News Briefing: 5 February 2025
WAITANGI, MĀORI-CROWN RELATIONS
Adam Pearse & Julia Gabel (Herald): Te Pāti Māori to demand a new Te Tiriti Commissioner to audit Government policy
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Te Pāti Māori issues coalition ultimatum, naming Treaty Commissioner as a 'bottom line'
RNZ: Te Pāti Māori re-commits to Te Tiriti Commissioner
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): Te Pāti Māori’s ultimatum poses a challenge to Labour
David Farrar: Te Pāti Māori says ending democracy is non-negotiable
Jo Moir and Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Politicians to be welcomed at Waitangi but not all will be there
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Māori will continue their work with or without Govt
Adam Pearse (Herald): Organisers hopeful protests won’t disrupt Government pōwhiri
Glenn McConnell and Stephen Ward (Post): Seymour and iwi set to face off at Waitangi (paywalled)
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): No prime minister, no problem: Māori prepare for big day at Waitangi
RNZ: Christopher Luxon defends decision to skip events in Waitangi
Shane Jones (Herald): Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven
Carwyn Jones (Post): We all benefit when Te Tiriti o Waitangi is respected (paywalled)
No Right Turn: Te Tiriti needs a guardian
Newsroom: Waitangi: authors vs Seymour
Simon Wilson (Herald): Waitangi: It’s all about weaving, singing and even dancing (paywalled)
Ella Stewart (RNZ): The day the Māori Queen came to Waitangi
Liam Rātana (Spinoff): What does the future hold for the Kīngitanga and te Tiriti?
RNZ: Iwi leaders talk goals, political situations, unity at Iwi Chairs Forum
Matthew Hooton (Patreon): Two Waitangi points (paywalled)
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): My theory on why the PM is avoiding Waitangi
Te Kitohi Pikaahu (Post): This is an accord centred around belonging (paywalled)
Peter de Graaf (RNZ): Roads closed to avoid repeat of last year's Waitangi Day traffic chaos
Sam Smith (Stuff): A legacy of protest at Waitangi
Spinoff: A Te Tiriti reading (and watching and listening) guide
Angela Wanhalla and Jacinta Ruru (The Conservation): Books of mana: 10 essential reads for Waitangi Day
HOUSING
Adam Burns (RNZ): Homelessness to get worse under new Kāinga Ora plan, housing provider warns
RNZ: Opposition criticises Kāinga Ora 'turnaround' plan
1News: Govt outlines 'turnaround plan' for 'underperforming' Kāinga Ora
Dan Brunskill (Interest): New Kāinga Ora plan halts public housing growth
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Housing Minister Chris Bishop reveals Kāinga Ora’s turnaround plan to reduce deficit
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Chris Bishop releases Kāinga Ora ‘turnaround plan’
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Kāinga Ora to sell properties in wealthy suburbs as part of turnaround plan (paywalled)
RNZ: Kainga Ora 'turnaround' plan: Govt looking into sale of 200 homes worth about $2m each
RNZ: Chris Bishop reveals plan to 'turn around' Kāinga Ora
Anna Whyte (Post): Kāinga Ora ‘turnaround plan’ announced following review (paywalled)
Brent Melville (NBR): Not a ‘fire sale’: Kāinga Ora aims to slash debt by $1.8b (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Economist warns Kiwis not to 'bet the house' on housing market
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Where are the mortgagee sales?
Nick James (RNZ): Average Wellington house prices plummet nearly 25 percent in latest official valuations
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Wellington city property valuations plummet 24%, no suburb unscathed
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): Wellington homeowners should not get their hopes up: lower RV does not mean lower rates
Tom Hunt (Post): Winners and losers in Wellington rates values as houses plummet by 24.4% (paywalled)
Greg Ninness (Interest): New dwelling consents down a third last year compared to 2022 peak
Mary Argue (RNZ): Need a builder? Homeowners told to capitalise on market conditions
PARLIAMENT
Stuff: New poll has centre-left with enough support to govern
No Right Turn: An appropriate process?
