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NZ Politics Daily: 30 January 2025

Republished with Permission

Author: Bryce Edwards

PRIVATISATION, ASSET SALES, ECONOMY
Janet Wilson (Post): The fear is getting real for National (paywalled)
Max Rashbrooke (Spinoff): How a failure of the imagination opens the door to privatisation
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Luxon stumbles into toxic privatisation debate
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): Privatisation fear sees opposition go on the attack
Herald: Sir John Key doubts asset sales will boost New Zealand economy, says ‘nothing to sell’
Richard Harman (Politik): Talking (and talking) about growth (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Christopher Luxon says New Zealand has been in recession for three years, Treasury disagrees
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Economy may be at turning point but beware 'slowbalisation' — Treasury (paywalled)
RNZ: RBNZ chief economist downbeat on economic outlook
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Willis aims for policy costing unit ahead of election
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Just some ideas to help NZ win the growthy-yessy arms race
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Government’s ‘Growth Budget’ to be released on May 22
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Willis promises legislative changes in Budget 2025
1News: Finance Minister reveals date for 2025 Budget
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Budget to be held on May 22 and focus on ‘growth’ (paywalled)
Terry Baucher (Interest): Buckle up. It's going to get very bumpy as President Trump, Nicola Willis and Inland Revenue set the tone for a busy tax year
David Hargreaves (Interest): RBNZ sees OCR as still 'restrictive' and says 'neutral' is between 2.5% and 3.5%
Kerre Woodham (Newstalk ZB): What have we got left to sell?
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): Which assets to sell? What about these ones?

PARLIAMENT
Anneke Smith (RNZ): NZ First refuses to back down over 'xenophobic' comments
Glenn McConnell and Jenna Lynch (Stuff): NZ First MP shouts ‘send the Mexicans home’ - as identity war sparks in Parliament
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Greens ask PM to condemn 'outwardly racist' rhetoric
RNZ: Watch: Christopher Luxon in the hot seat at first Question Time of 2025
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): Echo Chamber: Strap in for the first question time of 2025
Phil Smith (RNZ): The House: Parliament begins with farewells to the fallen
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): ‘The Prime Minister wants to give other people a chance to develop’ - Government’s quiet committee reshuffle
Chris Trotter (Democracy Project): Which sort of people? Liberal versus populist democracy
Greg Presland (The Standard): Later Stuart
RNZ: What the world is saying about the Jacinda Ardern documentary: Prime Minister
Caron Copek (Stuff): What Dame Jacinda Ardern had to say about the Prime Minister documentary
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Inquiry into marae data use raises concerns requiring investigation

TRANSPORT
Adam Burns and Samantha Gee (RNZ): Group on collision course with government over 'appalling' move to higher speeds
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): Is hiking speed limits really going to bolster productivity?
Tina Law (Press): New speed limit rules ‘undermine’ local decision making (paywalled)
Karanama Ruru (Stuff): Speed limit changes: How much of a difference will they actually make on the roads?
Nick James (RNZ): Users of first road to have speed reductions reversed mixed on change
RNZ: Speed limits start going back up, full list of roads announced
1News: Speed limits to increase on 38 sections of state highway network
Kate Judson and Piers Fuller (Wairarapa Times-Age/Post): Speed limit reductions reversals to begin (paywalled)
Matthew Martin (Waikato Times): Picking up the pace - new speed limits for Hamilton (paywalled)
Georgina Campbell (Heald): KiwiRail releases board members’ resignation letters, including David McLean’s, after Ombudsman intervenes (paywalled)
Sinead Gill (Press): KiwiRail delays contribute to $9m cycleway cost blowout (paywalled)
RNZ: Relief over opening of $130m road in Queenstown but clouds hang over next stages

