Table of Contents
Republished with Permission
Author: Bryce Edwards
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TRADE, DEFENCE
Chelsea Daniels (Herald): Visits to India, USA test the Government’s approach to changing face of global politics
Thomas Manch (Post): New Zealand’s case for a Trump tariff carve out (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Winston Peters ‘seriously pleased’ with Marco Rubio meeting, but no answer on tariffs
RNZ: Watch: Winston Peters on what he and Marco Rubio discussed in Washington
1News: Peters and Rubio hold 'substantive and productive' meeting
Thomas Manch (Post): Winston Peters ‘very pleased’ after talking tariffs with Trump diplomat Rubio (paywalled)
'Alakihihifo Vailala (PMN): New Zealand navigates diplomatic challenges as Trump transforms US foreign policy
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Brent Edwards (NBR): Tying down the elusive free trade agreement with India (paywalled)
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Luxon bristles when asked about his deadline for India trade deal
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Can NZ and India sign a trade deal in 90 days?
Laura Walters (Newsroom): How to talk human rights with India and not trigger a diplomatic incident
RNZ: Hipkins accuses PM of undermining NZ's nuclear-free stance in India memo
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Long wait continues as 2028 target set for Delhi-Auckland flights
Nevil Gibson (NBR): NZ-India air links still lie well into the future (paywalled)
Adam Pearse (Herald): PM in India: Christopher Luxon sledges ex-Black Cap Ross Taylor in street cricket game
Luke Malpass (Post): Notes from India: In the slips with the PM (paywalled)
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Lillian Hanley (RNZ): Winston Peters says New Zealand wants permanent Gaza ceasefire
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Swarbrick pleads for cross-party support for Israel sanctions
Phil Pennington (RNZ): The future of warfare: Killer drones and AI decision making
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Aid projects to be cut after NZ digs itself into a hole
Don Wiseman (RNZ): Foreign aid will continue but in what form it's hard to say - academic
Lydia Lewis (RNZ): Pacific’s top diplomat urges new cooperation amid US aid freeze
Talaia Mika (Cook (Islands News): Concerns mount over Cook Islands' ‘national security’ amid China’s influence
Susana Leiataua (RNZ): Samoa chooses the fate of the HMNZS Manawanui as salvors look for weapons and ammunition
PUBLIC SERVICE, OIA
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Ombudsman singles out Health NZ’s attitude to official information
Brent Edwards (NBR): Ombudsman criticises defensive approach to releasing information (paywalled)
Inside Government: Chief Ombudsman says stiffer penalties may be needed for OIA delays
Greg Hurrell (BusinessDesk): Science institutes one step ahead of Govt on reorganisation (paywalled)
GOVERNMENT, PARLIAMENT
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Poll suggests few support corporate tax breaks
Aaron Smale (Listener): PM’s disastrous handling of Treaty Principles Bill might yet be his undoing (paywalled)
Mike Houlahan (ODT): ‘Quality growth’ should be aim: Hipkins
Andrew Gunn: Seymour: My Message To Jesus (paywalled)
Herald: Would Jesus vote for Act? Church leaders respond to David Seymour
Claire Mabey (Spinoff): ‘I keep that little light of hope alive’: Nicola Willis’s love of literature
Spinoff: Gone By Lunchtime Podcast: Home and away with Christopher Luxon
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WATER
David Long (Stuff): Most councillors voting on Auckland’s stadium plan have accepted gifts from Eden Park
Winston Aldworth & Christopher Reive (Herald): New Auckland stadium proposal one of three being considered to Western Springs Stadium
Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): Nobody is as creative as Auckland Council at saying no
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): Do tall buildings belong on K’ Road?
