News Briefing: 13 February 2025
GOVERNMENT, PARLIAMENT
Barry Soper (Herald): David Seymour’s actions test Christopher Luxon’s coalition leadership
Verity Johnson (Stuff): Chill, David Seymour isn’t NZ’s Trump
Anna Rawhiti-Connell (Spinoff): Christopher Luxon’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week
RNZ: New Zealand slips further down global corruption list
No Right Turn: Its almost as if there's a pattern here...
William Terite (PMN): Why is NZ no longer a global leader in transparency?
David Harvey: The Regulatory Standards Bill Proposals - Part 1
Herald: David Seymour’s Land Rover comments come under Speaker Gerry Brownlee’s scrutiny
Phil Smith (RNZ): The House: Are there rules and punishments for MP misbehaviour?
Andrew Gunn: David Seymour Knows All The Facts
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Sth Island minister rejects ‘token’ label
Emma Gleason (Herald): Prime Minister Christopher Luxon draws the attention of famous menswear commentator Derek Guy
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Te Pāti Māori MP 'deliberately misled' House - made to apologise
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris ‘deliberately misled’ House, should apologise – committee
Graham Adams (The Platform): Hipkins treads a slippery path on democracy
ECONOMY, PRIVATISATION, COST OF LIVING
1News: Poll: Do Kiwis support greater privatisation?
Ryan Ward: NZ Initiative would like you to stop being "paranoid" about corporations buying your government
Holly Bennett (Spinoff): The opportunity for penance in privatisation
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Just 573 of 21,000 eligible families getting full $150 childcare tax credit
Guyon Espiner (Listener): PM sets himself up for a do or die scenario (paywalled)
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Five figures show the true state of the economy, and the Government’s challenge
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Here's how many more people might lose jobs before economic cycle turns
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): Business doubts about National’s growth tactics growing
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Visitor applications fall despite nomad visa changes
Fox Meyer (Newsroom): Govt looks to emulate models of global tech success – without the funding
Ben Kepes (Press/Post): If prosperity is the game, we need to play to win (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Here's why spending might pick up faster this time
HEALTH
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Frontline mental health cash used for controversial fund
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Brown declines to express confidence in Health NZ Commissioner
Isaac Davison (Herald): Health NZ faces urgent legal action over thousands of proposed job cuts
RNZ: Union launches legal action against Health NZ to try to halt job cuts
1News: Union files legal action against Health NZ over proposed cuts
Rachel Thomas (Post): Union takes legal action over Health NZ’s planned job cuts (paywalled)
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): Residents vow to fight Palmerston North Hospital's pause on surveillance colonoscopies
Alecia Rousseau (Manawatū Standard): MidCentral colonoscopy pause ‘a symptom of underfunding’
Martin Johnston (NZ Doctor): Trumpism claimed in ‘fake news’ wrangle (paywalled)
Don Wiseman (RNZ): New report reveals Covid-19's disproportionate impact on Māori and Pacific people
Jessica Hopkins (RNZ): Whangārei District Council continues to hold out against fluoridation despite government directive
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): New ACC Minister says about 12,000 long-term claimants should be back at work (paywalled)
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Could $50b ACC investment fund be better managed? Minister Andrew Bayly commissions review
Te Aniwaniwa Paterson (Te Ao Māori News): Telehealth bridges healthcare gaps for rural New Zealand whānau
Stephen Forbes (NZ Doctor): Third Age Health sees profit surge in Q3 (paywalled)
Public Health Communications Centre: Communicating public health evidence: Two highly productive years for the PHCC
EDUCATION
