News Briefing: 10 February 2025

GOVERNMENT
Danyl McLauchlan (Listener): Acting up: David Seymour’s next bill (paywalled)
Jane Kelsey (E-Tangata): Proposed bill ‘an ideological project that must be stopped’
Carolyne Meng-Yee (Herald): Act leader David Seymour advocated for Philip Polkinghorne with top cop after Pauline Hanna’s death (paywalled)
Audrey Young (Herald): Why David Seymour’s letter to police over Polkinghorne was so dumb (paywalled)
RNZ: David Seymour says letter to police on Philip Polkinghorne was due to role as MP
Robert MacCulloch: Why aren't National & ACT light years ahead in the polls? Its the religious-style libertarian beliefs of their leaders and advisers
Benn Bathgate (Waikato Times): Government’s ‘red tape tip line’ gets hundreds of submissions - and a surprise top theme (paywalled)
Steve Braunias (Newsroom): The Secret Diary of .. Tim Jago
Mountain Tui: The Condundrum of David Seymour
Tracy Watkins (Sunday Star Times): Why this barbeque is the hottest ticket on the political calendar (paywalled)
Craig Hoyle (Post): Crayfish diplomacy: Inside Waitangi’s ‘party of the year’ (paywalled)
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Te Arawhiti head moves to Māori consultancy
David Williams (Newsroom): New Mainland minister lays out main goals
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Nickels, dimes, and how to support regional development (paywalled)
Post: Chris Bishop in a Pickle(Ball) (paywalled)

FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TRADE, DEFENCE
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Cook Islands China deal: ‘A matter of ‘significant concern’
Koroi Hawkins (RNZ): Cook Islands PM flying to China without consulting NZ - Government
Barbara Dreaver (1News): Analysis: Anger in Cook Islands at recent moves
RNZ: Cook Islands' diplomatic snub to NZ will be noticed - commentator
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Mediawatch: NZ media in the middle of diplomatic drama
Michael Field: Good reason for avoiding Winston Peters
Press Editorial (Post): Losing the Pacific aid war (paywalled)
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): What the Cook Islands rift says about our relationships in the Pacific
Caleb Fotheringham (RNZ): Mark Brown on China deal: 'No need for New Zealand to sit in the room with us'
RNZ: NZ, Cook Islanders left in dark over PM's possible China deal - Peters
1News: Cook Islands passport 'off the table at the moment' – report
Kerre Woodham (Newstalk ZB): With any perks come responsibilities
Grace Tinetali-Fiavaai (RNZ): Samoan communities affected by Manawanui disaster receive $30,000 donation from China
Josie Pagani (Post): The new imperialists oppose aid for the same reason it exists (paywalled)
Chris Keall (Herald): NZ MPs get behind-the-scenes DeepSeek warning (paywalled)
Mick Hall: Intel agencies join information battle as NATO squares up to 'strategic adversary'
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): Trump’s trade war may finally force NZ to favour the US or China
Luke Malpass and Thomas Manch (Sunday Star Times): How will New Zealand cope within the Trump world order?
Glen Johnson (E-Tangata): The Philippines’ ‘best friend’
Rachel Helyer Donaldson (RNZ): New Zealand must make Gaza stance clear, 'stop tip-toeing' around Trump, expert says
Thomas Manch (Post): China expert accuses parliamentary committee of censorship (paywalled)
1News: Extradition sought for Vietnam officials accused of sex assault in NZ
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): The case for ‘made in New Zealand’ defence tech
Jamie Ensor (Herald): New Zealand Special Air Service soldiers were required to ‘look after’ 501 deportees in MIQ facilities during Covid pandemic
Teuila Fuatai (E-Tangata): ‘So many people have cancer’ — living with the French nuclear legacy in the Pacific

