Republished with Permission
Author: Bryce Edwards
WAIKATO MEDICAL SCHOOL
Bryce Edwards (The Integrity Institute): Waikato Medical School – A Costly case study in policy capture
Adam Pearse (Herald): Neil Quigley denies conflict of interest as Reserve Bank chairman amid Waikato medical school deal (paywalled)
Giles Dexter and Jessica Hopkins (RNZ): Waikato University promises planned medical school won't be downsized despite less govt funding
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): New medical school at University of Waikato gets government go ahead
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): Waikato medical school approved after years of lobbying and controversy
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): ‘Otago is being overlooked’ (paywalled)
Ryan Bridge (Newstalk ZB): Should we be worried about the business of business cases?
Luke Malpass (Post): Waikato med school breaks decades-long duopoly (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Government announces $230m medical school at Waikato University
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Waikato medical school will go ahead, but only after ACT claims cost cutting
Anna Whyte (Post): Waikato Medical School approved with $83m from Government, but donors needed (paywalled)
PARLIAMENT, REGULATORY STANDARDS BILL
Chris Trotter (Interest): Over the next 15 months the clear strategic imperative for all three Coalition partners is break-out
Amanda Gillies (RNZ): The Detail: Urban, Māori and disconnected - the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election (paywalled)
Anne Salmond (Newsroom): New Zealanders deserve better
Luke Oldfield (ODT): Strike out power on Bill in Winston Peters’ hands
Michael Reddell: Rating our Ministers of Finance
EDUCATION, TRAINING
Julia Gabel (Herald): FamilyBoost: Just 153 families getting maximum $75 weekly childcare tax credit
John Gerritsen (RNZ): School curriculum rewrite had serious problems, managers considered using AI to help
Tim O’Connor (Herald): NCEA as we know it should be abolished (paywalled)
Laura Walters (Newsroom): From modern to modular: the revolving door of open-plan classrooms
Mark John (ODT): Single-cell classrooms are ideal: principal (paywalled)
Ava Whitworth (Stuff): Living on noodles and no heating: The realities of student poverty in Aotearoa
RNZ: Specialist education staff strike over pay and conditions
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, TRADE
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Defence spoke to tech company behind US-Mexico border security towers
Sam Smith (Stuff): Over 250 civilian jobs set to go from Defence Force as ‘tough’ fiscal environment bites
RNZ: Defence Force cuts 255 civilian roles to focus on front-line personnel
Anna Whyte (Post): PSA slams defence cuts during global tension (paywalled)
RNZ: NZ and allies condemn 'inhumane', 'horrifying' killings in Gaza and 'drip feeding of aid
BANKS, FINANCIAL SERVICES
Rob Stock (Post): ANZ makes case for ‘retrospective’ protection from class action (paywalled)
Jenny Ruth: Are NZ’s banks hiding something? (paywalled)
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Commerce Commission dismisses Federated Farmers’ bank collusion claim
Gyles Beckford (RNZ): Commerce Commission dismisses Federated Farmers complaint on net-zero banking
Rob Stock (Post): Commerce Commission finds no evidence of cartel behaviour in Net-Zero Banking Alliance (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Financial disputes resolution is ’not fit for purpose’: CAB (paywalled)
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): The dirty money delusion, AML, and ‘following the money’ into a dead end (paywalled)
ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING
Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): The government’s consistent, principled approach to economic data
Gyles Beckford (RNZ): Inflation hits 12-month high of 2.7%
Liam Dann (Herald): Inflation data delivers ‘green light’ for rate cut, but food prices cause concern (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): Inflation up 2.7% in 12 months to June 2025, but quarter rise lower than expected
Mandy Te (Interest): OCR cut in August - and another in October?
Mandy Te (Interest): Annual inflation rises to 2.7% in June quarter - slightly lower than expected
Andrew Patterson (Newsroom): Inflationary lift need not derail OCR cuts, economists say
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Lower-than-expected inflation boosts chance of August rate cut (paywalled)
1News: Inflation increases to 2.7% - Stats NZ
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): August rate cut still on the cards (paywalled)
Dan Brunskill (Interest): RBNZ should slash OCR to 2.25%, John Key says
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Surely Nicola Willis already knows why butter costs what it costs, says Labour. Not so, she says
Michael Daly (Stuff): Why food prices are rising much faster than overall inflation
Sanda Arambepola (Stuff): Prime Minister Christopher Luxon takes a shot at the price of butter - was he right?
