News Briefing: 13 May 2025
PAY EQUITY
Chris Trotter (Interest): Low pay isn’t a fixable bug in our free market system, it’s one of its indispensable features
Edward Miller: Detonating pay equity leaves workers footing the bill
RNZ: 'Nothing further from the truth' - pay equity shake-up not cutting pay for women, says PM
RNZ: Christopher Luxon won't say if Ministry for Women consulted on pay equity changes rushed into law
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Chris Hipkins and Nicola Willis deliver pre-Budget speeches as pay equity debate gets ugly
Joe Hendren: Cut, gut and run: National's sharp turnaround on equal pay
Liam Hehir (The Blue Review): The Constitutional Right to Game the System (soft paywalled)
Mountain Tui: Nicola Willis Calls Pay Equity "A Grievance Industry"
Fiona Rotherham (NBR): Back to the drawing board on pay equity claims (paywalled)
Ryan Bridge (Newstalk ZB): My thoughts on the Pay Equity Bill
Shayne Currie (Herald): Stuff responds to use of C-word as it faces criticism for Andrea Vance column taking aim at Finance Minister Nicola Willis and female MPs over pay equity (paywalled)
Nicola Willis (Stuff): Pay equity: Enough with the slurs, now for some facts
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): There's a lot of remarkable things about yesterday's c-word column
Anna Rawhiti-Connell (Spinoff): Is ‘c...’ still the worst thing a woman can call another woman?
David Farrar: Willis responds to Vance celling her a c...
Kamahl Santamaria: Reporters With Opinions (including calling a female MP a 'c...')
Adam Pearse (Herald): Local Labour Facebook page reposts - then deletes - image of Brooke van Velden as Nazi
James Ball (1News): Labour Party account posted image of Brooke van Velden as Nazi
Tom Peters (World Socialists): NZ government blocks “pay equity” claims for hundreds of thousands of workers
PARLIAMENT, GOVERMENT
Bryce Edwards (The Integrity Institute): Do political donations influence which businesses get fast-tracked?
No Right Turn: Naked corruption
Stephen Winter (The Conversation): A prisoner voting ban shows again how few checks there are on parliamentary power
Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): Nobody is cutting through government spin like the Act Party
1News: 'It's not emotional' – Luxon addresses disagreements with ACT
Melanie Nelson: The RSB Has Changed — But the Minister Didn’t Say How
Brent Edwards (NBR): Pay equity, social media ban, emailgate, and school lunches
Thomas Manch (Post): Labour appoints Peeni Henare to foreign affairs; Vanushi Walters returns to Parliament (paywalled)
PUBLIC SECTOR
Azaria Howell (Herald): Diversity requirements proposed to be cut in Judith Collins’ Public Service Act overhaul (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): The unfinished business of measuring public sector performance (paywalled)
Michael Cugley (Te Ao Māori News): Outgoing Auditor General wants better engagement with Māori from public sector
RNZ: Union, government in mediation over working from home restrictions
Dita De Boni (Post): Pay equity anger harnessed as union takes on Government over WFH for public servants (paywalled)
BUDGET, ECONOMY
Luke Malpass (Post): WIllis, Hipkins to give pre-Budget speeches (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): Westpac economists see New Zealand economic recovery gathering steam (paywalled)
Rob Campbell (Newsroom): Never mind ‘big investors’, regular workers crave stability too
David Farrar: Real wages
Peter Vial (Post): Budget 2025: Chartered Accountants want focus on health, infrastructure funding (paywalled)
SOCIAL MEDIA
Jamie Ensor (Herald: David Seymour denies Act shifting position on social media policy as Christopher Luxon claims
Bridie Witton (Stuff): ACT pushes for inquiry into social media harm on young people, as Govt eyes ban
Eric Crampton: A social media trilemma
Herald Editorial: Govt tested waters on social media restrictions, now we’re up for the debate (paywalled)
Shaun Greaves (Post): Social media harm to our kids is worsening - we need this ban (paywalled)
Natalia Albert: Social Media Ban: Noble, but Naïve
Rachel Helyer Donaldson (RNZ): 'Confession pages' an online challenge for Auckland schools
POLICE, CRIME, FIREARMS REGISTRY
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): McSkimming resignation: Pornography found on police device, RNZ understands
