Republished with Permission
Author: Bryce Edwards
HEALTH
Kate Green, Ruth Hill and Phil Pennington (RNZ): Health Commissioner to seek apology after 'cooking the books' accusation
Tom Day (1News): 'Cooking the books' – Levy strongly rejects Verrall's claims
Bridie Witton (Stuff): What we learned after a six-hour health select committee scrutiny hearing
Bridie Witton (Stuff): MPs ‘verging on being disorderly’ at Health NZ scrutiny hearing
ODT Editorial: Health funding smoke and mirrors (paywalled)
Rachel Thomas (Post): Health NZ commissioner promises reset plans, shorter wait times soon (paywalled)
RNZ: Health NZ deficit grows after Auditor-General intervenes
RNZ: Health NZ says nursing hires one of reason for deficit
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Moving specialist services to Chch not ruled out
Phil Smith (RNZ): Peek-a-boo politics: Scrutiny in the dark
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Is your local hospital's 'horizontal infrastructure' up to the task?
Daniel Perese (Te Ao Māori News): Over a third of disabled Māori don’t receive any support - Lady Tureti Moxon
Te Rina Kowhai (Te Ao Māori News): Māori and rural children suffer significantly worse appendicitis
Emma Andrews (RNZ): Free vape samples coincide with vaping increase
Jennifer Shields (Spinoff): Gender-affirming care affects a small minority – so why the public consultation?
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Tom Hunt (Post): Political or not? Texts raise questions about ‘apolitical’ Wellington group (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): 'Love it': PM and senior minister in loop on ‘politically neutral’ Wellington group (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Post): Emerging water entities mostly two to four councils strong (paywalled)
Caro Robertson (Spinoff): Why the City to Sea Bridge is not just another relic to save
Nick James (RNZ): City to sea bridge: Councillor pushes for delayed decision
Julie Jacobson (Post): Potential reprieve for Wellington's City to Sea bridge as vote to demolish it looms (paywalled)
Andrea Vance (Post): Wellington council rep Liz Kelly sorry for ‘culturally inappropriate’ remarks (paywalled)RNZ: 'If it's sound, why pull it down?': Son of couple who gifted Begonia House
Harriet Laughton (Post): ‘Safety spots’ part of new plan to keep inner city safe
RNZ: Less than 10 days to fix a leak, Wellington Water promises
RNZ: New $68m pool opened in Lower Hutt's Naenae
RNZ: Auckland Council sells remaining stake in Auckland Airport
Brianna McIlraith (Stuff): Auckland Council sells its stake in Auckland Airport for $1.31 billion
Roeland van den Bergh (Post): Auckland Council raises $1.31 billion from remainder of its Auckland Airport shares (paywalled)
Mare Haimona-Riki (Te Ao Māori News): Aucklanders called to help shape environmental future
Sharon Brettkelly (RNZ): The Detail: The south Auckland township that's a city in the making
Emily Ireland (Local Democracy Reporting): Masterton opts out of Wellington water proposal (paywalled)
Max Frethey (Local Democracy Reporting): 1100 properties wrongly included in Nelson hazard maps
Crux: Regulator ORC caves in to Queenstown commercial pressure (paywalled)
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Otago Regional Councillors on both sides unhappy with ‘timid’ climate strategy (paywalled)
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Southland wallaby eludes hunt that cost $34k
GOVERNMENT, PARLIAMENT, YEAR IN REVIEW
Peter Dunne: Luxon's Political Communication Challenge
Anna Murray (1News): Ticking off the to-do list: What does the Govt have in store for 2025?
Thomas Manch (Post): Prime minister marks down his own department (paywalled)
Simon Shepherd (NBR): Podcast 35: Has the PM met his KPIs? (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Prime Minister Christopher Luxon sells another investment property
Esther Taunton (Stuff): PM Christopher Luxon sells third property of 2024
Ben Thomas (Post): A dig into the polling stats has warnings for both Luxon and Hipkins (paywalled)
The Hui: The Hui reflects as a big year for Māori draws to a close
Sam Smith (Stuff): Te Pāti Māori MP named in the BBC’s the top 100 women of 2024
EDUCATION
Pretoria Gordon and Mary Argue (RNZ): Universities criticise Marsden Fund cuts, business group backs the move
Ben Andrews (ODT): Humanities research cuts ‘disastrous’ (paywalled)
Anne Salmond (Newsroom): Govt de-funding the mind
Pretoria Gordon and Mary Argue (RNZ): Government's Marsden Fund cuts: All humanities, social sciences research funding slashed
Juha Saarinen (Interest): Scientists slam government's changes to Marsden and Catalyst funds
David Farrar: Marsden Fund dewoked
RNZ: Māori Education Action Plan released
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Boys bring NZ higher in major international maths and science test
Sophie Lapsley (Press/Post): Meal sizes and delivery woes - Tension rises over Government’s school lunch scheme
Hanna McCallum (Post): NZ’s international student numbers grow by 6% (paywalled)
WELFARE
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Almost a quarter of beneficiaries being paid incorrectly - report
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Ministry for Social Development ‘concerned’ one-in-four beneficiaries are paid wrong
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): New welfare sanctions could stop families paying rent, officials warn
CHILD WELFARE, ABUSE IN CARE
Ellen O’Dwyer (RNZ): MSD's compensation to survivors of abuse in care 'arbitrary' - Chief Ombudsman
RNZ: Evidence found of inhumane treatment at facility for intellectually disabled children
There are links to 60 items above in today’s free version of “NZ Politics Daily”. But below the paywall there are an additional 95 categorised items, and today’s newspaper cartoons.
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