ECONOMY, CORPORATE TAX CUTS, ASSET SALES
Brian Easton (Pundit): The Yes Prime Minister
Kate MacNamara (Herald): New Zealand doesn’t need to tell a growth story, it needs to be a growth story (paywalled)
Vernon Small (Sunday Star Times): Luxon needs some quick economic wins to turn around his fortunes (paywalled)
Craig Renney: Get a resume...its that simple
Liam Dann (Herald): Unemployment is the most brutal economic statistic. Why we need to take a deeper look (paywalled)
Henry Cooke: Are we back in the early 1990s?
RNZ: Investor would only have to remain in New Zealand for 21 days under changes to so-called 'golden visa'
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Investor visa: Foreign buyer ban still a 'barrier' - lawyer
Adam Pearse (Herald): PM seeking investment from wealthy foreigners through new immigration changes
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Government to lower investor threshold to attract wealthy foreigners
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Changes to business investor visa announced
Andrea Vance (Post): Government to overhaul ‘golden visa’ for wealthy migrants who want to take risks (paywalled)
Simon Shepherd (NBR): Government tweak ‘golden visas’ for wealth foreign investors (paywalled)
Paddy Gower (Stuff): Not all moguls are like Musk - let’s roll out the red carpet
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Not an oligarch: Russian millionaire Alexandre Germanovich on life in New Zealand (paywalled)
Andrew Bevin (Newsroom): NZ can’t afford economically dubious corporate tax cuts – experts
1News: Q+A: Tax expert warns of risks in corporate tax cut considerations
Luke Malpass (Post): Corporate tax is too high - but cutting it is hard (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): How the Government could pull the trigger on a company tax cut (paywalled)
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): NZ visa fees hindering Chinese tourism recovery (paywalled)
Shane Te Pou (Herald): We should examine whether privatisation is a good idea - the evidence tells us it’s not
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): What should the Crown do with its Christchurch airport shares?
Steven Joyce (Herald): Trump’s tariffs and why we can’t lose sight of basic economic concepts (paywalled)
Sunday Star Times: The challenges facing NZ go a lot deeper than interest rates (paywalled)
Post: Navigating New Zealand’s economic future
Austen Ganley (Newsroom): Growth through innovation will be tough without Marsden funding
Cameron Bagrie (BusinessDesk): The economy is going from reverse to first gear (paywalled)

HEALTH
Rachel Thomas (Post): What chief executive’s early exit tells us about the mess at Health NZ (paywalled)
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Who is Dr Dale Bramley, the interim chief executive of Health NZ?
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Margie Apa resigns: 'Impossible task' to lead Health NZ with systemic issues - medical workers
1News: Health NZ chief executive steps down
Rachel Thomas (Post): Margie Apa departs as Health NZ chief executive (paywalled)
Call for Privacy Commssion investigation into health IT staff cuts
Rachel Thomas (Post): Patient data at risk over ‘dangerous’ IT job cuts at Health NZ, union warns (paywalled)
Rachel Graham (RNZ): Palliative care reform at risk from possible Health NZ cuts
Diane McCarthy (Local Democracy Reporting): Health conference aimed at ‘lighting a fire’ for public services
Arena Williams and Stuart Smith (Stuff): Running down public services is part of the National/Act playbook
Melissa Nightingale (Herald): MedicAlert Foundation asks donors to pay membership fees for vulnerable users
Luisa Girao (ODT): Charity hospital may open in a few weeks
RNZ: Defence Force apologises to Waiouru residents after high levels of lead found in drinking water
RNZ: Chelsea Sugar fined over 2021 lead contamination
Susan Botting (Local Democracy Reporting): Whangārei risks health court order in defying water fluoridation directive
Mariné Lourens (Press/Post): One of the ‘lucky’ ones: Retired emergency doctor chooses an assisted death (paywalled)
Paulette Crowley (Listener): ADHD or Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder? (paywalled)
Ayla Yeoman (SunLive): Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: Tauranga’s Christopher Ingram’s petition to reduce FASD
Jessica Hopkins (RNZ): Woman waits months after signing up to St John loneliness phone service
Brett Kerr-Laurie and Michael Wright (Press/Pos): Riding high? The ups and downs of New Zealand’s medicinal cannabis industry (paywalled)
Ron Crawford: How state capacity (or a lack of it) shaped the pandemic's outcomes
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): After the Parents Centre: Wellington antenatal educators go out on their own
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): Grandmother of man allegedly assaulted at mental health facility wants accountability
Katie Ham (Post): Alleged fatal assault at mental health unit ‘never should have happened’, politicians say
Herald Editorial: End of ban on gay blood donations a long time coming (paywalled)

WAITANGI, MĀORI-CROWN RELATIONS
Claire Trevett (Herald): PM Christopher Luxon pays price for Act leader David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill (paywalled)
Simon Wilson (Herald): Waitangi 2025: What the kōhanga generation offers the country (paywalled)
Audrey Young (Herald): The best thing about Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s absence from Waitangi (paywalled)
Joshua Koko (E-Tangata): We’re not here to negotiate our own marginalisation
Jamie Tahana (E-Tangata): There is unfinished business
Duncan Garner (Listener): Here’s the real threat to Māori, so why have they missed it? (paywalled)
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Don’t sweat the small stuff, fix the real problems
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): Windbag: What Act’s Nicole McKee misunderstands about te Tiriti o Waitangi
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Our race relations prevent progress
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): Treaty principles bill hearings, day three: The Justice Committee works from home
RNZ: Next group of public submissions on Treaty Principles Bill announced
Anna Rawhiti-Connell (Spinoff): The celebration you’re looking for is just around the bend
John Bluck (Post): Time to talk the walk on co-existing (paywalled)

