Republished with Permission
Author: Bryce Edwards
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