HEALTH
Ian Powell (Newsroom): Reti’s velvet glove wore too thin for PM’s iron fist
Jo Moir (RNZ): Simeon Brown lines up ED wait times, primary healthcare for fix list
Kirsty Wild and Alistair Woodward (Newsroom): New minister’s track record doesn’t bode well for our health
Isaac Davison (Herald): Health NZ to be audited over growing surgery wait times, unequal access to operations
Peter de Graaf (RNZ): 'Significant clinical risk': Dargaville Hospital had overnight doctor only five out of 55 nights
Jenna Lynch (Stuff): Pharmac refusing to release culture review, boss understood to be on extended leave
Alexa Cook (RNZ): 'Predictable beginning' of health system collapse - General Practice Aotearoa
Soumya Bhamidipati (RNZ): Staff shortages key driver as more general practices turn away new patients
Anna Whyte (Post): Kids’ counselling line at risk of closure after funding cuts (paywalled)
Anita Gibbs (Newsroom): Will new health minister carry on good work on this lifelong disability?
Herald Editorial: Health worker shortages and cuts putting NZ mums and babies at risk (paywalled)
Robin Martin (RNZ): Roundup tops ACC list for herbicide, pesticide and insecticide injuries
RNZ: Pharmac reconsiders decision on HRT oestrogen patches
Imogen Wells (Stuff): Pharmac u-turns on menopause patches following public outrage
Blair Roxborough (Herald): Private healthcare and hospitals ease public system burden, they are not adversaries (paywalled)
1News: Water leak at Auckland City Hospital building, supply out for 10 hours
RNZ: Water cut off at Auckland Hospital overnight due to burst pipe
Ann David (Listener): Some doctors, care facilities and hospices obstructing patients’ right to die (paywalled)

MĀORI-CROWN RELATIONS
Sam Smith (Stuff): Ministry of Justice says Treaty referendum comes with ‘significant risk’
Julia Gabel (Herald): Treaty Principles Bill: Former Labour minister Kiri Allan slams ‘despicable’ Government actions ahead of oral submission
RNZ: Select Committee hearings on Treaty Principles Bill set to resume
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira (RNZ): Toitū te Tiriti file urgent Waitangi Tribunal claim on Regulatory Standards Bill

IMMIGRATION, DIGITAL NOMADS
Julia Gabel (Herald): New Zealand apologises for failing to consult Pacific countries on RSE worker changes
Brent Edwards (NBR): Stanford hints at changes to the immigration system (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Post): Wayne Brown urges Govt to ease Chinese visa conditions (paywalled)
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Thousands eye NZ's digi-nomad scheme, MPs challenge the policy
Miriam Bell (Post): Here’s how digital nomads could affect the rental market (paywalled)
Duoya Lu (RNZ): Visitor visa reform unlikely to woo Asian ‘digital nomads’
Jem Traylen (BusinessDesk): The art of luring wealth and talent to NZ (paywalled)
Gabi Lardies (Spinoff): The best and worst places to work remotely in New Zealand
Emma Stanford (Stuff): The best places to be a digital nomad in New Zealand

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Georgina Campbell (Herald): What Wellington City Council Crown observer Lindsay McKenzie said in his first report
Andrea Vance (Post): ‘It didn’t need to be this way’: Crown observer critical of Wellington council (paywalled)
Linda O’Reilly (Local Government Magazine): Mayoral power and the attraction of a benevolent dictator
Ethan Manera (Herald): Wellington Live owner Graham Bloxham announces mayoral bid, sale of Facebook page
Post: Wellington City Council nemesis claims he is vying to be mayor (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Post): Matt Doocey stuffed bed tax, Wayne Brown says (paywalled)
Nick James (RNZ): Dr Who exhibition joins list of loss makers at $180m Tākina convention centre
Jean Drage (Local Government Magazine): Local elections – let’s celebrate the positive
RNZ: Whanganui council signs off on 'world-first' draft relationship agreement with hapū
Grant Miller (ODT): Retaining railways is preference (paywalled)
Ruby Shaw (ODT): Days appear numbered for free Sunday parking in Dunedin CBD
Julie Asher (ODT): Shock as unknown reserves discovered (paywalled)
Meg Fulford (Greymouth Star/ODT): Quake-strengthening jeopardising town’s future, owner says (paywalled)

HOUSING
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): No-fault evictions back again amid claim of 'open-season on renters'
Caroline Williams (Stuff): Landlords can now evict tenants without cause. Here’s what you need to know
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Developer of apartments opposed by Christopher Luxon in High Court appeal (paywalled)
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): The Govt need to move on foreign buyers this year
David Hargreaves (Herald): Bank switching sends mortgage figures to highest level in three years
RNZ: $3.5m pricing gap opens up for highest and lowest suburbs in Auckland
Alka Prasad (Post): Auckland leads property price extremes with $3.61m gap (paywalled)

