ECONOMY, UNEMPLOYMENT
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Pointless foreshore debate a distraction from economic crisis (paywalled)
Alice Peacock (Newsroom): Charting who and where is worst hit by labour market slump
Chelsea Daniels (Herald): Cost of living, economy challenge National ahead of Election 2026
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Labour leader Chris Hipkins says NZ is not in 'economic shape'
Crux: Hipkins Queenstown speech: "Over emphasis in NZ on the housing market"
RNZ: No simple solution to stimulate economic growth - Minister for Auckland
RNZ: Call for government to help Auckland as unemployment rises
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): Simon Bridges wants Government to stir up economic ‘animal spirits’ (paywalled)
Pretorial Gordon (RNZ): Workers moving towns in desperate quest for jobs
RNZ: Skilled workers still battling for jobs after hundreds of applications
Michael Reddell: Labour market data, and silly comparisons
Blayne Slabbert (Press): Canterbury's rise in unemployment reflects caution, not crisis (paywalled)
Dennis Wesselbaum (ODT): Real-time info likely the best info
David Hargreaves (Interest): Relief for RBNZ - inflation expectations settle
GOVERNMENT SPENDING, COVID
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Treasury briefing points finger at government spending during Covid-19 pandemic
Glen McConnell (Stuff): The $66 billion Covid spend up: Treasury asks if the Government went too far
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Treasury says $66 billion Covid-19 response shouldn’t be repeated
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Government overcooked spending during pandemic, against official advice, harming economy – Treasury (paywalled)
Luke Malpass (Post): Treasury warned Ardern Labour Government about Covid-19 spending (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Treasury renews its call for a new fiscal authority (paywalled)
RNZ: Accountant given nearly six years' jail for $1.7 million Covid fraud
John Weekes (Herald): Covid wage-subsidy cheat Luke Daniel Rivers cooked up fake employees to steal nearly $1 million
Jake Kenny (Press): Decorating company director tried to scam $120,000 from Covid wage subsidy (paywalled)
TRANSPORT
Nik Dirga (RNZ): What we know so far about the new road user charges and the end of petrol tax
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Think you might come out ahead when petrol tax goes? That looks unlikely
RNZ: Road user charges: AA backs shake-up but wants low admin costs
ODT Editorial: End of the road for fuel tax (paywalled)
No Right Turn: RUCs vs excise taxes
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Post): ‘Just like getting a Netflix bill’: How the new road user charge system will work (paywalled)
James McDowall (Post): Move to road user charges levels the field - but what about WOFs? (paywalled)
Tina Law (Press): Christchurch council spends $120,000 consulting public a second time on speed limit drops (paywalled)
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): The life-changing power of blaming everything on road cones
RNZ: Final sailing date for KiwiRail's Aratere ferry announced
INFRASTRUCTURE
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): Lessons in bipartisanship from a de facto single-party state
Thomas Manch (Post): The promised land of bipartisanship in infrastructure (paywalled)
Richard Harman: The new political bromance (paywalled)
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): Ōtaki to Levin cost blowout shines a spotlight on NZ’s infrastructure woes
Thomas Manch (Post): Chris Bishop on why the Government can’t be blamed for construction downturn (paywalled)
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Infrastructure investor expressed 'shared disappointment' over courthouses PPP snub (paywalled)
Fox Meyer (Newsroom): Infrastructure ‘clusters’ key to profitable research system, says expert (paywalled)
LABOUR, CAPITAL GAINS TAX
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Labour MPs gather in Christchurch to formulate election strategy
Peter Dunne: Had Labour not learnt its lesson on a Capital Gains Tax?
BusinessDesk: Capital gains tax to solve house-price affordability crisis? (paywalled)
PARLIAMENT, ELECTORAL REFORM
Anna Whyte (Post): Final electoral boundary changes loom as Ōhāriu faces likely disappearance (paywalled)
Metiria Stanton Turei (ODT): Meddling with the franchise so that ‘their’ people vote (paywalled)
Audrey Young (Herald): NCEA masterclass: Erica Stanford schools colleagues on how to get things done
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira (RNZ): Auckland lawn mower says he's getting death threats after vandalism claims from Te Pāti Māori president
Mihingarangi Forbes (Mata): Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick on homelessness, energy poverty, Gaza, and electoral law changes
Grant Duncan: Economic and political prospects: how's it all looking?
