TRANSPORT
Michael Daly (Stuff): Things we don’t know about plans to scrap petrol tax and introduce road user charges for all
1News: Govt on next steps to replacing fuel tax with road user charges
Luke Malpass (Post): Bishop’s road charge changes will bring NZ into the 21st century (paywalled)
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): Cheaper petrol on its way under new system – but will drivers end up paying more?
Jamie Ensor (Herald): How the Government is preparing to ditch petrol tax, move all cars to road user charges
Bridie Witton (Stuff): ‘Biggest change in 50 years’: Petrol tax to go, everyone to pay road user charges
Karanama Ruru (Stuff): Transport Minister Chris Bishop tells ThreeNews petrol tax switch will ‘help’ Kiwis financially
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Road user charges for all vehicles move a step closer
1News: Govt on next steps to replacing fuel tax with road user charges
Stuff: The questions and concerns you have about the move away from petrol tax
Luke Malpass and Thomas Manch (Post): Petrol taxes ditched, pay-as-you-drive revolution coming (paywalled)
BusinessDesk: Cyclists not part of proposed new road-user charge framework (paywalled)
RNZ: Auckland Transport's new map gets name of major road wrong
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Ōtaki to north of Levin highway cost doubles to $2.1b, construction yet to start (paywalled)
1News: Major Auckland transport project to open ahead of schedule
Tim Scott (ODT): Air NZ’s engine issues to persist (paywalled)
EMPLOYMENT
RNZ: Unemployment rate for Pacific people more than double national average
1News: Unemployment rate rises to 5.2% - Stats NZ
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Nicola Willis bemoans 'glass half empty' view of unemployment figures
Gyles Beckford (RNZ): Unemployment rate rises to highest level since 2020
Liam Dann (Herald): Labour market data: Unemployment hits 5.2%, 16,000 more jobless in past year
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Nicola Willis says unemployment better than predicted, blasts ‘glass half empty economics’ (paywalled)
Mandy Te (Interest): Transport minister announces all vehicles will pay electronic road user charges
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Unemployment rate rises to 5.2%
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Here's what unemployment data means for your home loan
Dan Brunskill (Interest): BNZ believes the Reserve Bank should keep cutting interest rates, while Nicola Willis says she's 'pumping cash' into the economy to create jobs
Liam Dann (Herald): What the Reserve Bank will look for in today’s job market data, plus who pays the cost of Trump’s tariffs (paywalled)
Jonathan Mitchell (NBR): Unemployment ticks up to 5.2%, cements August rate cut (paywalled)
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): Cooling jobs market keeps RBNZ on course for August cut (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): The people working for $10 - and less - an hour
Nona Pelletier (RNZ): Businesses urged to bypass free MBIE employment mediation service due to wait-list
David Burton (Post): The power and the limits of collective bargaining (paywalled)
Amy Williams (RNZ): Neurodivergent man overwhelmed by Jobseeker admin comes off weekly support
INFRASTRUCTURE
Thomas Manch (Post): How Australia's 'asset recycling' programme could work in New Zealand (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): No grand coalition but National and Labour seek infra consensus (paywalled)
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): How a mega-merger spatial planning ministry made up of MHUD, MfE and MoT could work (paywalled)
Graham Skellern (Herald): Infrastructure Report: Downer gears up for $111.6b in funded projects
Sarah Sinclair (Herald): NZ’s infrastructure challenge: From planning to delivery (paywalled)
Tim McCready (Herald): How Chinese capital could drive NZ’s infrastructure (paywalled)
Peter Reidy (Herald): KiwiRail’s bold electrification plan is crucial for NZ’s future (paywalled)
Justin Hu (1News): Explainer: How City Rail Link will redraw Auckland's train lines
Patrick Brockie (Herald): City Rail Link: Auckland’s $5.5b project promises lasting benefits
Louise Tong & Paul Ridley-Smith (Herald): How Wellington Council’s spending is derailing the city (paywalled)
Luke Pierson (Herald): Why Wellington’s council must learn to listen (paywalled)
Katie Bradford (Herald): New Zealand can learn from Canada’s success in infrastructure planning and execution
Andrea Rickard (Newsroom): Bridging nations: Canada’s infrastructure ‘movement’ could show NZ a thing or two
PARLIAMENT, PUBLIC SERVICE
Kate MacNamara (Herald): NZ Government allocates $25m for referendum on four-year parliamentary terms (paywalled)
Ian Powell: A poser for Labour Party: Tax wealth or tax capital gains
RNZ: Former SIS boss Rebecca Kitteridge gets new role at University of Oxford
Anna Whyte (Post): Top public service leader to become Oxford don (paywalled)
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): One MP, One Pint: Whisky and the new ‘Jacinda-wave’ with Peeni Henare
Edward Gay (Stuff): Police probe fresh complaint against former political figure
PRIMARY AND EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Fishing industry nets changes to cameras, discards and catch restrictions
Samantha Gee (RNZ): Fish farming sector's biggest opportunity, Oceans and Fisheries Minister says
No Right Turn: Secrecy to protect criminals
FAST TRACK, SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Shane Jones floats law change to make fast-track fast again (paywalled)
Peter de Graaf (RNZ): Could Northland's Marsden Point be NZ's first 'Special Economic Zone'?
