News Briefing: 12 February 2025

GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC SERVICE
Matt Nippert (Herald: New Zealand slips off least-corrupt podium
Pattrick Smellie and Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Business of Govt: corruption, transparency and purgatory (paywalled)
Bridie Witton (Stuff): David Seymour’s 48 hours under fire
Matthew Hooton (Patreon): Has David Seymour gone mad? (paywalled)
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): Echo Chamber: David Seymour is a very naughty boy
Jo Moir (RNZ): 'They all got sacked' - PM scores own goal at Question Time
Jo Moir (RNZ): National MPs play down row with ACT's David Seymour
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Mark Mitchell: David Seymour should have gone to police watchdog instead of writing letter of support for Polkinghorne
RNZ: Luxon needs to rein in Seymour over 'three ring circus' - Hipkins
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): Seymour is the fly in Luxon's ointment
1News: Seymour has 'very positive' meeting with PM amid letter disagreement
Sam Smith (RNZ): David Seymour meets with PM after war of words over Polkinghorne letter
RNZ: Seymour won't be punished by Parliament for Land Rover stunt, but police charges possible
1News: Speaker expresses 'strong displeasure' at Seymour's Land Rover stunt
Luke Malpass (Post): Seymour and Luxon: coalition partners, not political soulmates (paywalled)
Richard Pebble (Herald): Govt should embrace artificiaI intelligence to tackle NZ’s $15b payment fraud problem (paywalled)
Mountain Tui: Who Does Shane Jones work for? "Woke" Banks have $132m exposure to risky petrol stations
Elizabeth Allen: Preaching the gospel of neo-libertarianism Part I
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Collins calls for culture of 'Yes Minister, but...'
Audrey Young (Herald): Judith Collins warns public service chiefs to show respect to taxpayers
Anna Whyte (Post): Yes Minister: Judith Collins talks tough to public service bosses (paywalled)
Louise Ternouth (RNZ): Ex-public servants still searching for work after last year's public sector cuts

POLLS
1News: Poll: How confident are Kiwis in Willis delivering economic growth?
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): National faces historically bad polling. Here’s what that means for the Government
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): First polls of 2025 show coalition losing
Eva Corlett (Guardian): New Zealand government loses ground in polls as economic concerns grow
Chelsea Daniels (Herald): Front Page: Left bloc gains as coalition struggles amid voter discontent, Luxon-Seymour relationship
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): Poor polls and ‘political sideshows’ distract from government’s growth message
1News: Christopher Luxon responds to National's poll hit
Sam Smith (Stuff): Poll results a reflection of ‘economic pain’ of Kiwis, Luxon says
Kerre Woodham (Newstalk ZB): Luxon is driver of a car full of impatient children

SALVATION ARMY STATE OF THE NATION REPORT
Felix Walton (RNZ): 'Things have got tougher' - Salvation Army releases latest State of the Nation report
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): Five key takeaways from the Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report
Harriet Laughton (Post): ‘An absolute travesty’: Salvation Army report paints grim picture of NZ’s challenges (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Life has got worse for those on benefits and low incomes (paywalled)

ECONOMY, WEALTH VISA, TAXES, PRIVATISATION
Girol Karacaoglu (Interest): The case for the wellbeing framework
Craig Renney: Luxon dreams of development
Simon Wilson (Herald): Helpful ideas for Christopher Luxon as we ‘go for growth’ (paywalled)
David Chaplin (BusinessDesk): Money planet: the new cut-price billionaire-backpacker routes to NZ (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): Inside Economics: The return of ‘voodoo economics’ - do lower taxes generate more revenue? (paywalled)
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): PM's summit hastens new overseas investor regime (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): How to attract foreign investment in infrastructure projects (paywalled)
Lachlan Colquhoun (NBR): Privatisation: the good, the bad, and the ugly (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Erica Stanford brainstorming ideas to bring back Chinese tourists
Herald Editorial: Local brain drain coming as Govt focuses on foreigners (paywalled)
RNZ: Economic outlook brighter for 2025 with 2.5% growth forecast - Westpac

FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TRADE
Anna Powles (Post): NZ’s challenge in a fast-changing Pacific (paywalled)
No Right Turn: Colonialism towards the Cook Islands
Caleb Fotheringham (RNZ): China: Cook Islands' relationship with Beijing 'should not be restrained'
1News: China says Cook Islands' PM visit isn't meant to antagonise
Gordon Campbell (Scoop): On Surviving The 47th US President
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Trump’s war on aid casts shadow over Pacific
Chris Ogden (The Conversation): As Trump abandons the old world order, NZ must find its place in a new ‘Pax Autocratica’
Jason Young (Newsroom): NZ should be worried about China’s trade statistics
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): NZ and world about to discover how much protectionism ‘sucks’, economist says (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Tiwai smelter possible loser as Trump follows through on metals tariffs (paywalled)

HEALTH
John Campbell (1News): Will Simeon Brown fix our 'dire' health system? (paywalled)
Anneke Smith (RNZ): MPs debate Health NZ boss' early exit
Renee Liang (North & South): Lives and money: The dangerous business of health privatisation
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Te Whatu Ora says patient safety, privacy and security priority in data and digital changes
RNZ: Fluoride policy won't change - Health Minister
Karanama Ruru (Stuff): NZ First introduces bill seeking referendum on fluoride in drinking water
Laura Smith (Local Democracy Reporting): Fluoridation debate heats up at Rotorua council meeting
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): Why fluoridation is back in the spotlight
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Fears ageing hospital will fall apart (paywalled)
Phil Pennington (RNZ): New tech at Hawke's Bay Hospital to be kept in buildings with low quake ratings
Rachel Judkins (Spinoff): Are New Zealanders getting lonelier?
Alexia Russell (RNZ): The Detail: Funding a good death

ENVIRONMENT, PRIMARY AND EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES
Eloise Gibson (RNZ): 'World leading' climate disclosure rules likely to be weakened
Farah Hancock (RNZ): Locals fear a fast-tracked sand mining plan will turn Bream Bay’s pristine beaches to mud
Peter de Graaf (RNZ): Illegally drained Kaimaumau Wetland recovery could take 10 years with 'very high' cost, says expert
1News: Small-scale Tasman wetlands tackle environmental restoration in bites
Kate Green (RNZ): DOC faces 30% shortfall in funding huts and tracks
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): West Coast council braces for new miners as gold price soars
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Prospectors home in on region, looking for gold in Otago (paywalled)
Adam Burns (Local Democracy Reporting): Firm behind controversial plan to build energy plant in Waimate no longer owns the land

ENERGY
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Shane Jones signals NZ First may break ranks with National on energy policy (paywalled)
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Frontier Economics to lead government's review of electricity markets
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Electricity sector reviewers appointed to bring 'fresh perspective'
Andrew Bevin (Newsroom): Smelter reboot tests gentailers’ appetite for renewables
Denise Piper (Herald): Meridian’s solar farm in Ruakākā, Northland, gets green light, wetlands protected

MĀORI-CROWN RELATIONS, TE AO MĀORI
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Labour open to considering Parliamentary Commissioner for Te Tiriti
Pokere Paewai (RNZ): 'No integrity': Backlash after post falsely claimed warriors at Waitangi had ankle monitors
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira (RNZ): Fake rūnanga photo draws the ire of Ngāpuhi chairperson

WATER
Audrey Young (Herald): Ngāi Tahu seeks greater control of water in crucial court case (paywalled)
David Williams (Newsroom): Iwi claim challenges parliamentary sovereignty, Crown says
Tina Law (Press): Proposed $15m Christchurch water provider could see households charged for use (paywalled)
Chris Lynch: Who should control Christchurch’s water?
Natalie Akoorie (RNZ): Water Bill makes the government 'the evil penguin' - Hamilton councillor
Stephen Ward (Waikato Times): City council backs Waikato-Tainui over Water Services Bill (paywalled)
Ava Whitworth (Stuff): Water dispute threatens to delay opening of new $100m Pak’nSave

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Harriet Laughton (Post): Social grants reviewed in wake of Government’s ‘pipes and potholes’ edict (paywalled)
Mike Lee (Herald): Moving Western Springs Speedway: The troubling background to Auckland Council’s flawed decision (paywalled)
RNZ: Christchurch councils proposes a 9 percent rates hike
Sinead Gill (Press): 'For the sake of democracy': Sydenham rezoning vote back with council (paywalled)
Linda Hall (Local Democracy Reporting): 16 homes in path of North Island town’s recommended floodways
André Chumko (Post): Movement on stalled Watts Peninsula plan ‒ finally (paywalled)
Justin Wong (Post): Ratepayer group takes Kāpiti council to court again (paywalled)
Emily Ireland (Local Democracy Reporting): Rural ward advocates make bid for representation