EDUCATION
Jamie Ensor (Herald): NCEA changes: Erica Stanford offered Labour invitations to briefing, Willow-Jean Prime didn’t respond and then declined
John Morgan (Newsroom): The battle for our schools
Lisa Maurice-Takerei (The Conversation): Big changes to NCEA and polytechs must deliver the skills NZ urgently needs
Jenny Poskitt (Post): Why abandoning NCEA isn’t necessarily clear-cut (paywalled)
Alwyn Poole (Kiwiblog): Erica Stanford’s solutions to the problems posed by her inner circle have positive aspects but they are not the highest priority problems
RNZ: Watch: Christopher Luxon and Erica Stanford reiterate NCEA overhaul will be 'world class'
Kaya Selby (RNZ): Is the end of NCEA a step forward or a step backward for Pasifika?
Martin Van Beynen (Press/Post): Who can we blame for open classrooms and NCEA? (paywalled)
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Government’s Fees Free email was hacked, spamming thousands of people
Giles Dexter (RNZ): 'Wouldn't overblow it' - Education Minister on maths book errors
Cate Macintosh (Press/Post): School leaders welcome official probe into school lunch programme (paywalled)
Jenny Ling (Northern Advocate/Herald): Teacher shortages force Northland schools to roster students home (paywalled)
Benn Bathgate (Waikato Times): Roll pressure pushes council to consider faster school consents (paywalled)
RNZ: Primary teachers reject ministry's one percent pay rise
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Academic questions uni job cuts (paywalled)
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TRADE
Gwen Mcclure (RNZ): The Detail: Will NZ move with tide over Gaza?
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): NZ quietly provides $8m more in Gaza relief
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): OUSA rescind Israel boycott (paywalled)
Lydia Lewis (RNZ): External powers pitting Pacific Islands Forum members against each other, former advisor warns
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to visit Queenstown for talks with Christopher Luxon
Tracey Roxburgh (ODT): Queenstown meeting of Luxon, Albanese trumpeted
RNZ: New Zealand signs new agricultural trade deal with Indonesia
Alka Prasad (The Post): Punitive Brazil tariffs could open the door wider for NZ beef in the US (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Post): Two Japanese warships visit Wellington Harbour (paywalled)
FISHING
Bryce Edwards (The Integrity Institute): Fishy Influence – How the fishing industry captured Shane Jones
Katy Jones (Nelson Mail): Overhaul of fisheries rules sparks alarm and gratitude
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): $36m compliance costs hurting small fishing companies (paywalled)
HEALTH
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Advertising unapproved medicines not legal, despite government claim
Terry Taylor (ODT): No pathology — no healthcare; the Dunedin hospital rebuild conundrum
Te Karere (1News): Iwi Māori partnership boards unite to oppose changes to health legislation
Steve Kilgallon (Stuff): Left in faeces, blood under nails - daughter ‘appalled’ at mum’s hospital stay
RNZ: Aged care sector needs sweeping reform, woman with elderly parents says
Lauren Crimp (RNZ): Artificial intelligence saves doctors time, but makes mistakes - study
John Lewis (ODT): Concerns raised over AI scribe tools for doctors
SUPERMARKETS
Herald: Grocery Action Group hits out at supermarkets as Kiwis keep paying high prices for groceries
Rob Stock (Post): The Big Seven grocery suppliers dominating the weekly Kiwi shop (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): Foodstuffs matches Woolworths’ overcharging refund policy (paywalled)
WATER
Thomas Manch (Post): Government ready to use ‘stick’ over water reforms (paywalled)
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Bell says no to working with Greenpeace on water 'crisis'
Kira Carrington (Local Democracy Reporting): Marlborough council slams regulator for controversial Havelock boil water notice
Matthew Martin (Waikato Times): Councils sign up for Waikato Waters (paywalled)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Todd Niall (Newsroom): Wayne Brown company faces delisting over regulatory omission
Don Brash: The truth about our Māori Ward billboards
Guy Williams (ODT): Hipkins backs regional deals (paywalled)
Malcolm McCracken (Better things are possible): Improving Local Government Representation in New Zealand
Lauren Crimp (RNZ): Wellington councillors baulk at spending $7 million to fence stretch of waterfront
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): Wellington council rejects officers’ recommendation, says no to waterfront fencing
Harriet Laughton (Post): Wellington council votes against waterfront fencing
Kate Green (RNZ): Wellington mayoral hopeful Rob Goulden banned from Taxpayers' Union debates
Ethan Manera (Herald): Wellington mayoral candidate Rob Goulden escorted by security from debate for alleged aggressive behaviour
Andrea Vance (Post): Slip-hit homeowners left in disbelief over council inaction (paywalled)
The Post: Mayoral candidate Diane Calvert releases policies including big spending cuts
Julie Jacobson (Post): Golden Mile or fool’s gold? Artists’ impressions under fire (paywalled)
Matthew Martin (Waikato Times): South Waikato spoiled for mayoral candidates (paywalled)
Matthew Martin (Waikato Times): Elected unopposed - the Waikato councillors who will walk into a job (paywalled)
Shanti Mathias (Spinoff): Serious, serial and everyone in between: Who’s running for mayor in Christchurch?
