MICHELIN GUIDE
Bryce Edwards (The Integrity Institute): The Lobbyist’s guide to fine dining
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): Money for restaurant reviewers, but not for Lifeline
Luke Malpass (Post): Fine dining, hard times: why New Zealand is paying for Michelin (paywalled)
Nick Iles (Spinoff): 15 reasons why the Michelin Guide arriving in New Zealand is a bad idea
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): The Michelin Guide is a worthwhile investment
Finn Blackwell and Nicky Park (RNZ): Is the Michelin guide as good as it sounds for New Zealand?
Marisa Bidois (Post): A landmark win for NZ’s hospo industry (paywalled)
Kim Knight (Herald): Tourism New Zealand invests $6.3m to bring Michelin Guide to local restaurants
Alka Prasad (Post): Michelin Guide seen as talent-retention lifeline for NZ hospitality (paywalled)
Aziz Al Saafin (1News): Michelin Guide expands to NZ for the first time
Kim Knight (Herald): Kiwi chefs react as France’s Michelin Guide comes to rank New Zealand’s restaurants
HOUSING, HOMELESSNESS
Andrea Vance (Post): While tourists dine under stars, the homeless sleep under them (paywalled)
Rayssa Almeida (RNZ): Rough sleepers fear being pushed to unfamiliar suburbs as government considers central Auckland ban
Press Editorial (Post): Where can homeless people go? (paywalled)
Tom Dalliane (Herald): Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown welcomes possible Govt move to ban homeless from Auckland CBD
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Something has to be done about rough sleepers (paywalled)
Greg Presland (The Standard): Let them eat Michelin Stars
James Nokise (Post): The privilege of not seeing: what begging bans say about us (paywalled)
Linda Hall (Local Democracy Reporting): Six-storey housing developments set to be allowed on 44 Napier streets
Good Ideas: New housing research special edition: High house prices bad, public housing good, government’s evidence base flawed (paywalled)
Matthew Nash (Local Democracy Reporting): Empty Rotorua council-owned pensioner units spark concern
Mina Martin (NZ Adviser): Experts call for evidence-based housing reform in Auckland
CLIMATE CHANGE
Bryce Edwards (The Integrity Institute): Don’t get fooled on climate change again
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Govt’s climate strategy: Let it burn
Vernon Small (Sunday Star Times): Bye-bye bi-partisan climate pact (paywalled)
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): The Government announced changes to climate policy this week. Here’s what they were
ODT Editorial: Getting awfully warm in here (paywalled)
Barry Barton and Jennifer Campion (The Conversation): The government’s dismantling of climate laws breaks years of cross-party agreement
Greg Presland (The Standard): Wrecking the country’s climate change response
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): Ardern speaks for Oceania at COP30, while US ‘proxy’ Newsom a voice from the ‘truth bomb’ countries
Jamie Tahana (E-Tangata): Giving up isn’t an option for the Pacific
FAST-TRACK, ENVIRONMENT, MINING
No Right Turn: Bulldozing the fast-track
BusinessDesk: Kiwi Property Drury development fast-tracked (paywalled)
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): EPA’s Allan Freeth sets record straight on departure (paywalled)
Sarah Curtis (Northern Advocate): Asian hornet threat: Northland beekeeper urges buffer zones to stop spread
Mike White (Post): Santana Minerals on the road to opening controversial Central Otago gold mine (paywalled)
FREE SPEECH UNION
David Williams (Newsroom): Who Benefits: Seymour directs officials to consult the free speech lobby
Stephen Franks: Is free speech a right wing conspiracy?
PARLIAMENT, GOVERNMENT
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Prepare for a choose-your-poison election (paywalled)
Anne Salmond (Newsroom): A Trumpian accent
Stuff: ‘We...’: Peters again takes umbrage with Luxon not sharing credit
Herald: Taxpayers fork out $10.7m in redundancy costs for Government agency Callaghan Innovation
Alka Prasad (Post): ‘Waste of money’: PSA blasts $10.7m spend on Callaghan Innovation layoffs (paywalled)
Kevin Norquay (Sunday Star Times): How a NZ capital gains tax could stack up against the world
Damien Grant (Stuff): Hipkins’ capital gains tax policy leaves more questions than answers
Brent Edwards (NBR): Te Pāti Māori (again), unemployment, climate policy, Winston (paywalled)
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): Echo Chamber: Politics is all fun, games and ‘wet farts’
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Regulatory Standards Bill welcome oversight or a wet fart? (paywalled)
Steven Cowan: Yesterday’s people fighting yesterday’s war
Cate Macintosh (Press/Post): Green MP Mike Davidson pays tribute to late father as he urges urgent action on climate change in maiden Parliamentary speech (paywalled)
TE PĀTI MĀORI
Ben Thomas (Post): The numbers say a split may be felt on both sides of the divide (paywalled)
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Former Te Pāti Māori staffer Eru Kapa-Kingi doubles down on leadership shortcomings
Henry Cooke (Post): Te Pāti Māori MPs told to stop publicly sniping at each other (paywalled)
Michael Daly (Stuff): Iwi Chairs Forum hoping to get all six Te Pāti Māori MPs to a meeting next week in bid to ‘settle the farm’
David Farrar: Can you waka jump when you have overhang?
