIAL SERVICES
Amanda Reid (Berl): What the Social Investment Fund’s evaluation model asks of providers
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): Auckland's North Shore Women's Centre to close its doors due to funding shortfalls
RNZ: Age Concern branch cutting some services as survey shows
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, MĀORI WARDS
Grant McLachlan (ODT): A history of Māori representation, from Parliament to councils
Riria Dalton-Reedy (Te Ao Māori News): Three years on: have Māori wards made a difference in Whangārei?
Mike Mather and Isabella Root (Waikato Times): Pay to sleigh at the First Credit Union Christmas Parade in Hamilton (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): Reading Courtenay’s $58k rates windfall sparks $2.6 billion empty land battle (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): Property magnate backs new runner in Wellington mayoral race (paywalled)
Hamish McNeilly: An incomplete guide to the DCC elections
Wayne Brown (Post): Auckland mayor makes re-election plea (paywalled)
Liam Rātana (Spinoff): An evening with the four men vying to replace the ‘Trump of the north’
Matthew Martin (Waikato Times): These Waikato Regional councillors want another term — but challengers are lining up (paywalled)
Matthew Nash (Local Democracy Reporting): Councillor or chat-bot? Rotorua's first local election with AI in the mix
BUSINESS, EMPLOYMENT
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Pay secrecy clauses to go: Employees can soon discuss salaries with each other, without getting punished by their boss (paywalled)
Liam Hehir (The Blue Review): In defence of BVV (again)
Anna Rankin (Spinoff): Grist for the mill: the slow death of New Zealand’s industry towns
Michael Tilley (NBR): Time for a tune-up of ComCom’s merger control processes (paywalled)
NBR: Luxon’s dancing, Xero’s future, Comvita’s aggression, Foodstuffs (paywalled)
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): On The Money: CSI Hawkesby, The Mainland break-up, Mark Lister, Gareth Morgan, Elle Archer, and the Air NZ bros (paywalled)
Andrew Bevin (Newsroom): Uber subscription could have misled public, Commerce Commission warns
Alice Peacock (Newsroom): New law to resolve business stoushes says justice delayed is justice denied
RIGHT TO REPAIR, CONSUMER AFFAIRS, SURCHARGES
Kate Harvey (Consumer NZ): The Right to Repair bill now looks unlikely – but we won’t give up
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): Right to repair bill stalls as NZ retreats on waste reform
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Future of Right to Repair Bill uncertain as NZ First pulls support
Alice Peacock (Newsroom): Auckland Transport says 50c parking meter transaction fee ‘not a surcharge’
PRIVACY, BIOMETRIC DATA
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Facial tech company wanted 'pragmatic policy interventions'
ODT Editorial: Protecting our identity (paywalled)
RNZ: Stronger rules planned for use of biometric data
COVID
David Harvey: Declined with Regret
Damien Grant (Stuff): Covid-19 revisionism, how did we get here?
Lianne Dalziel (Newsroom): A Covid inquiry blame game will teach us nothing
Ananish Chaudhuri and John Gibson: Ten questions we would have asked of Ardern, Hipkins, Robertson and Verrall
CROWN-MĀORI RELATIONS
Herald Editorial: Government’s headline handling of Māori words are diversions from what’s really wrong (paywalled)
Richard Harman (Politik): Supreme Court sends shudder through Government (paywalled)
No Right Turn: Foreshore and seabed 3.0?
TRANSPORT, INFRASTRUCTURE
Jessica Hopkins (RNZ): Multi-million-dollar Auckland overbridge projects get underway
Bridie Witton (Stuff): PM Luxon, Bishop and Wayne Brown launch railway crossing removal work
Dylan Thomsen (Herald): Youth road deaths call for bolder licence changes
Jack Horsnell (1News): Driver's licences and WoFs on phones get green light
Alice Peacock (Newsroom): Auckland Transport says 50c parking meter transaction fee ‘not a surcharge’
POLICE, CRIME
Michael Morrah (Herald): Police training under review as survey reveals gaps in new recruits’ skills (paywalled)
Melissa Nightingale (Herald): Loafers Lodge hostel fire: Murder trial for accused arsonist begins today in High Court at Wellington
Adam Pearse (Herald): Interpol seeking Pacific base as NZ Police Commissioner mulls deploying more officers
RNZ: NZ Police chief acknowledges impact of criminal deportees on the Pacific
RNZ: Police use of force on detainee in Auckland Custody Unit unjustified, IPCA finds
Virginia Fallon (Sunday Star Times): How buying drugs online became as easy as ordering pizza (paywalled)
Chelsea Daniels (Herald): Front Page: NZ Customs battles growing illicit tobacco smuggling trend
SOCIAL MEDIA, INTERNET, SCAMS
RNZ: Youth social media ban: What could go wrong?
Connor McLay (Newsroom): The Detail: When protecting us from the evils of the internet backfires
Mike O’Donnell (Post): Fraud in a sharp suit wearing the faces of trusted friends (paywalled)
GAMBLING
Matthew Nash (Local Democracy Reporting): Rotorua Lakes Council calls for fair share of online gambling profits
Joseph Los’e (Herald): Millie Elder-Holmes under investigation - again - for online gambling promotions
David Long (Stuff): Shameful scenes force pokies ban at popular restaurant
ENERGY
Consumer NZ: Electricity Authority’s plan to fix market is too little too late
Blayne Slabbert (Press): From $77m to $193m: South Island households to foot grid bill (paywalled)
Alka Prasad (Post): Ballance's Kapuni plant to shut down temporarily in January (paywalled)
Jamie Gray (Herald): Transpower CEO defends grid progress amid rising demand for new projects (paywalled)
Phil Pennington (RNZ): How drones could cut Aucklanders' power bills
REGULATION
Lloyd Burr (Stuff): First helmets, what next? Is there a line for Seymour’s work on red tape slashing?
Matt Lowrie (Greater Auckland): Just asking questions about bike helmets
Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): David Seymour was right to question our compulsory helmet laws
EREBUS MEMORIAL
Keiller MacDuff (RNZ): Erebus memorial: Christchurch City Council endorses Avon River, Cashmere sites
Mike White (Press/Post): Families scramble to stop Erebus memorial going to Christchurch
Samantha Gee (RNZ): Christchurch City Council to vote on Erebus memorial
GREYHOUND RACING
RNZ: Finishing line in sight for greyhound racing
Eric Crampton: Banning racing