HOUSING
Lauren Crimp (RNZ): Government taking too long to fulfill social home pledge - provider
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Kāinga Ora chief executive Matt Crockett announces tougher approach to rent debt
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Kāinga Ora announces new hard line on non-paying tenants
Brianna McIlraith (Stuff): What is the average house value in your town?
Jack Barrett (The Conversation): Māori communities lead innovative ways of financing housing on ancestral lands

TRANSPORT
Max Frethey (Local Democracy Reporting): Principal welcomes U-turn on speed limit consultation
David Long (Stuff): Auckland Transport pushes back start of overnight parking charges - again
Herald: Auckland Transport delays CBD parking charges for another year, Heart of the City welcomes move
Nick James (RNZ): Auckland Transport delays charges for overnight street parking until March 2026
Luka Forman (RNZ): Hopes for sustainable aviation fuel industry to take off in New Zealand
RNZ: Gravel road debate: Council to further delay decision

INSURANCE
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Hawke’s Bay council next in gun as flood insurers pursue ‘negligence’
Ella Somers (Interest): Tower warns NZ insurance at risk without climate funding clarity
Rob Stock (Post): Tower to return $45 million to shareholders after stellar year (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): By the numbers: Insurance premium rises slow from dreadful to just a bit more than inflation (paywalled)
Ella Somers (Interest): Insurance costs keep climbing across NZ

BUSINESS, EMPLOYMENT, BANKS
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Government to phase in new unjustified dismissal rules
Rebecca Thomson (Post): Multiple interviews and competency tasks - the reality of job hunting (paywalled)
Karyn Scherer (NBR): Foodstuffs admits mis-steps in pushing merger proposal (paywalled)
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): On the Money: SkyCity, an Auckland Uni conspiracy, WellingTEN, and more
Greg Hurrell (BusinessDesk): Bank lending isn't ‘woke’, say critics of NZ First bill (paywalled)
Andrew Bevin (Newsroom): ‘Woke banks’ row: Bank reveals $132m exposure to risky petrol stations

MEDIA
Shayne Currie (Herald): Media Insider: Talley’s fights to uncover identities of secret sources in TVNZ news investigation (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): Facebook owner Meta in ‘early stages’ of scam protection for NZ (paywalled)

EDUCATION
Joanne Naish and Tatiana Gibbs (Press/Post): Schools frustrated by administration ‘debacle’ from new lunch programme - and ‘chatbot that doesn’t work’ (paywalled)
Kate Nicol-Williams (1News): AI in schools 'something we can embrace'
Jack Riddell (Hawkes Bay Today): Desperate Hawke’s Bay dad teaches kids to hitchhike 45km due to school bus cut

OTHER
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Independent arbiter to determine Lake Alice torture redress for survivors
Sarah Daniell (Listener): Restorative justice: Rehabilitation advocates on why tough-on-crime policies won’t cut reoffending (paywalled)
Katie Ham (Post): Two days left for public submissions on new stalking legislation (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: Hitting minor crimes with proactive policing is what’s needed to curb major crimes (paywalled)
Dane Giraud: Do prison reformers and free speech advocates want the same thing?
Sapeer Mayron (Sunday Star Times): ‘Eternal vigilance’: Why the rainbow community has to keep fighting (paywalled)
Juha Saarinen (Interest): 'I think we should embrace it;' Bayly spruiks crypto currency trading for NZ
1News: Remains of Moriori ancestors begin journey home from Australia
Mary Argue (RNZ): Text message authentication the worst way to stop cyber criminals - report
RNZ: The end of 3G in 2025 and the impact on your phone or tablet
Max Frethey (Local Democracy Reporting): Waimea Community Dam opens after 24 years with lessons to be learnt

Cartoons

Yeo - ODT 12 February 2025

Emmerson - NZ Herald 12 February 2025

Vernon - The Post 12 February 2025