Jared Savage (Herald): Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming resigns after pornographic material allegedly found on work computer, say sources (paywalled)
Sam Smith and Amy Ridout (Stuff): Police deputy commissioner resigns after porn allegedly found on work computer - reports
1News: Deputy Police Commissioner quits over 'very serious' allegations
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming has resigned
RNZ: Police minister Mark Mitchell says second firearms registry review not needed
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): 'Internal employment process' under way at Firearms Safety Authority
Keiller MacDuff (RNZ): Veteran activist John Minto unlawfully pepper-sprayed and arrested at protest - IPCA
Nadine Roberts (Stuff): Arrest and pepper spraying of pro-Palestine protester John Minto deemed ‘unlawful’
Benn Bathgate (Waikato Times/Post): Boy racers ‘lack the brain development’ to grasp their car could be crushed
HEALTH
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Health NZ aims to cut surgery waitlists by outsourcing to private hospitals, extending doctors' hours
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): Health NZ eyes $1.8b cost for unpaid leave dating back 15 years
Amanda Gillies (RNZ): The Detail: Smokefree 2025 goal all but up in smoke
Public Health Communication Centre: New Zealanders back action on preventing alcohol harm
Paula Penfold (Stuff): ACC admits failings as controversial ex-manager’s emails emerge
Nicholas Jones (Stuff): The ex-cop who travelled overseas for cancer treatment, but didn’t make it home
RNZ: Vaccine rates putting New Zealand at risk of measles outbreak, health expert says
Eva Gallot (Stuff): Here’s what you need to know about measles, after new case discovered in Auckland
Mataroria Lyndon (Spinoff): Culturally unsafe healthcare is unsafe healthcare – we cannot pretend otherwise
TAX, COVID BUSINESS LOANS
Brianna McIlraith (Stuff): Inland Revenue still chasing $853m from the Small Business Cashflow Scheme
David Hargreaves (Interest): Inland Revenue set to bring hammer down on non-payers of Govt-backed Covid business loans
Nona Pelletier (RNZ): IRD targets outstanding student loans in property investment crackdown
NBR: IRD property spotlight finds $150m undeclared tax (paywalled)
WAITANGI TRIBUNAL REVIEW, MĀORI-CROWN RELATIONS
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): Act takes a victory lap as Waitangi Tribunal faces government review
Audrey Young (Herald): Why the Waitangi Tribunal review is not a hatchet job and what it should cover (paywalled)
Karanama Ruru (Stuff): Who will be reviewing the Waitangi Tribunal?
ENERGY
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Power prices: Poll reveal Kiwis’ growing concern, minister Shane Jones suggests restructure (paywalled)
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Govt mulled, then scratched, home solar incentive
Dave Armstrong (Post): When your power is the hands of those offshore (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): Cold showers and offshore owners: Lengthy Wellington power outage anger (paywalled)
Huia Burt (Post): Contact acquisition of Manawa: Making a bad situation worse (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Homeowner blindsided as daily power charges increase 600%
ODT: Electrifying machines could help save millions — and the planet
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WATER
Finn Blackwell (RNZ): Wayne Brown thinks 'supercharging Auckland' can pull country out of recession
Raphael Franks (Herald): Mayor Wayne Brown’s Manifesto for Auckland: Bed tax, reciprocal China visa, population plan
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): Pol.is or Poll-ish? Dispute erupts over Auckland at 15 Survey (paywalled)
Karyn Scherer (NBR): Growing pains: the challenges facing NZ’s biggest city (paywalled)
Jessica Hopkins (RNZ): Auckland millionaires' controversial helipad hearing gets underway
Torika Tokalau (Local Democracy Reporting): Memorial planned for unmarked graves at Pukekohe Cemetery
Harriet Laughton (Post): Wellington council collecting unpaid rates from over 500 mortgages (paywalled)
ODT Editorial: Disrespectful consultation (paywalled)
Ruby Shaw and Grant Miller (ODT): Fewer top staff sign of ‘disrespect’ (paywalled)
Brooke Black (Stuff): Council to release updated restructure proposal after more than 200 submissions received