FOREIGN INVESTMENT
Jane Kelsey (The Conversation): Why has a bill to relax foreign investment rules had so little scrutiny?
Melanie Nelson: NZ for Sale: What the Overseas Investment Act Changes Really Mean
Glen Jones (Post): It’s time to rethink NZ’s foreign buyer ban (paywalled)
HEALTH
RNZ: Advocacy group says vape product testing urgently needs to be increased
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): A new boss, a new directive, and a new cancer promise at Pharmac
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Associate Health Minister David Seymour warns Pharmac to modernise or risk falling behind
Katie Todd (RNZ): Needle exchange changes: 'It takes time to build up trust'
EMPLOYMENT
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Law change may need to be re-worded to do the trick for Uber (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): 'Difficult conversations' for employers if staff chat about pay, lawyers say
Bruce Cotterill (Herald): Why a new slave labour commissioner won’t change anything (paywalled)
Press Editorial (Post): This is not working (paywalled)
Amelia Wade (Sunday Star Times): Work, Interrupted: Where there’s hope in the broken job market (paywalled)
Avina Vidyadharan (Waikato Times/Post): Kiwi jobseekers on the move as market tightens and regional divide widens (paywalled)
Ganesh R Ahirao: Alex's employment pays $6.07 per hour
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): The "overqualified" jobseekers behind the dole numbers
JUSTICE, CRIME
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Planned terrorism law overhaul ‘slippery slope to authoritarianism’
Paula Penfold (Stuff): Justice appointee ‘resigns from everything’ after Stuff investigation reveals flawed CV
Audrey Young (Herald): Who can claim credit for the dramatic reduction in ram raids? (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): I thought National was supposed to be good with our money?
Federico Magrin (Post): New Zealand needs to step up to address femicide, researcher says (paywalled)
INFRASTRUCTURE
Nick James (RNZ): Government's $6b announcement has nothing new, Labour says
Thomas Manch (Post): Government's $6b infrastructure announcement welcomed by struggling sector (paywalled)
Helen Davidson (Post): Infrastructure future depends on reversing the engineering exodus (paywalled)
TRANSPORT
Nick James (RNZ): Can the national ticketing project get back on track?
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Loss of Sounds Air regional flights to impact healthcare access, connectivity
RNZ: Sounds Air cut flying routes as costs surge
1News: 'Devastated' Sounds Air to axe two routes, sell some aircraft
Herald: Regional airline Sounds Air forced to drop routes as it sells part of fleet
Alan Granville (Stuff): ‘Truly devastated’: Regional airline Sounds Air to sell off planes, drop routes
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Natalia Albert: Responsibility Without Power: Local Government’s Dilemma
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): Windbag: The government’s misleading case for rates caps
Spinoff: Why can’t we ever finish anything? A council planner at their wits’ end
Ruby Shaw (ODT): Councillors opposed to plan to remove wellbeing provisions (paywalled)
ODT Editorial: Boosting turnout at local elections (paywalled)
Linda Hall (Local Democracy Reporting): The district with just one local election candidate
Frances Chin (Post): Rates overhaul proposed to target Wellington landbanking (paywalled)
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): ‘Dirty politics’ prompts one more hat in Wellington’s mayoralty ring
Justin Wong (Post): District plan draws flood of submissions over waste site zoning (paywalled)
RNZ: Auckland mayor's chief of staff on leave after property development company goes bust
RNZ: 'We're doing this for Auckland': Opponents of rich-listers' private helipad file appeal
Torika Tokalau (Local Democracy Reporting): Warning on end of Auckland's alcohol licence freeze
David Long (Stuff): From warm community centre to dark car park: Black mould forces charity to serve meals outdoors
Robin Martin (RNZ): New Plymouth rates blunder caused by lack of financial reporting knowledge - review
RNZ: Work begins on Napier's $110m civic centre redevelopment
Tim Scott (ODT): Call to delay cycleway project (paywalled)
Tim Scott (ODT): Cycleway plan consultation to take place: ‘Distinct amount of unhappiness’
RNZ: Mackenzie District Mayor Anne Munro steps down as cancer worsens
WATER
Gerrit Doppenberg (ODT): Water back on the menu; Greenpeace blames farmers
Stuff: Gore residents can drink tap water again
RNZ: Havelock residents told to boil water as council seeks solution
1News: Temporary ultraviolet fix considered for Havelock water supply
Max Frethey (Local Democracy Reporting): Popular beach’s water quality downgraded to poor
HOUSING, BUILDING
Tom Hunt (Post): ‘Totally screwed over people’: Spending on empty Arlington site hits $50m (paywalled)
Miriam Bell (Post): Are 13,000 new granny flats on the way? Not likely (paywalled)
ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE CHANGE, PRIMARY INDUSTRIES
Cushla Norman (1News): Is food in NZ set to become cheaper and better – or just less regulated?
