PARLIAMENT, GOVERNMENT, THE YEAR IN POLITICS
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Democracy Briefing: First Among Equals? New Zealand First’s year in government
Janet Wilson (The Post): In the Age of Meh, voters are sending a message loud and clear (paywalled)
Claire Trevett (Herald): Politician of the Year 2024: Is it David Seymour, Te Pāti Māori or Simeon Brown, king of the roads? (paywalled)
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): What's left on the parliament agenda for 2024?
Thomas Manch (The Post): Just three more days in the political year ‒ officially (paywalled)
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Parliament fraying at the seams in final weeks
Duncan Garner (Listener): The Good, the really bad and the downright disastrous of 2024 (paywalled)
Shane Te Pou (Herald): See this Government for what it is: NZ is not getting ‘back on track’ like they claim (paywalled)
Herald: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon reflects on his year – Ask Me Anything with Paula Bennett
Victor Billot (Newsroom): An Ode to .. Nicola Willis
RNZ: Quote of the Year 2024: Luxon’s ‘wealthy and sorted’ in running for annual contest
David Farrar: Audrey rates the new Nats
Max Rashbrooke (The Post): The Greens find a new target that isn’t one of their own (paywalled)
Francesca Rudkin (Newstalk): What's with all the press releases?
Louis Collins (RNZ): Parliament on the home stretch, but first, a 30-hour sitting week
Brent Edwards (NBR): Whacking banks, dog racing, ferry imbroglio, fast-track spat (paywalled)
GREYHOUND RACING BAN
Paddy Gower (Stuff): What I thought I’d never say about Winston Peters
Luke Malpass (The Post): D-Day for the dishlickers as Peters comes up big (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: Greyhound racing ban a victory for tireless advocates (paywalled)
Editorial (ODT): Greyhounds running out of track (paywalled)
FERRY REPLACEMENT ANNOUNCEMENT
Chris Trotter (Democracy Project): Running us off the rails
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Interislander ferry woes: Government all at sea over faltering plan for cheaper Cook Strait solution (paywalled)
Vernon Small (Sunday Star Times): Becalmed: The interisland ferry project that’s going nowhere (paywalled)
Andrea Vance (Sunday Star Times): Why Christopher Luxon just made (another) tactical blunder (paywalled)
Kevin Norquay (Sunday Star Times): Was the ferry ‘decision’ good? A bid to explain the unexplainable (paywalled)
Liam Hehir (The Blue Review): Time for some soul searching (paywalled)
Joe Hendren: Ferry (in)decision demonstrates lack of ministerial talent
Steven Joyce (Herald): KiwiRail ferry saga highlights flaws in political decision-making (paywalled)
Otago Daily Times: Editorial – Away with the ferries (paywalled)
Georgina Campbell (Herald): What does ‘rail-enabled’ Cook Strait ferries mean and can KiwiRail survive without them? (paywalled)
Nick James (RNZ): KiwiRail sells ferry for more than double what it paid for it
TREATY AND RACE RELATIONS
Audrey Young (Herald): Supreme Court forces rethink on Government approach to foreshore and seabed (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (The Post): Two polls, differing views on the Treaty Principles Bill backing (paywalled)
The Post: Poll: What the public thinks of the Treaty Principles Bill, and how principles should be decided (paywalled)
Ross Stitt (Newsroom): The Treaty principles bill – bad execution of a good idea?
Dale Husband (E-Tangata): Eru Kapa-Kingi: It’s the system that’s radical, not me
David Farrar: So will they call the Supreme Court racist names now?
Matthew Scobie and Anna Sturman (E-Tangata): We underestimated the scale of the attack
Melanie Nelson (E-Tangata): The ‘dangerous’ bill flying under the radar
Jamie Tahana (E-Tangata): The year we stood up
Kennedy Warne (E-Tangata): ‘Let Waitangi reconcile us’
Don Brash: Additional polling: are Kiwis worried about division?