EDUCATION
Aotearoa Educators Collective: Erica Stanford - End of Year Report Card
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Education Minister Erica Stanford marks ministry 7/10, doubling previous rating
Derek Cheng (Herald): School maths curriculum: Why the latest changes have triggered an outcry (paywalled)
Rahui Papa (E-Tangata): What needs to change in schools isn’t the law
Jean Edwards (RNZ): Gloriavale granted extra week to answer Education Ministry concerns
Charlotte Cook (RNZ): English exam asks students to write about long-haired boy being bullied, forced to drop pants
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Heavily criticised Compass Group not included in 2026 school lunches contract
1News: Compass Group excluded from next round of school lunch scheme
Julia Gabel (Herald): Catering giant Compass Group not included in next round of school lunch scheme
Harriet Laughton (Post): Jobs cut as charity misses out on school lunch programme
Cécile Meier (BusinessDesk): Compass loses place in new school lunch contracts as prices rise above $3 cap (paywalled)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WATER
Simon Wilson (Herald): Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown rewards his trusted councillors (paywalled)
Jonathan Killick (Post): Wayne Brown reveals committee appointments: who’s inside the tent, who’s out? (paywalled)
Wayne Brown (Sunday Star Times): Don’t blame the voters — blame the campaigns (paywalled)
Diane McCarthy (Local Democracy Reporting): Government approves Eastern Bay councils standing alone with water
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Departing mana whenua rep ‘offended’ by pay gap
Dylan Smith (ODT): Gough promises to donate $100k director income soon
Herald Editorial: Threats against local body politicians disgusting (paywalled)
Ben Tomsett (Herald): New Dunedin city councillor Benedict Ong on his successful election campaign and the critics (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): Controversy-prone Ray Chung hires his own spin doctor (paywalled)
ECONOMY
Dita De Boni (Sunday Star Times): PhD student looks at the lie behind the political line: ‘NZ can’t afford it’ (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): Is another GFC about to upend NZ’s recovery? (paywalled)
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Treasury warns Crown’s strong balance sheet likely to decline if policy unchanged
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Treasury pushes for asset sales as it rings alarm bells over state of Government’s finances (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Treasury review may open debate on selling state assets (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): The Government’s strong balance sheet is set to decline (paywalled)
Koroi Hawkins (RNZ): Pacific communities hit hardest by rising unemployment - Stats NZ
Shane Te Pou (Herald): Government needs a new plan for jobs (paywalled)
Alice Peacock (Newsroom): North Island and under-30s hurting in highest jobless numbers in a decade
Bruce Cotterill (Herald): Why some Kiwis seem to have lost their work ethic (paywalled)
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): ACC and the work from home legal case
Alka Prasad (Post): ‘Brain drain risk’: NZ firms retreat from flexible work faster than Australia (paywalled)
Ryan Bridge (Newstalk ZB): A little too much economic nimbyism going on
Tracy Watkins (Sunday Star Times): The lucky country’s $1 ferry ride — and what it says about us (paywalled)
Alka Prasad (Post): ‘The shit has hit the fan’: Business failures hit small creditors as liquidators brace for more pain (paywalled)
Deena Coster (Sunday Star Times): One man’s fight back in the losing liquidation battle (paywalled)
HEALTH, DISABILITY
David Williams (Newsroom): Prisons operator Serco eyes NZ’s public health infrastructure needs
Anastasia Manza (Te Ao Māori News): “Slow, unprofessional and judgemental”: Māori plead for better suicide prevention services
Paula Lorgelly, Braden Te Ao, Richard Edlin (The Conversation): Pharmac wants to trim its controversial medicines waiting list – no list at all might be better
Andrew Waa, Becky Freeman, Judith McCool, Lucy Hardie, Sam Egger (The Conversation): Vaping has slowed progress in cutting teen smoking in NZ – new study
Ruth Hill (RNZ): New Zealand at risk of running out of some medicines if global catastrophe strikes - study
RNZ: Allied Health workers vote to strike after mediation fails
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): ‘To be honest, it’s just a mess. I’ve never seen anything as bad as it.’
Kerre Woodham (Newstalk ZB): Spend a dollar to save five - why wouldn’t we fund weightloss drugs?
Robin Martin (RNZ): New $56 million Taranaki Cancer Centre life changing for patients
RNZ: Immunisation campaign sees thousands of MMR vaccinations delivered daily
Kevin Norquay (Sunday Star Times): Ignored in life, heard in death: Barbie’s die well wish spurs MP (paywalled)
BUSINESS, EMPLOYMENT
John Campbell (1News): Is Uber’s low-pay model the future of work in NZ?
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Are hard hats a work perk?
Peter de Graaf (RNZ): Farmers urged to install crush or rollover protection after quad bike death
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): New Zealanders are taking more sick days than ever. Is that a problem?
Jo Cribb (Newsroom): Pay equity is not just fair, it’s good for GDP too
Bill Hickman (RNZ): Government boosts film subsidies to stay a ‘serious contender’
Stuff: Film-making rebate criteria changed in bid to stop NZ from ‘missing out’, amid ‘intensified’ global market
1News: Incentive scheme boosted to attract international films, TV to NZ
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Post): NZ ‘open for film business’: Screen rebate expanded (paywalled)
David Cunningham (Interest): What NZ should do to avoid gifting our retail payments system to Visa & Mastercard
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): On the Money: Piyush Goyal, Nikhil Ravishankar, Todd McClay, RBNZ and more
Herald: Auckland businessman Hun Min Im jailed for attempted multi-million dollar Covid-19 fraud
RNZ: Nailing rogue nail salons: Fears over money laundering and trafficking
Herald: MBIE launches crackdown on non-compliance in beauty industry
Monique Steele (RNZ): Foreign investors buy forests, lily bulb plant and meat plant stake
Michael Gower (Hawke’s Bay Today/Herald): Hawke’s Bay nail salon owner backs Government’s crackdown on illegal practices in beauty industry (paywalled)