News Briefing: 11 February 2025
GOVERNMENT, PARLIAMENT, POLLS, PUBLIC SERVICE
Claire Trevett (Herald): Tension between Act’s David Seymour and PM Christopher Luxon spills over in public (paywalled)
Richard Harman (Politik): Seymour tells Luxon where to go (paywalled)
Matthew Hooton (Patreon): Seymour asking Luxon for the sack (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Herald): David Seymour takes aim at Christopher Luxon after PM calls Polkinghorne letter ‘ill-advised’
Giles Dexter (RNZ): ACT leader David Seymour defends letter to police about Philip Polkinghorne
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Chief Victims Advisor takes swipe at David Seymour's handling of criminal cases
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Labour calls for David Seymour to be sacked over Land Rover stunt on Parliament steps
RNZ: ACT lead David Seymour driving Land Rover up steps of Parliament a 'political sideshow' - PM
Adam Pearse (Herald): Security stops Act leader David Seymour driving Land Rover up Parliament steps
1News: Seymour's attempt to drive Land Rover up Parliament's steps halted
Harriet Laughton and Anna Whyte (Post): Seymour stopped by security for driving Land Rover up Parliament front steps (paywalled)
—————
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Voters’ Valentine’s message for Christopher Luxon: We’re just not that into you (paywalled)
1News: Poll: Left bloc could form govt as National slides
Glenn McConnell and Phoebe Utteridge (Stuff): Third major poll shows more support for Opposition than Government
RNZ: Taxpayers' Union–Curia Poll shows Labour and Greens could form government
Adam Pearse (Herald): New poll shows Labour/Greens/Te Pāti Māori with enough support to form next Government
Anna Whyte (Post): Latest polls suggest Labour-Greens-Te Pāti Māori could form a government
The Overhang 2.1 - Halfway(ish)
—————
Brent Edwards (NBR): Tackling the influence the wealthy have on the political process (paywalled)
Joseph Los’e (Herald): Manurewa Marae data misuse claims: Top police detective Ross McKay leading investigation into Te Pāti Māori
RNZ: Delayed release of Manurewa Marae inquiry report criticised
Maxine Jacobs (Press): Willis promises money in the pipeline for South Island’s ‘pressing needs’ (paywalled)
Spinoff: Gone By Lunchtime podcast: Winston wants a word with Mr Brown
Annika Naschitzki: Now more than ever, we need a strong Public Service Commission
Deb Te Kawa (BusinessDesk): Meetings, noise, and better public service decisions (paywalled)
WEALTH VISA, FOREIGN INVESTMENT, CORPORATE TAX CUTS, ECONOMY
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Why NZ's new looser 'golden visa' won't 'turbocharge' GDP
Robert MacCulloch: PM Luxon & Nicola Willis' Investor Visa Announcement is a Disgraceful Con-Job: NZ already has 4th highest level of Net Foreign Investment in OECD
Emma Ricketts (Spinoff): New Zealand’s investor visa changes, explained
Alice Neville (Spinoff): The visa changes to lure rich investors to Aotearoa, explained
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): NZ pulls the ‘golden visa’ emergency growth lever with Active Investor Plus visa changes (paywalled)
Joe Hendren: Remember kiddies, the National Party bought you Kim Dotcom
Greg Presland (Standard): Bring us your wealthy and your privileged
Chelsea Daniels (Herald): Front Page: Positives of NZ’s new approach to overseas investment ‘yet to be seen’
Nona Pelletier (RNZ): Visa changes 'going back to what worked' - immigration lawyer
Rebecca Stevenson (BusinessDesk): ‘We want your money, but not you’: what's really holding back the wealthy from investing in NZ (paywalled)
Simon Shepherd (NBR): Podcast: Golden Visas - the sequel (paywalled)
Luke Malpass (Post): The PM’s invite-only investment summit (paywalled)
1News: Govt's first quarterly action plan for 2025 includes investor summit
Luke Malpass (Post): Government to host international investment summit (Paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): The Government’s plan to attract more investment (paywalled)
Rob Campbell (Newsroom): Corporate tax cut is the wrong answer to the wrong question
David Hargreaves (Interest): Kiwibank economists to the RBNZ: 'Why wait? Why muck around?'
Jenny Ruth: RBNZ post-GFC measures helped limit the initial covid impact (paywalled)
Gareth Hutchens (RNZ): Inflation has fallen in Australia and NZ, but which is faring better?
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TRADE, DEFENCE, SPY AGENCIES
Giles Dexter and Caleb Fotheringham (RNZ): Explainer: The diplomatic row between New Zealand and the Cook Islands
RNZ: Opposition 'concerned' by diplomatic row between New Zealand government and the Cook Islands
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Should New Zealand invade the Cook Islands? (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Post): Frustrated New Zealand awaits details on China-Cook Islands agreement (paywalled)
Chelsea Daniels (Herald): Front Page: NZ-Pacific tensions rise as China strengthens regional ties
Eva Corlett (Guardian): New Zealand raises ‘concern’ as Cook Islands prepares to sign China deal
Thomas Tarurongo Wynne (Cook Islands News): Haka with the taniwha or dance with the dragon?
