News Briefing: 6 May 2026

PARLIAMENT, ELECTION AND GOVERNMENT
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Craig Stobo and the rot in NZ’s conflict-of-interest culture
Herald Editorial (Herald): Craig Stobo’s tenure as FMA chair did nothing but damage the public sector - Editorial (paywalled)
Audrey Young (Herald): Audrey Young’s grand coalition: How a National-Labour power share could work (paywalled)
Stuff: Feud between mayor and minister escalates with Dancing with the Stars jab
Hannah Filmer (Herald): Labour leader says coalition Government ‘attacking each other’ not good sign for things to come
Herald: Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown and Deputy PM David Seymour in tit-for-tat over Q+A comments
Anneke Smith (Post): Election 2026: Labour’s final contender in push to take back Māori seats (paywalled)
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Labour Party announces Te Pūoho Katene as final candidate for Māori seats
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Business of Government: The end of MfE, police déjà vu and more (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Burnout fears and record urgency drive $19m funding bid for Parliament’s clerk
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): New Zealand’s immigration debate is like something out of the 1870s
Ryan Bridge (Newstalk ZB): Governments should control spending and stability
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): One MP, One Pint: Tangi Utikere is looking to be a sure thing for Palmy this election
RNZ: Lottery board committees to be slashed, Department of Internal Affairs confirms
Nicholas Kerr: Alienation and the Failure of MMP

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND REFORM
Harriet Laughton (Post): Government gives three-month deadline for amalgamation proposals (paywalled)
Harriet Laughton (Post): ‘Extremely tight timeframe’: Concerns over Government push for amalgamation (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Post): Government’s case for local amalgamation undercut by its sheer gall (paywalled)
Gwynn Compton: The clock is ticking on local government reform
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Northland, Taranaki first movers as Govt tries to cool political heat of council mergers
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): Government tells councils: Give us a plan within three months, or we will make one for you
RNZ: Southland councils call for united response to govt’s amalgamation plans
No Right Turn: The opposite of localism
Steve Hepburn (ODT): Mayors receptive to reform
Matthew Rosenberg (ODT): Southland poised for local govt reform
Thomas Manch (BusinessDesk): Council amalgamation ultimatum receives mixed reception (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Change is coming: 2028 deadline for local govt consolidation (paywalled)
Newstalk ZB: ‘Not mucking around’: Minister Simon Watts on the Govt’s plan to fast-track regional council reform
Lauren Crimp (RNZ): Mayors consider government’s amalgamation ultimatum
Mandy Te (Interest): ‘Lead your own reform or we’ll do it for you,’ central govt tells local govt
Jordan Smith (Local Democracy Reporting): Mayor clashes with Local Government Minister over expenditure
Tom Hunt (Post): ‘A contractor is not a charity’: Wellington campaign launches to reduce council outsourcing (paywalled)
Jonathan Killick (Post): ‘More parky’: Cornwall Park trust considering closing off car traffic (paywalled)
Garry Moore (Tuesday Club): If CCHL is considering selling Enable - is it missing a few steps?
Tom Hunt (Post): Sixty-plus Wellington properties ask for removal of heritage protection (paywalled)

ECONOMY AND BUSINESS
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Growth in sensitive claims ‘significant risk’ to ACC, Treasury warns (paywalled)
Tom Raynel (Herald): Majority of small businesses say Government is not addressing key issues - MYOB survey (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): How can foreign butter (and veges) be cheaper than New Zealand-made?
Andy Macdonald (BusinessDesk): Westpac NZ lifts profit as Iran conflict risk hits provisions (paywalled)
Tim Hunter (NBR): Imported ARA powder the culprit in IMF recall (paywalled)
Peter Griffin (BusinessDesk): Betting on quantum (paywalled)
Fox Meyer (Newsroom): NZ firms warned overseas businesses aren’t getting a return on AI - MPs’ report
1News: Westpac posts $545 million half-year profit
Neil Sands (LawNews): Bill designed to curb ‘woke’ banking reaches the end of the road
Rob Stock (Post): Westpac becomes latest bank to reveal impact of Middle East war on hard-pressed customers (paywalled)
Gyles Beckford (RNZ): Unemployment set to stay at near-decade high, economists say
Jonathan Mitchell (NBR): MTA ponders fix to Clean Car Standard (paywalled)
Elliot Royce (Herald): The quiet tax setting shaping who owns New Zealand (paywalled)
Michael Reddell: A central banker’s fiction

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