PARLIAMENT
Anna Whyte (Post): Which electorate will be scrapped?
Chris Trotter (Law News): When parliamentary hearings on controversial bills become hostile echo chambers
David Harvey: The State of Democracy
Brent Edwards (NBR): Company tax, growth plan, scallyway Seymour, and Waitangi Day
Louis Collins (RNZ): The House: The summer of 300,000 submissions
Nevil Gibson (NBR): Palmer’s law: There must be a better way
Mary Afemata (Local Democracy Reporting): Local board backs Fa'anānā Efeso Collins mural

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Andrea Vance (Sunday Star Times): What the Government’s observer got wrong about Wellington City Council (paywalled)
Gwynn Compton: Councillors are politicians representing their communities, not corporate directors or Cabinet colleagues
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Who is in and who is out in the big mayoral races of 2025?
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Local body elections: Tory Whanau aligns herself more closely with Green Party in bid for second term
Tom Hunt (Post): Critical Wellington poll shows backing for council ‘fixing the basics’ (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): Mayoral hopeful ditches in ‘non-political’ Wellington group (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): Wellington mayoral candidate court-ordered to pay workers (paywalled)
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): Wellington residents divided over waterfront fencing
Deborah Morris (Post): Reopened Wellington library will keep iconic nīkau palms (paywalled)
Wayne Brown (Sunday Star Times): Changing dysfunctional AT is enough to make me stand as mayor again (paywalled)
David Long (Stuff): Kerrin Leoni aims to be a point of difference in Auckland mayoralty election
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Southland councils explore regional deals
Susan Botting (Local Democracy Reporting): Regional deal could potentially 'double Northland's economic production
Waikato Times: Waikato's 'regional deal' pitch could feature SH29, housing growth areas (paywalled)
Stephen Ward (Waikato Times): Three Hamilton climate change actions ‘significantly’ off-track (paywalled)
Stephen Ward (Waikato Times): ‘Booze outlets should pay 100% of licensing costs’ - ex-deputy mayor (paywalled)
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): Coast council appointment 'undemocratic', says Reefton candidate

PRIMARY AND EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES
Eloise Gibson (RNZ): Shane Jones told plans for limiting oil clean-up liability more lenient than Australia, UK
Fox Meyer (Newsroom): $50m to go into coal mine cleanup as Jones expands sector
Andrea Vance (Post): Money doesn’t grow on trees, so conservationists want a pine plague tax (paywalled)
Zita Campbell (Local Democracy Reporting): Gisborne reveals ambitious plan for forestry and farming land
Shannon Pitman (Open Justice Reporting): Northland wetland destruction leads to court-ordered remediation
Maia Hart (Local Democracy Reporting): 'Are we being tough enough?': Wineries fall short on wastewater compliance

HOUSING
Max Rashbrooke (Post): Government undermining house-building efforts of Labour regime (paywalled)
Ryan Bridge (Herald): Kāinga Ora was adrift, we need to keep it simple (paywalled)
Mountain Tui: Kieran McAnulty is severely underrated: How Chris Bishop Got Away with Blowing Up Kāinga Ora & State Housing
Benn Bathgate (Waikato Times): Uncertainty around on-again, off-again Kāinga Ora Endeavour Ave development (paywalled)
Eric Crampton (Post): The long road to housing affordability (paywalled)
Nadine Roberts (Stuff): Unlikely saint or slumlord? The man with a multimillion dollar empire of derelict house
Aaron Hendry (E-Tangata): Our kids sleeping on the streets
Greg Ninness (Interest): Why first home buyers had much to celebrate in 2024
Maria Slade (BusinessDesk): Surging house prices a thing of the past (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): $45m weekly boost predicted for households after mortgage costs fall (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Westpac draws eyes with low 4.99 percent rate
Carly Gooch (Press): Demolition of character home for townhouses saddens neighbourhood (paywalled)

EDUCATION
Amanda Gilles (RNZ): The Detail: NZ school system not making the grade
John Gerritsen (RNZ): New maths curriculum begins in primary schools
Erin Johnson (Stuff): The numbers behind the revamped school lunch scheme
Herald Editorial: School lunches smack of beggars can’t be choosers
Erin Johnson (Stuff): New school lunch programme pushing extra costs onto high schools, principal says
1News: What NZ can learn from Singapore's compulsory language education
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Wellington mum shocked at $1000 school uniform bill
Lisa Tswanya (Northern Advocate): Northland schools hit by bus route cuts, students face dangerous walks
Ben Leahy & Chris Knox (Herald): 500 schools ranked: NCEA hotspots where top marks meet affordable housing (paywalled)

EMPLOYMENT
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Employment law in for a shake-up as coalition rings the changes
RNZ: More workers being offered flexible hours, data shows
Damien Grant (Stuff): How a real estate agent lost her career over a 90-minute course
Neil Sands (Law News): Govt moves to nullify court ruling on compulsory Māori studies for realtors

Cartoons

Parton - NZ Herald 8 February 2025

Emmerson - NZ Herald 9 February 2025

Ellison - Listener 10 February 2025