Robert Patman (Post): Why ‘softly-softly’ won’t work with Trump administration (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Luxon taking ‘wait and see’ approach to extra US tariffs on aluminium and steel (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Post): As Trump roils world order, US vessels pays Wellington a friendly visit (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Herald): US Coastguard ship Midgett moors in Wellington during Pacific mission
RNZ: State-linked Russian spies increasingly targeting NZ organisations - National Cyber Security Centre
Herald: Spy agency says online threats to NZ likely to intensify (paywalled)
Will Mace (NBR): Foreign interference bill meets civil liberties opposition (paywalled)
Caroline Forsyth (Newrsoom): The most destructive – and forgotten – conflict in our region
WAITANGI, MĀORI-CROWN RELATIONS
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (1News): Why Te Tii Marae lifted the media ban at Waitangi
Justin Tipa : Waitangi day speech: Taking issue: we are not radicals
Natalia Albert: Just Te Tiriti. No Democracy, No Capitalism: A Hypothetical Future
Mike McRoberts (NBR): The ‘leapfrog’ bid by Nelson Tenths descendants (paywalled)
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira (RNZ): Whangārei hāpu set to go back to court to battle housing development on sacred site
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WATER
David Farrar: Wellingtonians want a focus on the basics not the baubles
David Farrar: A mood for change in Wellington
Nick James (RNZ): Wellington's Golden Mile upgrade to begin in April
Rachel Moore (Stuff): ‘Welcome to cones central’: Auckland mayor Wayne Brown blasts roadworks and Auckland Transport
Julie Jacobson (Post): Begonia House battlers determined to stand up for the cause (paywalled)
Natalie Akoorie (RNZ): Waikato River settlement at risk in government's water plans - council
Yolisa Tswanya (Northern Advocate): Kāeo water crisis: Residents endure 10 years without safe tap water
Alisha Evans (Local Democracy Reporting): Mahe Drysdale still not living in Tauranga after seven months as mayor
Grant Miller (ODT): $150K in campaign funding unused (paywalled)
Torika Tokalau (Local Democracy Reporting): 'Lifetime of hurt': Memorial plans for unmarked graves gets underway
JUSTICE, CORRECTIONS, CRIME
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): Should the Law Society president have been reinstated? (paywalled)
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Low reoffending rates for private prison prompt $6m in bonuses
Luka Forman (RNZ): Prison pay rates need reform, advocates say
Lauren Crimp (RNZ): Concern kids could be put in harms way if supervised contact services centralised
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): More than $231 million taken from criminals over past five years
Neil Sands (Law News): Select committee report supports tougher sentences for crime
RNZ: Harsher sentences needed for assaults on officers, Police Association says
Angela Brazier (Herald): Firearms registry: Reducing gun crime, how licence holders are key
Mariné Lourens (Press/Post): The people providing mental health care behind bars (paywalled)
Sarah Daniell (Listener): Restorative justice: The NZ mum who met her daughter’s killer and found unexpected healing (paywalled)
Doug Laing (Herald): Farm lost over cannabis plants: Could the jailing of Napier man Shaun Allen be NZ’s last case to be heard by the Privy Council?