Mike Yardley (Press): Election time: kooks, no-contests, square-offs and squeakers (paywalled)
ENERGY
David Williams (Newsroom): Dairy giant’s convenient omission from coal announcement
RNZ: Major Gas Users Group to meet with Resources Minister Shane Jones over supply
Brent Edwards (NBR): ‘Surgical and targeted’: Watts promises electricity reform (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Kapuni fertiliser plant may temporarily shut due to gas supply concerns
Dita De Boni (Post): Ballance threatens short shutdown of Taranaki urea plant without ‘affordable gas’ (paywalled)
RNZ: Ngāi Tahu, Mint Renewables announce $100m fund for renewable energy projects
POLICE, CRIME
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Police shooting: Coroner rules Shargin Stephens' death was 'preventable'
Belinda Feek (Herald): Coroner: Shooting of Shargin Stephens was ‘preventable’, slams police actions
Michael Daly (Stuff): Sister to cop who fatally wounded her brother: ‘I send nothing but best intentions’
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Police too loose with number plate recognition system, review finds
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Police deal with surge in theft reports as tech company upskills stores
Benn Bathgate (Waikato Times): Former top officer not alone among those charged (paywalled)
Anneke Smith (RNZ): McSkimming allegations 'really disturbing' - former Police Commissioner
Melissa Nightingale (Herald): Former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster says allegations against ex-Deputy Jevon McSkimming ‘disturbing’
Katie Ham (Post): ‘Beyond despicable’: Cops in shock over former deputy commissioner’s arrest (paywalled)
Katie Ham (Post): Disgraced former top cop’s church ‘devastated’ by charges (paywalled)
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Police fired their guns just three times last year
Keiller MacDuff (RNZ): Federated Farmers' comments on police 'not helpful', district commander says
HOUSING
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): The new trade-off between urban growth and a hostile environment
Justin Wong (Post): Government leaves Porirua to co-ordinate major housing projects (paywalled)
Herald: Homelessness: Still a need to help those who can’t help themselves (paywalled)
Stuff: Rents fall in many cities for students, but one centre shows a 12% increase
Stuff: Auckland house price average falls below $1m for first time in nearly a year, Trade Me report says
CLIMATE CHANGE, ENVIRONMENT, CONSERVATION
Eloise Gibson (RNZ): Devastating cyclones to get 20-35 percent wetter with fossil fuel emissions
Tim Brown (RNZ): Climate activists compared to medieval crusaders by minister
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Labour believes delayed Gene Technology Bill may be beyond modification (paywalled)
David Williams (Newsroom): Court rules minister must monitor Rakaia order
Tess Brunton (RNZ): South Otago residents keen for flood-prevention action
RNZ: Why we shouldn't celebrate a drop in landfill waste just yet
Cécile Meier (BusinessDesk): Drop in waste volumes reflects construction slump (paywalled)
Fox Meyer (Newsroom): New tramping fees not expected until 2027 at the earliest
Nik Dirga (RNZ): New Zealand's hottest destinations will start charging foreign tourists fees - here's why
Eva Corlett (Guardian): New Zealand to charge foreign tourists to visit most famous sites
Sandy Eggleston (ODT): Plan to charge foreign tourists for access to key sites welcomed
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): DOC offers olive branch to Punakaiki locals over parking fees