Cécile Meier (BusinessDesk): Compass’ secret bonus $8.9m school lunch contract (paywalled)
Virginia Fallon (Post): Let them eat cray
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Teacher association steps back from 'unreliable' Education Ministry
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Removing teacher requirements could be devastating, Teaching Council says
Herald Editorial: Missing lunches and missing buses – is New Zealand failing its schoolchildren? (paywalled)
RNZ: Teens hitch-hike to school after school bus route cut
Benjamin Plummer (Herald): West Auckland school Kelston Intermediate turns to sausage sizzles after struggles with lunch delays
Hanna McCallum (Post): $100 million for Wellington Girls’ College building works (paywalled)
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TRADE
Thomas Manch (Post): Cook Islands rumble risks becoming major Pacific rupture (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Peters would never dare use such a tone talking to bigger nations
Gwen McClure (RNZ): The Detail: Geopolitical games in the South Pacific
Liam Hehir (The Blue Review): The Realm of New Zealand is not an open relationship
Don Wiseman (RNZ): New Zealand urged not to overreact in Cook Islands dispute
ODT Editorial: Choices for the Cook Islands (paywalled)
John Braddock (World Socialists): New Zealand government alarmed by Cook Islands deal with China
Thomas Manch (Post): Foreign interference legislation opposed by peace activists, backed by China critics (paywalled)
Josh Wineera (Post): Could Five Eyes be the price NZ pays for under-investment in defence? (paywalled)
Taimor Hazou (Spinoff): Not in our name: A call for principled advocacy for Palestinian rights
FISHING
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Shane Jones wants to stop the public from viewing footage from commercial fishing boats
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Major shake-up of fishing quota system on the way
Andrea Vance (Post): Shane Jones overhauls fisheries management, hints at further deregulation (paywalled
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): Shane Jones doesn’t want you to see footage from fishing boats
HOUSING
RNZ: 'Not clear exactly' where evicted Kāinga Ora tenants will go, CEO says
Simon Moutter (Herald): Kāinga Ora changes: Time for Kiwis to change their attitude to state housing tenants
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Minister accused of breaking personal pledge on house building
Francesca Rudkin (Newstalk ZB): Kainga Ora's crack down on rental debt is fair
Kelly Makiha (Rotorua Daily Post): Rotorua homeless debate: Operation Feed the People protest over police’s Operation Trolley
Jenny Ling (Northern Advocate): Northland rental crisis: Families spend more than half their income on rent
Harriet Laughton (Post): Te Toi Mahana’s new CEO ready to tackle housing problems (paywalled)
James Graham (The Conversation): To achieve real growth, the NZ government needs to relax the rules around housing
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Flat hunting? Here's why a landlord can't ask whether you have got a job
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Covid hangover: 9% of homes selling for a loss
Miriam Bell (Post): Nearly one-in-10 property sellers makes a loss (paywalled)
Brianna McIlraith (Stuff): How property prices have changed in a decade
1News: 'Early signs of gentle turnaround' in property market - CoreLogic
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Andrea Vance (Post): ‘Frustration, division, re-litigation’: Observer criticises council process (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): Mayor listening to Wellington, ‘not Government’, as $46m spend looms
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington’s Golden Mile design revealed but Tory Whanau’s legacy on fragile ground
Nick James (RNZ): Wellington's Golden Mile upgrade final design revealed
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): Watch: This is what Wellington’s Courtenay Pl Golden Mile will look like - and what Tory Whanau has to say about it
Harriet Laughton (Post): First look at refreshed Golden Mile plans
David Farrar: Wellington Poll Results Part 3
Kate Green (RNZ): Could Wellington's begonia house be saved from demolition?