Mike White (Sunday Star Times): Long road to justice: The man who is taking his 30-year fight to the Privy Council (paywalled)
Christine McCarthy (The Conversation): ‘A relentlessly dull world’ – the case for adding more colour to NZ’s grey prisons
HEALTH, DISABILITY
RNZ: Emergency doctors and GPs warn new Health Minister government health targets will not be possible without more funding
RNZ: Union hits back at 'astonishing' Health NZ cuts
Emily Ireland (Local Democracy Reporting): McAnulty renews call for transparency over hospital out-of-court settlement
Angus Chambers (Herald): Primary healthcare crisis: Why better funding must be the Government’s top Budget priority (paywalled)
RNZ: Director of Public Health Nicholas Jones steps down
Michael Daly (Stuff): Director of Public Health Nicholas Jones steps down
ODT Editorial: Changing the guard at Health NZ (paywalled)
RNZ: Disability service provider's treatment of clients 'significantly concerning'
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Concerns aired on energy costs
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Woman 'really lucky' obstetrician available for emergency caesarian
Public Health Communication Centre Aotearoa: Global survey shows New Zealanders value science highly, prioritise public health
Fiona Cassie (NZ Doctor): New ground in tough times: Otago Medical School dean up for challenge (paywalled)
Laine Priestley (ODT): Art show to give aid to new uni department (paywalled)
PRIMARY AND EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES
Andrea Vance (Post): The court said DOC failed to protect sea life. The fishing industry is appealing (paywalled)
Mike Dinsdale (Northern Advocate): Environmental watchdog praises Whangaroa hapū for successful anti-mining campaign
Debbie Jamieson (Stuff): New survey shows growing support for kiwi food producers
Robin Martin (RNZ): Sea Shepherd vessel to call into Wellington on way to monitor krill harvest in Antarctica
ENVIRONMENT
Robin Martin (RNZ): Environmental group at odds with regulator over herbicide Roundup
David Hill (Local Democracy Reporting): Canterbury’s regional council is none the wiser on how to respond to large-scale solar farm applications, after seeking advice from a government agency last year
Rob Stock (Sunday Star Times): Brickbats and bouquets in the mix as product stewardship schemes assessed (paywalled)
David Williams (Newsroom): Court claim seeks to force water co-management
Will Harvie (Press/Post): Song and prayer as Ngāi Tahu freshwater case opens in Christchurch High Court (paywalled)
Justin Tipa (Press/Post): ‘First-come, first-served’ water allocation model bad for environment and economy (paywalled)
David Williams (Newsroom): Chathams carbon farming hits judicial judder bar
TRANSPORT
Tom Hunt (Post): Wellington transport changes predicted to slow peak city travel times (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): Nationwide public transport ticketing is coming - but this time really, truly and next year (paywalled)
Heather Gast (Spinoff): A retired anaesthetist on the difference between a crash at 80km/h and 100km/h
Keiller MacDuff (RNZ): Government backpedals on some automatic speed reversals, says consultation now possible
Emily Ireland (Local Democracy Reporting): Council set to throw weight behind new hill road
Whanganui Chronicle: Whanganui’s Wakefield Street Bridge closed to vehicles as district council seeks funding
Jessica Rosen (1News): New powers to ban poor quality vessels coming to NZ being considered
1News: Major warrant of fitness, CoF change proposed for some vehicles
RNZ: Mt Messenger Bypass tunneling begins
Justin Wong (post): Avalon skatepark to be officially opened (paywalled)
BUSINESS
Ernie Newman (Post): New consumer legislation must look 40 years ahead, not just 20 (paywalled)
Dita De Boni (Post): Raid on Netflix in Europe gives clues to Netflix NZ’s tiny tax bill (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Do supermarkets put prices up before Christmas? Consumer NZ wanted to find out
1News: Government eyes gift voucher laws change
Alice Peacock (Newsroom): Granting researchers IP ownership the right move to ‘attract entrepreneurial talent’
Andrew Bevin (Newsroom): Richlist chair tips mānuka science firm into receivership
Chris Keall (Herald): Tech Insider: Size of four rugby fields – Amazon buys more land in Auckland, Tesla’s sales knock, Kiwi joins Moonshot team (paywalled)
Dita De Boni (Post): ComCom asks for more detail on Woolworths proposal to buy ready-made meal maker (paywalled)
BANKS
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): NZ First introduces bill to fine ‘woke banks’ $500,00
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): NZ First introduces bill to fight ‘woke banks’
Dan Brunskill (Interest): NZ First proposes ‘Woke Bank’ law as banking inquiry considers recalling CEOs
Rob Stock (Post): NZ First introduces bill to end ‘woke ideology’ in banking (paywalled)
Cécile Meier (BusinessDesk): Banks catch up on lending requests after ‘unacceptable delays’ in December (paywalled)
MEDIA, MISINFORMATION
Gavin Ellis: Comedian’s press conference gatecrash no laughing matter
Madeleine Chapman (Spinoff): Guy Williams delivers a cautionary tale for armchair journalists
Sharon Brettkelly (RNZ): The Detail: A step up in fake news
Shayne Currie (Herald): Media Insider: The Platform employment case – former editor Ani O’Brien wins compensation after incidents involving host Sean Plunket (paywalled)
Deborah Morris (Post): The newspaper with its roots firmly in the Capital
Tracy Watkins (Post): 160 years of headlines: the big moments, told from the Capital
EDUCATION
Dave Armstrong (Post): A sad curtain call for beloved venue (paywalled)
Jamie Beaton (Herald): Why New Zealand needs a world Top 50 university (paywalled)
Hanna McCallum (Post): Enrolment figures up at Victoria University (paywalled)
WELFARE, RETIREMENT
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): NZ Super 'just another benefit', why should you be allowed to travel, economist says
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Why can't we stay overseas as long as we want when we get the pension?
Ryan Ward: Luxon uses Reagan’s playbook in blaming welfare recipients
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): Life in on a no-frills budget still getting tougher for pensioners
Ric Stevens (Open Justice Reporting): Ministry of Social Development found wrong to refuse $1026 payment for food at tangi
Cartoons
