Republished with Permission
Author: Bryce Edwards
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WATER
Janet Wilson (Post): Coalition finds a handy distraction in council bashing (paywalled)
ODT Editorial: Less of the bombast, please (paywalled)
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Government begins negotiations with councils for regional deals
Mandy Te (Interest): Negotiations start for 'city and regional deals’ begin
Herald: Government agrees to progress deals with three regions, reveals what’s on the table
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Government announces first three 'regional deal’ contenders (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (Post): Auckland, Otago and Western BoP sign up to negotiate deals with Goverment (paywalled)
Justin Wong (Post): Lower Hutt chips in $200,000 for new nationwide ratepayer loan scheme (paywalled)
Julie Asher (ODT): Home security allowance for councillors (paywalled)
Harriet Laughton (The Post): Diane Calvert rules out Wellington mayoralty run (paywalled)
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Why do we get exercised about helicopters?
Victor Waters (RNZ): 'We're cleaning up their mess' - oyster farmers want Watercare to deal with sewage overflow
Stephen Ward (Waikato Times): Hamilton CEO urges better elections turnout and ‘quality’ candidates (paywalled)
Waikato Times: Waitomo District Council opts for Waikato waters group
Robin Martin (RNZ): Mayor takes responsibility for 'typo' that could have cost council $20m
Anne Gibson (Herald): Centuria exits $2b Queenstown Lakeview Taumata project before construction begins (paywalled)
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): Iwi leader rebuts claims of consent power grab
Anna Sargent (RNZ): Cost blowout renews call to scrap council's Akaroa wastewater plans
Megan Wilson (Rotorua Daily Post): Rotorua Lakes Council adopts Annual Plan 2025/26 with 8.57% rates rise
Jonathan Leask (Local Democracy Reporting): Selwyn mayor hits back at rates rise criticism
Ruby Shaw (ODT): Councillors slam mayor’s ‘outrageous’ letter about Israel (paywalled)
Michael Fallow (Southland Times): Nobby Clark recovering from minor strokes
BUSINESS, TAX
Bryce Edwards (The Integrity Institute): Uber’s influence empire in New Zealand – A tax dodger’s political playbook
1News: Uber accused of not paying its fair share of taxes in NZ
Matt Nippert (Herald): New Zealand’s largest taxpayers revealed: Banks dominate with $2.5b contribution (paywalled)
Mike McRoberts (NBR): Why the ‘Māori tax advantage’ is a myth (paywalled)
Dita De Boni (The Post): Only a breakup will fix this, expert says after Foodstuffs warning (paywalled)
1News: Foodstuffs North Island warned for 'likely' breach of supply code
RNZ: Foodstuffs North Island warned over likely breach of grocery competition law
Stuff: Commerce Commission warns Foodstuffs North Island over ‘likely’ breach of grocery competition law
PARLIAMENT, PUBLIC SERVICE
Max Rashbrooke (Spinoff): David Seymour’s hypocrisy over drugs and poverty
Thomas Coughlan & Jamie Ensor (Herald): SOE pay ranked: Simeon Brown calls in officials as pay rises continue despite ‘significant’ underperformance (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Nine-year battle for fiscal hole unit ends as Act and NZ First block Nicola Willis’ proposal (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): Whanau vs Seymour: Petition to investigate deputy PM tops 8000 signatures (paywalled)
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): ‘DESTROY’, ‘DEMOLISH’ and ‘ROAST’: What’s up with the coalition and ANGRY YouTube posts?
Virginia Fallon (Post): In defence of ‘dickhead’, and Winston Peters (paywalled)
Ian Taylor (Stuff): Dear Jacinda, this is the most difficult letter I have written to you
Ethan Manera (Herald): Public sector job cuts: Uncertainty said to be ‘restraining’ Wellington’s housing market
YOUTH PARLIAMENT
Russell Palmer and Giles Dexter (RNZ): E-mail to Youth MPs 'could have been clearer' - Ministry
RNZ: Youth MPs stand by original speeches in wake of 'politically neutral' row
Tm Scott (ODT): Govt accused of ‘fear-mongering’ (paywalled)
Kelly Dennett (Post): The political lesson Youth MPs learned this week (paywalled)
REGULATORY STANDARDS BILL
Geoffrey Palmer (Newsroom): ‘Passing Regulatory Standards Bill will exact high political price’
Andrea Vance (Post): Spies flag national security risks in red-tape bill (paywalled)
Richard Prebble (Herald): Fiji’s path to equality offers lessons for New Zealand’s race debate (paywalled)
HEALTH
Nicholas Jones (Stuff): Why Birthcare shut its birthing facilities - and the ‘wicked problem’ hurting others
Mary Williams (ODT): Govt and construction giant reach agreement on hospital build
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): ACC to tighten claims process, reduce growth of people on long-term compensation (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (Post): Internal documents reveal Health Ministry shake-up (paywalled)
Janet Hoek (Newsroom): Can people who smoke make truly informed choices?