POLICE
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Police review use of system to identify number plates, combat retail crime
RNZ: Scrapping top iwi police role not diminishing its importance - commissioner
Matthew Martin (Waikato Times): Trolley cops may not be a good fit for Hamilton (paywalled)

BOOTCAMPS, CORRECTIONS, JUSTICE
Julia Gabel (Herald): Bootcamps: Te Pāti Māori MP says Karen Chhour does not understand ‘essence of being Māori’ in tense exchange
Roger Partridge (Herald): Supreme Court’s rush to judgment is a constitutional wake-up call (paywalled)
Neil Sands (Law News): Watchdog wants panel to examine pre-Christmas fracas at the Northern Club
Tom Hunt (Post): Drunk outside-the-wire: Another Rimutaka Prison community living breach alleged
RNZ: National MP calls for jury duty cut-off age to increase

FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TRADE
Shanti Mathias (Spinoff): Explaining the ‘diplomatic tiff’ between New Zealand and Kiribati
Nick Truebridge (Stuff): Police looking into threatening social media activity linked to 'Genocide Hotline'
RNZ: Activist John Minto defends 'Genocide hotline' after government condemnation
Herald: Police investigate social media message after ‘genocide hotline’ targets Israeli soldiers
Mike McRoberts (NBR): What Groser sees for NZ trade under Trump economy (paywalled)
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Ukraine ambassador grateful for support

BANKS
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): David Seymour wants bank capital rules reversed, asks Regulations Ministry for advice (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): NZ First’s Shane Jones joins forces with Australian MPs to fight ‘woke’ banks (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): Big Australian banks should face higher capital requirements than small banks, TSB tells MPs (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): Otago accountant tells MPs of farmers penalised for their ‘loyalty’ with higher loan rates (paywalled)
RNZ: One in five complaints to Banking Ombudsman scam-related in December quarter
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Price transparency for money transfers; 'the low hanging fruit of competition-based solutions for banking problems’

MEDIA
Graham Adams (The Platform): NZ Herald struggles with how to gain readers’ trust
Alexandra Andhov (The Conversation): As the ‘digital oligarchy’ grows in power, NZ will struggle to regulate its global reach and influence
Chelsea Daniels (Herald): Front Page: Facebook whistleblower urges NZ lawmakers to demand transparency from tech giants
Spinoff: The Fold: NZME’s pivot to video, TVNZ’s cricket hit and DeepSeek AI

EDUCATION
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Schools flout minister’s ‘ban’ on in-term teacher-only days
Herald: Front Page: Charter schools return, curriculum changes for students in 2025
Louise Ternouth (RNZ): Parents weigh options as cost of school holiday programmes climbs
Simon Brown (Post): The big payoff from teaching our kids financial literacy (paywalled)

ENERGY
Earl Bardsley (Interest): Is the Lake Onslow pumped storage scheme still on the political table?
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Final approval given for NZ's 'largest solar farm’ (paywalled)
Jamie Gray (Herald): Harmony, Clarus to build NZ’s biggest solar farm
Eloise Gibson (RNZ): Fonterra announces plans to slash fossil gas use by 38%

OTHER
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Government set to reveal NZ's climate targets beyond 2030
RNZ: Government releases artificial intelligence framework for use by public service
ODT Editorial: Privacy law support (paywalled)
Jaime Lyth (Herald): Kiwi found dead in Northland DoC trap
Alexa Cook (RNZ): Councils vote to overhaul Hawke's Bay emergency response after Cyclone Gabrielle
Jamie Gray (Herald): Forestry: NZ’s third-largest export – where it all began (paywalled)
Susan Hornsby-Geluk (Post): Understanding employment disputes and their unhappy endings (paywalled)
Rowan Simpson (Spinoff): Scrapping Callaghan Innovation is a necessary reset. But what comes next?
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Should foreign visitors pay to visit New Zealand museums?

Cartoons

Emmerson - NZ Herald 30 January 2025
Yeo - ODT 30 January 2025
Hubbard - The Post 30 January 2025

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