Maria Slade (BusinessDesk): Council development charge hikes ‘may be illegal’ (paywalled)
Harriet Laughton (Post): Wellington City Council paid over $100,000 to recruit chief executive (paywalled)
Andrea Vance (Post): Council iwi rep faces conduct investigation (paywalled)
Eye of the Fish: Lambton Nine-Nine
Tina Law (Press): Christchurch Foundation secures thousands of dollars in council support (paywalled)
Local Aotearoa: SFO investigates allegations of fraudulent allocation of public funds at KCDC
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): Botched rates and uncertain valuations flagged by council auditors
HEALTH, DISABILITY
Lisa Davies (1News): ACC hastily reviews withdrawn support for girl's head injury
ODT Editorial: Acute care found wanting (paywalled)
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Health NZ admits gap in communications over non-existent sick baby unit in Lower Hutt
Dionne Christian (Listener): Health in 2025: Smoking, alcohol and diet (paywalled)
Ruth Hill (RNZ): People with psychotic symptoms not getting help early enough - study
Elliot Crosson: Cuts to Disability Services Are Part of a Class War
Ffion Heale (Post): ‘Simulation specs’ reveal hazards for blind (paywalled)
Paddy Gower (Stuff): Meet the bus-driving GP and nurse in pink scrubs helping Mongrel Mob President ‘Chopper Dogg’ and his gang
Public Health Communications Centre: Social media and youth wellbeing: The need for a multi-layered public health approach
Moana Ellis (Local Democracy Reporting): Critical time for Māori: Iwi-owned research centre marks milestone
Stephen Forbes (NZ Doctor): More questions than answers over shared digital health record (paywalled)
CONSERVATION, ENVIRONMENT, WEATHER DISASTERS
Amanda Gillies (RNZ): The Detail: 'Bewildered' experts not on board for changes to fisheries management
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Govt ‘doing the minimum’ on climate – Seymour
Eloise Gibson (RNZ): Dire climate report lays out records for ocean heat, shrinking ice cover
No Right Turn: Climate Change: Failed again
Rob Stock (Post): Leading the world: 60% of NZX50 companies now report on climate risk (paywalled)
Benedict Collins (1News): 'Rubbish': Luxon hits back at ACT MP's claim farmers are irate with National
Moana Ellis (Local Democracy Reporting): Carbon credit deal to provide windfall for Māori landowners
Ilan Noy (The Conversation): NZ has no dedicated database to track losses from weather disasters – without it, we’re planning in the dark
RNZ: South Island's West Coast most at risk of more extreme atmospheric rivers, research suggests
Grant Miller (ODT): Flooding cost expected to reach $13m (paywalled)
Grant Miller (ODT): Vote to engage on flood-check options (paywalled)
Peter de Graaf (RNZ): DOC calls out dog owners after spate of kiwi killings in Bay of Island
ODT: Doc dolphin project unnecessary: expert
Joanne Naish (Press): West Coast dump owner charged for contaminating Grey River (paywalled)
SCHOOL LUNCHES
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): The ‘irony’ of David Seymour being in charge of school lunches
Kelly Dennett (Post): ‘These guys left us in the lurch’: David Seymour says Govt did due diligence on Libelle (paywalled)
RNZ: What school lunch provider Libelle's biggest problem was
Dita De Boni (Post): Unable to make a $3 school lunch work, Libelle liquidated owing $14.3m to almost 250 creditors (paywalled)
Robert MacCulloch: The School Lunch Fiasco is not our Politicians' fault. It stems from the NZ Treasury's wrong economic advice
EDUCATION
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Govt call for new reading, maths test system shocks principals
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Labour recommits to abolishing charter schools after Ginny Andersen comments criticised
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Tertiary institutions 'should not assume funding will be maintained'
Michael Johnston (Herald): Trades training is just as important as a university education
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): An apprenticeship is anything but second-best
RNZ: Father of Sophia Crestani. who died in Dunedin flat, 'horrified' by St Patrick's Day antics
ECONOMY
Brianna McIlraith (Stuff): Here’s why economists are wary ahead of the GDP data
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): An end to the recession? GDP figure may disappoint (paywalled)
David Hargreaves (Interest): NZ's current account deficit narrows by slightly less than expected