Eloise Gibson (RNZ): Can households really assess their own climate risk?
RNZ: MetService says location of new Tasman rain radar still to be decided
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Majority backs going with the flow
ODT: ORC’s flood repair bill nearly $4m (paywalled)
Monique Steele (RNZ): Fonterra's 6K low-emitting farmers set to benefit from Mars, Nestlé funds
Keith Woodford: Forestry can be a big plus for sheep and beef farmers but there are caveats
Jacqueline Rowarth (Herald): How green finance rules could harm NZ farming
POLICE
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): Police commissioner Chambers 'angry' and 'let down' following allegations against former deputy
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): Child exploitation and bestiality material allegedly found on former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming's work devices
Katie Ham (Stuff): Child sexual exploitation, bestiality material allegedly found on top cop’s work device
Shannon Pitman (Open Justice Reporting): Senior police manager alleges 'boys' club' culture among Northland detectives
ENERGY
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Seven-month delay shows gas ban repeal isn’t PM’s top priority
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Solar farms in investment pipeline could triple NZ’s power capacity
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): NZ’s fuel security plan ignores biogas amid global boom (paywalled)
Blayne Slabberrt (Press): Transpower defends $164m power upgrade (paywalled)
BUSINESS
Tom Pullar-Strecker (The Post): Government cools supermarket competition expectations amid crosswinds (paywalled)
Steven Cowan: Time for a rethink about supremarkets
Kate McVicar (NBR): Noel Leeming ‘baffled’ by ComCom criminal charges (paywalled)
Roeland van den Bergh and Alka Prasad (Post): Noel Leeming charged with multiple breaches of the Fair Trading Act (paywalled)
Herald: Commerce Commission files charges against Noel Leeming over ‘Price Promise’ claims
Liam Rātana (Spinoff): We keep measuring the Māori economy – but what are we actually counting?
Shane Te Pou (Herald): Rural economy is buoying Māori economy after Budget cuts to development funding (paywalled)
Nicholas Pointon (NBR): Company failures track upwards as IRD dials up enforcement (paywalled)
MEDIA
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Mediawatch: Ministers' 'helpful' handouts go multimedia
Gavin Ellis: Media in peril if Trump playbook falls open here
Philip Matthews (Press): The TikTok revolution: Reshaping the news one short video at a time (paywalled)
RETIREMENT
Kevin Norquay and Virginia Fallon (Sunday Star Times): Soup, Super and survival: The reality of growing old in NZ (paywalled)
Jane Wrightson (Sunday Star Times): Act now to get the future of NZ’s retirement system right (paywalled)
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): Should KiwiSaver evolve – or hold the line?
Gregor Thompson (BusinessDesk): Retirement sector faces reckoning over performance metrics (paywalled)
OTHER
Danyl McLauchlan (Herald): The politics of the second Covid inquiry (paywalled)
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): A different take on the Covid Inquiry
ODT Editorial: The costs of keeping City Hall and Alcohol’s uncomfortable truth (paywalled)
Benjamin Plummer (Herald): Run it straight concerns ignored by Government officials before death (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Legislation will clear up Investment Boost classifications (paywalled)
Tahu Kukutai (E-Tangata): Census change — can we make it work for us?
Moana Maniapoto (E-Tangata): Rainbows and rangatiratanga
Damien Grant (Stuff): What being ‘woke’ may really mean
1News: Haunting memories: new doco explores horror of growing up in 'care' in NZ
Emma Andrews (RNZ): The Stolen Children of Aotearoa uncovers chilling history
