NZ’S INVOLVEMENT IN WAR
Alexander Gillespie (The Conversation): How and why NZ could be drawn into the Iran war – and the high stakes involved
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Combat deployment of NZ troops to Middle East unlikely, even if help asked - law professor
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Winston Peters says New Zealand not ‘rushing to contribute military forces to this conflict’
RNZ: NZ not yet committed to Strait of Hormuz action, despite NATO statement - David Seymour
Anneke Smith (Post): New Zealand ready to help secure Strait of Hormuz- but how? (paywalled)
Phil Pennington (RNZ): NZ has ‘seized opportunities’ to work closer with US on defence, space - MFAT briefing
Keith Rankin: Has New Zealand just signed up for World War Three?
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Call for uni to cut ties with Israel-linked tech firm (paywalled)
IRAN WAR: GOVT $50 SUPPORT PACKAGE ANNOUNCED
Luke Malpass (Post): Iran war: When petrol money politics meets hard fiscal limits (paywalled)
Justin Hu (1News): ‘Fails to meet the crisis’: Govt fuel relief draws opposition reaction
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Willis unveils $50-a-week fuel crisis package with three Ts and zero Covid
Zeb Tupa’i (Herald): Fuel relief: How New Zealand’s $50 support package compares with support overseas
Adam Pearse (Herald): Fuel crisis: About 140,000 families to receive $50 a week to help with high fuel prices
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Fuel costs support package: Will those who most need help get any?
RNZ: Who will be eligible to get an extra $50 a week as part of the fuel crisis package?
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Fuel crisis package: Nearly 150,000 families to receive $50 a week
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Iran war: Nicola Willis downplays chance of wage subsidies as it dishes out help for households (paywalled)
ODT: Editorial – $50 better than nowt? (paywalled)
Nick James (Post): Iran war: Government announces $50 boost to Working for Families (paywalled)
Gill Higgins (1News): Govt fuel relief ‘should have gone to business’ – struggling region
IRAN WAR: ENERGY CRISIS
Grant Duncan: Election year gets blown up: fuel prices rise, reputations plummet
Herald: Editorial – Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis are in a lose-lose situation. We should keep calm and carry on (paywalled)
Gordon Campbell: On the Government’s juggling of public anxiety over fuel prices
Ani O’Brien: Slashing taxes won’t fix the Fuel Shock, targeted measures the right move
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Government getting advice on proposal to boost Marsden Point storage
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Fuel prices keep drivers off roads
Anneke Smith (Post): Defence Force scaling back activity to conserve fuel (paywalled)
Jo Moir (RNZ): Fuel prices to stay high for at least 100 days, officials tell Labour
Rachel Maher (Herald): Ministry of Education weighs remote learning as fuel crisis worsens, attendance drops
Roeland van den Bergh (Post): Iran war: Diesel price rise adds a $7 million cost to NZ a day, trucking body says (paywalled)
Katy Jones (Press): Fishing giant loses at least $4 million to high diesel price (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (NBR): The three tankers that hold NZ’s last confirmed oil supplies (paywalled)
ENERGY POLICY
Kevin E Trenberth (Newsroom): NZ’s energy dependence won’t be solved by the private sector
Henry Cooke (Post): Will we ever raise petrol taxes again? (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Government approves Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme for ‘fast-tracking’ (paywalled)
Steve Hepburn (ODT): Lake Onslow ‘game changer’ on fast track (paywalled)
BROOKE VAN VELDEN EXIT
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Act’s heir apparent Brooke van Velden calls time on politics
Audrey Young (Herald): Brooke van Velden exit: what her departure means for David Seymour, Act and Tāmaki (paywalled)
RNZ: ACT Party deputy and minister Brooke van Velden retires from politics
Henry Cooke (Post): ACT deputy leader Brooke van Velden not standing for re-election (paywalled)
GOVERNMENT
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Te Kāika and the broken model of social service contracting
Mary Williams (ODT): $123k paid to chair’s company (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Chris Finlayson: Punish ministers for Official Information Act breaches (paywalled)
Adam Pearse (Herald): ‘Human error’: Education Minister admits sending National Party video to principals through ministerial email
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Business of Government: Public sector grows, merger pushback and more (paywalled)
Cécile Meier (BusinessDesk): Government AI spending hits $20.2m with real cost likely far higher (paywalled)
Harriet Laughton (Post): Ministers differ over why Government rejected WHO rules on pandemics (paywalled)
Centrist: Still little sign of ‘austerity’ in the public service
PARLIAMENT AND ELECTION
Ethan Griffiths (Herald): National Party fundraiser offers $10,000 dinner with Christopher Luxon