Tini Molyneux and Whatitiri Te Wake (Te Ao Māori News): Waipiro Bay Fast track application progresses to next stage despite fierce opposition
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Port of Auckland gets provisional fast-track approvals for $200m wharf upgrades
Brent Melville (NBR): Port of Auckland gains ground on Tauranga, as fast track approved (paywalled)
HEALTH
Janet Hoek, Calvin Cochran and Jude Ball (Public Health Communication Centre): #JUULGATE Nicotine industry documents highlight the need for greater transparency in public health policy
Simon Louisson (The Standard): NZ sleepwalking towards bastardised hybrid health model
Lauren Crimp (RNZ: St John's volunteer changes alarm nurses union
RNZ: St John plans to axe a raft of community programmes
Ruby Shaw (ODT): New Dunedin Hospital: Govt cuts tender for foundations (paywalled)
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Doubt 24/7 service will work in city (paywalled)
Curtis Walker (Post): New Zealand is failing to confront its crisis of kidney disease (paywalled)
SUPERMARKETS
RNZ: NZ grocery prices higher than OECD average, Commerce Commission says
RNZ: Geographic price gap for shopping 'unacceptable' - Grocery Action Group
Blayne Slabbert (Press): South Island shoppers face supermarket squeeze (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Grocery commissioner says ComCom providing input to Government on supermarket reform (paywalled)
Dita De Boni (Post): Foodstuffs posts world-leading profits as Kiwi grocery costs stay high (paywalled)
Gregor Thompson (BusinessDesk): Gap between Foodstuffs and Woolworths grows as crackdown continues (paywalled)
EDUCATION
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Students leaving school with no qualifications highest in a decade
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Curriculum changes delayed after feedback from teachers
ODT Editorial: More detail needed on NCEA change (paywalled)
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Government should match enthusiasm for AI with investment in teachers - principal
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): I asked an AI bot how it felt about marking exams
Azaria Howell (Newstalk ZB): Numerous errors found in new Ministry-funded maths resources
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Does getting NCEA mean you earn more?