Jem Traylen (BusinessDesk): Business of Government: Sidestepping the inevitable Waitangi politics, and more (paywalled)
Ben Moore (BusinessDesk): DIA on track with public service GenAI guidance (paywalled)
ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE CHANGE
Eloise Gibson (RNZ): Climate Change Commission backs 'reviewing' free carbon credits for big polluters
Dan Brunskill (Interest): David Seymour wants New Zealand to copy Trump and withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Is it time we pull out of Paris?
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): I'm torn on the Paris climate agreement
ODT Editorial: Reality getting in the way of aspirations (paywalled)
Fox Meyer (Newsroom): GMO-free NZ set to make ‘radical’ reset on gene tech – expert
Evan Harding (Southland Times): Landowners urged to create wetland areas
BANKS
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Some MPs may be forgetting private businesses are allowed to choose who they lend money to
Rachel Maher (Herald): PM Luxon criticises banks for ‘political posturing’ after refusal to fund coal mining, petrol stations
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TRADE
RNZ: Winston Peters to meet Mexican ambassador after MP's 'racist' comments
Adam Pearse (Herald): Mexican Ambassador to have ‘friendly’ meeting with Foreign Minister Winston Peters as crowds set to swell
Caleb Fotheringham (RNZ): Winston Peters' handling of Kiribati relations criticised by Pacific expert
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Concern Trump's 'eye of Sauron' is eyeing up New Zealand
Karanama Ruru (Stuff): Government will ‘engage respectfully’ with United States amidst Trump’s tariffs
Liam Dann (Herald): Inside Economics: Trump’s trade war – What are tariffs? Who pays them and why they’ll hit you in the back pocket (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Hope for NZ trade ‘turning point’ despite Trump tariffs
RNZ: Credibility of the US in the Pacific at risk if USAID programmes cut - expert
ECONOMY, TAX. TOURISM
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Nicola Willis talks up business-friendly tax tweaks ahead of Budget 2025 (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Corporate income tax back under the spotlight as Budget draws nearer (paywalled)
Luke Malpass (Post): ‘I want to be bold’: Willis puts corporate tax on the Budget table (paywalled)
Kerre Woodham (Newstalk ZB): Taxation is a finely balanced thing
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Reserve Bank criticised for staff numbers, but is it fair?
Richard Prebble (Herald): Why Labour’s stance on economic growth risks political isolation (paywalled)
Chelsea Daniels (Front Page): High rents and lack of housing: NZ to welcome digital nomads, but at what cost?
Grant Bradley (Herald): A world of worry: The clouds over New Zealand’s tourism recovery (paywalled)
BUSINESS, EMPLOYMENT
David Burton (Post): When ‘vulnerable employees’ bear the weight of cost-cutting
Gyles Beckford (RNZ): Unemployment forecast to hit four-year high, with rise to 5.1%
Tony Wall (Stuff): Asbestos scare at Ballance fertiliser plant in Tauranga
Gregor Thompson (BusinessDesk): Ex-contractors reveal Harvey Norman business model pressures (paywalled)
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Real estate agent Janet Dickson loses court fight over compulsory Māori course
RNZ: Realtor Janet Dickson loses challenge over compulsory Māori values course
RNZ: 'Disappointed': Bed, Bath and Beyond criticised for calling 27, 374 sales of non-compliant items 'isolated oversights'
Ben Moore (BusinessDesk): Govt inaction on cheap tech security risks 'gobsmacking', says expert (paywalled)
Nona Pelletier (RNZ): Outlook for small businesses encouraging, despite economic uncertainties - MYOB
Michael Wright (Press/Post): New Year hangover: company liquidations jump in January (paywalled)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Ashleigh McCaull (RNZ): Wellington Water boss admits relying too much on contractors, requests more funding
Nick James (RNZ): Wellington Water to ask council for more money
Harriet Laughton (Post): Wellington Water asks for more millions to get house in order (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: Auckland Council should run ruler over Western Springs speedway decision (paywalled)
Sarah Curtis (Northern Advocate): Māori landowner wins rates battle, $110,000 debt wiped by council
RNZ: Kiwis feel worse about their quality of life, but it's getting better - survey
ODT: Dunedin quality of life best in NZ: survey
Sinead Gill (Press): ‘Keep it on the D-low’: Christchurch rated best place to live (paywalled)
Chris Lynch: Christchurch survey shows decline in climate change concern
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Council can’t find who to offer this piece of land back to
Gwynn Compton: Kāpiti council CE finally apologises for Kool-Aid comment
David Hill (Local Democracy Reporting): Rangiora’s growing carpark needs: Is paid parking the answer?