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): Mayor backs keeping Begonia House
Julie Jacobson (Post): Mayor throws weight behind Begonia House (paywalled)
Justin Hu (1News): Auckland mayoralty race: Wayne Brown campaign site re-registered
Mark Thomas (Newsroom): Only an innovative Auckland can turn around NZ’s performance
Cameron Bagrie (BusinessDesk): The turbo-charging of rates must stop (paywalled)
Sinead Gill (Press): Rates rise will be lower, but method criticised as ‘misleading’ (paywalled)
Stephen Ward (Waikato Times): $2.6m-plus Plan Change 9 spend - ‘wasting money’ or vital work? (paywalled)
Grant Miller (ODT): Mayor warns about mounting council debt (paywalled)
Local Democracy Reporting: Hawke's Bay elections: Two councillors to step down, mayors confirm bids
Maia Hart (Local Democracy Reporting): Iwi loses High Court challenge against beach vehicle bylaw
ENERGY
Russell Palmer (RNZ): 'Winter is coming': Energy minister says next 150 days will be challenging
1News: Task force proposes three ways to bring down power prices
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): How solar power systems might start offering better returns
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Power regulator throws bones to consumers as Government advances broader review (paywalled)
Jamie Gray (Herald): NZ power prices set to stay elevated in 2025 (paywalled)
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Huntly electricity talks a sign of market failure, says Jones (paywalled)
RNZ: Why the Huntly power station could stay open for longer
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Big four power firms discuss joining forces to keep coal burning at Huntly
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Gentailers working together to keep Huntly running (paywalled)
BANKS
Rob Stock (Post): ‘Fat, dumb and lazy’ banks get roasted in Parliament (paywalled)
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Finance and Expenditure Committee to grill bank bosses again; ASB CEO Vittoria Shortt happy to ‘get the facts on the table’ (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): ASB boss Vittoria Shortt to return to Parliament for second grilling (paywalled)
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): ASB CEO Vittoria Shortt warns of 'unintended consequences' from 'Woke Bank Bill'
Rob Stock (Post): ASB posts six-month profit rise on back of higher margins on mortgages (paywalled)
RNZ: ASB bounces back with net profit rising to $763m
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): ASB interim profit rises as net interest margin climbs
David Chaston (Interest): ASB cuts again, prioritising borrowers over savers
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): ASB lowers rates, broker expects more cuts to come
David Hargreaves (Interest): New mortgage takers benefit from rate falls - existing customers not so much
MEDIA
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Government releases proposals to level media playing field
Shayne Currie (Herald): Media Insider: Global streamers such as Netflix would be forced to invest in NZ content under new Government media proposals (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker and André Chumko (Post): Netflix may need to invest in local shows, but little relief for news media (paywalled)
Juha Saarinen (Interest): Wide-ranging New Zealand media regulation reform proposed
Alex Casey (Spinoff): Finally, change is coming to the media and screen industry – but what?
BUSINESS, EMPLOYMENT
Luke Malpass (Post): Willis ready to take aim at supermarket duopoly (paywalled)
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): How a planned Wānaka McDonald’s came to be about more than just fast food
Adam Burns (RNZ): Wānaka McDonalds opponents fear consenting process overhaul
Rawan Saadi (ODT): Not necessarily a goneburger idea
Delphine Herbert (RNZ): Wānaka McDonald's consent application declined
Crux: Wānaka McDonald's consent application declined
Monique Steele (RNZ): Wood mill revival 'best news' for NZ, marks 'new chapter' - new GM
Liz Coats (Newsroom): New rules for bosses and workers
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): The $200k role in high demand
TRANSPORT
Samantha Gee (RNZ): Government called on to 'have the guts' to reverse speed limit plan for Nelson
1News: 'Exciting milestone': Auckland City Rail Link train testing tonight
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): First test train for City Rail Link, land sales still some way off (paywalled)
OTHER
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Under-investigation firm can still operate as immigration consultancy
David Williams (Newsroom): ‘Our tribe was made landless in modern times’
Lianne Dalziel (Newsroom): Waitangi Day a reminder we cannot allow the worst of us to represent who we are
Maioha Panapa (Te Ao Māori News): Oral submissions on Boot Camp Bill underway in parliament
Chelsea Daniels (Herald): Front Page: Auckland Pride warns of US influence on NZ anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): New Zealand’s risk-averse approach to AI has its critics, and defenders (paywalled)
Peter Griffin (BusinessDesk): The AI guardrails schism – where should NZ stand? (paywalled)
Nick Clark (Herald): Time to modernise New Zealand’s gene technology rules (paywalled)
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Public health experts pitch 'Swiss cheese model' for gun reforms
Public Health Communication Centre Aotearoa: Good firearms law needs multiple defensive layers: The Swiss cheese model
David Harvey (Law News): When freedom of expression collides with the Harmful Digital Communications Act
Cartoons
The Lego Beehive rocks