Simon Shepherd (NBR): Podcast: Pipes, roads, rates - our local election special (paywalled)
TRANSPORT
Simon Wilson (Herald): Simeon Brown opens a cycleway! And Auckland Transport abandons safety plans (paywalled)
Richard Harman (Politik): Possible gridlock for Auckland’s congestion charging (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Post): Congestion charging backed, but with tweaks (paywalled)
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): Windbag: The urbanist value of a rainbow crossing
Jacob Johnson (1News): Licence plate recognition tech being used for parking enforcement
Vanessa Pratley (Consumer NZ): Air New Zealand consistently more expensive than trans-Tasman competition
Stewart Sowman-Lund and Roeland van den Bergh (Sunday Star Times): The real-world cost of sky-high airfares (paywalled)
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Post): Market study into airfares would be ‘costly’ for the taxpayer - Air NZ
Ryan Bridge (Herald): NZ’s high domestic airfares about economics not competition (paywalled)
Diane McCarthy (Local Democracy Reporting): ‘We are not an airline’ - Whakatāne mayor says as airport fees waived
Emma Stanford (Post): Taupō to lose Wellington connection as Originair pulls route after three months
Emily Ireland (Local Democracy Reporting): Support tabled for Remutaka action group
Justin Wong (Post): Too late to demolish Melling station building (paywalled)
DEFENCE, FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TRADE
Phil Pennington (RNZ): US wants to launch more satellites from NZ
David Fisher (Herald): NZSAS elite domestic terror Commando unit quietly shelved as police anti-terror team steps up (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva ( Newsroom): Kiwi travellers warned of US detention risk under Trump
Nicholas Khoo and Reuben Steff (Herald): China not the US is undermining NZ’s security (paywalled)
RNZ: Luxon on the phone with global leaders about Ukraine talks
Sam Sachdeva ( Newsroom): Govt takes closer look at loosening US pork restrictions
IMMIGRATION
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Dangerous refugees would be stripped of residence under new law
Mildred Armah (Stuff): How the Government plans to deport refugees who pose a threat to New Zealand
GAMBLING
Gregor Thompson (BusinessDesk): Winston Peters seeks to remove restrictions on TAB refusing bets from Racing Bill
Steve Kilgallon (Stuff): Why a popular pub reinvented itself as a booze-free pool hall
ANIMAL WELFARE
1News: Q+A: Imported animal products should meet NZ welfare rules - Green bill
Jordan Dunn (Newstalk ZB): Rodeo code changes may ban events, SAFE urges public release
RNZ: Animal welfare laws need shake-up after abandoned dogs euthanised
ODT: More farm visits before winter grazing season: MPI
EDUCATION
Alexia Russell (RNZ): The Detail: 'Change fatigue' hits vocational education
RNZ: 'We're testing for testing's sake' - new maths tests fail to make the grade for principals
RNZ: Government allocates $100 million for expert maths teachers and tests
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Health school students win NCEA rule change
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Principals at odds over new relationships and sexuality framework
Nina Brown (Critic): Uni To Maintain Institutionally Neutral, Adopt Ethical Policy
ODT: An expression of conscience
Edward Gay (Stuff): School that hired rapist as teacher aide avoids prosecution
HOUSING
RNZ: Rents still too high, despite recent drop - advocate
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): How landlords are trying to stand out in crowded rental market
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): More good news for tenants
RNZ: Dunedin homeless camp: 'Clearly not safe or healthy conditions'
RNZ: Fire breaks out at Dunedin homeless camp
Robin Martin (RNZ): New Plymouth's rough sleepers back car park solution
Mary Williams (ODT): Motel to no longer house homeless
Al Williams (Herald): Kāinga Ora Auckland home deemed unfit for living after multiple pleas from tenant
Hamish MacLean (ODT): Protecting state house at cost of families: agency (paywalled)
Andrew Bevin (Newsroom): Reserve Bank mulls cheaper lending for community housing providers
Rob Stock (Post): We have the technology, so why don't we build more energy-efficient homes? (paywalled)
RNZ: Biggest fall in decades for household debt servicing costs