Liam Dann (Herald): Current account: New Zealand spent $26.4 billion more than it earned in 2024 – that’s an improvement (paywalled)
Cameron Smith (RNZ): NZ consumer confidence takes a hit as storm clouds gather
Dita De Boni (Post): Consumer confidence hits the skids in March, across all genders, ages and places (paywalled)
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): Dire consumer confidence doesn't bode well for NZ economic recovery (paywalled)
TRANSPORT, INFRASTRUCTURE
Anna Whyte (Post): Land value for Basin, second tunnel upgrade almost $100m (paywalled)
Tom Eley (Herald): Finance Minister Nicola Willis backs ‘growing’ Port of Tauranga
Tina Law (Press): Council almost refuses to ratify Government’s ‘outrageous’ speed limit laws (paywalled)
1News: NZTA decelerates plans for increasing speed limits on some highways
Maia Ingoe (RNZ): Speed limit reversals near schools: 'It doesn't make sense', Auckland principal says
Sinead Gill (Press): ‘A lot of words’: Christchurch sets transport strategy (paywalled)
Julie Jacobson (Post): Mid-city bus route taking $24k a week in fines (paywalled)
Kate Judson (Wairarapa Times-Age/Post): Forms of protest against unprecedented train pain grow (paywalled)
ENERGY
Richard Harman (Politik): Fears of a repeat power crisis (paywalled)
Richard Davison (ODT): Contact to fight wind farm decision (paywalled)
ODT: Consenting panel rejects $1b South Island wind farm
Jamie Gray (Herald): Warning Contact’s rejected wind farm project in Southland will delay NZ energy transition
BUSINESS, EMPLOYMENT, CONSUMER AFFAIRS
Ellen O’Dwyer (RNZ): Are you allowed to talk with your colleagues about what you're paid?
RNZ: More applicants, job ads remain flat - employment report
Stuff: Applications per job ad reach new peak as hiring demand flattens - SEEK
Rachael Judge (BusinessDesk): Employers beware: new crime to be introduced for intentionally withholding wages (paywalled)
Paddy Gower (Stuff): PayWave-style surcharges make me bloody angry – so let's ban them
Serena Solomon (RNZ): Can companies legally use Māori names?
Chris Keall (Herald): Farmers and Whitcoulls owner James Pascoe Group sends data breach notification to Privacy Commissioner (paywalled)
Peter Griffin (BusinessDesk): The Māori-led effort to build private 5G networks (paywalled)
Anne Gibson (Herald): Fletcher Construction suing waterproofers over liability for NZ International Convention Centre fire: June hearing (paywalled)
CORRECTIONS
Tumamao Harawira (Te Ao Māori News): Greens call for immediate release of Dean Wickliffe following alleged assault by prison guards
Layla Bailey-McDowell (RNZ): 'Not how kaumātua should be treated' - alleged beating of parolee Dean Wickliffe condemned
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira (RNZ): Prisoner Dean Wickliffe loses 17kg in hunger strike, lawyer says
Tumamao Harawira (Te Ao Māori News): Longtime lawbreaker goes on hunger strike following alleged assault by prison staff
Jack McDonald (Post): Dean Wickliffe case highlights urgent need for prison reform (paywalled)
MEDIA
BusinessDesk: NZME board battle: What makes a director independent and why does it matter?
Rebecca Stevenson (BusinessDesk): NZME board under siege: shareholder defends performance, CEO pay (paywalled)
HOUSING
Maddy Croad (Press): A baby in a tent, a granddad sleeping in a slide: Christchurch’s growing homelessness ‘epidemic’ (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Here's how much more renters are paying since Covid
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Is the rental market in trouble or not?
Greg Ninness (Interest): Housing market offering paltry returns for residential property investors
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Borrowers finding certainty in home loan 'rate war'
Herald: ‘Rate wars’ puts long-term mortgage-fixing back in the frame
Miriam Bell (Post): ‘Rate wars’ impacting on home buyer loan choices (paywalled)
OTHER
Lauren Crimp (RNZ): Oranga Tamariki gets 95,000 reports about possible at-risk children
Martien Lubberink (Newsroom): Orr’s resignation is time to secure banks with high capital buffers
Catherine Hutton (Open Justice Reporting): Judge Ema Aitken awaits her fate after a judicial review into the decision to investigate her
Lianne Dalziel (Newsroom): Not enough to applaud semi-automatic ban, PM must act
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Number of NZ foreign trusts down more than 80% since Panama Papers
Andrew Bevin (Newsroom): Police ‘urgently’ need more info on risky Bitcoin ATMs
Phil Thomson (Post): Five ways to fight retail crime, from a Kiwi tech CEO (paywalled)
Cartoons