Peter Davis (Newsroom): Medical schools: the three body problem
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TRADE
Gordon Campbell: On New Zealand’s Role In The New ANZUS Remake
Richard Prebble (Herald): Why Christopher Luxon couldn’t lower US tariffs on New Zealand goods (paywalled)
Greg Smith (Herald): How US tariff hikes could reshape NZ’s economic landscape (paywalled)
Caleb Fotheringham (RNZ): Mark Brown rejects talk of 'strategic shift' in Cook Islands-New Zealand relationship
Kanishka Singh (Reuters): US starts seabed mineral talks with Cook Islands
Russell Palmer (RNZ): NZ announces support package, new High Commission building in PNG
Jack Mcdonald (Post): Our voices are needed more than ever (paywalled)
REGULATORY STANDARDS BILL
Andrea Vance (Post): ‘Spy agencies ignored’: Documents show national security warnings dismissed in red tape reforms (paywalled)
David Harvey (Listener): The Regulatory Standards Bill is much maligned - but there are concerns worth noting
Ananish Chaudhuri (Centrist): Opponents of the Regulatory Standards Bill are more concerned with identity politics than the bill’s legality
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Amanda Gillies (RNZ): The Detail: Battling apathy over local government
Ethan Manera (Herald): Crown observer Lindsay McKenzie says Tory Whanau made right call ‘for her’ not to seek re-election
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): Wellington City Council staff recommend $7m waterfront fence, no consultation
RNZ: Wastewater overflows into Hutt River
RNZ: Wellington and Ramallah sign Friendly City Agreement
Andrea Vance (Post): ‘They just shrugged’: Decades-old burst pipe causes slip, leaving residents homeless (paywalled)
Jessica Hopkins (RNZ): Auckland mayoral debate event stalls after candidates don't respond
Cherie Howie (Herald): Safety concerns force Auckland councillor Josephine Bartley to delegate hearing leadership
Chris Knox (Herald): Check your bill: Herald analysis finds errors in Auckland Council rates bills
Jonathan Killick (Post): ‘Long nights and lonely calls’: Why an Auckland councillor of 21 years is leaving local politics (paywalled)
RNZ: Auckland environmentalist wins battle to protect urban style jungle
Jessica Hopkins (RNZ): Fight to save Takapuna Golf Course's 18 holes continues after Auckland Council voted to convert half if it to wetland
Sinead Gill (Press): Concern developer rebate could increase unregulated Airbnbs in Christchurch (paywalled)
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): Who wants to be the next mayor of Hamilton?
Janine Rankin (Manawatū Standard): No election needed: Michael Ford to be new Manawatū mayor
Robin Martin (RNZ): Taranaki Regional councillors urged to quit election over Treaty Principles fiasco
Gwynn Compton (Local Aotearoa): Councils embracing AI opportunities, but guardrails lag behind
David Hill (Local Democracy Reporting): Waimakariri’s new councillors may get 22% pay bump
Rebekah Graham: Local government elections
George Heagney (Manawatū Standard): Mayoral contests for Tararua, Rangitīkei and Horowhenua
Peter de Graaf (RNZ): Operator of troubled Kāeo water scheme trespassed from treatment plant as decade-long boil-water notice continues
Tara Ward (Spinoff): More people want to be the mayor of Dunedin than anywhere else. So who are they?
Tim Scott (ODT): ‘Vampire’ sinks teeth into politics (paywalled)
Grant Miller (ODT): Competitive election ‘good for local democracy’ (paywalled)
HOBSON’S PLEDGE MĀORI WARDS BILLBOARDS
Liam Rātana (Spinoff): How did Ellen Tamati’s face end up on Hobson’s Pledge billboards?
Te Karere: Kuia devastated over use of her image on anti-Māori ward billboards
Ava Whitworth (Stuff): Woman ‘mortified’ after her image used in anti-Māori wards billboard without consent
Kelly Makiha (Rotorua Daily Post): Rotorua kuia’s image used in Hobson’s Pledge billboard without consent, family outraged
Emma Andrews (RNZ): Rotorua kuia caught up in Hobson's Pledge's anti-Māori ward campaign
FORESHORE AND SEABED
Karanama Ruru (Stuff): ‘Pull the legislation, and stop hurting Māori’: Former minister Chris Finlayson slams coastal law changes
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira (RNZ): Marine and coastal rights law changes not justifiable, former United Future leader says
ECONOMY, OVERSEAS INVESTMENT
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Overseas investment reforms may create more uncertainty, law firms warn
Brent Edwards (NBR): Era of Wellbeing Budget is over (paywalled)
ENERGY
Shanti Mathias (Spinoff): Could changing the incentives for power companies make electricity cheaper?
The Standard: Power Companies Collude to Require New Zealand Coal-Fired Electricity
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Mercury boss Stew Hamilton says sector needs more than Huntly, warns about radical reform
Ryan Bridge (Newstalk ZB): Coal keeps the lights on
Luke Malpass (Post): Investor appetite for gas returns, says Macquarie executive (paywalled)
KIWIBANK
1News: Kiwibank warned for overcharging thousands of customers
Herald: Financial Markets Authority warns Kiwibank for overcharging customers more than $900k
Rob Stock (Post): Kiwibank apologises for more accidental overcharging after warning from FMA (paywalled)
Martien Lubberink: Kiwibank’s $500 Million Ask: Why This Time Must Be Different
David Farrar: Kiwibank to get private capital