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Exclusive poll results reveal if Kiwis’ view of National’s Christopher Luxon, Labour’s Chris Hipkins changed after recent troubles (paywalled)
Chris Trotter: Breaking-up is hard to do – Divorcing Labour from neoliberalism, the Treaty and identity politics will not be easy
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Nicola Willis tells Labour there’s a new sheriff in town (paywalled)
Liam Hehir (The Blue Review): The problem with TOP
Stuff: Winston Peters makes squiggly letter joke after Greens reach out with real letter
Joseph Los’e (Herald): Labour selects Kerrin Leoni to take on Oriini Kaipara in Tāmaki Makaurau electorate
Oliver Hartwich (Newsroom): Liberal democracy suffers its great leap backward
No Right Turn: Not a government in waiting
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Ellen O’Dwyer (RNZ): Wellingtonians’ water bills jump by hundreds of dollars, more increases to come
Tom Hunt (Post): Wellingtonians told to expect $200-a-month water bill rising to $566 within the decade (paywalled)
Ethan Manera (Herald): New Wellington water entity Tiaki Wai opens books, warns of higher costs to households to boost investment (paywalled)
Julie Jacobson (Post): Cost-conscious Wellington council slashes $600k Civic Square activity budget (paywalled)
Jonathan Killick (Post): Wayne Brown’s ‘new deal’ for Auckland developers (paywalled)
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Dunedin City Council considers sanctioning first-termer Benedict Ong for code of conduct breach
Ruby Shaw (ODT): Ong nominates himself for NZME board (paywalled)
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Cultural assessments ‘massive over-reach’ (paywalled)
RESERVE BANK
Damien Venuto (Stuff): The RBNZ Governor said ‘medium term’ 17 times – here’s what that means for your mortgage
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Reserve Bank should ‘avoid reacting too early’ to higher inflation, says governor (paywalled)
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): RBNZ’s Anna Breman sees potential for ‘decent growth’ in the economy (paywalled)
Jonathan Mitchell (NBR): Short-lived disruption ‘can and should’ be looked through: RBNZ (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Iran war: Reserve Bank Governor abandons her original speech notes
HEALTH
Amanda Gillies (Newsroom): ‘It can kill within 24 hours’: Kiwi Dad’s plea as meningitis emerges in Dunedin
Laura Frykberg (Stuff): Heading to Wellington Hospital’s ED? There’s about a 50% chance you’ll be waiting over six hours
Nicholas Jones (Stuff): The columnist who died on the way to hospital as his final words were published
Felix Walton (RNZ): Government announces new diabetes roadmap but keeps details secret, for now
Fiona Ellis (Waikato Times): ‘We do have a crisis here’: Call to boost cardiology workforce (paywalled)
David Farrar: More progress with health targets
HOUSING AND URBAN PLANNING
Penny Smith (RNZ): Homelessness among older people at crisis levels, Christchurch Methodist Mission says
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): Alain Bertaud on Auckland’s urban planning, housing debate and global mistakes (paywalled)
Deborah Morris (Post): Nowhere to park: The gap between planning and real life (paywalled)
Waikato Times: Housing Minister gives green light for 1500 Te Awa homes development (paywalled)
BusinessDesk: Govt changes its tune on property management regulation (paywalled)
Brent Melville (NBR): Glendowie golden visa, Bayswater watch what £20k bought in 1967 (paywalled)
MINING AND OIL
Ben Tomsett (Herald): Santana Minerals’ Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project mine divides Central Otago (paywalled)
Blayne Slabbert (Post): Why the US wants in on West Coast minerals (paywalled)
Samantha Gee (RNZ): Golden Bay gold mine proposal pushing ahead ‘without any genuine community consent’, say locals
ODT: New push to drill for oil off Otago coast (paywalled)
Steve Hepburn (ODT): Oil rigs off Otago coast long shot as applications open (paywalled)
Caroline Orchiston (ODT): Telling communities about mining and quakes (paywalled)
ECONOMY
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): Iran War: Is the New Zealand economy cooked?
Paddy Gower (Stuff): ‘Ghosted, rejected, depressing’: 22-year-old graduate, 13 months unemployed, 60 job applications, not one interview
Miriam Bell (Post): Construction tech could cut millions from NZ’s infrastructure budget (paywalled)
Anne Gibson (Herald): Construction slump deepens as New Zealand’s crane index falls to lowest level since 2016 (paywalled)
Sarah Ramsay (ODT): Long-term focus needed for country’s growth and confidence (paywalled)
Blayne Slabbert (Post): South Island gets $5b economic boom while Wellington goes backwards (paywalled)
Blayne Slabbert (Press): Canterbury’s $55b engine booms, but Southland is the star student (paywalled)
Katie Hunter and Charlotte Graham (Waikato Times): Waikato tops North Island in economic bounce-back (paywalled)
RNZ: McCain to close Hastings vegetable processing plant by January 2027
Damien Venuto (Stuff): KiwiSaver contributions will increase on 1 April. There could be unintended consequences
Murray Harris (Post): Hands off our future: Expand, don’t erode, the country’s KiwiSaver scheme (paywalled)
CARTOONS