Anaru Eketone (ODT): Overcoming the barrier of privilege, one power tool at a time (paywalled)
Jerry Coyne: “The latest from the asylum”: New Zealand nurses directed to foster, accept, and prioritize indigenous culture
EDUCATION
Danyl McLauchlan (Listener): Science or economics? Collins’ Marsden Fund shift raises questions (paywalled)
Hannah August (Spinoff): Wasteland: A response to a university restructure
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Polytechnics losing foreign enrolments due to study visa wait times, Te Pūkenga warns
Amanda Coulston (The Post): Policy changes in ECE have cost sector years of progress (paywalled)
FAST TRACK BILL AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Fox Meyer (Newsroom): Landmark fast-track ruling bulldozes past a tricky question
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Going slowly along the fast track legislation (paywalled)
Tracy Watkins (Sunday Star Times): Can the politics be taken out of infrastructure? (paywalled)
Peter Newport (Crux): Rod Drury: privatisation the best way get things done (paywalled)
PUBLIC SECTOR
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Govt's cuts to contractor and consultant spending ahead of schedule
Anna Whyte (Sunday Star Times): Fleur Fitzsimons: The fight for public servants and switching off with Billy Joel (paywalled)
André Chumko (The Post): Arts Minister considers fate of NZSO board member (paywalled)
HEALTH
Herald: Auckland City Hospital’s ‘ghastly’ new IT system frustrates staff, leads to delays (paywalled)
Nikki Macdonald (The Post): Childhood immunisation: ‘If we can't get this right, our health system can't ever function’ (paywalled)
Mary Williams (ODT): Ward staff tell of ‘low-income nation’ conditions (paywalled)
Ian Powell: Commissioner’s approach to healthcare provision: ‘slash and burn’
Louisa Steyl (The Press): Former health boss dismayed at ‘disingenuous’ Dunedin Hospital debacle (paywalled)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
David Williams (Newsroom): ECan councillors briefed in private by vested interests
Julie Jacobson (The Post): New voice or old hat? The people behind ‘the vision’ (paywalled)
Grant Miller (ODT): Statistician queries DCC’s analysis of online survey
Tom Hunt (The Post): Two days, several big calls to end 2024 for Wellington City Council (paywalled)
MEDIA
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): To all the TV news we lost in 2024
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Media under the sinking lid in 2024
Mike McRoberts (NBR): ‘A Māori television station without a news service – it’s crazy’ (paywalled)
Shayne Currie (Herald): Media Insider: Omnicom and IPG – advertising’s global mega-merger and the impact on the New Zealand industry and clients (paywalled)
Richard Pook (Sunday Star Times): Google and meta will drink all the milkshake if we let them (paywalled)
ECONOMY, BUSINESS AND WORK
Tom Pullar-Strecker (The Post): GDP figures expected to show NZ in recession (paywalled)
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): New Zealand Government under pressure with Treasury expected to forecast deficit to 2029 (paywalled)
Cameron Bagrie (BusinessDesk): Treasury's potential growth assessment is crucial (paywalled)
Eric Crampton (The Post): Targets the Commerce Act review should have in its sights (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): Last NZ economic news for 2024 to offer no tidings of comfort or joy (paywalled)
Cameron Smith (Herald): The good and the bad: 2025 will be a ‘year of two halves’ – Kiwibank (paywalled)
Jane Finlayson (Herald): Fixing manufacturing’s billion-dollar harm problem (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (The Post): Fiscal crunch: Tuesday may show if numbers adding up for Nicola Willis (paywalled)
Austin Ellingham-Banks (The Post): When New Zealand needs growth, Labour offers taxes (paywalled)
1News: Supermarket supplier costs up 2.1% annually
FAMILY AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE ACTION PLAN
RNZ: Family violence funding review could see services lose out – critics
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Government to review $1.3b in family and sexual violence spending
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Family, sexual violence: New action plan released by Government
ENVIRONMENT
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): National’s quiet U-turn on $247m EV charger pledge
Shanti Mathias (Spinoff): Carbon credits, fish poo and the push to discover the secrets of the sea floor
Jamie Morton (Herald): NZ study: How peoples’ emotional cues shape views of genetically modified food
LAW AND ORDER
Andrea Vance (Sunday Star times): Free Koru and spouse allowances: District court judge perks revealed (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Bootcamps: Youth advocates hope Christopher Luxon delivers Christmas gift of stopping legislation
Denis O'Reilly (E-Tangata): Reimagining what it means to be a gang
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Fran O'Sullivan (Herald): What Winston Peters’ bold words reveal about NZ’s China strategy (paywalled)
Farheen Hussaiin (Diplosphere): The China - New Zealand Relationship with an Indian Twist
Paula Penfold (Stuff): 33 NZ police staff under fire for ‘political tourism’ trip to China
Cartoons
Excellent compilation of commentators Bryce. Merry Christmas to you and those who air their observations here free to ear. Take a break those who preach to the well-heeled converted hiding behind righteous pay walls