Robin Martin (RNZ): New Plymouth trees face chop as part of $10m centre city makeover
RNZ: Auckland Council's off-leash rule changes at popular dog park over-the-top - pet owner
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): ‘40 cents a flush’: Council works out the cost of using a public toilet
Emily Ireland (Local Democracy Reporting): Rural ward gets final push
EDUCATION
Dr Bex: School lunches are a form of collective care
RNZ: Structured literacy packs to benefit 310 schools using Māori-medium curriculum
Southland Times: Eight Southland schools in maths trial
Herald: School’s online learning day between Waitangi Day and the weekend disappoints parent: ‘Just get on with the year’
Brent Melville (NBR): ’Small’ asbestos fix sees Ministry school cost blowout (paywalled)
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Sharing uni courses, facilities mooted (paywalled)
Lauren Crimp (RNZ): Te Kāhui Auaha closure decision: Wellington's creative industry 'shocked' campus could close doors
HEALTH
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Govt to wait a year before considering Covid Royal Commission advice
Lloyd Burr (Stuff): ‘I don’t know whether Winston is watching’ says chair of Covid Inquiry II
Ben Beaglehole (Newsroom): ADHD drug changes likely to have unintended consequences
Bindi Norwell (Herald): Opinion: Treating what ails primary healthcare in 2025 and beyond (paywalled)
LAW SOCIETY
Michael Morrah (Herald): Frazer Barton cleared by inquiry, returns as Law Society president
Rob Kidd and Mary Williams (ODT): Frazer Barton's exoneration 'a whitewash’ (paywalled)
Hamish McNicol (NBR): Law Society president cleared following two complaints (paywalled)
TRANSPORT, INFRASTRUCTURE
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Government looks to narrow list of shipbuilders to strike a deal on new Cook Strait ferries
RNZ: Interislander replacement: Government begins global hunt for ferry builder
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Government calls for private sector proposals for Cook Strait ferries
Thomas Manch (Post): Peters seeks ‘alternative ideas’ for Cook Strait ferry replacement (paywalled)
Brent Melville (NBR): KiwiRail rolls out RFP for Interislander (paywalled)
Anna Sargent (RNZ): Parents wrongly stung with parking fines during drop-offs due to inaccuracy of licence plate cameras
SCIENCE
Alice Peacock (Newsroom): Callaghan’s slide from high-tech HQ to ‘financially unsustainable’
Gianina Schwanecke (RNZ): Farmers share concerns over cuts to AgResearch science roles in open letter to minister
RETIREMENT, KIWISAVER
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Gen X and later generations warned about basing planning off what current retirees spend
Ella Somers (Interest): Early KiwiSaver withdrawals, for homes or to cover financial hardship, jumped in 2024
1News: Calls for Govt intervention as pensioners stretched to cover rent
MEDIA
Shayne Currie (Herald): Media Insider: Sunday and holiday advertising laws for TV and radio are an unholy mess - now there’s a surprising political twist (paywalled)
Duncan Greive (Spinoff): How the Ted Cruz tweet-storm encapsulates our strange new ‘information space’
OTHER
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Migrants dying while they wait for visa to settle in New Zealand, MP claims
RNZ: Government needs to weigh cost of insurance vs investment
Peter de Graaf (RNZ): Fast-track consent refused for Rangitāne boat ramp, carpark
RNZ: Government drops 'redundant' ram raid bill
Maddy Croad (Press): 87-year-old flatmates have pensions docked after govt ministry deems them a couple (paywalled)
RNZ: Farewell Guangdong: Documentary recounts harrowing journey of early Chinese refugees
Ryan Ward: The NZ Initiative wants to have it both ways on authoritarianism
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): They were sending loved ones' spirits to the stars at Matariki when Elon Musk's Starlink cut in
Cartoons