RNZ: 21,000 more operations will cut surgery waiting times - Simeon Brown
Michael Morrah (Herald): Amputees call for overhaul of NZ limb service amid delays and pain (paywalled)
Belinda Wheaton, Byron Rangiwai, Nicholas Bowden, Stephanie D’Souza (The Conversation): More than meds: why easier access to ADHD treatment has to be part of a whole-system approach
Gabi Lardies (Spinoff): Everything you need to know about Ozempic and Wegovy in New Zealand
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Do we need the Government to help fund Wegovy?
Dita De Boni (Post): Gout treatment, injectables, lipstick: ‘primary care’ expands at Green Cross Health (paywalled)
TRANSPORT
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): MoT to gauge market interest in toll road concessions (paywalled)
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): Ferry privatisation would just be excusing KiwiRail's shortcomings
Kerre Woodham (Newstalk ZB): Why do we struggle to run the Cook Strait ferry crossing?
1News: Cook Strait ferries: 'No nonsense' infrastructure deal — Peters
RNZ: Port companies and KiwiRail reach agreements over two new Cook Strait ferries
Kira Carrington (Stuff): Dublin St overbridge confirmed in post-iReX Picton plans
RNZ: New Cook Strait ferry due in Wellington
Emily Ireland (Local Democracy Reporting): Council supports advocacy for new Remutaka route
Caroline Shaw (Newsroom): Study questions health benefits of electric cars
ENERGY
Andrew Bevin (Newsroom): Gas prices ‘wildly inflated’ in botched Cabinet paper on $200m gas co-investment
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): Bulletin: Cold comfort as power prices climb and climb
RNZ: Pensioners pinching pennies to pay for power
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Why are we only now thinking of new energy ideas?
IMMIGRATION
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Parent Boost visa: Ministers warned of ‘significant uncertainty’ over migrant numbers, impact on health system (paywalled)
RNZ: Immigration levy could hit international student numbers, say universities
EDUCATION, TRAINING
Graham Adams (The Platform): Stanford’s sly Treaty move backfires
Azaria Howell (Newstalk ZB): A look at the Term 3 school lunches with 73% positive feedback
Alexa Cook (RNZ): Flood-damaged school furious and frustrated with 'crazy' timing of ERO report
Hanna McCallum (Post): Eight new industry boards to replace workforce councils (paywalled)
Ananish Chaudhuri (Post): There is a free speech crisis at our universities (paywalled)
Simon O’Connor: Funding silence
DEFENCE, FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Military suppliers respond to Defence Force gifts probe
Azaria Howell (Herald): New Zealand Defence Force warned of reputational damage in savings drive
Martin Gregory (International Socialists): New Zealand’s Place in a Changing World Order of Imperialism
PRIMARY AND EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES
Kerre Woodham (Newstalk ZB): Have we not learned from slash damage and flooding?
Gianina Schwanecke (RNZ): NZ no longer in a state of 'peak tractor'
Ella Scott-Fleming (ODT): Farm forestry ban too late to help: advocate
HOUSING
David Hargreaves (Interest): Non-performing housing loans still rising
Taylor Rice (1News): Mortgage rates: How low could they go?
Benn Bathgate (Waikato Times): Emergency housing hangover hits Hamilton motels hard (paywalled)
RETIREMENT
The Standard: National Wants to Increase Retirement Age to 67
Kevin Norquay (Sunday Star Times): Retirement: When $1m feels disappointingly small (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): KiwiSaver members to get one last chance at $521 government contribution
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): You can DIY your KiwiSaver, but should you?
OTHER
Graeme Edgeler: The Numbers – How the Electoral Act complicates the Govt’s plan to be rid of the Census
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Te Puni Kōkiri cagey on when funding review will actually be released
Stuff: Chances of reconnecting with lost taxpayer-funded satellite ‘very slim’, professor says
Eloise Gibson (RNZ): Taxpayer funded satellite likely "irrecoverable" after losing contact with the ground
Felix Walton (RNZ): NIWA says weather agencies' merger set to fix gaps exposed by Cyclone Gabrielle
Layla Bailey-McDowell (RNZ): Māori landowners take Crown to High court over freshwater rights
Timothy O’Farrell (Spinoff): The New Zealand cyclist, the Israeli team and a geopolitical storm
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): Will NZ’s big bet on online gambling pay off?
Amanda Gillies (RNZ): The Detail: It's no longer illegal to be a proudly violent Proud Boy
Cartoons
